taranilasaraswatimahavidyadasha-mahavidya

තාරා ස්තෝත්රම් (තාරාෂ්ටකම් / නීලසරස්වතී ස්තෝත්රම්)

तारा स्तोत्रम् (ताराष्टकम् / नीलसरस्वती स्तोत्रम्) in Sinhala · සිංහල

🕉️ hindu·📿 11× repetitions·🕐 At dawn, midday and dusk (trisandhya), as the hymn itself prescribes; Tuesdays and during Navaratri are especially favoured·📜 Brihannila Tantra (Brihannila-tantra); a celebrated Tantric hymn to Tara / Nilasaraswati

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हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Englishසිංහල𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥

Origin & Story

Brihannila Tantra (Brihannila-tantra); a celebrated Tantric hymn to Tara / Nilasaraswati · Traditional (anonymous); part of the Tara / Nilasaraswati Tantric corpus · Medieval Tantric period

Tara is venerated especially in eastern India, with her great seat at Tarapith in Bengal, where the sage Vasishtha is said to have perfected her sadhana after receiving the 'Chinachara' method. As Nilasaraswati she unites the fierce, liberating power of the Mahavidyas with the grace of the goddess of speech. This Tarashtakam, preserved in the Brihannila Tantra, is among the most widely recited hymns in her worship and is also known as the Nilasaraswati Stotram.

✦ As told in scripture

It is traditionally held that constant recitation of this Tarashtakam awakens vak-siddhi — the power of speech — so that a once dull or tongue-tied devotee becomes as eloquent as Brihaspati and as gifted in poetry as the great poets; the hymn itself affirms that even a lowly, weary man, by serving Tara's feet, gains every excellence.

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Complete Text with Meaning

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Verse 1

මාතර්නීලසරස්වති ප්රණමතාං සෞභාග්යසම්පත්ප්රදේ ප්රත්යාලීඪපදස්ථිතේ ශවහෘදි ස්මේරානනාම්භෝරුහේ. ඵුල්ලේන්දීවරලෝචනේ ත්රිනයනේ කර්ත්රීකපාලෝත්පලේ ඛඩ්ගං චාදධතී ත්වමේව ශරණං ත්වාමීශ්වරීමාශ්රයේ..1..

Mātar nīlasarasvati praṇamatāṁ saubhāgyasampatprade pratyālīḍhapadasthite śavahṛdi smerānanāmbhoruhe। phullendīvaralocane trinayane kartrīkapālotpale khaḍgaṁ cādadhatī tvam eva śaraṇaṁ tvām īśvarīm āśraye॥1॥

Meaning:हे माँ नीलसरस्वति! प्रणाम करने वालों को सौभाग्य और सम्पत्ति देने वाली, प्रत्यालीढ़ मुद्रा में शव (शिव) के हृदय पर खड़ी, मुस्कानयुक्त कमलमुखी, खिले नीलकमल-सम तीन नेत्रों वाली, कैंची, कपाल और नीलकमल धारण किए तथा खड्ग लिए हुए — आप ही मेरी शरण हैं; मैं आप सर्वेश्वरी की शरण लेता हूँ।

Verse 2

වාචාමීශ්වරි භක්තිකල්පලතිකේ සර්වාර්ථසිද්ධීශ්වරි ගද්යප්රාකෘතපද්යජාතරචනාසර්වාර්ථසිද්ධිප්රදේ. නීලේන්දීවරලෝචනත්රයයුතේ කාරුණ්යවාරාන්නිධේ සෞභාග්යාමෘතවර්ධනේන කෘපයා සිඤ්ච ත්වමස්මාදෘශම්..2..

Vācām īśvari bhaktikalpalatike sarvārthasiddhīśvari gadyaprākṛtapadyajātaracanāsarvārthasiddhiprade। nīlendīvaralocanatrayayute kāruṇyavārānnidhe saubhāgyāmṛtavardhanena kṛpayā siñca tvam asmādṛśam॥2॥

Meaning:हे वाणी की ईश्वरी, भक्तों के लिए कल्पलता, समस्त सिद्धियों की स्वामिनी, गद्य-प्राकृत-पद्य की रचना तथा सर्वार्थ सिद्धि देने वाली, नीलकमल-सम तीन नेत्रों वाली, करुणा की सागर! कृपा करके मुझ जैसे को सौभाग्यामृत से सींच दीजिए।

Verse 3

ඛර්වේ ගර්වසමූහපූරිතතනෝ සර්පාදිවේෂෝජ්ජ්වලේ ව්යාඝ්රත්වක්පරිවීතසුන්දරකටිව්යාධූතඝණ්ටාඞ්කිතේ. සද්යඃකෘත්තගලද්රජඃපරිමිලන්මුණ්ඩද්වයීමූර්ද්ධජ- ග්රන්ථිශ්රේණිනෘමුණ්ඩදාමලලිතේ භීමේ භයං නාශය..3..

Kharve garvasamūhapūritatano sarpādiveṣojjvale vyāghratvakparivītasundarakaṭivyādhūtaghaṇṭāṅkite। sadyaḥkṛttagaladrajaḥparimilanmuṇḍadvayīmūrddhaja- granthiśreṇinṛmuṇḍadāmalalite bhīme bhayaṁ nāśaya॥3॥

Meaning:हे ठिगने कद वाली, गर्व से पूर्ण शरीर वाली, सर्पादि आभूषणों से उज्ज्वल, व्याघ्रचर्म से वेष्टित सुंदर कटि में बँधी घण्टियों से अंकित, तत्काल कटे और रक्त बहाते मस्तकों तथा नरमुण्डों की माला से सुसज्जित — हे भीमे! मेरे भय का नाश करो।

Verse 4

මායානඞ්ගවිකාරරූපලලනාබින්ද්වර්ද්ධචන්ද්රාම්බිකේ හුංඵට්කාරමයි ත්වමේව ශරණං මන්ත්රාත්මිකේ මාදෘශඃ. මූර්තිස්තේ ජනනි ත්රිධාමඝටිතා ස්ථූලාතිසූක්ෂ්මා පරා වේදානාං නහි ගෝචරා කථමපි ප්රාජ්ඤෛර්නුතාමාශ්රයේ..4..

Māyānaṅgavikārarūpalalanābindvarddhacandrāmbike huṁphaṭkāramayi tvam eva śaraṇaṁ mantrātmike mādṛśaḥ। mūrtis te janani tridhāmaghaṭitā sthūlātisūkṣmā parā vedānāṁ nahi gocarā kathamapi prājñair nutām āśraye॥4॥

Meaning:हे माया एवं अनंग के विकाररूप, बिंदु और अर्धचंद्र से युक्त, हुँ-फट् स्वरूपा, मंत्रात्मिके माँ! आप ही मुझ जैसे की शरण हैं। हे जननी! आपका विग्रह तीनों धामों से बना — स्थूल, अति सूक्ष्म और पर — वेदों से भी अगोचर है; ज्ञानियों से वंदित उसका मैं आश्रय लेता हूँ।

Verse 5

ත්වත්පාදාම්බුජසේවයා සුකෘතිනෝ ගච්ඡන්ති සායුජ්යතාං තස්යාඃ ශ්රීපරමේශ්වරත්රිනයනබ්රහ්මාදිසාම්යාත්මනඃ. සංසාරාම්බුධිමජ්ජනේ පටුතනුර්දේවේන්ද්රමුඛ්යාසුරාන් මාතස්තේ පදසේවනේ හි විමුඛාන් කිං මන්දධීඃ සේවතේ..5..

Tvatpādāmbujasevayā sukṛtino gacchanti sāyujyatāṁ tasyāḥ śrīparameśvaratrinayanabrahmādisāmyātmanaḥ। saṁsārāmbudhimajjane paṭutanur devendramukhyāsurān mātas te padasevane hi vimukhān kiṁ mandadhīḥ sevate॥5॥

Meaning:आपके चरण-कमलों की सेवा से पुण्यात्मा सायुज्य मुक्ति पाते हैं और शिव, ब्रह्मा आदि के समान हो जाते हैं। संसार-सागर में डूबने में निपुण तथा आपकी चरण-सेवा से विमुख इन्द्रादि देवताओं की कौन मंदबुद्धि सेवा करेगा?

Verse 6

මාතස්ත්වත්පදපඞ්කජද්වයරජෝමුද්රාඞ්කකෝටීරිණස්තේ දේවා ජයසඞ්ගරේ විජයිනෝ නිඃශඞ්කමඞ්කේ ගතාඃ. දේවෝ(අ)හං භුවනේ න මේ සම ඉති ස්පර්ද්ධාං වහන්තඃ පරේ තත්තුල්යාං නියතං යථා ශශිරවී නාශං ව්රජන්ති ස්වයම්..6..

Mātas tvatpadapaṅkajadvayarajomudrāṅkakoṭīriṇas te devā jayasaṅgare vijayino niḥśaṅkam aṅke gatāḥ। devo'haṁ bhuvane na me sama iti spardhāṁ vahantaḥ pare tattulyāṁ niyataṁ yathā śaśiravī nāśaṁ vrajanti svayam॥6॥

Meaning:हे माँ! जिन देवों के मुकुट आपके चरण-रज से अंकित हैं, वे संग्राम में विजयी होकर निःशंक आपकी गोद में रहते हैं; और 'मैं देवता हूँ, मेरे समान कोई नहीं' ऐसी स्पर्धा करने वाले स्वयं ही चंद्र-सूर्य की भाँति नाश को प्राप्त होते हैं।

Verse 7

ත්වන්නාමස්මරණාත්පලායනපරාන්ද්රෂ්ටුං ච ශක්තා න තේ භූතප්රේතපිශාචරාක්ෂසගණා යක්ෂශ්ච නාගාධිපාඃ. දෛත්යා දානවපුඞ්ගවාශ්ච ඛචරා ව්යාඝ්රාදිකා ජන්තවෝ ඩාකින්යඃ කුපිතාන්තකශ්ච මනුජාන් මාතඃ ක්ෂණං භූතලේ..7..

Tvannāmasmaraṇāt palāyanaparān draṣṭuṁ ca śaktā na te bhūtapretapiśācarākṣasagaṇā yakṣaś ca nāgādhipāḥ। daityā dānavapuṅgavāś ca khacarā vyāghrādikā jantavo ḍākinyaḥ kupitāntakaś ca manujān mātaḥ kṣaṇaṁ bhūtale॥7॥

Meaning:आपके नाम-स्मरण मात्र से भूत, प्रेत, पिशाच, राक्षस, यक्ष, नागराज, दैत्य, दानव, खेचर, व्याघ्रादि जीव, डाकिनी और क्रुद्ध यम तक भाग खड़े होते हैं और आपके भक्तों की ओर देख तक नहीं पाते।

Verse 8

ලක්ෂ්මීඃ සිද්ධිගණශ්ච පාදුකමුඛාඃ සිද්ධාස්තථා වෛරිණාං ස්තම්භශ්චාපි වරාඞ්ගනේ ගජඝටාස්තම්භස්තථා මෝහනම්. මාතස්ත්වත්පදසේවයා ඛලු නෘණාං සිද්ධ්යන්ති තේ තේ ගුණාඃ ක්ලාන්තඃ කාන්තමනෝභවෝ(අ)ත්ර භවති ක්ෂුද්රෝ(අ)පි වාචස්පතිඃ..8..

Lakṣmīḥ siddhigaṇaś ca pādukamukhāḥ siddhās tathā vairiṇāṁ stambhaś cāpi varāṅgane gajaghaṭāstambhas tathā mohanam। mātas tvatpadasevayā khalu nṛṇāṁ siddhyanti te te guṇāḥ klāntaḥ kāntamanobhavo'tra bhavati kṣudro'pi vācaspatiḥ॥8॥

Meaning:लक्ष्मी, सिद्धिगण, पादुकादि सिद्धियाँ, शत्रु-स्तंभन, गज-समूह-स्तंभन और मोहन — हे वरांगने! ये सब गुण आपके चरणों की सेवा से मनुष्यों को सिद्ध हो जाते हैं; साधारण थका-हारा मनुष्य भी कामदेव-सा मनोहर और बृहस्पति-सा वाक्पटु हो जाता है।

Verse 9

තාරාෂ්ටකමිදං පුණ්යං භක්තිමාන් යඃ පඨේන්නරඃ. ප්රාතර්මධ්යාහ්නකාලේ ච සායාහ්නේ නියතඃ ශුචිඃ..9..

Tārāṣṭakam idaṁ puṇyaṁ bhaktimān yaḥ paṭhen naraḥ। prātar madhyāhnakāle ca sāyāhne niyataḥ śuciḥ॥9॥

Meaning:जो भक्त नियमित और पवित्र होकर इस पुण्यमय ताराष्टक का प्रातः, मध्याह्न और सायं पाठ करता है, वह कवित्व-शक्ति एवं विद्या पाकर सब शास्त्रों का ज्ञाता बनता है; अक्षय लक्ष्मी पाकर, यथेच्छ भोग भोगकर, कीर्ति, कांति, आरोग्य और सबकी प्रियता प्राप्त कर तथा लोकों में विख्यात होकर अंत में मोक्ष प्राप्त करता है।

Verse 10

ලභතේ කවිතාං විද්යාං සර්වශාස්ත්රාර්ථවිද්භවේත්. ලක්ෂ්මීමනශ්වරාං ප්රාප්ය භුක්ත්වා භෝගාන්යථේප්සිතාන්..10..

Labhate kavitāṁ vidyāṁ sarvaśāstrārthavid bhavet। lakṣmīm anaśvarāṁ prāpya bhuktvā bhogān yathepsitān॥10॥

Verse 11

කීර්තිං කාන්තිං ච නෛරුජ්යං සර්වේෂාං ප්රියතාං ව්රජේත්. විඛ්යාතිං චාපි ලෝකේෂු ප්රාප්යාන්තේ මෝක්ෂමාප්නුයාත්..11..

Kīrtiṁ kāntiṁ ca nairujyaṁ sarveṣāṁ priyatāṁ vrajet। vikhyātiṁ cāpi lokeṣu prāpyānte mokṣam āpnuyāt॥11॥

Word-by-Word Meaning

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මාතඃ නීලසරස්වති🔊mātaḥ nīlasarasvatiO Mother Nilasaraswati (the blue Saraswati, another name of Tara)

ප්රණමතාං සෞභාග්යසම්පත්ප්රදේ🔊praṇamatāṁ saubhāgyasampatpradeBestower of good fortune and prosperity on those who bow to you

ප්රත්යාලීඪපදස්ථිතේ🔊pratyālīḍhapadasthiteStanding in the warrior's pratyalidha posture

ශවහෘදි ස්ථිතේ🔊śavahṛdi sthiteStanding upon the heart of a corpse (Shiva as Shava)

ඵුල්ලේන්දීවරලෝචනේ🔊phullendīvaralocaneWith eyes like fully-blossomed blue lotuses

ත්රිනයනේ🔊trinayaneThree-eyed one

කර්ත්රී-කපාල-උත්පල🔊kartrī-kapāla-utpalaHolding the scissors/curved knife, the skull-cup, and the blue lotus

ඛඩ්ගං ච ආදධතී🔊khaḍgaṁ ca ādadhatīAnd bearing the sword

ත්වම් ඒව ශරණම්🔊tvam eva śaraṇamYou alone are my refuge

වාචාම් ඊශ්වරි🔊vācām īśvariO Goddess/ruler of speech (granter of eloquence)

භක්තිකල්පලතිකේ🔊bhaktikalpalatikeO wish-fulfilling creeper for the devotees

කාරුණ්යවාරාන්නිධේ🔊kāruṇyavārānnidheO ocean of compassion

සෞභාග්යාමෘතවර්ධනේන සිඤ්ච🔊saubhāgyāmṛtavardhanena siñcaSprinkle (me) with the nectar that increases good fortune

මුණ්ඩදාම-ලලිතේ🔊muṇḍadāma-laliteAdorned beautifully with a garland of severed heads

භීමේ භයං නාශය🔊bhīme bhayaṁ nāśayaO fierce one, destroy (my) fear

හුංඵට්කාරමයි🔊huṁphaṭkāramayiO embodiment of the seed-sounds Hum and Phat

මන්ත්රාත්මිකේ🔊mantrātmikeO Goddess whose very essence is mantra

ත්වත්පාදාම්බුජසේවයා සායුජ්යතාම්🔊tvatpādāmbujasevayā sāyujyatāmBy serving your lotus feet (devotees attain) union/liberation

ත්වන්නාමස්මරණාත් පලායනපරාඃ🔊tvannāmasmaraṇāt palāyanaparāḥAt the remembrance of your name (they) take to flight

තාරාෂ්ටකමිදං පුණ්යම්🔊tārāṣṭakam idaṁ puṇyamThis meritorious Tara Ashtakam

ලභතේ කවිතාං විද්යාම්🔊labhate kavitāṁ vidyāmAttains poetic power and learning

ප්රාප්යාන්තේ මෝක්ෂම් ආප්නුයාත්🔊prāpyānte mokṣam āpnuyātAnd in the end attains liberation (moksha)

Benefits of Chanting तारा स्तोत्रम् (ताराष्टकम् / नीलसरस्वती स्तोत्रम्)

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Bestows mastery over speech (vak-siddhi), eloquence and poetic genius — Tara is Nilasaraswati, goddess of the word

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Grants deep learning and the ability to understand the meaning of all scriptures

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Removes fear of ghosts, demons, wild beasts and even death, as the hymn declares they flee at the remembrance of her name

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Confers good fortune, imperishable wealth (Lakshmi) and the love and goodwill of all

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Grants tantric siddhis such as stambhana (paralysing of foes) and mohana when practised under a guru

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Leads the devout reciter, in the end, to liberation (moksha)

How to Chant तारा स्तोत्रम् (ताराष्टकम् / नीलसरस्वती स्तोत्रम्)

Repetitions11times

Best TimeAt dawn, midday and dusk (trisandhya), as the hymn itself prescribes; Tuesdays and during Navaratri are especially favoured

Bathe and purify yourself, sit facing east or north, and recite this Tarashtakam with devotion and concentration, ideally at the three sandhya times — dawn, midday and dusk. Tara is a profound Tantric Mahavidya; her formal mantra-upasana is undertaken under the guidance of a qualified guru, but the stotram may be recited devotionally for the blessings of speech, wisdom and protection. Keep the mind steady and dwell on her form as Nilasaraswati, granter of the word.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete तारा स्तोत्रम् (ताराष्टकम् / नीलसरस्वती स्तोत्रम्) 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.

Tara is the second of the ten Mahavidyas, the great Tantric wisdom-goddesses. She is closely related to Kali but is especially the goddess of speech and saving knowledge — 'Tara' means 'she who saves/ferries across'. In her form as Nilasaraswati ('blue Saraswati') she grants eloquence, learning and poetic power, while standing fierce upon a corpse as the supreme deliverer.

Nila means 'blue' and Saraswati is the goddess of speech and learning. Tara is dark blue in complexion and, like Saraswati, is the bestower of vak-siddhi — mastery of the word, poetry and scripture. This hymn directly invokes her as 'Matar Nilasaraswati', uniting her fierce Tantric aspect with the grace of the goddess of wisdom.

The opening verse describes her holding the kartri (curved knife or scissors), the kapala (skull-cup), the utpala (blue lotus) and the khadga (sword), while standing in the warrior's pratyalidha posture upon the heart of a corpse. These symbolise the cutting away of ignorance, the dissolution of the ego, awakened wisdom and the destruction of obstacles.

The closing verses promise that one who recites it thrice daily, pure and disciplined, gains poetic genius, learning and knowledge of all scriptures, lasting wealth and desired enjoyments, fame, beauty, health, the love of all, renown in the worlds, and finally liberation (moksha).