Ganga Stotram
देवि सुरेश्वरि भगवति गङ्गे त्रिभुवनतारिणि तरलतरङ्गे।
शङ्करमौलिनिवासिनि विमले मम मतिरास्तां तव पदकमले।
This verse praises Goddess Ganga directly. She is the supreme cosmic mother. She saves all three worlds. Her waves flow very beautifully. The text highlights her divine nature. She resides on Shiva's matted hair. Her entire form is completely pure. The poet makes a simple request. He wants his mind firmly focused. He wishes to rest at her feet. This is an act of grounding. Water represents pure consciousness here. Flowing water removes mental stagnation. Touching her feet means seeking higher truth. Ego dissolves in this process. Surrender is the main theme. Devotion brings total inner clarity. The human mind stops wandering randomly. It finds deep peace naturally. True focus brings ultimate spiritual freedom.
भागीरथिसुखदायिनि मातः तव जलमहिमा निगमे ख्यातः।
नाsहं जाने तव महिमानं त्राहि कृपामयि मामज्ञानम्।
The prayer now turns deeply personal. Mother Ganga brings immense daily joy. Ancient texts praise her holy waters. The Vedas sing her glory constantly. Everyone knows her great power. But the poet feels completely ignorant. He admits his very limited knowledge. He does not know her full greatness. He asks for her pure grace. He begs her to protect him. This shows deep spiritual humility. True seekers always drop their pride. Intellectual knowledge is often entirely useless. Divine grace works beyond book learning. The human mind cannot grasp the infinite. We must accept our own deep ignorance. Only then does true grace flow. Humility opens the blocked inner doors. Real knowing happens through pure love. A silent ego invites instant divine help.
हरिपदपाद्यतरङ्गिणि गङ्गे हिमविधुमुक्ताधवलतरङ्गे।
दूरीकुरु मम दुष्कृतिभारं कुरु कृपया भवसागरपारम्।
Where does this pure river originate? It flows directly from Lord Vishnu's feet. The waves are incredibly white. They shine like pure winter snow. They look like bright glowing pearls. They resemble the cool autumn moon. The poet asks for deep inner cleansing. He carries a very heavy burden. This is the weight of past bad actions. He wants this dark load removed entirely. He wants to cross the worldly ocean safely. This ocean represents our endless life cycles. It is the painful loop of birth and death. White water symbolizes absolute cosmic purity. Divine grace washes away stubborn karmic dirt. We cannot drop old karma completely alone. We need strong help from the divine. Crossing over means achieving final liberation. Freedom from past baggage is truly possible. Pure grace carries us to the final shore.
तव जलममलं येन निपीतं परमपदं खलु तेन गृहीतम्।
मातर्गङ्गे त्वयि यो भक्तः किल तं द्रष्टुं न यमः शक्तः।
The teaching here points directly to liberation. Drinking this pure water changes absolutely everything. A person attains the highest spiritual state. They reach the ultimate cosmic goal safely. Deep devotion to the mother is key. True devotees gain immense unseen protection. The lord of death stays far away. Yama cannot even look at them directly. This means daily fear completely vanishes. Death loses its dark scary power. Drinking the water means absorbing higher truth. It is not just a physical drinking act. It means taking the divine fully inside. Inner purity defeats all deep mortal fears. The highest state is a perfectly fearless mind. A true devotee simply transcends physical death. They live in pure eternal conscious awareness. Worldly fear only exists in the small ego. Total devotion dissolves that fearful ego entirely. Immortality is just realizing your own true nature.
पतितोद्धारिणि जाह्नवि गङ्गे खण्डितगिरिवरमण्डितभङ्गे।
भीष्मजननि हे मुनिवरकन्ये पतितनिवारिणि त्रिभुवनधन्ये।
Notice how the verse presents her deep history. She quickly uplifts the most fallen people. She breaks through massive hard mountain rocks. Her flowing waves are powerful and beautiful. She is the proud mother of warrior Bhishma. She is sage Jahnu's beloved adopted daughter. She strictly stops people from falling further. All three worlds consider her completely blessed. She transforms hard obstacles into stepping stones. Breaking tough rocks shows her relentless determination. The divine cosmic force cannot be stopped. It freely flows through all human blocks. Her worldly family ties show her personal connection. She constantly acts as a nurturing mother. She also acts as a respectful loving daughter. The divine meets us in very familiar roles. True grace reaches the lowest dark places easily. Nobody is ever permanently lost or ruined. Spiritual redemption is always freely available to everyone.
कल्पलतामिव फलदां लोके प्रणमति यस्त्वां न पतति शोके।
पारावारविहारिणि गङ्गे विबुधवधूकृततरलापाङ्गे।
After establishing her power, the focus moves to her boons. She acts like a magical wish-fulfilling creeper. She gives great rewards in this world. Anyone who bows down never really grieves. They do not ever fall into deep sorrow. She plays joyfully in the vast ocean. Heavenly women look at her with love. Their bright eyes dance with great wonder. Bowing down simply means giving up stubborn ego. All wishes are granted to a completely pure mind. But the highest possible wish is total inner peace. Human grief only comes from deep worldly attachment. True surrender removes this painful attachment completely forever. The river merging into the sea is highly symbolic. It shows the individual soul meeting the supreme divine. Pure joy is the natural original state of being. Heavenly wonder clearly shows her absolute cosmic beauty. True devotion easily removes all daily heavy sadness. A surrendered peaceful heart remains eternally deeply joyful.
तव चेन्मातः स्रोतस्नातः पुनरपि जठरे सोऽपि न जातः।
नरकनिवारिणि जाह्नवि गङ्गे कलुषविनाशिनि महिमोत्तुङ्गे।
This line explains the absolute end of rebirth. A deep bath in her waters changes human destiny. Such a blessed person is never born again. They do not ever enter a mother's womb. The painful life cycle stops right there permanently. She bravely saves people from dark terrible hells. She destroys all stubborn inner impurities very easily. Her divine glory is incredibly high and truly great. Bathing actually means immersing oneself completely in truth. It is firmly washing away old false ego identities. Painful rebirth happens largely because of unfulfilled selfish desires. Pure cosmic truth burns all these useless blind desires. Inner hell is really just a low state of mind. It is created by our own bad ignorant choices. True purity lifts us quickly out of this misery. High glory means totally unmatched pure spiritual power. Washing the physical body is just an outer symbol. The real deep cleansing happens silently deep within. Total inner purity ends the need for endless rebirth. Absolute freedom is realized right here and right now.
परिलसदङ्गे पुण्यतरङ्गे जय जय जाह्नवि करुणापाङ्गे।
इन्द्रमुकुटमणिराजितचरणे सुखदे शुभदे सेवकचरणे।
At this stage, the focus shifts to her supreme beauty. Her whole divine body shines incredibly brilliantly. Her moving waves carry great deep holy merit. Victory to her deeply warm compassionate glances. The powerful king of gods bows to her deeply. Indra's shiny jeweled crown touches her holy feet. She naturally gives true lasting happiness to all. She grants beautiful good fortune very easily indeed. She takes excellent care of her truly dedicated servants. True daily devotion constantly brings the highest possible joy. Even very great powerful gods need divine saving grace. Massive worldly power bows down to simple spiritual purity. Lord Indra represents the absolute peak of worldly success. Yet he readily humbles himself totally before her grace. Pure compassion is her most beautiful supreme trait. A single loving glance removes all deep heavy pain. Serving the pure divine brings deep true inner satisfaction. Real lasting happiness is not ever found in worldly things. It simply flows from a pure quiet loving heart. Divine grace showers softly on the humble servant always.
रोगं शोकं पापं तापं हर मे भगवति कुमतिकलापम्।
त्रिभुवनसारे वसुधाहारे त्वमसि गतिर्मम खलु संसारे।
What exactly is being pointed out here? The poet actively asks for a complete deep cure. He wants physical diseases removed entirely forever. He wants heavy sorrow and dark sin totally destroyed. He asks her to remove all burning worldly miseries. Most importantly, he wants his bad thoughts completely gone. She is the true pure essence of all three worlds. She is the beautiful shining necklace of the earth. She is his completely only true reliable refuge. Human life is often full of constant painful suffering. Bad toxic thinking is the real root of all pain. Physical daily diseases are often very easy to treat medically. Deep mental sickness definitely requires strong divine intervention. Wrong confused thinking creates our deep daily human sorrow. Dropping deep ignorance is the only real lasting cure. The material world offers absolutely no permanent safe shelter. The supreme cosmic mother is the only truly safe harbor. Recognizing her pure essence brings absolute sharp mental clarity. Pure strong refuge means dropping all temporary worldly dependencies. True silent faith is the ultimate daily spiritual medicine.
अलकानन्दे परमानन्दे कुरु करुणामयि कातरवन्द्ये।
तव तटनिकटे यस्य हि वासः खलु वैकुण्ठे तस्य निवासः।
A deeper truth is revealed here about sacred spaces. She brings absolute supreme joy to everyone. She is completely full of deep pure compassion. Greatly distressed people bow to her constantly every day. She easily grants them instant soothing peace. Living near her holy banks is highly praised. It is exactly equal to living in Vaikuntha itself. Vaikuntha is Lord Vishnu's absolute supreme eternal home. True lasting joy always comes from feeling safe inside. Her pure compassion completely removes all deep human anxiety. A heavily distressed mind always finds deep calm in devotion. The physical location clearly holds very special spiritual energy. But the real true river bank is deep inner focus. Staying very near absolute truth makes you totally divine. Real heaven is definitely not a far distant place. It is simply a highly elevated state of pure mind. Dwelling entirely in purity brings ultimate pure heaven right here. The outer environment heavily shapes our deep inner thoughts. Sacred holy spaces truly help the busy mind settle quickly. Heaven is always found in deep perfect inner stillness.
वरमिह नीरे कमठो मीनः किं वा तीरे सरटः क्षीणः।
अथवा गव्यूतौ श्वपचो दीनस्तव न हि दूरे नृपतिकुलीनः।
The description here highlights total absolute social equality. It is much better to be a small turtle here. It is far better to be a tiny fish inside. Being a weak lizard on the bank is much better. Being a poor outcaste living nearby is highly preferred. Being a very rich king far away is completely useless. Close proximity to the pure divine matters the most. High worldly status has zero real spiritual value. Even small animals in pure water are incredibly lucky. A highly distant rich king is actually spiritually very poor. Outer bodily forms and rigid social classes do not matter. The outer physical body is completely unimportant here. Real nearness to absolute truth is the only true wealth. Human society constantly values high rank and vast money. Spirituality only values deep humility and total complete surrender. A very simple quiet life near pure truth is supreme. A proud egoistic life far away is completely empty. True high royalty is just living close to the pure divine. Inner spiritual closeness easily beats all outer material achievements.
भो भुवनेश्वरि पुण्ये धन्ये देवि द्रवमयि मुनिवरकन्ये।
गङ्गास्तवमिमममलं नित्यं पठति नरो यः स जयति सत्यम्।
Building on the previous point, the teaching now concludes its praise. She is the absolute great goddess of the entire universe. She is completely holy and totally deeply blessed. She is the pure supreme divine in a flowing liquid form. She is the great wise sage's lovely beautiful daughter. Reading this incredibly pure hymn brings very great positive results. A dedicated person who reads it daily always becomes totally victorious. They definitely achieve true real success in absolutely everything. Liquid physical form means divine grace flows freely and constantly. It moves easily to wherever it is truly deeply needed. Daily focused reading builds a very strong daily spiritual habit. It firmly focuses the wandering restless human mind completely. Constant daily remembrance entirely destroys all hidden deep inner darkness. Spiritual victory here actually means entirely conquering one's own mind. It is definitely not about defeating other innocent people. True final success is finding permanent quiet deep inner peace. Constant repetition of pure truth deeply purifies the whole inner heart. The entire universe completely supports a totally pure spiritual intention. Absolute inner freedom is the ultimate final human victory.
येषां हृदये गङ्गा भक्तिस्तेषां भवति सदा सुखमुक्तिः।
मधुरमनोहरपञ्झटिकाभिः परमानन्दकलितललिताभिः।
This verse explains the core deep secret of true absolute devotion. Devotion must definitely live very deep inside the human heart. Outer physical rituals alone are almost never fully enough. True deep devotion quickly brings constant lasting daily happiness. It also certainly brings final absolute total spiritual liberation. The poet intentionally uses a very sweet rhythmic poetic meter. The chosen words are highly beautiful and totally pleasing. They are entirely filled with supreme pure cosmic bliss. The beautiful rhythm matches the smoothly flowing river exactly. True lasting joy quickly arises from a totally loving pure heart. Total liberation is clearly not just after outer physical death. It is simply living completely freely right here today. Beautiful poetry heavily helps the mind absorb deep higher truth. Beautiful sweet sounds easily bypass the highly logical stubborn intellect. They gently touch the quiet silent soul very directly. Pure bliss is the very essential nature of absolute truth. Holding deep devotion inside quickly transforms daily human life completely. Pure joy and absolute freedom always walk together very closely. A fully loving quiet heart naturally finds the ultimate cosmic truth.
गङ्गास्तोत्रमिदं भवसारं वाञ्छितफलदं विदितमुदारम्।
शङ्करसेवकशङ्कररचितं पठति च विषयीदमिति समाप्तम्।
This final precious moment in the text marks the loving conclusion. This beautiful holy hymn contains the entire essence of human existence. It easily grants all deeply desired positive results quickly. It is very widely known to be extremely generously kind. It was personally written by great Adi Shankaracharya himself. He humbly calls himself a simple lowly servant of Lord Shiva. Even highly attached worldly people gain huge benefits from reading. It perfectly marks the complete total completion of the entire prayer. The true core essence of life is pure total silent surrender. Worldly selfish desires fade when we touch the supreme pure truth. Generosity is the absolute basic nature of the pure cosmic divine. The truly great teacher shows immense deep personal spiritual humility. He does not ever boast of his own very high knowledge. He happily remains a completely simple lowly servant at heart. Highly worldly restless minds become very pure by reading this text. Supreme divine grace is freely available to absolutely everyone always. The written text entirely ends but the inner deep journey begins. True deep humility is the absolute greatest mark of high wisdom.
देवि सुरेश्वरि भगवति गङ्गेत्रिभुवनतारिणि तरलतरङ्गे।
शङ्करमौलिनिवासिनि विमलेमम मतिरास्तां तव पदकमले।1।
भागीरथिसुखदायिनि मातःतव जलमहिमा निगमे ख्यातः।
नाsहं जाने तव महिमानंत्राहि कृपामयि मामज्ञानम्।2।
हरिपदपाद्यतरङ्गिणि गङ्गेहिमविधुमुक्ताधवलतरङ्गे।
दूरीकुरु मम दुष्कृतिभारंकुरु कृपया भवसागरपारम्।3।
तव जलममलं येन निपीतंपरमपदं खलु तेन गृहीतम्।
मातर्गङ्गे त्वयि यो भक्तःकिल तं द्रष्टुं न यमः शक्तः।4।
पतितोद्धारिणि जाह्नवि गङ्गेखण्डितगिरिवरमण्डितभङ्गे।
भीष्मजननि हे मुनिवरकन्येपतितनिवारिणि त्रिभुवनधन्ये।5।
कल्पलतामिव फलदां लोकेप्रणमति यस्त्वां न पतति शोके।
पारावारविहारिणि गङ्गेविबुधवधूकृततरलापाङ्गे।6।
तव चेन्मातः स्रोतस्नातःपुनरपि जठरे सोऽपि न जातः।
नरकनिवारिणि जाह्नवि गङ्गेकलुषविनाशिनि महिमोत्तुङ्गे।7।
परिलसदङ्गे पुण्यतरङ्गेजय जय जाह्नवि करुणापाङ्गे।
इन्द्रमुकुटमणिराजितचरणेसुखदे शुभदे सेवकचरणे।8।
रोगं शोकं पापं तापंहर मे भगवति कुमतिकलापम्।
त्रिभुवनसारे वसुधाहारेत्वमसि गतिर्मम खलु संसारे।9।
अलकानन्दे परमानन्देकुरु करुणामयि कातरवन्द्ये।
तव तटनिकटे यस्य हि वासःखलु वैकुण्ठे तस्य निवासः।10।
वरमिह नीरे कमठो मीनःकिं वा तीरे सरटः क्षीणः।
अथवा गव्यूतौ श्वपचो दीनस्तव न हि दूरे नृपतिकुलीनः।11।
भो भुवनेश्वरि पुण्ये धन्येदेवि द्रवमयि मुनिवरकन्ये।
गङ्गास्तवमिमममलं नित्यंपठति नरो यः स जयति सत्यम्।12।
येषां हृदये गङ्गा भक्तिस्तेषां भवति सदा सुखमुक्तिः।
मधुरमनोहरपञ्झटिकाभिःपरमानन्दकलितललिताभिः।13।
गङ्गास्तोत्रमिदं भवसारंवाञ्छितफलदं विदितमुदारम्।
शङ्करसेवकशङ्कररचितंपठति च विषयीदमिति समाप्तम्।14।
devi sureshvari bhagavati gangetribhuvanataarini taralatarange.
shankaramaulinivaasini vimalemama matiraastaam' tava padakamale.1.
bhaageerathisukhadaayini maatah'tava jalamahimaa nigame khyaatah'.
naasham' jaane tava mahimaanantraahi kri'paamayi maamajnyaanam.2.
haripadapaadyatarangini gangehimavidhumuktaadhavalatarange.
dooreekuru mama dushkri'tibhaarankuru kri'payaa bhavasaagarapaaram.3.
tava jalamamalam' yena nipeetamparamapadam' khalu tena gri'heetam.
maatargange tvayi yo bhaktah'kila tam' drasht'um' na yamah' shaktah'.4.
patitoddhaarini jaahnavi gangekhand'itagirivaramand'itabhange.
bheeshmajanani he munivarakanyepatitanivaarini tribhuvanadhanye.5.
kalpalataamiva phaladaam' lokepranamati yastvaam' na patati shoke.
paaraavaaravihaarini gangevibudhavadhookri'tataralaapaange.6.
tava chenmaatah' srotasnaatah'punarapi jat'hare so'pi na jaatah'.
narakanivaarini jaahnavi gangekalushavinaashini mahimottunge.7.
parilasadange punyatarangejaya jaya jaahnavi karunaapaange.
indramukut'amaniraajitacharanesukhade shubhade sevakacharane.8.
rogam' shokam' paapam' taapam'hara me bhagavati kumatikalaapam.
tribhuvanasaare vasudhaahaaretvamasi gatirmama khalu sam'saare.9.
alakaanande paramaanandekuru karunaamayi kaataravandye.
tava tat'anikat'e yasya hi vaasah'khalu vaikunt'he tasya nivaasah'.10.
varamiha neere kamat'ho meenah'kim' vaa teere sarat'ah' ksheenah'.
athavaa gavyootau shvapacho deenastava na hi doore nri'patikuleenah'.11.
bho bhuvaneshvari punye dhanyedevi dravamayi munivarakanye.
gangaastavamimamamalam' nityampat'hati naro yah' sa jayati satyam.12.
yeshaam' hri'daye gangaa bhaktisteshaam' bhavati sadaa sukhamuktih'.
madhuramanoharapanjhat'ikaabhih'paramaanandakalitalalitaabhih'.13.
gangaastotramidam' bhavasaaram'vaanchhitaphaladam' viditamudaaram.
shankarasevakashankararachitampat'hati cha vishayeedamiti samaaptam.14.
Other stotras
