Bilvashtakam: Sanskrit Text, Meaning and How It Is Recited

The Bilvashtakam is a Sanskrit hymn of eight verses that praises the bilva leaf and offers it to Shiva. Each verse ends with the same refrain, eka-bilvam shivarpanam, “this one bilva leaf is offered to Shiva”, and a ninth verse states the benefit of reading it. The bilva tree (Aegle marmelos, also called the wood-apple or bael) bears leaves in groups of three, and in the Shaiva tradition this threefold leaf is the leaf that Shiva is offered.

The text names no author, so it is best called a traditional hymn. It is a simple, devotional piece, closer to a folk hymn than to a learned poem, and it is among the first stotras many families teach children. The reading below is the common one of the printed editions. The 1957 Varanasi edition adds a footnote to say that the hymn, though it has many grammatical irregularities, is printed because it charms ordinary people, and this is a fair description of its simple language.

Below you will find all nine verses in Devanagari with a simple transliteration and a plain meaning, notes on how and when the hymn is used, and a note on how the text was sourced. The leaf is offered on Mondays and on Maha Shivaratri in the Shiva puja.

The text, transliteration and meaning

The refrain is written out in every verse, so that each can be read on its own.

Text: printed editions of the Brihat Stotra Ratnakara (Bhargava Pustakalaya, Varanasi, 1957, read from the page image, and an undated print in the Cuddalore collection). Transliteration is simplified; meanings are our own. Verse numbers appear as labels above each verse.

Another arrangement of the hymn

The hymn is found in more than one arrangement. The text above is the one in the two printed editions we could read, and it is also the one most often recited. The 1953 Nirnaya Sagar edition of the Brihat Stotra Ratnakara, as typed on Sanskrit Wikisource, gives a different set of verses after the first two: they begin darshanam bilvavrikshaishcha, and include the lines on living at Kashi and seeing Kalabhairava. This is why a family’s hymn may not match line for line with what is given here. That arrangement reflects another tradition of the text, so this page does not mix the two.

The 1953 edition also adds, after the last verse, a line that names eight sacred leaves: tulasi, bilva, nirgundi, apamarga, kapittha, shami, amalaka, durva. That line is not in the two printed editions used here, so it is not part of the text above.

When and how it is traditionally recited

Devotees recite the Bilvashtakam while offering bilva leaves to a Shiva linga, usually on Mondays, on Pradosh evenings and through Maha Shivaratri. The offering is made with a few words of prayer, and the eight verses are sung or said as the leaves are placed one at a time. The Somvar vrat guide describes the Monday observance, and the Maha Shivaratri puja guide gives the order of the night’s worship.

The hymn itself asks for whole, tender leaves with three parts (verses 2 and 3). Many families follow this by choosing unbroken, clean leaves. Some traditions avoid picking bilva leaves on certain days, for example Mondays, Sankranti and some tithis, and use leaves that have already fallen instead. Customs differ widely, so follow the practice of your own family or temple.

What the hymn says

The first verse describes the leaf as a symbol: three parts, three qualities, three eyes and three weapons, the trident among them. Verse 8 gives the picture that many people remember, the tree whose root is Brahma, middle is Vishnu and tip is Shiva, so that the one leaf holds the three great gods of the tradition.

Verses 4 and 5 compare the offering with huge gifts and sacrifices. These are in the language of devotional exaggeration, and they say, in effect, that a small and sincere offering is worth more than a showy one. Verse 6 reflects a tradition that the bilva tree arose from the goddess Lakshmi. The benefit stated in verse 9 is the hymn’s own claim of faith. This page reports it as that, and no result in daily life is promised. The bilva plant also has a place in traditional Indian medicine, but nothing here is medical advice, and you should ask a doctor about any health matter.

Pronunciation notes

The refrain eka-bilvam shivarpanam is said e-ka bil-vam shi-var-pa-nam, with a clear l before the v. The word is spelt bilva or vilva in different books and is said either way. The sh is the sh of “shoe”.

The first verse is full of words that begin with tri (three), so read it slowly: tri-da-lam tri-gu-nA-kA-ram tri-ne-tram cha tri-dhA-yu-dham. The dh in tridhayudham is a breathy d. The joined form hyekabilvam in verses 2 to 8 is hi plus ekabilvam, a light “hye” that leads into the refrain.

How the text on this page is sourced

The Devanagari follows the Bilvashtakam as printed in the Brihat Stotra Ratnakara in two scanned books read from archive.org: the edition of the Bhargava Pustakalaya, Varanasi (1957, edited by Madhav Prasad Vyas, stotra number 214), and an undated print in the Cuddalore collection. The 1957 print was read from the page image, since its scanned text is noisy; the second print was used to check it. The two agree on all nine verses. The 1957 print also has the editor’s footnote on its irregular grammar.

The Nirnaya Sagar edition of 1953 prints a different arrangement (see the section above), and the informal Bilvashtakam text on Sanskrit Wikisource follows that arrangement, so it is not used here. One verse is worth noting: in the fourth verse the 1957 print adds the word danam in brackets as the editors’ own suggestion; the text above leaves it out, as does the other print.

Related mantras and pages

• Lingashtakam: eight verses to the Shiva linga
• Shivashtakam: a hymn of eight verses with a repeated refrain
• Om Namah Shivaya: the five-syllable mantra of Shiva
• Rudrashtakam: an eight-verse hymn to Rudra
• Maha Shivaratri puja: how the great night is kept
• Somvar vrat vidhi: the Monday fast and worship of Shiva
• Maha Shivaratri: the great night of Shiva, with dates for your city
• All mantras, stotras, chalisas and aartis

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