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 4/1:37
On the hymns to the
Great Devî by Visnu
1-20. Brahmâ said :-- Thus speaking, Bhagavân
Janârdana Visnu spoke to me again :-- “Come,
let us bow down to Her again and again and let us go to Her. We shall reach at Her feet fearlessly and we
will chant hymns to Her; Mahâ Mâyâ will be pleased with us and will grant us
boons. If the guards at the entrance
prevent us from going, we would stand at the gateway and we will chant hymns to
the Devî with one mind.”
Brahmâ said :-- When Hari addressed us in
the above way, we two became choked by intense feelings of joy; our voice
became tremulous and we waited there for some time; our hearts were elated with
joy to go to Her. We then
accepted Hari's word said “Om” and got
down from our car and went with hastened steps and with fear to the gate. Seeing us standing at the gateway, the Devî
Bhagâvatî smiled and within an instant transformed us three into females. We looked beautiful and youthful women,
adorned with nice ornaments; thus we greatly wondered and went to Her.
Seeing us standing at Her feet in feminine
forms, the beautiful Devî Bhagâvatî, looked on us with eyes of affection. We then bowed to the great Devî, looked at
one another and stood before Her in that feminine dress. We three, then, began to see the pedestal of
the great Devî, shining with the lustre of ten million Suns and decorated with
various gems and jewels. We next
discerned that thousands and thousands of attendants are waiting on Her. Some of them are wearing red dress; some blue
dress, some yellow dress; thus the Deva girls, variously dressed were serving
Her and standing by Her side. They were
dancing, singing on and playing with musical instruments and were gladly
chanting hymns in praise of the Devî.
O Nârada!
We saw there another wonderful thing.
Listen. We saw the whole
universe, moving and non-moving within the nails of the lotus feet of the Devî. We saw there myself, Visnu, Rudra, Vâyu,
Agni, Yama, Moon, Sun, Varuna, Tvastâ, Indra, Kuvera and other Devas, Apsarâs,
Gandarbhas, rivers, oceans, mountains, Visvâvasus Chitraketu, Sveta, Chitrângada,
Nârada, Tumburu, Hâ Hâ Hû Hû and other Gandarbhas, the twin As'vins, the eight
Vasus, Sâdhyas, Siddhas, the Pitris, Ananta and other Nâgas, Kinnaras, Uragas,
Râksasas, the abode of Vaikuntha, the abode of Brahmâ, Kailas'a mountain, the
best of all mountains; all were existing there.
Within that nail of the toe were, reflected
all the things of the Universe. The
lotus whence I was born, the four faced Brahmâ like myself on that lotus,
Bhagavân Jagannâth lying on that bed of Ananta, the two Demons Madhu Kaitabha,
all I saw there.
21-31. Seeing all these wonderful things within the
nails of Her lotus feet, I became greatly surprised and thought timidly :-- “What
are all these!” My companions Visnu and S'ankara were struck with wonder. We three, then, made out that She was our Mother
of the universe.
Thus full one hundred years passed away in
seeing the various glories of the Devî in the auspicious nectar-like Mani
Dvîpa; as long we were there, Her attendants, the Deva girls adorned with
various ornaments gladly considered us as Sakhîs. We, too, were greatly fascinated by their
enchanting gestures and postures. For
that reason, we saw always their beautiful movements with great gladness.
Once, on an occasion, Bhagavân Visnu,
while He was in that feminine form, chanted hymns in praise of the great Devî S’rî
Bhuvanes`varî.
S’rî Bhagavân said :-- Salutation to the
Devî Prakriti, the Creatrix; I bow down again and again to Thee. Thou art all-auspicious and grantest the
desires of Thy devotees; Thou art of the nature of Siddhi (success) and Vriddhi
(increase). I bow down again and again
to Thee.
I bow down to the World Mother, Who is of
the nature of Everlasting Existence, Intelligence and Bliss. O Devî!
Thou createst, preservest and destroyest this Universe; Thou dost the
Pralaya (the great Dissolution) and showest favour to the created beings.
Thus Thou art the Authoress of the above
five fold things that are done; so, O Bhuvanes’varî, I bow down to Thee!
Thou art the great efficient and material
cause of the changeful.
Thou art the Unchangeable, Immoveable Consciousness.
Thou art the half letter (Ardhamâtrâ),
Hrillekhâ (the consciousness that ever pervades both inside and outside the
Universe);
Thou art the Supreme Soul and the
individual soul. Salutation again and
again to Thee.
O Mother!
I now realise fully well that this whole Universe rests on Thee; it
rises from Thee and again melts away in Thee.
The creation of this Universe shews Thy infinite force. Verily, Thou art become Thyself all these
Lokas (regions).
During the time of creation Thou createst
the two formless elements akâsâ and Vâyu and the three elements with form,
fire, water, and earth; then with these Thou createst the whole Universe and
shewest this to the Enjoyer Purusa, who is of the nature of consciousness, for
His satisfaction. Thou again dost become
the material cause of the twentythree (23) Tattvas, Mahat, etc., as enumerated
in the Sânkhya system and appearest to us like a mirage.
32. O Mother!
Were it not for Thee, no object would be visible, Thou pervadest the whole
Universe. It is for this reason that
those persons that are wise declare that even the Highest Purusa can do no work
without Thy aid.
33-34. O Devî!
Thou createst and art giving satisfaction to the whole Universe by Thy power;
again at the time of Pralaya Thou swallowest forcibly all these that are seen. So, O Devî!
Who can fathom Thy powers? O Mother!
Thou didst save us from the hands of Madhu and Kaitabha. Then Thou hast brought us to this Mani Dvîpa
and shewed us Thy own form, all the extended regions and immense powers and
given us exquisite delight and joy. This
is the highest place of happiness.
35-37. O Mother!
When I Myself, S'ankara and Brahmâ or any one of us is unable to fathom
Thy inconceivable glory, who else can then ascertain? O
Bhavânî! Who knows, how many more than
the several regions that we saw reflected in thy nails of Thy feet, exist in
Thy creation. O One endowed with
infinitely great powers! O Devî! we saw another Visnu, another Hara, another
Brahmâ, all of great celebrity in the Universe exhibited by Thee; who knows how
many other such Brahmâs, etc., exist in Thy other Universes! Thy glory is infinite. O Mother!
I bow down again and again to Thy lotus feet and pray to Thee that may
Thy this form exist always in my mind. May
my mouth always utter Thy name and may my two eyes see always Thy lotus feet.
38-43. O Revered One! May I remember Thee as my Goddess and may'st
Thou constantly look on myself as Thy humble servant. O Mother!
What more shall I say than this :-- May this relation as mother and son
always exist between Thee and me. O World-Mother! There is nothing in this world that is not
known to Thee for Thou art omniscient. So
O Bhavânî! What more shall my humble
self declare to Thee! Now dost Thou do
whatever Thou desirest. O Devî!
The rumour goes that Brahmâ is the
Creator, Visnu is the Preserver, and Mahes'vara is the Destroyer! Is this true?
O Eternal One! It is through Thy Will power, through Thy
force, that we create, preserve and destroy.
O Daughter of the Himalaya mountain!
The earth is supporting this Universe; it is Thy endless might that is holding all this
made of five elements. O Grantress of
boons! It is through Thy power and
lustre that the Sun is lustrous and becomes visible.
Though Thou art the attributeless Self,
yet by Thy Mâyic power Thou appearest in the form of this Prapancha Universe.
When Brahmâ, Mahes'a, and I myself take
birth by Thy power and are not eternal, what more can be said of Indra and
other Devas than this that they are mere temporary things and created. It is only Thou that art Eternal, Ancient
Prakriti and the Mother of this Universe.
O Bhavânî!
Now I realise from my remaining with Thee, that it is Thou that dost
impart, out of mercy, the Brahmâ vidyâ to the ancient Purusa; and thus He can
realise His eternal nature. Otherwise He
will remain always under delusion that He is the Lord, He is the Purusa without
beginning, that He is good and the Universal Soul, and thus suffers under
various forms of egoism (Ahamkâra).
Thou art the Vidyâ of the intelligent
persons and the S’akti of the beings Endowed with force; Thou art Kîrtî (fame),
Kânti (lustre), Kamalâ (wealth) and the spotless Tusti (peace, happiness).
Amongst men, Thou art the dispassion,
leading to Mukti (complete freedom from bondage).
Thou art the Gâyatri, the mother of the
Vedas; and Thou art Svahâ, Svadhâ, etc. Thou art the Bhâgavatî, of the nature of the
three Gunas;
Thou art the half mâtrâ (half the upper
stroke of a letter), the fourth state, transcending the Gunas.
It is Thou that givest always the S’âstras
for the preservation of the Devas and the Brâhmanas.
It is Thou that hast expanded and
manifested this whole phenomenon of the visible Universe for the liberation
of the embodied souls (Jîvas), the parts of the pure holy Brâhman, the Full,
the Beginningless, the Deathless, forming the waves of the lnfinite expanse of
ocean.
When the Jîva comes to know internally and
becomes thoroughly conscious that all this is Thy work, Thou createst and
destroyest, that all this is Thy Mâyic pastime, false, like the parts of an
actor in a theatrical play, then and then only he desists for ever from his
part in this Theatre of world.
O Mother!
O Destroyer of the greatest difficulties! I always take refuge unto Thee. Thou dost save me from this ocean of Samsâra,
full of Moha (delusion). Let Thou be my
Saviour when my end will come, from these infinitely troublesome and unreal
pains arising from love and hatred. Obeisance
to Thee!
O Devî!
O Mahâ vidyâ! I fall prostrate at Thy feet. O Thou, the Giver of all desires! O Auspicious One! Dost Thou give the knowledge that is
All-Light to Me.
Thus ends the fourth chapter of the Third
Skandha on the hymns to the Great Devî by Visnu in the Mahâpurâna S'rîmad Devî
Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâs.
Source: Translation of The Srimad Devi Bhagvatam by Swami Vijnanananda
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