Shitala Chalisa

Victory, victory, victory to Shree Shitala Bhawani. Hail to the mother of the world, the storehouse of every good quality.

Your power shines in home after home, Mother. You are as radiant and complete as the full autumn moon.

When the body burns with pox and eruptive fever, you cool it down and take away all its pain.

Mother Shitala, your auspicious name alone brings everyone's heartfelt wishes to fulfilment.

You destroy grief, Shankari Bhawani. You guard the very life of children and are the giver of happiness.

A pure broom and a water pitcher shine in your hands, and the light on your brow blazes bright as the sun.

The sixty-four Yoginis sing at your side, sounding the veena, cymbals and the mridanga drum.

Lord Bhairava dances his dance before you. Even Shesha and Shiva cannot reach the far edge of your greatness.

Blessed, blessed are you, great queen and nurturer. Gods, humans and sages all recount your fine glory.

You are the mighty, flame-like form of power. Once there arose a fearsome demon named Visphotaka, the pox disease itself.

He entered house after house and no one could hold him back. Taking the shape of disease, he devoured little children.

Wailing and dread filled the whole world, and no one was able to lift away this calamity.

Then the Mother took on a wondrous form, holding a broom and a winnowing fan in her hands.

She caught the demon Visphotaka in her grip and struck him again and again with her pestle.

The demon begged her in many ways, admitting, 'Mother, I have done nothing good at all.'

'From now on, Mother, I will only go where I am sent; I will stay only in whatever house is unclean and impure.'

The body that flares with fever will be cooled, and the terrible fear of pox will be wiped away.

Whoever worships Shree Shitala gains well-being. The Lord himself speaks this as truth.

In whatever house the fear of pox appears, the sure remedy is to worship the Goddess there.

One should prepare a cool water pot for Shitala and have the recitation performed properly by a learned priest.

You alone are Shitala, mother of the world. You alone are its father, the giver of happiness to all.

You are the upholder of the universe, attended by joy itself. Salutations, again salutations to you, Shitala Devi.

Salutations to the giver of joy and remover of sorrow. Salutations, salutations to you who ferry the world across and hold it up.

Salutations, salutations to you whom all three worlds revere. You cut away sorrow, poverty and every such affliction.

You are honoured by many names across the land, and you are the mother of every circle and region.

You wear a form as vast as the open sky, resplendent as you ride, known by five sacred names.

Rasabha, Khara, Baishakha, Sunandana and Gardabha are your names, by which you uproot every evil.

Simply remembering Mother Shitala drives every sorrow far away.

For throat ailments, swellings and goitre for which no mantra or medicine avails,

the worship of the Mother alone is the cure; there is no other means at all.

Whoever comes to the Mother's shelter with certainty becomes fearless and receives the fruit their heart desires.

The leper gains a clean, healed body, and the blind person looks out again with their own restored sight.

The childless woman is blessed with a child, and one born into poverty becomes prosperous.

By singing the virtues of Mother Shitala, even a speechless person is seen to compose verse.

Let no one hold any doubt in this: it is the Mother's glory alone that resounds throughout the world.

The devotee Kamal Prabhudasa, who lives to the east near Prayag,

makes his home in Tiwaripur village, by the Ganga bank at Kakara near Durvasa.

Now, without delay, I call out to you, Mother, watching the road for your grace to arrive.

I have laid all my hope at your feet, at your door; now take notice of me, Mother Shitala.

Whoever reads this Shitala Chalisa will not be touched by sorrow even in a dream, and each day will bring them every blessing.