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 इन्द्राणी सप्तशती indrāṇī saptaśatī is a poetic marvel. It’s a poem containing seven hundred verses in the praise of Indrāṇī, the consort of Indra of the Vedas. This was composed by Sri Vasishtha Ganapati Muni in 1922, while he was doing tapas in the Mango tree cave on the mount of Arunachala, in Tiruvanna Malai, Tamilnadu. Although, it was summer, and the sky was cloudless — bright with sunlight, at the time of composition of the seven hundred verses, every evening there appeared in the sky flashes of lightning, indicating the very presence of Indrāṇī — the great vajra- was completed much later by the Muni in March 1931, during his stay at Sirsi in North Kannada District. He removed many verses from the original text, added new verses, and amended a few.

The Muni composed this grand poem in seven different metres used in the Vedas — gāyatrī, uṣṇik, anuṣṭubh, bṛhatī, paṅkti, triṣṭubh and jagatī (गायत्री, उष्णिक्, अनुष्टुभ्, बृहती, पङ्क्ति, त्रिष्टुभ्, जगती). These verses are distributed over seven śatakas (a century of verses) — each śataka is composed in one of the seven Vedic metres. A śataka is further divided in to four parts with twenty-five verses in each.

Each verse of this stotra reflects the glory of the Goddess Indrani. Here the seer-poet has reconciled Indra of the Vedas with Maheshwara (the great controller) of the Tantras. In this stotra many of the secrets of the Vedas, Yoga and Mantras have been revealed. It is interesting to note that in this saptashati, goddess Renuka, the mother of Parashurama (the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and Draupadi (a character in the Mahabharata) have been specially extolled as the two incarnations of the great Divine Mother — the Mahashakti.

In the first invocatory verse of each stabaka the alluring smile of the Divine Mother is praised and in the second verse of the same stabaka, the poet prays the goddess to protect this land of Bharata. In the twenty-fourth verse of every stabaka, the poet seeks for grace of the Divine Mother to be an instrument in the immense task of serving his country in order that it regains its past glory. In the twenty-sixth stabaka, (where all the verses are written in a metre called jaloddhata-gati) the Muni by using the refrain तवाम्ब चरणं व्रजामि शरणम् tavāamba caraṇaṁ vrajāmi śaraṇam — O mother, I seek refuge in thy feet, prays again and again to the goddess Indrani for the upliftment and protection of his country at this juncture when all human efforts are not enough to release her from the bondage of darkness and inertia.

In one of his letters (dated 1.7.1931) Ganapait Muni had written to his Guru, Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi that he has achieved everything by his tapas: the glory of Mantra, the essence of Yoga, the realization of Kunadalini Shakti, the mastery over the Shastras, but he is not satisfied. He expressed that now his satisfaction lies only in devotion: devotion to Bhagavan Ramana maharshi, devotion to Bhagavan Indra and devotion to Bhagavati Bharatamata. From this one learns what an ardent devotee he was of Mother India — Bhavani Bharati.

इन्द्राणी सप्तशती indrāṇī saptaśatī is a wonderful poetic composition in which one experiences the rhythmic power of the various meters used to express the thoughts and emotions of the Muni. In the last verse of every stabaka, the name of the metre, in which the verses of that stabaka are composed, is mentioned. The saint-poet followed this style in each of the twenty-eight stabakas. In the second stabaka, Indrani is praised in the form of space (ether) in a marvelous manner. The ninth stabaka has the ultimate Reality as its subject matter. In the eleventh stabaka, the poet has described various Upanishadic vidyas, with great poetic beauty. In this highly fascinating poem every reader is sure to be entertained by its poetic excellence where there is an effortless play of alliterations.

अगतिमवीर्यामपगतधैर्याम्।

अवतु शचि मे जनिभुवमार्याम्॥२॥*

agatimavīryāmapagatadhairyām|

avatu śaci me janibhuvamāryām||2||

May Shachi, consort (or the feminine power) of Indra, protect the noble land of my birth; the land now helpless, bereft of strength and forbearance.

(* the numbers here refer to the verse numbers in indrāṇī saptaśatī)

अवसि जगत्त्वं कुलिशिभुजस्था।

अव मुनिभूमिं गणपतिधीस्था॥२४॥

avasi jagattvaṁ kuliśibhujasthā|

ava munibhūmiṁ gaṇapatidhīsthā||24||

O goddess Shachi, being in the arms of Indra, you drive the entire world; in meditation I hold you in my mind, do extend your favour to save Mother India, the land of my birth.