Durga
Chandra Kala Stuthi
By
Appayya Deekshithar
Translated by
P.R.Ramachander
(This durgastuti is like a mantra sastra designed to avert
poverty, fear from enemies, fear from death, several difficulties, several
unanticipated disasters etc., for devotees and is in nineteen verses. The Devi mahatmya and the other
anecdotes about the Devi given in Varahapurana, Harivamsa,
Bhagavata etc., are given in condensed form in this work. It has been
composed by Sri Appayya Deekshithar who belonged to the
Vedo hareeswara sthuthyam vihathreem vindhyamoodhare,
Hara praneswareem vande, hanthreem vibhutha vidhwishaam. 1
I salute the darling
of Lord Shiva,
Who is being praised
by the trinity,
Who plays on the
And who kills asuras
who are the enemies of devas.
Abhyarthanena, saraseeruha sambhavasya,
Thyakthovodhitha bhagawathakshipithanaleelaam,
Visweswari vipadapagamane purastha-
Nmatha mamasthu madhu kaidabhayor nihanthri. 2
Due to the request of
Him who was born out of a lotus,
She left her play of
shutting the eyes of Lord Vishnu,
And killed the asuras
called Madhu and Kaidaba,
And I request the
mother who is goddess of the universe,
To come before me,
and remove all my dangers.
(The story of killing of Madhu and Kaidabha is alluded here. When Madhu and Kaidabha who were born out of
the ear wax of Lord Vishnu, they started troubling Lord Brahma. Lord Vishnu was
sleeping. The Goddess appeared and killed Madhu and Kaidabha-Devi Mahatmyam)
Prang nirjareshu nihathair nija shakthi lesai,
Reki bhavadbhirudhithakhila loka gupthyai,
Sampannachasthra nikhara cha thadha yudhasthai,
Matha mamasthu mahishanthakari purasthath. 3
Rising from the power
that she has entrusted with devas,
For saving the entire
world is my mother,
Who is armed with several
weapons which were given by several
devas,
And who is the killer
of Mahishasura and I request her to come
before me.
(For killing Mahishasura , she appeared from the powers of
all devas and became a goddess, who could kill him.-Devi Mahatmyam)
Praleya shaila thanaya thanu kanthi sampath,
Kosadhitha kuvalaya schavi charu deha,
Narayani namadha bheepsidha kalpa valli,
Suprrethamavahathu Shumbha Nishumbha hanthri. 4
Let lot of happiness
be generated by Narayani,
Who was born out of
the excess of luster,
Of the body of the
daughter of the mountain,
Who has a body with
the luster of the blue lotus,
Who is like the kalpa
climber of heaven,
And killer of asuras
called Shumbha and Nishumbha.
(When the devas were
troubled by two asuras called Shumbha and Nishumbha, she took shape from
Goddess Parvathi and killed both these asuras and their armies. –Devi Mahatmyam)
Viswaswareethi mahishanthakareethi yasya,
Narayanothyapicha namabhirangithani,
Sookthani pankaja bhuvacha surarshibischa,
Drushtani pavaga mukhaischa, shivaam bhaje thaam. 5
I sing praises about
the holy consort of Shiva,
Who was praised by
Lord Brahma , other devas and sages,
By the sookthas
containing colourful names like,
Goddess of universe, she
who killed Mahisha and Narayani.
(Devi Mahatmyam contains prayers by devas and
Lord Brahma praising her on different occasions)
Uthpathi daithya
hanana sthavanathmakani,
Samraksha kanyakhila bhootha hithaya yasya,
Sookthanyasesha nigamanthavida padanthi,
Thaam viswa mathara majasram abheeshtaveemi. 6
I praise always the goddess who is the mother of the world,
Who is being praised
by learned sages by reciting sookthas,
About her birth with
aim of for killing asuras and say that these,
Would save all beings
on earth from dangers and cause good.
( In the Phala Shruthi of Devi Mahatmyam Devi
tells , that all people will be saved who recite it.)
Yea vaiprachitha punaruthidha
shumbha mukhyai,
Durbiksha ghora samayena cha karithasu,
Avishkrutha sthrijagatharthishu roopa bhedha,
Sthairambhika samabhirakshathu maam vipadbhya. 7
Let me be saved from all
dangers by that Ambika ,
Who appeared in
different forms at the time of extreme famine and fear ,
Caused by asuras like
sons of Viprachitha,
And shumbha reborn in
the world and others,
And saved the entire
world.
(At the end of Devi Mahatmyam , the Devi tells
the devas, how she will appear in future times to save them and the world)
Sooktham yadeeyam aravinda bhavadhi drushta,
Mavarthya devyanupadam Suradha Samadhi,
Dwavapyavapathura mishtamanayalabhyam,
Tham adhi deva tharuneem pranamami deveem. 8
I salute that Holy
Devi who is the consort of the first God,
Who was praised again
and again,
By the king Suradha
and the merchant Samadhi,
By repeating the story
of her coming again and again,
In this world in
response to the praise of Brahma and others,
And fulfilled their
desires which could not be done by others.
(Here I is told that
by reading Devi Mahatmyam again and again with devotion, we can attain all that
we need. Suradha and Samadhi were those people to whom the story of Devi
Mahatmyam was told by a sage. Suradha later became the next Manu.)
Mahishmathi thanubhavam cha rurum cha hanthu,
Mavishkruthairnija rasavadavathara bedhai,
Ashta dasa hatha navahatha koti sankyair,
Rambha sada samabhirakshathu maam vipadbhya. 9
Let me saved from
dangers by Amba,
Who by her power was
born with eighteen crores,
And nine crores of ladies
equal to her,
And killed Mahisha
the son of Mahishmathi and asura called Ruru.
(This is the story from Varaha Purana and is a
slightly different version of the story in Devi Mahatmyam. It is told there
that Vaishnavi killed Mahishasura along with crores of other ladies generated
by her and later again came at the request of devas and killed the asura called
Ruru.)
Ethath charithramakhilam likhitham hi yasya,
Ssampoojitham sadana eva nivesitham vaa,
Durga cha tharayathi dustharamapyasesham,
Sreya prayachadhi cha sarvamumam bhaje Thaam. 10
I chant the names of
the great Parvathi,
Who makes us cross
the impossible difficulties,
If we write all her
story and worship her,
Or even keep her
story at our home.
(It is written in Varaha Purana that any one
who keeps a copy of the book Devi Mahatmyam need not be afraid of serpents ,
thieves and others.)
Yath poojana sthuthi namaskruthir bhavanthi,
Preetha pithamaha ramesa hara sthrayopi,
Thesham api swa gunair dadahanth vapoomshi,
Tham easwarasya tharuneem saranam prapadhye. 11.
I submit myself to
the lady of the Lord Shiva,
Whose worship or
prayer or salutation,
Pleases lord Brahma,
Vishnu and Lord Shiva,
And who gives her sathva(good) conduct to them.
(In Varaha Purana there is an instance of Amba
saving Lord Brahma,. In Hari Vamsa another instance of her saving lord Vishnu
is given.)
Kantharamadhya druda lagna thaya avasanna,
Magnascha varidhi jale ripumischa rudha,
Yasya prapadhya charanou vipadastharanthi,
Saa may sada asthu hrudhi sarva jagad savithri. 12
My mind should always
be filled with that mother ,
Who saves those people
who loose their way in forest,
And those drowning in
the waters of the sea,
If they salute her lotus feet.
(This boon was given to Lord Krishna and is
narrated in Hari Vamsa)
Bhandhe vadhe mahathi mruthyu bhaye prasakthe,
Vithakshaye cha vividhe cha mahopa thape,
Yad pada poojanamiha
prathikaramahu,
Saa may samastha janani saranam bhavani. 13
I see protection of
that Bhavani, who is mother of all worlds,
Whose worship is
believed to get rid of the fear,
Of imprisonment,
murder, death, loss of property ,
And also fear of the
king, thieves, snake and the lion.
(From Hari Vamsa and Varaha Purana)
Bhanasura prahitha pannaga bandha moksha,
Thad bahu darpa dalanad ushaya cha yoga,
Pradhymnina druthamalamyatha yath prasada,
Sa may shivaa sakalamapya shubham kshinothu. 14
I request removal of
all bad aspects by that consort of Shiva,
Who blessed the son
of Pradhyumna with release,
From the ties of the
serpent arrow sent by Banasura,
And destroyed the pride
of Bana making his marriage with Usha
possible.
(This story is from Bhagawatha. Pradhyumna
falls in love with Usha the daughter of Banasura. With the blessings of Devi,
Lord Krishna helps him.)
Papa pulasthya thanaya punaruthidho ma,
Madhyapi harthumayamagatha ithyudeetham,
Yathsevanena bhaya mindiraya avadhootham,
Tham adhi deva tharunim saranam gathosmi. 15
Let me seek
protection of the lady of Lord Parameshwara,
By whose worship
Rukmani got rid of the fear,
Of her being sought
in marriage by Shishupala,
Whom she thought as
the son of sage Pulasthya born again.
(Another incident from Bhagawatha. Princess
Rukhmani falls in love with Lord Krishna. She is afraid that King Shishu pala ,
who she thinks is like Ravana(son of sage Pulasthya) will marry her against her
wishes and prays Devi. Lord
Yaddhayanajam sukhamavapyamanantha punyai,
Sakshathamachuytha parigrahamaswa vapu,
Gopangana kila yadarchana punyamaathra,
Sa may sada bhagawathee bhavathu prasanna. 16
Always I should get
the grace of that Goddess,
By whose worship for a month, the Gopis,
Were able to embrace
Lord Krishna and were happy,
While by constant
meditation, he can be seen only by mind’s eye.
(The Gopis were able to embrace Lord Krishna
by their prayer to Devi but even great sages are only able to see him in their
mind’s eye.)
Rathrim prapadhya ithi manthra vida prapanna,
Nudbhodhya mruthyavadhi manya phalai pralobhya,
Bhudwaja thadwimukhatham prathanan nayanthi,
Makasa madhi jananim jagatham bhaje thaam. 17
I pray that primeval
mother of the world,
Who instead of waking
up and offering mundane things,
Offers the eternal
salvation , to those who want it,
If they seek her
protection by chanting the mantra starting with “Rathrim prapadhye.”
(Reference is being made to Rathri Suktham of Sama Veda which is a prayer to the Goddess.)
Desa kaleshu dushteshu durga chandrakala sthuthi,
Sandhyayor anusandhaya
sarva papa nivrataye.
18
You can get freedom
from all dangers,
By chanting this
prayer to “Durga Chandra kala”.
During dusk and dawn
when the place and times are corrupted.