Devi Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram (Adi Shankara)

The Devi Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram (देवी अपराध क्षमापन स्तोत्रम्) is a soul-stirring hymn of repentance composed by Sri Adi Shankaracharya. The name itself means "the prayer for the forgiveness of offences against the Goddess." It is traditionally recited at the end of puja or after the recitation of any Devi mantra, when a devotee humbly asks the Divine Mother to pardon every lapse committed during worship — mispronounced mantras, wrongly rendered bindu and visarga, improper mudras, careless thoughts, or an incomplete ritual.

Rather than pleading with worldly gifts, the stotram rests on a single, heart-touching refrain: Kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati — "A bad son may be born, but a bad mother never exists." It is this faith in the unconditional love of the Mother that makes the hymn so beloved across India.

The Twelve Verses of the Stotram

Verse 1 — "I Know No Mantra or Yantra"

न मन्त्रं नो यन्त्रं तदपि च न जाने स्तुतिमहो न चाह्वानं ध्यानं तदपि च न जाने स्तुतिकथाः । न जाने मुद्रास्ते तदपि च न जाने विलपनं परं जाने मातस्त्वदनुसरणं क्लेशहरणम् ॥ १ ॥

Na mantraṃ no yantraṃ tadapi ca na jāne stutimaho, na cāhvānaṃ dhyānaṃ tadapi ca na jāne stutikathāḥ। Na jāne mudrāste tadapi ca na jāne vilapanaṃ, paraṃ jāne mātastvadanusaraṇaṃ kleśaharaṇam ॥ 1 ॥

Meaning: O Mother, I know neither mantras nor yantras, nor even how to praise You. I do not know how to invoke You in meditation, how to narrate Your glories, or how to perform Your mudras and weep before You. Yet one thing I know for certain — following You and remembering You removes all my sorrows.

Verse 2 — "Forgive My Failings"

विधेरज्ञानेन द्रविणविरहेणालसतया विधेयाशक्यत्वात्तव चरणयोर्या च्युतिरभूत् । तदेतत् क्षन्तव्यं जननि सकलोद्धारिणि शिवे कुपुत्रो जायेत क्वचिदपि कुमाता न भवति ॥ २ ॥

Vidherjñānena draviṇaviraheṇālasatayā, vidheyāśakyatvāttava caraṇayoryā cyutirabhūt। Tadetat kṣantavyaṃ janani sakaloddhāriṇi śive, kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati ॥ 2 ॥

Meaning: Through my ignorance of the rules of worship, my lack of wealth, and my own laziness, I failed to serve Your lotus feet. Please forgive all this, O Mother, saviour of all, O gracious Śivā. A bad son may be born, but a bad mother never exists.

Verse 3 — "The Restless Son"

पृथिव्यां पुत्रास्ते जननि बहवः सन्ति सरलाः परं तेषां मध्ये विरलतरलोऽहं तव सुतः । मदीयोऽयं त्यागः समुचितमिदं नो तव शिवे कुपुत्रो जायेत क्वचिदपि कुमाता न भवति ॥ ३ ॥

Pṛthivyāṃ putrāste janani bahavaḥ santi saralāḥ, paraṃ teṣāṃ madhye viralataralo'haṃ tava sutaḥ। Madīyo'yaṃ tyāgaḥ samucitamidaṃ no tava śive, kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati ॥ 3 ॥

Meaning: O Mother, the earth holds many simple and dutiful sons, but among them I am Your most restless, wayward child. It is therefore not fitting for You to abandon me, O Śivā — a bad son may be born, but a bad mother never exists.

Verse 4 — "Unmatched Motherly Love"

जगन्मातर्मातस्तव चरणसेवा न रचिता न वा दत्तं देवि द्रविणमपि भूयस्तव मया । तथापि त्वं स्नेहं मयि निरुपमं यत्प्रकुरुषे कुपुत्रो जायेत क्वचिदपि कुमाता न भवति ॥ ४ ॥

Jaganmātarmātastava caraṇasevā na racitā, na vā dattaṃ devi draviṇamapi bhūyastava mayā। Tathāpi tvaṃ snehaṃ mayi nirupamaṃ yatprakuruṣe, kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati ॥ 4 ॥

Meaning: O Mother of the universe, I have never served Your lotus feet, nor have I offered You wealth. Yet You shower upon me matchless, unconditional motherly love — a bad son may be born, but a bad mother never exists.

Verse 5 — "Where Shall the Helpless Go?"

परित्यक्ता देवा विविधविधसेवाकुलतया मया पञ्चाशीतेरधिकमपनीते तु वयसि । इदानीं चेन्मातस्तव यदि कृपा नापि भविता निरालम्बो लम्बोदरजननि कं यामि शरणम् ॥ ५ ॥

Parityaktā devā vividhavidhasevākulatayā, mayā pañcāśīteradhikamapanīte tu vayasi। Idānīṃ cenmātastava yadi kṛpā nāpi bhavitā, nirālambo lambodarajānani kaṃ yāmi śaraṇam ॥ 5 ॥

Meaning: Distracted by countless duties, I have set aside the worship of the gods, and more than eighty-five years of my life have slipped away. If even now Your grace does not descend, O Mother of Lambodara (Ganesha), to whom shall this helpless one turn for refuge?

Verse 6 — "The Power of Your Name"

श्वपाको जल्पाको भवति मधुपाकोपमगिरा निरातङ्को रङ्को विहरति चिरं कोटिकनकैः । तवापर्णे कर्णे विशति मनुवर्णे फलमिदं जनः को जानीते जननि जपनीयं जपविधौ ॥ ६ ॥

Śvapāko jalpāko bhavati madhupākopamagirā, nirātaṅko raṅko viharati ciraṃ koṭikanakaiḥ। Tavāparṇe karṇe viśati manuvarṇe phalamidaṃ, janaḥ ko jānīte janani japanīyaṃ japavidhau ॥ 6 ॥

Meaning: O Aparṇā, by Your grace even a śvapāka (outcast) becomes eloquent with speech as sweet as honey, and a pauper wanders free from fear with millions in gold. When Your glory enters a person's ear, who among men can ever fathom the fruit of Your holy japa?

Verse 7 — "The Glory of Bhavāni's Husband"

चिताभस्मालेपो गरलमशनं दिक्पटधरो जटाधारी कण्ठे भुजगपतिहारी पशुपतिः । कपाली भूतेशो भजति जगदीशैकपदवीं भवानि त्वत्पाणिग्रहणपरिपाटीफलमिदम् ॥ ७ ॥

Citābhasmālepo garalamaśanaṃ dikpaṭadharo, jaṭādhārī kaṇṭhe bhujagapatihārī paśupatiḥ। Kapālī bhūteśo bhajati jagadīśaikapadavīṃ, bhavāni tvatpāṇigrahaṇaparipāṭīphalamidam ॥ 7 ॥

Meaning: O Bhavānī, the Lord smeared with funeral ashes, whose food is poison and whose garment is the sky, wearing matted locks and the king of serpents as a garland — that Paśupati with a skull-bowl in hand attained the unique status of Jagadīśvara solely as the fruit of accepting Your hand in marriage.

Verse 8 — "Only Your Names"

न मोक्षस्याकाङ्क्षा भवविभववाञ्छापि च न मे न विज्ञानापेक्षा शशिमुखि सुखेच्छापि न पुनः । अतस्त्वां संयाचे जननि जननं यातु मम वै मृडानी रुद्राणी शिव शिव भवानीति जपतः ॥ ८ ॥

Na mokṣasyākāṅkṣā bhavavibhavavāñchāpi ca na me, na vijñānāpekṣā śaśimukhi sukhecchāpi na punaḥ। Atastvāṃ saṃyāce janani jananaṃ yātu mama vai, mṛḍānī rudrāṇī śiva śiva bhavānīti japataḥ ॥ 8 ॥

Meaning: O moon-faced Mother, I long neither for moksha nor for worldly riches, neither for knowledge nor for pleasure. I only beg that my life be spent chanting Your sacred names — Mṛḍānī, Rudrāṇī, Śiva, Bhavānī.

Verse 9 — "An Orphan's Plea"

नाराधितासि विधिना विविधोपचारैः किं रुक्षचिन्तनपरैर्न कृतं वचोभिः । श्यामे त्वमेव यदि किञ्चन मय्यनाथे धत्से कृपामुचितमम्ब परं तवैव ॥ ९ ॥

Nārādhitāsi vidhinā vividhopacāraiḥ, kiṃ rukṣacintanaparairna kṛtaṃ vacobhiḥ। Śyāme tvameva yadi kiñcana mayyanāthe, dhatse kṛpāmucitamamba paraṃ tavaiva ॥ 9 ॥

Meaning: I have not worshipped You according to the prescribed rites, and what harsh thoughts did my mind not dwell upon, what unkind words did my tongue not utter? O Śyāma, if You show even a little compassion to this orphan, that alone is fitting for You, O Mother.

Verse 10 — "A Child Remembers Its Mother"

आपत्सु मग्नः स्मरणं त्वदीयं करोमि दुर्गे करुणार्णवेशि । नैतच्छठत्वं मम भावयेथाः क्षुधातृषार्ता जननीं स्मरन्ति ॥ १० ॥

Āpatsu magnaḥ smaraṇaṃ tvadīyaṃ, karomi durge karuṇārṇaveśi। Naitacchaṭhatvaṃ mama bhāvayethāḥ, kṣudhātṛṣārtā jananīṃ smaranti ॥ 10 ॥

Meaning: O Durgā, mistress of the ocean of compassion, when I am drowned in calamity I remember You. Please do not think this is pretence — children who are stricken by hunger and thirst naturally remember their mother.

Verse 11 — "A Mother Never Abandons"

जगदम्ब विचित्रमत्र किं परिपूर्णा करुणास्ति चेन्मयि । अपराधपरम्परापरं न हि माता समुपेक्षते सुतम् ॥ ११ ॥

Jagadamba vicitramatra kiṃ, paripūrṇā karuṇāsti cenmayi। Aparādha paramparāparaṃ, na hi mātā samupekṣate sutam ॥ 11 ॥

Meaning: O Jagadamba, what is surprising in all this? If Your compassion for me is full, then, for a son steeped in an endless chain of offences, a mother never abandons her child.

Verse 12 — "No Sinner Like Me, No Redeemer Like You"

मत्समः पातकी नास्ति पापघ्नी त्वत्समा न हि । एवं ज्ञात्वा महादेवि यथायोग्यं तथा कुरु ॥ १२ ॥

Matsamaḥ pātakī nāsti pāpaghni tvatsamā na hi। Evaṃ jñātvā mahādevi yathāyogyaṃ tathā kuru ॥ 12 ॥

Meaning: O Mother, there is no sinner equal to me, and no destroyer of sin equal to You. Knowing this, O Mahādevī, please do whatever is appropriate to save me.

Key Attributes of Goddess Durga

• Deity: Goddess Durga (Devi), invoked here as Aparṇā, Śyāma, Bhavānī, Mṛḍānī, Rudrāṇī, Jagadamba and Mahādevī
• Consort: Lord Shiva (addressed as Paśupati and Jagadīśvara in Verse 7)
• Vahana: Lion
• Weapon: Trishula (trident)
• Mantra: "Om Dum Durgayai Namah" (Durga beej mantra) — the Stotram itself is the kshamapana (forgiveness) prayer
• Symbol: The protective, forgiving embrace of the Divine Mother

Practical / Modern Context

The Devi Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram carries a timeless message for modern seekers. In an age of perfectionism, we are often harsh on ourselves — for a mispronounced mantra, a skipped ritual, a distracted meditation. This hymn teaches that sincerity of heart matters more than mechanical accuracy. It reminds us that the Divine is not a stern judge but a mother who forgives.

Practically, devotees recite it:

• After completing any Devi puja, homa, or chanting of the Durga Saptashati
• On occasions when a ritual has been interrupted or performed incorrectly
• During Navaratri, especially on the final day, to close the worship with humility
• As a daily prayer to cultivate self-compassion and let go of guilt

Psychologically, its recurring refrain — "a bad son may be born, but a bad mother never exists" — is a powerful antidote to shame, teaching that no failure is beyond the reach of grace.

Common Misconceptions

1. It is only for "sinners" or those who performed puja wrongly — In reality, every devotee recites it as a mark of humility. Even the most meticulous puja contains lapses unknown to the performer; the stotram is a universal closing prayer, not an admission of great sin.
2. It replaces the puja itself — The Kshamapana Stotram is a supplement offered after worship, asking forgiveness for shortcomings. It does not substitute for the puja, mantra japa, or ritual.
3. The meaning is that God forgives only the repentant — The deeper teaching is the reverse: the Mother's love is unconditional, like a mother's for her child, and is not dependent on our perfection. The hymn celebrates divine compassion, not divine judgment.

Conclusion

The Devi Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram of Adi Shankaracharya is one of the most beloved prayers of forgiveness in Hindu tradition. In twelve simple, deeply human verses, it captures the essence of bhakti — complete surrender to the Mother whose mercy knows no end. Whether chanted after a formal puja or recited quietly in daily life, it cleanses the heart of guilt and fills it with the assurance that the Divine Mother never turns away her child. Kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati.

Related Prabhukedwar Guides

• Complete Guide to Chanting Gayatri Mantra
• Kashi Vishwanath Temple & Sacred Banaras
• Meaning of Om Namah Shivaya Mantra

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