Original text
श्रीगणेशाय नमः । नारद उवाच । प्रणम्य शिरसा देवं गौरीपुत्रं विनायकम् । भक्तावासं स्मरेन्नित्यमायुःकामार्थसिद्धये ॥ १ ॥ प्रथमं वक्रतुण्डं च एकदन्तं द्वितीयकम् । तृतीयं कृष्णपिङ्गाक्षं गजवक्त्रं चतुर्थकम् ॥ २ ॥ लम्बोदरं पञ्चमं च षष्ठं विकटमेव च । सप्तमं विघ्नराजेन्द्रं धूम्रवर्णं तथाष्टमम् ॥ ३ ॥ नवमं भालचन्द्रं च दशमं तु विनायकम् । एकादशं गणपतिं द्वादशं तु गजाननम् ॥ ४ ॥ द्वादशैतानि नामानि त्रिसन्ध्यं यः पठेन्नरः । न च विघ्नभयं तस्य सर्वसिद्धिकरः प्रभुः ॥ ५ ॥ विद्यार्थी लभते विद्यां धनार्थी लभते धनम् । पुत्रार्थी लभते पुत्रान्मोक्षार्थी लभते गतिम् ॥ ६ ॥ जपेद्गणपतिस्तोत्रं षड्भिर्मासैः फलं लभेत् । संवत्सरेण सिद्धिं च लभते नात्र संशयः ॥ ७ ॥ अष्टभ्यो ब्राह्मणेभ्यश्च लिखित्वा यः समर्पयेत् । तस्य विद्या भवेत्सर्वा गणेशस्य प्रसादतः ॥ ८ ॥ ॥ इति श्रीनारदपुराणे संकटनाशनं गणेशस्तोत्रं सम्पूर्णम् ॥
Transliteration
Shri ganeshaya namah. Narada uvacha. Pranamya shirasa devam gauriputram vinayakam Bhaktavasam smarennityamayuhkamarthasiddhaye ||1|| Prathamam vakratundam cha ekadantam dvitiyakam Tritiyam krishnapingaksham gajavaktram chaturthakam ||2|| Lambodaram panchamam cha shashtham vikatameva cha Saptamam vighnarajendram dhumravarnam tathashtamam ||3|| Navamam bhalachandram cha dashamam tu vinayakam Ekadasham ganapatim dvadasham tu gajananam ||4|| Dvadashaitani namani trisandhyam yah pathennarah Na cha vighnabhayam tasya sarvasiddhikarah prabhuh ||5|| Vidyarthi labhate vidyam dhanarthi labhate dhanam Putrarthi labhate putranmoksharthi labhate gatim ||6|| Japedganapatistotram shadbhirmasaih phalam labhet Samvatsarena siddhim cha labhate natra samshayah ||7|| Ashtabhyo brahmanebhyashcha likhitva yah samarpayet Tasya vidya bhavetsarva ganeshasya prasadatah ||8||
Twelve names in eight verses
This stotra is short, practical and very old in the tradition. Its colophon places it in the Narada Purana, and it opens Narada uvacha, "Narada said". After one verse of salutation to "the god, Gauri's son, Vinayaka, the home of his devotees", remembered daily "for long life, the fulfilment of wishes and prosperity", it does one thing: it lists Ganesha's twelve names in order, which is why it is also called the Ganesha Dvadashanama Stotra.
What the names say
- Vakratunda: of the curved trunk
- Ekadanta: the one-tusked, who broke off a tusk (in one well-known story, to write down the Mahabharata)
- Krishnapingaksha: with dark-and-tawny eyes
- Gajavaktra: elephant-faced
- Lambodara: big-bellied, holding the universe within
- Vikata: the formidable, of unusual form
- Vighnarajendra: the sovereign king over obstacles, the one who both places and removes them
- Dhumravarna: smoke-coloured
- Bhalachandra: with the moon on his forehead
- Vinayaka: the leader, the one with no master over him
- Ganapati: lord of Shiva's ganas
- Gajanana: elephant-faced, again, to close the circle
Saying the twelve names is itself the core of the practice. Many people chant just verses 2 to 4 when short of time.
A very specific set of promises
The second half (verses 5–8) is unusually concrete about what recitation brings. Whoever reads the twelve names at the three junctions of the day (trisandhya: dawn, noon and dusk) has no fear of obstacles, and the Lord brings every success. Verse 6 is quoted constantly: vidyarthi labhate vidyam, dhanarthi labhate dhanam, putrarthi labhate putran, moksharthi labhate gatim, "the student gains learning, the seeker of wealth gains wealth, the one who wants children gains children, and the seeker of liberation gains the goal." Results are promised within six months and complete success within a year. Verse 8 adds that whoever writes the stotra out and gives it to eight Brahmins gains all learning, a reminder of the age when copying a text by hand was itself an act of merit.
One small textual note: the word bhaktavasam ("dwelling-place of devotees") in verse 1 appears as bhaktyavasam or bhaktya Vyasah in different printed editions. The meaning of the stotra does not change.
When it is recited
The name says it all: sankat-nashan, destroyer of trouble. It is the standard recitation on Sankashti Chaturthi, the fourth day of the waning moon each month, when devotees fast until moonrise and then worship Ganesha. It is also recited on Wednesdays (his day), throughout Ganesh Chaturthi, before starting any new undertaking, and by students before exams, the clearest application of verse 6. Families who follow the trisandhya instruction recite it at dawn, midday and dusk during a difficult period, often for six months as the stotra itself suggests.
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