You art the substratum of all luminaries
- You create and destroy allThe Lord of all CelestialsWe meditate fully on TheePlanets Stars Galaxies are your bodyDivinity is established in Thee aloneYou are the AdiPurusha/AdiPrakruti The Foremost of all BeingsAll sins are destroyed by remembering Thee.MAHĀKĀLI DHYANAMMeditation on MahākāliFrom the Devī Mahātmyam [Mārkendeya Purana]Om Namaś Chaṇḍikāyai.Om khaḍgaṁ chakra-gadeṣu-chāpa-parighāñchūlaṃ bhuśuṇḍīṁ śiraḥśaṅkhaṁ saṃda-dhatīṁ karai-stri-nayanāṁsarvāṅga-bhūṣāvṛitāmNīlāśma-dyutimāsya pāda-daśakāṁseve Mahākālikāṁyāmastaut-svapite harau kamalajohantuṁ 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.
- Book 5/Chapter 9/1:67On the worship by the gods to the Devî
1-22. Vyâsa said :-- On hearing
Visnu's words, the Devas became very glad and
presented immediately
their own weapons, ornaments and clothings.
The Ksiroda
(Milk) Ocean
presented to Her gladly, the well fitted necklace, clear as crystal, and a pair
of divine cloths, of a red colour, never becoming old and very fine. Vis'vakarmâ was very much gratified in his
heart and presented a divine jewel to be worn in Her diadem or crest blazing
like hundreds of suns; white earrings; bracelets for Her wrist, bracelets for
Her upper arm, and other bracelets decked with various gems and jewels and
anklets brilliant like gems, of a clear Sun-like lustre, decked with jewels,
and tinkling nicely. The architect of
the gods, the ocean of intellect, Vis’vakarmâ gave Her as offerings beautiful
ornaments also for the neck, all very beautiful, as well as for the fingers
decked with gems and jewels, all shining splendidly. Varuna gave for Her head garland of lotuses,
never fading away, of such a sweet fragrance as bees constantly hover round
them and the Vaijayantî garland for Her breast.
The mountain Himâlyâ gladly offered Her various gems and a beautiful
lion, of a golden colour for Her conveyance.
Then that beautiful Lady, having all the auspicious signs, wishing
welfare to all, and decorated with the divine ornaments began to look grand and
splendid, mounted on Her conveyance, the Lion.
Visnu then created another thousand spoked discus (Chakram) from His own
Chakra, capable to take off the head of any Asura, and offered it to Her. S’ankara created another excellent Tris'ûla
from his own Trident, terrible and
demon-killing, and offered it to the Devî.
Varuna created another bright conch from his own conch and offered it
gladly to the Devî. Fire offered Her a
weapon named S'ataghni which kills violently the demons, as if that is another
god of death. Maruta (wind), the chief
of the gods, offered Her a wonderful bow and arrow case filled with arrows. The bow can be drawn with great difficulty
and emits a very harsh sound. Indra
created another dreadful thunderbolt from his own thunderbolt and gave it at
once to the Devî; as well the beautiful sonorous bell that used to hang from the
elephant Airâvata. Yama, the God of
Death, created another beautiful staff from his own scepter which takes away
when time comes, the life of all beings.
Brahmâ gladly gave Her a divine Kamandalu, filled with the Ganges water;
and Varuna offered Her a weapon called Pâs'a.
O King! Time gave Her an axe and
a shield and Vis'vakarmâ gave Her a sharp Paras'u. Kuvera, the Lord of wealth, gave her a golden
drinking cup, filled with wine; and Vâruna offered Her a divine beautiful lotus. Vis'vakarmâ became very glad and gave Her the
Kaumodakî gadâ, capable to kill the enemy of the gods and whence hundreds of
bells are hanging, an impenetrable armour and various other weapons. The Sun gave to the Divine Mother his own
rays. The Devas, seeing Her adorned with
ornaments and weapons, began to praise and chant hymns to that most Auspicious Goddess,
the Great Enchantress of the three worlds.
23-29. The Deva said :--
“Salutation to S'iva, Salutation to the Most Auspicious; Thou art peace and
nourishment; we salute again and again to Thee.
Salutation to Thee, the Bhagavatî Devî;
Thou art the Goddess Rudrânî
(the terrible), we always salute again and again to Thee. Thou art the Kâlarâtri (the night of
destruction at the end of the world);
Thou art the Indrânî.
Thou art the Mother, we salute again and
again to Thee;
Thou art the success,
Thou art the intelligence,
Thou art the
growth,
Thou art the Vaisnavî; salutation again and again to Thee.
Thou art within the earth; yet the earth does
know know Thee. Thou art again the
inmost of the earth and controllest the things within this earth; we offer our
salutations to that Supreme Cause, the Highest Goddess.
Thou art within this Mâyâ (the unborn) yet
the Mâyâ does not know Thee. Thou residest
again within the innermost of the Mâyâ and directest that Unborn One, the Mâyâ,
we salute again and again to that Supreme Cause, the Great Directress, the
S'ivâ (the most auspicious).
O Mother! Do what is good to us; we are oppressed by
our enemy, dost then protect us; by Thy own power dost Thou overpower and kill
that Mahisa. That demon is vulnerable by
woman only, he is deceitful, cunning, dreadful, and swollen with pride on his
having got the blessing; he assumes many forms and torments the Devas. O One, devoted to the Bhaktas! Thou art the only refuge of all the gods; O
Thou art the supreme goddess, we are very much harassed and oppressed by the
Dânava; therefore dost Thou now protect us; we bow down to Thee.”
30. Vyâsa said :-- When the
Devas had praised thus, the Highest Goddess, the Giver of all happiness, then
smilingly said in the following auspicious terms :--
31. “O Devas! Today in the battle ground I will overpower
that wicked Mahisa, of cruel disposition and take away his life.”
32-40. Vyâsa said :-- Speaking
thus in a melodious voice, the Supreme One smiled and again said :--
“This
world is all full of error and delusion.
Really, it is very wonderful that Brahmâ, Visnu, Indra and other gods
are all shuddering out of fear from Mahisa Dânava. The power of Destiny is exceedingly great and
terrible; its influence cannot be overcome even by the best of the Devas.
O king!
The Time is the Lord of happiness and pain; Time is, therefore, the God. The wonder is this that even those who can create,
preserve and destroy this world, they are being overpowered and tormented by Mahisa.
The Devî, thinking thus, smiled; then laughed
and laughed very hoarsely; it seemed that a roar of laughter then arose. And the Dânavas were struck with terror at that
very dreadful sound. The earth trembled
at that extraordinary sound; the mountains began to move and the vast oceans
that remained calm began to be agitated with billows. The uproar filled all the quarters and the
mountain Meru trembled. Then the Dânavas,
hearing the tumultuous uproar, were all filled with tremendous fear. The Devas became very glad and said thus :--
“O Devî! Let victory be Yours; save us.”
The intoxicated Mahisa, too, hearing those words, became very angry. Mahisa, struck with terror at those words,
asked the Daityas “O Messengers! Go and
ascertain how has originated this sound.
41-48. Who has made this harsh
sound? Bring that devil who has made
this hoarse noise, be he a Deva, Dânava, or anyone else unto me and I will kill
that roaring villain, who, it seems, has been puffed with egoism and vanity. The Devas are not making this noise, for they
are vanquished and terror-stricken; The Asuras are not doing so, for they are
my subjects; then, who is the stupid fellow that has done so? Surely he is of very little understanding;
his days are numbered; and I will carry him to the home of Death. Go you, ascertain the cause of sound and come
back to me; then I will go there and destroy that wretch who made this noise to
no purpose.”
Vyâsa said :-- No sooner the messengers heard these words of
Mahisa, than they at once went to the Devî and saw that Her body and the
several parts thereof were all very beautiful; She had eighteen hands, She was
decorated completely with various ornaments all over Her body, all the auspicious
signs were being seen in Her body and that She was holding excellent divine
weapons. That auspicious Goddess
beautiful, was holding in Her hands, the cup and drinking wine again and again. Beholding Her this form, they were afraid and
fled at once to the Mahisa and informed him the cause of that sound.
49-54. The Daityas said :-- “O
Lord! We have seen one grown up woman;
whose
whereabouts we are
quite ignorant. The Devî is decorated
with jewels and ornaments all over Her body; She is not human nor Asurî but Her
form is extraordinary and beautiful. That
noble Lady is mounted on a lion, holding weapons on all Her eighteen hands and
is roaring loudly; She is drinking wine; so it seems that She is puffed up with
liquor. It is quite certain that She has
no husband.
The Devas are gladly
chanting praises from the celestial space that Let Victory be to Her side and
that She save the Devas, O Lord! We
don't know at all who is that handsome woman?
or whose wife is she; why has she come there? and what is Her motive? Sentiments of love, heroism, laughter, terror
and wonder are all fully shining in Her; therefore we are very much overpowered
by the halo emitted from Her; and we could not even see Her well. Note :-- Rasas means sentiments. The rasas are usually eight. Sringâra, Hâsya, Karunâ, Raudra, Vîra,
Bhayânakâh, Bibhatsâdbhû tasangau, Chetyastau, Natyan, Rasâh smritâh but
sometimes Sântarasah, is added thus making the total number nine; sometimes a tenth, Vâtsalyarasa
is also added.
55. O King! In compliance with your order, we have come
back to you no sooner we had seen the Lady, without even addressing Her in any
way. Now order us what we are to do.”
56-58. Mahisa said :-- “O Best of
ministers! O Hero! Under my command, go there with all the
forces and use the means, conciliation, etc., and bring that woman, having a beautiful
face (like the Moon), to me. If that
Lady do not come even when the three policies, Sâma (conciliation), Dâna
(making gifts), and Bheda (sowing dissensions in an enemy's party and thus
winning him over to one's side, one of the four Upâyas or means of success
against an enemy) are adopted by you, then apply the last resort Danda, (or
war) in such a way that Her life be not destroyed and bring that beautiful woman
to me. I will gladly make Her, of black
curling hairs, my queen-consort. In case
that deer-eyed one comes gladly, then do my desires without causing any
unpleasant feeling; (a cessation of sentiment).
I am enchanted on hearing about Her beauties and wealth.”
59-67. Vyâsa said :-- The prime
minister, on hearing the words of Mahisa, took with him elephants, horses, and
chariots and hurriedly went to the desired place. On coming near to the Devî, the minister
began to address Her in sweet words from a sufficient distance in a very humble
and courteous way. O Sweet speaking! Who art Thou?
What has caused Thee to come here?
O Highly fortunate! My master has
asked through me these questions. My
master cannot be killed by all the Devas and men; he has conquered all the
Lokas (worlds). O Beautiful-eyed! On account of getting his boon from Brahmâ, the
Lord of the Daityas has become very powerful and consequently being very proud,
assumes different forms at will. He, our
King-Emperor Mahisa, the lord of the earth, hearing about Thy beauty and dress,
has expressed a desire to see Thee. O
Beautiful one! Whether he will appear
before Thee in a human form? He will do
whatever Thou likest. O Deer-eyed One! Be pleased now to go to that intelligent King. In case Thou dost not go, we will bring the
King, Thy devotee, to Thee. O Lord of
the Devas! Our King has heard of Thy
beauty and grandeur and has become very much submissive to Thee. We will therefore do exactly what Thou desirest. Therefore, Thou having thighs thick and round
like those of a young of an elephant! Be
pleased to express what Thou likest and we will do quickly as Thou desirest.
Here ends the Ninth
Chapter of the Fifth Book on the worship offered by the gods to the Devî and
the weapons offered by them in the Mahâ Purânam, S'rî Mad Devî
Bhagâvatam, of 18,000
verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Source: Translation of The Srimad Devi Bhagvatam by Swami Vijnanananda
