The verse and its meaning · Stotras · Stotras — Bhavanyashtakam

Guarded in Every Danger

Bhavanyashtakam 7

विवादे विषादे प्रमादे प्रवासे जले चानले पर्वते शत्रुमध्ये । अरण्ये शरण्ये सदा मां प्रपाहि गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि

Meaning · English

In quarrel, despair, carelessness, far from home, in water or fire, on mountains, among enemies, in forests, you who shelter, guard me always. You alone are my refuge, Bhavani.

The list runs from trouble inside a person to trouble outside. First comes a quarrel that turns against you, then the low weight of despair, then the slip you make through your own carelessness. Then comes being far from home, a stranger on the road. After that come the old dangers: deep water, fire, a steep mountain, a ring of enemies, a forest with no path. She is called the one who shelters. The plea is to be guarded always, in all of these places. The refrain closes it: you are my refuge, you alone.

A small child crossing a crowded market keeps hold of a parent's hand the whole way, past the loud stalls, over the busy road, through the narrow lane. The child does not reach for the hand only at the curb. In the same way, the poet holds one hand through every place on his list.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: A Stranger to the Gods · Bhavanyashtakam 6
• Next: Poor, Old and Lost · Bhavanyashtakam 8
• All of Stotras · Ask Krishna about it

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