Durga Chalisa: Full Path with Verse-by-Verse Meaning

Chaupai 1

नमो नमो दुर्गे सुख करनी। नमो नमो अम्बे दुःख हरनी॥

Namo namo Durge sukh karani, namo namo Ambe dukh harani.

Arth: The stotra opens with a double salutation carrying the Devi's two faces at once: as Durga she is sukh-karani, the maker of happiness; as Amba, the Mother, she is dukh-harani, the remover of suffering. The whole Chalisa unfolds from this pairing — power and motherhood in one form.

Chaupai 2

निरंकार है ज्योति तुम्हारी। तिहूँ लोक फैली उजियारी॥

Nirankar hai jyoti tumhari, tihun lok phaili ujiyari.

Arth: Before any form is described, the Devi is called formless light — nirankar jyoti — whose radiance fills all three lokas. The verse establishes that every image that follows is a form the formless takes for her devotees.

Chaupai 3

शशि ललाट मुख महाविशाला। नेत्र लाल भृकुटि विकराला॥

Shashi lalat mukh mahavishala, netra lal bhrikuti vikarala.

Arth: Now the dhyana begins: the moon on her forehead, a vast luminous face, red eyes and fierce arched brows. Gentleness and ferocity sit on the same face — the image reciters hold while chanting.

Chaupai 4

रूप मातु को अधिक सुहावे। दरश करत जन अति सुख पावे॥

Roop matu ko adhik suhave, darash karat jan ati sukh pave.

Arth: Despite the fierce brows, her form delights — and merely seeing it (darshan) gives deep happiness. The tradition reads this as why Devi darshan during Navratri is itself considered a complete act, before any asking.

Chaupai 5

तुम संसार शक्ति लै कीना। पालन हेतु अन्न धन दीना॥

Tum sansar shakti lai keena, palan hetu ann dhan deena.

Arth: She is named as the Shakti through whom the world itself was made, and the one who then provides for it — grain and wealth for its sustenance. Creation and maintenance are both her work.

Chaupai 6

अन्नपूर्णा हुई जग पाला। तुम ही आदि सुन्दरी बाला॥

Annapurna hui jag pala, tum hi aadi sundari bala.

Arth: As Annapurna she feeds the world; as the primordial young maiden (aadi bala) she precedes it. The verse holds two of her canonical forms — the provider at Kashi and the eternal youthful Devi.

Chaupai 7

प्रलयकाल सब नाशन हारी। तुम गौरी शिव शंकर प्यारी॥

Pralayakal sab nashan hari, tum Gauri Shiv Shankar pyari.

Arth: At pralaya, the dissolution of the age, she is the destroyer of all — and in the same breath she is Gauri, beloved of Shiva. The Chalisa keeps placing her cosmic and domestic identities side by side.

Chaupai 8

शिव योगी तुम्हरे गुण गावें। ब्रह्मा विष्णु तुम्हें नित ध्यावें॥

Shiv yogi tumhare gun gaven, Brahma Vishnu tumhen nit dhyaven.

Arth: Shiva and the yogis sing her qualities; Brahma and Vishnu meditate on her daily. The trimurti themselves are shown as her upasaks — the Shakta assertion that Shakti stands behind even the great devas.

Chaupai 9

रूप सरस्वती को तुम धारा। दे सुबुद्धि ऋषि मुनिन उबारा॥

Roop Saraswati ko tum dhara, de subuddhi rishi munin ubara.

Arth: She took the form of Saraswati and rescued the rishis and munis by granting them right understanding (subuddhi). Knowledge, in this text, is a rescue — the Devi's first gift is a clear mind.

Chaupai 10

धरा रूप नरसिंह को अम्बा। परगट भई फाड़कर खम्बा॥

Dhara roop Narsinh ko Amba, paragat bhai phadkar khamba.

Arth: The Chalisa attributes even Narasimha's pillar-splitting manifestation to Amba — the Shakta reading in which every avatar's power is the Devi acting through that form.

Chaupai 11

रक्षा करि प्रह्लाद बचायो। हिरण्याक्ष को स्वर्ग पठायो॥

Raksha kari Prahlad bachayo, Hiranyaksha ko swarg pathayo.

Arth: Continuing the Narasimha episode: the devotee Prahlad is protected, and the demon is 'sent to swarga' — liberated by the deva's own hand. Even the destruction of the wicked is framed as a strange mercy.

Chaupai 12

लक्ष्मी रूप धरो जग माहीं। श्री नारायण अंग समाहीं॥

Lakshmi roop dharo jag mahin, Shri Narayan ang samahin.

Arth: In the world she takes Lakshmi's form, inseparable from Narayan's side. After Saraswati (verse 9), this is the second of the tridevi identified with her — the Chalisa is systematically claiming all three.

Chaupai 13

क्षीरसिन्धु में करत विलासा। दयासिन्धु दीजै मन आसा॥

Kshirsindhu mein karat vilasa, Dayasindhu deejai man aasa.

Arth: She who reposes in the ocean of milk is addressed as an ocean of daya — compassion — and asked to fulfil the mind's hope. The verse pivots from description to the first direct petition of the stotra.

Chaupai 14

हिंगलाज में तुम्हीं भवानी। महिमा अमित न जात बखानी॥

Hinglaj mein tumhin Bhavani, mahima amit na jaat bakhani.

Arth: At Hinglaj — the westernmost Shakti Peeth, in present-day Balochistan — she is Bhavani, and her glory is beyond telling. The Chalisa now begins walking her geography, peeth by peeth.

Chaupai 15

मातंगी अरु धूमावति माता। भुवनेश्वरी बगला सुख दाता॥

Matangi aru Dhumavati mata, Bhuvaneshwari Bagla sukh data.

Arth: Four of the ten Mahavidyas are named — Matangi, Dhumavati, Bhuvaneshwari, Bagalamukhi — each a distinct tantric face of the one Devi, and all called givers of sukh to those who approach them rightly.

Chaupai 16

श्री भैरव तारा जग तारिणी। छिन्न भाल भव दुःख निवारिणी॥

Shri Bhairav Tara jag tarini, Chhinna bhal bhav dukh nivarini.

Arth: The Mahavidya roll-call continues: Tara who ferries the world across, and Chhinnamasta who severs — read here as the remover of worldly suffering. The fierce forms are consistently given protective readings.

Chaupai 17

केहरि वाहन सोह भवानी। लांगुर वीर चलत अगवानी॥

Kehari vahan soh Bhavani, langur veer chalat agavani.

Arth: Bhavani rides the lion, and the valiant Langur — Hanuman as her advance guard in the folk tradition of the northern Devi shrines — walks ahead of her procession.

Chaupai 18

कर में खप्पर खड्ग विराजै। जाको देख काल डर भाजै॥

Kar mein khappar khadag virajai, jako dekh kaal dar bhajai.

Arth: In her hands the skull-bowl and the sword — and at the sight of them Kaal himself, time and death, runs in fear. For the reciter this is the stotra's central reassurance: what you fear is itself afraid of her.

Chaupai 19

सोहै अस्त्र और त्रिशूला। जाते उठत शत्रु हिय शूला॥

Sohai astra aur trishula, jate uthat shatru hiya shula.

Arth: Her weapons and trident shine, and their mere presence raises a stabbing pain in the enemy's chest. The wordplay is deliberate — her shula (trident) becomes the shula (pang) in hostile hearts.

Chaupai 20

नगरकोट में तुम्हीं विराजत। तिहुँलोक में डंका बाजत॥

Nagarkot mein tumhin virajat, tihunlok mein danka bajat.

Arth: She is enthroned at Nagarkot — Kangra Devi in the Himachal hills — and her victory drum sounds through the three worlds. Another real, visitable peeth anchoring the cosmic claims.

Chaupai 21

शुम्भ निशुम्भ दानव तुम मारे। रक्तबीज शंखन संहारे॥

Shumbh Nishumbh danav tum mare, Raktabeej shankhan sanhare.

Arth: The great deeds of the Devi Mahatmya enter: Shumbha and Nishumbha slain, and Raktabeej — the demon whose every spilled drop of blood spawned another of him — destroyed with all his clones. Tradition reads Raktabeej as the pattern of a problem that multiplies each time it is half-fought.

Chaupai 22

महिषासुर नृप अति अभिमानी। जेहि अघ भार मही अकुलानी॥

Mahishasur nrip ati abhimani, jehi agh bhar mahi akulani.

Arth: Mahishasura the buffalo-king is introduced by his defining trait — abhiman, arrogance — under whose weight of sin the earth herself grew restless. The enemy is named as pride before he is named as a demon.

Chaupai 23

रूप कराल कालिका धारा। सेन सहित तुम तिहि संहारा॥

Roop karal Kalika dhara, sen sahit tum tihi sanhara.

Arth: To end him she took the terrifying Kalika form and destroyed him with his whole army. The Chalisa's logic: the fiercer the arrogance, the fiercer the form the Mother must take to remove it.

Chaupai 24

परी गाढ़ सन्तन पर जब जब। भई सहाय मातु तुम तब तब॥

Pari gadh santan par jab jab, bhai sahay matu tum tab tab.

Arth: Whenever the sants have fallen into hardship — jab jab — the Mother has come to help, tab tab. The paired refrain is the Chalisa's covenant verse: her rescue is presented as a standing pattern, not a one-time event.

Chaupai 25

अमरपुरी अरु बासव लोका। तव महिमा सब रहें अशोका॥

Amarpuri aru basav loka, tav mahima sab rahen ashoka.

Arth: Amaravati and Indra's realm remain free of shoka — grief — by her glory. Even the devas' fabled security is credited to the Devi's standing protection, not their own power.

Chaupai 26

ज्वाला में है ज्योति तुम्हारी। तुम्हें सदा पूजें नर-नारी॥

Jwala mein hai jyoti tumhari, tumhen sada pujen nar-nari.

Arth: At Jwalaji in Himachal, the eternal flame that burns without fuel is her jyoti — the formless light of verse 2 made visible — and men and women worship her there unceasingly.

Chaupai 27

प्रेम भक्ति से जो यश गावें। दुःख दारिद्र निकट नहिं आवें॥

Prem bhakti se jo yash gaven, dukh daridra nikat nahin aaven.

Arth: The phala begins: for one who sings her glory with love and bhakti, sorrow and poverty do not come near. The condition is stated plainly — prem bhakti, not mechanical recitation.

Chaupai 28

ध्यावे तुम्हें जो नर मन लाई। जन्म-मरण ताकौ छुटि जाई॥

Dhyave tumhen jo nar man lai, janma-maran tako chhuti jai.

Arth: One who meditates on her with a settled mind is freed from the cycle of birth and death itself. The stotra escalates from worldly relief (verse 27) to moksha in a single step.

Chaupai 29

जोगी सुर मुनि कहत पुकारी। योग न हो बिन शक्ति तुम्हारी॥

Jogi sur muni kahat pukari, yog na ho bin shakti tumhari.

Arth: Yogis, devas and munis declare aloud: without her Shakti there is no yoga. Discipline alone, the verse says, achieves nothing — attainment requires the Mother's own energy consenting to it.

Chaupai 30

शंकर आचारज तप कीनो। काम अरु क्रोध जीति सब लीनो॥

Shankar Acharaj tap keeno, kaam aru krodh jeeti sab leeno.

Arth: The Shankaracharya episode begins: the great acharya performed tapasya and conquered desire and anger entirely — the setup for the humbling that the next two verses deliver.

Chaupai 31

निशिदिन ध्यान धरो शंकर को। काहु काल नहिं सुमिरो तुमको॥

Nishidin dhyan dharo Shankar ko, kahu kaal nahin sumiro tumko.

Arth: Day and night he meditated on Shiva — but never once remembered the Devi. The verse names the oversight the tradition warns against: honouring the deva while forgetting the Shakti through whom the deva acts.

Chaupai 32

शक्ति रूप का मरम न पायो। शक्ति गई तब मन पछितायो॥

Shakti roop ka maram na payo, shakti gai tab man pachhitayo.

Arth: Not having grasped the secret of Shakti, he lost his own — and only then did regret come. The teaching is blunt: power unacknowledged at its source departs, and understanding often arrives after the loss.

Chaupai 33

शरणागत हुई कीर्ति बखानी। जय जय जय जगदम्ब भवानी॥

Sharanagat hui keerti bakhani, jai jai jai Jagdamb Bhavani.

Arth: Taking sharan — refuge — he sang her glory: victory, victory, victory to Jagdamba Bhavani. The triple jai of this verse is the cry the whole Chalisa builds toward, and reciters traditionally raise their voice here.

Chaupai 34

भई प्रसन्न आदि जगदम्बा। दई शक्ति नहिं कीन विलम्बा॥

Bhai prasann aadi Jagdamba, dai shakti nahin keen vilamba.

Arth: The primordial Mother was pleased and restored his power without delay — nahin keen vilamba. Her forgiveness, the verse notes, is as immediate as her withdrawal was instructive.

Chaupai 35

मोको मातु कष्ट अति घेरो। तुम बिन कौन हरै दुःख मेरो॥

Moko matu kasht ati ghero, tum bin kaun harai dukh mero.

Arth: The voice shifts from narration to first person: Mother, troubles surround me on every side — who but you can remove my suffering? This is the verse most reciters feel is spoken in their own words.

Chaupai 36

आशा तृष्णा निपट सतावें। रिपु मूरख मोहि अति डर पावें॥

Asha trishna nipat sataven, ripu murakh mohi ati dar paven.

Arth: The petitioner names the inner enemies first — hope-craving (asha-trishna) that torments relentlessly — and only then the outer ones, foolish adversaries who frighten. The ordering is the diagnosis: the inner siege is listed before the outer.

Chaupai 37

शत्रु नाश कीजै महारानी। सुमिरौं इकचित तुम्हें भवानी॥

Shatru nash keejai Maharani, sumiraun ikachit tumhen Bhavani.

Arth: Destroy the enemies, Maharani — and in exchange the devotee offers the one thing asked throughout the text: single-pointed remembrance, ikachit sumiran, of Bhavani alone.

Chaupai 38

करो कृपा हे मातु दयाला। ऋद्धि-सिद्धि दै करहु निहाला॥

Karo kripa he matu dayala, riddhi-siddhi dai karahu nihala.

Arth: Grace is asked of the compassionate Mother: grant riddhi and siddhi — abundance and attainment — and make the devotee nihal, fulfilled beyond want. The material ask is made without embarrassment; she is, after all, the Mother.

Chaupai 39

जब लगि जिऊँ दया फल पाऊँ। तुम्हरो यश मैं सदा सुनाऊँ॥

Jab lagi jiun daya phal paun, tumharo yash main sada sunaun.

Arth: The devotee's vow: as long as I live and receive the fruit of your compassion, I will recount your glory always. The exchange the Chalisa proposes is lifelong — her daya for the devotee's telling of it.

Chaupai 40

श्री दुर्गा चालीसा जो कोई गावै। सब सुख भोग परमपद पावै॥

Shri Durga Chalisa jo koi gavai, sab sukh bhog parampad pavai.

Arth: The closing phala-shruti: whoever sings this Durga Chalisa enjoys every happiness and attains the supreme state. As in most Chalisas, the final verse turns the text itself into the upay it has been describing.