After the Devi Kavacham come two short texts whose names are mechanical rather than devotional. Argala is a bolt — the bar that holds a door shut. Kilaka is a pin or a wedge — the peg that locks something in place. The tradition's claim about them is specific and unusual: that the Durga Saptashati is sealed, and that these two texts are what open it.
🔑 Argala & Kilaka at a Glance
Source: Markandeya Purana, with the Devi Mahatmya
Argala: the bolt — commonly 27 verses; refrain rūpaṁ dehi jayaṁ dehi
Kilaka: the pin — commonly 16 verses; on the unsealing of the recitation
Order: recited second and third, after the Kavacham
Speaker: Markandeya (Argala); Shiva (Kilaka), in the standard attributions
Function: removal of obstruction, and release of the text's efficacy
📑 Table of Contents
🚪 The Argala Stotram
Argala means the wooden bar across a door. The stotram is the removal of it — the clearing of whatever stands between the reciter and the recitation.
Its literary form is a refrain, repeated through most of its verses:
rūpaṁ dehi jayaṁ dehi yaśho dehi dviṣho jahi ||
Give form, give victory, give fame — destroy enmity.
📌 What is being asked
Four things, and the first is the one people ask about. Rūpaṁ is usually read not as physical beauty but as form in a fuller sense — a proper shape, presence, the capacity to be recognised. Jayaṁ is victory, yaśhas reputation, and dviṣho jahi — destroy the hostile — is the removal of what opposes.
Each preceding line names a form or act of the Devi: as she who was born of Vishnu's yoganidra, as the slayer of Mahisha, of Shumbha and Nishumbha, of Chanda and Munda — and then the refrain. The structure is: you who did that — give this.
📌 The Kilaka Stotram
The Kilaka is stranger and shorter. Its subject is the recitation itself.
💡 The tradition's account
The Kilaka states that the Saptashati was pinned — sealed by Shiva so that its power would not be available casually, and that reciting the Kilaka is what withdraws the pin. Without it, on this account, the recitation is performed but does not take effect; with it, the text is uddhṛita, drawn out, and operative.
The stotram also states the alternative that the tradition preserves alongside it: that for one who recites the Saptashati daily and continually, the sealing does not apply — the sustained practice is itself the unsealing.
❓ Why Recite Both
The three angas do three distinct things, and the tradition's ordering reflects it:
| Text | Literal sense | What it addresses |
|---|---|---|
| Kavacham | Armour | The reciter — protecting the body before beginning |
| Argala | Door-bolt | The obstruction — clearing what stands in the way |
| Kilaka | Pin, wedge | The text — releasing the recitation's efficacy |
In practice
- All three are short — together roughly the length of one Saptashati chapter.
- They are recited in the fixed order before beginning chapter one.
- Many recite the Argala independently, outside the Saptashati, for its refrain.
- Through Navaratri the full sequence is done daily by those keeping the complete path.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What do argala and kilaka mean?
Argala is a bolt — the wooden bar across a door. Kilaka is a pin or wedge. The names are mechanical rather than devotional, and deliberately so: the Argala removes what stands in the way of the recitation, and the Kilaka withdraws the pin that seals the text.
What is the refrain of the Argala Stotram?
rūpaṁ dehi jayaṁ dehi yaśho dehi dviṣho jahi — give form, give victory, give fame, destroy enmity. Rūpaṁ is usually read not as physical beauty but as form in a fuller sense — presence, the capacity to be recognised. Each preceding line names an act of the Devi, then the refrain: you who did that — give this.
Is the Kilaka Stotram compulsory before the Saptashati?
The tradition preserves both positions, and both are in the stotram itself. It says the Saptashati was pinned and that the Kilaka withdraws the pin — but also that for one who recites daily and continually, the sealing does not apply, the sustained practice being itself the unsealing. Some paddhatis treat it as obligatory before every recitation; others as dispensable under a standing daily vow.
How long do the three angas take?
All three are short — together roughly the length of one Saptashati chapter. Kavacham commonly 47 verses, Argala 27, Kilaka 16. They are recited in fixed order before chapter one, and through Navaratri the full sequence is done daily by those keeping the complete path.
🙏 Conclusion
The Argala and the Kilaka are named after hardware — a door-bolt and a pin — and the plainness is deliberate. One clears what stands in the way; the other releases the text. Between them and the Kavacham, the tradition has arranged that before a single verse of the Devi Mahatmya is read, the reciter is armoured, the obstruction is removed, and the seal is withdrawn.