The Goddess worshipped throughout the year in India is Ma Durga. She is called by various names. Devi is worshipped as the Universal Mother and combines the Goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Parvati.
सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके ।
शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके देवि नारायणि नमोस्तुते ॥
sarva-maṅgala-māṅgalye śive sarvārtha-sādhike ।
śaraṇye tryambake devi nārāyaṇi namostute ॥
Oh, Supreme Goddess, who are the auspiciousness in all things auspicious! Oh, Consort of Shiva/One who confers good! Oh, Goddess who fulfils all my goals/wishes!
Oh, Mother, who are my refuge! Oh, the Three-eyed One! Oh, the Maya power of Lord Narayana!
I bow down to you!
sarva-maṅgala-māṅgalye Oh, the auspiciousness in all things auspicious!
śive Oh, Consort of Shiva/One who confers good!
sarvārtha-sādhike who accomplishes for me all my goals/wishes!
śaraṇye Oh, My refuge!
tryambake Oh, the Three-eyed One!
devi Supreme Goddess!
nārāyaṇi Oh, the Maya power of Lord Narayana!
namostute I bow down to you! ( actually it is three words Namaḥ astu te)
Most of our prayers invoke our chosen Deity with various attributes and descriptions. The idea is that when we behold the image or idol and invoke these words, our minds and hearts connect with the Supreme Being, far beyond simple matter. Then the prayer acquires a new meaning.
They say that we begin by chanting these prayers as mere words, then we develop understanding and feeling, and finally dissolve ourselves in prayer.
In the nineteenth century, Sir Monier Williams, with the help of great Indian scholars, produced the comprehensive Sanskrit-English dictionary, listing over 300,000 Sanskrit words! Even before this, Indians had created both dictionaries and thesauruses called Śabdakoṣa-s. Indeed, etymology or derivation of words is a separate science called Nirukta and so on. The famous Amarakośa is around 1500 to 1800 years old.
Here is a sample from the Amarakośa listing of the words connected with the word, "horse":
Vande mātaram ! Vande samskṛtam !
