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 17/1:62
On the story of Vis’vâmitra
1-3. Vyâsa
said :-- O King! Hearing thus the words
of the Maharsi Bhâradvâja and seeing that he made a firm resolve, the King
Yudhâjit called his prime minister quickly and asked, “O intelligent one! What am I to do now? I want to carry away by force this boy with
his mother sweet Manoramâ; no one desirous of one’s welfare won’t trifle away
his enemy, be he even a very weak one; if he does so, that enemy will get
stronger day by day, as the disease consumption becomes stronger; and will ultimately
become the cause of death.
4. There is
no warrior, nor any soldiers here of the other party; no one will be able to resist
me; I can take away, as I like, the enemy of my daughter’s son and can kill
him.
5. I will
try to-day to carry him away by force, and Sudars’ana being killed, my daughter’s
son will reign fearlessly without an enemy; there in no doubt in this.”
6. The
prime minister said :-- No such hazardous courage need be shewn now; you have
heard the Maharshi's words; he quoted you the example of Vis’vâmitra.
7. O King! In days of yore, Vis’vâmitra, the son of the
King Gâdhi, was a celebrated monarch; one day while roaming, he accidentally
reached the hermitage of Vas’istha.
8. The
powerful king Vis’vâmitra bowed down before the Muni, and the Muni gave him a
seat. The king took his seat there.
9. Then the
high souled Vas'istha invited the king to a dinner. Vis’vâmitra, the king, went there with his
whole army.
10-12. There
was a cow, named Nandinî, of Vas’istha. The
Muni prepared all sorts of eatables from her milk and entertained them all. The king with his whole army was very much pleased; and, coming to know of the
divine power of the cow, asked Vas’istha to give his cow Nandinî over to him
and said “The udder of your cow Nandinî is like a big jar. I will give you thousand cows like that; I
pray you to let me have your cow Nandinî.”
13. Vas'istha
said “O King! This is my sacrificial
cow; I cannot give you this cow in any way, let your thousand cows be yours.”
14. Vis'vâmitra
said :-- “O Saint! I will give you cows
lakhs or tens and hundreds of lakhs or any number you like. Please give me your cow; in case you be
unwilling, I will carry her away perforce.”
15. Vas'istha
said :-- “O King! As you like, better
take it perforce; I will never be able to give you my cow Nandinî from my
house.”
16. O King! Hearing thus the Vas'istha's words,
Vis’vâmitra, the King, ordered at once his powerful followers to carry the cow
Nandinî away by fastening a cord round her neck per sheer force.
17-19. The
followers, obeying the order at once bound the cow with ropes and began to carry
her away by force. At this Nandinî,
trembling and with tears in her eyes, began to say to the Muni “O One! whose wealth consists only in asceticism! Are you going to leave me? Otherwise why these fellows are binding me
with a cord and dragging me away?” At this the Muni replied “O Nandinî! I have never parted with you; I perform all
my sacrifices
through your milk. O
auspicious one! I honoured this king, my
guests, with eatables prepared from your food and for that reason he is
carrying you away from me by sheer force.
What can I do? O Nandinî! I have not the least desire to part with
you.”
20. Hearing
these words from the Muni, the cow became very angry and bellowed loudly and
terribly.
21. At once
came out from her body, on that very spot, the terrible demons wearing coats of
armour, and holding various weapons; and they uttered aloud, “Wait; you will soon
meet with vengeance.”
22. They
then destroyed all the forces of the king.
And the king alone was left and he went away alone, much dejected and
sorrowful.
23. Oh! That wicked king then cursed with great
humility the Ksattriya S’akti; and thinking the Brâhmanic power would be
attained with great exertion, began to practice asceticism and penance.
24. Performing
penance and tapasyâ, very hard indeed, in the great forest, Vis'vâmitra, the
son of Gâdhi, succeeded at last in becoming a Risi and then he renounced his Ksattriya
Dharma.
25. Therefore,
O King! Dost Thou never quarrel with
these ascetics and be involved in wars resulting in great enmity and causing
the extinction of the race.
26. Better
dost thou appease the Muni and now go back to your own kingdom. Let Sudars'ana remain here at his pleasure.
27. O King! This minor boy has no wealth; what harm can
he do to you? It is useless to show your
enmity towards an orphan, a weak minor boy.
28. This
world is under the control of Destiny; therefore one should shew mercy to all. O king!
What use is there to shew one’s jealousy? What is inevitable will surely come to pass.
29. O king! The thunderbolt comes sometimes like a blade
of grass; a blade of grass acts sometimes like a thunderbolt.
30. O king! You are very intelligent; consider that by,
combinations of circumstances, a hair can kill a powerful tiger and a gnat can
kill an elephant. Therefore dost thou forsake
this rashness and hear my beneficent advice.
31. Vyâsa
said :-- O king! The best of kings,
Yudhâjit hearing the prime minister's advice bowed down humbly at the feet of
the Muni and returned to his own city.
32. Manoramâ,
too, became free from anxiety, and, remaining peaceful in the hermitage, began
to nourish and support her child, engaged in vows.
33. The
lovely son of the king began to grow daily like the phases of the waxing moon and
sport fearlessly with the boys of the Munis, altogether, wherever they liked, a
sight very auspicious.
34. One day
the minister Vidalla came there and the sons of the Munis seeing him began, in
the presence of Sudars’ana, to address him “Klib,” “Klib.”
35. Sudars’ana,
too, hearing them pronounce “Klib,” “Klib” took up the one letter, “Kli” and
uttered this only repeatedly, which is, in fact the prince of the root mantras
of Kâma, with anusvâra omitted.
36. Then the
son of the king took that mantram and silently repeated this in his mind.
37. O King! Thus that boy Sudars'ana was initiated in
this root mantra of Kâma (desire) spontaneously, out of his original Samskâra
(innate tendency) owing to the unavoidable destiny of Fate.
38-39. The son
of the king, when he was five years old, got this most excellent mantra, though
without its Risi (seer), meditation, without its chhanda (metre) and without Nyâsa
(assignment of the various parts of the body to different deities, accompanied with
prayers and corresponding gesticulations), and considered this as the
quintessence of all, therefore meditated this always in his mind spontaneously
and never forgot it.
40-41. When the
king's son grew eleven years old, the Muni performed his Upanayana (sacred
thread) ceremony and made him begin the study of the Vedas. The son, with that mantra power, soon
mastered all the studies about archery, all the moral and political sciences in
conformity with proper rules, within a very short time.
42-43. One day
Sudars'ana got a vision of the form of the Supreme Goddess, of a red colour,
wearing red apparel and decorated with red ornaments, mounting on Garuda and
with Her wonderful Vaisnavî powers and Her face, fully opened like the budding of
a lotus flower.
44. Thus,
expert in many branches of learning, Sudars’ana served his Mother in that forest
and began to wander on the banks of the Ganges.
45. One day
the Mother of the Universe gave the bows, sharpened arrows, quiver and a mail
coat of armour to that boy in that forest.
46-47. O King! At this time the extraordinary beautiful and
lovely princess S’as’ikalâ, endowed with all auspicious qualities, the daughter
of the king of Kâshi, came to hear that a beautiful prince named Sudars’ana, a
second Kandarpa, full of heroism and endowed with all auspicious qualities is
dwelling in a forest.
48. The
princess, hearing this from a soothsayer, mentally loved and desired him and wanted
finally to accept him as her legal husband.
49-50. Thus, on
one occasion, at the end of a night (night-fall), the Goddess appeared in her
dreams before her and consoled her and said “O fair one! ask a boon from me; Sudars’ana is my devotee;
he will fulfill, at my word, all your desires.”
51. Thus
seeing the beautiful figure of the Goddess in her dreams and hearing Her sweet
words, the honoured S’as’ikalâ was drowned in the ocean of bliss.
52. When the
princess awoke, her face beaming with gladness, her mother perceived her joy
and inferred that her daughter must have been internally very glad, and asked her
repeatedly, but S’as’ikalâ was too much abashed and did not give vent to the
cause of her satisfaction.
53. The
princess, remembering her dreams, began to laugh repeatedly on account of her excessive
joy. At last she spoke out in detail all
about her dreams to one of her lady friends, or companions.
54. On one
occasion, that large eyed S’as’ikalâ went out for enjoyment to a nice garden beautified
with champaka flowers, attended by her companion.
55. While
the King’s daughter seated under a champaka tree, was collecting flowers, she
saw a Brâhmin, coming towards her in great haste.
56. After
bowing down before him, that beautiful princess, endowed with all
auspicious qualifications, addressed him in sweet words “O blessed
one! whence are you coming?”
57. The
Brâhmana said :-- “O girl! I am coming
on an errand from the hermitage of Bhâradvâja Muni. Please mention what you are going to ask me?”
58. S’as’ikalâ
replied “O Noble one! What beautiful
thing is therein that hermitage that is extraordinary and worth describing.”
59. The
Brâhmana said “O fair one! There is
staying the most lovely Sudars’ana, the son of the King Dhruvasandhi. He is the loveliest of all men.
60. O fair
one! He who has not seen him, I think,
has his eyes given to him in vain.
61. O
auspicious one! It appears as if the
Creator, with a view to see how it looks, has invested him with all the
qualities.
62. O
beautiful one! what shall I say more to
you, suffice to say that, that prince is fit to become your husband. I think that the Creator has, no doubt,
settled already the union between you two, as a happy union of two congenial
things (gold in union with Jewel).”
Thus ends the seventeenth chapter on the story of Vis’vâmitra and
on the getting of the root mantra of Kâma by the son of the King in S’rî Mad
Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Source: Translation of The Srimad Devi Bhagvatam by Swami Vijnanananda
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