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 23/1:55
On the killing of the enemy of Sudars’ana in the
great war
1. Vyâsa
said :-- After paying due respects to his new son-in-law, the king Subâhu cheerfully
entertained him for six days with variety of good dishes.
2. Thus
finishing off the marriage ceremony, the king after consulting with his ministers,
presented the bridegroom and the bride various jewels and ornaments and other
things given naturally on marriage occasions.
3. Then the
king of Benares, of brilliant splendour, heard from his messengers that the kings
had obstructed the way back of Sudars’ana and became very absent minded.
4. Then
Sudars’ana, of firm resolve, told his father-in-law “O king! better now give us order that we may depart. We will go without any fear.
5. O king! First we will halt at the holy hermitage of
Bhâradvâja Muni; and next we will, after due considerations, settle where we
would go.
6. O pure
one! You need not fear a bit from these
kings; the Mother of the Universe, the Bhagavatî Bhavânî will surely protect
us.”
7. Vyâsa
said :-- O king Janamejaya! Hearing thus
his son-in-law’s orders, the king Subâhu gave him a vast amount of wealth and
bade good-bye to him. Sudars’ana, too, quickly
departed.
8. The king
Subâhu followed him with a Iong train of soldiers. Thus Sudars’ana went on, in his journey,
fearless.
9. The
great hero Sudars’ana, the descendant of Raghu, with his new consort in the chariot
and followed by many other chariots, saw the soldiers of the several kings.
10. The king
Subâhu, seeing them, became anxious. But
Sudars’ana, gladly took refuge, with his whole heart, of the all-auspicious
Goddess S’ankarî.
11. Sudars’ana
began to recite silently the excellent one word seed mantra of the King of Desires (Kâmarâja) and, out of its power, he and his wife
remained in the chariot without any fear and sorrow.
12. Then all
the kings came there with their soldiers to fight with Sudars’ana and to carry
away by force the bride. Thus a loud
uproar arose.
13. The king
of Benares seeing them wanted to kill them.
But Sudars’ana, the descent of Raghu, desirous of victory, repeatedly
asked him not do so.
14. Loud
arose, then, the uproar, caused by the sounds of conchshells, bherri, and war drums
of the kings on one side and Subâhu on the other, each of the two parties determining
to extirpate the other.
15. S’atrujit
prepared himself for the war to destroy his enemy. Yudhâjit came there for his help, well
equipped with army, etc.
16-17. Some
warrior kings remained there as witnesses with their soldiers. Then Yudhâjit went in front of Sudars’ana. His younger brother S’atrujit, too, attended Yudhâjit
to kill his brother in the battle field.
Then the warriors, overpowered with anger, shot each other with arrows.
18. A great encounter
then ensued in the battle field with sharp arrows. The king of Benares hurriedly advanced there,
with a great body of army, to relieve his son-in-law.
19. Thus
when the dreadful war began to grow more and more horrible, the Goddess Bhagavatî
suddenly appeared there, mounted on Her lion.
20-21. The
beauty of Her body was exceedingly lovely; She was adorned with various excellent
ornaments and She held various weapons. She
wore divine clothings and the beautiful Mandâra garland suspended from Her neck
up to Her knees. The kings were greatly
astonished to see Her. They began to
argue “Who in this Lady, mounted on a lion? Whence has She so suddenly come?”
22-23. Beholding
Her, Sudars’ana told the king of Benares “O king! Behold!
The Divine Mahâ Devî has come here to favour us. She is very merciful. Now I am completely fearless.”
24. Sudars’ana
and Subâhu were highly delighted to see the Beautiful Goddess and bowed down to
Her feet with great devotion.
25. Then the
lion, the vehicle of the Goddess, roared, making tremendous noise. Hearing the roaring of the lion, all the
elephants trembled. At that
time, the winds began to blow violently and the four quarters
assumed an awful appearance.
26-27. Then
Sudars’ana told his general to carry soon his forces where the kings were staying,
blocking his way. “What could the
vicious kings do now, though they had become very angry? The Goddess Bhagavatî had come there to save
us.
28. Now you
all go safely and calmly through the midst of the kings. See! At
my remembering Her, She has come here mercifully to save us.”
29-30. The
general, on hearing these words, became ready to march by that route. Then Yudhâjit, very much infuriated with
anger, said to all the kings :-- “Why are you all so much fear stricken? Kill this Sudars’ana, stealing away this
girl.
31. This
lad, weak and without any support, will carry away by force and fearlessly the girl,
spiting all the kings; and won’t you be able to do anything? This is very strange!
32. Are you
afraid to see this one lady on a lion? O
high minded kings! Never trifle away
this boy; kill him with all attention.
33. Killing
him, we will then take away this girl. The
jackal can never snatch away the lady under the grasp of a lion.”
34. Thus
saying, the king Yudhâjit, filled with anger, came to the battle field with S’atrujit
and all his forces.
35-36. That
wicked king, drew his bow string well nigh to his ear and shot arrows after arrows,
sharpened under stone and by blacksmith at Sudars’ana, with the object of killing
him. Sudars’ana cut off all those arrows
quickly with his own quick going arrows.
37. Thus
when the fight grew intense, the Goddess Chandikâ became very mach enraged and
shot arrows at Yudhâjit.
38. Assuming
diverse forms, the Goddess Durgâ, holding various weapons the auspicious Mother
of the Universe, began to fight terribly in the battle field.
39. S’atrujit
and the king Yudhâjit were killed in that terrible battle. Both of them fell dead from their chariots;
and a shout of victory arose from the side of Sudars’an.
40. The
uncle and cousin of the king Subâhu were on the side of Yudhâjit and were killed. The kings were very much astonished to see
them thus lying dead.
41. The king
Subâhu, seeing them dead in the battlefield became very glad and began to
praise and sing hymns in honour of Durgâ Devî the Destroyer of all
difficulties.
42-43. I bow to
the auspicious Goddess Jagaddhâtrî, again and again; I bow to the Bhagavatî
Durgâ the bestower of all desires; I always bow down to Her Who is auspicious,
peace giving, and the Higher Vidyâ. O
Mother! O Giver of salvation! O Auspicious One! You are pervading the whole Universe, O World
Mother! And Upholder of the Universe! I bow down to Thee.
44. O
World-mother! O Devî! you are devoid of Prâkritic qualities; you
are full of qualities; beyond mind and speech; one cannot think out your
prowess, etc., by one’s mind. Mother! you are the Highest Force; ever willing to
destroy the miseries of your devoted persons.
Your influence is manifest everywhere; what eulogy can I sing of Thee.
45. O Devî! You are the Goddess of Vâk (speech) of all
beings; you are the all pervading intelligence, mind, effort, and movements;
you are the controller of the minds of all; therefore how can I praise You? O Goddess; You are the Self of all; how can I
sing eulogies to You, who are beyond speech and mind, and to the Universal
Self.
46. Brahmâ,
Hari and Hara and other higher Devas have not been able to find the limits of
your qualities, though they are incessantly chanting your praises; O Goddess! I am the small of the smallest, I am without
qualification, and bound by Prâkritic qualities; I am ignorant as regards Jîva
and Brahmâ. O Mother! I will never be able to describe Your characteristics that are unfathomable.
47. O Mother! why not good companionships effect the
fulfilment of one’s desires. The purification
of my heart has been effected incidentally.
O Mother! my son-in-law is wholly
devoted to you; accidentally there has arisen the connection between him and me
and it is on account of his connection that I have been able to see You.
48. O Mother! Today I have got without any restraint and
control of passions, and samâdhi, the rare vision of You, who is wanted to be
seen even by Brahmâ, Hari and Hara, Indra and the other Devas and by the Munis,
who have attained their realisation. Therefore
who is there in this Trilokî, that is so fortunate as I am.
49. O
Bhavânî! Where am I, void of
intelligence and where is the rare vision of You, Who is the only medicine of
this disease of the ocean of world? Still,
O Mother! Who is worshipped by the
Devas, I have got Your vision. Now I
have come to know that You always show mercy to Your Bhaktas, who are in their
Bhavas (mental images of your Self).
50. O
Goddess! You have saved Sudars’an in
this great war crisis and You have slain these two powerful enemies. How can I describe your prowess in this
matter? This I have understood that Your
Holy Character ever shows
mercy on Your devotees.
51. O
Goddess! Again this is not a matter to
be wondered at, if one considers; for You are protecting this whole universe,
moving and unmoving; and accordingly You have now protected, out of Your mercy,
your Bhakta Sudars’ana, the son of Dhruvasandhi, by killing his enemy.
52. O
Bhavânî! It is not merely for the
protection of your Bhaktas, engaged in Your service, that You shew this favour
but also to extol the meritorious deeds of your Bhaktas that You do such
things; otherwise how is it that this Bhakta saintlike Sudars’ana, by marrying
my daughter, has got victory in this battle field?
53. O Mother! You are fully capable to destroy the fear of
birth and death. What wonder is there
that you fulfill the desires of your Bhaktas?
The Bhaktas extol You by characterising You as Saguna (full of
qualities), Nirguna (devoid of any quality) and Apârâ, beyond all merits and
demerits.
54. O
Goddess! O Bhuvanes’varî! I am fortunate that I have been able to see
You, and thus all my duties have become crowned with success. O Mother!
I have no practices in the shape of Your meditation, etc. nor do I know any seed mantras of Yours;
today I have fully seen Your glory manifested.
55. Vyâsa
said :-- Thus extolled by the king Subâhu, the Goddess Bhagavatî, the Bestower
of the Absolute Freedom, was pleased and said “O thou, practiser of good vows! Ask boon from Me.”
Thus ends the twenty third chapter on the killing of the enemy of
Sudars’ana in the great war, in S’rîmad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by
Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Source: Translation of The Srimad Devi Bhagvatam by Swami Vijnanananda
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