Pauranic · पौराणिकMala mantra (long)

Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu

The Goddess who abides in all beings, addressed by name and saluted three times — the refrain of the Aparajita Stuti, Devi Mahatmya 5.

Devi Mahatmya (Markandeya Purana) 5.14–16edition

Durga ·Devi

Sanskrit · संस्कृत

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु विष्णुमायेति शब्दिता । नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥

yā devī sarvabhūteṣu viṣṇumāyeti śabditā namas tasyai namas tasyai namas tasyai namo namaḥ

Read in another script

No verified recitation yet. We publish audio only with a named reciter and a recorded licence, rather than files of unknown provenance.

Meaning

To the Goddess who abides in all beings and is called Vishnu's maya — salutation to her, salutation to her, salutation to her, again and again.

This rendering is by a DharmSetu editor, not a quotation from a published translation. Compare with the public-domain translation.

A Hindi meaning has not been written for this mantra yet. Hindi is authored by a named editor rather than machine-translated, so it arrives more slowly.

How to recite

Anushtubh — four lines of eight syllables, printed here as two. The whole effect depends on not hurrying the three namas tasyai; each is a separate salutation. Tasyai is the dative of tā — "to her". The final namo namaḥ is a doubling, not a new phrase.

Repetitions: 3 · 11 · 108
Time: brahma muhurta, sandhya

Pronunciation key — sounds commonly got wrong

ट ठ ड ढ ण · ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ: Retroflex — the tongue curls back and touches the roof of the mouth. Distinct from the dental त थ द ध न, where the tongue touches the teeth.
श ष स · ś ṣ s: Three different sounds: ś as in “shy”, ṣ retroflex and further back, s plain. Collapsing them changes words.
ः · ḥ (visarga): A soft outward breath echoing the preceding vowel — not a hard “ha”.
ं · ṃ (anusvara): Nasalises the vowel; the closing sound follows the consonant that comes next.
Long vs short vowels — a / ā, i / ī, u / ū: Vowel length is meaningful in Sanskrit. Hold the macron vowels roughly twice as long.
Aspirated consonants — kh, gh, ch, th, dh, ph, bh: A distinct puff of breath. ph is an aspirated p, never an English “f”.

Word by word

याyā: she who(nom. sg. f.)MW1899-CDSL p.844
देवीdevī: the Goddess(nom. sg.)MW1899-CDSL p.492
सर्वभूतेषुsarvabhūteṣu: in all beings(loc. pl.)MW1899-CDSL p.1186
विष्णुमायाviṣṇumāyā: the maya of VishnuMW1899-CDSL p.1000
इतिiti: thus, by that nameMW1899-CDSL p.163
शब्दिताśabditā: is called, is named(nom. sg. f. past part.)MW1899-CDSL p.1053
नमःnamaḥ: salutationMW1899-CDSL p.528
तस्यैtasyai: to her(dat. sg. f.)MW1899-CDSL p.434

Glosses are confirmed against a Sanskrit–English dictionary; the reference after each entry names the edition consulted.

Context

This is one verse of a long litany in the fifth chapter of the Devi Mahatmya, known as the Aparajita Stuti. The structure repeats: each stanza names the Goddess as she abides in all beings under one aspect, and each is followed by the same threefold salutation. The aspects run through the chapter and include consciousness (cetanā), intellect (buddhi), sleep (nidrā), hunger (kṣudhā), shadow (chāyā), power (śakti), thirst (tṛṣṇā), patience, faith, radiance, and more. The śakti-rūpeṇa stanza, the one most often sung on its own, is 5.32–34. The verse numbering looks unusual because it is: each stanza spans three numbers, since the refrain line is counted as repeated. That is why this one is cited 5.14–16 rather than 5.14. The chapter is recited during Navaratri, and the litany is normally chanted in sequence rather than as a single stanza.

Shadanga — the six limbs

The traditional analytic frame for a mantra. Blank limbs are simply not recorded for this text.

chhanda: Anushtubh
devata: Devi

Recited at / traditionally recited for

Navaratri Dhyana (meditation)Protection (raksha)

Classified as Pauranic — From the Puranas. Most widely recited deity mantras belong here. Basis for this classification.

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