MAHĀKĀLI DHYANAM
Meditation on Mahākāli
From the Devī Mahātmyam [Mārkendeya Purana]
Om Namaś Chaṇḍikāyai.
Om khaḍgaṁ chakra-gadeṣu-chāpa-parighāñ
chūlaṃ bhuśuṇḍīṁ śiraḥ
śaṅkhaṁ saṃda-dhatīṁ karai-stri-nayanāṁ
sarvāṅga-bhūṣāvṛitām
Nīlāśma-dyutimāsya pāda-daśakāṁ
seve Mahākālikāṁ
yāmastaut-svapite harau kamalajo
hantuṁ madhuṁ kaiṭabham.
Om Namaś Chaṇḍikāyai.
Om, I bow to the Goddess Chaṇḍikā.
Om, holding a scimitar, disk, mace, arrows and bow, lance, club, a skull and a conch shell in Her ten hands. The three-eyed goddess, Her body covered with ornaments, Her countenance with the brilliance of blue diamonds, with ten limbs. We offer our service to Mahākāli, She who Brahma praised for protection from the demons Madhu and Kaitava, when Vishnu was in sleep.
Om, I bow to the Goddess Chaṇḍikā.
Book 3/Chapter 1/1:24
On the questions put by Janamejaya
1-10. Janamejaya said :-- “O Bhagavân! What
is that great Yajña (sacrifice) named Ambâ Yajña about which you referred just
now? Who is the Ambâ? Where was She born? From whom and what for did Her birth take
place? What are Her qualities? What is Her form and nature?
O Ocean of mercy! You
are all-knowing; kindly describe everything duly. Along with this, describe in detail the
origin of Brahmânda. O Brahmâna! You
know every thing of this whole Universe.
I heard that Brahmâ, Visnu and Rudra are the three Devatâs, who are
successively originated to create, preserve, and destroy this Universe. Are these three highsouled entities
independent? or Do they do their respective
duties, being subservient to another Person?
Now I am very eager to know all these.
So Pârâs'ara's son! Describe all these to me.
Are these highly powerful Brahmâ, Visnu
and Mahes'vara subject to Death like ordinary beings? Or are they of the nature of everlasting
Existence, Intelligence and Bliss?
Are they subject to the three fold pains
arising from their own selves from elements and from those arising from gods?
Are they subject to Time?
How and wherefrom were they originated?
Do they feel the influence of pleasure,
pain, sleep or laziness?
O Muni!
Do their bodies consist of seven
Dhâtus? (blood, etc.) or are they of
some other kinds?
A great doubt has arisen in me on all
these points. If these bodies be not
made up of five elements, then of what substance are they built of?
And of what gunas are their senses built
also? How do they enjoy objects of
enjoyments? How long is their longevity?
O Brâhmana! Where
do they, Brahmâ, Visnu, and Mahes'vara, the best of the gods live? And of what nature are their powers and
prosperities? I like very much to hear
all these. So describe all these in
detail to me.”
11-24. Vyâsa said :-- “O highly intelligent king! The
questions that you have asked me today whence and how Brahmâ, etc., were born ? etc., are
very difficult. In ancient days, once, on an occasion, I
asked many questions like you to the Muni Nârada. At first he was greatly suprised to hear my
queries, afterwards he gave due replies to them. O king!
I will answer to you in the same
way; listen. Once I saw that the
all-knowing, peaceful Nârada, the knower of the Vedas was sitting on the banks
of the Ganges. I became very glad and
fell at his feet. By his order I took
one
excellent seat.
Hearing, then, of his welfare and seeing
him sitting on the sands I asked him
:-- “O highly intelligent One! Who is
the Supreme Architect of this widely extended Universe?
Whence is this Brahmânda born? Is it eternal or temporary? When it is an effect, then it is natural that
it cannot be created without a cause. Now
when the cause, the creator, is certain, is he one or many?
O sage!
as regards this wide Samsâra, I
have expressed my doubt; now answer me what is the Real and True, and thus remove
my doubts.
Many believe Mahâ Deva, the Lord of all
the other Devas as the Supreme God, the Cause of all. He is the source of deliverance to all the
Jîvas; devoid of birth and death; always auspicious; peaceful in Himself and
the controller of the three gunas. He is
the one and only cause of creation, preservation and destruction.
Some Pundits believe Visnu as the God of
all and praise Him as such. It is Visnu
that is the powerful Supreme Self, the Lord of all and the First Person
Âdipurusa. It is He that has no birth
nor death, the Deliverer of the whole Jîvas, Omnipresent; His faces are everywhere;
He is the Granter of enjoyments and liberation to the devotees.
Some others call again Brahmâ, the Cause
of all. It is He that is omniscient and
the Stimulator of all beings. The
four-faced Brahmâ, the best of all the Devas is born from the navel lotus of
some One of endless force. He resides in
Satyaloka; He is the Creator of all and the Lord of all the Devas.
Again some other Pundits call the Sun,
Sûrya as God. In the morning and in the
evening they chant His hymns, without any lack of slackness and laziness.
Again there are some others, who say that
Indra is the lord of all the Jîvas; He is thousandeyed; it is Indra, the
husband of S’achî, that is the God of all.
Those who perform Yajñas (sacrifices) worship Vâsava, the king of the
Devas. He drinks Soma juice Himself and
those who drink Soma are his beloved. He
is the one and only Lord of Sacrifices.
Thus all men worship, according to their
respective wishes, Varuna, Soma, Agni, Pavana (wind), Yama (the god of Death),
Kuvera, the lord of wealth.
There are some again who worship the
elephant-faced Ganapati, the Fructifier of all actions, the Granter of desires
of all the devotees, and the Giver of success to all in all enterprises, no
sooner He is remembered.
Some Âchâryas (professors) say again that
the All auspicious the Âdi Mâyâ, the Great S’akti Bhavânî, the Giver of
everything, Who is the nature of with and without attributes, who is not
different from Brahmâ, who is both Purusa and Prakriti, the Creatrix, the Preservatrix
and the Destructrix of all, the Mother of all the gods, beings and lokas, is the
Great Goddess of this Brahmânda. She is
without beginning and end, full, present in all the beings and everywhere.
It is this Bhavanî that assumes the
various endless forms such as Vaisnavî S’ânkarî, Brâhmî,
Vâsavî, Vârunî, Vârâhî, Nara Simhî, Mahâ Laksmî the one and secondless
Vedamâtâ, and others.
It is this Vidyâ nature that is the One
and the only Root of this tree of Samsâra (universe).
The mere act of remembering Her destroys
heaps of afflictions of the devotees and fulfills all their desires.
She gives Moksa to those who are desirous
of liberation and gives rewards to those who want such.
She is beyond the three Gunas and still
She emanates them. Therefore the Yogis
that want rewards meditate Her, Who is of the nature of Vidyâ and Who is devoid
of attributes.
The best Munis, the knowers of the truths
of Vedanta meditate on Her as formless, immutable, stainless, omnipresent Brahmâ
devoid of all Dharma. She is described
in some Vedas and Upanishads as full of Light (Tejas).
Some intelligent persons describe God as
of infinite hands, infinite ears, infinite legs, infinite faces, peaceful,
Virât Purusa and describe sky as the Pada (place) of Visnu.
Other knowers of the Purânas describe Him
as Purusottama.
There are some others again who declare
that this creation cannot be done by a single individual. Some atheists say that this inconceivable
infinite Universe can never be created by one God. So there is no such definite God that can be
called its Creator. Though without any
creator, this Brahmânda is sprung from the Nature and conducted by Her.
The followers of the Sâmkhya system say
that Purusa is not the creator of this Universe; they declare that Prakriti is
the Mistress of this Universe O Muni!
Thus I have expressed to you what the Muni
Kapila, the Achârya of the Sânkhyas and the other philosophers declare as their
opinions; various doubts, thus, reign always in my breast.
Owing to these doubts my mind is so
confused that I cannot arrive at any definite conclusion. My mind is very much unsettled as to what is
Dharma and what is Adharma.
What are the characteristics of Dharma? I cannot make out them. For the Devas are all sprung from the Sattva
Guna and are always attached to the true Dharma; yet they are frequently
troubled by the sinful Dânavas. How,
then, can I place my confidence on the permanence of the Dharma? My forefathers, the Pândavas were always
endowed with good behaviours and good actions and they remained always in the
path of the Dharma; yet they suffered a good deal of troubles and sufferings. In these cases it is very difficult
understand the greatness of Dharma.
So, O Father! Seeing all these, my mind is thrown into a
sea of doubts and troubles. O Great
Muni! There is nothing impracticable
with you; so remove my doubts. O Muni! I am
always plunged and raised and plunged again in this sea of delusion. So save me by lifting me on a boat of wisdom
and carry me across this ocean of samsâra (this world).
Thus ends the first chapter on the third
Skandha on the questions put by Janamejaya in the Mahâpurâna S'rîmad Devî
Bhagâvatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâs.
Source:
Translation of The Srimad Devi Bhagvatam by Swami Vijnanananda
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