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
4/Chapter 5/1:50
On the dialogues of Nara Narayana
1. Vyâsa said :-- O best of kings! There is no need of dwelling at length on
this point; suffice to say, that in this world, are found persons very rare
that are religious, and free from egoism, jealousy, anger, etc.
2. O king of kings! Even in the Satya Yuga, the Golden age, this
world, moving and unmoving, was covered with feelings of jealousy and anger. What
to say in this Kali Yuga (Dark Age)! (There
is no wonder that this world would be full of these vicious things.)
3. O best of kings! When the Devas are deceitful, jealous, and
filled with feelings of anger, what is to be said with human beings and other
lower creations!
4. O Lord of the Earth! It is natural, that injury be inflicted on
those persons that commit injury; but when peaceful persons, void of any enmity, are
injured, that is certainly an act wicked and mischievous.
5. Whenever, any devout ascetic, calm and quiet,
is engaged in prayer and meditation, and silent muttering of one's mantrams,
the king of the Immortals throws hindrance in his asceticism. (This
is certainly a mischievous act.)
6. (Holy, unholy and mixed persons exist in all
the yugas). To those that are holy, all the yugas are the
Satya yuga; to the unholy ones always it is the Kali yuga (Dark age); and to
the mixed ones, always it is Tretâ and Dvâpara.
7. You will very seldom find a few persons,
following really the True Religion; otherwise, you would have found all the persons in the different
yugas religious, appropriate to those yugas.
8. O king!
In all cases where the conservation of religions and religious affairs
are concerned, know that the original wish and desire is the cause. If
this desire be impure and sullied, religion becomes also sullied for, verily,
this impurity in one's desire is one's cause of ruin in every respect. (Therefore the impure desires are never to be cherished
and indulged.)
9. A son, named Dharma, was born of the heart of
Brahmâ; he was devoted to Brahmâjnâna (the knowledge of Brahmâ), truthful, and always
engaged in rites and ceremonies and in accordance with the Vedic religion.
10. This high souled Muni Dharma was a householder
and married duly, according to the proper procedure, to the ten daughters of
Daksa Prajâpati.
11. This Dharma, the foremost amongst the
followers of truth, impregnated them and had four sons, named respectively
Hari, Krisna, Nara, and Nârâyana.
12. Hari and Krisna, amongst the four, used to
remain always in the practising of the yoga.
13. Nara and Nârâyana came over to the Himâlayân
mountains and, in the hermitage of Badarikâ, commenced the difficult religious
asceticism and penance.
14. The foremost of the ascetics, those two
ancient Munis, began to recite that highest mantra of Para Brahmâ, the Gâyatrî,
on the wide spacious bank of the Ganges.
15. The two Risis named Nara and Nârâyana, born of
Hari's Ams'a, practised excellent tapasyâ for full one thousand years.
16. The whole Universe, moving and unmoving,
became hot through the Fire of their Tapas.
Indra became also perplexed.
17-18. The thousand-eyed Indra became anxious,
thought and within himself thus :-- What is to be done now? These two sons of
Dharma are practising Tapas and are in meditation. If
they succeed, they can occupy my excellent seat in Heaven; how can I break
their Tapasyâ and what steps shall I take to hinder them.
19-20. Lust, anger, and insurmountable avarice Indra
brought into existence and, intent on hindering their tapasyâ, mounted on the
elephant Airâvata, went quickly to the hill Gandhamâdan, and approaching the
holy hermitage, saw the two ancient Risis.
21. Their bodies were incandescent by Tapasyâ, as
if they were the two rising Suns. Were
they Brahmâ, Visnu manifested there or were they the two shining sources of light?
These two Risis were the sons of Dharma.
What would they do with their Tapasyâ?
22-23. Thinking thus, the lord of S'achî seeing them
addressed thus :-- O highly fortunate ones! O two Risis
the sons of Dharma! Please tell me what
are your objects? I have come here to
give thee excellent boons; I am very pleased with your Tapasyâ; therefore ask
boons from me; and even if they be not worth giving, I will give them to you.
24-25. Vyâsa said :-- The Risis were deeply immersed
in meditation and seemed very firm and resolute; they, therefore, did not reply
anything, though Indra, standing before them, repeatedly urged them to ask
boons from him. Seeing this, the king of the Immortals began
to terrify them with his supernatural enchanting fearful mâyic powers.
26. He created lions, tigers, wolves and other
murderous animals and began to terrify the two Risis with them; Indra also
produced rains, hurricanes and fires very frequently so that they might yield.
27. In spite of Indra's attempt to terrify them by
his wonderful Mâyâ, the two Munis, Nara Nârâyana, the two sons of Dharma, could
not be brought under his control. And Indra returned to his own place.
28-31. And he became very sorry and thought thus :--
These two Munis could not be tempted away with boons, nor did they fly away
from their place of worship, though terrified with fire, wind, wolves, tigers
and lions. No one, I think, would be able to break their
meditation. When fear and temptations have not distracted
their meditation, they are certainly meditating on the Eternal Mahâ Vidyâ S'rî
Bhuvanes'warî, the Prime Force of Nature, the Source of all Mâyâs, and the Goddess
the Creatrix of all the worlds, the wonderful highest Prakriti; what other
expert in emitting Mâyâ there can be? Who can break their meditation!
32. Indeed! How can this whole host of Mâyâs that are created by Gods and Asuras overpower
those purged of all their sins, who are meditating their Creator, the Supreme Mâyâ,
that Illusion by which one considers the unreal Universe as really existent and
as distinct from the Supreme Spirit, whence the Gods and Asuras have derived
all their supernatural powers.
33. He in whose heart reign the seed mantras of
Vâk, Kâma and Mâyâ, called Vâgvîjam, Kâmavijam, Mâyâvîjam, no one is able to stand against
and overpower him.
34-35. O king!
Indra, enchanted by Mâyâ, did not desist from tempting the two Risis, but
he went on thinking other means by which their asceticism could be baffled and asked
Kâma and Vasanta (the god of Lust and the season spring) to come before him and
addressed them, thus :-- O Kâma! You now
be united with your wife Rati and Vasanta (the God of spring) and go to the
hill Gandhamâdan, accompanied by all the Apsarâs (celestial damsels) and with
all the Rasas (love sentiments).
NOTE :-- The Gandhamâdan is the mountain like unsurpassable
intoxicating happiness of the senses.
36-37. There you will find the two ancient excellent
Risis Nara and Nârâyana
practising asceticism in solitude, in the hermitage of Badarikâ. O
Manamatha! You better go before them,
and with the influence of your arrows, do now my work and make their hearts extremely
lustful.
38. O Fortunate One! Charm over them by means of your arrows, make
them leave their asceticism by magical spells.
39. Who is there in this world of Devas, Daityas,
human beings, that, being whipped by your arrows, do not come under your
control?
40. When Brahmâ, I, Mahâdeva, Moon and Fire are
all fascinated by your arrows, then is there any doubt that these two Risis
would not be fascinated by them!
41. I am sending these public women as your
assistants. Rambhâ and other beautiful celestial nymphs
would all follow you.
42. You alone, or Rambhâ or Tilottamâ alone can do
this work. Will there be any doubt if you all unite in
this?
43. O Good One!
Do this work for me; I will confer on you your desired objects.
44. O Manmatha!
I tempted them with boons but these two ascetics, of controlled minds, could not be displaced from their seats. My
efforts were rendered useless.
45. I frightened them very much with all the Mâyic
powers; yet they could not be dislocated from their deep thoughts. It
seems that they are quite heedless in the preservation of their bodies.
46. Vyâsa said :-- Kâmadeva, on hearing the king
of the Devas, addressed him thus :-- O
Indra! Today I will fulfill all your
desires.
47. But there is one word. If
these two ascetics be meditating Visnu, S’iva or Brahmâ or the Sun, then I will
be able to bring them under my control.
48. And if they be meditating on the Great Seed
Mantra, the root of all Mâyâ, and the great Kâmavîjam, the king of the Kâma, I
will never be able to subdue such a devotee of the Highest Devî.
49. If these two ascetics have devotedly taken
refuge of the Great Power Mahâ Devî, then they will not come under the sight of
my arrows.
50. Indra said :-- O Blessed One! Go now with your assistants, ready to do your
work. Nobody but you, I find, that can fulfill my
this beneficial, though very difficult work.
Vyâsa said :-- Thus ordered by Indra, they all departed to where
the Dharma's sons Nara, and Nârâyana were performing their hard Tapasyâs.
Here ends the Fifth Chapter in the Fourth Book of S’rî Mad Devî
Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Source:
Translation of The Srimad Devi Bhagvatam by Swami Vijnanananda
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