Tripura Sundari Ashtakam Audio

Devi Tripura Sundari, also known as Shodashi, is the third Dasha MahaVidya. The above photo is from our pooja room. As per Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, She is one of the most beautiful Goddesses. There are many beautiful shlokas that praise Devi Tripura Sundari. Shree Adi Shankara has composed a beautiful Asktakam for Her; the words are simply beautiful. Additionally, note that it is composed in the Sanskrit metre called Prthvi.

While you can simply read it as prose, the real beauty can be felt when one understands how to recite a shloka written in Prthvi. The setting is as follows: t R t r r R r R  || t r r R r R R r R. Many great ancient shlokas written in Prthvi, when sung following the above setting, will simply melt your heart as you offer your praise to the Divine. We will visit other such shlokas in the future. You may want to listen to the audio and then try to sing it yourself – the pleasure will be out of this world !

I present now my vocal rendering of Devi Tripura Sundari Ashtakam which is 4 minutes 18 seconds:
(Mobile Devices: Click Download; then play)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5yrewH-M1znNWxLckJQdFFWLVU/view?usp=sharing

Sanskrit lyrics can be found at:

http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_devii/tripurasund8.pdf

Bhramaramba Ashtakam Audio

There is a wonderful temple for Bhramaramba Devi at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, India. My wife along with her father and brother was blessed to be able to visit this temple in January 2015. This is one of the Shakthi Peetas.

In Sanskrit, Bhramar means bees. Bhramaramba means Mother of bees. They say that a demon ( some say it was Arunaasura – some say it was Bhandaasura ) – had performed austerities and had pleased Lord Brahma who gave him the boon that he could not be killed by creatures with two or four feet. He then tortured the Devas, who went and prayed to Adi ParaShakthi. She told them that he is Her devotee and cannot be killed unless he stops worshipping Her.

Brihaspathi ( Jupiter ) who is the Guru of the Devas met the demon and upon being asked the reason for the visit, Brihaspathi told him that it was because both the Devas and the demon worship the same deity, namely Devi Gayatri and so it was just so He could meet a devotee of the same kind. Suddenly the demon felt that he should not worship Her Who is worshipped by the Devas and stopped worshipping Her. Adi ParaShakthi became angry at him, took the form of Bhramarambika, created numerous bees which are six-legged and killed the demon and his army in no time at all and thus protected the Devas.

Adi Shankara has composed an excellent ashtakam for Bhramaramba; it says the Devi loves music and loves people that sing to Her. I present now my vocal rendering of the above ahstakam which is only 4 minutes 15 seconds:

( Mobile Devices: Click Download; then play.)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5yrewH-M1zncjRidUgzZ2VDVTQ/view?usp=sharing


You can find the Sanskrit lyrics, Tamil lyrics and Tamil translation of the above shloka at:

http://www.kamakoti.org/kamakoti/newTamil/stotras/index.php?imgdir=Brahramba+Ashtakam

Kalika Ashtakam Audio

Kalika Devi is the first Dasha MahaVidya. She is the One that can burn the darkness of ignorance. While there are so many statements made by people that are misleading and full of mis-information, one needs to know that Kalika Devi is the equivalent of a compassionate mother that nurtures, nourishes and protects Her children.

It is the posture of the devotee towards Kalika Devi that is important. One needs to have devotion and bhakthi and Devi Kalika will take care and protect one from all the problems and provide both wordly enjoyments and spiritual advancement. Kalika Ashtakam has been authored by the great Adi Shankara. The lyrics are superb and one gets filled with bliss as one recites it with love and devotion.

I present now my vocal rendering of the above ahstakam which is 3 minutes 25 seconds below:

( Mobile Devices: Click Download, then play )

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5yrewH-M1zncHBrWFZodzRnTGc/view?usp=sharing

You can find the Sanskrit lyrics, English lyrics and English translation of the shloka at:

http://www.greenmesg.org/mantras_slokas/devi_kali-kalika_ashtakam.php