When is this shloka chanted?

At the end of the day and at the close of any puja. It is the customary concluding prayer, asking pardon for errors in the ritual and in the day.

Is it suitable for young children?

The metre is long and the compounds are demanding, so we generally introduce it around nine. Younger children can learn the idea in English first and take up the Sanskrit later.

It is traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, and appears widely as the standard kshama-prarthana, the prayer for forgiveness.

Deity Shlokas

Karacharana Kritam, the Shiva Shloka of Forgiveness

करचरणकृतं वाक्कायजं कर्मजं वा

श्रवणनयनजं वा मानसं वापराधम् ।

विहितमविहितं वा सर्वमेतत्क्षमस्व

जय जय करुणाब्धे श्रीमहादेव शम्भो ॥

Kara-caraṇa-kṛtaṃ vāk-kāya-jaṃ karma-jaṃ vā

Śravaṇa-nayana-jaṃ vā mānasaṃ vāparādham

Vihitam avihitaṃ vā sarvam etat kṣamasva

Jaya jaya karuṇābdhe śrī-mahādeva śambho

“Whatever wrong I have done with hands or feet, by speech or body or action, by hearing or seeing or in the mind, whether done knowingly or unknowingly, forgive it all. Victory, victory to you, ocean of compassion, great Lord Shiva, Shambhu.”

Traditional kṣamā-prārthanā, attributed to Ādi Śaṅkarācārya

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Understanding it

Word by word

A shloka a child understands is a shloka they keep. Here is what each word is actually doing.

करचरणकृतंkara-caraṇa-kṛtaṃdone by hands and feet

वाक्कायजंvāk-kāya-jaṃborn of speech and body

श्रवणनयनजंśravaṇa-nayana-jaṃborn of hearing and seeing

मानसंmānasaṃof the mind

अपराधम्aparādhamfault, offence

विहितम् अविहितंvihitam avihitaṃknowingly or unknowingly

क्षमस्वkṣamasvaplease forgive

करुणाब्धेkaruṇābdheO ocean of compassion

When to chant it

At the end of the day, and at the close of any puja. It is the traditional way to finish, asking pardon for anything done wrongly.

What it gives a child

A gentle nightly habit of honest self-review
Teaches that mistakes are named and released, not carried
Beautiful, rolling metre children enjoy once fluent
Closes the day calmly before sleep

The idea underneath this verse is worth more to a child than the Sanskrit: you look back at the day, you name what went wrong with hands, words, eyes or thoughts, and then you put it down. Taught warmly, it becomes the opposite of guilt, a way of not carrying things to bed.

Teaching note, Smriti Samskara mentors

Learn it properly

Shloka Classes

Reading a shloka and chanting it correctly are different things. In our live online classes a mentor corrects your child’s pronunciation in the moment, teaches the meaning alongside the sound, and builds a repertoire verse by verse. Ages 4-14 · 45 min · Weekly.

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Questions parents ask

It asks forgiveness for every wrong done by hand or foot, speech or body, hearing or seeing, or in the mind, whether done knowingly or not, and salutes Shiva as an ocean of compassion.