Bhavani Ashtakam Video

As it is presently the festival of Navaratri (Nine Nights of Divine Mother), we invoke and remember the inseparable Shakti of Shiva, the Divine Mother. It is only in our semantics and relative experience that Shakti is experienced or spoken as separate or separable from Shiva.

There are many beautiful and captivating hymns to the Divine Mother in Shaktism, where Shakti is exclusively worshipped. One of them is the Bhavani Ashtakam (Eight Stanzas on Bhavani) addressed to Her in the form of Bhavani. The name Bhavani means existence, and is a feminine form of the name Bhava which is of course a name of Shiva.

Like many such hymns, this hymn is said to be written by Adi Shankaracharya. The Bhavani Ashtakam captivates with its simple sound and its meaning, yet it is full of mysticism and devotion. In every stanza, the devotee accepts that the Divine Mother is existence itself and takes full refuge in Her.

Gatistvam Gatistvam Tvameka Bhavani.

For the meaning of the Bhavani Ashtakam click here.

Jai Mata Di.

Praises be unto Him

Praises be unto Him, our Lord, Shiva, of golden hue!

Of countenance more beautiful than the rising Sun;

He who rules all beings from within and without;

That King of kings, the Lord of all lords,

Dwelling within the holy Mount of the highest chakra.

Obeisances to Him, our Lord, Shiva, of many epithets!

The ever-present One, subtler than the subtlest;

He who encompasses all: here, there, everywhere;

That eternal Entity of pure existence and bliss,

Dwelling within the divisions of time and in timelessness.

Glories unto Him, our Lord, Shiva, of countless attributes!

The magnanimous One who abounds with compassion;

He who is the transcendent Creator and immanent creation;

That infinite continuum of pure consciousness and activity,

Dwelling within the ever-moving and in perfect stillness.

Aum Namah Shivaya.

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