Ardhanareeswara Stotram

It is dif­fi­cult to describe Ard­hana­reeswara as any amount of descrip­tion would be lim­it­ed. If there is one word to describe all that is seen and not seen, expe­ri­enced and not expe­ri­enced, it would be Ard­hana­reeswara. Its a unique and quin­tes­sen­tial form of Shi­va that encom­pass­es the mas­cu­line and fem­i­nine and yet goes beyond gen­ders. Med­i­tat­ing on Ard­hana­reeswara gives the abil­i­ty to devel­op inner qual­i­ties that are well bal­anced, that are mas­cu­line and fem­i­nine. The mas­cu­line and fem­i­nine are not con­tra­dic­to­ry prin­ci­ples but com­ple­men­tary aspects that aid the har­mo­nious func­tion­ing of the Uni­verse. There is no One with­out the Oth­er and there is no Him with­out Her.

This is a musi­cal offer­ing by Ana­ha­ta to Him and Her- Shi­va and Par­vathi. The Ard­hana­reeswara Sto­tra was com­posed by Sri Adi Shankaracharya.

Lyrics and Mean­ing:

Cham­peya Gau­rard­ha Shari­rakayai

Karpu­ra Gau­rard­ha Shari­rakaya |

Dham­mil­lakayai Cha Jatad­haraya

Namah Shiv­aayai Cha Namah Shiv­aaya |1|

My salu­ta­tions to both Par­vathi and Shi­va

To Her whose body shines sim­i­lar to molten gold,

To Him whose body shines like the burn­ing cam­phor,

To Her who has a well made up hair,

And to Him who has the mat­ted lock.

Kas­turi­ka Kumku­ma Char­chi­tayai

Chi­taara­jah­pun­ja Vichar­chi­taya |

Kru­tas­marayai Vikru­tas­maraya

Namah Shiv­aayai Cha Namah Shiv­aaya |2|

My salu­ta­tions to both Par­vathi and Shi­va,

To Her whose body is smeared with musk and saf­fron,

To Him whose body is smeared with ash­es of a burn­ing ghat,

To Her whose pret­ti­ness radi­ates love,

And to Him who destroyed the God of love.

Jhanat Kvanat Kan­gana Nupu­rayai

Pad­ab­ja Rajat Phani Nupu­raya |

Hemaam­ga­dayai Bhu­ja­gan­gadaaya

Namah Shiv­aayai Cha Namah Shiv­aaya |3|

My salu­ta­tions to both Prvathi and Shi­va,

To Her who has tin­kling pret­ty anklets,

To Him who has the king of snakes as anklet,

To Her who shines with gold­en anklets,

And to Him who has snakes as anklets.

Visha­lanilot Palalochanayai

Vikasi­pankeru Halochanaya |

Samek­shanayai Vishamek­shanaya

Namah Shiv­aayai Cha Namah Shiv­aaya |4|

My salu­ta­tions to both Par­vathi and Shi­va,

To Her who has eyes as wide as the blue lotus,

To Him who has eyes as wide as a ful­ly opened lotus,

To Her who has even num­ber of eyes,

And to Him who has odd num­ber of eyes.

Man­dara Maala Kali­taalakayai

Kapaala­malan Kitakand­haraya |

Divyam­barayai Cha Digam­baraaya

Namah Shiv­aayai Cha Namah Shiv­aaya |5|

My salu­ta­tions to both Par­vathi and Shi­va,

To Her whose hair is dec­o­rat­ed with divine flow­ers,

To Him who wears a gar­land of skulls,

To Her who dress­es in great silks,

And to Him wear­ing the eight direc­tions.

Amb­hod­hara Sya­mala Kun­ta­layai

Tatit Prab­ha Taam­ra Jatad­haraya |

Nirish­varayai Nikhilesh­waraya

Namah Shiv­aayai Cha Namah Shiv­aaya |6|

My salu­ta­tions to both Par­vathi and Shi­va,

To Her who has black hair like the swollen cloud,

To Him who has cop­per mat­ted locks like light­ning,

To Her who is the god­dess of the moun­tains,

And to Him who is the Lord of the uni­verse.

Pra­pan­cha Srishtyun Mukha­laasyakayai

Samas­ta Samhaara­ka Tan­davaya |

Jagat Jananyai Jagadekapitre

Namah Shiv­aayaiCha Namah Shiv­aaya |7|

My salu­ta­tions to both Par­vathi and Shi­va,

To Her whose dance marks the cre­ation of the world,

To Him whose dance destroys every­thing,

To Her who is the moth­er of the uni­verse,

To Him who is the father of the uni­verse.

Pradip­ta Rat­no­jj­vala Kun­dalayai

Sphu­ran Maha­pan­na­ga Bhushanaya |

Sivan­vi­tayai Cha Sivan­vi­taya

Namah Shiv­aayai Namah Shiv­aaya |8|

My salu­ta­tions to both Par­vathi and Shi­va,

To Her with glit­ter­ing ear­rings of gems,

To Him who wears a great ser­pent as an orna­ment,

To Her who is divine­ly merged with Shi­va,

And to Him who is divine­ly merged with Par­vathi.

Etat­pathed Ash­takam Ish­tadam Yo

Bhak­tya Sa Manyo Bhu­vi Dirgha­jivi

Prap­noti Saub­hagya Man­an­takalam

Bhuy­at Sada Tasya Samas­ta Sid­dih

Those who chant this Ard­ha­narish­wara Sto­tram with bhak­thi will be blessed long respect­ful life and will be blessed with all they wish to to have in their life­time.