Eight Stanzas to Bhavani

No father have I, nor mother, no comrade,
No son, no daughter, no wife, and no grandchild,
No servant or master, no wisdom, no calling:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavani!

Immersed as I am in the limitless ocean
Of worldy existence, I tremble to suffer.
Alas! I am lustful and foolish and greedy,
And ever enchained by the fetters of evil:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavani!

To giving of alms and to meditation,
Yo scriptures and hymns and mantras, a stranger,
I know not of worship, possess no dispassion:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavani!

O Mother! Of pilgrimage or of merit,
Of mental control or the soul’s liberation,
Of rigorous vows or devotion, I know not:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavani!

Addicted to sinning and worthless companions,
A slave to ill thoughts and to doers of evil,
Degraded am I, unrighteous, abandoned,
Attached to ill objects, adept in ill-speaking:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavani!

I know neither Brahma nor Vishnu nor Shiva.
Nor Indra, sun, moon, or similar being –
Not one of the numberless gods, O Redeemer!
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavani!

In strife or in sadness, abroad or in danger,
In water, in fire, in the wilds, on the mountains,
Surrounded by foes, my Saviour! Protect me:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavani!

Defenceless am I – ill, again, and helpless,
Enfeebled, exhausted, and dumbly despairing,
Afflicted with sorrow, and utterly ruined:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavani!

Shankaracharya (7/8th century CE)