Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu
Durga
या देवी सर्वभूतेषु मातृरूपेण संस्थिता ।
नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥
Translation
To that Goddess who resides in all beings as the Mother, salutations again and again.
Insight
Significance
This verse is part of the Devi Mahatmya (also known as the Durga Saptashati or Chandi Path), the central scripture recited during Navratri and Durga Puja. It belongs to a longer hymn in which the same refrain - 'salutations again and again' - follows a series of verses naming the Goddess's presence in all beings as different qualities: as consciousness, as sleep, as hunger, as shadow, as power, as intelligence, and, in this verse, as the Mother. It is recited to honor the divine feminine not as a distant deity but as the nurturing, protective presence within all of creation, and is one of the most widely chanted verses during the nine nights of Navratri.
