This thread will give you short and simple stotras and shlokas that you can read, recite and teach your children. All you need is the knowledge of the Sanskrit alphabets and the willingness to read Sanskrit text, which is not at all difficult once you know the alphabets. Wherever possible, I have provided the meaning and audio files of the stotras. gaNesha-stavam We start with GaNesha. Here is a stotram called gaNesha-stavam that describes GaNesha as none other than the nirguNa brahman. Here is a link to download the pdf file of the stotram with embedded audio. ganeshastavam.pdf As you play the embedded audio, run your mouse over the recited words and learn to read and pronounce them correctly. After repeating it two or three times, you should be able to chant/sing the stotram along with the teacher and then independently. And once you are comfortable with reciting the stotram, try to explore the meaning of the words you recite, learning to match them against phrases in the meanings text. Once you can recite the stotram correctly and know its meaning vis-a-vis the Sanskrit words and phrases, you would find yourself contemplating on its content, learning to drench in the flow of bhakti rasam that teaches the jnAnam to dissolve the small self in the bigger Self. Wish you Godspeed for great times of learning ahead!
saMkaTanAshana gaNesha stotram This stotram, usually known as the saMkaTa-nAshana/saMkaTa-hara gaNesha stotram is from the nArada-purANam. In this stotram shrI NAradamuni describes the power of the twelve names of GaNesha. This stotram is typically recited at the beginning of the saMkaTahara chaturthi pUja, which devotees perform on the fourth day after full moon every month. saMskRta mUlam: Sanskrit Text संकटनाशन गणेश स्तोत्रम् नारद उवाच प्रणम्य शिरसा देवं गौरीपुत्रं विनायकम् । भक्तावासं स्मरेन्नित्यं आयुः कामार्थसिद्धये ॥ १ ॥ प्रथमं वक्रतुण्डं च एकदन्तं द्वितीयकम् । तृतीयं कृष्णपिङ्गाक्षं गजवक्त्रं चतुर्थकम् ॥ २ ॥ लम्बोदरं पञ्चमं च षष्ठं विकटमेव च । सप्तमं विघ्नराजं च धूम्रवर्णं तथाऽष्टमम् ॥ ३ ॥ नवमं फालचन्द्रं च दशमं तु विनायकम् । एकादशं गणपतिं द्वादशं तु गजाननम् ॥ ४ ॥ द्वादशैतानि नामानि त्रिसन्ध्यं यः पठेन्नरः । न च विघ्नभयं तस्य सर्वसिद्धिकरं परम् ॥ ५ ॥ विद्यार्थी लभते विद्यां धनार्थी लभते धनम् । पुत्रार्थी लभते पुत्रान् मोक्षार्थी लभते गतिम् ॥ ६ ॥ जपेद् गणपतिस्तोत्रं षड्भिर्मासैः फलं लभेत् । संवत्सरेण सिद्धिं च लभते नाऽत्र संशयः ॥ ७ ॥ (अष्टानां/)अष्टभ्यो (ब्राह्मणानां च/)ब्राह्मणेभ्यश्च लिखित्वा यः समर्पयेत् । तस्य विद्या भवेत् सर्वा गणेशस्य प्रसादतः ॥ ८ ॥ BarAha Transliteration saMkaTanAshana gaNesha stotram nArada uvAcha praNamya shirasA devaM gaurI-putraM vinAyakam | bhaktA-vAsaM smaren-nityaM AyuH kAmArtha-siddhaye || 1 || prathamaM vakra-tuNDaM cha eka-dantaM dvitIyakam | tRutIyaM kRuShNa-pi~ggAkShaM gaja-vaktraM chaturthakam || 2 || lambodaraM pa~jchamaM cha ShaShThaM vikaTameva cha | saptamaM vighna-rAjaM cha dhUmra-varNaM tathA&ShTamam || 3 || navamaM phAla-chandraM cha dashamaM tu vi-nAyakam | ekAdashaM gaNapatiM dvAdashaM tu gajAnanam || 4 || dvAdashaitAni nAmAni trisandhyaM yaH paThen-naraH | na cha vighna-bhayaM tasya sarva-siddhikaraM param || 5 || vidyArthI labhate vidyAM dhanArthI labhate dhanam | putrArthI labhate putrAn mokShArthI labhate gatim || 6 || japed gaNapati-stotraM ShaDbhirmAsaiH phalaM labhet | saMvatsareNa siddhiM cha labhate nA&tra saMshayaH || 7 || (aShTAnAM/)aShTabhyo (brAhmaNAnAM cha/)brAhmaNebhyashcha likhitvA yaH samarpayet | tasya vidyA bhavet sarvA gaNeshasya prasAdataH || 8 || Audio Pranamya Shirasa Devam MP3, Audio clips, Featured music : Rediff Music Bhaktimala - Ganesh - YouTube vAkyArtha: meaning of the lines 1: B-o-w-ing, with the head, to the divine who is GaurI's son, the remover of obstacles, who is the dweller in the devotees, remember him daily, for accomplishment of long life, and desires and wealth. 2: At first, bow to the curved-trunked and second to the single-tusked; third to the brown-eyed, to the elephant-mouthed , fourth; 3: fifth to the large-bellied, and sixth to the huge-sized; seventh to the king of obstacles and thus eighth to the smoke-colored; 4: ninth to the moon on the forehead, and tenth to the supreme hero; eleventh to the lord of all beings (human, non-human, spiritual) and twelfth to the elephant-faced. 5: To one who reads these twelve names at the three divisions of a day (dawn, noon, sunset), there is no fear of obstacles; to him, everything will be accomplished well. 6: One who is desirous of knowledge gains knowledge, one who is desirous of wealth gains wealth, one who is desirous of children will have children, and one who is desirous of liberation will be shown the path. 7: By chanting this GaNapati hymn for six months, one gets the results; and by one year, the accomplishment is gained, no doubt about it here. 8: To eight bramins one who submits this hymn in writing, his knowledge becomes all-encompassing, by GaNesha's grace. pada-pATham: verbal/phrasal meaning 1: praNaMya--B-o-w-ing, shirasA--with the head, to the devaM--divine who is gaurI-putraM--GaurI's son, the vinAyakam--remover of obstacles, who is the bhaktA-vAsaM--dweller in the devotees, smaren-nityaM--remember him daily, for siddhaye--accomplishment of AyuH--long life, and kAmArtha--desires and wealth. 2: prathamaM--At first, bow to the vakra-tuNDaM--curved-trunked cha dvitIyakam--and second to the eka-dantaM--single-tusked; tRutIyaM--third to the kRuShNa-pi~ggAkShaM--brown-eyed, to the gaja-vaktraM--elephant-mouthed , chaturthakam--fourth; 3: pa~jchamaM--fifth to the lambodaraM--large-bellied, cha ShaShThaMand sixth to the vikaTameva--huge-sized; saptamaM--seventh to the vighna-rAjaM cha--king of obstacles and tathA aShTamam--thus eighth to the dhUmra-varNaM--smoke-colored; 4: navamaM--ninth to the phAla-chandraM--moon on the forehead, cha dashamaM--and tenth to the vi-nAyakam--supreme hero; ekAdashaM--eleventh to the gaNapatiM--lord of all beings (human, non-human, spiritual) and dvAdashaM--twelfth to the gajAnanam--elephant-faced. 5: yaH paThen-naraH--To one who reads dvAdashaitAni--these twelve nAmAni--names at the trisandhyaM--three divisions of a day (dawn, noon, sunset), there is na cha vighna-bhayaM--no fear of obstacles; tasya--to him, sarva-siddhikaraM param--everything will be accomplished well. 6: One who is vidyArthI labhate vidyAM--desirous of knowledge gains knowledge, one who is dhanArthI labhate dhanam--desirous of wealth gains wealth, one who is putrArthI labhate putrAn--desirous of children will have children, and one who is mokShArthI labhate gatim--desirous of liberation will be shown the path. 7: japed gaNapati-stotraM--By chanting this GaNapati hymn ShaDbhir-mAsaiH--for six months, phalaM labhet--one gets the results; and saMvatsareNa--by one year, the siddhiM cha labhate--accomplishment is gained, nA&tra saMshayaH--no doubt about it here. 8: (aShTAnAM/)aShTabhyo--To eight (brAhmaNAnAM cha/)brAhmaNebhyashcha--bramins yaH samarpayet--one who submits this hymn likhitvA--in writing, tasya vidyA--his knowledge bhavet sarvA--becomes all-encompassing, gaNeshasya prasAdataH--by GaNesha's grace. Note: 1. The ninth reference to GaNesha is phAla-chandraM and NOT bAla-chandraM, because the term phAla means parting of the hair that starts at the forehead, whereas bAla means a child. 2. The term vinAyaka means both 'remover of obstacles' and 'a supreme hero', and these meanings are applied at the references on the first line and the tenth. 3. Although this is a stotra--hymn, a song of praise meant to be sung, it is also a dhyAna-shloka--hymn for meditation. This is because when we contemplate on the form of a deity, we concentrate on the angga-lAvaNya--loveliness of the limbs, to fix the form firmly in mind, and then contemplate the glory of the deity's powers. Request It could be helpful if anyone could give me the chapter--verse numbers reference of where this hymn figures in the NArada PurANam.
