Selected original: Bṛhatstotraratnākara (1912), item 73, print pp. 163–164 / scan leaves 171–172. Twelve numbered verses, plus separately identified invocation and colophon. Variant-heavy, textually variable educational edition, without independent critical certification 1.
What this prayer is — and is not
This is a Sanskrit kṣamāpaṇa stotra, a hymn asking the Goddess to forgive lapses in worship, speech, attention and conduct. Its first words, na mantraṃ no yantraṃ, identify this twelve-verse composition. Another short prayer beginning aparādha-sahasrāṇi kriyante is often also called an Aparādha Kṣamāpaṇa Stotram, but it is not this work. Likewise, this is frequently printed near the Devi Mahatmyam (Durga Saptashati) / Durga SaptashatiDevi Mahatmyam (Durga Saptashati) / Durgā Saptaśatī in devotional anthologies; its presence as an appendix does not make it one of that scripture’s thirteen chapters 126. The speaker confesses imperfect worship while repeatedly imagining a mother who does not simply discard her child. The movement progresses from unfamiliar rituals (1), to poverty and inability (2–4), age and refuge (5), miraculous praise imagery (6–7), the freedom to love without reward (8), self-examination (9), crying for help in distress (10), and closing trust (11–12). These are poetic spiritual claims, not a guarantee of wealth, immunity, healing or legal absolution.
Tradition, title and authorship
The item heading of the 1912 collection reads Devyaparādhakṣamāpanastotram and its ending explicitly attributes the piece to Śaṅkarācārya. It is appropriate to say “traditionally attributed to Ādi Śaṅkarācārya”; this printed attribution does not independently date the text or establish historical authorship. The print’s wording kṣamāpana and some other texts’ kṣamāpaṇa or segmented titles should be indexed as title variants, not treated as separate compositions without textual evidence 12.
Significant textual variants and edition policy
Verse 5: the base print has parityaktvā devān, whereas a widely circulated digital version reads parityaktā devā; the difference changes the grammar. In the same verse, vividha-vidha-sevā contrasts with vividha-vidhi-sevā. Verse 8: the printed na ca vibhava-vāñchā differs from the common bhava-vibhava-vāñchā. Verse 11: the printed aparādha-paramparāvṛtaṃ differs from aparādha-paramparā-paraṃ. Verse 6’s final phrase and verse 10’s first line require renewed scrutiny. These decisions and their exact witness relations are enumerated in the source list and the edition notes 123. The IAST at the top of this page reproduces the same Sanskrit words, rather than translating them into English. Both articles represent the full selected print. Print-specific spelling and the compression of line breaks have been lightly normalized, not passed off as photographic facsimile. The selected transcription remains partially verified pending expert comparison.
Reading without confusing devotion and ritual instructions
The hymn mentions mantra, yantra, mudrā and japa, but it does not prescribe a hidden practice, initiation procedure, recitation count or auspicious time. Its repeated maternal metaphor should be read with empathy and accountability, not used to dismiss harm or excuse abuse. The historical caste label in verse 6 is not endorsed as a social category. A compassionate reading allows acknowledgement of wrongdoing and changed conduct.
Frequently asked questions
How many verses are there? This specific 1912 witness has twelve numbered verses; the invocation and colophon are separate. Is this from the Durga Saptashati itself? No. It may be printed in worship appendices, but it is not a chapter or verse passage of the canonical Devi Mahatmyam (Durga Saptashati). Is it the prayer beginning “Aparadha sahasrani”? No. That opening identifies another commonly circulated forgiveness prayer. Did Adi Shankara definitely write it? Its printed colophon attributes it to Śaṅkarācārya; independent historical proof was not established in this work. Do the words promise forgiveness or riches? The hymn expresses trust in divine compassion and uses poetic exaggeration. It is not a mechanical promise or a substitute for making amends. Are special timings or initiation necessary for reading this page? None are prescribed by this educational educational edition. For lineage-specific practices, consult an appropriate teacher.
Additional passage commentary
Opening invocation
Meaning: Salutation to Shri Ganesha printed before this hymn. The anthology includes this invocation before the hymn. It is distinct from the twelve numbered Sanskrit verses. Salutation to Śrī Gaṇeśa printed before this hymn. The anthology includes this invocation before the hymn. It is distinct from the twelve numbered Sanskrit verses.
Verse 1
Meaning: I know neither mantra nor ritual diagram; I do not know how to offer grand praises, invocation, meditation, stories of praise, gestures or lament. What I do know, Mother, is that following you relieves anguish. The striking opening is a confession of ritual inadequacy, not contempt for ritual learning. Lists of mantra, yantra, āhvāna, dhyanamantra, yantra, āhvāna, dhyāna and mudrā name practices the speaker does not claim to master. The final turn toward tvad-anusaraṇa (following the Mother) matters more than performance anxiety. The verse does not teach the technique of a mantra or authorize the use of restricted rites.
Verse 2
Meaning: Because I did not know the proper method, lacked means, was negligent or could not do what was required, I fell short in service at your feet. Forgive that, Mother, beneficent liberator of all: a wayward child may arise, but a mother is not thereby without compassion. The verse identifies different causes of omission: ignorance, poverty (draviṇa-viraha), lassitude and practical inability. These are not collapsed into one sweeping moral failing. The refrain kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati is the poet’s image of unfailing divine maternal care; it should not be used to demand that human mothers endure mistreatment or to shame real families. The repeated line will recur in verses 3 and 4.
Verse 3
Meaning: Mother, you have many guileless children in the world; among them I am your particularly unsteady child. It would not be fitting for you to abandon me, auspicious one: a child may go astray, but divine motherly kindness does not cease. The uncommon viralataralaḥ evokes one especially restless or unreliable, more than a legal claim about disobedience. The rhetorical contrast is deliberately personal: the speaker does not claim to be the most deserving worshipper. It would be inaccurate to turn this into a historical report about the poet’s biography. The same refrain as verse 2 sharpens the relationship between inadequacy and hoped-for acceptance.
Verse 4
Meaning: O Mother of the world, I have not performed service at your feet, nor made generous offerings. Even so, you show me incomparable affection; a flawed child may arise, yet the Mother’s compassion remains. This verse challenges a transactional model of devotion: affection is not depicted as a payment earned through costly offerings. The word draviṇa again points to material resources, continuing verse 2’s concern with limitation. The voice remains a poetic prayer, not a promise that any particular personal need will be fulfilled without effort. Devotion can invite generosity to others rather than expensive displays.
Verse 5
Meaning: After leaving other divine services behind amid many kinds of observance, and with more than eighty-five years of life gone by, I ask: if even now your grace does not come, Mother of Lambodara, to whose shelter can this unsupported person turn? The 1912 witness reads parityaktvā devān; many digital readings have parityaktā devā. The grammar and implied agency differ, so the two cannot be silently fused. The claim of being over eighty-five is the poetic speaker’s self-description, not secure evidence for the historical poet’s age. Lambodara-janani identifies Devī as Ganesha’s mother, connecting this prayer to Shaiva family imagery. The central feeling is vulnerability at life’s end. identifies Devī as Gaṇeśa’s mother, connecting this prayer to Śaiva family imagery. The central feeling is vulnerability at life’s end.
Verse 6
Meaning: The poem marvels that a socially despised person might speak with honeyed eloquence and a destitute person might live free from fear amid abundant wealth. When even a syllable of your sacred utterance reaches the ear, Aparṇā, who can fully know its fruit? Śvapāka is an old stigmatizing social designation; it is quoted as historical poetic language, not endorsed as a description of anyone’s worth. The images of eloquence and riches are hyperbolic praise of divine grace, not verifiable financial outcomes. Manu-varnaManu-varṇa here evokes a sacred syllable/mantra expression; the text neither specifies a secret formula nor provides procedures for japa. The final words in the historical print are syntactically difficult and need scholarly collation.
Verse 7
Meaning: Shiva, smeared with funeral-ash, associated with poison, clothed in the directions, matted-haired, wearing the serpent king at his neck, skull-bearing lord of beings, is nevertheless revered as sovereign of the world. Bhavānī, the poet celebrates this as the fruit of his union with you. The outer marks of Shiva are deliberately austere, even unsettling; the verse then reverses conventional expectations of royal grandeur. The Śiva, smeared with funeral-ash, associated with poison, clothed in the directions, matted-haired, wearing the serpent king at his neck, skull-bearing lord of beings, is nevertheless revered as sovereign of the world. Bhavānī, the poet celebrates this as the fruit of his union with you. The outer marks of Śiva are deliberately austere, even unsettling; the verse then reverses conventional expectations of royal grandeur. The pāṇigrahaṇa image refers to taking the hand in marriage, an emblem of Shiva–Shakti inseparability in the poet’s theology. It need not be construed as a literal causal claim that Shiva became a god only after marriage. Poison, cremation ground and serpent are image refers to taking the hand in marriage, an emblem of Śiva–Śakti inseparability in the poet’s theology. It need not be construed as a literal causal claim that Śiva became a god only after marriage. Poison, cremation ground and serpent are mythic symbols, not models for unsafe imitation.
Verse 8
Meaning: Moon-faced Mother, I ask neither liberation nor worldly abundance; I do not seek special knowledge or even pleasure. My only petition is that my life—birth after birth in the poetry’s idiom—may pass calling you Mṛḍānī, Rudrāṇī, Shiva and Bhavānī. The printed 1912 opening Moon-faced Mother, I ask neither liberation nor worldly abundance; I do not seek special knowledge or even pleasure. My only petition is that my life—birth after birth in the poetry’s idiom—may pass calling you Mṛḍānī, Rudrāṇī, Śivā and Bhavānī. The printed 1912 opening na mokṣasyākāṅkṣā na ca vibhavavāñchāpi ca na me differs from the widely quoted bhava-vibhava-vāñchāpi ca na me. The chosen printed wording is preserved, including its possible metrical awkwardness. The speaker values loving remembrance over acquisition of mokshamokṣa, prosperity, knowledge or enjoyment. The divine names are presented as part of the text, not a prescribed initiation practice or efficacy formula.
Verse 9
Meaning: I have not worshipped you properly with the many prescribed offerings; my harsh or barren thoughts and words have not served well either. Dark-hued Mother, if you extend any kindness toward me, who have no support, that is entirely fitting to your compassion. The metre and the imagery become more compact after the preceding long verses. Upacāra is a category of worshipful offerings; the speaker confesses to falling short without spelling out a ritual recipe. The question about rūkṣa (rough/dry) thinking and speech allows an ethical reading: spiritual inadequacy may involve unkind words, not simply lack of ritual objects. The syntax of the second line deserves a human Sanskrit review.
Verse 10
Meaning: When I sink into distress, I remember you, Durga, ocean of compassion. Do not take that as clever opportunism: those tormented by hunger and thirst remember their mother. Perhaps the hymn’s most accessible analogy: a person in need calls for help. Śaṭhatva means deception or cunning; the speaker worries that praying mainly in trouble may look self-interested. The reply is not a demand to prove perfect devotion beforehand, but a comparison with the basic human need for nurture. The old scan’s first line requires a further letter-by-letter check against the print because its lettering is difficult.
Verse 11
Meaning: Mother of the world, why should it seem strange if your compassion overflows toward me? A mother does not neglect a child surrounded by one fault after another. The 1912 print gives aparādha-paramparāvṛtaṃ (surrounded by a succession of offences), whereas prominent digital recensions read aparādha-paramparā-paraṃ, with a different nuance. This is a substantive textual variant, not just spelling. In context, the mother–child image makes restoration possible without denying responsibility; asking forgiveness presupposes taking wrongdoing seriously. This verse needs careful independent collation because the witness’s typography is crowded.
Verse 12
Meaning: There is no wrongdoer like me, and none who removes sin as you do, great Goddess. Knowing this, act toward me as you deem appropriate. The closing hyperbole balances sharp self-criticism with praise of the goddess’s purifying power. The final yathāyogyaṃ tathā kuru leaves the response to divine judgment rather than claiming a mechanically guaranteed result. Readers should not turn the poem’s self-description into a judgment of their own worth. Its ethical movement can be read as acknowledgment, remorse, hope for mercy and renewed responsibility.
Printed colophon
Meaning: Closing credit in the 1912 printed collection, attributing the hymn to Śaṅkarācārya. A printed traditional attribution is not by itself historical proof that the eighth-century philosopher composed the specific text.