Sri Varahi Devi Stotram

Sri Varahi Devi Stotram is a short praise of thirteen verses, opening namostu devi varahi jayaikara-svarupini and closing with the colophon iti shri varahi stotram sampurnam. Unlike an archana list, it is meant to be read straight through, and it takes about three minutes at a steady pace. Devotees keep it for the evening lamp, often before or after the 108 names.

Significance

The last three verses are where the stotra states its own case. Verses ten to twelve say that the one who recites it is freed from sin; that enemies, grief, disease and untimely death - apamrityu - are destroyed; that long life is gained; and that alakshmi, misfortune and the poverty that follows it, departs from the house. That is a phala-shruti in the strict sense, and it is why this text is not interchangeable with the Varahi namavali, which makes no claim in its own words. The Devi being addressed is the Dandanatha of the Srividya tradition, the commander who leads Lalita's army, so the promises fit her office: not consolation but removal. The opening epithet, jayaikara-svarupini, is read as the one whose very form is the sound of victory. The stotra says these things. Whether a given recitation is answered is left where the tradition has always left it.

How and when to chant

Evening, after sunset, in keeping with Varahi's night worship - Tuesday and Friday most often, and the Navaratri nights. Because the stotra is short, people recite it three or eleven times rather than once. Bathe or at least wash, light a ghee or gingelly oil lamp, sit facing east or north, and read it through without hurrying the closing verses. No initiation is needed for a stotra; the mula mantra is a separate matter and belongs with a guru. Where a family keeps both texts, the usual order is this stotra first as praise, then the 108 names with kumkuma as the archana.