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Sri Durga Dwatrimsha Namavali Stotram

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Shree durgaa dvaatrim'shannaama stotram'

Durgaa durgaartishamanee durgaa''padvinivaarinee |
Durgamachchhedinee durgasaadhinee durganaashinee || 1 ||

Durgatoddhaarinee durganihantree durgamaapahaa |
Durgamajnyaanadaa durgadaityalokadavaanalaa || 2 ||

Durgamaa durgamaalokaa durgamaatmasvaroopinee |
Durgamaargapradaa durgamavidyaa durgamaashritaa || 3 ||

Durgamajnyaanasam'sthaanaa durgamadhyaanabhaasinee |
Durgamohaa durgamagaa durgamaarthasvaroopinee || 4 ||

Durgamaasurasam'hantree durgamaayudhadhaarinee |
Durgamaangee durgamaataa durgamyaa durgameshvaree || 5 ||

Durgabheemaa durgabhaamaa durgabhaa durgadhaarinee |
Naamaaval'imimaam' yastu durgaayaa mama maanavah' || 6 ||

Pat'hetsarvabhayaanmukto bhavishyati na sam'shayah' |
Shatrubhih' peed'yamaano vaa durgabandhagato'pi vaa |
Dvaatrim'shannaamapaat'hena muchyate naatra sam'shayah' || 7 ||

Iti shree durgaa dvaatrim'shannaamaaval'i stotram |

Names in the opening verse

These notes explain the six names in the opening verse, not all 32 names. The hymn’s descriptions of protection express devotional belief.

This page numbers the text from 1 to 7. The description of the benefits of recitation begins in the second line of verse 6.

AI-assisted meaning notes; not reviewed by a subject expert. ·

  1. Verse 1 · name 1

    Durgaa

    Durga is the goddess’s name. Durga also carries senses such as a stronghold or a place difficult to reach; here it names the goddess.

  2. Verse 1 · name 2

    durgaartishamanee

    She who soothes the suffering of severe distress. Arti means suffering; shamani means one who calms it.

  3. Verse 1 · name 3

    durgaa''padvinivaarinee

    She who wards off grave adversity. Apad means danger or calamity; vinivarini means one who averts it.

  4. Verse 1 · name 4

    Durgamachchhedinee

    A simple interpretive sense is she who cuts through difficult obstacles. Chhedana means cutting or severing.

  5. Verse 1 · name 5

    durgasaadhinee

    She who accomplishes what is difficult. Sadhini conveys accomplishing or bringing about.

  6. Verse 1 · name 6

    durganaashinee

    She who destroys severe difficulties. Nashini means one who destroys.

Return to the full text

Meaning

The Durga Dvatrimsha Namavali is a garland of thirty-two names strung into seven short verses, and its trick is that every single name begins with the word Durga - Durga, Durgarti-shamani, Durgapad-vinivarini, Durgama-chhedini, Durga-sadhini, and on to Durgameshvari and Durga-darini at the end. It is a stotra, not an archana list, and it runs to about two minutes.

Significance

Look at what the second halves of the names are doing. They are almost all verbs: shamani, she who quietens; nivarini, she who wards off; chhedini, she who cuts; uddharini, she who lifts out; nihantri, she who strikes down. The garland is not describing her appearance at all. It is naming, thirty-two times over, one action - getting a person out of a place they cannot get out of. That is why the closing verses say the reciter is released from every fear, and why tradition attaches the stotra so specifically to confinement: the same word durga means both a difficulty and a fort, and the text speaks of one held in durga-bandha being let go. People in Kannada households recite it for a relative in hospital, for someone caught in a court case, for a son stranded far away. The stotra promises; whether the promise is met is between the Devi and the devotee, and no one should sell it as a guarantee.

How and when to chant

Because it is short, it is recited in counts. Eleven or twenty-one times in a sitting is common; for a particular trouble people take a sankalpa for 108 recitations spread over days, or a nine-day anushthana through Navaratri. Dawn after bath is the usual hour, facing east, with a lamp. Many readers add it at the end of a Durga Saptashati parayana, where it is printed alongside the Kavacha, Argala and Kilaka in most Kannada editions. No initiation is needed. It is short and rhythmic enough that children learn it quickly, which is one reason it has stayed in use.

Frequently asked questions

How many names are in the Durga Dwatrimsha Namavali?
Thirty-two, which is what dvatrimsha means. They are arranged in seven verses, so it is far shorter than a 108-name ashtottara. Every one of the thirty-two begins with the word Durga, which is the feature that makes this text recognisable the moment you hear it read aloud.
Why does every name begin with Durga?
The repetition is the device. Each name takes the word Durga and adds an action to it - shamani, nivarini, chhedini, uddharini - so the whole garland circles one idea from thirty-two angles. It also makes the stotra easy to hold in memory, since only the second half of each name changes.
What do the closing verses promise?
That the one who recites this garland of names is freed from every fear, and that even a person held in durga-bandha, bound or confined, is released. The text states this in its own words. Tradition has carried it for centuries; it is a promise of the stotra, not an outcome anyone can guarantee.
Is this part of the Durga Saptashati?
It is not one of the thirteen chapters. In most printed editions it appears in the set of accompanying texts published with the Saptashati, alongside the Devi Kavacha, Argala Stotra and Kilaka Stotra, and that is how most readers meet it. Its original source is not clearly attested.
How many times should it be recited?
Eleven or twenty-one times in one sitting is the usual practice, since the whole stotra takes about two minutes. For a specific difficulty people take a sankalpa of 108 recitations over several days. A single daily recitation is also perfectly acceptable and easier to keep up.
How is it different from the Durga Ashtottara Shatanamavali?
The ashtottara is 108 names meant for archana, where you offer kumkuma at each namah. This is a stotra of 32 names in metre, recited straight through without offerings. The ashtottara suits a puja; the dvatrimsha suits japa, repetition, and carrying in your head on a journey.
Do I need initiation or a priest to recite it?
Neither. It is a stotra in praise of Durga with no bija mantras, no nyasa and no homa attached, so anyone may recite it. Bathe, sit before a lamp, and read it from a Kannada or Devanagari text until you know it by heart.
When is the best time to recite it?
Dawn after bath, facing east, is the standard time; Tuesday and Friday if you keep weekdays. During Navaratri many take it up for all nine days. Those reciting for someone in trouble often keep a fixed hour and a fixed count rather than choosing a special day.

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