The Devi Kavacham, the sacred hymn of protection from the Durga Saptashati, opens with a single name, and that name belongs to Shailaputri.
वन्दे वाञ्छितलाभाय चन्द्रार्धकृतशेखराम्।
वृषारूढां शूलधरां शैलपुत्रीं यशस्विनीम्॥
Vande vaanchhitalaabhaaya chandrardhakritashekharaam,
Vrishaarudhaam shuladharaam Shailaputreem yashasvineem.
I bow to the glorious Shailaputri, who grants every good wish, who wears the crescent moon on her forehead, who rides the bull, and who holds the trident.
This verse comes from the Navadurga Stotram, and its opening line marks the start of the Devi Kavacham, found in the Durga Saptashati, part of the Markandeya Purana. Shailaputri is the very first name called out in that hymn, before any other form of the Goddess. She holds the first place in scripture itself, not only on Day 1 of Navaratri.
Her name means daughter of the mountain, and her story starts earlier than that. The Devi Bhagavata Purana tells us she was once Sati, and her love for Shiva brought her back into the world once more, this time born to Himavan, king of the Himalayas, with the mountains as her home. Every other form of the Goddess honoured across the nine nights of Navaratri, gentle, fierce, or victorious, comes from her. She is the starting point from which all of Shakti takes shape.
She sits on Nandi the bull, holding a trident in one hand and a lotus in the other, with a crescent moon on her forehead, just as her dhyana shloka describes. The trident in her hand belongs to Shiva. Her carrying it shows that her strength is entirely her own. The lotus in her other hand shows the same strength in a softer form.
People say the crescent moon on her forehead connects her to the mind. The moon rises and falls just like emotions do, calm one day and restless the next. Praying to Shailaputri is believed to bring a restless mind back to calm. This is one reason devotees turn to her first, before anything else in their lives can feel steady.
Yogic tradition places her at the Muladhara, the root chakra, the base of the body's energy system. Just as a tree needs strong roots before it grows tall, Navaratri begins with her. Everything that follows in the nine nights builds on the steadiness she gives first.
In our tradition, she arrives on this first day in her Bala Swaroopam, her form as a child, and young girls at home are dressed and honoured as the Goddess through Kanya Pooja, a practice observed from this very first day.
Her mantra is simple, easy for anyone to say:
ॐ देवी शैलपुत्र्यै नमः
Om Devi Shailaputryai Namah
Saying it quietly is believed to bring calm, the same way a mountain stays still through every storm. A simple offering of pure ghee is all she asks in return.
— Shanker N C
Sources referenced: Navadurga Stotram · Devi Kavacham (Durga Saptashati, Markandeya Purana) · Devi Bhagavata Purana · Yogic tradition on the Muladhara Chakra
