Original text
॥ श्री रावणकृत शिवताण्डवस्तोत्रम् ॥ जटाटवीगलज्जलप्रवाहपावितस्थले गलेऽवलम्ब्य लम्बितां भुजङ्गतुङ्गमालिकाम्। डमड्डमड्डमड्डमन्निनादवड्डमर्वयं चकार चण्डताण्डवं तनोतु नः शिवः शिवम्॥1॥ जटाकटाहसम्भ्रमभ्रमन्निलिम्पनिर्झरी- विलोलवीचिवल्लरीविराजमानमूर्धनि। धगद्धगद्धगज्ज्वलल्ललाटपट्टपावके किशोरचन्द्रशेखरे रतिः प्रतिक्षणं मम॥2॥ धराधरेन्द्रनन्दिनीविलासबन्धुबन्धुर- स्फुरद्दिगन्तसन्ततिप्रमोदमानमानसे। कृपाकटाक्षधोरणीनिरुद्धदुर्धरापदि क्वचिद्दिगम्बरे मनो विनोदमेतु वस्तुनि॥3॥ जटाभुजङ्गपिङ्गलस्फुरत्फणामणिप्रभा- कदम्बकुङ्कुमद्रवप्रलिप्तदिग्वधूमुखे। मदान्धसिन्धुरस्फुरत्त्वगुत्तरीयमेदुरे मनो विनोदमद्भुतं बिभर्तु भूतभर्तरि॥4॥ सहस्रलोचनप्रभृत्यशेषलेखशेखर- प्रसूनधूलिधोरणीविधूसराङ्घ्रिपीठभूः। भुजङ्गराजमालया निबद्धजाटजूटकः श्रियै चिराय जायतां चकोरबन्धुशेखरः॥5॥ ललाटचत्वरज्वलद्धनञ्जयस्फुलिङ्गभा- निपीतपञ्चसायकं नमन्निलिम्पनायकम्। सुधामयूखलेखया विराजमानशेखरं महाकपालि सम्पदे शिरो जटालमस्तु नः॥6॥ करालभालपट्टिकाधगद्धगद्धगज्ज्वल- द्धनञ्जयाहुतीकृतप्रचण्डपञ्चसायके। धराधरेन्द्रनन्दिनीकुचाग्रचित्रपत्रक- प्रकल्पनैकशिल्पिनि त्रिलोचने रतिर्मम॥7॥ नवीनमेघमण्डलीनिरुद्धदुर्धरस्फुरत्- कुहूनिशीथिनीतमःप्रबन्धबद्धकन्धरः। निलिम्पनिर्झरीधरस्तनोतु कृत्तिसिन्धुरः कलानिधानबन्धुरः श्रियं जगद्धुरन्धरः॥8॥ प्रफुल्लनीलपङ्कजप्रपञ्चकालिमप्रभा- वलम्बिकण्ठकन्दलीरुचिप्रबद्धकन्धरम्। स्मरच्छिदं पुरच्छिदं भवच्छिदं मखच्छिदं गजच्छिदान्धकच्छिदं तमन्तकच्छिदं भजे॥9॥ अखर्वसर्वमङ्गलाकलाकदम्बमञ्जरी- रसप्रवाहमाधुरीविजृम्भणामधुव्रतम्। स्मरान्तकं पुरान्तकं भवान्तकं मखान्तकं गजान्तकान्धकान्तकं तमन्तकान्तकं भजे॥10॥ जयत्वदभ्रविभ्रमभ्रमद्भुजङ्गमश्वस- द्विनिर्गमत्क्रमस्फुरत्करालभालहव्यवाट्। धिमिद्धिमिद्धिमिद्ध्वनन्मृदङ्गतुङ्गमङ्गल- ध्वनिक्रमप्रवर्तितप्रचण्डताण्डवः शिवः॥11॥ दृषद्विचित्रतल्पयोर्भुजङ्गमौक्तिकस्रजो- र्गरिष्ठरत्नलोष्ठयोः सुहृद्विपक्षपक्षयोः। तृणारविन्दचक्षुषोः प्रजामहीमहेन्द्रयोः समप्रवृत्तिकः कदा सदाशिवं भजाम्यहम्॥12॥ कदा निलिम्पनिर्झरीनिकुञ्जकोटरे वसन् विमुक्तदुर्मतिः सदा शिरःस्थमञ्जलिं वहन्। विलोललोललोचनो ललामभाललग्नकः शिवेति मन्त्रमुच्चरन् कदा सुखी भवाम्यहम्॥13॥ इमं हि नित्यमेवमुक्तमुत्तमोत्तमं स्तवं पठन्स्मरन्ब्रुवन्नरो विशुद्धिमेति सन्ततम्। हरे गुरौ सुभक्तिमाशु याति नान्यथा गतिं विमोहनं हि देहिनां सुशङ्करस्य चिन्तनम्॥14॥ पूजावसानसमये दशवक्त्रगीतं यः शम्भुपूजनपरं पठति प्रदोषे। तस्य स्थिरां रथगजेन्द्रतुरङ्गयुक्तां लक्ष्मीं सदैव सुमुखीं प्रददाति शम्भुः॥15॥ ॥ इति श्रीरावणकृतं शिवताण्डवस्तोत्रं सम्पूर्णम् ॥
Transliteration
Jatatavigalajjalapravahapavitasthale Galevalambya lambitam bhujangatungamalikam Damaddamaddamaddamanninadavaddamarvayam Chakara chandatandavam tanotu nah shivah shivam ||1|| Jatakatahasambhramabhramannilimpanirjhari Vilolavichivallarivirajamanamurdhani Dhagaddhagaddhagajjvalallalatapattapavake Kishorachandrashekhare ratih pratikshanam mama ||2|| Dharadharendranandinivilasabandhubandhura Sphuraddigantasantatipramodamanamanase Kripakatakshadhoraniniruddhadurdharapadi Kvachiddigambare mano vinodametu vastuni ||3|| Jatabhujangapingalasphuratphanamaniprabha Kadambakunkumadravapraliptadigvadhumukhe Madandhasindhurasphurattvaguttariyamedure Mano vinodamadbhutam bibhartu bhutabhartari ||4|| Sahasralochanaprabhrityasheshalekhashekhara Prasunadhulidhoranividhusaranghripithabhuh Bhujangarajamalaya nibaddhajatajutakah Shriyai chiraya jayatam chakorabandhushekharah ||5|| Lalatachatvarajvaladdhananjayasphulingabha Nipitapanchasayakam namannilimpanayakam Sudhamayukhalekhaya virajamanashekharam Mahakapali sampade shiro jatalamastu nah ||6|| Karalabhalapattikadhagaddhagaddhagajjvalad Dhananjayahutikritaprachandapanchasayake Dharadharendranandinikuchagrachitrapatraka Prakalpanaikashilpini trilochane ratirmama ||7|| Navinameghamandaliniruddhadurdharasphurat Kuhunishithinitamahprabandhabaddhakandharah Nilimpanirjharidharastanotu krittisindhurah Kalanidhanabandhurah shriyam jagaddhurandharah ||8|| Praphullanilapankajaprapanchakalimaprabha Valambikanthakandaliruchiprabaddhakandharam Smarachchhidam purachchhidam bhavachchhidam makhachchhidam Gajachchhidandhakachchhidam tamantakachchhidam bhaje ||9|| Akharvasarvamangalakalakadambamanjari Rasapravahamadhurivijrimbhanamadhuvratam Smarantakam purantakam bhavantakam makhantakam Gajantakandhakantakam tamantakantakam bhaje ||10|| Jayatvadabhravibhramabhramadbhujangamashvasad Vinirgamatkramasphuratkaralabhalahavyavat Dhimiddhimiddhimiddhvananmridangatungamangala Dhvanikramapravartitaprachandatandavah shivah ||11|| Drishadvichitratalpayorbhujangamauktikasrajor Garishtharatnaloshthayoh suhridvipakshapakshayoh Trinaravindachakshushoh prajamahimahendrayoh Samapravrittikah kada sadashivam bhajamyaham ||12|| Kada nilimpanirjharinikunjakotare vasan Vimuktadurmatih sada shirahsthamanjalim vahan Vilolalolalochano lalamabhalalagnakah Shiveti mantramuchcharan kada sukhi bhavamyaham ||13|| Imam hi nityamevamuktamuttamottamam stavam Pathansmaranbruvannaro vishuddhimeti santatam Hare gurau subhaktimashu yati nanyatha gatim Vimohanam hi dehinam sushankarasya chintanam ||14|| Pujavasanasamaye dashavaktragitam Yah shambhupujanaparam pathati pradoshe Tasya sthiram rathagajendraturangayuktam Lakshmim sadaiva sumukhim pradadati shambhuh ||15||
A hymn signed by its own composer
The Shiva Tandava Stotram is traditionally credited to Ravana, the king of Lanka — and unusually, the text itself carries that attribution. Its closing verse calls the hymn dashavaktra-gitam, "sung by the ten-faced one," which is Ravana's epithet. The story told alongside it is that Ravana, proud of his strength, tried to lift Mount Kailash with Shiva seated on it; Shiva pressed the mountain down with a toe, pinning Ravana's arms beneath it, and Ravana sang this hymn in praise until Shiva released him. Whatever one makes of the legend, the hymn is the work of someone with real command of Sanskrit: it is dense with long compounds, internal rhyme and sound-play from the first line to the last.
The rhythm is the point
The stotra is composed in the panchachamara metre — sixteen syllables per line, alternating short and long (da-DUM da-DUM…) without a break. Chanted at pace, that alternation sounds like a drumbeat, and the poet leans into it: verse 1 imitates Shiva's damaru outright (damad-damad-damad-daman), and verse 11 imitates the mridanga (dhimid-dhimid-dhimid) to which the tandava is danced. This is why the hymn is so often heard as music, and why it is far easier to chant correctly once the beat is in your ear than by reading it cold.
What the verses actually say
Verses 1–8 build a picture of Shiva mid-dance. Water from the Ganga, trapped in his matted locks, streams down and sanctifies his neck, where a great serpent hangs like a garland (1). The river's waves toss inside his hair, fire blazes on the plate of his forehead, and a young crescent moon rests on his head — the poet says his delight in this Shiva is renewed "every moment" (2). He is Parvati's companion, whose single compassionate glance holds back calamities that nothing else can, and who is digambara, clothed only by the directions (3). The jewels on his serpents' hoods cast a reddish glow on the faces of the goddesses of the directions, and he wears the hide of a maddened elephant as his upper garment (4). His footstool is grey with pollen falling from the flower-crowns of Indra and every other god bowing before him (5). The fire of his forehead once swallowed Kama, the five-arrowed god of desire (6, 7). His throat is dark as a moonless midnight under banks of new cloud, and he bears the whole weight of the world (8).
Verses 9 and 10 are a litany. Each praises the blue-lotus darkness of his throat, then lists what Shiva ended: Smara (Kama), Pura (the three demon cities, Tripura), Bhava (the cycle of worldly existence), Makha (Daksha's sacrifice), the elephant-demon, Andhaka, and finally Antaka — death itself, Yama. "I worship him," each verse closes.
Verse 11 returns to the dance: fire on his fierce forehead flares from the hissing breath of his whirling serpents, and the fierce tandava moves to the auspicious rising beat of the drum.
Verses 12 and 13 turn inward, and this is the emotional centre of the hymn. The poet asks when he will worship Sadashiva with an even mind — seeing a stone and a soft bed, a serpent and a pearl necklace, a priceless gem and a clod of earth, friend and enemy, a blade of grass and lotus eyes, a commoner and an emperor, as the same (12). And when will he live in a hollow by the Ganga's banks, free of wrong thinking, hands folded above his head, repeating "Shiva" — and be happy (13)? For a hymn attributed to a king famous for pride, ending on a wish for equanimity and simple devotion is a striking turn.
Verses 14 and 15 are the phala-shruti, the statement of the fruit of recitation: whoever reads, remembers or recites this hymn is continually purified and quickly gains devotion to Hara, the guru — "there is no other way," since merely thinking of Shankara dispels delusion (14). And whoever recites this song of the ten-faced one at the end of worship on Pradosha is granted by Shambhu a steady, gracious Lakshmi, with chariots, elephants and horses (15).
When and how it's recited
The hymn's own instruction is specific: recite it at the close of Shiva puja on Pradosha, the twilight period on the trayodashi (13th lunar day) of each fortnight. In practice it is also widely chanted on Mondays, through the month of Shravan, and on Maha Shivratri. Because of the unbroken long-short rhythm, the usual advice is to learn it slowly, a line at a time, against a recording, and only then speed up — rushing the compounds is how most mispronunciations creep in. It pairs naturally with the Shiva Chalisa or the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra in a longer Shiva puja.
Variant readings
The text above is the widely chanted fifteen-verse form: thirteen verses of praise and two of phala-shruti. Some printed editions add two further verses of praise before the phala-shruti, making seventeen, and small readings differ between editions — for example, verse 3 is sometimes read kvachich-chidambare ("in Chidambara, the sky of consciousness") instead of kvachid-digambare ("in the sky-clad one"). If you are learning it with a teacher or a particular recording, follow their version.
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