त्रिदलं त्रिगुणाकारं त्रिनेत्रं च त्रियायुधम् ।
त्रिजन्मपापसंहारं एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥१॥
त्रिशाखैः बिल्वपत्रैश्च ह्यच्छिद्रैः कोमलैः शुभैः ।
शिवपूजां करिष्यामि ह्येकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥२॥
अखण्डबिल्वपत्रेण पूजिते नन्दिकेश्वरे ।
शुद्ध्यन्ति सर्वपापेभ्यो ह्येकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥३॥
शालिग्रामशिलामेकां विप्राणां जातु चार्पयेत् ।
सोमयज्ञमहापुण्यं एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥४॥
दन्तिकोटिसहस्राणि वाजपेयशतानि च ।
कोटिकन्यामहादानं एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥५॥
लक्ष्म्यास्तनुत उत्पन्नं महादेवस्य च प्रियम् ।
बिल्ववृक्षं प्रयच्छामि ह्येकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥६॥
दर्शनं बिल्ववृक्षस्य स्पर्शनं पापनाशनम् ।
अघोरपापसंहारं एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥७॥
काशीक्षेत्रनिवासं च कालभैरवदर्शनम् ।
प्रयागमाधवं दृष्ट्वा ह्येकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥८॥
मूलतो ब्रह्मरूपाय मध्यतो विष्णुरूपिणे ।
अग्रतः शिवरूपाय ह्येकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥९॥
बिल्वाष्टकमिदं पुण्यं यः पठेच्छिवसन्निधौ ।
सर्वपापविनिर्मुक्तः शिवलोकमवाप्नुयात् ॥
tridalaṃ triguṇākāraṃ trinetraṃ ca triyāyudham |
trijanmapāpasaṃhāraṃ ekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||1||
triśākhaiḥ bilvapatraiśca hyacchidraiḥ komalaiḥ śubhaiḥ |
śivapūjāṃ kariṣyāmi hyekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||2||
akhaṇḍabilvapatreṇa pūjite nandikeśvare |
śuddhyanti sarvapāpebhyo hyekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||3||
śāligrāmaśilāmekāṃ viprāṇāṃ jātu cārpayet |
somayajñamahāpuṇyaṃ ekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||4||
dantikoṭisahasrāṇi vājapeyaśatāni ca |
koṭikanyāmahādānaṃ ekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||5||
lakṣmyāstanuta utpannaṃ mahādevasya ca priyam |
bilvavṛkṣaṃ prayacchāmi hyekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||6||
darśanaṃ bilvavṛkṣasya sparśanaṃ pāpanāśanam |
aghorapāpasaṃhāraṃ ekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||7||
kāśīkṣetranivāsaṃ ca kālabhairavadarśanam |
prayāgamādhavaṃ dṛṣṭvā hyekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||8||
mūlato brahmarūpāya madhyato viṣṇurūpiṇe |
agrataḥ śivarūpāya hyekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||9||
bilvāṣṭakamidaṃ puṇyaṃ yaḥ paṭhecchivasannidhau |
sarvapāpavinirmuktaḥ śivalokamavāpnuyāt ||
Meaning
1. Three leaflets, shaped like the three gunas, like the three eyes, like the three weapons, destroying the sins of three births: one bilva leaf offered to Shiva.
2. With three-branched bilva leaves, whole, tender and auspicious, I shall worship Shiva: one bilva leaf offered to Shiva.
3. When Nandikeshvara is worshipped with an unbroken bilva leaf, people are cleansed of all sins: one bilva leaf offered to Shiva.
4. Equal to giving a single shalagrama stone to the learned, equal to the great merit of the soma sacrifice: one bilva leaf offered to Shiva.
5. Equal to the gift of thousands of crores of elephants, to hundreds of vajapeya sacrifices, to the great gift of a crore of maidens in marriage: one bilva leaf offered to Shiva.
6. Born from the body of Lakshmi and dear to Mahadev, the bilva tree I offer: one bilva leaf offered to Shiva.
7. The sight of the bilva tree and its touch destroy sin, even the most terrible: one bilva leaf offered to Shiva.
8. Equal to living in Kashi, to the darshan of Kalabhairava, to seeing Madhava at Prayag: one bilva leaf offered to Shiva.
9. To him who is Brahma at the root, Vishnu at the middle and Shiva at the tip: one bilva leaf offered to Shiva.
Phala: Whoever recites this holy Bilvashtakam near Shiva is freed from all sins and attains Shiva's world.
About this bhajan
Every verse closes on the same offering, "eka-bilvam Shivarpanam", and devotees place a leaf on the Linga at each refrain, three leaflets joined, smooth side down. The bilva is dear to Mahadev above all leaves, and the hymn counts its merit against the greatest gifts and sacrifices. Its verses differ from book to book: the Brihat Stotra Ratnakara (1953) prints a shorter eight with lines on Kashi and Gaya, while the version given here, the one most widely sung in the South, adds the verse on Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva dwelling in the root, middle and tip of the tree.
Bilvāṣṭakam, sanskritdocuments.org (bilvaashhtaka.itx); variant reading in Bṛhatstotraratnākara (1953), Sanskrit Wikisource बिल्वाष्टकम्