shivaashtakamshankaracharyanamavali

ශිවනාමාවල්යෂ්ටකම්

शिवनामावल्यष्टकम् in Sinhala · සිංහල

🕉️ hindu·📿 8× repetitions·🕐 Daily at dawn or dusk, on Mondays, during Pradosha Kaal, and on Maha Shivaratri·📜 Shaiva stotra corpus attributed to Adi Shankaracharya

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हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Englishසිංහල𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥

Origin & Story

Shaiva stotra corpus attributed to Adi Shankaracharya · Adi Shankaracharya (traditionally) · c. 8th century CE

This namavali ashtakam belongs to the rich body of Shiva hymns ascribed to Adi Shankaracharya. Rather than narrating a story, it pours out a continuous garland of Shiva's epithets — from his cosmic attributes (Nilakantha who drank the poison, Gangadhara who bears the river, the five-faced Panchavaktra) to his sacred geography (Vishvanatha and Manikarnika-isha of Kashi). The repeated cry 'Jagadisha Raksha' frames the whole hymn as a prayer of refuge by a soul lost in the wilderness of worldly suffering.

✦ As told in scripture

Devotees recite this ashtakam in times of fear, illness or hardship, trusting the promise implicit in its refrain — that the Lord of the universe protects those who surrender. The final verse, saluting Shiva as the destroyer of the sorrow of poverty, is especially chanted by those in financial distress, who report relief and renewed steadiness through faith in his grace.

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Complete Text with Meaning

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Verse 1

හේ චන්ද්රචූඩ මදනාන්තක ශූලපාණේ ස්ථාණෝ ගිරීශ ගිරිජේශ මහේශ ශම්භෝ. භූතේශ භීතභයසූදන මාමනාථං සංසාරදුඃඛගහනාජ්ජගදීශ රක්ෂ..1..

He Chandrachuda Madana-Antaka Shula-Pane Sthano Girisha Girija-Isha Mahesha Shambho Bhutesha Bhita-Bhaya-Sudana Mam-Anatham Samsara-Duhkha-Gahanaj-Jagadisha Raksha (1)

Meaning:हे चन्द्रचूड, कामदेव के अन्तक, शूलधारी; हे स्थाणु, गिरीश, गिरिजेश, महेश, शम्भो; हे भूतेश, भयभीतों का भय दूर करने वाले — मुझ अनाथ की संसार के दुःखरूपी सघन वन से रक्षा कीजिए, हे जगदीश!

Verse 2

හේ පාර්වතීහෘදයවල්ලභ චන්ද්රමෞලේ භූතාධිප ප්රමථනාථ ගිරීශචාප. හේ වාමදේව භව රුද්ර පිනාකපාණේ සංසාරදුඃඛගහනාජ්ජගදීශ රක්ෂ..2..

He Parvati-Hridaya-Vallabha Chandra-Maule Bhuta-Adhipa Pramatha-Natha Girisha-Chapa He Vamadeva Bhava Rudra Pinaka-Pane Samsara-Duhkha-Gahanaj-Jagadisha Raksha (2)

Meaning:हे पार्वती के हृदयवल्लभ, चन्द्रमौलि; हे भूताधिप, प्रमथनाथ, गिरीशचाप (मेरुधनुर्धारी); हे वामदेव, भव, रुद्र, पिनाकपाणि — संसार के दुःखरूपी सघन वन से मेरी रक्षा कीजिए, हे जगदीश!

Verse 3

හේ නීලකණ්ඨ වෘෂභධ්වජ පඤ්චවක්ත්ර ලෝකේශ ශේෂවලය ප්රමථේශ ශර්ව. හේ ධූර්ජටේ පශුපතේ ගිරිජාපතේ මාං සංසාරදුඃඛගහනාජ්ජගදීශ රක්ෂ..3..

He Nilakantha Vrishabha-Dhvaja Pancha-Vaktra Lokesha Shesha-Valaya Pramath-Esha Sharva He Dhurjate Pashupate Girija-Pate Mam Samsara-Duhkha-Gahanaj-Jagadisha Raksha (3)

Meaning:हे नीलकण्ठ, वृषभध्वज, पञ्चमुख; हे लोकेश, शेषवलय (नागकंकण), प्रमथेश, शर्व; हे धूर्जटि, पशुपति, गिरिजापति — संसार के दुःखरूपी सघन वन से मेरी रक्षा कीजिए, हे जगदीश!

Verse 4

හේ විශ්වනාථ ශිව ශඞ්කර දේවදේව ගඞ්ගාධර ප්රමථනායක නන්දිකේශ. බාණේශ්වරාන්ධකරිපෝ හර ලෝකනාථ සංසාරදුඃඛගහනාජ්ජගදීශ රක්ෂ..4..

He Vishvanatha Shiva Shankara Deva-Deva Gangadhara Pramatha-Nayaka Nandikesha Baneshvar-Andhaka-Ripo Hara Loka-Natha Samsara-Duhkha-Gahanaj-Jagadisha Raksha (4)

Meaning:हे विश्वनाथ, शिव, शंकर, देवदेव; हे गंगाधर, प्रमथनायक, नन्दिकेश; हे बाणेश्वर, अन्धकारि, हर, लोकनाथ — संसार के दुःखरूपी सघन वन से मेरी रक्षा कीजिए, हे जगदीश!

Verse 5

වාරාණසීපුරපතේ මණිකර්ණිකේශ වීරේශ දක්ෂමඛකාල විභෝ ගණේශ. සර්වජ්ඤ සර්වහෘදයෛකනිවාස නාථ සංසාරදුඃඛගහනාජ්ජගදීශ රක්ෂ..5..

Varanasi-Pura-Pate Manikarnik-Esha Viresha Daksha-Makha-Kala Vibho Gan-Esha Sarvajna Sarva-Hridayaika-Nivasa Natha Samsara-Duhkha-Gahanaj-Jagadisha Raksha (5)

Meaning:हे वाराणसीपुरपति, मणिकर्णिकेश; हे वीरेश, दक्षयज्ञविनाशक, विभो गणेश; हे सर्वज्ञ, सबके हृदय में एकमात्र निवास करने वाले नाथ — संसार के दुःखरूपी सघन वन से मेरी रक्षा कीजिए, हे जगदीश!

Verse 6

ශ්රීමන්මහේශ්වර කෘපාමය හේ දයාලෝ හේ ව්යෝමකේශ ශිතිකණ්ඨ ගණාධිනාථ. භස්මාඞ්ගරාග නෘකපාලකලාපමාල සංසාරදුඃඛගහනාජ්ජගදීශ රක්ෂ..6..

Shriman-Maheshvara Kripamaya He Dayalo He Vyoma-Kesha Shiti-Kantha Gana-Adhi-Natha Bhasma-Anga-Raga Nri-Kapala-Kalapa-Mala Samsara-Duhkha-Gahanaj-Jagadisha Raksha (6)

Meaning:हे श्रीमन्महेश्वर, कृपामय, दयालु; हे व्योमकेश, शितिकण्ठ, गणाधिनाथ; हे भस्म ही जिनका अंगराग है, नरकपालों की माला धारण करने वाले — संसार के दुःखरूपी सघन वन से मेरी रक्षा कीजिए, हे जगदीश!

Verse 7

කෛලාසශෛලවිනිවාස විශාලභාල භාලලෝචන සුරේශ සුරාරිනාථ. හේ අන්ධකාසුරනිසූදන මේදිනීශ සංසාරදුඃඛගහනාජ්ජගදීශ රක්ෂ..7..

Kailasa-Shaila-Vinivasa Vishala-Bhala Bhala-Lochana Suresha Sura-Ari-Natha He Andhaka-Asura-Nisudana Medinisha Samsara-Duhkha-Gahanaj-Jagadisha Raksha (7)

Meaning:हे कैलासशैल निवासी, विशालभाल; हे भाललोचन, सुरेश, सुरारिनाथ; हे अन्धकासुरनिसूदन, मेदिनीश — संसार के दुःखरूपी सघन वन से मेरी रक्षा कीजिए, हे जगदीश!

Verse 8

ගෞරීවිලාසභවනාය මහේශ්වරාය පඤ්චානනාය ශරණාගතකල්පකාය. ශර්වාය සර්වජගතාමධිපාය තස්මෛ දාරිද්ර්යදුඃඛදහනාය නමඃ ශිවාය..8..

Gauri-Vilasa-Bhavanaya Maheshvaraya Panchananaya Sharana-Agata-Kalpakaya Sharvaya Sarva-Jagatam-Adhipaya Tasmai Daridrya-Duhkha-Dahanaya Namah Shivaya (8)

Meaning:जो गौरी के विलास के भवनस्वरूप हैं, महेश्वर हैं, पञ्चानन हैं, शरणागतों के लिए कल्पवृक्ष हैं, शर्व हैं, समस्त जगत् के अधिपति हैं — उस दारिद्र्य-दुःख को भस्म करने वाले शिव को नमस्कार है।

Word-by-Word Meaning

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හේ චන්ද්රචූඩ🔊He ChandrachudaO Lord who wears the crescent moon in your hair

මදනාන්තක🔊Madana-AntakaO destroyer of Madana (Kama, the god of desire)

ශූලපාණේ🔊Shula-PaneO wielder of the trident in your hand

ගිරීශ ගිරිජේශ මහේශ ශම්භෝ🔊Girisha Girija-Isha Mahesha ShambhoO Lord of the mountains, Lord of Girija (Parvati), great Lord, source of bliss

භීතභයසූදන🔊Bhita-Bhaya-SudanaO remover of the fear of the frightened

මාම් අනාථං🔊Mam Anathamme, who am without a protector

සංසාරදුඃඛගහනාත්🔊Samsara-Duhkha-Gahanatfrom the dense thicket of the sorrows of worldly existence

ජගදීශ රක්ෂ🔊Jagadisha RakshaO Lord of the universe, protect (me)!

පාර්වතීහෘදයවල්ලභ🔊Parvati-Hridaya-VallabhaO beloved of Parvati's heart

නීලකණ්ඨ🔊NilakanthaO blue-throated one (who held the Halahala poison)

වෘෂභධ්වජ🔊Vrishabha-DhvajaO one whose banner bears the bull (Nandi)

පඤ්චවක්ත්ර🔊Pancha-VaktraO five-faced one

ගඞ්ගාධර🔊GangadharaO bearer of the river Ganga

විශ්වනාථ🔊VishvanathaO Lord of the universe (the deity of Kashi)

වාරාණසීපුරපතේ🔊Varanasi-Pura-PateO Lord of the city of Varanasi (Kashi)

මණිකර්ණිකේශ🔊Manikarnik-EshaO Lord of the Manikarnika ghat

ව්යෝමකේශ🔊Vyoma-KeshaO one whose hair is the sky (space)

භස්මාඞ්ගරාග🔊Bhasma-Anga-RagaO one whose bodily adornment is sacred ash

ගෞරීවිලාසභවනාය🔊Gauri-Vilasa-BhavanayaTo him who is the abode of Gauri's (Parvati's) delight

දාරිද්ර්යදුඃඛදහනාය නමඃ ශිවාය🔊Daridrya-Duhkha-Dahanaya Namah Shivayato the burner-away of the sorrow of poverty — salutations to Shiva

Benefits of Chanting शिवनामावल्यष्टकम्

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A powerful prayer for protection from the sorrows and fears of worldly existence (samsara)

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Each verse is a garland of Shiva's names, making it a complete act of nama-smarana (remembrance of the divine names)

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The recurring plea 'Jagadisha Raksha' instils surrender and fearlessness

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The final verse is especially invoked to remove poverty and material distress (daridrya-duhkha-dahana)

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Cultivates steady devotion and refuge in Shiva as the sole protector of the helpless

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Easy and uplifting to chant daily for peace of mind

How to Chant शिवनामावल्यष्टकम्

Repetitions8times

Best TimeDaily at dawn or dusk, on Mondays, during Pradosha Kaal, and on Maha Shivaratri

Recite all eight verses with devotion, calling out each of Shiva's names with feeling and dwelling on the plea for protection. It is well suited to daily recitation as a prayer for refuge and freedom from fear. Chanting before a Shiva Lingam or image, or simply with eyes closed in remembrance, is recommended. The eighth verse closes with 'Namah Shivaya', so let the mind rest in surrender at the end.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete शिवनामावल्यष्टकम् 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 an eight-verse Sanskrit hymn (ashtakam) that weaves together many of Shiva's sacred names (namavali) into a prayer for protection. It is traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya and begins 'He Chandrachuda Madana-Antaka Shula-Pane'.

It means 'O Lord of the universe (Jagadisha), protect me from the dense forest (gahana) of the sorrows (duhkha) of worldly existence (samsara)!'. This plea ends the first seven verses, expressing complete surrender and a cry for refuge.

The eighth and final verse salutes Shiva as 'Daridrya-Duhkha-Dahanaya' — the one who burns away the sorrow of poverty. For this reason the hymn is recited not only for protection but also to relieve material hardship and distress.

It can be chanted any day as a daily prayer for protection, and is especially recited on Mondays, during Pradosha Kaal, in the month of Shravan, and on Maha Shivaratri.