Goddess Shodashi

śrīṣoḍaśīkavacam (Rudra Yamala Tantra)

(Sri Shodashi Kavacham in English (IAST))

Also known as shri shodashi kavacham · shree shodashi kavacham · shodashi kavacham

An armour for Shodashi from the Rudrayamala, asked for by the Goddess and given by Bhairava, who calls it the essence of the Shrividya and names it the armour whose subject is the highest good. Its viniyoga does something the other kavachas do not: instead of naming a syllable as seed and another as power, it uses the three clusters of the fifteen-syllabled vidya itself — ka-e-i-la-hrim for the seed, ha-sa-ka-ha-la-hrim for the power, sa-ka-la-hrim for the pin — so the mantra is set out in the apparatus before the armour begins. Shiva is its seer and the metre is pankti. The meditation that follows is of a form bright as a thousand crores of suns and ornamented all over, which is the gentle Shrividya iconography rather than a fierce one.

śrīdevyuvāca-
bhagavandevadeveśa bhaktānugrahakāraka |
śrīmahāṣoḍaśīdevyāḥ kavacaṃ vada me prabho || 1||
śrībhairava uvāca-
adhunā devi vakṣyāmi mahāśrīṣoḍaśīmayam |
paramārthābhidhaṃ varma śrīvidyāsāramuttamam || 2||
|| viniyogaḥ ||
asya śrīmahāṣoḍaśīkavacasya śivaṛṣiḥ, paṅktichandaḥ, śrīmahāṣoḍaśīdevatā | kaeīla hrīṃ bījaṃ, hasakahala hrīṃ śaktiḥ, sakala hrīṃ kīlakaṃ, dharmārthakāmamokṣārthe viniyogaḥ prakīrtitāḥ |
|| atha dhyānam ||
sūryakoṭisahasrābhāṃ sarvābharaṇabhūṣitām |
pañcavaktrāṃ caturbāhuṃ śivaśaktyātmakāṃ bhaje || 3||
śiro'vyānme ramābījaṃ vāgbījaṃ locane'vatāt |
parābījaṃ śrutī pāyāt kāmabījaṃ ca nāsikām || 4||
kāmarājastathoṣṭhau me śaktiḥ pāyānmukhaṃ mama |
vāsavyāradanānpātu tāraṃ jihvāṃ mamāvatu || 5||
śaktiḥ kaṇṭhaṃ tathā pātu ramā skandhau mamāvatu |
tryakṣaṃ bhruvau sadā patu dhṛtiḥ patu karau mama || 6||
parābījaṃ pātu vakṣo lakṣmī kukṣiṃ mamāvatu |
śivakūṭo'vatātpṛṣṭhaṃ brahmakūṭaṃ tu pārśvayoḥ || 7||
śaktikūṭo'vatānnābhiṃ kāntikūṭo gudaṃ tathā |
vāyukūṭo'vatāddhastau śaktikūṭastu jānutaḥ || 8||
tāraṃ jaṅghe sadā pātu pādau śaktirmamāvatu |
parā prabhātakāle'vyāt vāṅmadhyāhne'vatācca mām || 9||
sā sāyaṃ pātu sarvatra mohā'vyānmāṃ niśīthake |
pūrvādidikṣu tāro'vyāt vahnivāyoḥ parāvatu || 10||
jaladurbhikṣadāridryāt śaktiḥ pātu mamāniśam |
dārāputradhanāḍhyebhyo gajāśvagṛhamaṇḍalāt || 11||
pātu me kamalābījaṃ kāmaḥ śrīyoginīgaṇāt |
vāgbhavaṃ sarvadā pātu śrīvidyā sarvato'vatu || 12||
|| phalaśrutiḥ ||
itīdaṃ kavacaṃ divyaṃ mahāśrīṣoḍaśīmayam |
mūlamantramayaṃ gopyaṃ sarvāśāparipūrakam || 13||
sarvaśreyaskaraṃ nityaṃ stutaṃ siddhipradaṃ kalau |
yaḥ paṭhetsādhako nityaṃ dhatte maunavrataṃ śive || 14||
sa eva śoḍaśīputraḥ kāmeśvarasamaprabhuḥ |
śyāmātmako mahākālarūpo vairivimardanaḥ || 15||
bahuputro ramānātho māntrikottamaśekharaḥ |
ityetatkathitaṃ varma mahāśrīśoḍaśīmayam || 16||
vinānena na siddhiḥ syānmamāpi parameśvari |
gopyaṃ guhyatamaṃ varma mūlamantramayaṃ param || 17||
paramārthābhidhaṃ vastu gopayetsa sadāśivaḥ ||
|| iti śrīrudrayamale tantre mahāṣoḍaśī kavacaṃ sampūrṇam ||

Explore More