භ්රමරාම්බාෂ්ටකම්
Bhramaramba Ashtakam in Sinhala · සිංහල
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Origin & Story
Devotional hymn attributed to Adi Shankaracharya (associated with the Srisailam Shakti Peetha) · Adi Shankaracharya · c. 8th century CE (traditional attribution)
Srisailam, on the banks of the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh, is unique as both a Jyotirlinga (Mallikarjuna) and a Maha Shakti Peetha (Bhramaramba). The Goddess is celebrated as Bhramari, who took the form of a swarm of bees to slay the demon Arunasura. Adi Shankaracharya, on his pilgrimage to this great kshetra, is traditionally said to have composed the Bhramaramba Ashtakam in her praise, weaving together her beauty, her presence in the Sri Vidya tradition, and her identity with the cosmic Mother.
✦ As told in scripture
According to the Devi Mahatmya and local tradition, when the demon Arunasura — invincible against all two- and four-legged creatures — terrorised the worlds, the Goddess assumed the form of countless bees (bhramara) and destroyed him, thus becoming Bhramaramba. Devotees hold that meditating on her through this Ashtakam at Srisailam dissolves the six inner enemies and grants the Mother's swift protection.
Complete Text with Meaning
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චාඤ්චල්යාරුණලෝචනාඤ්චිතකෘපාචන්ද්රාර්කපට්ටෝදරාං චාරුස්මේරමුඛීං චරාචරජගත්සංරක්ෂණීං තත්පරාම් . නිත්යං චින්මයකෞස්තුභප්රභෘතිභිර්භූෂාමණීභූෂිතාං ශ්රීශෛලස්ථලවාසිනීං භගවතීං ශ්රීමාතරං භාවයේ .. 1..
cāñcalyāruṇalocanāñcitakṛpācandrārkapaṭṭodarāṃ cārusmeramukhīṃ carācarajagatsaṃrakṣaṇīṃ tatparām | nityaṃ cinmayakaustubhaprabhṛtibhirbhūṣāmaṇībhūṣitāṃ śrīśailasthalavāsinīṃ bhagavatīṃ śrīmātaraṃ bhāvaye || 1||
Meaning:1. I meditate on the Goddess, the divine Mother who dwells at Srisailam — with restless reddish eyes brimming with grace, her form like a tablet of moon and sun, with a lovely smiling face, ever intent on protecting the whole world of moving and unmoving beings, adorned with jewels such as the Kaustubha of pure Consciousness.
කස්තූරීතිලකාඤ්චිතේන්දුවිලසත්ප්රෝද්භාසිඵාලස්ථලීං කර්පූරද්රවමිශ්රචූර්ණඛදිරාමෝදෝල්ලසද්වීටිකාම් . ලෝලාපාඞ්ගතරඞ්ගිතෛරධිකෘපාසාරෛර්නතානන්දිනීං ශ්රීශෛලස්ථලවාසිනීං භගවතීං ශ්රීමාතරං භාවයේ .. 2..
kastūrītilakāñcitenduvilasatprodbhāsiphālasthalīṃ karpūradravamiśracūrṇakhadirāmodollasadvīṭikām | lolāpāṅgataraṅgitairadhikṛpāsārairnatānandinīṃ śrīśailasthalavāsinīṃ bhagavatīṃ śrīmātaraṃ bhāvaye || 2||
Meaning:2. I meditate on the divine Mother of Srisailam — her brow shining with a musk tilaka bright as the moon, enjoying a betel-roll fragrant with camphor and catechu, gladdening those who bow with waves of abundant grace flowing from the corners of her rolling eyes.
රාජන්මත්තමරාලමන්දගමනාං රාජීවපත්රේක්ෂණාං රාජීවප්රභවාදිදේවමකුටෛරාරාධිතාංඝ්රිද්වයාම් . රාජීවායතමන්දහාසවදනාං රාකේන්දුබිම්බානනාං ශ්රීශෛලස්ථලවාසිනීං භගවතීං ශ්රීමාතරං භාවයේ .. 3..
rājanmattamarālamandagamanāṃ rājīvapatrekṣaṇāṃ rājīvaprabhavādidevamakuṭairārādhitāṃghridvayām | rājīvāyatamandahāsavadanāṃ rākendubimbānanāṃ śrīśailasthalavāsinīṃ bhagavatīṃ śrīmātaraṃ bhāvaye || 3||
Meaning:3. I meditate on the divine Mother of Srisailam — moving gently as a regal, joyful swan, with eyes like lotus petals, her pair of feet worshipped by the crowns of Brahma and the foremost gods, her face bearing a soft lotus-like smile, radiant as the orb of the full moon.
ෂට්තාරඞ්ගණදීපිකාං ශිවසතීං ෂඩ්වෛරිවර්ගාපහාං ෂට්චක්රාන්තරසංස්ථිතාං වරසුධාං ෂඩ්යෝගිනීවේෂ්ටිතාම් . ෂට්කෝණාන්තරවර්තිනීං සුරනුතාං ෂඩ්භාවගාං ෂණ්මුඛීං ශ්රීශෛලස්ථලවාසිනීං භගවතීං ශ්රීමාතරං භාවයේ .. 4..
ṣaṭtāraṅgaṇadīpikāṃ śivasatīṃ ṣaḍvairivargāpahāṃ ṣaṭcakrāntarasaṃsthitāṃ varasudhāṃ ṣaḍyoginīveṣṭitām | ṣaṭkoṇāntaravartinīṃ suranutāṃ ṣaḍbhāvagāṃ ṣaṇmukhīṃ śrīśailasthalavāsinīṃ bhagavatīṃ śrīmātaraṃ bhāvaye || 4||
Meaning:4. I meditate on the divine Mother of Srisailam — the lamp of the six stars, the chaste consort of Shiva, remover of the six inner foes (lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride, envy), abiding within the six chakras as the supreme nectar, encircled by the six yoginis, dwelling within the six-cornered yantra, praised by the gods, present in the six states, the six-faced one.
ශ්රීනාථාදෘතපාලිතත්රිභුවනාං ශ්රීචක්රසඤ්චාරිණීං ජ්ඤානාසක්තමනෝජයෝගමහිතාං ශ්රීබින්දුනාදප්රියාම් . මාතංගීං මධුපානලෝලමනසං මාහේශ්වරීං ශ්රීප්රදාං ශ්රීශෛලස්ථලවාසිනීං භගවතීං ශ්රීමාතරං භාවයේ .. 5..
śrīnāthādṛtapālitatribhuvanāṃ śrīcakrasañcāriṇīṃ jñānāsaktamanojayogamahitāṃ śrībindunādapriyām | mātaṅgīṃ madhupānalolamanasaṃ māheśvarīṃ śrīpradāṃ śrīśailasthalavāsinīṃ bhagavatīṃ śrīmātaraṃ bhāvaye || 5||
Meaning:5. I meditate on the divine Mother of Srisailam — who, cherished by the Lord of Shri (Vishnu/Shiva), protects the three worlds, who moves within the Sri Chakra, honoured by the yoga of the mind devoted to knowledge, beloved of the Bindu and Nada, who is Matangi, her mind delighting in the nectar-draught, the great Maheshwari, bestower of prosperity.
ලාවණ්යාධිකභූෂිතාඞ්ගලතිකාං ලාක්ෂාරසාරඤ්ජිතාං සේවායාතසමස්තදේවවනිතාං සීමාතිගාස්ථාං ශිවාම් . වාණීවල්ලභවාසවප්රභෘතිභිඃ සංසේවිතාඞ්ඝ්රිද්වයාං ශ්රීශෛලස්ථලවාසිනීං භගවතීං ශ්රීමාතරං භාවයේ .. 6..
lāvaṇyādhikabhūṣitāṅgalatikāṃ lākṣārasārañjitāṃ sevāyātasamastadevavanitāṃ sīmātigāsthāṃ śivām | vāṇīvallabhavāsavaprabhṛtibhiḥ saṃsevitāṅghridvayāṃ śrīśailasthalavāsinīṃ bhagavatīṃ śrīmātaraṃ bhāvaye || 6||
Meaning:6. I meditate on the divine Mother of Srisailam — her creeper-like body adorned with surpassing loveliness, tinged with red lac, attended by all the women of the gods who come to serve her, abiding beyond all bounds, the auspicious Shiva-Shakti, her two feet served by Brahma, Indra and the rest.
ධන්යාං සෝමවිභාවනීයචරිතාං ධාත්රාදිසම්පූජිතාං වේදාන්තප්රතිපාදිතාං භගවතීං ශ්රීශම්භුසම්මානිතාම් . නිත්යං බ්රහ්මමුඛප්රකීර්තිතයශාං ශ්රීනාරදාද්යෛඃ ස්තුතාං ශ්රීශෛලස්ථලවාසිනීං භගවතීං ශ්රීමාතරං භාවයේ .. 7..
dhanyāṃ somavibhāvanīyacaritāṃ dhātrādisampūjitāṃ vedāntapratipāditāṃ bhagavatīṃ śrīśambhusammānitām | nityaṃ brahmamukhaprakīrtitayaśāṃ śrīnāradādyaiḥ stutāṃ śrīśailasthalavāsinīṃ bhagavatīṃ śrīmātaraṃ bhāvaye || 7||
Meaning:7. I meditate on the divine Mother of Srisailam — the blessed one whose deeds are worthy of contemplation like the moon, worshipped by Brahma and the gods, expounded by Vedanta, honoured by Shri Shambhu (Shiva), her fame ever sung by the mouth of Brahma, praised by Narada and the other sages.
ගායත්රීං ගරුඩධ්වජාං ගගනගාං ගාන්ධර්වගානප්රියාං ගම්භීරාං ගජගාමිනීං ගිරිසුතාං ගන්ධාක්ෂතාලඞ්කෘතාම් . ගඞ්ගාගෞතමගර්ගසන්නුතපදාං ගාං ගෞතමීං ගෝමතීං ශ්රීශෛලස්ථලවාසිනීං භගවතීං ශ්රීමාතරං භාවයේ .. 8..
gāyatrīṃ garuḍadhvajāṃ gaganagāṃ gāndharvagānapriyāṃ gambhīrāṃ gajagāminīṃ girisutāṃ gandhākṣatālaṅkṛtām | gaṅgāgautamagargasannutapadāṃ gāṃ gautamīṃ gomatīṃ śrīśailasthalavāsinīṃ bhagavatīṃ śrīmātaraṃ bhāvaye || 8||
Meaning:8. I meditate on the divine Mother of Srisailam — who is Gayatri, who bears Garuda on her banner, who moves through the sky, who loves celestial (Gandharva) song, the profound one, moving with an elephant's grace, the daughter of the mountain, adorned with sandal and sacred rice, whose feet are praised by Ganga and sages Gautama and Garga — who is the Earth (Go), the Gautami (Godavari) and the Gomati.
Word-by-Word Meaning
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Benefits of Chanting Bhramaramba Ashtakam
Invokes Bhramaramba of Srisailam, one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas, in a concise eight-verse form
The fourth verse prays to the Goddess as the remover of the six inner foes (lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride, envy)
Cultivates devotion and meditative visualisation of the Divine Mother (each verse is a 'bhavaye' — 'I meditate')
Aids inner ascent, describing the Goddess as present in the six chakras and the Sri Chakra
Believed to bestow protection, prosperity (Shri-prada) and the Mother's all-encompassing grace
Especially powerful for pilgrims and devotees of the Srisailam Mallikarjuna-Bhramaramba kshetra
Its rich Sanskrit and alliteration (the 'ga' and 'sha' verses) make it a beloved hymn for chanting
How to Chant Bhramaramba Ashtakam
Recite the eight verses seated before an image of Bhramaramba or the Devi, ideally after a bath and lighting a lamp, offering kumkum and flowers. Each verse is a meditation ('bhavaye') — visualise the Mother as described, dwelling at Srisailam, present in the chakras and the Sri Chakra. The hymn may be recited once or 3, 9 or 11 times. It is especially auspicious during a pilgrimage to the Srisailam Shakti Peetha.
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