Mansa Devi Aarti

By the BhaktiRas Editorial Team · Updated 14 July 2026

Manasa is the goddess of snakes, worshipped across Bengal and at the hilltop Mansa Devi temple above Haridwar. This short aarti greets her by her family names, as the sister of the serpent-king Vasuki and the mother of the sage Astika, and asks the plain thing her devotees have always asked: protection from venom and disease, and the wish they carried to her feet. It is set to the same tune as the well-known Jai Ambe Gauri and closes, like many aartis, with the poet Shivanand Swami signing his name.

Mansa Devi Aarti Lyrics (English)

Meaning & Significance

The aarti works almost entirely through Manasa’s family tree, and that is the point. She is placed as the wife of the sage Jaratkaru, the sister of Vasuki the serpent-king, the daughter of Kashyapa and the mother of the sage Astika. Each name ties her to the world of snakes and to the myths where Astika halts the great snake-sacrifice, so the listener meets her as the one power standing between people and the danger of venom.

The later verses widen the request. She humbles arrogance, dwells on the mountain, cuts through danger and gives wealth that never empties, along with children and the wish each devotee brings. In Bengal she is Bishahari, the one who takes poison away; at the Haridwar shrine she is the goddess whose threads are tied for a wish. The aarti holds both sides together, the guardian against snakebite and the mother who simply gives.

How Do You Perform the Aarti?

1. Offer flowers first — Present flowers to Mansa three times before you begin, then show her the lit lamp.
2. Use a clean lamp — Do the aarti with ghee or camphor set in a clean plate, or in a five-wick panchpradeep.
3. Keep an odd number of wicks — Tradition asks for an odd count of wicks, usually five, moved in slow clockwise circles before the image.
4. Sing at the close of worship — The aarti is sung after the puja to make up for any slip in the ritual and to please the goddess.
5. Best on Nag Panchami — Any evening works, but Nag Panchami is the day families give her full worship, since snakes are held to be under her care.

What Are the Benefits of Singing This Aarti?

Devotees sing the Mansa Devi aarti for reasons that are both spiritual and everyday:

• Protection from snakebite: Mansa's oldest role is guarding people from venom, and the aarti is sung to ask that shelter for the whole household.
• Freedom from disease: She is called on for good health and recovery, and the hymn ties her worship to a body kept free of illness.
• Wishes fulfilled: The refrain names her as the mother who gives the devotee the exact fruit they came asking for.
• Family and prosperity: The verses ask her for children, grandchildren and wealth that does not run dry.
• A focus for Nag Panchami: It gives families a short, easy text to sing on the day set aside for serpent worship.

Who Wrote This Aarti?

This aarti belongs to the traditional devotional literature of Manasa worship and carries the signature line of Swami Shivanand, whose name closes the final verse in the old convention of the poet naming himself. Texts of this kind were sung at living shrines and passed on by families and priests long before they were printed, so small differences in wording appear from region to region.

Because there is no single fixed manuscript, the lyrics above follow the widely-sung Hindi form set to the Jai Ambe Gauri tune. The English meanings are our own plain paraphrase, written to explain each line rather than to copy any published translation.

Frequently Asked Questions

॥ जय मनसा माता ॥