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 2/Chapter 12/1:64
On the birth of Âstika
1-4. Sûta said :-- Hearing these words of the
king, Vyâsa Deva, the son Satyavatî addressed to him before the assembly, thus
:-- “O king! I am now reciting to you a Bhâgavata
Purâna, holy, wonderful, filled with many anecdotes, and leading to auspicious
results; listen. Before I made my son
S'uka study this Purâna; O king! I will now
recite before you that highest Purâna, with all the secrets contained therein. I have extracted this from all the Âgamas; it
brings in Dharma (religion), Artha (wealth), Kâma (fructification of desires)
and Moksa (liberation); hearing this gives always happiness and good results.
5-6. At this Janamejaya said :-- “O Lord! Whose son is this Muni Âstika? Why did he come as an obstacle in my Sarpa
Yajña (sacrifice of snakes)? And what
object had he in preserving the snakes? O
highly fortunate one! Kindly describe
all this in detail; after this recite the Purâna, also, in detail to me.”
7-18. Vyâsa Deva said :-- “O king! In former days there lived a Muni named
Jaratkâru. He always remained in the
path of peace; and did not marry. Once
he saw, in a cave in a forest, his fathers and forefathers pendant. They spoke to Jaratkâru thus :-- “O son! Marry; we will thereby be greatly pleased; if
there be a son of good character born to you, we all will be freed from all
troubles and we would then able to go to Heavens.”
Hearing this Jaratkâru said :-- “O
Forefathers! If I get a girl of my name,
without begging and asking and if she be entirely obedient to me, I will marry
and lead a householder's life; thus I have spoken truly to you.” Thus saying to
his forefathers, Jaratkâru went on tour to the holy places.
Now it happened so, that at that very time
Kadru, the mother of snakes cursed her sons, saying “May you be burnt by fire.”
The matters of this incident run as follows :-- “At that moment Kadru and
Vinatâ, the two co-wives of Kas'yapa saw the horses yoked in the chariot of the
sun and thus argued with each other :-- Kadru, seeing the sun's horse, first
asked Vinatâ “O good one! Tell me soon,
what is the colour of this horse?” Vinatâ said :-- “O auspicious one! What do you think?” I said, the colour of the
horse is white; you also better say before hand what is its colour? We will then lay a wager (and challenge). Kadru said :-- “O Smiling one! I think the the horse is black. Now come; let us challenge; whoever will be
defeated will become the slave of the other.”
Thus saying, Kadru told her sons that were
obedient :-- “Cover by your bodies all the pores of the body of the horse of
the chariot of the Sun, so it may look black; go and do it.” At this some
snakes replied “That cannot be.” Kadru then cursed them saying :-- “Let you
fall on the sacrificial fire of Janamejaya.” Then the other snakes tried to
please their mother and coiled round the back of that horse so that the horse began
to look black. Kadru and Vinatâ, the two
co-wives went together and saw the horse.
Vinatâ saw it black and became very sorry.
19-21. Now, Garuda, Vinatâ's son, very powerful and
devourer of snakes was passing that way and seeing his mother very distressed
asked her :-- “O Mother! Why do you look
so very sorry? It seems as if you are
weeping. Aruna, the charioteer of the
Sun and I myself are your two sons living.
Fie to us that, while we are living, you will have to suffer pains. O beautiful one! If mother suffers while the son is living,
then what use is there in having such a son?
So, O Mother, give out the cause of your grief and I will remove it at
once.”
22-31. Hearing this Vinatâ said :-- “O son! What shall I say to you of my misery; I am now
become the slave of my rival wife. By
some pretext she defeated me and is now telling me to carry her on my back. O son!
For this reason I am sorry.” Hearing these words of the mother, Garuda
said :-- “Very well I will carry her on my shoulders wherever she wishes to go. O auspicious one! You need not be sorry; I will remove all your
cares.
Vyâsa Deva said :-- Thus spoken to by
Garuda, Vinatâ went to Kadru. At that
time the highly powerful Garuda went there also to free his mother of her
slavery and carried Kadru with all her sons on his back to the other side of
the ocean. When Garuda went across the
ocean, Garuda spoke to Kadru :-- “O mother!
I bow down to thee; kindly say how my mother can be freed of your
slavery. Hearing this Kadru said :-- “O
son! If you can bring to-day by your sheer
force nectar from the Deva loka and give it to my sons then you will be able to
free your helpless mother. When Kadru
said so, the highly powerful Vinatâ's son, Garuda immediately went to the abode
of Indra and, fighting hard, stole away the jar of nectar and brought and gave
it to Kadru and freed his mother Vinatâ from the slavery of Kadru.
In the meantime, the snakes went for their
bath, after which they would drink the nectar.
Indra stole away that jar which contained nectar. O king!
Thus, by the sheer strength of arms of Garuda Vinatâ was freed of her
slavery. On the other hand, when the
snakes returned from their bath and found that there was no jar of nectar, they
began to lick the Kusa grass over which the jar of nectar was kept, thinking
that they would thereby get some drops of nectar which might have trickled over; and the
result was that by the sharp edges of kusa grasses, the tongues of all the
snakes were cut asunder into two; hence the snakes are called Dvijihva.
32-36. The snake Vâsuki and others, whom Kadru, the
mother of snakes, cursed, went to Brahmâ and took his refuge and informed all
of the cause of their terror, the curse from their mother; when Brahmâ spoke to
them :-- “Go and give the sister of Vâsuki, named Jaratkâru, in marriage to the
great Muni Jarat Kâru, (both of the same name).
In her womb, a son named Âstika will be born; and he will certainly
deliver you from your difficulties. Hearing
those beneficial words of Brahmâ, Vâsuki went to the forest and requested
humbly the great Muni Jarat Kâru to accept in marriage her own sister when the
Muni, knowing the girl to be of his name, spoke out thus :-- “But when your
sister will act against my wishes, I will
forsake her at once.”
37-46. Under these conditions, the Muni married her. And Vâsuki, after giving her sister in
marriage according to her own wishes to the Muni, returned to her own abode. O Tormentor of foes! Then the Muni Jaratkâru built a white hut of
leaves in that great forest and began to pass his days happily in enjoyment
with his wife.
Once, on an occasion, after he had taken
his dinner he slept and told his wife not to awaken him under any circumstances
and fell fast asleep. The beautiful
sister of Vâsuki sat by his side. When
the evening time came and the sun began to set, the Vâsuki's sister Jaratkâru
became afraid at the thought that the evening Sandhya might not be performed by
the Muni and thought thus :-- “What am I to do now? My heart finds not rest if I do not awaken
him; and if I awaken him, he will forsake me at once. Now if I do not awaken him, the evening will
pass away to no purpose. Whatever it be,
if he quits me or if my death ensues, that is better than the non-observance of
Dharma; for when Dharma is destroyed, hell ensues.
Thus thinking, the girl awakened him
saying :-- “O One of good vows! It is
evening time; so get up; etc.” The Muni got up in great anger and addressed his
wife :-- “When you have disturbed my sleep, I now go away from you; you also
better go to your brother's house.” When the Muni said so, Vâsuki's sister
spoke out, trembling :-- “O One of indomitable lustre! How will the object be served for which my
brother has given me in marriage with you.”
47-50. The Muni then spoke firmly to his wife
Jaratkâru :-- “That is within your womb.” Jaratkâru then, forsaken by the Muni,
went to the abode of Vâsuki. When her brother
Vâsuki asked her about her son, she said :-- “The Muni has forsaken me, saying that
the son is within your womb.” At this Vâsuki trusted; and said :-- “The Muni
won't ever tell lies” and gave shelter to his sister. O Kurusattama! After some time, a famous boy named the Muni
Âstika was born.
51-56. O king!
That Muni boy, the knower of truth, had desisted you from your sacrifice
of snakes for the preservation of his mother's family. It is well and good, befitting you, that you
respected the words of the Muni Âstika, born of Yâyâvara family and the cousin
of Vâsuki.
O Mighty-armed! Let all auspiciousness come to you; you have
heard the whole Mahâbhârata and gave away lots of things in charities. You have worshipped innumerable Munis. But, O king!
Though you have done so many good things, yet your father has not
attained heaven and you have not been able to sanctify your family. So, O king Janamejaya! Now install a capacious temple of the Devî
with the highest devotion; then all your desires will be fulfilled. The all auspicious Devî, the Giver of all
desires, makes the kingdoms more stable and increases the family, if She be
always worshipped with the highest devotion.
57-64. O king!
You better perform duly the Devîmakha Yajña Yotistoma and others, pleasing
to the Devî, and hear the great Purâna S’rîmad Devî Bhâgavatam, filled with accounts
of the glorious deeds of the Devî.
I will make you hear now that Divine Purâna,
filled with various sentiments, highly sanctifying and capable to carry one across
this ocean of world.
O king!
There is no other subject in this world worthy to be heard than the
above Purâna and there is no other thing to be worshipped then the lotus feet
of the Devî.
O king!
Those are certainly fortunate, those are intelligent and blessed, in
whose hearts of love and devotion reign always the Devî Bhagavatî. O illustrious scion of Bharata's family! Know them to the always afflicted with
troubles who do not worship in this world the great Mother Mahâmâyâ.
O king!
Who is there that will not worship Her when Brahmâ and all the Devas are
always engaged in Her devotional service.
O king! He who hears always this Purâna
gets all his desires fulfilled; in former days Bhagavatî Herself spoke this excellent
Purâna to Visnu. O king! Your heart will be appeased and become
peaceful when you hear this; and, as a result of your hearing this Purânam, all
your ancestors will attain endless Heavenly life.
Thus ends the Twelfth Chapter of the
Second Skandha on the birth of Âstika in the Mahâpurânam S'rîmad Devî
Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa. Here ends as well the Second
Book.
Source: Translation of The Srimad Devi Bhagvatam by Swami Vijnanananda
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