Sankata Mata Aarti – Lyrics in Hindi, Meaning & Pooja Vidhi
Sankata Mata Aarti Lyrics (हिंदी में)
जय जय संकटा भवानी।
करहूं आरती तेरी॥
शरण पड़ी हूँ तेरी माता।
अरज सुनहूं अब मेरी॥
जय जय संकटा भवानी॥
नहिं कोउ तुम समान जग दाता।
सुर-नर-मुनि सब टेरी॥
कष्ट निवारण करहु हमारा।
लावहु तनिक न देरी॥
जय जय संकटा भवानी॥
काम-क्रोध अरु लोभन के वश।
पापहि किया घनेरी॥
सो अपराधन उर में आनहु।
छमहु भूल बहु मेरी॥
जय जय संकटा भवानी॥
हरहु सकल सन्ताप हृदय का।
ममता मोह निबेरी॥
सिंहासन पर आज बिराजें।
चंवर ढुरै सिर छत्र-छतेरी॥
जय जय संकटा भवानी॥
खप्पर, खड्ग हाथ में धारे।
वह शोभा नहिं कहत बनेरी॥
ब्रह्मादिक सुर पार न पाये।
हारि थके हिय हेरी॥
जय जय संकटा भवानी॥
असुरन्ह का वध किन्हा।
प्रकटेउ अमत दिलेरी॥
संतन को सुख दियो सदा ही।
टेर सुनत नहिं कियो अबेरी॥
जय जय संकटा भवानी॥
गावत गुण-गुण निज हो तेरी।
बजत दुंदुभी भेरी॥
अस निज जानि शरण में आयऊं।
टेहि कर फल नहीं कहत बनेरी॥
जय जय संकटा भवानी॥
जय जय संकटा भवानी।
करहूं आरती तेरी॥
भव बंधन में सो नहिं आवै।
निशदिन ध्यान धरीरी॥
Sankata Mata Aarti – Transliteration (English)
Jai Jai Sankata Bhawani.
Karahoon Aarti Teri.
Sharan Padi Hoon Teri Mata.
Araj Sunahoon Ab Meri.
Jai Jai Sankata Bhawani.
Nahin Kou Tum Saman Jag Data.
Sur-Nar-Muni Sab Teri.
Kasht Nivaran Karahu Hamara.
Lavahu Tanik Na Deri.
Jai Jai Sankata Bhawani.
Kaam-Krodh Aru Lobhan Ke Vash.
Paapahi Kiya Ghaneri.
So Aparadhan Ur Mein Aanahu.
Chhhamahu Bhool Bahu Meri.
Jai Jai Sankata Bhawani.
Harahu Sakal Santap Hriday Ka.
Mamta Moh Niberi.
Sinhasan Par Aaj Biraje.
Chanwar Dhurai Sir Chhatra-Chhateri.
Jai Jai Sankata Bhawani.
Khappar Khadg Hath Mein Dhare.
Wah Shobha Nahin Kahat Baneri.
Brahmaadik Sur Paar Na Paaye.
Haari Thake Hiya Heri.
Jai Jai Sankata Bhawani.
Asuranah Ka Vadh Kinha.
Prakateur Amat Dileri.
Santan Ko Sukh Diyo Sada Hi.
Ter Sunat Nahin Kiyo Aberi.
Jai Jai Sankata Bhawani.
Gawat Gun-Gun Nij Ho Teri.
Bajat Dundubhi Bheri.
As Nij Jani Sharan Mein Aayoon.
Tehi Kar Phal Nahin Kahat Baneri.
Jai Jai Sankata Bhawani.
Karahoon Aarti Teri.
Bhav Bandhan Mein So Nahin Aavai.
Nishdin Dhyan Dhairi.
Meaning & Significance
The Sankata Mata Aarti is a heartfelt plea and celebration addressed to the goddess whose very name means "the one who removes all crises." The Sanskrit root sankata encompasses every variety of distress - physical illness, financial ruin, family conflict, and spiritual bondage - making her worship particularly relevant during life's most difficult passages. The devotee opens by admitting complete dependence: "I have taken shelter at your feet, please hear my supplication." The middle verses candidly acknowledge the fruits of past wrongdoing born of desire, anger, and greed, and ask for forgiveness. The later stanzas describe her fearsome warrior aspect - skull-cup, sword, indestructible radiance - while the concluding verse promises that the one who keeps her name on their lips every day shall never be bound by the cycle of worldly suffering.
About Sankata Mata
Sankata Mata, also known as Sankata Bhawani or Sankatahara Devi, is a widely venerated form of the Divine Mother particularly prominent in Varanasi, where the Sankata Devi temple on the ghats is one of the oldest Shakti shrines of the city. She is depicted as an eight-armed warrior goddess, her complexion golden-yellow, seated on a lion throne beneath a royal canopy. She holds weapons in her upper hands and shows the gestures of protection and boon-granting with her lower hands. Tuesday is her sacred weekday, and her vow (sankata vrat) observed on Tuesdays draws thousands of devotees seeking relief from court cases, health emergencies, and relationship difficulties. In North India, no auspicious journey or critical endeavour begins without invoking her name.
Benefits of Reciting the Sankata Mata Aarti
- Invokes immediate divine intervention during crises, illness, or sudden misfortune.
- Purges accumulated spiritual debt arising from past errors of desire, anger, and greed.
- Releases the devotee from the bondage of worldly attachment and repetitive suffering.
- Attracts the goddess's unhesitating grace - the aarti affirms she never delays her help.
- Creates a protective shield around the home and family against unseen adversities.
How to Perform the Aarti (Pooja Vidhi)
- On Tuesday, bathe early and wear red or orange clothing before approaching the altar.
- Place a red cloth on the worship space and establish the image of Sankata Mata with red flowers, especially red hibiscus.
- Offer a red-coloured sweet (such as red laddoo or gulal-coloured prasad) and light a sesame-oil lamp if available.
- Read the Sankata vrat katha (the story of the vow) before reciting the aarti, as this is the traditional sequence of her Tuesday worship.
- Perform the aarti slowly, moving the diya in a full circle before her image while ringing a bell.
- Break the fast with sweet food and distribute prasad to all household members and visitors.
Best Day & Time to Recite
Tuesday is Sankata Mata's primary day, and the aarti is most commonly performed on Tuesday evenings after sunset, following the observance of the Sankata vrat (fast). During acute emergencies, recitation at any hour is traditional, as the aarti itself acknowledges her prompt responsiveness. During Navratri, her aarti is often included alongside the Navadurga aartis, particularly on Tuesdays that fall within the festival. The Brahma Muhurta window before dawn is also recommended for those seeking her grace in urgent situations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Sankata Mata and how is she connected to the Durga tradition?
Sankata Mata is a localised but powerful form of Shakti - the Divine Mother - whose specific portfolio is the removal of crises (sankata). She is venerated as a form of Durga who specialises in prompt intervention during emergencies. Her temple in Varanasi is listed among the city's most ancient Shakti peethas, and her worship has been part of the Kashi tradition for centuries, connecting her firmly to the larger Durga-Bhawani lineage of North Indian devotion.
What is the Sankata vrat and how is it observed?
The Sankata vrat is a weekly fast kept on Tuesdays in honour of Sankata Mata. Devotees abstain from salt and certain grains during the day, visit her temple or perform home worship, listen to the vrat katha, recite the aarti, and break the fast in the evening with sweet prasad. The vow is undertaken for a fixed number of Tuesdays - often eleven, twenty-one, or as many as the devotee has pledged - and is believed especially effective for resolving court cases, recovering from illness, and removing chronic obstacles.
Is the Sankata Mata of Varanasi the same deity worshipped across northern India?
The Varanasi temple is the most historically prominent seat of Sankata Mata, but she is invoked under the same name and with the same Tuesday-centred worship across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan. Regional traditions may slightly vary in iconographic detail or associated legends, but the core identity - the goddess who removes every form of crisis without delay - remains consistent, making this aarti universally applicable across North India.
Sankata Mata: the goddess who listens when the burden feels heaviest
Sankata Mata, whose very name means the mother who removes difficulties and dangers, is a form of the goddess revered specifically in times of personal crisis, hardship, and deep uncertainty. Her worship is an expression of the profoundly human instinct to turn toward the Divine Mother when ordinary resources feel inadequate -- and the aarti that honours her carries precisely this quality of earnest, trusting surrender. The devotional mood it evokes is one of relief and refuge: the bhakta coming before the goddess not with elaborate theology but with a simple, whole-hearted prayer that the Mother will hear, understand, and act. This directness is the aarti's greatest strength.
Sankata Mata is traditionally worshipped on Sundays, particularly Sundays that fall during Navratri or on other auspicious lunar days, and her puja is often undertaken as a vow -- a sankalpa made at a moment of acute need with the promise of continued worship upon its resolution. In North India especially, many families maintain this practice through generations, the Sunday Sankata Mata puja becoming a pillar of household devotion. In the Jyotish tradition, she is sometimes invoked in relation to Rahu and other planetary combinations that bring sudden obstacles, and devotees believe her aarti and prasad distribution are among the most effective means of invoking her compassionate response. Her teaching, embedded in the very act of approaching her, is one of trust: that no difficulty is permanent in the presence of the Mother's grace.