Ayigiri Nandini

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Mahishasura Mardini Stotram

The Mahishasura Mardini Stotram also known popularly as Aigiri Nandini, holds immense significance during Navratri. The word Mahisha means buffalo and Asura means Rakshasa or Demon. Composed by the great sage Adi Shankaracharya around 810 AD, this stotram is based on the Devi Mahatmyam and extols the different powers (shaktis) of the Devi. The Devi takes different forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati and destroys the demons – Madhu and Kaitabha, Mahishasura, and Sumbha and Nisumbha. For more information please scroll down.

Mahishasura Mardini Stotram

अयि गिरिनंदिनि नंदितमेदिनि विश्वविनोदिनि नंदनुते
गिरिवरविंध्यशिरोधिनिवासिनि विष्णुविलासिनि जिष्णुनुते ।
भगवति हे शितिकण्ठकुटुंबिनि भूरिकुटुंबिनि भूरिकृते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १॥

सुरवरवर्षिणि दुर्धरधर्षिणि दुर्मुखमर्षिणि हर्षरते
त्रिभुवनपोषिणि शंकरतोषिणि किल्बिषमोषिणि घोषरते ।
दनुजनिरोषिणि दितिसुतरोषिणि दुर्मदशोषिणि सिन्धुसुते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ २॥

अयि जगदंब मदंब कदंबवनप्रियवासिनि हासरते
शिखरिशिरोमणि तुङ्गहिमालय श‍ृंगनिजालय मध्यगते ।
मधुमधुरे मधुकैटभगंजिनि कैटभभंजिनि रासरते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ ३॥

अयि शतखण्ड विखण्डितरुण्ड वितुण्डितशुण्द गजाधिपते
रिपुगजगण्ड विदारणचण्ड पराक्रमशुण्ड मृगाधिपते ।
निजभुजदण्ड निपातितखण्ड विपातितमुण्ड भटाधिपते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ ४ ॥

अयि रणदुर्मद शत्रुवधोदित दुर्धरनिर्जर शक्तिभृते
चतुरविचार धुरीणमहाशिव दूतकृत प्रमथाधिपते ।
दुरितदुरीह दुराशयदुर्मति दानवदुत कृतान्तमते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ ५ ॥

अयि शरणागत वैरिवधुवर वीरवराभय दायकरे
त्रिभुवनमस्तक शुलविरोधि शिरोऽधिकृतामल शुलकरे ।
दुमिदुमितामर धुन्दुभिनादमहोमुखरीकृत दिङ्मकरे
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ ६ ॥

अयि निजहुङ्कृति मात्रनिराकृत धूम्रविलोचन धूम्रशते
समरविशोषित शोणितबीज समुद्भवशोणित बीजलते ।
शिवशिवशुम्भ निशुम्भमहाहव तर्पितभूत पिशाचरते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ ७ ॥

धनुरनुषङ्ग रणक्षणसङ्ग परिस्फुरदङ्ग नटत्कटके
कनकपिशङ्ग पृषत्कनिषङ्ग रसद्भटशृङ्ग हताबटुके ।
कृतचतुरङ्ग बलक्षितिरङ्ग घटद्बहुरङ्ग रटद्बटुके
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ ८ ॥

सुरललना ततथेयि तथेयि कृताभिनयोदर नृत्यरते
कृत कुकुथः कुकुथो गडदादिकताल कुतूहल गानरते ।
धुधुकुट धुक्कुट धिंधिमित ध्वनि धीर मृदंग निनादरते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ ९ ॥

जय जय जप्य जयेजयशब्द परस्तुति तत्परविश्वनुते
झणझणझिञ्झिमि झिङ्कृत नूपुरशिञ्जितमोहित भूतपते ।
नटित नटार्ध नटी नट नायक नाटितनाट्य सुगानरते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १० ॥

अयि सुमनःसुमनःसुमनः सुमनःसुमनोहरकान्तियुते
श्रितरजनी रजनीरजनी रजनीरजनी करवक्त्रवृते ।
सुनयनविभ्रमर भ्रमरभ्रमर भ्रमरभ्रमराधिपते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ ११ ॥

सहितमहाहव मल्लमतल्लिक मल्लितरल्लक मल्लरते
विरचितवल्लिक पल्लिकमल्लिक झिल्लिकभिल्लिक वर्गवृते ।
शितकृतफुल्ल समुल्लसितारुण तल्लजपल्लव सल्ललिते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १२ ॥

अविरलगण्ड गलन्मदमेदुर मत्तमतङ्गजराजपते
त्रिभुवनभूषण भूतकलानिधि रूपपयोनिधि राजसुते ।
अयि सुदतीजन लालसमानस मोहन मन्मथराजसुते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १३ ॥

कमलदलामल कोमलकान्ति कलाकलितामल भाललते
सकलविलास कलानिलयक्रम केलिचलत्कल हंसकुले ।
अलिकुलसङ्कुल कुवलयमण्डल मौलिमिलद्बकुलालिकुले
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १४ ॥

करमुरलीरव वीजितकूजित लज्जितकोकिल मञ्जुमते
मिलितपुलिन्द मनोहरगुञ्जित रञ्जितशैल निकुञ्जगते ।
निजगणभूत महाशबरीगण सद्गुणसम्भृत केलितले
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १५ ॥

कटितटपीत दुकूलविचित्र मयुखतिरस्कृत चन्द्ररुचे
प्रणतसुरासुर मौलिमणिस्फुर दंशुलसन्नख चन्द्ररुचे
जितकनकाचल मौलिमदोर्जित निर्भरकुञ्जर कुम्भकुचे
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १६ ॥

विजितसहस्रकरैक सहस्रकरैक सहस्रकरैकनुते
कृतसुरतारक सङ्गरतारक सङ्गरतारक सूनुसुते ।
सुरथसमाधि समानसमाधि समाधिसमाधि सुजातरते ।
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १७ ॥

पदकमलं करुणानिलये वरिवस्यति योऽनुदिनं सुशिवे
अयि कमले कमलानिलये कमलानिलयः स कथं न भवेत् ।
तव पदमेव परम्पदमित्यनुशीलयतो मम किं न शिवे
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १८ ॥

कनकल सत्कलसिन्धुजलैरनुषिञ्चति तेगुणरङ्गभुवम्
भजति स किं न शचीकुचकुम्भ तटीपरिरम्भसुखानुभवम् ।
तव चरणं शरणं करवाणि नतामरवाणि निवासि शिवम्
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ १९ ॥

तव विमलेन्दुकुलं वदनेन्दुमलं सकलं ननु कूलयते
किमु पुरुहूतपुरीन्दु मुखी सुमुखीभिरसौ विमुखीक्रियते ।
मम तु मतं शिवनामधने भवती कृपया किमुत क्रियते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ २० ॥

अयि मयि दीनदयालुतया कृपयैव त्वया भवितव्यमुमे
अयि जगतो जननी कृपयासि यथासि तथाऽनुमितासि रते ।
यदुचितमत्र भवत्युररीकुरुतादुरुतापमपाकुरुते
जय जय हे महिषासुरमर्दिनि रम्यकपर्दिनि शैलसुते ॥ २१॥

Description

Note: For a verse by verse chanting of Aigiri Nandini please click here .

Mahishasura Mardini Stotram
“The place where Sri Mahishasura Mardini Stotram is sung every day, I will always be present and never leave.”
– The Devi’s proclamation in the 12th chapter of the Devi Mahatmyam

The Mahishasura Mardini Stotram also known popularly as Aigiri Nandini, holds immense significance during Navratri. The word Mahisha means buffalo and Asura means Rakshasa or Demon. Composed by the great sage Adi Shankaracharya around 810 AD, this stotram is based on the Devi Mahatmyam and extols the different powers (shaktis) of the Devi. The Devi takes different forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati and destroys the demons – Madhu and Kaitabha, Mahishasura, and Sumbha and Nisumbha.

Mahishasura Mardini Stotram is said to bring peace to the devotee and removes all fear and sadness. It drives away negative emotions like doubt, anger, ego and inertia. This stotram also removes obstacles from the path of the believer. One can listen to Ayigiri Nandini (click the audio link above) however reciting the chants are considered to be more powerful.

The slaying of Mahishasura
When the Devi destroyed the army of Mahishasura – the King of Demons, Chakshura, the mighty general decided to fight the Devi himself. But very soon, after a fierce battle, the Devi slaughtered him into hundreds of pieces. As soon as the valiant general of Mahishasura was slain, Chamara, the afflicter of the gods came forward mounted on an elephant to try his luck in the great battle. The Devi’s lion pounced upon the elephant and the two battled fiercely till the end. The lion then struck Chamara with his paw and killed him.

Seeing his army being destroyed brutally by the Devi and her lion, Mahishasura took the form of a majestic and fierce Buffalo and terrified the troops of the Devi. Hitting some by muzzle, trampling some by his hooves, lashing at some with his tail, and tearing others with his horns. When he was done with the Devi’s army, Mahishasura rushed to slay the lion of the Devi. This enraged the Devi. Mahishasura, pounded the terrain with his hooves in rage, crushed the earth by his whirling speed and flooded the oceans.

When the Devi saw Mahishasura advancing towards her in such rage, she was angered and flung her noose over the great asura and bound him. But Mahishasura soon relinquished his buffalo form and became a lion. When the Devi cut the head of his Lion form, he took a human form. The Devi slayed the human form too immediately, and then the evil Mahishasura took the form of a huge Elephant. When the Devi cut off his trunk with her sword, the asura resumed his buffalo form and shook the three worlds. The enraged Goddess and Mahishasura continued to battle ferociously, till the Devi jumped in the air and landed herself on the buffalo form of Mahishasura. She crushed his neck under her feet and struck him with her spear. Caught helplessly under her foot, Mahishasura tried to take human form again but could only manage to reveal himself till his waist. Soon he was beheaded by the Devi. The battle thus ended and the entire army of Mahishasura perished.

The Gods along with the divine seers lauded the Goddess. The Gandharvas sang and the bevies of apsaras danced in celebration of Mahishasura’s end.

Mahishaasura, who kept transforming from a buffalo, to a lion, to a man, to an elephant, and then back to a buffalo, represents the never ending chain of desires in us. When one desire is fulfilled another springs and takes its place. There is a never ending transformation and multiplication of multifarious desires. This is called Vikshepa Shakti and its rooted in Rajo Guna or Rajas. This conquest of Mahishasura is symbolic to winning over the rajasic tendencies in us.

Significance of the Devi vanquishing the buffalo demon
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says: Navratri is a celebration of the spirit or prana which alone can destroy mahishasura (inertia), shumbha-nishumbha (pride and shame) and madhu-kaitabh (extreme forms of craving and aversion). They are completely opposites yet complementary. Inertia, deeply ingrained negativities and obsessions (raktabeejasura), unreasonable logics (chanda-munda) and blurred vision (dhoomralochan) can be overcome only by raising the level of prana and shakti, the life-force energy.

Devi Durga, in her form as Mahishasura Mardini, is the destroyer of Mahisha. The word Mahisha means buffalo which is a symbol of laziness, lethargy, small-mindedness, tamogun and inertia. In that we say, ‘oh, everything goes, everything happens, everything is okay, corruption is okay, without that life will not go on. Things will not work, one has to be corrupt.’ This kind of attitude, and mind-set is wrong, this is Mahishasura.

These are the qualities which impede the spiritual, material progress of an individual and must be conquered. The Devi is a storehouse of positive energy, and any trace of laziness or inertia dissolves in her very presence.

Only the Mother Divine could destroy this demon with the collective energies of the Holy Trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara (representing Creation, Maintenance, and Renewal).

ABOUT DURGA – By Pavan K. Varma
Durga, manifestation of Parvati, wife of Shiva, is the Supreme Being and Creator of the Universe. Shiva, without her, is inert. He is the omnipresent, omniscient, all-knowing representation of Brahman, the attributeless (nirguna) undifferentiated consciousness (nirvishesh chinmatram) pulsating through the cosmos — unseen (adrishta), beyond thought (achintya) and indivisible (akhanda). But without the latent Shakti in Brahman, he is powerless.

Durga is that invincible, unassailable Shakti that enables Shiva to manifest himself. In this sense, she is at par with Shiva.

In Hindu philosophy, Shiva is Brahman — the unmoving, changeless potentiality — and Shakti is the power latent within him. The analogy of one that is still in perfection and the other that can ruffle that stillness, as part of an integrated cosmic design, is the essence of the Shiva-Shakti construct.

If Shiva is the still waters of the cosmic pool, Shakti is the ripple that emanates from it. In this sense, Durga, as the very manifestation of Shakti, is Adi Parashakti — the female power that has existed forever, and without which the world could not have been.

Mythology has given to this fundamental philosophical construct an even more powerful profile. If philosophy — by its very nature — is less dramatic in its presentation, mythology has no such inhibitions. The mythological Durga is not a quiet, reticent, withdrawn, passive or elusive deity. As the Supreme Creator, she is depicted as the Warrior Goddess, riding a lion, with eight or 18 arms, each carrying a weapon to defeat the designs of evil and ensure the victory of good. In this goal, she succeeds where all the gods fail. None can defeat the mighty demon, Mahishasura, who has the boon to change his shape into any form, and is waging a relentless war against the Devas. Unable to defeat him, the gods approach Durga. The Devi — whose very name, Durga, literally means “fortress”, and who is impregnably beyond defeat — then takes on the task. Riding her lion, she slays him, unwavering in her resolve, and unbeatable in her martial powers. She is willing to forgive those who are ready to change their ways, but unyielding to those who are not worthy of her mercy. That is why she is also called Mahishasuramardini, the goddess who defeats the demon, her face calm and serene as she ruthlessly meets out vengeance to the unrighteous.