śrī kāmākṣī stotram

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) who is like the flowers of the wish-fulfilling tree (Kalpataru) shining brightly, with dark locks of hair, and seated as the great mother, who is beautiful with eyes like the lotus petals, and at the same time terrible in the form of devi Kalika, the destroyer of the sins of Kali-Yuga, who is beautifully adorned with girdles, anklets, garlands and wreath, and brings good fortune to all as the goddess of Kanchi puri, whose bosom is beautiful like the forehead of an elephant and is filled with compassion; we extol devi Kamakshi, the beloved of Sri Mahesha.

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) who has a green parrot which shines like the colour of the Kasha grass, she herself shining brightly like a moonlit night, whose three eyes are the sun, moon and the fire; and who adorned with radiant Ornaments is blazing luminous, whose holy pair of feet is served by lord Brahma, lord Vishnu, Indra and other devas, as well as the great Sages, whose movement is gentle like the king of elephants; we extol devi Kamakshi, the beloved of Sri Mahesha.

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) whose transcendental absolute form is expressed by the great Sages with the beeja mantras "aim Klim Sauh", who is the primordial cause of the speech itself, and who is meditated upon by the Yogis in the cave of their hearts, who is worshipped in the form of Bala Tripurasundari (form of a small girl) who is having an eye on her forehead and having the colour of fresh hibiscus flower; she dwells in the Sushumna, who is adorned with garlands and brings good fortune to all; we extol devi Kamakshi, the beloved of Sri Mahesha.

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) by always taking the dust of whose lotus feet, Sri Brahma creates the world, by whose perennial grace, Sri Vishnu protects the entire world, (and) Rudra destroys in a moment that whole (creation) which is deluded by the power of Maya. whose deeds are diverse and lovely; we extol devi Kamakshi, the beloved of Sri Mahesha.

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) whose essence is subtler than the subtlest, and whose form is well-marked with auspiciousness and imperishable patience, the Knowledge of whose essence refines the rakshasas (demons within signifying evil tendencies) and gives Undecaying rest within the three worlds, whose imperishable essence can be directly experienced in meditation; who is Dakshayani (born as the daughter of Daksha) and the underlying witness of everything, who is marked with auspicious attributes and is ever playful; we extol devi Kamakshi, the beloved of Sri Mahesha.

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) who is like a lamp of Omkara in the courtyard of the palace of the upanishads situated on the mountains (alluding to devi Parvati incarnating on the mountains in the palace of Himavan). who is the illumination behind the four sacred texts (four Vedas) destroying even the most evil sins and revealing the light of the hamsa (the universal soul) within, who is like a parrot caged within the city of Kanchi from whom is surging out the waves of compassion, who is the queen of Sri Shiva; that Shiva who is the master of Kama (desire); we extol devi Kamakshi, the beloved of Sri Mahesha.

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) whose nature is expressed by the Syllable hrim by reciting which the powers of aindri and Sri spreads forth, who as devi Bhuvaneswari, the embodiment of pure consciousness is always Showering boons and forgiving sins, who as the all-bearing mother of the world, stain free and pure, keeps off the sins of the world (from the hearts of the devotees), whose face shines like the full moon; we extol devi Kamakshi, the beloved of Sri Mahesha.

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) who is called as "goddess of Speech" (devi Saraswati) and "daughter of the Milky Ocean" (devi Lakshmi) and... the "earth born daughter" (devi Sita) and who is the voice behind the shrutis (Upanishads) manifesting out of her own will, who is the one bestowing many fruits and manifesting in various forms, who is the destroyer of all Sufferings and transcendental in essence; we extol devi Kamakshi, the beloved of Sri Mahesha.

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) who is the primordial cause of maya and whose pair of feet is worshipped in all the three worlds, who is the abode of the nectar of bliss within, the supreme knowledge of pure consciousness on whom the learned meditates, who is the great mother appearing as human being by her power of Maya, though always shining as pure consciousness like the radiance within a gem, whose movement is gentle like the king of elephants; we extol devi Kamakshi, the beloved of Sri Mahesha.

(Salutations to devi Kamakshi) who is the beloved of the devotees and like a milch-cow fulfills their wishes; whose movement is like the king of elephants, and who share the left half of the body of Sri Shiva, who is the bestower of auspiciousness, incarnated in a divine auspicious body Smeared with the perfume of Kasturi, who abiding in the banks of the Kampa river under a mango tree (aamra), surges forth her compassion, (devi Parvati meditated on Sri Shiva on the banks of the Kampa river at Kanchipuram) please make my life happy and prosperous, O divine goddess of Kanchipuram.