Kiratashtakam
श्री किराताष्टकम्
What is the Kiratashtakam?
Kiratashtakam is a ten-verse Sanskrit stotra to Ayyappa (Dharma Sastha) worshipped in his Kirata, or hunter, form, the guise in which Shiva and Parvati are said to have appeared before Arjuna to test him and grant him the Pashupatastra. Composed in the Shardulavikridita metre, it is a protective hymn: the devotee asks the god to strike down enemies, undo black magic worked against him, and drive off malevolent spirits. Verse ten, the phalashruti, promises the chanter mastery over hostile forces and, in the end, a fearless passage beyond Yama’s messengers.
Kiratashtakam is a compact, forceful Sanskrit hymn to Ayyappa in his Kirata form, the hunter guise Shiva and Parvati are said to have taken to test Arjuna before granting him the Pashupatastra. A short dhyana verse sets the image: bow in one hand, curved knife in the other, radiance outshining a rain cloud. The ten verses that follow are not gentle praise. They ask the god to strike down persecutors, burn away black magic aimed at the devotee, and clear away ghosts, hostile spirits, and human enemies alike. It belongs with the kavacha texts, hymns written for people who feel under real or feared attack.
Kiratashtakam Lyrics
Roman transliteration on top, Devanagari below it. The dhyana (meditation) verse comes first, then the ten stotra verses. Traditional practice also prefixes a viniyoga line and a short karanyasa/anganyasa sequence of bija syllables before the dhyana; those are ritual preliminaries rather than part of the hymn itself, and are not reproduced here. Tap Meaning under any verse for the English sense.
Dhyana
kodandam sasharam bhujena bhujagendrabhoga bhasavahan
vamenachchhurikam vibhakshalane pakshena dakshena cha
kantya nirjita niradah purabhidah kridan kiratakrite
putrosmakam analpa nirmalaya cha nirmatu sharma anisham
कोदण्डं सशरं भुजेन भुजगेन्द्रभोगा भासावहन्
वामेनच्छुरिकां विभक्षलने पक्षेण दक्षेण च ।
कान्त्या निर्जित नीरदः पुरभिदः क्रीडन्किराताकृते
पुत्रोस्माकमनल्प निर्मलया च निर्मातु शर्मानिशम् ॥
Meaning
We meditate on him who holds a bow with its arrow in one hand, its brightness rivalling the hood of the serpent king, and in the other a curved hunting knife capable of tearing an enemy apart; whose radiance outshines a rain cloud; the son of Shiva, destroyer of the three cities, here at play in a hunter’s guise. May he, out of his abundant, unstained grace, grant us well-being always, day and night.
pratyarthivrata vakshahsthala rudhira surapanamatta prishatkam
chape sandhaya tishthan hridayasarasije mamake tapaham tam
pinchhottamsah sharanyah pashupatitanayo niradabhah prasanno
devah payad apayach chhabaravapur asau savadhanah sada nah
प्रत्यर्थिव्रातवक्षःस्थलरुधिरसुरापानमत्ता पृषत्कं
चापे सन्धाय तिष्ठन् हृदयसरसिजे मामके तापहं तम् ।
पिञ्छोत्तंसः शरण्यः पशुपतितनयो नीरदाभः प्रसन्नो
देवः पायादपायाच्छबरवपुरसौ सावधानः सदा नः ॥ १ ॥
Meaning
The arrow fixed on his bow seems intoxicated, as if drunk on the blood drawn from the chests of hordes of hostile enemies, yet it is the very thing that ends suffering; may it dwell always in the lotus of my heart. Crowned with a peacock feather, a refuge for the helpless, son of Pashupati, dark as a monsoon cloud, and gracious: may that god in hunter’s form, ever watchful, protect us always from every danger.
akhetaya vanecharasya girijasaktasya shambhoh sutah
tratum yo bhuvanam pura samajani khyatah kiratakritih
kodandakshurikadharo ghanaravah pinchavatamsojjvalah
sa tvam mamava sarvada ripuganatrastam dayavaridhe
आखेटाय वनेचरस्य गिरिजासक्तस्य शम्भोः सुतः
त्रातुं यो भुवनं पुरा समजनि ख्यातः किराताकृतिः ।
कोदण्डक्षुरिकाधरो घनरवः पिञ्छावतंसोज्ज्वलः
स त्वं मामव सर्वदा रिपुगणत्रस्तं दयावारिधे ॥ २ ॥
Meaning
He who once, wandering the forest with Girija at his side, took on the famed form of a hunter to protect the world; who carries the bow and curved knife, whose voice carries like thunder, resplendent with a crest of peacock feathers: you, ocean of compassion, protect me always, for I am terrified by hordes of enemies.
yo mam pidayati prasahya satatam dehityananyashrayam
bhitva tasya riporurah kshurikaya shatagraya durmateh
deva tvatkarapankajollasitaya shrimatkiratakriteh
tatpranan vitarantakaya bhagavan kalariputranjasa
यो मां पीडयति प्रसह्य सततं देहीत्यनन्याश्रयं
भित्वा तस्य रिपोरुरः क्षुरिकया शाताग्रया दुर्मतेः ।
देव त्वत्करपङ्कजोल्लसितया श्रीमत्किराताकृतेः
तत्प्राणान्वितरान्तकाय भगवन् कालारिपुत्राञ्जसा ॥ ३ ॥
Meaning
He who forces himself on me again and again, though I cling to no refuge but you: split open that ill-natured enemy’s chest with the sharp curved knife shining in your lotus hand, O glorious one in hunter’s form, and, O son of the conqueror of death, swiftly deliver his last breath to Yama.
viddho marmasu durvachobhirasatam santaptashalyopamaih
driptanam dvishatamashantamanasam khinno smi yavadbhrisham
tavat tvam kshurikasharasanadharash chitte mamavirbhavan
svamin deva kiratarupa shamaya pratyarthigarvam kshanat
विद्धो मर्मसु दुर्वचोभिरसतां सन्तप्तशल्योपमैः
दृप्तानां द्विषतामशान्तमनसां खिन्नोऽस्मि यावद्भृशम् ।
तावत्त्वं क्षुरिकाशरासनधरश्चित्ते ममाविर्भवन्
स्वामिन् देव किरातरूप शमय प्रत्यर्थिगर्वं क्षणात् ॥ ४ ॥
Meaning
Struck in my vital points by the cruel words of wicked people, words that land like red-hot spikes, I am worn down by these arrogant, restless-minded foes. For as long as this lasts, appear in my heart bearing your curved knife and bow, O Lord, O god in hunter’s form, and crush my adversaries’ pride in an instant.
hartum vittamadharmato mama ratash choraash cha ye durjanah
teshaam marmasu tadaya ashu vishikhais tvatkarmukan nihsritaih
shastaram dvishatam kiratavapusham sarvarthadam tvamrite
pashyamyatra purariputra sharanam nanyam prapanno smyaham
हर्तुं वित्तमधर्मतो मम रताश्चोराश्च ये दुर्जनाः
तेषां मर्मसु ताडयाशु विशिखैस्त्वत्कार्मुकान्निःसृतैः ।
शास्तारं द्विषतां किरातवपुषं सर्वार्थदं त्वामृते
पश्याम्यत्र पुरारिपुत्र शरणं नान्यं प्रपन्नोऽस्म्यहम् ॥ ५ ॥
Meaning
Thieves and wicked men who scheme to seize my wealth by unjust means: strike their vital points at once with arrows loosed from your bow. Other than you, chastiser of enemies in a hunter’s form, giver of every good thing, I see no refuge here, O son of the destroyer of the triple city; I have surrendered to you alone.
yakshah pretapishachabhutanivahah duhkhapradaa bhishanaah
badhante narashonitotsukadhiyo ye mam ripupreritah
chapajyaninadais tvamisha sakalan samhritya dushtagrahan
gaurishatmaja daivateshvara kiratakara samraksha mam
यक्षः प्रेतपिशाचभूतनिवहाः दुःखप्रदा भीषणाः
बाधन्ते नरशोणितोत्सुकधियो ये मां रिपुप्रेरिताः ।
चापज्यानिनदैस्त्वमीश सकलान् संहृत्य दुष्टग्रहान्
गौरीशात्मज दैवतेश्वर किराताकार संरक्ष माम् ॥ ६ ॥
Meaning
Yakshas, ghosts, demons and hosts of malevolent spirits, terrifying and eager for human blood, harass me at the bidding of my enemies. Destroy every one of these possessing spirits with the mere twang of your bowstring, O Lord. Son of Gauri’s husband, ruler among gods, in the form of a hunter, protect me.
dogdhum ye niratas tvamadya padapadmaikantabhaktaya me
mayachchhannakalebara ashruvishadanadyaih sada karmabhih
vashyastambhanamaranadikushalaprarambhadakshanarin
dushtan samhara devadeva shabarakara trilokeshvara
दोग्धुं ये निरतास्त्वमद्य पदपद्मैकान्तभक्ताय मे
मायाच्छन्नकलेबराश्रुविषदानाद्यैः सदा कर्मभिः ।
वश्यस्तम्भनमारणादिकुशलप्रारम्भदक्षानरीन्
दुष्टान् संहर देवदेव शबराकार त्रिलोकेश्वर ॥ ७ ॥
Meaning
Those set on tormenting me, though I am wholly devoted to your feet, who hide their true bodies through illusion and work constantly through tears, poison, and such means: destroy those wicked enemies skilled in undertaking vashya, stambhana, marana and the like against me, O god of gods, in the form of a hunter, lord of the three worlds.
tanva va manasa girapi satatam dosham chikirshatyalam
tvatpadapranatasya niraparadhasyapi ye manavah
sarvan samhara tan girishasuta me tapatrayaughanapi
tvamekam shabarakrite bhayaharam natham prapanno smyaham
तन्वा वा मनसा गिरापि सततं दोषं चिकीर्षत्यलं
त्वत्पादप्रणतस्य निरपराधस्यापि ये मानवाः ।
सर्वान् संहर तान् गिरीशसुत मे तापत्रयौघानपि
त्वामेकं शबराकृते भयहरं नाथं प्रपन्नोऽस्म्यहम् ॥ ८ ॥
Meaning
Those people who constantly try, by body, mind, or speech, to harm me, though I bow at your feet and am innocent: destroy every one of them, O son of Girisha, and destroy too the threefold suffering that presses on me. I have taken refuge in you alone, remover of fear, my lord in a hunter’s form.
klishto rajabhataistadapi paribhuto ham kulairvairibhih
chanyair ghoratarair vipajjalanidhau magno smi duhkhaturam
ha ha kinkaravai vibho shabaravesham tvamabhishtarthadam
vande ham paradaivatam kuru kripanatha artabandho mayi
क्लिष्टो राजभटैस्तदापि परिभूतोऽहं कुलैर्वैरिभिः
चान्यैर्घोरतरैर्विपज्जलनिधौ मग्नोऽस्मि दुःखातुरम् ।
हा हा किङ्करवै विभो शबरवेषं त्वामभीष्टार्थदं
वन्देऽहं परदैवतं कुरु कृपानाथार्तबन्धो मयि ॥ ९ ॥
Meaning
Afflicted by the soldiers of kings, humiliated by hostile clans and by others still more fearsome, I am sunk, sorrow-stricken, in an ocean of misfortune. Alas, Lord, I who serve you cry out: I bow to you, my supreme deity in a hunter’s form, giver of every wish. Show mercy on me, friend of the afflicted. This is the devotee’s own cry, and it leads straight into the closing verse.
Phalashruti (Verse 10)
stotram yah prajapet prashantakaranair nityam kiratashtakam
sa kshipram vashagan karoti nripatin abaddhavairanapi
samhrityatmavirodhinah khilajanan dushtagrahanapyasau
yatyante yamadutabhitirahito divyam gatim shashvatim
स्तोत्रं यः प्रजपेत् प्रशान्तकरणैर्नित्यं किराताष्टकं
स क्षिप्रं वशगान् करोति नृपतीनाबद्धवैरानपि ।
संहृत्यात्मविरोधिनः खिलजनान् दुष्टग्रहानप्यसौ
यात्यन्ते यमदूतभीतिरहितो दिव्यां गतिं शाश्वतीम् ॥ १० ॥
Meaning
Whoever recites this Kiratashtakam daily, with a calm and composed mind, quickly brings under his control even kings whose enmity runs deep. Having subdued all who oppose him, and even malevolent planetary influences, he passes at the end, free from fear of Yama’s messengers, into an eternal, divine state. This is the hymn’s phalashruti, the verse that names the text and states its promised fruit.
Meaning and Significance
Kiratashtakam is built as a sequence of specific requests, not a broad description of the god. After the dhyana sets the image, Sastha as a hunter with bow and curved knife, the first two verses establish who he is and ask for constant protection. From verse three onward the hymn gets particular: split the enemy’s chest, strike hostile people in their vital points, burn away the spirits sent by rivals, undo the vashya-stambhana-marana rituals worked against the devotee. The tone does not soften until the personal lament of verse nine and the promise of verse ten.
This directness is worth naming plainly rather than explaining away. The Kiratashtakam sits in the same family as kavacha texts and other protective Sanskrit hymns, works composed for people who believed themselves under attack, whether from human persecutors, spirits, or hostile ritual. Traditional readings of these verses hold two things at once: the enemies are real people capable of real harm, wealth thieves, oppressive officials, hostile litigants, and at the same time inner obstacles, fear, jealousy, and disturbed thought, that a devotee is also asking to have cut away. Neither reading cancels the other.
Why the hunter form?
Sastha’s Kirata form recalls the episode where Shiva and Parvati, disguised as forest hunters, contested Arjuna over a boar before granting him the Pashupatastra. Devotees of this stotra read Sastha’s hunter guise as an extension of that same readiness to meet a threat directly, on the ground, rather than from a distance. It is a working, armed form, not a seated, ornamented one, and the verses match that: short, urgent requests rather than long description.
Is this the same as Harivarasanam?
No. Harivarasanam, the Hariharatmaja Ashtakam sung nightly as Sabarimala’s shrine closes, is a gentle lullaby addressed to Ayyappa as Hariharaputra, son of Hari and Hara, asking him to rest. The Kiratashtakam addresses a different aspect of the same deity, Sastha in Kirata form, and asks for something closer to the opposite in mood: active intervention against enemies and hostile forces. Both are genuine Ayyappa stotras, but they serve different moments in devotion, one for closing the day in peace, the other for calling on protection under pressure.
How to Chant the Kiratashtakam
- Start with the dhyana – Chant the meditation verse first and hold the image in mind: bow and curved knife in hand, a hunter’s form radiant as a rain cloud, before moving into the ten stotra verses.
- Keep the four-line shape – Each verse is written in Shardulavikridita metre, four long lines per verse. Pause at the end of every line rather than running the compound words together.
- Chant it as a whole – This is not a text to break into favourite verses. Its effect builds across all ten, ending in the phalashruti’s promise, so recite it start to finish.
- Read the meaning once – Because several verses ask directly for enemies to be struck down, read the plain-English meaning at least once, so you are chanting with understanding and not just sound.
- Close and sit quietly – After verse ten and the closing line iti shri kiratashtakam, sit for a moment before rising, in keeping with traditional practice.
What Are the Benefits of Chanting?
Kerala’s Sastha tradition treats the Kiratashtakam as a hymn for real pressure, not routine praise. What devotees report chanting it for tracks the text closely.
- Protection from open hostility: The hymn’s central plea, repeated across several verses, is direct: that people who intend real harm through wealth, violence, or influence be stopped.
- Relief from fear of black magic: Verse seven names vashya, stambhana, and marana, three classic goals of hostile ritual practice, and asks Sastha to destroy anyone attempting them. Traditionally chanted by those who feel targeted this way.
- A protector who meets trouble at ground level: The Kirata form is Shiva as a working hunter, not a distant enthroned king. Devotees read this as a god who confronts danger directly rather than from a remove.
- Steadiness under litigation or persecution: Verse ten specifically names bringing hostile kings and entrenched enemies under control, an image later devotees have extended to disputes with authority in general.
- Relief from possession and malevolent spirits: Verse six names yakshas, pretas, pishachas, and bhutas outright, making this one of the few Ayyappa stotras that addresses spirit affliction so directly.
- Ease around the fear of death: The phalashruti’s closing image, a state free from fear of Yama’s messengers, is read as courage in facing mortality itself, not only worldly threats.
Who Composed the Kiratashtakam?
No named author is reliably attached to the Kiratashtakam. The viniyoga line traditionally recited before the hymn names Remanta as the rishi, or seer, of the mantra, Devi Gayatri as its ritual metre, and Sri Kirata Shasta as its deity, which is the standard opening formula used to frame a tantric-style stotra rather than a literary credit. The text has circulated for generations within Sastha worship in Kerala and Tamil Nadu without a settled composer’s name attached to it, unlike hymns such as the Ashtabhuja Ashtakam, which Vedanta Desika signs in his own closing verse.
The frame story devotees tell alongside it draws on the Kirata legend itself: Shiva and Parvati are said to have appeared to Arjuna as a hunter couple, tested him over a slain boar, fought him, and then granted him the Pashupatastra. Ayyappa devotion reads Dharma Sastha’s Kirata form as a continuation of that same hunter guise, distinct from Sastha’s more familiar seated, royal iconography at Sabarimala. Erumeli, on the traditional Sabarimala pilgrim route, is the site most often connected with the hunter form, and the association is kept alive at a number of smaller Kerala shrines. The date and authorship of the Sanskrit text itself remain undocumented.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Kiratashtakam?
Kiratashtakam is a ten-verse Sanskrit stotra to Ayyappa (Dharma Sastha) worshipped in his Kirata, or hunter, form, the guise in which Shiva and Parvati are said to have appeared before Arjuna to test him and grant him the Pashupatastra. Composed in the Shardulavikridita metre, it is a protective hymn: the devotee asks the god to strike down enemies, undo black magic worked against him, and drive off malevolent spirits. Verse ten, the phalashruti, promises the chanter mastery over hostile forces and, in the end, a fearless passage beyond Yama’s messengers.
Who is Sastha’s Kirata form?
Kirata means hunter. Sastha’s Kirata form recalls the episode where Shiva and Parvati appeared to Arjuna disguised as forest hunters, tested him, fought over a boar, and then granted him the Pashupatastra. Kerala tradition treats this hunter guise as one of Dharma Sastha’s forms, worshipped at specific shrines separately from the seated Sabarimala icon.
Is the Kiratashtakam the same as Harivarasanam?
No. Harivarasanam is the nightly lullaby sung at Sabarimala addressed to Hariharaputra, asking Ayyappa to rest. The Kiratashtakam is a different, protective hymn to Sastha’s hunter form, asking him to actively strike down enemies and hostile forces. They are separate compositions written for opposite moods.
Why does the Kiratashtakam ask the god to strike down enemies?
Because it belongs to the protective, kavacha-adjacent genre of Sanskrit stotras, composed for devotees who felt genuinely threatened, by hostile people, black magic, or malevolent spirits. Traditional commentary reads the enemies on two levels at once: real persecutors named plainly in verses like five and seven, and inner obstacles such as fear, jealousy, and disturbed thought that the devotee is also asking to have removed.
What do vashya, stambhana, and marana mean in verse seven?
These are three classic categories of hostile ritual practice in Indian tantric tradition: vashya (binding or controlling someone against their will), stambhana (paralysing or blocking a person’s actions), and marana (ritual harm intended to cause death). Verse seven asks Sastha to destroy anyone attempting these practices against the devotee.
How many verses does the Kiratashtakam have?
Ten stotra verses, preceded by one dhyana, or meditation, verse that is chanted first but not counted among the ten. Traditional practice also prefixes a viniyoga statement and a short nyasa sequence of bija syllables before the dhyana; these are recited as ritual preliminaries but are not verses of the hymn itself.
Who composed the Kiratashtakam?
No composer’s name is reliably attached to it. The opening viniyoga names Remanta as the rishi of the mantra, following the standard ritual-attribution formula rather than crediting a literary author. It has circulated within Sastha worship in Kerala and Tamil Nadu for generations without a documented date or writer.
What does the phalashruti in verse ten promise?
Verse ten says that whoever recites the Kiratashtakam daily with a calm mind quickly gains mastery over hostile people, including kings with entrenched enmity, subdues opposing forces and malevolent planetary influences, and in the end passes on free of fear of Yama’s messengers, reaching an eternal, divine state.
Which temples worship Sastha in his Kirata form?
Kerala tradition associates this hunter form with shrines including Erumeli, on the traditional pilgrim route to Sabarimala, and temples near Nilambur and Kozhikode district. The form is worshipped alongside, and distinct from, Sastha’s more familiar seated iconography at Sabarimala itself.
॥ इति श्री किराताष्टकम् ॥