meenakshidevishankaracharyamadurai

මීනාක්ෂී පඤ්චරත්නම්

Meenakshi Pancharatnam in Sinhala · සිංහල

🕉️ hindu·📿 5× repetitions·🕐 Morning or evening, especially on Fridays and during Navaratri·📜 Stotra composed by Adi Shankaracharya in praise of Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai

Read in your language / script

हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Englishසිංහල𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥

Origin & Story

Stotra composed by Adi Shankaracharya in praise of Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai · Adi Shankaracharya · 8th century CE (circa 788-820)

Adi Shankaracharya, in his travels across India re-establishing the Vedic path, visited the famous Meenakshi-Sundareshwara temple at Madurai in the Pandya country. Beholding the supreme Mother as Meenakshi — the fish-eyed Goddess who is also Shri Vidya enthroned in the Sri Chakra — he poured out this five-jewelled hymn (pancha-ratna). Each verse paints her form, her ornaments and her cosmic glory, always returning to the refrain of bowing to the 'ocean of compassion'. The hymn has since become a beloved part of daily Devi worship in South Indian temples and homes.

✦ As told in scripture

Devotees of Madurai hold that sincere recitation of the Meenakshi Pancharatnam, like the prayers Shankaracharya offered, draws the direct grace of the Mother — bestowing fearlessness, clarity of knowledge and the fulfilment of righteous wishes, just as the verse promises her as the 'granter of every desired fruit'.

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Complete Text with Meaning

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Verse 1

උද්යද්භානුසහස්රකෝටිසදෘශාං කේයූරහාරෝජ්ජ්වලාං විම්බෝෂ්ඨීං ස්මිතදන්තපඞ්ක්තිරුචිරාං පීතාම්බරාලඞ්කෘතාම් . විෂ්ණුබ්රහ්මසුරේන්ද්රසේවිතපදාං තත්ත්වස්වරූපාං ශිවාං මීනාක්ෂීං ප්රණතෝ(අ)ස්මි සන්තතමහං කාරුණ්යවාරාංනිධිම් .. 1..

udyadbhānusahasrakoṭisadṛśāṃ keyūrahārojjvalāṃ vimboṣṭhīṃ smitadantapaṅktirucirāṃ pītāmbarālaṅkṛtām | viṣṇubrahmasurendrasevitapadāṃ tattvasvarūpāṃ śivāṃ mīnākṣīṃ praṇato'smi santatamahaṃ kāruṇyavārāṃnidhim || 1||

Meaning:I bow forever to Meenakshi, the ocean of compassion — whose splendour equals a thousand crore rising suns, radiant with armlets and necklaces, with lips red as the bimba fruit and a lovely smile of glistening teeth, adorned in yellow silk; whose feet are worshipped by Vishnu, Brahma and Indra, who is auspicious Shiva's consort and the very embodiment of Truth.

Verse 2

මුක්තාහාරලසත්කිරීටරුචිරාං පූර්ණේන්දුවක්ත්රප්රභාං ශිඤ්ජන්නූපුරකිඞ්කිණීමණිධරාං පද්මප්රභාභාසුරාම් . සර්වාභීෂ්ටඵලප්රදාං ගිරිසුතාං වාණීරමාසේවිතාං මීනාක්ෂීං ප්රණතෝ(අ)ස්මි සන්තතමහං කාරුණ්යවාරාංනිධිම් .. 2..

muktāhāralasatkirīṭarucirāṃ pūrṇenduvaktraprabhāṃ śiñjannūpurakiṅkiṇīmaṇidharāṃ padmaprabhābhāsurām | sarvābhīṣṭaphalapradāṃ girisutāṃ vāṇīramāsevitāṃ mīnākṣīṃ praṇato'smi santatamahaṃ kāruṇyavārāṃnidhim || 2||

Meaning:I bow forever to Meenakshi, the ocean of compassion — beautiful with a crown agleam with pearls, her face glowing like the full moon, wearing tinkling anklets set with jewelled bells, luminous as a lotus; the granter of every wish, daughter of the mountain, attended by Saraswati and Lakshmi.

Verse 3

ශ්රීවිද්යාං ශිවවාමභාගනිලයාං හ්රීංකාරමන්ත්රෝජ්ජ්වලාං ශ්රීචක්රාඞ්කිතබින්දුමධ්යවසතිං ශ්රීමත්සභානායිකාම් . ශ්රීමත්ෂණ්මුඛවිඝ්නරාජජනනීං ශ්රීමජ්ජගන්මෝහිනීං මීනාක්ෂීං ප්රණතෝ(අ)ස්මි සන්තතමහං කාරුණ්යවාරාංනිධිම් .. 3..

śrīvidyāṃ śivavāmabhāganilayāṃ hrīṃkāramantrojjvalāṃ śrīcakrāṅkitabindumadhyavasatiṃ śrīmatsabhānāyikām | śrīmatṣaṇmukhavighnarājajananīṃ śrīmajjaganmohinīṃ mīnākṣīṃ praṇato'smi santatamahaṃ kāruṇyavārāṃnidhim || 3||

Meaning:I bow forever to Meenakshi, the ocean of compassion — who is Shri Vidya herself, dwelling on Shiva's left side, radiant with the Hrim-kara mantra, seated in the central bindu marked within the Sri Chakra, the gracious queen of the divine assembly; mother of six-faced Skanda and of Ganesha the lord of obstacles, the enchantress of all the worlds.

Verse 4

ශ්රීමත්සුන්දරනායිකාං භයහරාං ජ්ඤානප්රදාං නිර්මලාං ශ්යාමාභාං කමලාසනාර්චිතපදාං නාරායණස්යානුජාම් . වීණාවේණුමෘදඞ්ගවාද්යරසිකාං නානාවිධාමම්බිකාං මීනාක්ෂීං ප්රණතෝ(අ)ස්මි සන්තතමහං කාරුණ්යවාරාංනිධිම් .. 4..

śrīmatsundaranāyikāṃ bhayaharāṃ jñānapradāṃ nirmalāṃ śyāmābhāṃ kamalāsanārcitapadāṃ nārāyaṇasyānujām | vīṇāveṇumṛdaṅgavādyarasikāṃ nānāvidhāmambikāṃ mīnākṣīṃ praṇato'smi santatamahaṃ kāruṇyavārāṃnidhim || 4||

Meaning:I bow forever to Meenakshi, the ocean of compassion — the lovely sovereign lady who removes fear, bestows knowledge and is utterly pure; of dark-blue lustre, her feet worshipped by lotus-seated Brahma, the younger sister of Narayana; delighting in the music of vina, flute and mridanga, the Mother in her many forms.

Verse 5

නානායෝගිමුනීන්ද්රහෘන්නිවසතීං නානාර්ථසිද්ධිප්රදාං නානාපුෂ්පවිරාජිතාංඝ්රියුගලාං නාරායණේනාර්චිතාම් . නාදබ්රහ්මමයීං පරාත්පරතරාං නානාර්ථතත්ත්වාත්මිකාං මීනාක්ෂීං ප්රණතෝ(අ)ස්මි සන්තතමහං කාරුණ්යවාරාංනිධිම් .. 5..

nānāyogimunīndrahṛnnivasatīṃ nānārthasiddhipradāṃ nānāpuṣpavirājitāṃghriyugalāṃ nārāyaṇenārcitām | nādabrahmamayīṃ parātparatarāṃ nānārthatattvātmikāṃ mīnākṣīṃ praṇato'smi santatamahaṃ kāruṇyavārāṃnidhim || 5||

Meaning:I bow forever to Meenakshi, the ocean of compassion — who dwells in the hearts of countless yogis and great sages, granting every kind of attainment; her pair of feet resplendent with many flowers, worshipped by Narayana himself; who is the embodiment of Nada-Brahman, higher than the highest, the very essence of all meanings and truths.

Word-by-Word Meaning

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උද්යද්භානුසහස්රකෝටිසදෘශාං🔊udyad-bhānu-sahasra-koṭi-sadṛśāṃResembling (the radiance of) a thousand crores of rising suns

කේයූරහාරෝජ්ජ්වලාං🔊keyūra-hāra-ujjvalāṃShining with armlets and necklaces

විම්බෝෂ්ඨීං🔊vimba-oṣṭhīṃHaving lips (red) like the bimba fruit

ස්මිතදන්තපඞ්ක්තිරුචිරාං🔊smita-danta-paṅkti-rucirāṃBeautiful with a smiling row of teeth

පීතාම්බරාලඞ්කෘතාම්🔊pīta-ambara-alaṅkṛtāmAdorned with yellow silk garments

විෂ්ණුබ්රහ්මසුරේන්ද්රසේවිතපදාං🔊viṣṇu-brahma-surendra-sevita-padāṃWhose feet are served by Vishnu, Brahma and Indra (king of gods)

තත්ත්වස්වරූපාං🔊tattva-svarūpāṃWhose very form is the ultimate Truth (Reality)

ශිවාං🔊śivāṃThe auspicious one; the consort of Shiva

මීනාක්ෂීං🔊mīnākṣīṃMeenakshi, the fish-eyed Goddess of Madurai

ප්රණතෝ(අ)ස්මි සන්තතම් අහං🔊praṇato'smi santatam ahaṃI bow down (in salutation) for ever / always

කාරුණ්යවාරාංනිධිම්🔊kāruṇya-vārāṃ-nidhimTo the ocean of compassion (the treasure-trove of mercy)

මුක්තාහාරලසත්කිරීටරුචිරාං🔊muktā-hāra-lasat-kirīṭa-rucirāṃLovely with a crown gleaming with pearl-strings

පූර්ණේන්දුවක්ත්රප්රභාං🔊pūrṇa-indu-vaktra-prabhāṃWhose face shines like the full moon

සර්වාභීෂ්ටඵලප්රදාං🔊sarva-abhīṣṭa-phala-pradāṃGranter of all desired fruits / wishes

ගිරිසුතාං🔊giri-sutāṃDaughter of the mountain (Parvati)

වාණීරමාසේවිතාං🔊vāṇī-ramā-sevitāṃServed by Saraswati (Vani) and Lakshmi (Rama)

ශ්රීවිද්යාං🔊śrīvidyāṃWho is Shri Vidya (the supreme esoteric wisdom)

ශ්රීචක්රාඞ්කිතබින්දුමධ්යවසතිං🔊śrīcakra-aṅkita-bindu-madhya-vasatiṃWho dwells in the central bindu of the Sri Chakra

ෂණ්මුඛවිඝ්නරාජජනනීං🔊ṣaṇmukha-vighnarāja-jananīṃMother of Shanmukha (Skanda) and Vighnaraja (Ganesha)

ජගන්මෝහිනීං🔊jagat-mohinīṃEnchantress of the whole world

නාදබ්රහ්මමයීං🔊nāda-brahma-mayīṃEmbodiment of Nada-Brahman (the primordial cosmic sound)

පරාත්පරතරාං🔊parāt-para-tarāṃHigher than the highest; the supreme beyond the supreme

Benefits of Chanting Meenakshi Pancharatnam

✦

Invokes the grace, protection and motherly compassion of Goddess Meenakshi

✦

Composed by Adi Shankaracharya himself — a potent and authentic Shakta hymn

✦

Bestows wisdom (jnana), removes fear and fulfils sincere desires (sarva-abhishta-phala-prada)

✦

Aligns the devotee with Shri Vidya and the worship of the Sri Chakra

✦

Cultivates devotion, calms the mind and steadies the heart in the Mother's remembrance

✦

Short enough to memorise yet rich in meaning for daily recitation

✦

Especially auspicious on Fridays and during Navaratri for Devi upasana

How to Chant Meenakshi Pancharatnam

Repetitions5times

Best TimeMorning or evening, especially on Fridays and during Navaratri

Bathe and sit facing east or north before an image of Goddess Meenakshi or a Sri Chakra. Light a lamp and incense, and recite the five verses slowly and melodiously with devotion, dwelling on each 'Meenakshim pranato'smi' refrain as a heartfelt bow. It may be chanted once daily, or in cycles of 5 or 9 rounds during special worship. Conclude with a silent prayer to the Mother for grace, wisdom and protection.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete Meenakshi Pancharatnam written in the Sinhala script — the same Sanskrit/Hindi verses, transliterated character-by-character so you can read and chant comfortably. Tap any line (or the ▶ button) to hear it recited aloud.

Yes — only the script changes; the words and their meaning are the original. The verse-by-verse meaning, benefits and how-to-chant guidance on this page apply exactly the same.

It is traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya (8th century CE), the great Advaita master, who composed many such Devi hymns including the Soundarya Lahari and Kanakadhara Stotram. He is said to have sung it at the Meenakshi temple in Madurai.

Meenakshi ('the fish-eyed one') is the supreme Divine Mother worshipped at the great Meenakshi-Sundareshwara temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She is a form of Parvati/Shakti and consort of Sundareshwara (Shiva), and is identified with Shri Vidya and the Sri Chakra.

Every verse closes with 'Meenakshim pranato'smi santatam aham karunya-varam-nidhim', meaning 'I bow down forever to Meenakshi, who is the ocean of compassion.' This repeated surrender is the heart of the hymn.

It can be recited any day with devotion, but is considered especially powerful on Fridays (sacred to the Goddess) and during the nine nights of Navaratri, as well as during Sri Chakra or Lalita worship.