|| ādiśaṅkaraviracita devyaparādhakṣamāpaṇastotram ||
na mantraṃ no yantraṃ tadapi na jāne nutimaho
na cāhvānaṃ dhyānaṃ tadapi ca na jāne stutikathāḥ |
na jāne mudrāste tadapi ca na jāne vilapanam
paraṃ jāne mātastadanusaraṇaṃ kleṣaharaṇam ||
vidherajñānena draviṇaviraheṇālasatayā
vidheyāśakyatvātava caraṇayoryā cyutirabhūt |
tadetat kṣantavyaṃ janani sakalōddhāriṇi śive
kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati ||
Re-ordered Word-by-word Meaning
aho mātaḥ - Alas, Oh Mother!
na jāne mantraṃ no yantraṃ tadapi na nutim - I don't know any chant, any ritualistic device/technique, and not even how to bow to You,
na cāhvānaṃ dhyānaṃ -neither how to invoke Your presence, nor to meditate upon You,
tadapi ca na jāne stutikathāḥ - And I don't know by memory even the prayers from the epics!
na jāne te mudrāḥ - I don't know the mystical hand gestures to propitiate You,
tadapi ca na jāne vilapanam - and perhaps the worst thing, I don't know even how to call out to You in distress!
paraṃ mātaḥ - But above all, Mother!
jāne tadanusaraṇaṃ kleṣaharaṇam - I DO know that by merely following You (immersing myself in Your thoughts), my woes and troubles will be removed by You!
vidherajñānena - By Destiny, of which I am unaware any way,
draviṇaviraheṇa - by my lacking material means,
ālasatayā - through my laziness,
vidheyāśakyatvā - by my inability to be constantly devoted to You,
tava caraṇayoḥ yā cyutiḥ abhūt - the falling away from Your feet that befell me(i.e. I slipped from my prayer),
tat janani sakalōddhāriṇi śive - But Mother, (You're) the all-uplifting and liberating Goddess of Grace,
etat kṣantavyaṃ - therefore, this misdemeanour of mine is worthy of your pardon;
kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati - (After all is it not universally true that) a bad son may be born, but never would there ever be a bad/unkind mother!?
This is one of my favourite prayers. Adi Shankara, perhaps the greatest philosopher that India has produced, was also the personification of devotion. His prayers to the Universal Mother, Devi, have an emotional appeal and strength of devotion that surpasses everything else.
