In the Fall of 2024, an Indian meditation student of mine asked me if it would be okay for them to chant the Siddha Kunjika Stotram. I had not even heard of the Siddha Kunjika Stotram at that point, so I began to research it. I quickly discovered numerous accounts online of nothing short of a miraculous power attributed to this Stotram (hymn). Many claimed it was unlike any other Stotram or mantra in its effectiveness to bring wonderous benefits.
The Siddha Kunjika Stotram is a mere 15 verses in the form of Shiva telling Parvati about and reciting the Siddha Kunjika Stotram. This dialogue is found in the Gowri Tantra in the Sri Rudrayamala Tantra, an ancient, authoritative text that is a treasury of Tantric wisdom and practices.
The Siddha Kunjika Stotram is from the ancient Tantric Shakta tradition. It is said to contain the essence of the entire Durga Saptashati otherwise known as the Devi Mahatmya, 700 verses extolling the glory and victorious battles of Devi in her fierce and beneficient forms. Siddha means perfection; Kunjika means hidden key; stotram means hymn. So this stotram is the hidden key to unlocking perfection and the full potential of the Chandi Path (the recitation of the 700 verses of the Durga Saptashati). It purportedly holds immense transformative energy that awakens Self-realization and grants access to the grace and protection of Devi.
I began listening to one version of the Siddha Kunjika Stotram I found on YouTube. I found it lovely, enchanting even. I decided to listen to it 11 times daily for 41 days, a prescription I knew was traditional.
Almost from the first day, I began to notice all kinds of fortuitous coincidences. One in particular was especially interesting. I live alone on a mountain top on an island. This is absolutely lovely for sadhana (spiritual practice) and was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to live a life in the sole company of the Divine. As for service to humanity, which for me is also essential, I was still able to continue writing and teaching meditation online and giving occasional retreats.
However, after several mostly solitary years, I started to wish I had at least one friend on the island to share in spiritual conversation and the many natural wonders here. Even when I lived alone in a cave in the Himalayas observing silence, I had the backdrop of a community of sadhus in that area. Though an exquisite place, no such community exists on San Juan Island. Well, the very day I started listening 11 times to the Siddha Kunjika Stotram, another islander I had never met found my website and emailed me out of the blue to get together.
We immediately struck a friendship and got together on numerous occasions during those 41 days. In fact, our friendship consumed much more time and attention than I had anticipated. Yet I figured things eventually would come into balance. Then, on day 41, my newfound friend literally disappeared into thin air. Why or where they went remains a mystery.
That friendship was a gift for exactly the 41 days during which I listened to the Siddha Kunjika Stotram 11 times daily. With that person’s disappearance, I felt not only puzzled but yes, hurt at first. That hurt, though, quickly gave way to relief and a flood of self-knowledge. In fact, I was amazed by the perfection of it all. This person’s appearance in my life was a gift that fulfilled what had become a persistent wish. Likewise, their disappearance was equally a gift, so I could return wholeheartedly to my highest calling with renewed focus, having experienced and fulfilled that wish. As for the author of the gift, given the uncanny and precise correlation of timing with my Siddha Kunjika Stotram sadhana, there could be no doubt. I had been blessed by Devi Herself, both in the coming and going of that friendship!
That was only one example of the mysterious power I discovered in the Siddha Kunjika Stotram. During that time, my meditations went beyond description. My creativity in writing, teaching, and creating YouTube videos peaked. I felt fulfilled as never before: I was spontaneously feeling more love and compassion, and I felt a deepened harmony with life and nature. I could not but wonder, what would happen if I actually learned to chant the Siddha Kunjika Stotram?
So about a week later, I began. Having listened to it nearly 500 times, chanting it came surprisingly easy. Within a couple of days, I was fairly fluent and now even more than before, I was struck by the power and beauty of this Stotram. As I chanted it 11 times daily for 41-days, I was drawn into a practice that was positively magical in its potency.
I began researching to accurately and deeply understand the Stotram. I was surprised by the many inconsistencies and contradictions between various translations of the Siddha Kunjika Stotram that exist online. Also, some lines were simply not translated by any translation I could find. As a result, I began a word-for-word translation, which, combined with a comparison of existing translations and my own daily contemplations, eventually yielded a translation that was satisfying to me. I found this essential: to chant while the intellect flowed on the precise meaning, which in turn helped to awaken devotion.
Within a few days, my heart opened as never before. I had always leaned towards being a Yogi and Advaitin, never a bhakta, but now I felt pure devotion spontaneously welling up from within. This was sublime. I literally felt I was discovering something better than mere enlightenment. This sweet, luscious, delicate but powerful devotion in the vivid presence of Devi was much more fulfilling. By comparison, Brahman seemed positively boring!
Eventually, this new devotional space I found myself in also reincorporated an even deeper and renewed realization of Brahman. Devi is not only the Creator and Creation. She is Source as well. She is Brahman. Through Her, I was realizing both Shiva and Shakti.
There is simply no explaining the efficacy of the Siddha Kunjika Stotram sadhana to place you directly in the lap of Shiva’s and Devi’s grace. It completely changes your life and your consciousness. Time and again, I tried to comprehend its unparalleled power—is it perhaps the abundance of bija mantras that makes it so powerful?—but concluded there is no satisfactory rational explanation. It exists by divine grace, and it works mysteriously, by the power of divine grace.
There is only one prerequisite for the chanting of Siddha Kunjika Stotram mentioned in the Stotram itself: One must be a devotee. This is emphasized several times by Shiva to Parvati in no uncertain terms.
What is a devotee? Someone devoted to the Divine, right? Yet there may be many reasons for worship: to gain relief from suffering, to gain wealth or knowledge or some other boon, to gain heaven, and so on. Even though motivated by self-interest, these still contain an element of devotion and therefore qualify a person for this sadhana. Yet one cannot help but suppose that the purer the devotion, the better.
Devotion means a deep love for the Divine that puts the Divine in the center of your life. Around that center your entire life revolves, whether you live in the world, an ashram, or a yogi’s hut. As such, you cannot envision a life without the constant thought of the Divine.
What the divine is for different people will vary. For some, the Divine may be a particular deity. For others, the Divine may be the formless Absolute. Yes, even someone on the path of Advaita can be a devotee, as was Adi Shankara. You can be devoted to the Formless and still embrace devotion to a divine form. If, however, your conception of the Ultimate does not allow for a divine form, then this Siddha Kunjika Stotram sadhana is probably not for you. For instance, if you only aspire to realize Emptiness and find any other spiritual conception so much nonsense, go elsewhere. Likewise, if your conception of the divine does not allow for worship of the Goddess, then this sadhana is not for you. Why try to fit a square peg in a round hole? Find some other practice more appropriate to your beliefs and natural inclinations.
Devotees have many characteristics. Besides a natural love for the Divine, they are wholeheartedly dedicated to their spiritual goal. They live to serve the Divine and all beings, and have a kind, compassionate nature. They wish good to others and cannot wish ill on anyone. They are dedicated to purifying themselves and to elevating their karma and living their dharma. These are just a few of the qualities of a devotee of high caliber.
There are no other prerequisites to this practice or sadhana. That said, there are other things you can do that I believe will make chanting this Stotram even more efficacious. For one, anything you can do towards realizing the Self is great preparation, for instance meditation and other spiritual practices. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna frequently extolls the devotee who is also a Self-realized person to be the very best of devotees. (For example, see Chapter 7: 16-19.) As such, all of the courses on this site, effortlessmindmeditation.com, are excellent preparation for Siddha Kunjika Stotram sadhana.
Among my advanced courses, there are 2 that I especially recommend to give you the fullest benefit of Siddha Kunjika Stotram sadhana: Awaken Kundalini and Blessings of the Devas.
This, then, is another definition of a devotee: one who is not only devoted to the Divine, but has, through intensive sadhana, realized the Self and enlivened the impulses of the divine in their heart and mind. This is also a clear example of the strong connection between Vedic wisdom and Tantra. In a word, the riper your consciousness, the more powerful will be your Siddha Kunjika Stotram sadhana and so, one might expect, the greater the results. That said, we cannot presume to limit Divine Grace by such logic. Grace may tend to conform to such principles but can certainly transcend them at any time.
For anyone interested in pursuing the Siddha Kunjika Stotram sadhana, I am happy to share as a gift the translation and commentary I developed. It includes the Sanskrit, English, glossaries of Sanskrit terms and bija mantras appearing in the Stotram, and instructions for practicing Siddha Kunjika Stotram sadhana. I do ask that you join my newsletter list, but I protect your privacy, and you can unsubscribe at any time. Just fill in the form below.
Jai Ma!
Ajayan
The translation and commentary of the Siddha Kunjika Stotram by Ajayan sir have made reciting the Siddha Kunjika Stotram meaningful and powerful for me. Ajayan sir’s detailed work on this has been invaluable to me, considering the paucity of accurate translation and in-depth commentary available online. I started the Siddha Kunjika Stotram in the first half of the year and have completed two 41-day anusthans of it until now. Siddha Kunjika Stotram has bestowed me with such blessings that I cannot express in words. It has put me on a journey of lifelong spiritual and emotional healing, growth, and bliss.—Riya Triguna
