Author: John Woodroffe
Date: 2025-07-19T23:00:00+00:00
Description: Description ‘Hymns to the Goddess’ is a book by Arthur Avalon (John Woodroffe), first published in 1913, that assembles a profound collection of English translations of Sanskrit hymns praising the feminine divine. Drawing from sources such as the Tantra, Purāṇas, the Mahābhārata, and works by figures like Śaṅkarācārya and Vālmīki, this volume presents a wide-ranging anthology that includes the Ānandalaharī (“Waves of Bliss”), Durgāśatanāma, Sarvaviśvajananī (“Mother of the Whole Universe”), and Devi Aparāda Kṣamāpana (“May the Devi Grant Me Pardon”). These hymns are accompanied by insightful f
Publisher: Global Grey ebooks

Hymns to the Goddess
by Arthur Avalon (John Woodroffe)

First published in 1913

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Contents

Preface

Introduction

Hymn To Kālabhairava By Śankarācārya

Hymns To The Devī From Tantra

Bhairavī (Bhairavīstotra) from the Tantrasāra

Bhuvaneśvari, From The Tantrasāra

Ādyakālī (Ādyākālīsvarūpastotra), From The Mahānirvāṇa Tantra

Lakṣmī (Laksmīstotram) From The Tantrasāra

Tārā (Tārāsṭakam) From The Nīla Tantra

Mahiṣāmardinī (Mahiṣāmardinīstotra) From The Tantrasāra

Annapūrṇa (Annapūrṇāstotra) From The Tantrasāra

Sarasvatī (Sarasvatīstotra) From The Tantrasāra

Durgā (Durgāśatanāma Stotra) From The Viśvasāra Tantra

Tripuṭā (Tripuṭāstotram) From The Tantrasāra

Hymns To The Devī From Purāṇa

Mother Of The Whole Universe (Sarvaviśvajananī) From The Devībhāgavata

Ambikā (Eleventh Māhātmya Of Caṇḍī)

Caṇḍikā, From The Fourth Or Shakrādi Mahātmya Of Caṇḍī

Mahādevī (From The Fifth Mahātmya Of Caṇḍī)

Jagadambikā, From The Devībhāgavata Purāṇa

Hymns To The Devī From Mahābhārata

Durgā (Mahābhārata Virāṭa Parvan)

Āryā, From The Harivamśā

Durgā, From The Mahābhārata

Hymns To The Devī From Śankarācārya

Tripurasundarī (Tripurasundarīstotra)

Gangā (Gangāṣṭakam)

Waves Of Bliss (Ānandalaharī)

Yamuna (Yamunāṣṭakam)

‘‘May The Devi Grant Me Pardon’’ (Devi Aparāda Kṣamāpana Stotra)

Maṇikarṇikā (Maṇikarṇikāstotra)

Gangā (Gangāstotra)

Narmadā (Narmadāsṭakastotram)

Annapūrṇā (Annapūrṇāstotra)

From Vālmīki

From Indra

Preface

THE Goddess or Devī (as the Hindus call Her) is God (as the Western worshippers address Him) in Its Mother aspect. The latter not uncommonly deem such attribution of feminine quality to be “heathenish”; but this condemnation (for the criticism has, of course, this intendment) is itself singularly foolish in that it is thereby implied that of two sets of terms (neither of which is in its strict sense applicable to the Deity as the Author of forms), one is, in fact, a more correct description than the other. In the Navaratneśvara it is said: “That Devī, who is existence, consciousness, and bliss, should be thought of as a female or as a male, or as pure Brahman. In reality, however, She is neither male nor neuter (that is to say, that She is not bound to any particular form).” No one contends that the Brahmatattva in the supreme abode beyond appearances is masculine as opposed to feminine, or the latter as contrasted with the former. Like all else in this matter, words are but the babbling endeavour of our plane to express that which is above it. It is not easy, then, to explain the condemnation except upon the assumption that those who pronounce it think their mother’s sex to be inferior to their own, and that thus Deity is unworthily described by any other terms than those of masculine excellence. But Hindus, who ever place the name of mother before that of father, and to whom garbha dhāraṇapoṣābhyām pitur mātā gariyasi, have no partiality for such mistaken notions. On the other hand, it is possible that they might not understand the Christian expression “Mother of God,” nor approve it even after they had learnt the limited and special sense which theology gives to this epithet. The Tāntrika would least of all admit the insufficiency of the conception of God as Mother. For the Devī manifests in his own mother, in his prakṛti (as he calls his wife), and in all women. As the Kubjikā Tantra says: “Whosoever has seen the feet of woman let him worship them as those of his guru” (Strinām pādatalam driṣtvāguruvadbhāvayet sadā). Whilst male and female are both Her aspects, yet Śakti is, in a sense, said to be more revealed in the female than in the male form. And so the Muṇḍamāla Tantra says: “Wherever there is a śaktī (female), there I am.” On account of this greater manifestation, women are called Śakti. From this, however, it must not be supposed that Śakti is less present in such forms as Śiva and Kṛṣṇa and others. If, as the author of the Tantra Tattva says, a sādhaka who is a worshipper of the Kṛṣṇamūrti desires to see Him as Kālī, Bhagavān, who fulfils the desires of devotees, will assume that form. All forms come into existence upon the manifestation of consciousness in the play of Her whose substance is consciousness.

Though the Sāktānandataranginī says: Devī is worshipped on account of Her soft heart (komalāntahkaraṇam), yet the use of the term “Mother” has other grounds than those which are founded upon an appeal to the natural feelings which the sweetness of the word “Mother” evokes. The meaning of the term “Devī” is prakāsātmikā, or that which is by its nature Light and Manifestation. And the word is used in the feminine gender because the One, as Śakti and Prakṛti, bears and nourishes all things as their Mother. The Devī is therefore the Brahman revealed in Its Mother aspect (Śrimātā) as Creatrix and Nourisher of the worlds.

Worshippers of Devī or Śakti are called Śāktas. But those who have a true knowledge of Śakti-tattva without which, according to Śāstra, Nirvānamokṣa is unattainable, will in thought surpass the sectarianism which the terms “Śākta”, “Vaiṣṇava” and “Śaiva” ordinarily connote. Whatever forms the Devī assumes in Her aspect with attributes are but Her forms. As the author last cited says, the sādhaka will know Her, whether the appearance be that of Kṛṣṇa, Durgā, or Mahādeva. The Vaiṣṇava may consider Her as Viṣṇu in the form of Śakti, or the Śākta may look upon Her as Śakti in the form of Viṣṇu. To those who, immersed in the ocean of Her substance, which is cits’akti, are forgetful of all differences which appertain to the world of form, Kṛṣṇaśakti, Śivaśakti, or Kāliśakti, and all other manifestations of śakti, are one and the same. And so Rāmaprasāda, the Bengali poet and Tāntrik, sang: “Thou assumeth five principal forms according to the differences of worship. But, O Mother! how can you escape the hands of him who has dissolved the five and made them into one?”

The hymns to the Devī in this volume (introduced by a stotra to Her Spouse the Kālabhairava) are taken from the Tantra, Purāṇa, Mahābhārata, and Śankarācārya, who was “the incarnation of devotion” (bhaktāvatāra) as well as a great philosopher; a fact which is sometimes ignored by those who do not wish to be reminded that he, whose speculative genius they extol, was also the protagonist of the so-called “idolatrous Hinduism.” As his great example amongst many others of differing race and creed tell us, it is not, from the view of religion, the mark of discernment (even though it be the mode) to neglect or disparage the ritual practice which all orthodoxies have prescribed for their adherents. Stava and pujā are doubtless the sādhana appropriate to the first of the several stages of an ascent which gradually leads away from them; but they are in general as necessary as the higher ones, which more immediately precede the attainment of brahmabhāva and siddhi.

Apart, however, from this aspect of the matter, and to look at it from the point of view of that modern product, the mere “student of religions,” who is not infrequently a believer in none, a knowledge of ritual (to use that term in its widest sense) will help to a greater and more real understanding of the mahāvākya of the Āryas than can be gained from those merely theoretical expositions of them which are now more popular. Those, again, whose interests are in what Verlaine called “mere literature” will at least appreciate the mingled tenderness and splendour of these Hymns, even in a translation which cannot reproduce the majesty of the sanskrit ślokas of the Tantra and Purāṇa, or the rhyme and sweet lilting rhythms of Śankara.

Of the Hymns now published, those from the Mahābhārata and Candī have already been translated; the first, in the English edition of the Mahābhārata, by Protap Chandra Roy and by Professor Muir in his “Original Sanskrit Texts,” and the second by Mr. Pargiter, whose rendering of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (of which it is the most celebrated portion) has been printed by the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Ādyākālisvarūpastotra has also been previously published as part of a rendering by myself of the Mahānirvāṇa Tantra. The first two sets of Hymns have been translated afresh. In the translation of such works a Sanskrit dictionary (however excellent) is not either a sufficient or reliable guide. It is necessary to study the Hindu commentators and to seek the oral aid of those who possess the traditional interpretation of the Śāstra. Without this and an understanding of what Hindu worship is and means, absurd mistakes are likely to be made. I have thus, in addition to such oral aid, availed myself of the Commentaries of Nīlakanṭha on the Mahābhārata, of Gopāla Chakravarti and Nāgogī Bhatta on Candī, and of Nīlakantha on the Devībhāgavata. As regards the Tantra, the great Sādhana Śāstrā, nothing which is of both an understanding and accurate character can be achieved without a study of the original texts undertaken with the assistance of the Tāntrik gurus and pandits, who are the authorized custodians of its traditions.

The other stotras are now rendered in English for the first time; at least, I have come across no translation of them.

The text of the Tantrasāra which has been used is that edited by Shrījut Rasik Mohun Chatterjee. It is not free from faults, which have necessitated reference to other Manuscripts. A more correct text of the Tārāshtakam, from the Nīla Tantra, is given in the Brihatstotraratnākara, to which reference has also been made for the hymns of Vālmīki and Indra.

Both Ellen Woodroffe and myself have collaborated in the translation of the hymns by Śankara. For the rest, as also for the Introduction and Commentary, I am alone responsible. Some of the notes deal with matter familiar enough to the Hindu reader but have been inserted for the use of his English friends. Other portions of the commentary will, I believe, be found to be of use to both.

JOHN WOODROFFE

March 1, 1913

Introduction

SANĀTANA BRAHMAN is called sakala when with Prakṛti, as It is niṣkala when thought of as without Prakṛti (prakṛteranya), for kalā is Prakṛti.[1] To say, however, that Śakti exists in or with, the Brahman is an accommodation to human thought and speech, for the Brahman and Śakti are in fact one. Śakti is eternal (anādirūpā), and Brahmarūpā, and both nirguṇā and saguṇā.[2] She, the Goddess (Devī), is the caitanyarūpiṇi devī who manifests all bhūta; the ānandarūpiṇi devī by whom the Brahman, who She is, manifests Itself,[3] and who, to use the words of the Śāradātilaka, pervades the universe as does oil the sesamum seed. “Sa aikṣata,” of which Śruti speaks, was itself a manifestation of Śakti, the paramāpūrvanirvāṇaśakti, or Brahman, as Śakti.

From the paraśaktimaya issued nāda, and from nāda, bindu[4]. The state of subtle body known as kāmakalā is the mūla of mantra, and is meant when the Devī is spoken of as mūlamantrātmikā.[5] The Parambindu is represented as a circle the centre of which is the Brahmapada, wherein are Prakṛti-puruṣa; the circumference of which is encircling māyā. It is in the crescent of nirvāṇakalā the seventeenth, which is again in that of amākalā the sixteenth, digit of the moon circle (candramaṇḍala), situate above the sun-circle (sūryamaṇdala), the Guru and the Hamsah in the pericarp of the 1,000 petalled lotus (sahasrārapadma). The bindu is symbolically described as being like a grain of gram (canaka), which under its encircling sheath contains a divided seed--Prakṛti-puruṣa or Śakti-Śiva.[6]

It is known as the Śabda Brahman.[7] A polarization then takes place in paraśaktimaya. The Devī becomes unmukhi. Her face is turned to Śiva. There is an unfolding which bursts the encircling shell.[8] The devatāparaśaktimaya exists in the threefold aspect of bindu, bīja, and nāda, the last being in relation to the two former. An indistinct sound then arises[9] (avyaktātmāravobhavat). Nāda, as Rāghava Bhatta[10] says, exists in three states, for in it are the three guṇas. The Śabda Brahman manifests Itself in the threefold energies, Jnāna, Ichhā, and Kriyā Śakti.[11] For, as the Vāmakeśvara Tantra says, the Devī Tripurā is threefold, as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Īśa. Paraśiva exists as a septenary under the forms of Śambhu, Śadāśiva, Īśāna, Rudra, Viṣṇu, and Brahmā. The last five are the Mahāpreta, four of whom form the support, and the fifth the seat, of the bed on which the Devī is united with Paramaśiva in the room of cintāmaṇi stone on the jewelled island clad with clumps of kadamba, and heavenly trees set in the ocean of ambrosia.[12]

Śakti is both māyā and mūlaprakṛti, whose substance is the three guṇas, representing nature as the revelation of spirit (sattva); nature as the passage of descent from spirit to matter, or of ascent from matter to spirit (rajas), and nature as the dense veil of spirit (tamas). The Devī is thus the treasure-house of guṇas (guṇanidhih).[13] Mūlaprakṛti is the womb into which the Brahman casts the seed from which all things are born.[14] The womb thrills to the movement of the essentially active rajoguṇa, and the now unstable guṇas in varied combinations under the illumination of Śiva (cit) evolve the universe which is ruled by Maheśvara and Maheśvarī. The dual principles of Śiva-Śakti, which are the product of the polarity manifested in Paraśaktimaya, pervade the whole universe, and are present in man in the svayambhulinga of the mūlādhāra and the Devī Kuṇḍalinī, who in serpent form encircles it. The Śabdabrahman assumes the form of the Devī Kuṇḍalinī, and as such is in the form of all breathing creatures (prāṇi), and in the form of letters appears in prose and verse. She is the luminous vital energy (jīvaśakti), which manifests as prāṇa. Through the various prakṛta and vaikṛta creations, issued the Devas, men, animals, and the whole universe, which is the work and manifested form of the Devī. For, as the Kubjikā Tantra says, “Not Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra create, maintain, and destroy, but Brāhmī, Vaiṣṇavī, Rudrāṇī. Their husbands are but as dead bodies.”

The Goddess (Devī) is the great Śakti. She is māyā, for of Her the māyā which produces the samsāra is. As Lord of māyā, She is Mahāmāyā.[15] Devī is avidyā (nescience), because She binds; and vidyā (knowledge), because She liberates and destroys the samsāra.[16] She is Prakṛti,[17] and, as existing before creation, She is the ādya (primordial) śakti. She is the vācaka-śakti, the manifestation of cit in Prakṛti; and the vācya śakti or cit itself. The ātmā should be contemplated as Devī.[18]

Śakti or Devī is thus the Brahman revealed in its Mother aspect (srīmātā)[19] as creatrix and nourisher of the worlds. Kālī says of Herself in Yoginī Tantra:[20] ”Saccidānandarupāham Brahmaivāham sphuratprabham.” So the Devī is described with attributes both of the qualified[21] Brahman, and (since that Brahman is but the manifestation of the Absolute), She is also addressed with epithets which denote the unconditioned Brahman.[22] She is the great Mother (ambikā) sprung from the sacrificial hearth of the fire of the Grand Consciousness (cit) decked with the Sun and Moon; Lalitā--”She who plays”--whose play is world-play; whose eyes, playing like fish in the beauteous waters of Her Divine face, open and shut with the appearance and disappearance of countless worlds, now illuminated by Her light, now wrapped in her terrible darkness.[23] For Devī, who issues from the great Abyss, is terrible also in Her Kālī, Tārā, Chinnamastā, and other forms. Śāktas hold that a sweet and complete resignation of the self to such forms of the Divine Power denotes a higher stage of spiritual development.[24] Such dualistic worship also speedily bears the fruit of knowledge of the Universal Unity, the realization of which dispels all fear. For the Mother is only terrible to those who, living in the illusion of separateness (which is the cause of all fear), have not yet realized their unity with Her, and known that all Her forms are those of beauty.

The Devī as Parabrahman is beyond all form and guṇa. The forms of the Mother of the universe are threefold. There is first the Supreme (para) form, of which, as the Viṣṇu Yāmala[25] says, “none know.” There is next Her subtle (sūkṣma) form, which consists of mantra. But, as the mind cannot easily settle itself upon that which is formless,[26] She appears as the subject of contemplation in Her third or gross (sthūla) or physical form, with hands and feet and the like, as celebrated in the Devīstotra of the Purāṇas and Tantras. Devī, who as Prakṛti is the source of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara,[27] has both male and female forms.[28] But it is in Her female forms that she is chiefly contemplated. For, though existing in all things, in a peculiar sense female beings are parts of Her.[29] The Great Mother, who exists in the form of all Tantras and all Yantras,[30] is, as the Lalitā says, the “unsullied treasure-house of beauty,” the sapphire Devī[31] whose slender waist,[32] bending beneath the burden of the ripe fruit of her breasts,[33] swells into jewelled hips heavy[34] with the promise of infinite maternities[35]. Her litanies depict Her physical form from head to foot, celebrating Her hair adorned with flowers and crowned with gems; Her brow bright as the eighth-day moon; Her ruby cheeks and coral lips; teeth like to “the buds of the sixteen-syllabled mantra,” and eyebrows curved as are the arches at the gate of the palace of Kāmarāja; Her nose; Her teeth; Her chin; Her arms; and “Her twin breasts offered in return for that priceless gem which is the love of Kāmeśvara”; Her waist girdled with jewelled bells; Her smooth and faultless limbs rounded beneath the “jewelled disc of the knee like the sapphire-studded quiver of the God of Love” descending in lines of grace to Her bright louts feet,[36] which dispel the darkness of Her worshippers.[37] For moonlight is She, yet sunbeam, soothing all those who are burnt by the triple fires of misery (tāpatraya). Her face, Her body from throat to waist, and thence downwards, represent the vāgbhava and other kūta. The colour of the Devī varies according to the form under which She is contemplated. Thus, in conferring liberation, She is white; as controller of women, men, and kings, She is red; and as controller of wealth, saffron. As creatrix of enmity, She becomes tawny; and in the thrill of love, passion (śṛngāra), She is of the colour of the rose. In the action of slaying She becomes black. Thus, Devī, the Supreme Light, is to be meditated upon as differently coloured according to Her different activities.[38]

After the description of the form of the Devī in brahmāṇḍa follows that of Her subtle form, called Kuṇḍalinī in the body (piṇḍāṇḍa). As the Mahādevī[39] She exists in all forms as Śarasvatī, Lakṣmī, Gāyatrī, Durgā, Tripurasundarī, Annapurṇā, and all the Devī who are avatāra of the Brahman.[40]

Devī, as Satī, Umā, Pārvatī, and Gourī, is spouse of Śiva. It was as Satī, prior to Dakṣa’s sacrifice (dakṣayajna) that the Devī manifested Herself to Śiva[41] in the ten celebrated forms known as the daśamahāvidyā--Kālī, Bagala, Chinnamastā, Bhuvaneshvarī, Mātanginī, Shorosi, Dhumāvati, Tripurasundarī, Tārā, and Bhairavī. When at the dakṣayajna She yielded up Her life in shame and sorrow at the treatment accorded by Her father to Her husband, Śiva took away the body, and, ever bearing it with him, remained wholly distraught and spent with grief. To save the world from the forces of evil which arose and grew with the withdrawal of His divine control, Viṣṇu, with his discus (cakra), cut the dead body of Satī, which Śiva bore, into fifty-one fragments, which fell to earth at the places thereafter known as the fifty-one[42] mahāpīthasthānas, where Devī, with her Bhairava, is worshipped under various names.

Thus the right and left breasts fell at Jalandhara and Ramgiri, where the Devī is worshipped as Tripuramālinī; the yoni at the celebrated shrine at Kamrup in Assam, where the Devī is worshipped as Kāmākṣā or Kāmākhyā (see ibid.);[43] the throat, shoulders, nose, hands, arms, eyes, fingers, tongue, buttocks, lips, belly, chin, navel, cheeks, thighs, teeth, feet, ears, thumbs, heels, toes (some at Kālīghat), waist, hair, forehead, with skeleton (several of these parts being themselves divided), fell at other pītha, at each of which the Devī is worshipped under different names in company with a Bhairava or Śiva, also variously named. Thus, the Devī at Kālīghat is Kālikā, and the Śiva Nakuleśvara, and the Devī at Kamrup is Kāmākshā, and Her Bhairava is Ramānanda.

These are but some only of Her endless forms. She is seen as one and as many: as it were, but one moon reflected in countless waters.[44] She exists, too, in all animals and inorganic things, since the universe, with all its beauties, is, as the Devī Purāṇa says, but a part of Her. All this diversity of form is but the infinite manifestations of the flowering beauty of the one Supreme Life--a doctrine which is nowhere else taught with greater wealth of illustration than in the Śākta Śāstras and Tantras. The great Bharga in the bright sun, and all Devatā, and, indeed, all life and being are worshipful, and are worshipped, but only as Her manifestations.[45] And he who worships them otherwise is, in the words of the great Devībhāgavata,[46] ”like unto a man who, with the light of a clear lamp in his hands, yet falls into some waterless and terrible well.” It is customary nowadays to decry external worship, but those who do so presume too much. The ladder of ascent can only be scaled by those who have trod all, including its lowest, rungs. The Śaktirahasya summarises the stages of progress in a short verse, thus: “A mortal who worships by ceremonies, by images, by mind, by identification, by knowing the self, attains kaivalya.” Before brahma-bhāva can be attained the sādhaka must have passed from pūjābhāva through hymns and prayer to dhyāna-bhāva. The highest worship[47] for which the sādhaka is qualified (adhikāri) only after external worship, and that internal form known as sādhāra[48] is described as nirādhāra. Therein Pure Intelligence is the Supreme Śakti who is worshipped as the Very Self, the Witness freed of the glamour of the manifold universe. By one’s own direct experience of Maheśvarī as the Self, She is, with reverence, made the object of that worship which leads to liberation.

JẈ.

Hymn To Kālabhairava By Śankarācārya

KĀLABHAIRAVA

(KĀLABHAIRAVĀṢṬAKA)

1

I WORSHIP Kālabhairava,[49] Lord of the city of Kāśī,[50]
Whose sacred lotus feet are worshipped by the King of Devas,[51]
The compassionate One,
Whose sacrificial thread is made of serpents,
On whose forehead shines the moon.[52]
The naked one,[53]
Whom Nārada[54] and multitudes of other Yogis adore.
Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje.[55]

2

I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī,
Blazing like a million suns,

Our great Saviour in our voyage across the ocean of the world.[56]
The blue-throated,[57] three-eyed[58] grantor of all desires,
The lotus-eyed, who is the death of death,[59]
The imperishable One,
Holding the rosary of human bone[60] and the trident.[61]
Kāśikāpurādhinātha Kālabhairavam bhaje.

3

I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī,
The primeval cause,[62]
Holding in His hands trident, axe, noose, and staff[63]
--Him of the black body,[64]
The first of all Deva[65], imperishable, incorruptible,
Lord formidable and powerful,

Who loves to dance wonderfully.[66]
Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje.

4

I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī,
Of great and beautiful body,
The giver of both enjoyment and liberation,[67]
Who loves and smiles upon all His devotees,
Whose body is the whole world,
Whose waist is adorned with little tinkling bells;[68]
Beautiful are they, and made of gold.
Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje.

5

I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī,
The protector of the bridge of dharma,[69]
Destroyer of the path of adharma,[70]
Liberator form the bonds of karma,[71]
The all-pervading giver of welfare to all,

Whose golden body is adorned with serpent coils.
Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje.

6

I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī
Whose feet are beautiful with the lustre of the gems thereon--
The stainless, eternal Iṣṭadevatā,[72]
One without a second,[73]
Destroyer of the pride, and liberator from the gaping jaw of the God of Death.
Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje.

7

I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī,[74]
Whose loud laughter broke the shell of many an egg of the lotus-born;[75]
Strong ruler, at whose glance the net of sin is broken; Giver of the eight powers,[76]
Whose shoulders serpents garland.
Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje.

8

I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī,
The Saviour of all, giver of great fame,
The all-pervading One,
Who purifies of both sin and virtue the people of Kāśī;[77]
The ancient Lord of the world,
Wise in the wisdom of all moralities.[78]
Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje.

Hymns To The Devī From Tantra

Bhairavī (Bhairavīstotra) from the Tantrasāra

Fem. of Bhairava, a name of Śiva.

1

THUS shall I pray to Thee, O Tripurā,[79]
To attain the fruit of my desires,
In this hymn by which men attain that Lakṣmī,[80]
Who is worshipped by the Devas.

2

Origin of the world thou art,
Yet hast Thou Thyself no origin,
Though with hundreds of hymns.
Even Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara[81] cannot know Thee.[82]
Therefore we worship Thy breasts, Mother of all Śāstra,[83]
Shining with fresh saffron.

3

O Tripurā,[84] we adore Thee,
Whose body shines with the splendour of a thousand risen suns,
Holding with two of thy hands a book[85] and rosary of rudrākṣa beads,[86]
And with two others making the gestures
Which grant boons and dispel fear.[87]
With three lotus eyes is Thy lotus face adorned.
Beauteous is Thy Neck with its necklace of large pearls.[88]

4

O Mother, how can the ignorant, whose minds are restless with doubt and dispute,
Know Thy form ravishing with its vermilion,[89]
Stooping with the weight of Thy breasts,[90]
Accessible only by merit,
Acquired in previous birth?

5

O Bhavānī,[91] the munis[92] describe thee in physical form;[93]
The Śruti speaks of Thee in subtle form;
Others call Thee presiding Deity of speech;
Others, again, as the root of the worlds.
But we think of Thee
As the untraversable ocean of mercy, and nothing else.

6

Worshippers contemplate Thee in their heart
As three-eyed, adorned with the crescent moon,
White as the autumnal moon,
Whose substance is the fifty letters,[94]
Holding in Thy hands a book, a rosary, a jar of nectar, and making the vyakhya mudrā.[95]

7

O Tripurā, Thou art Śambhu[96] united with Pārvatī.[97]
Thou art now Viṣṇu embraced by Kamalā,[98]
And now Brahmā born of the lotus.[99]
Thou art again the presiding Devī of speech,
And yet again art the energy of all these.

8

I, having taken refuge with the four--
Bhāvas,[100] Parā, and others[101] born of the vāgbhava (bīja),[102]

Shall never in my heart forget Thee, the supreme Devatā,
Whose substance is existence and intelligence,[103]
And who expresseth by Thy throat and other organ
The bhāva appearing in the form of letters.[104]

9

The blessed, having conquered the six enemies,[105]
And drawing in their breath,[106]
With steady mind fix their gaze on the tip of their nostrils,
And contemplate in their head Thy moon-crested form,[107]
Resplendent as the newly risen sun.

10

The Vedas proclaim that Thou createth the world,
Having assumed the other half of the body of the enemy of Kāma.[108]
Verily is it true, O Daughter of the mountain and the only World-mother,
That had this not been so,
The multitude of worlds would never have been.

11

In company with the wives of the Kinnaras,[109]
The Siddha women,[110] whose eyes are reddened by wine[111]
Having worshipped Thee with the flowers of celestial trees[112]
In Thy pītha[113] in the caverns of the golden mountain,[114]
Sing Thy praises.

12

I worship in my heart the Devī whose body is moist with nectar,[115]
Beauteous as the splendour of lightning,
Who, going from Her abode to that[116] of Śiva,[117]
Opens the lotuses on the beautiful way[118] of the suṣuṁnā.[119]

13

O Tripurā, I take refuge at Thy lotus feet,
Worshipped by Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara;
The abode of bliss, the source of the Vedas,
The origin of all prosperity;
Thou whose body is Intelligence itself.[120]

14

I shall never forget Her who is the giver of happiness;
She it is, O Mother, who, in the form of the Moon,
Creates the world full of sounds and their meanings,
And again, by Her power in the form of the Sun,
She it is who maintains the world.
And She, again, it is who, in the form of Fire, destroys the whole universe at the end of the ages.[121]

15

Men worship Thee under various names--
As Nārāyaṇa[122]; as She who saves from the ocean of Hell;[123]
As Gaurī;[124] as the allayer of grief;[125] as Sarasvatī,[126]
And as the three-eyed giver of knowledge.[127]

16

O Mother of the world, such as worship Thee with twelve Verses of this hymn attain to Thee, and gain all powers[128] of speech and the supreme abode.

Bhuvaneśvari, From The Tantrasāra

The Devī in her aspect as Lord and Ruler of the world.

1

Now I pray for the attainment of all blessings to Bhuvaneśvarī,
The cause and Mother[129] of the world,
She whose form is that of the Śabdabrahman,[130]
And whose substance is bliss.

2

Thou art the primordial One,[131]
Mother of countless creatures,
Creatrix of the bodies[132] of the lotus-born,[133] Viṣṇu and Śiva.
Who creates, preserves, and destroys the three worlds.
O Mother! by hymning Thy praise I purify my speech.

3

O Daughter of the Mountain-King,[134]
Thou art the cause of the world-destroying energy of Śiva,[135]
Who manifests in earth, water, fire, ether, the sacrificer, the sun and moon,[136]
And who destroyed the body of Manmatha.[137]

4

O Mother! men only worship the triple-streamed Gangā[138]
Because She shines in the matted hair of Śiva,[139]
Which has been purified
By the dust of Thy lotus feet.

5

As the moon[140] delights the white night lotus[141] and none other,

As the sun delights the day lotus[142] and none other,
As one particular thing only delights one other,
Thou, O Mother! delightest the whole universe by Thy glances.

6

Although Thou art the primordial cause of the world,
Yet art Thou ever youthful;
Although Thou art the Daughter of the Mountain-King,[143]
Yet art Thou full of tenderness.
Although Thou art the Mother of the Vedas,[144]
Yet they cannot describe Thee.[145]
Although men must meditate upon Thee,
Yet cannot their mind comprehend Thee.[146]

7

O Mother of the worlds!
Those who have reached that birth amongst men
Which if so difficult to attain,
And in that birth their full faculties,
Yet nathless do not worship Thee,

Such, though having ascended to the top of the stairs,
Nevertheless fall down again.[147]

8

O Bhavānī!
Such as worship Thee with fragrant flowers and sandal paste,
Ground with cool water[148] and powdered camphor,
Gain the sovereignty of the whole world.

9

O Mother! like the sleeping King of serpents,[149]
Residing in the centre of the first lotus,[150]
Thou didst create the universe.
Thou dost ascend like a streak of lightning,[151]
And attainest the ethereal region.[152]

10

Thy body, having been moistened with the nectar flowing from That,[153]
Thou dost again reach Thy abode[154] by that way.[155]
O Mother and Spouse of Maheśvara!
They in whose heart Thou glitterest are never reborn.

11

O Gaurī! with all my heart
I contemplate Thy form,
Beauteous of face,
With its weight of hanging hair,
With full breasts[156] and rounded slender waist,[157]
Holding in three hands a rosary,[158] a pitcher,[159] and a book,
And with Thy fourth hand making the jnānamudrā.[160]

12

O Bhuvaneśvarī
Yogis who have restrained their senses
And have conquered the six enemies,[161]
In yoga with calm minds behold Thee
Holding noose and a goad,

And making the vara and abhaya mudrās.[162]

13

Thou art Lakṣmī,
Rivalling the lustre of molten gold,
Holding two lotuses in two of Thy hands,
And with the other two making the gestures which grant boons and dispel fear.[163]
Four elephants holding jars (in their trunks),
Sprinkle Thy head with nectar.[164]

14

O Bhavānī! Thou art Durgā,[165] seated on a lion,
Of the colour of durvā grass,[166]

Holding in Thy eight hands various kinds of dreadful weapons,
And destroying the enemies of the immortals.[167]

15

I remember again and again the dark[168] primeval Devī[169] swayed with passion,[170]
Her beauteous face heated and moist with the sweat (of amorous play),[171]
Bearing a necklace of Ganjā berries,[172] and clad with leaves.

16

O Spouse of Śrīkaṇṭha,[173]
I place on my head Thy blue lotus feet,
Which are followed by[174] the Vedas,

As swans are lured by the tinkling sound of an anklet.

17

O Bhavānī! I worship thy body from ankle to knee,[175]
Upon which the bull-bannered one[176] gazes with great love,
And who, as if not satiated by looking thereon with two eyes,
Has yet made for himself a third.[177]

18

I call to mind thy two thighs,[178]
Which humble the pride of the trunk of an elephant,
And surpass the plantain-tree in thickness and tenderness.[179]
O Mother! youth[180] fashioned those thighs
That they may support as two pillars the weight of thy (great) hips,[181]

19

Looking at thy waist,[182] it would seem as if it had been absorbed
And become the great bulk of thy breasts and hips.[183]
By the youth[184] which clothes the body with hair,[185]
May it ever be resplendent in my heart!

20

O Devī! may I never forget thy navel,[186]
As it were a secure inviolate pool,[187]
Given to Thee by Thy blooming youth,
Filled with the liquid beauty[188] of the beloved of Smara,[189]

He who was fearful of the fire from the eyes of Hara.[190]

21

Thy two lotus-like breasts, smeared with sandal,
Which bear ashes telling of Śiva’s embrace,[191]
Call to mind the vermilion-painted temples moist with ichor[192]
Of some (impassioned) elephant
Rising from his bath in waters,
Flicked with foam.[193]

22

O Mother! Thy two arms, beauteous with the water
Dripping from Thy body bathed from neck to throat,
Seem to have been formed by the crocodile-bannered One,[194]
As long nooses wherewith to hold the throat of his enemy[195] (Śiva).

May I never forget them!

23

O Daughter of the Mountain-King,
Again and again have I looked upon Thy shapely neck,
Which has stolen the beauty of a well-formed shell,
And is adorning with pleasing necklace and many another ornament;
Yet am I never satiated.

24

O Mother! he has not been born in vain[196]
Who oft calls to his mind
Thy face, with its large round eyes and noble brow,
Its radiant cheeks and smile,
The high, straight nose,
And lips red as the bimba fruit.[197]

25

Whoever, O Devī! contemplates upon Thy wealth of hair,
Lit by the crescent moon,[198]
Resembling a swarm of bees hovering over fragrant flowers,
Is freed of the ancient fetters which bind him to the world.[199]

26

The mortal who in this world
Devoutly from his heart reads this hymn,
Sweet to the ears of the wise,
Attains for ever all wealth in the form of that Lakṣmī
Who attends the crowned kings who are prostrate at Her feet.

Ādyakālī (Ādyākālīsvarūpastotra), From The Mahānirvāṇa Tantra

From the Mahānirvāṇa Tantra, Seventh Ullāsa, verses 12 et seq. This hymn to the primordial Kālī contains a hundred of her names all beginning with “K.” Thus Kālī, Karālī, Kalyānī, Kalāvatī, Kamalā, Kalidarpaghni, Kaparddīśakripanvitā, etc. Kādi is that which has “Ka” in the beginning. In the Tantrarāja, Devī says to Śiva: “The syllable ‘Ka’ is in Thy form, and that Śakti confers all siddhis” (see Lalitā Sahasranāma, where a number of the following names occur).

1. HRĪM,[200] O destroyer of time![201]
2. ŚRĪM,[202] O terrific one![203]
3. KRĪM,[204] Thou who art beneficent,[205]

4. Possessor of all the arts,[206]
5. Thou art Kamalā,[207]
6. Destroyer of the pride of the Kālī Age.[208]
7. Who art kind to him of the matted hair,[209]
8. Devourer of Him who devours,[210]
9. Mother of Time[211]
10. Thou art brilliant as the fires of the final dissolution.[212]
11. Spouse of Him of the matted hair.[213]
12. O Thou of formidable countenance,[214]
13. Ocean of the nectar of compassion,[215]

14. Merciful,[216]
15. Vessel of mercy,[217]
16. Whose mercy is without limit,[218]
17. Who art attainable alone by Thy mercy,[219]
18. Who art fire,[220]
19. Tawny,[221]
20. Black of hue,[222]
21. Thou who increaseth the joy of the Lord of creation,[223]
22. Night of darkness,[224]
23. In the form of desire,[225]
24. Yet liberator from the bonds of desire,[226]
25. Thou who art dark as a bank of cloud,[227]

26. And bearest the crescent moon,[228]
27. Destructress of sin in the Kālī Age,[229]
28. Thou who art pleased by the worship of virgins,[230]
29. Thou who art the refuge of the worshippers of virgins,[231]
30. Who art pleased by the feasting of virgins,[232]
31. And who art in the form of the virgin,[233]
32. Thou who wanderest in the Kadamba forest,[234]
33. Who art pleased with the flowers of the Kadamba forest,[235]

34. Who hast Thy abode in the Kadamba forest,[236]
35. Who wearest a garland of Kadamba flowers,[237]
36. Thou who art youthful,[238]
37. Who hath a soft low voice, [239]
38. Whose voice is sweet as the cry of a Cakravāka bird,[240]
39. Who drinkest Kādambarī wine,[241]
40. And art pleased with the Kādambarī wine,[242]
41. And whose cup is a skull,[243]
42. Who wearest a garland of bones,[244]
43. Who art pleased with the lotus,[245]
44. And who art seated on the lotus,[246]
45. Who abidest in the centre of the lotus,[247]
46. Whom the fragrance of the lotus pleases,[248]
47. Who movest with the swaying gait of a hamsa,[249]
48. Destroyer of fear,[250]
49. Who assumeth all forms at will,[251]
50. Whose abode is at Kāmarūpa,[252]
51. Who ever dallies at the Kāmapītha,[253]
52. O Beautiful One,[254]
53. O creeper which givest every desire,[255]
54. Whose beauty is Thy ornament,[256]
55. Adorable as the image of all tenderness,[257]
56. Thou with a tender body,[258]
57. And who art slender of waist,[259]
58. Who art pleased with the nectar of purified wine,[260]
59. Giver of success to them whom purified wine rejoices,[261]
60. The own Deity of those who worship Thee when joyed with wine,[262]
61. Who art gladdened by the worship of Thy-self with purified wine,[263]
62. Who art immersed in the ocean of purified wine,[264]
63. Who art the protectress of those who accomplish vrata with wine,[265]
64. Whom the fragrance of musk gladdens,[266]
65. And who art luminous with a tilaka mark of musk,[267]
66. Who art attached to those who worship Thee with musk,[268]
67. Who lovest those who worship Thee with musk,[269]
68. Who art a mother to those who burn musk as incense,[270]
69. Who art fond of the musk-deer,[271]
70. And who art pleased to eat its musk,[272]
71. Whom the scent of camphor gladdens,[273]
72. Who art adorned with garlands of camphor,[274]
73. And whose body is besmeared with camphor and sandal paste,[275]
74. Who art pleased with purified wine flavoured with camphor,[276]
75. Who drinkest purified wine flavoured with camphor,[277]

76. Who art bathed in the ocean of camphor,[278]
77. Whose abode is in the ocean of camphor,[279]
78. Who art pleased when worshipped with the bīja ”Hūm,”[280]
79. Who threatenest with the bīja ”Hūm,”[281]
80. Embodiment of Kulācāra,[282]
81. Adored by Kaulikas,[283]
82. Benefactress of the Kaulikas,[284]
83. Observant of Kulācāra,[285]
84. Joyous one,[286]
85. Revealer of the path of the Kaulikas,[287]
86. Queen of Kāśī,[288]
87. Allayer of sufferings,[289]
88. Giver of blessings to the Lord of Kāśī,[290]
89. Giver of pleasure to the Lord of Kāśī,[291]
90. Beloved of the Lord of Kāśī,[292]
91. Thou whose toe-ring bells make sweet melody as Thou moveth,[293]
92. Whose girdle bells sweetly tinkle,[294]
83. Who abidest in the mountain of gold,[295]
94. Who art like a moonbeam on the mountain of gold,[296]
95. Who art gladdened by the recitation, of the mantra ”Klīm,”[297]
96. Who art the Kāma Bīja,[298]
97. Destructress of all evil inclinations,[299]
98. And of the afflictions of the Kaulikas--[300]
99. Lady of the Kaulas,[301]
100. O Thou who by the three bījās, “KRĪM” “HRĪM” “ŚRĪM” art the Destructress of the fear of death[302]--
(To Thee I make obeisance.)

Lakṣmī (Laksmīstotram) From The Tantrasāra

Lakṣmī, commonly called Śrī, Devī of prosperity and beauty: the Śakti, or Spouse of Viṣṇu, who rose resplendent from the sea at the churning of the ocean by the Devas and Asuras, and then reclining on the breast of Hari, gazed upon the enraptured Devas. As her Lord assumes various forms, so does She.

O DEVĪ KAMALĀ,[303] beloved of Viṣṇu,
Adored by the three worlds,
As Thou art constant to Viṣṇu, be Thou constant to me.
Whoever worshipping Lakṣmī, reads these twelve names of Her--
Iśvarī, Kamala,[304] Lakṣmī, Calā,[305]
Bhūti,[306] Haripriyā,[307] Padmā,[308] Padmālayā,[309] Sampat,[310]

Uchaih,[311] Śrī[312] Padmadhārinī,[313]
With such an one, his wife and children,
Lakṣmī ever abides.

Tārā (Tārāsṭakam) From The Nīla Tantra

The Matsyasūkta, Tārārṇava, and Nīla Tantras deal with particulars or Tārā or Tāriṇī, one of the Mahāvidyā, whose bīja is Hrīm Strīm, Hūm (Kurccha), Phat (see verse 4). She is called Nīlasarasvatī, because She playfully gives the power of speech. She is called Tārā on account of her being deliverer or saviour (tārakatvāt). She gives both pleasure (sukha) and liberation (mokṣa). She is called also Ugratārā, because She saves from formidable and horrible calamities. Ṛṣi Vaśiṣṭha is said to have cursed this vidyā, and then raised the curse so that siddhi might be gained from Her by japa of the bīja Hrīm, Strīm, Hūm, Phat, after which She again became glorious. Her Mantra is also given as Śrīm, Hrīm, Strīm, Hūm, Phat (giver of wealth and beauty); another is Hrīm, Hrīm, Strīm, Hūm, Phat (giver of all desires); another is Aim, Hrīm, Strīm, Hūm, Phat (giver of speech), and Hrīm, Strīm, Hūm, Phat (giver of liberation). Her Yantra is an eight-petalled lotus surrounded by a circle, with inverted triangle in the centre with Hūm. On the petals are Hrīm, Strīm, Śrīm, Hūm. There is also a Tantra (Tārāṣatkoṇa) of two superimposed triangles, making a star.

1

O MOTHER, Devī Nīlasarasvatī[314] Tārā,

Refuge with Thee I crave.
Giver of prosperity and wealth art Thou
To those who worship Thee. Standing on Śiva,
Thy right foot upon His breast and left upon His thigh.
Ever art Thou, with smiling lotus-like face.
Thy three eyes are, as it were, full-blown lotuses.
In Thy hands Thou holdest a knife,[315] a skull, a lotus, and a sword.

2

Thou art the presiding Devī of speech.
Thou art the creeper which grants all desires.[316]
Thou art the giver of all siddhi,[317]
And the power to write both verse and prose.
Three are Thine eyes, as it were blue lotuses.
Ocean of kindness and compassion art Thou.
I pray Thee of Thy mercy shower upon me the nectar of prosperity.

3

O Sharbhā,[318] I pray Thee remove my fears.
Proud Lady, brilliant are Thy garments,
Bright with coiling serpents.
Thou art clad in tiger skin.
Thy waist is adorned with tiny tinkling bells.
Thou holdest the heads of two demons
Dripping with blood, just severed by the sword.
Thy waist is girdled with heads of demons,

As it were with a garland.
Thus art Thou beautiful, O formidable One.[319]

4

O Devī Tārā, attained with difficulty,
I take refuge with Thee.
Thou art beautiful with form both amorous and charmful.[320]
Thou art Bindu and the half-moon,[321]
Whose substance is Hrīm and Phat.[322]
Thou art mantra[323] and the shelter of all.
Thy forms are threefold
Gross, Subtle, and Supreme.
Thou art beyond the reach of Veda.[324]

5

By the service of Thy lotus feet,
Men of good deed attain sāyujya[325] liberation.
O Parameśvarī, Thou art the Spouse of Him[326]
Who is Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and the three-eyed One.
O Mother! he who neglects to serve Thy lotus feet,
But serves instead the Devas, Indra, and others,
Who are themselves plunged in the ocean of samsāra,[327]
Is indeed and most truly ignorant.

6

O Mother! those Devas who receive on their crowns
The pollen which comes from Thy lotus-like feet,[328]

Are able to keep their promise of conquest,
And to gain victory over their enemies in battle--
Such, without a doubt, are sheltered in Thy lap.
But their enemies who send forth the defiant challenge,
“I am a Deva, and none is equal to me in the whole world,”
Perish and meet such death as befits them.

7

Bhūta, Preta, Piśācha, Rākṣasa,
Daitya, foremost of Dānava, Yakṣa, Lords of Naga,[329]
Wrathful Dākinī,[330] great birds,[331] tigers, and other dreadful creatures
Forthwith take flight at but the remembrance of Thy name,
And are powerless to do aught of evil.

8

Who serves Thy lotus feet, to him siddhi is given.
He surpasses the Lord of speech,[332]
And obtains the beauty of Kāma.[333]
He can charm and paralyze[334] multitudes of elephants upon the field of battle, And has power to stay the flow of water.[335]
The Siddha[336] and prosperity are under his control.

PHALAŚLOKA.[337]

Whoever, being pure and self-controlled,
Reads this eight-versed hymn to Tārā,
At morn, at noon, at evening,
To him is given
The power to write beautifully in prose or verse,[338]
Knowledge in all Śāstra,
Imperishable fortune,
The enjoyment of whatsoever he may desire,
Fame, beauty, and wealth,
The love of all men,
And at the end liberation.

Mahiṣāmardinī (Mahiṣāmardinīstotra) From The Tantrasāra

A title of Durgā, Śakti of Śiva as the powerful victrix of demons. She is Mahiṣāmardinī, as the slayer of Mahiṣa. The Daitya Śumbha attacked Her in the form of a buffalo (Mahiṣa; see Candi).

1

O CANDĪ![339] wander in my heart,
By whom the act of formidable Asura[340] was shattered,
Destroy the calamities which deeply pierce me,
Arising from the mass of malice and fears (which assail me),
So that, free from danger,
And protected by the lotus cluster of Thy feet,
My swan-like[341] mind may swim and rejoice in the ocean of bliss.

2

What fear of his enemies has he who worships Thee?
The Devas who worship Thy feet stamping on beast and noose,[342]
Having abandoned the form of Narasimha,[343]
Whose towering mane reached the summit of Mount Sumeru,
And whose fingers are outstretched to tear (the breast of) Hiraṇyakaśipu,[344]
Now worship the lion,[345] the enemy of the elephant.[346]

3

O Candī! when the syllables, the letters of which speak of Thee,
Reach the ear, then Brahmā and other Devas
Sing the truth, touching Puruṣa and Prakṛti.[347]

O Devī! be to-day gracious to me,
Devoted as I am to the kissing of Thy beautiful lotus feet,
The one and only glittering abode of the essence of the nectar of all Devatās.

4

If, because of my following your way of Kula,[348]
I suffer reproach better is it that I shall thus be without fame.
Let me not have that which comes of the worship of Keśava[349] and Kauśika;[350]
Rather, O Mother! let my heart rest in meditation on Thy lotus feet,
Worshipped by Brahmā, Hari, the enemy of Smara[351] and the enemy of the Daityas.[352]

5

O Mother! if I be engaged in the rightful[353] contemplation of Thy lotus feet,

What matters it if I know not[354] other sacred places?[355]
May Thy lotus feet be ever present to my mind--
Thy feet which are the wealth of our wounds![356]
O propitious Mother! do Thou forgive me.

6

Verily and without doubt, even the Lord of Bhūtas[357] would have perished,[358]
Maddened as He was with the joy of the embrace of (Thee who art) His own self,[359]
Had He not enjoyed the lotus fragrance of Thy feet,
Full of honey from which drop liquid sandal,
And the nectar, there haply fallen from the moon.[360]

7

O Mother! let the stream of heavy showers of holy devotion towards Thee
Be ever shed upon me,
Struggling and drowning, alas! as I am in the endless ocean of illusion,[361]
Without taste of the springing water of the Bliss of Brahman,[362]
Which dispels the weight of mental afflictions from numbers of Devas.

8

May (Thy) glory,[363] dark as collyrium cloud, Be ever in my heart.
From its glittering lustre were born the three Devatās,
Who create, maintain, and destroy the world,
Whose substance is pure intelligence and bliss,[364]
Dispelling the darkness which overspreads the heart
By the (glory of the unnumbered)millions of their rays!

9

May[365] Devī Mahiṣāmardinī, who hath power to destroy

The proud enemies of the Devas,
And is the slayer of many another demon,
Ever conquer!
She it was who, having severed the head of the Asura Mahiṣa,
Seized upon him who assumed the form of a buffalo by his magic art
Upon the field of battle,
Now bellowing, now running, now lowering his head downward,
Falling upon the battlefield, and then vanishing from it for a while.

10

She kills the Asuras upon the battlefield.
Terrible it was, with the dancing of the weapons and streamers[366] of the enemy.
With a cloud of thrown discus and other missiles.
There the copper-coloured weapon[367] dashed and flashed from the enemy’s arrows--
Enemies so stout, strong, and tall, proud of wealth and power,
The field of battle thus seemed to have been swept by a tempest,
Most hideous it was, thickly spread with limbs and dead bodies of Asuras,
In whose blood and flesh birds slaked their thirst and appeased their hunger.

11

Let the Sadhaka meditate upon Devī Mahiṣāmardinī.

Rushing now here, now there on the field of battle for the slaughter of the enemies, Attended by eight companion Mātrikas,[368]
Ear-ringed with eight-petalled lotuses,
Within each petal of which are writ the eight syllables
Mahiṣāmardinyai namah.[369]
Formidable was that field with the tossing of the huge curved horns of Mahiṣa, Deeply black, maddened, wandering to and fro, horribly roaring
Whose instant death was desired of the Devas.

12

Let the Sādhaka meditate
Upon the auspicious black Bhogavatī[370] Mahiṣāmardinī,
Holding in Her hands discus, lance, axe, shield, arrow, bow, and trident,
Making the gesture[371] which dispels fear;
Her long, matted hair is like a bank of cloud,
Covering Her face most formidable,
Loudly screaming, now with peals of terrible laughter,
And then with Her threats greatly frightening the Daitya heroes.

13

O Devī! such as in this manner
Meditate upon Thy faultless form,

Worshipped by Indra and other Devas,
To them it is given to attack the cities of their enemies,
And, conquering their enemies, to gain a kingdom;
They, too, acquire nectar of the knowledge of poesy,
And power to arrest, banish and slay.[372]

14

O Mother! salutation to Thee! May Thou conquer!
Whosoever, meditating upon Thy lotus feet,
Utters this Thy hymn,
In the palms of the hands of all such
Are forthwith wealth, fulfilment of desire, and liberation.

Annapūrṇa (Annapūrṇāstotra) From The Tantrasāra

A name of the Devī as She who bestows food, whose sincere devotee will never want rice. In one hand She holds a rice-bowl, and in another a spoon for stirring the boiled rice.

1

SALUTATION to thee, O Devī!
Dispenser of blessings, beloved of Śankara,[373]
Dear to devotees,
Annapūrṇè.

2

Thou hast assumed form by māyā[374]
Beloved of Śankara.
Salutation to Maheśvarī,[375]
O Annapūrṇé! obeisance to Thee.[376]

3

O Mahāmāyā![377] beloved Spouse[378] of Hara,[379]
Giver of the fruit of desire,
Queen of Suras.[380]
O Annapūrṇé! obeisance to Thee.

4

O Mahādevī with the lustre of a thousand rising suns,
Three eyed,
Crested with the crescent moon.[381]

5

O Devī! clad in fine garment,
Ever giving rice,[382] Sinless One,
Who delights in the dance of Śiva.
Crested with the crescent moon.
O Annapūrṇé! obeisance to Thee.

6

O Devī! fulfiller of the desires of devotees,[383]
Destructress of worldly pain,
Bending under the weight of Thy breasts.[384]

O Annapūrṇé! obeisance to Thee.

7

Thou residest in the centre of the six-petalled lotus,[385]
And art in the form of the six-fold śakti,[386]
Thou art Brahmānī and all others,[387]
O Annapūrṇé! obeisance to Thee.

8

O Devī! adorned with crescent moon,
All empires[388] are Thy gifts,
Giver of delight to Sarva[389],
O Annapūrṇé! obeisance to Thee.

9

Thy lotus feet are worshipped by Indra and other Devās;
Thou assumest the form of Rudra and other Devas,
Giver of wealth.
O Annapūrṇé! obeisance to Thee.

10

Whoever[390] at time of worship
Devoutly reads this hymn,
In his house Lakṣmī[391] ever abides;
True is this and without doubt.

11

Whoever having recited[392] the mantra daily,
Reads this hymn at dawn of day,
Obtains wealth of rice
And prosperity.

12

Not to all and any should this hymn be revealed,
For be it made known to one who is unworthy,
Then ills fall upon him,
Therefore should it be carefully concealed.

Sarasvatī (Sarasvatīstotra) From The Tantrasāra

Devī of speech, eloquence, knowledge, and learning, and Śakti of Brahmā; but formerly, according to the Purāṇic account, the Spouse of Viṣṇu, represented as a fair woman with either four or two arms, and often as seated on a lotus holding a vīnā. The Bhāradvaja Smr. says: “Sarasvatī is She who ever resides in the tongue of all beings and who causes speech.” According to the Vasiṣṭha Rāmā, cited in the Lalitā, verse 137, She is called Sarasvatī as the possessor (vati) of the saras (flow of nectar from the brahmarandhra). The Brahmā Purāṇa says the Devī created Sarasvatī from Her tongue, and from Her shoulders the science of love.

1

HRĪM, HRĪM[393] is Thy most pleasing bīja,
O Thou whose moon-like[394] beauty is heightened

By the lotuses (which surround Thee).[395]
O auspicious and favourable Devī!
Forest fire[396] of the forest of evil thoughts,
Whose lotus feet are worshipped by the universe.
O lotus seated upon a lotus,
Joy dost thou cause to those who salute Thee,
Destroyer of Ignorance,
Spouse of Hari,[397]
Substance of the world.[398]

2

AIM, AIM[399] is Thy favourite mantra,
Thou who art both form and formlessness,[400]
Who art the wealth of the lotus face of the lotus-born,[401]
Embodiment of all guṇas,[402] yet devoid of attributes,[403]
Changeless, and neither gross nor subtle.[404]

None know Thy nature, nor is Thy inner reality known.[405]
Thou art the whole universe;
And Thou it is who existeth within it.
Thou art saluted by the foremost of Devas.
Without part Thou existeth in Thy fulness everywhere.[406]
Ever[407] pure art Thou.

3

Greatly art Thou pleased with the recitation[408] of the mantra HRĪM.[409]
Thy crown is white as snow.[410]
Thy hands play with the vīnā.[411]
O Mother! Mother! salutation to Thee.
Burn, burn my sloth and grant me great intelligence.[412]
Thou art Knowledge itself.
The Vedānta ever sings of Thee.

Śruti[413] speaks of Thee.
O giver of liberation! O way to liberation!
Whose power is beyond all understanding.
O giver of happiness,[414] adorned with a white necklace,
Grant to me Thy favours.

4

Thou art intelligence, intelligence, intelligence,[415]
Thy names are memory, resolution, mind, and hymn of praise.[416]
Eternal and fleeting,[417]
Great cause, saluted by Munis,[418]
New and old;[419] sacred current of virtue,[420]
Saluted by Hari and Hara.[421]
Ever pure, beauteous of colour,
The subtlest element[422] of things--

Yea, even the very half thereof.[423]
Thou art the giver of intelligence, intelligence, intelligence.
Who art the giver of joy to Mādhava.[424]

5

In the form of HRĪM, KṢĪM, DHĪM, HRĪM,[425]
Thou holdest a book,
Thou art joyful, of smiling face, and of good fortune.
Innocence, current of charm,[426]
With all powers of arrest.[427]
Burn, burn my sin,
And dispel the darkness of my evil thoughts.
O praiseworthy of all!
Thou art Gīh, Gauh, Vāk, and Bhāratī.[428]
It is Thou who grantest success to the tongue of the greatest of poets,

As also in the attainment of all (forms of) knowledge.[429]

6

I pray to Thee, I pray to Thee, I bow to Thee,
Come to my tongue and never leave me.
May my intelligence[430] never go astray,
May my sins be taken away,
May I be free from sorrow.
In time of peril may I never be bewildered.
May my mind work freely without impediment[431]
In Śāstra disputation and verse.

7

He who chastely[432] lives, observing silence[433] and religious devotions,[434]
Abstaining from flesh and fish[435] on the thirteenth day of the month,[436]
And bowed with devotion, early each morning
Praises Thee with the most excellent verse.
Will, skilful in speech, surpass even Vācaspati.[437]
The uncleanliness of his sins will be swept away.
Such an one gains the fruit of his desires,

The Devī protects him as though he were Her own child.
Poetry flows from his mouth,
Prosperity attends his house,
And every obstacle to success will disappear.

8

Whoever reads without interruption the whole of this hymn
Twenty-one times on the thirteenth day of the month,[438]
Both on the dark and the light side of the month,[439]
And meditates on Sarasvatī garmented in white,
Adorned with white ornaments,
Such an one attains in this world the fruit of his desires.
This auspicious hymn has been made by Brahmā himself;
Whoever daily reads it with care acquires immortality.[440]

Durgā (Durgāśatanāma Stotra) From The Viśvasāra Tantra

Manifestation of the Śakti of Śiva in warrior form as the Destructress of demonic beings, enemies to Devas and men. According to one account, She is so called as having slain the Asura Durgā, son of Ruru (Skanda Purāṇa). Another account of the origin of Durgā is given in Candī (Mārkandeyapurāṇa), where the combined tejas, like a mountain of all the Devas, manifested as the Devī Durgā for the destruction of the Asura Mahiṣa.

1

SAITH Īśvara:[441]
I shall tell thee the hundred names of Durgā.
By the grace of this hymn the chaste[442] Durgā is satisfied.
Listen, then, thereto.

2-13

OM.
Chaste one.[443]
Virtuous one.[444]
Beloved of Bhava.[445]
Spouse of Bhava.[446]
The Manifested Brahman.[447]
Liberatrix from the world of births and deaths.[448]
Destructress of distress.[449]
Victorious one.[450]
Primordial one.[451]
Three-eyed,[452]
Holder of the spear.[453]

Spouse of Him who holds the pināka Bow.[454]
Wonderful one.[455]
Whose bell sounds fearfully.[456]
Of great austerities.[457]
Manas.
Buddhi.
Ahamkāra.
In the form of citta.[458]
Funeral pyre.[459]
Knowledge.[460]
Whose substance is all mantras.[461]
Reality.[462]

Whose nature is the true bliss.[463]
Endless one.[464]
In whom are the three dispositions.[465]
Accessible by devotion.[466]
Auspicious.[467]
Pervading all things.[468]
Spouse of Śambu.[469]
Mother of Devas.[470]
Contemplation.[471]
Fond of gems.[472]
All knowledge.[473]
Daughter of Dakṣa.[474]

Destroyer of Dakṣa’s sacrifice.[475]
Who eat not even a leaf during Thy austerities.[476]
Of various colour.[477]
Red.[478]
Having a red colour.[479]
Clad in silken garment.[480]
Pleased with sweet-sounding anklets.[481]
Of unbounded power.[482]
Terrifying.[483]
Beautiful.[484]
House lady.[485]
Forest Durgā.[486]
Daughter of Matanga.[487]

Worshipped by the sage Matanga.[488]
Spouse of Brahmā.[489]
Great Ruler.[490]
Aindrī.[491]
Kaumārī.[492]
Vaiṣṇavī.[493]
Cāmundā.[494]
Varāhī.[495]
Lakṣmī.[496]
In the form of the Puruṣa.[497]
Pure one.[498]
Essence of all.[499]
Knowledge.[500]
Action.[501]
The Supreme One.[502]
Giver of buddhi.[503]
Who art all.[504]
Whose love is unbounded.[505]
Mounted on a bull.[506]
Destructress of Śumbha and Niśumbha.[507]
Slayer of the Asura Mahiṣa.[508]
Slayer of Madhu and Kaitaba.[509]
Destructress of Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa.[510]
And of all Asuras.[511]
And of all Dānavas.[512]
Whose substance is all Śāstra.[513]
Existence.[514]
Holder of all weapons.[515]
In whose hands are various weapons.[516]
Holder of many weapons.[517]
Virgin.[518]
Maiden.[519]
Kaiṣorī.[520]
Youthful.[521]
Ascetic one.[522]
Apraudhā.[523]
Praudhā.[524]
Old mother.[525]
Giver of strength.[526]

14

For him who daily reads[527] these 108[528] names of Durgā
There is nothing impossible in the three worlds.
He obtains wealth, crops, sons, wife, horses, and elephants;
He accomplishes the caturvarga,[529]
And gains lasting liberation.

15

Having worshipped the Devī Kumārī,[530]
And meditated upon Sureśvarī,[531]
The devotee should worship,[532]
And then read with devotion the 108 names of Durgā.
O Devī! such an one gains the fruition[533] which Devas have;
Kings become his servants,
And he obtains a kingdom and all prosperity.

16

He who, versed in the śāstric injunctions.
In accordance therewith, writes this mantra
With saffron mixed with cows’ pigment,[534] red lac,[535] camphor, and the three sweets,[536]
And then wears it, becomes himself Purāri.[537]

17

Whoever writes and then reads this hymn
On a Tuesday in Amāvāsya,[538]
At night, when the moon is in Śatabhiṣā,[539]
Attains all wealth and prosperity.

Tripuṭā (Tripuṭāstotram) From The Tantrasāra

Tripuṭā and Tripurā are separate Devīs, but the former is antargatā of Tripurā--that is, forms part, is included in, and a particular manifestation of Tripurā. In the same way the Devīs Ekajaṭa, Nīlasarasvatī, Ugratārā, Mahogrā, are each antargatā of Tārā.

1

I CONTEMPLATE the good Guru who is Light itself,[540]
Sitting with his Śakti[541]
In the lotus of the head,[542]
Two-armed, gracious, very gracious,
Whose moon-like face is full of grace,
Making with his hands the gestures which grant boons and dispel fear.[543]

2

Such as recite[544] thy primordial golden bīja

ŚRĪM,[545]
Attain all prosperity and fortune.

3

O Mother!
He who contemplates Thy second bīja,
Adorned by numbers of Devas,
“HRĪM,”[546]
Gains all prosperity.

4

The chiefs of men who meditate upon Thy bīja,
Lustrous as the sun,

“KLĪM,”[547]
Charm the three worlds,
And by recitation thereof become like unto Īśvara.

5

O beloved of the enemy of Smara![548]
Those who contemplate Thy body[549] thrice[550] and recite these three bījas[551]
Render their enemies speechless,
Lakṣmī shines in their house,
And they become the God of Love[552] to women.

6

The presiding Devatā of Speech
Blesses their mouth with poetry and prose.
Harmful animals cause them no harm,
Even the Suras[553] salute them.

Their feet are the head ornaments of kings,[554]
The siddhis[555] are in their hands,
Malignant stars relinquish them.

7

Let the Sādhaka meditate upon an eight-petalled lotus[556]
Set upon a throne studded with various gems,
Placed upon an altar
Standing on the floor of a jewelled house
Amidst a forest of Pārijāta trees.[557]

8

Let him then meditate upon two angles[558] in the lotus,
And the Devī Herself in the lotus as follows:
Her lustre is that of molten gold,
With earrings[559] on her ears,
Three-eyed, of beauteous throat,
Her face like the moon,
And bending from the weight of Her breasts.[560]

9

She holds in many arms, decked with diamonds and other gems,

Two lotuses, a noose,[561] bow, golden goad,[562] and flowery arrows.[563]
Her body is adorned with great jewels,
Slender is She of waist[564] and beautifully girdled.[565]

10

Her lotus feet glitter with beautiful anklets,[566]
Crowned, adorned, and gracious,
Holding two white fly-whisks,[567] a mirror, jewel-case,[568] and a box filled with camphor.[569]

11

Creatrix of the three worlds,
Destructress of the pain of the world,
Destructress and ruler of the world,
Ever full of Bliss,

Half of the letter Hā;[570] of the nature of the three-fold Bindu,[571]
The threefold Śakti,[572]
It is Her I worship.

12

The Sadhaka who, having thus for a long time contemplated Her
On a yantra[573] set before him,
And welcomed[574] her with great devotion,
Worshipping Her with Svayambhu flower[575]
Attains, even though he be of the lowest[576] siddhi[577] in the caturvarga.[578]

13

Whoever after having done worship[579]
Of Śrī,[580] Śrīpatī,[581] Pārvatī,[582] Īśvara,[583] Ratī,[584] and Kāmadeva,[585]
Together with the Ṣādanga Devatā[586] of the Devī,
Recites[587] the mantra on Thy yantra,[588]
Becomes a King among men.

14

Having worshipped the two nidhis,[589] Śankha and Padma,
On the two sides of the lotus,

And the Mahīṣīs,[590] regents of the quarters,[591] and their weapons,
Attains, even though he be of the most vile,[592] the eight siddhis[593] of Śiva.

15

Thou art the earth, Vidhātrī,[594] creatrix of the world;[595]
Thou art water, and in the form of Viṣṇu preserveth the world;
Thou art fire, and in the form of Rudra destroyeth the world;
Thou existeth in the form of Aiśvarya;[596]
Thou art the air of the world.

16

Thou art the primeval and auspicious one,[597]
Spouse of Śambhu,[598] refuge (of Thy worshippers).

Who ever moves in the Brahmarandhra[599] of the world
The supporter of all, yet Thyself without support.
The only pure One in the form of ether.[600]
O Bhavānī! be gracious to me.

17

Thou hast humbled the pride even of the Rṣis
By plunging them into the ocean of the world.
Thou art intelligence and bliss and light itself.[601]
How, then, can I know thee?
O Bhavānī! be gracious to me.

18

O Bhavānī! even an ignorant man[602]
Who, meditating on Thy form, recites[603] Thy mantra a lakh of times
Acquires all poetic power,
And those things in the three worlds which are most difficult of attainment.
O Bhavānī! be gracious to me.

19

Thou art that which supports[604] and that which is supported.[605]
Thou pervadeth the world,

And art in the form of the world which is pervaded by Thee.[606]
Thou art both negation[607] and existence.[608]
O Bhavānī! be gracious to me.

20

Thou art the atom[609] and ever-pervading.[610]
Thou art the whole universe.
No praise of Thee is sufficient.
Yet Thy qualities prompt me to sing Thy praise.
O Bhavānī! be gracious to me.

21

To him who reads and recites[611] at morn, noon, and evening
This most secret hymn,
There is nothing impossible in the three worlds, Such an one attains Thy nature.[612]
O Bhavānī! be gracious to me.

Hymns To The Devī From Purāṇa

Mother Of The Whole Universe (Sarvaviśvajananī) From The Devībhāgavata

First Skandha, (chap. ii.).

1

I call to mind the Mother of the whole universe,
Who has created this world, both real and unreal,[613]
And who, by Her own power with its three guṇas,[614]
Protects it, and having destroyed it, She then plays,[615]

2

Commonly is it said that Brahmā creates the universe,
Yet the learned in Veda and Purāṇā
Speak of His birth from the navel lotus of Murāri,[616]
Although it is said He creates, yet He is Himself dependent therein.[617]

3

Even Murāri in the blossom of whose navel lotus, Brahmā was born--
Deeply sleeps upon his serpent bed[618] at the time of dissolution.
Therefore Ananta with his thousand hoods is His support.
How can He who is Himself supported
Be called a leader[619] in the creation of the world?

4

Even the water of Ocean[620] which is a liquid substance
Cannot exist without a container; therefore[621]
I take refuge with Her, the Mother of all beings,

Who exists in all things in the form of Power.[622]

5

Brahmā in the lotus,
Seeing that the eyes of Viṣṇu were closed in deep slumber,[623]
Prayed to that Devī with whom I take shelter.[624]

Ambikā (Eleventh Māhātmya Of Caṇḍī)

Ambika (Mother)

When the great Lord of the Asuras was slain by the Devī, Indra and other Devas (Agni at their head), with shining faces, offered praise to Kātyāyanī, because of the fulfilment of their desire.

1

DEVĪ, Thou who removeth the pain of Thy suppliants,[625]
Be gracious, Be gracious, O Mother of the world!
Be gracious, O Queen of the universe!
Protect the universe.
Thou art, O Devī! the Iśvarī of all moving and unmoving things.[626]

2

Thou art the only support of the world,
Because Thou wert in the form of earth.
By Thee who existed in the form of water
Is the whole universe pervaded.
Thou art She whose powers are unsurpassed.

3

Thou art the Vaiṣṇavī Śakti[627] of eternal power;

Thou art the seed of the universe,
And the supreme Māyā.
All this universe has been bewitched by Thee.
Thou, when pleased, art the cause of salvation to men.

4

All sciences are parts of Thee,
As also all women without exception[628] throughout the world.[629]
By Thee alone, O Mother! is the universe filled.
How can we praise Thee?
Art thou not beyond all Praise of highest speech?

5

When,[630] O Devī![631] being in the form of the universe,
And bestowing heaven[632] and liberation,[633]
Thou art worshipped,
What words, howsoever sublime, suffice for Thy praise?

6

O Thou who existeth in the form of buddhi[634]
In the heart of all beings,
Who art Giver of heaven and liberation
O Devī Nārāyaṇi![635] salutation to Thee.

7

In the form of moments, minutes, and other fractions of time,
Thou art the cause of (worldly) change.
At the time of the dissolution of the universe
Thou art all-powerful.[636]
Nārāyaṇī all reverence to Thee.

8

O Auspicious One! auspicious with all auspiciousness,
Accomplisher of all successful things,
Giver of refuge, Three-eyed one;[637]
O Gaurī![638] O Nārāyaṇi! all reverence to Thee.

9

O Eternal One! who art the energy[639]
Of creation, maintenance, and destruction;

Who art the abode of the qualities,[640]
And are yet beyond them--[641]
O Nārāyaṇi! all reverence to Thee.

10

O Thou who ever savest those in poverty and pain,
Who take shelter with Thee!
O Remover of the pains of all!
Nārāyaṇi, all reverence to Thee.

11

Rider in an aerial car yoked with swans,[642]
Who assumed the form of Brāhmanī,[643]
Who sprinklest water in which kuśa grass[644] is steeped[645]--
Nārāyaṇī, all reverence to Thee.

12

Who holdeth trident, moon, and serpent,[646]
Riding on a great bull[647]
In the form of Maheśvarī[648]--
Nārāyaṇi, all reverence to Thee.

13

Who art attended by fowl and peacock.[649]
O faultless One!
Who holdeth a great śakti-weapon,[650]
And existeth in the form of Kaumārī,[651] --
Nārāyaṇi, all reverence to Thee.

14

Who holdeth Thy great implements,
Which are the conch, discus, mace, and bow;
Who art in the form of Vaiṣṇavī,[652]
Be gracious,
Nārāyaṇi, all reverence to Thee.

15

Who holdeth the formidable discus,
And hast uplifted the earth with Thy tusks[653]--
O auspicious One! in the form of a boar[654]--
Nārāyaṇi, all reverence to Thee.

16

O Thou who in the fierce man-lion form[655]
Didst put forth effort to slay the Daityas,

And who hast delivered the three worlds--
Nārāyaṇī, all reverence to Thee.

17

Who weareth a diadem and beareth a great thunder-bolt,
Who dazzles with Thy thousand eyes,[656]
Destructress of the life of Vritra,[657]
Who art Aindrī,
Nārāyaṇi, all reverence to Thee.

18

Who art in the form of Śivadūtī,[658]
Destructress of the great host of the Daityas,
Of terrible form and loud and terrible voice--
Nārāyaṇi, all reverence to Thee.

19

Whose visage is formidable with its teeth,
Adorned with a garland of severed heads--
O Cāmuṇḍā![659] is destructress of Muṇḍa[660]--
Nārāyaṇī, all reverence to Thee.

20

Lakṣmī, modesty, great knowledge,[661]
Faith (in śāstras), nourishment, svadhā;[662]
Truth, permanent and unchangeable;
Great night of dissolution, great nescience[663]--
Nārāyaṇī, all reverence to Thee.

21

Understanding,[664] Sarasvatī, the Best of all.
All Powers,[665] Spouse of Babhru,[666] Dark One,[667]
Primeval Śakti.[668] Be gracious, O Lady!
Nārāyāṇī, all reverence to Thee.

22

Who art in the form of all things,

Controller of all; who hast all power;
From the cause of all fear protect us, O Devī!
O Devī Durgā! reverence to Thee.

23

Beautiful is Thy face adorned with three eyes.
Guard us from all (formidable) beings.
O Kātyāyani![669]
Reverence to Thee.

24

May Thy trident most formidable with flame,
Slayer of countless Asuras,
Protect us from fear,
O Bhadrakāli![670]
Reverence to Thee.

25

May Thy bell which destroys the power of Daityas,
Filling the world with its sound,
Guard us from sin,
As a mother[671] protects her children!

26

May Thy sword glittering in Thy hands,
Besmeared with the blood and fat of Asuras as with mire,
Be for our welfare!
O Caṇḍikā; to Thee we bow.

27

Thou, when gratified, dost destroy all forms of disease;
But if displeased, Thou dost destroy all longed-for desires.
Such as take shelter with Thee need fear no danger,
Since they become verily a refuge to themselves.[672]

28

O Mother, who hast shown Thyself in many forms,
Who else than Thee is able to achieve
That destruction of the great Asuras,
Enemies of righteousness,[673]
Which Thou hast wrought to-day.

29

In the sciences,[674] in all scriptures,[675] and in the great sayings[676]
Which are the lamp of knowledge,[677]
Who else is there but Thee
Who makes this universe again and again[678] revolve

In the pit[679] of delusion[680] steeped in darkness.

30

Where there are Rākṣasas[681] and greatly poisonous serpents;
Where there are (armed) enemies;
Where there are highway robbers;
Where there is the forest and ocean[682] fire,
There abiding,[683] Thou dost guard the universe.

31

Queen of the universe art Thou and its guardian;
In the form of the universe Thou art its maintainer.
By the Lords[684] of the universe art Thou worshipped.
They, its supporters, have great devotion to Thee.[685]

32

O Devī! be gracious;
Ever protect us from the fear of enemies
As Thou hast just now saved us by the slaughter of the Asuras.

Make cease at once the sins of the whole world
And the great dangers which come of all portents.[686]

33

O Devī! who takest away the afflictions of the universe.
Be gracious to us who make obeisance to Thee.
O Thou who art worthy of all praise,
Grant boons to the dwellers in the three[687] worlds.[688]

Caṇḍikā, From The Fourth Or Shakrādi Mahātmya Of Caṇḍī

When the enemies of the Devas were vanquished by the Goddess, Shakra and the other Devas, bowing down before Her, their hair “erect with exultation,” thus sang Her praises.

1

May that Devī by whose power this world was spread,
The perfect form of the powers of countless Devas,[689]
The Mother[690] worshipped by Devas and Mahaṛṣis,[691]
Do good to us.

2

May that Caṇḍikā whose peerless majesty and power
Neither Bhagavān Ananta,[692] Brahmā, nor Hara[693] can declare,
Turn Herself towards us for the destruction of the fear of evil,
And the protection of the whole world.

3

We bow to Her who is good fortune itself in the dwellings of the virtuous,
Ill-fortune in those of the sinful,
Reason[694] in the hearts of the intelligent, faith in those of the good,
Modesty in that of the high born.
Protect, O Devī! this universe.

4

How can we describe Thy thought-transcending form,
Or, Thy greatly abounding strength which destroyed the Asuras,[695]
Or, O Devī! those great deeds of Thine
Done in battle midst hosts of Devas, Asuras, and others?

5

Thou art the cause of all the worlds,
Though Thy substance is the three guṇas,[696]
Yet is no fault known in thee.[697]
Incomprehensible art Thou even to Hari, Hara,[698] and other Devas,[699]

Thou art the refuge of all.
The whole world is but a part of Thee,[700]
Unmanifested,[701] primeval, supreme Prakṛti.[702]

6

O Devī! Thou art Svāhā,[703]
By the utterance whereof all Devas in all sacrifices are satisfied.
Thou art also declared by men to be Svadhā,
Which satisfies the pitṛs[704].

7

Thou, O Devī! whose great vrata[705] surpasses all thought,
Art the supreme knowledge full of power
Which is the cause of liberation
Ever sought to be gained by those Munis[706] desirous thereof,
Who have strictly controlled their senses and are free of all faults.[707]

8

Thou art in the form of sound.
The repository of spotless[708] Ṛg[709] and Yajus[710] hymns,
And of the Sāman[711] hymns wherein are the verses of the charmful Udgītha,[712]
Devī, Thou art the threefold Veda and Bhagavatī;[713]
For the maintenance of the world Thou art the science of Vartta;[714]
Thou art the supreme destroyer of its pains.[715]

9

O Devī! Thou art the power of understanding[716]
By Which the essence of all Śāstras is known;
Thou art Durgā,[717] the vessel wherein we cross the dangerous ocean of the world.
Devoid of attachment art Thou.[718]
Śrī[719] also, who hast made Thy abode in the heart of the enemy[720] of Kaiṭabha,[721]

Thou art indeed Gaurī,[722] who hast fixed Thy dwelling in the moon-crested Deva.[723]

10

Smiling spotless like unto the full moon,
Resplendent as the finest gold
And lovely was thy face.
Yet wonderful it was that swayed by wrath
The Asura Mahiṣa suddenly smote Thy face when he saw it.

11

Greatly marvellous indeed it was that when he had seen Thy face,
Wrathful, terribly frowning, beauteous as the rising moon,
Mahiṣa did not forthwith yield up his life,
For who can live after beholding the wrathful king of Death?[724]

12

O Devī, our supreme Lady
Be gracious for the sake of the world.
For when wrathful Thou dost suddenly destroy the generations of the enemies.[725]
It is but now made known to us
That the mighty army of the Asura Mahiṣa has met its end.

13

Those to whom Thou, O bestower of prosperity! art gracious,

Are esteemed in all lands,
Their wealth and fame increases,
And their dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa[726] know no lessening.
Praiseworthy are they maintaining sons, servants, and wives.

14

By thy grace, O Devī! the virtuous man, ever honoured,
Does ever daily all religious acts,
And thereafter gains heaven by Thy grace;[727]
Therefore art Thou of a surety the giver of fruit in the three worlds.

15

O Durgā; the remembrance of Thee destroyest the fear of all creatures,
When called to recollection by those in health Thou dost bestow a truly good mind.
O remover of poverty, pain, and fear,
Who but Thee art ever compassionate for the good of all.

16

By the slaying of these foes the world gains happiness.
O Devī! Thou hast slain them with the desire
That they should not always sin so as to merit hell,[728]
But that by death in battle they may go to Heaven.

17

Seeing them, why dost Thou not (by Thy look) turn them to ashes?
Thou throwest Thy weapon among the enemies, the Asuras,
In order that, being purified by it,
Even these enemies may go to heaven.
Such is Thy merciful intention even towards them.

18

If by the glittering, formidable flashes of Thy sword,
And by the lustre of Thy spear-point,
The eyes of the Asuras were not destroyed,
It was because they gazed on Thy countenance,
Like unto the radiant moon.

19

O Devī! Thy nature it is to subdue the evil works of the wicked.
Thy form, destructive of the strength of those who destroy the Devas,
Surpasses all thought, and is comparable with none.
By this Thou hast manifested Thy kindness even to enemies.

20

Devī! with whom may this Thy valour be compared,
Or Thy most charming form striking fear among foes?
In Thee only, bestower of boons, even upon three worlds,

Are seen both kindness of heart and relentlessness in battle.

21

By the destruction of their foes the three worlds have been saved by Thee,
Thou hast led even these to heaven,
Having slain them in the front of battle.
And hast dispelled the fear besetting us from the maddened enemies of the Devas.
Salutation to Thee, O Devī!

22

With Thy spear protect us, O Devī![729]
O Mother! protect us with Thy sword.
By the sound of Thy bell guard us,
And by the twanging of Thy bow-string
Protect us in the East and in the West,
Guard us, O Caṇḍikā! in the South,
And in the North by the brandishing of Thy spear.

23

Whatever gentle forms of Thine,
And whatever of Thy terrible forms Wander in the three worlds,
By these forms protect us and the earth.

24

O Mother! by Thy sword, spear, and club,

And other weapons, in Thy soft and supple hands,[730]
Guard us on every side.[731]

Mahādevī (From The Fifth Mahātmya Of Caṇḍī)

Here not the “Great Goddess,” but as Commentator Nagoji Bhatta (cited post as NḄ.) says, “The Goddess” (Devī) “of the great”--viz., Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, for it is by Her power that they enjoy their abode, and it is She whom even they worship--the Mother of all.

The Asuras Śumbha and Niśumbha bereft the Devas of their dominion whereupon the latter prayed to the Goddess for help as follows.

1

REVERENCE to the Devī,[732] to the Devī of the Great,[733]
To Her who is auspicious,[734] for ever reverence.
Reverence to Prakṛti[735] who maintains.[736]
Setting our minds wholly upon Her, we make obeisance to Her.

2

Reverence to Her who is eternal,[737] Raudrā,[738]
To Gaurī,[739] and Dhātrī,[740] reverence and again reverence,
To Her who is moonlight and in the form of the moon,[741]
To Her who is supreme bliss,[742] reverence for ever.

3

Bending low, we make obeisance to the auspicious One
Who is prosperity in the form of wealth,
To Siddhi,[743] Nairiti,[744] and to the good fortune of Kings.[745]
To Sarvānī[746] reverence, and again reverence.

4

To Durgā,[747] to Her who enables men to cross the ocean[748] of the world,
Who is the life and strength[749] and cause of all.
Knower of the distinction between Puruṣa and Prakṛti,[750]
And who is both black[751] and grey,[752] reverence for ever.

5

We prostrate ourselves before Thee, who art at once most gentle[753] and formidable,[754]
Reverence to Her, and again reverence;

Reverence to Her who is the material cause of the world,[755]
To the Devī,[756] who is in the form of action, reverence, and again reverence.

6

To the Devī who in all things is called Viṣṇumāyā,[757]
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.[758]

7

To the Devī who is known as intelligence[759] in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

8

To the Devī who dwells in the form of buddhi[760] in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

9

To the Devī who in the form of sleep abides[761] in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

10

To the Devī who exists in all beings in the form of hunger,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

11

To the Devī who exists in all beings in the form of cāyā,[762]
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

12

To the Devī who exists as energy[763] in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence,

13

To the Devī who exists in the form of thirst[764] in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

14

To the Devī who in the form of forgiveness[765] exists in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

15

To the Devī who exists in the form of race and species in all beings,[766]
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

16

To the Devī in the form of modesty in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

17

To the Devī existing in the form of peace[767] in all beings,

Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

18

To the Devī who exists in all beings in the form of faith,[768]
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

19

To the Devī existing in the form of beauty in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

20

To the Devī who exists in all beings in the form of prosperity,[769]
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

21

To the Devī who in all beings exists in the form of their respective callings,[770]
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

22

To the Devī who in the form of memory exists in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

23

To the Devī who in all beings exists in the form of mercy,[771]
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

24

To the Devī who in the form of contentment[772] exists in all beings,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

25

To the Devī who exists in all beings as (their) Mother,[773]
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

26

To the Devī who in the form of error[774] exists in all beings,

Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

27

Reverence to the Devī
Who is the Presiding Deity over the senses of all beings,
Who is ever in all beings,
And who pervades all things.

28

To the Devī who in the form of consciousness,[775]
Having pervaded all the world, exists therein,
Reverence to Her, reverence to Her,
Reverence to Her, reverence, reverence.

29

Praised aforetime by the Devas,
By reason of their obtaining that which they desired;
Worshipped by Surendra[776] on days of victory.
May the Īśvarī,[777] who is the cause of all good.
Do good and auspicious things for us,
And may She ward off all calamities.

30

And may She who is now saluted by us as our Queen,
As also by the Suras,[778] tormented by arrogant Asuras,[779]
Whom we call to mind
As we bow our bodies in devotion to Her,
Destroy at this very moment all our calamities.

Jagadambikā, From The Devībhāgavata Purāṇa

Mother of the world.

1

IT is by Thy power only
That Brahmā creates, Viṣṇu maintains,
And at the end of things Śiva destroys the universe.
Powerless are they for this but by Thy help.
Therefore it is that Thou alone art the Creatrix,
Maintainer, and Destructress of the world.[780]

2

Thou art fame, mind, remembrance,
And our refuge, the mountain-born,[781]
Companion, kindness, faith, and patience,
Earth, Kamalā,[782] health,[783] the arts, and victory,

Contentment, ever victorious,[784] Umā,[785] Ramā,[786]
True knowledge, and the highest buddhi.

3

Science, forgiveness, beauty, retentiveness art Thou,[787]
Who art Known in the three worlds as all in all.
Who is there that unaided by Thee can do ought?
Thou art the abode wherein all men dwell.[788]

4

Thou art the upholder.
Were Thou not so, how could the tortoise and serpent uphold the Earth?[789]
Thou art the Earth itself.
Were this not so, how could this weighty world rest on Ether?[790]

5

Those who through Thy māyā pray to Devas,
Such as[791] the four-headed One[792], Viṣṇu, Rudra,[793] Fire,

The White-rayed one[794] Yama,[795] Vāyu,[796] and Gaṇeśa[797]
Are indeed ignorant,[798]
For can these do anything without Thy power?[799]

6

O Mother! those who do homa,[800] with ghee on fire,
With great ceremony in the name of the Devas,
Are of but small intelligence.[801]
If Thou art not svāhā,[802] then how can they make sacrifice?
Do they not worship Thee?
If not they are ignorant.[803]

7

In this world Thou art the giver of enjoyment
To things which move and are still.[804]
Thou givest life to all things being as they are parts of Thee.

O Mother! as Thou nourisheth all Thy Suras,[805]
So also dost Thou nourish others.

8

O Mother! as men who are of good heart,
Never for the mere pleasure thereof
Cut down leafless and bitter (fruited) trees
Which have sprung up in the forest.
Therefore Thou dost even greatly protect the Daityas.[806]

9

Though Thou slayest in the battlefield with Thy arrows the enemies,
Knowing their desire for amorous play with celestial women,[807]
Yet such is Thy nature that even then Thou showest kindness to them.
For Thou so slayest them
That in another body[808] they may obtain fulfilment of their desires.

10

Most wonderful it is that Thou hast assumed body
For the destruction of the Dānavas,[809] famed for their power,
When Thou mightest have slain them by Thy mere will.
The cause of this is Thy play[810] and nothing else,[811]

11

Alas! of a verity unhappy are they
Who when the Kālī age, the worst of ages, has come,
Do not worship Thee.
Men cunning and skilled in the Purāṇas
Have made the people devoted to the worship of Hari and Śankara,[812]
Who are but Thy creatures.[813]

12

Those who worship with devotion Devas,
Though they know that they are distressed, harassed by Asuras, and subject to Thy control,
Are of a surety like unto a man

Who with, the light of a clear lamp in his hands,
Yet falls into some waterless and terrible well.[814]

13

O Mother! Thou art the remover of the pains which arise from birth,
And art known by those desirous of liberation
As the giver of happiness when Thou art vidyā,[815]
And of unhappiness when Thou art avidyā,[816]
Surely it is only the ignorant who do not worship Thee,
Such as are attached to enjoyment without wisdom.[817]

14

Even Brahmā, Hara, and Hari, as all other Suras,[818]
Ever worship Thy lotus feet, which are our refuge.
But those who are of small intelligence and beset with error
Do not worship Thee.
And so ever repeatedly fall into the ocean of the world.[819]

15

O Caṇḍī![820] it is most surely by the favour of the dust on Thy lotus feet
That Brahmā in the beginning of things creates, Shauri[821] protects, and Hara[822] destroys the whole world.
He is indeed unfortunate
Who in this world does not worship Thee.

16

O Devī! Thou art the Devatā of speech of both Suras and Asuras.
Without power of speech are even the foremost of Devas
When Thou abidest not in them.
If men do speak, it is because they are not deprived of Thee.[823]

17

Hari,[824] when cursed by the greatly angered Bhrigu,[825]

Became Fish, Tortoise, Boar, and Man-lion,[826] and Dwarf.[827]
How can those who worship Him
Escape the fire of death?

18

As is well-known, the linga of Śambhu[828] in the forest
Fell on earth in like manner by the curse of Bhrigu.
How can those, O Mother! who on earth worship Him[829] who holds a skull
Attain to happiness either in this world or the next?

19

They who worship the elephant-faced Lord of Ganas,[830]
Who was born of Maheśa,
With Him in vain take shelter.
They know Thee not, O Devī! Mother of the Universe,
Who art easy of worship[831] and the giver of the fruit of all desires.

20

Wonderful it is that through Thy compassion
Even the multitude of enemies slain by Thy sharpened arrows
Have thus been made to reach Heaven.
For had they not been so slain
Calamities and the most painful of painful states would they have suffered
In that hell which is the result of their (evil) karma.

21

Even Brahmā, Hara, and Hari
From pride[832] know not Thy power.
How, then, are others able to know it,
Bewildered as they are by Thy (three) guṇas of incomparable power?[833]

22

Even Munis[834] suffer, who, being ignorant (of Thee).
Do not adore Thy thought-transcending lotus feet,
And are set upon the worship of sun and fire.[835]
By them, even though they read hundreds of Śruti,[836]

The Supreme object of desire[837] is not known, which is the essence of all Vedas.

23

Methinks it is Thy (three) guṇas,
The power of which is so famed on earth,
Which makes men turn away from devotion (to Thee),
And attaches them to Viṣṇu, Īśa,[838] Bhāskara,[839] Gaṇeśa,
By (the teaching of) various Āgamas[840] of their own devising.[841]

24

O Ambikā! (so great is Thy mercy)
That Thou art not angry with,
But showest kindness to, and maketh greatly prosperous
Even those who, skilful in the mantra of delusion,[842]

Make the best of men[843] turn away from Thy feet
By Agamas made by themselves,[844]
Teaching of devotion to Hari and Hara.[845]

25

In the Satya age[846] the sattva guṇa[847] was very powerful,
Therefore there were no Asadāgamas.[848]
But in the Kalī age learned folk conceal Thee (from the people).
And adore those Devas imagined by them (to be objects of worship).[849]

26

Munis,[850] in whom the sattva guṇa[851] is very pure,
Meditate upon Thee,
Who art the giver on earth of the fruit of liberation,
Who art perfect in yoga[852] and the supreme knowledge.
Such never again suffer pain in the womb of a mother.[853]
They are only praiseworthy who are absorbed in Thee.

27

Cītśakti[854] is in Paramātmā,
Therefore also it is manifested[855] in the world,
Wherein it is known as the cause of its creation, maintenance, and destruction.[856]

Who else in this world without Thee and of his own power
Is able to create, move and destroy?[857]

28

O Mother of the world!
Can the Tattvas,[858] deprived of Cit,[859] create the world?
They are lifeless things.[860]
O Devī! can the indriyas[861] with their objects and functions,[862]
Bear fruit without Thee?

29

O Mother! had you not as Svāhā[863] been the cause thereof,
Even the Devas could not have obtained their enjoined own portion,
Offered in sacrificial rites by Munis[864].

Therefore Thou maintainest the whole world.[865]

30

By Thee all this universe was in the beginning of things created;
Thou protecteth the Regents of the Quarters among whom Hari and Hara are foremost.
At the dissolution of things Thou devourest the whole universe.
That which has been done by Thee from the creation
Even Devas[866] know not.
What, then, shall we say of unfortunate men?

31

O Mother! Thou hast by slaying the greatly formidable Asura,
Who assumed the form of a buffalo,[867]
Protected the Devas.
Even the Vedas know Thee not as Thou really art.[868]
Small of intellect as we are how can we praise Thee?

32

O Mother! Thou hast accomplished a great work In destroying this wicked foe of ours,
A thorn painful beyond all thought
(In the side of) the whole world.

Thy fame will spread throughout the whole universe.
Do Thou, whose power is known to be incomparable,
By Thy mercy protect us.[869]

Hymns To The Devī From Mahābhārata

Durgā (Mahābhārata Virāṭa Parvan)

Chap, VI., sung by Yudhiṣthira, when on the way to the City of Virāṭa.

SALUTATION to Thee, O giver of blessings,
Dark[870] Virgin,[871] observant of the vow of chastity,[872]
Whose form is beauteous as that of the rising sun,
And Thy face as that of the full moon;
Four-armed and faced art Thou.
Wide-hipped, full-breasted,[873]
Wearing emerald sapphire bangles and armlets;
Thou art resplendent as Padmā,[874] Spouse of Nārāyaṇa,[875]
And rangest the ethereal regions.
Thy form and chastity[876] are of the purest.
Dark art Thou like the blue-black cloud,
Whose face is beauteous as that of Saṁkarṣaṇa.[877]
Long are Thy two arms, as it were bannered poles in honour of Indra.[878]

Thou bearest in Thy six other arms
A vessel, lotus, bell, noose, bow, a great discus,[879] and other weapons.
Purest woman art Thou on earth.[880]
Thy well-formed ears are decked with beautiful earrings.
Thy face challenges the moon in beauty.
Wonderful is Thy crown, and beautiful is the braid (of Thy hair).
Thy body is like that of a serpent[881]
Thou glitterest with brilliant girdle round Thy hips,
And shinest like Mount Mandara encircled by the snake.[882]
With standing peacock feathers on Thy head, Thou art resplendent.
By Thy vow of virginity Thou hast maintained heaven.[883]
It is for this, O slayer of the Asura Mahiṣa,[884]
That Thou art praised and worshipped by the Devas for the protection of the three worlds.[885]
Foremost of Devas, be gracious to me;

Show me Thy mercy, and be auspicious.[886]
Both Jaya and Vijayā[887] art Thou.
Thou givest victory in battle;
Give me, too, victory, O Devī!
Give me now a boon.
Thy constant abode is on the Vindhya, the fore-most of mountains.
O Kālī! O Kālī! O Mahākālī![888]
Thou delightest in wine, meat, and animal sacrifice,[889]
Bestowing boons, going whithersoever Thou wilt.
Thou art ever followed by Brahmā[890] and other Devas,
By those who call upon Thee to lighten their burdens.
As by those who salute Thee at dawn of day.
Nothing is unattainable either by way of wealth or children
Thou art called Durgā by all because Thou savest men from difficulty.[891]
Whether in dangerous lands or sinking in the great ocean,
Thou art the sole refuge of men.
When assailed by robbers, when crossing streams and seas,
As also in wildernesses and great forests,

Those who remember Thee, O Mahādevī! are never lost.
Thou art fame, prosperity, constancy, success, and modesty,
Intelligence, knowledge, and man’s offspring.
Thou art the two twilights,[892]
Night, the light of sun and moon,
Sleep, beauty, forgiveness, and mercy.
Thou, when worshipped by Thy devotees, destroyest
Ignorance, man’s fetters, loss of children and wealth, disease and fear of death.
I who have lost my kingdom seek Thy protection.
I bow to Thee, Sureśvarī, with bended head:
Grant me protection,
Thou whose eyes are like the leaf of the lotus.
O Thou who art truth itself, be true to us.
O Durgā! give me shelter,

Who art merciful to Thy devotees, protect me.[893]

Āryā, From The Harivamśā

The sacred hymn as sung in ancient times by Ṛṣis, related in chap. lviii of the Harivamśa, a sequel of the Mahābhārata.

THOU art liberation,[894] prosperity, life,[895]
Fame, modesty, and learning, reverence and intelligence,
Twilight,[896] night, lustrous day,
Sleep and the night of death,[897]
Āryā, Kātyāyanī, Kauśikī,[898]
Observant of brahmacarya,[899]
Mother of the leader of the celestial hosts,[900]
Formidable one,[901]
She who undergoes great austerities[902]

Jaya and Vijayā,[903]
Contentment, nourishment, forgiveness, mercy, eldest sister of Yama,[904] clad in blue silken raiment,
Of various form,[905] without form, having many forms.[906] With red, half-opened eyes.[907]
Large-eyed protectress of Thy votaries.
O Goddess! Thou resideth on the peaks of fearful mountains, by rivers, and in caves, forests, and groves.
Greatly worshipped by the Śavara, Varvara, and Pulinda tribesmen,[908]
Thou traverseth in all directions of the world
With peacock-feathered flags.
Thou livest on the Vindhya mountain,
Surrounded by fowls, goats, sheep, lions, and tigers,
Amidst the constant ringing of bells.[909]
Thou holdest the trident and spear.[910]

Sun and moon are Thy banners.
Thou art the ninth day of the dark half of the month,
And the eleventh day of the light half thereof.[911]
Baladeva’s[912] sister art Thou, glorious one,[913]
Fond of warring[914] (with demons),
Abode of all creatures.
Thou art death,[915] and the supreme end[916] of men,
Daughter of the cowherd Nanda,[917]
Unconquered,
Wearing bark and good cloth;
Raudrī,[918] twilight,[919]
With dishevelled hair,[920]
And who art death,
Fond art Thou of offerings of wine and flesh.[921]
Thou art Lakṣmī,[922]
And assumest the form of Alakṣmī[923] for the destruction of Dānavas,[924]
Thou art Sāvitri[925] of the Vedas,
Mother of Mantras.[926]
Thou art the Dakṣinā[927] of the ṛtvik,[928] and art in the altars of sacrificial rites,
And the religious sense[929] of Ṛṣis.
Thou art Aditi of Devas.[930]
Plough of cultivators, earth of all creatures,
The success of merchants who fare in big ships,[931]
The coast of ocean,
And foremost Yakṣi of the Yakṣas,[932]
Surasā of Nāgās,[933]
Virginity[934] of maidens and good fortune of women,
Knower of the knowledge of Brahman,[935]
Initiation and supreme beauty,
Lustre of light, Rohinī[936] of planets.
Lakshmī, most successful art Thou in courts and fortresses,
In the confluence of rivers and in the full moon.
Thou art called Krittivāsa.[937]

Thou art Sarasvatī in the works of Vālmīki,[938]
Memory in those of Dvaipāyana,[939]
Religious sense of Ṛṣis and (perfect) mind of Devas.[940]
Thou art the Goddess of wine,[941]
Adored art Thou by Thy creatures for Thy deeds.
Thou art the charming look of Indra,
And art the thousand-eyed[942],
Devī of ascetics,
Āranī [943] of Agnihotra Brāhmaṇas,[944]
Hunger of all creatures,
Who satisfieth those in heaven.
Thou art Svāhā,[945]
Contentment, patience,
Receptacle of the Vasus,[946] hope of men,
Contentment which comes of work fully done;

All the quarters and their opposites,[947]
Flame of fire, lustrous Sakunī,[948]
Pūtanā,[949] the terrible Revatī,[950]
Overpowering sleep of all beings,
Warrior.[951]
Of learning Thou art, Brahmavidyā,[952]
Om and Vaṣat.[953]
The Ṛṣis know Thee as Pārvati amongst women.
As Prajāpati[954] has said, Thou art Arundhatī[955] amongst women, with but one husband.[956]
The difference of disputants.[957]
Famous also art Thou as Indrāṇī[958]
This universe, mobile and immobile, is permeated by Thee.
Without a doubt Thou art saviour in all battles.
Amidst fires and on the banks of rivers,
Amidst robbers, in forests and caverns,
When in prison or when assailed by enemies,
And in all times and places where life is in peril.

My heart, my reason, and mind are devoted to Thee.
Deliver me from all sins. Be gracious to me.
Whoever rising at dawn reads[959] for the space of three months
This sacred hymn to Devī compiled by Vyāsa,
Being himself pure and of controlled mind.
Obtains the desired fruit.
Whoever reads it for six months, to him also
The desired fruit is given. Such as read it for nine months obtain celestial vision, and he who reads it for one year gains all such success[960] as man may desire.
O Devī! as was said by Dvaipāyana, Thou art the supreme divine Brahman.
Thou destroyest the bonds and the fearful destruction of men,
The loss of children and wealth, fear of death and disease.
Thou art in the form of desire, and dost grant the objects thereof.
Having deluded Kamsa, Thou enjoyest the whole world,
And I also shall live as a cowherd among kine;
To accomplish my work I shall become a cowherd of Kamsa.[961]

Durgā, From The Mahābhārata

1

I SALUTE Thee, leader of Yogis,[962] one with the Brahman,[963]
Dweller in the Mandāra forest.
Virgin,[964] Kālī, Spouse of Kāpāla,[965] of tawny hue.[966]
Salutation to Thee, Bhadrakālī.[967]
Reverence to Thee, Mahākāli,[968]

Caṇḍī,[969] Fearless one.[970] Salutation to Thee, Saviour[971] imbued with all good fortune.[972]

2

Of the race of Kata[973] greatly worshipful,
Dreadful one,[974] Giver of victory,[975] Victrix,[976]
Who holdeth a peacock’s tail for Thy banner,
And art adorned with various jewels,
Bearing formidable spear, sword, and shield (made of skin).
Younger Sister of the chief of cowherds,[977]
Eldest one,[978] born in the family of the cowherd Nanda,[979]
Delighting in the blood of Mahiṣa,[980]

Kauśikī,[981] wearing yellow garments.

3

With auspicious smile,
Whose mouth devoured all demons,[982]
Salutation to Thee, delighter in battle.
Umā,[983] giver of shāka,[984]
In the form of Maheśvara,[985] and in that of Vāsudeva,[986]
Destructress of Kaitabha,[987]
Golden-eyed, with half-opened eyes[988], grey-eyed,[989]
Veda and Śruti,[990] and most sacred.
Propitious to Brāhmanas engaged in the sacrificial rites,
Thou art Jātaveda,[991]
And art ever present in the sacred shrines[992] in the chief cities of Jambudvīpa.[993]

4

Of Sciences Thou art the knowledge of Brahman,
Thou art the liberation of embodied beings,[994]
Mother of Skanda.[995]
O Bhagavatī Durgā![996] Thou liveth in inaccessible regions--
Svāhā,[997] Svadhā,[998] Kalā, and Kāṣṭḥā,[999]
Sarasvatī,[1000] Savitrī.[1001]
Mother of Vedas and Vedānta[1002] art Thou called.
I praise Thee from the pure depth of my heart.
By Thy favour let us be victorious in battle.
Ever dost Thou abide in inaccessible regions,
In places full of fear and difficulty;
In the houses of Thy devotees, and in Pātāla.[1003]
In battle Thou conquereth the Dānavas.

Thou art drowsiness[1004] and slumber.[1005]

5

Thou hast power to show wonderfully the world,[1006]
Modesty,[1007] and beauty.[1008]
Cause of creation and destruction,[1009]
Creatrix,[1010] Mother,[1011] contentment, nourishment, constancy,
Light, Supportress of the sun and moon,
Power[1012] of Him who possesses power,[1013]
In ecstasy[1014] Thou art perceived by Siddhas and Cāranas.[1015]

Hymns To The Devī From Śankarācārya

Tripurasundarī (Tripurasundarīstotra)

1

I SEEK refuge with Tripurasundarī,[1016]
Who wanders in the Kadamba forest;[1017]
The spouse of the Three-eyed One,[1018]
Bank of cloud (in the sky of the heart) of numbers of sages,[1019]

Whose hips defeat the mountain by their greatness.[1020]
Who is served by celestial women,
Whose eyes are like the newly blown lotus,
And who is dark as the colour of a freshly formed rain-cloud.[1021]

2

I seek refuge with Tripurasundarī,
The Spouse of the Three-eyed One,
Who dwells in the Kadamba forest,
And who is ever wandering;
The Large-eyed One who holds a golden vīnā,[1022]
Wearing a necklace of priceless gems,
Whose face is glowing with wine,[1023]
And who of Her mercy grants prosperity to Her devotees.

3

Ever are we protected by Her whose abode is the Kadamba forest,
The weight of whose breasts are garlanded with glittering gems,
Whose breasts are rising,[1024]

And excel the mountain in greatness;
Whose cheeks are flushed with wine,[1025]
Ever singing sweet songs; the playful one,[1026] dark as a cloud,
Ever compassionate to all.

4

I seek refuge with Tripurasundarī,
The Spouse of the Three-eyed One,
Who stays in the Kadamba forest,
Who is seated in the golden circle and dwells in the six lotuses,[1027]
Ever revealing like lightning the great power (of devotees),[1028]
Whose beauty is like that of the Jaba flower,[1029]
And whose brow is adorned with the full moon.

5

I take refuge with Her, the sweet speaker,
Daughter of the sage Matanga,[1030]

Whose breast is adorned with the vinā.[1031]
And whose head is beauteous with locks of curling hair;
Who dwells in the lotus;[1032]
The destroyer of the wicked,
Whose eyes are reddened with wine;[1033]
The charmer of the enemy of the God of Love.[1034]

6

I take refuge with Tripurasundarī,
The Spouse of the Three-eyed One,
Who should be meditated upon as in the first flush of Her nubile youth,[1035]
Her blue garment stained with drops of blood.[1036]
Holding the wine-cup,[1037]
Her eyes rolling with wine;[1038]

With heavy, high, and close-set breasts,[1039]
Dark of colour, and with dishevelled hair.[1040]

9

At time of recitation I remember the Mother,
Lustrous as the scarlet hibiscus,[1041]
Her body pasted with saffron and sandal,
Her hair kissed by musk;[1042]
The Mother with smiling eyes,[1043]
With red garland, ornaments, and raiment,
Who holds the arrow, bow, noose, and goad;[1044]
The charmer[1045] of countless men.

8

I worship the World-Mother
Who is served by celestial women,
The Spouse of Indra,
Skilful in plaiting hair;[1046]
The devoted Spouse of Brahmā,
Anointed with sandal paste;
The Spouse of Viṣṇu,
Adorned with pleasing ornaments.

Gangā (Gangāṣṭakam)

1

O BHAGAVATĪ GANGĀ![1047]
Thou art the playful garland on the head of Hara;[1048]
Such as but touch a drop of the spray of Thy waters
Recline on the lap of the fan-holding women of the city of the immortals,[1049]
Freed of the fear arising from the sinful Kālī age.[1050]

2

(O Devī Gangā!) may you purify us,
Thou who separateth the earth from Heaven,[1051]
Gladdening the creeper-like matted hair on the head of Hara,
Descending from the region of heaven,
Oozing from out the cave of the golden mountain,[1052]
Falling upon the surface of the earth,

Purifier (as the River Mandākinī) of the city of the Devas,
Who art the powerful Destructress of the multitude of men’s sins.

3

The trunks of elephants and their young make play with Thy waters,
Fragrant with ichor-maddened swarms of bees,
Trickling from the temples of elephants bathing therein.
Thy stream is browned with the sandal paste
Dropping from the breasts of Siddha women[1053] who bathe therein.
And nigh the river bank Thy water is strewn with Kuśa[1054] grass and flowers,
There thrown by sages[1055] at morn and even.[1056]
May the water of the Ganges protect us!

4

This divine sin-destroying Bhāgīrathī[1057] now on earth
Was in the beginning water in the vessel[1058] of the Primeval Grandfather.[1059]
Then it was pure water from the feet of the Lord (Viṣṇu),

Who sleeps on the serpent.[1060]
Again it was the gem adorning the matted hair of Śiva,
And, lastly, the daughter of the great sage Jahnu.[1061]

5

May the entrancing[1062] Gangā falling on the matted hair[1063] of Hara,[1064]
Descending from the Lord of Mountains,
Moving sinuously like a serpent to the ocean,
Flowing by the city of Kāśī,[1065]
Dispeller of countless worldly fears,[1066]
Saviour of those who bathe in Her waters,
Be ever victorious.

6

How can he who has seen Thy wave be bound by illusion?

To him who has drunk of Thy water thou givest a dwelling in the city of the yellow-clad Deva.[1067]
O Gangā! what time the bodies of those who assume body[1068] fall on Thy lap,[1069]
For such, O Mother,[1070] even Shatakrīta’s[1071] grandeur[1072] is but a small thing.

7

O Bhagavatī![1073] on Thy bank I drink Thy water only.
I worship Kṛṣṇa, all thirst for worldly enjoyment having gone.
Destroyer of all sin, Whose companionship is the stairway to Heaven,[1074]
O Devī! Gangā of lightsome, tremulous wave,
Be gracious to me.

8

O Mother! O Spouse of Śambhu![1075]
Who art ever associated with Śambhu
At death, upon Thy banks, with my hands folded upon my head,

Remembering Thy name and the feet of Nārāyaṇa,[1076]
May my devotion to Hara and Hari[1077] ever endure
At the time of the festival of life’s departure![1078]
He who of pure mind reads this sacred eight-versed hymn to Gangā
Will be wholly released of all sin
And will go the region of Viṣṇu.[1079]

Waves Of Bliss (Ānandalaharī)

1

O BHAVĀNĪ,[1080] the four-headed Lord of creatures,[1081] is not able to worship Thee,
Nor even the five-headed destroyer of the Tripurā,[1082]
Nor the six-headed commander of the celestial hosts,[1083]
Nor even the thousand-headed Lord of serpents.[1084]
If, then, they cannot, tell me who else is able so to do?

2

O Devī! how can we speak of Thy qualities,
Which are not to be described by any Nigama,[1085]
As the sweetness of ghee,[1086]  milk, the grape, and honey

Cannot be distinguished and described by words,
But may be perceived by the tongue only;
In like manner Thy beauty can be seen only by the eyes of Parameśvara.[1087]

3

We ever pray to Thee, O Gaurī!
Youthful daughter of the Lord of mountains.
Beautiful is the betel[1088] in Thy mouth
And the collyrium on Thy eyes;
Beautiful, too, are the saffron on Thy forehead,
The necklet of pearls on Thy throat,
Thy silken garment and the glittering gold waist-ornament on Thy large hips.[1089]

4

May Bhagavatī,[1090] Satī,[1091] whose lotus eyes sparkle,[1092]
Spouse of Śambhu,[1093] on the slope of whose breasts
Rests a beautiful garland of the flowers of the Mandāra tree,[1094]
Whose earring is the pleasing sound from the vīnā,[1095]

Who stoops (from the weight of her breasts),[1096]
Whose beautiful swaying gait is that of the female elephant[1097]--
May that Bhagavatī be ever victorious!

5

O beauteous Aparṇā![1098]
Bestow the fulness of happiness on me,
Thou whose limbs art covered
With ornaments of gold and gems glittering like the newly risen sun,
Whose eyes are beautiful as those of a doe,
Of whom Śiva is a part,[1099]
Who is of the golden colour of lightning,
Beauteous in yellow garments and tinkling anklets.

6

Shines forth does the Devī born in the snowy mountains.[1100]

Her beautiful hands are like a red leaf.[1101]
She is adorned with beautiful flowers and pearls.
Her head, by its weight of hair, seems covered by a swarm of bees.[1102]
It is She with whom Śiva seeks shelter,
Who stoops from the weight of Her breasts,[1103]
Whose words are sweet,
The Destructress of ills,[1104]
Ever and in all places pervading,[1105]
Tender creeper[1106] of Intelligence and Bliss.[1107]

7

Others worship with reverence the plant with leaves and particular qualities,
But I know that Aparṇā alone in this world should be worshipped.[1108]
Then the old Śiva garmented with space

Surely grants to Thy worshipper the fruit of full liberation.[1109]

8

Thou art the Mother of all Vedas,
The regulator of all dharmas[1110]
And the root of all wealth--
Thou whose lotus feet are worshipped even by the wealth-giver.[1111]
O Mother! Thou art the primal cause of all desires.
Victrix of Kandarpa,[1112] Thou art the seed of liberation for the good.[1113]
Thou art the Spouse of the Parabrahman.[1114]

9

Although my mind be fickle and wanting in great devotion to Thee,
Yet by Thy mercy Thou should look auspiciously upon me.
The cloud gives sweet water to the mouth of the Cātaka[1115] bird.

I know not by what (good) fate my mind is directed.[1116]

10

O virtuous One, from the corner of Thine eyes
Cast now a glance of kindness upon me;
Neglect so to do is not proper on Thy part,
Seeing that I have reached the refuge of Thy initiation.
Alas! the creeper of desire,[1117] whose very name shows that it gives desire,
Yet cannot give that which is desired,
What difference is there between it and any other common creeper?

11

I, though I have sought refuge with other Devatās,
Have yet placed full trust in Thy lotus feet.
If, nevertheless, your heart is not timely set on me,
Then with whom shall I in my helplessness seek shelter,
O Mother of the big-bellied one![1118]

12

As iron touched by the touchstone becomes at once gold,

As the water of the roadway mixed with that of the Ganges becomes pure,
In like manner will not my heart,
Greatly soiled though it be by my great sins[1119]
Become pure if attached with devotion to Thee?

13

O Īśānī,[1120] as the old Lotus-Born[1121] and others have said,
The rule is that if others than Thyself art worshipped,
Only the particular fruit desired is gained;
But Thou giveth more even than is asked for.
Make me, then, ever attached to Thee by day and night.

14

O Spouse of the great Lord of the three worlds!
Most pleasant is Thy abode,
The walls whereof glitter with various gems and crystals,
Whereon Thy image is reflected.
On the summit of Thy abode the quivering light waves of the moon (are shed).
Therein dwell Mukunda,[1122] Brahmā, and other Devas.
It is ever victorious.

15

Thy dwelling is in Mount Kailāsa.[1123]
Thy worshippers are Brahmā, Indra, and other Devas.
All are subservient to Thee in the three regions.
The number of siddhis[1124] join their palms (in adoration before Thee.).
Śiva is Thy lover;
Therefore, O Daughter of the Lord of mountains[1125]
Nothing is equal to Thy fortune.

16

The old bull is (Śiva’s) carrier.
Poison is his food; space is his dwelling;
The cremation ground is his playground;[1126]
Serpents are his ornaments.

All things in the world are known to the enemy of Smara;[1127]
But the wealth of all this is due to the greatness of Thy fortune,
O Mother!

17

The Lord of Paśus,[1128] besmeared with ashes, sits in the cremation ground.
From his nature arises the force which destroys the world.
Out of compassion for the whole world, He held the poison in his throat.
O Kalyāṇi![1129] in all this I see the fruit of his companionship with Thee.

18

O Daughter of the mountain,
When Gangā had seen Thy great beauty,
She was afraid,[1130] and turned to water;
Then Śiva, seeing her sad, lotus-like face,
In his mercy made a dwelling for Her on his own head.[1131]

19

O Bhagavatī, the Creator having with his own hands taken Thy bathing water
Mingled with liquid sandal, musk, saffron, and flowers,
And the dust of Thy moving feet,
Created therewith the lotus-eyed women of the city of the Devas.[1132]

20

If one but contemplates Thee, in play with Thy maidens,
In pleasing springtide with its flowers and creepers
Upon the lake, beautiful with many a blossoming lotus and flocks of geese,
The waters of which are rippled by the breeze from the Malaya mountain,
From such an one all fevered ills[1133] pass away.

Yamuna (Yamunāṣṭakam)

The river sacred in particular for its memories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who on its banks sported with the cowherd women (Gopīs).

1

MAY the daughter of Kalinda[1134] ever cleanse my mind of its impurity,
She whose waters, beauteous as the black body of the enemy[1135] of Mura,[1136]
Cleanse the overgrowth of plants[1137] and shrubs which line its pleasant banks.
Indra’s heaven compared with Thy waters is but a thing of straw.
Destructress of the sorrow of the three worlds--
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.[1138]

2

May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity,
She whose stream is highly adorned with over-flowing water
Destructress of sin, dark as night, like unto nectar,

Greatly powerful for the destruction of all great sins,
Beneficent One who is black of colour,
Through company with the body of the good son of Nanda[1139]
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.

3

May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity,
The touch of whose shining waves washes away the sins of multitudes of beings.
Devoted to Thee is the Cātaka bird, receptacle
that Thou art of freshness and sweetness.[1140]
Giver of desire,
On the borders of whose banks swans ever dwell,
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.

4

May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity.
The gentle breeze on Her banks dispels the lassitude
Of those who have rambled and played[1141] thereon.
The beauty of Her waters is beyond the power of words;
It is, indeed, the consortment with Her current,

Which purifies all rivers, male and female,[1142] on the earth.
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā,

5

May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity,
Destroyed by (the whiteness of) Her sandy banks laved by Her waters;
She who is ever white,[1143]
Adorned with blossoms beauteous as the rays of the autumn moon.[1144]
May She then purify me by Her waters,
Most excellent that they are for the worship of Bhava,[1145]
(By her white splendour),[1146] Destructress of the darkness of night[1147]
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.

6

May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity.
The paste and unguents of the beauteous Rādhikā[1148]
Colours Her waters in which Rādhikā plays.

Possessor is She of the body of the husband[1149] of Rādhikā,
Which by none other may be possessed.
Skilled is She in making Her way through the seven sleeping oceans,
And in filling them with waters[1150]--
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.

7

May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity!
Her stream is beauteous with the women of the cowherds,[1151]
Made passionate[1152] by the scent of the paste and unguent,
Dropped therein from off the body of Acyuta,[1153]
Garlanded is She with clusters of Champak flowers,

Set in the flowing[1154] hair of Rādhikā.
Of all such as come to bathe in Her waters
Neither is one the servant nor the other master.[1155]
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.

8

May the daughter of Kalinda ever cleanse my mind of its impurity!
Pleasant always is She with groves,
Where Nandanandi[1156] ever played.[1157]
Bright is She with the ripened blossom
Of the kadamba[1158] and mallika[1159] flowers upon Her banks.
It is She who safely carries across the ocean of the world
All such men as bathe in Her stream.
Dhunotu me manomalam Kalindanandinī sadā.

‘‘May The Devi Grant Me Pardon’’ (Devi Aparāda Kṣamāpana Stotra)

1

ALAS! I know not either Thy mantra[1160] or yantra,[1161]
Nor how to welcome Thee,[1162]
Or how to meditate upon, nor words of prayer to Thee,
Nor do I know Thy mudrā,[1163]

Or how to lay before Thee my griefs;
But this I know, O Mother!
That to follow Thee is to remove all my pain.

2

By my ignorance of Thy commands.
By my poverty[1164] and sloth,
I had not the power to do that which I should have done,
Hence my omission to worship Thy feet.
But, O Mother! auspicious Deliverer of all.
All this should be forgiven,
For a bad son may sometimes be born, but a bad mother never.[1165]

3

O Mother! Thou hast many worthy sons on earth,
But I, your son, am of no worth;
Yet it is not meet that Thou should’st abandon me,
For a bad son may sometimes be born, but a bad mother never.

4

O Mother of the world, O Mother!
I have not worshipped Thy feet,
Nor have I given abundant wealth to Thee;
Yet the affection which Thou bestoweth on me is without compare,
For a bad son may sometimes be born, but a bad mother never.

5

I have abandoned the worship of other Devas

Because of the variety and confusion of the injunctions relating to their worship.
I am no more than eighty-five years of age,[1166]
If Thou will not bestow Thy kindness on me,
What shelter have I without Thy support,
O Mother of the big-bellied Deva![1167]

6

Prayer, sweet as the sweet melon
Makes even a dog-eater[1168] perfect;
Even a beggar walks without fear
With crores[1169] of gold pieces.
O Aparṇā! this is the fruit of Thy mantra entering their ears.
Who can say, O Mother!
The fruit which is born of the recitation[1170] of Thy mantra?

7

He who is besmeared with the ashes of the funeral pyre,[1171]
He who swallowed poison,

Who is clothed with space,[1172]
With matted hair, garlanded with the Lord of Serpents,
The Lord of men,[1173]
The Lord of Ghosts[1174] holding a skull in His hands.
Owes his great states as Lord of the World
To his acceptance of Thee as His Spouse, O Bhavānī!

8

No desire have I for liberation, Nor have I desire for wealth, Nor wish for knowledge,
O Moon-faced One! neither have I wish for happiness!
But this only I beg of Thee,
That my life may pass in the recitation of these words:
Mridānī,[1175] Rudrāṇī,[1176] Śiva, Śivé, Bhavānī.[1177]

9

I have not according to the injunctions laid down therefor

Worshipped Thee with the various articles of worship.
What is there which I have not wrongly done or omitted in my meditations on the Brahman?
O Dark One![1178] it will be but fitting on Thy part
If Thou bestoweth not kindness on me, helpless though I am.

10

O Durgā,[1179] our Lady! O Ocean of mercy!
When overwhelmed by danger[1180] I remember Thee.
Think not, however, this to be deceit on my part,
For children afflicted by hunger and thirst ever remember their mother.

11

O Mother of the world![1181]

It is nothing wonderful if Thou art full of compassion for me;
A mother does not abandon her son
Even if he have an hundred faults.

12

There is no such great sinner like me,
There is no such destroyer of sin as Thou.
Now, Mahādevī, you have heard what I have to say,
It remains for Thee to do what may seem fitting to Thee.

Maṇikarṇikā (Maṇikarṇikāstotra)

1

It was on Thy bank, O Maṇikarṇikā![1182]
That Hari and Hara, givers of sāyujya mukti,[1183]
Disputed together at the departure festival[1184] of a certain one.
Hari[1185] said, “Let Him be like unto me;”
Whereon forthwith from within the body
Came forth Śiva mounted on Garuda,[1186]

In yellow garment,[1187] with the mark of Bhrigu’s foot on His breast.[1188]

2

Indra and the Thirty,[1189] at the close of their period of enjoyment,[1190] ‘
Descend to earth again,[1191]
And are reborn as men, or even as beast, bird, or worm;
But those, O Mother Maṇikarṇikā! who plunge into thy waters,
Are freed from sins, and indeed in Sāyujya[1192] man becomes
Nārāyaṇa[1193] himself, with crown and Kaustubha gem.[1194]

3

Kāśi[1195] is of all cities the most praiseworthy,
For it is the city of vimukti[1196] adorned with Gangā.
There Maṇikarṇikā is the giver of happiness,
And Mukti itself is Her servant.[1197]
When Brahmā weighed Heaven with its Devas against Kāśi,
Kāśi, as the heavier, remained on earth,
But Heaven, the lighter, rose to the skies.

4

Nought is better than any part of the banks of Gangā,
But there, where Kāśi is, is the best,
And Maṇikarṇikā, where Īśvara gives mukti, is the best of all.
This place, inaccessible even to Devas,
Destroys a mass of sins.
Through many virtues acquired in previous births
Alone may it be attained, and by the pure only.

5

The multitude of being is immersed in the ocean of pain,
How may they gain release?
It was with this knowledge that Brahmā constructed the city of Vārānaśī,[1198] which gives all bliss.

Men seek the happiness of Heaven.
But in so doing they but show small desire,
Since from Heaven they must fall again to earth
At the close of their appointed time of happiness.
But Kāśī is the city of liberation,[1199]
Ever beneficent, giving dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa.[1200]

6

He who holds the bamboo flute,[1201] upholder of the mountain,[1202]
Who bears on his breast the Śrīvatsa[1203] mark,
And Śiva, with venom in His throat,[1204]
Who bears Gangā upon his head,[1205]
And the husband of Lakṣmī,[1206]
Are one and the same.[1207]
Many of such, O Mother Maṇikarṇikā!
As bathe in Thy waters become Rudras and Haris.[1208]

How, then, can there be any difference between them?[1209]

7

Death upon Thy Banks, which is the giver of happiness,
Is praised even by the Devas.
On him who thus dies Śakra[1210] ever looks with His thousand eyes.
Sāvitri[1211] of a thousand rays welcomes Him as He ascends (to the heavens).
Such a pure one, mounted on a Bull or on Garuda,[1212]
May go to whatsoever abode he will.

8

Even the four-headed Deva,[1213]
The Guru who initiates into the meaning of the Veda,
Is unable even in an hundred of his[1214] years
To describe the purity which arises upon bathing at midday in Maṇikarṇikā.
But the Deva who bears the moon upon his forehead,[1215]
By the power of his yoga knows Thy purity.
Śiva makes that man who dies on Thy Bank
Either Himself or Nārāyaṇa.

All such sin-destroying fruit as is earned by millions of troublesome horse-sacrifices[1216]
Exists in the purity which comes from bathing in Maṇikarṇikā.
He, who having bathed therein,
Reads this hymn, goes to the abode of the light of Brahman,
Having crossed the great ocean of this world
As if it were but some little pool.

Gangā (Gangāstotra)

This hymn to the Devī Ganges, which is in the sweet pajjhatika metre, is also rhymed thus:

Devī Sureśvarī Bhagavatī Gange,
Tribhuvanatārinī taralatarange,
Śankaramaulī vihārinī vīmale,
Mamamatirāstām tavapada kamale.

1

O Devī Sureśvarī![1217] O Bhagavatī Gangā!
Saviour of the three worlds of restless waves,
Clear is Thy water circling upon the head of Śiva,
May my mind ever repose at Thy lotus feet.

2

Mother Bhāgīrathī![1218] giver of happiness,
Renowned in Nigama[1219] is the greatness of Thy water;
Thy greatness is more than I can know,
Protect me, O merciful one, ignorant that I am.

3

O Gangā! sprung from the feet of Viṣṇu,[1220]
Whose waves are white as snow as moon and pearl,
Remove from me my weight of sin;
Help me to cross the ocean of the world.

4

They say that him, O Gangā! who is devoted to Thee
Yama[1221] can never behold.
He who has drunk of Thy clear water
Attains of a surety the supreme Abode.

5

O Jāhnavī! O Gangā! deliverer of the fallen,[1222]
Whose waves are beautiful,
Claving the foremost of mountains,[1223]
Mother of Bhīṣma,[1224] daughter of the foremost of munis.
Protectress of the fallen; praised in the three worlds.

6

O Gangā! who goeth to the ocean,
Ever free of sadness is he who salutes Thee.

Giver of fruit like unto the kalpa tree,[1225]
By thy favour the woman who looked coldly
Now casts her loving glances.[1226]

7

He who bathes in Thy current, O Mother!
Is never again reborn in woman’s womb
O Protectress from hell! O Jāhnavi! O Gangā!
O Destructress of sins! lofty art Thou by Thy greatness.

8

O Thou who art eternal! O wave of purity!
May Thou, bestower of bliss, refuge of Thy worshippers!
From whose eyes come glances of compassion.
Whose feet the lustre of gems on Indra’s crown adorn,
Be ever victorious!

9

O Bhāgīrathī![1227] dispel my illness, melancholy, and pain,
As also my sins and all my many follies;
Essence of the three regions, necklace (on the breast) of Earth,[1228]
Of a surety Thou art my refuge in the world.

10

O Alakanandā![1229] O supreme Bliss![1230]
O worshipful by those who despair!
Be Thou merciful.
He whose abode is by Thy Banks
Of a verity dwells in Vaikuṇṭha.[1231]

11

Better were it to be a fish or tortoise in thy waters,
Or a feeble lizard upon Thy banks, or a poor dog-eater[1232]
Within two kos[1233] of Thy stream,
Than to be a noble king and yet far away from Thee.

12

O Bhuvaneśvarī![1234] pure one, praised of all,
Devī in liquid form,[1235] daughter of the foremost of Munis,[1236]
He who daily reads this hymn to Gangā
Is of a surety ever victorious.

13

They who with devotion in their heart to Gangā (Recite) this hymn
Composed in the sweet, pleasant, charming pajjhatika metre,

Which gives the highest happiness,
Gain the eternal bliss of liberation.

14

A worldly[1237] man shall read[1238] this hymn to Gangā
Which[1239] is the essence of the world, the giver of desired fruit,
The essence of all pure things enjoined.[1240]
Composed by Śankara,[1241] the worshipper of Śankara.[1242]
This hymn is ended.

Narmadā (Narmadāsṭakastotram)

1

O DEVĪ NARMADĀ![1243] I salute thy lotus-like feet,
Beauteous with the breakers of the heaving waves of ocean,
With which the drops of Thy waters mingle.[1244]
O giver of prosperity! I salute Thy feet bathed in water,
Which destroys rebirth, the cause of which is sin,[1245]
As also all fear at the coming of the messenger of death.[1246]
Tvadīya pāda pankajam namāmi devi narmadé.[1247]

2

O Devī Narmadā! I salute Thy lotus feet
Giver of celestial (blessing) to the lowly fish in Thy waters,
Foremost of all sacred rivers.[1248]

Destructress of the heavy weight of sin of the Kaliyuga,[1249]
Giver of welfare to multitude of fine fish, tortoise, alligators, and ruddy geese.[1250]
Tvadīya pāda pankajam namāmi devi narmadé.

3

O Devī Narmadā! I salute Thy lotus-like feet.
The overflow from Thy depths washes away the sins of the world.
Thou destroyest all great sins and the mountain[1251] of calamities.
O giver of happiness to the son of Mṛkaṇḍu,[1252]
At the fearful moment of the world’s dissolution.
Tvadīya pāda pankajam namāmi devi narmadé.

4

O Devī Narmadā! I salute Thy lotus-like feet,
And Thy waters worshipped by the son of Mṛkaṇḍu, Śaunaka, and other enemies of the Asuras.

Destructress of rebirth in the ocean of the world,[1253]
Protectress from all worldly pains,[1254]
Tvadīya pāda pankajam namāmi devi narmadé.

5

O Devī Narmadā! I salute thy lotus-like feet,
Worshipped by countless lakhs[1255] of immortals,[1256]
Asuras,[1257] Kinnaras,[1258] and others,
Whose banks resound with the fearless song of many lakhs of birds.[1259]
Giver of happiness to Vaśiṣṭha, Pipala, Karddama,[1260] and other sages,[1261]
Tvadīya pāda pankajam namāmi devi narmadé.

6

O Devī Narmadā! I salute Thy lotus-like feet,
Held in the minds of the bees,[1262] Sanatkumāra, Nacīketa,[1263] Kaśyapa,

And by the bees, Atri, Nārada and other sages.
Thou who blesseth the work of sun, moon, Rantideva, and Devarāja,[1264]
Tvadīya pāda pankajam namāmi devi narmadé.

7

O Devī Narmadā; I salute Thy lotus-like feet,
Weapon against lakhs of sins known and unknown,
The Giver of enjoyment and liberation to all beings and animals,[1265]
And of happiness to the abode of Virinci,[1266] Viṣṇu, and Śiva,
Tvadīya pāda pankajam namāmi devi narmadé.

8

O Devī, Narmadā,! I salute Thy lotus feet.
How sweet is the sound heard on the banks of Her who has sprung from the hair of Śiva[1267].
Destroyer of pain and sin of hunter, and singer[1268] of the learned and the fool,
And of the heat of the submarine fire,[1269]

Giver of happiness to all being.
Tvadīya pāda pankajam namāmi devi narmadé.

9

Who ever reads but thrice daily this hymn to Narmadā
Will never fall into misfortune, He will never see Raurava,[1270]
He will never be reborn,
But will reach the glorious abode of Śiva,
So difficult to attain, by this body so easily gained.[1271]

Annapūrṇā (Annapūrṇāstotra)

1

O MOTHER ANNAPŪRṆĀ![1272]
Īśvari,[1273] who ever bestoweth happiness,
Granting gifts and dispelling fear.
O mine of gems of beauty,
Who washeth away all sin,
Who giveth purity to Thy devotees,
Who purifieth the mountain range,[1274]
Which is undestroyed even at the time of dissolution,[1275]
Presiding Deity of Kāśī,[1276]
Maheśvarī[1277] in every truth,
O vessel of mercy! grant me aid.

2

O Thou who hast clothed Thyself in cloth of gold,

Decked with ornaments made of many and varied gems,
Whose breasts rounded like a water jar,
Are resplendent with their necklace of pearls,
Whose beauty is enhanced by the fragrance of the Kashmir aloe.
O Devī! who presidest over the city of Kāśī,[1278]
O Mother Annapūrṇā Iśvarī,[1279]
O vessel of mercy, grant me aid!

3

O giver of the bliss of Yoga,[1280]
Destructress of enemies,[1281]
Inspirer of devotion to dharma and artha,[1282]
Who art lustrous as the light waves of sun, moon, and fire,
Protectress of the three worlds[1283]
Giver of all dominion[1284] and all desires,
Presiding Devī over the city of Kāśī,
O vessel of mercy, grant me aid!

4

Thou who maketh Thy dwelling in the cave of Mount Kailāsa,[1285]
Who art Gaurī,[1286] Umā,[1287] and Śankarī,[1288] Kaumārī,[1289]
Who giveth us power to understand the meaning of Nigama,[1290]

Thou art the letters of the bīja[1291] Om[1292],
Opener of the panels of the door of liberation,[1293]
Presiding Devī over the City of Kāśī,
O vessel of mercy, grant me aid!

5

Thou supporteth all beings visible and invisible,
Whose belly is the vessel which contains the universe.[1294]
Thou discloseth the subject of the drama of Thy own play,
And art the fount of the light of wisdom,
Pleasing the mind of the Lord of the universe,
Presiding Devī over the City of Kāśī,
O vessel of mercy, grant me aid!

6

Īśvarī of all men on earth,
The waves of Thy blue-black hair look (beautiful) like plaits.
Īśvarī who ever giveth food,
Bestower of happiness to all, who advanceth all people,

Presiding Devī over the City of Kāśī,
O vessel of mercy, grant me aid!

7

Thou givest all instruction onwards from the time of initiation,[1295]
And art the cause of the threefold manifestation of Śambhu.[1296]
Scented with the Kashmir aloe, Thou art the Īśvarī of the three regions.[1297]
Thou art triple waved,[1298]
And the night of dissolution.
Thou art the cause of all lasting things,
And fulfiller of the desires of those who desire.
It is Thou who maketh the greatness of peoples.
Presiding Devī over the City of Kāśī,
O vessel of mercy, grant me aid!

8

Thou, Devī, art adorned with all various kinds of gems,
Daughter of Dakṣa,[1299]

Beautiful, pleasing the world
With the sweet milk of Thy left breast.[1300]
Thou art Maheśvarī, for Thou givest prosperity to all,
For Thou givest welfare,
And fulfillest the desires of your devotees.
Presiding Devī over the City of Benares,
O vessel of mercy, grant me aid!

9

Thou art She who shinest with the brilliance of millions of suns, moons, and fires.
Whose earrings are brilliant as the sun, moon, and fire,
Who art the cause of the colour of both sun and moon,
Who holdeth a rosary,[1301] a book,[1302] a noose, and a goad.
Presiding Devī over the City of Benares,
O vessel of mercy, grant me aid!

10

Protectress of Kṣatriyas,[1303]
Great dispeller of all fear,
Mother, who art an ocean of mercy,
In very truth the ever auspicious giver of salvation,
The cause of the beauty of Viśveśvara,[1304]

It was Thou who made Dakṣa to weep.[1305]
Remover of all ills,
Presiding Devī over the City of Benares,
O vessel of mercy, grant me aid!

11

O Annapūrṇā! who art ever full (of bounty),
Who art dear to the life of Śankara,[1306]
O Pārvatī, give me aid!

12

My mother is Devī Pārvati,
My father is Deva Maheśvara,[1307]
My friends and relatives are those who are devoted to Śiva,
And the three regions are my fatherland.

From Vālmīki

GANGĀ

(GANGĀSTOTRA) BY VĀLMĪKI[1308]

1

O MOTHER GANGĀ! co-wife[1309] with the daughter of Himalaya,
Thou art the necklace on the dress of the Earth,[1310]
And the banner staff whereby one ascends to Heaven.
O Bhāgīrathī![1311] I pray to Thee.
May my body perish after it has lived on Thy banks,
After it has drunk Thy pure water And swung on Thy waves.
And has remembered Thy name and cast looks on Thee.

2

O Mother Gangā! O deliverer from Hell!

Even a bird living in the hollow of a tree growing on Thy bank,
Even a fish or a tortoise living in Thy waters
Are greater than a King worshipped by his enemies’ wives,
Made afraid by the sound of the bells on the necks of his maddened elephants.[1312]

3

Not even a bull or a bird or a horse,
Nor a serpent nor an elephant,
Suffer the pains of rebirth and redeath
If they live at Kāśī[1313] on Thy holy banks.
Better off are they than even a Raja living elsewhere,
Fanned though he be with the couris[1314] of courtezans,[1315]
Whose ever moving golden wristlets sweetly tinkle.

4

O our Supreme Lady Bhāgīrathī!
O wanderer in the three regions!
When shall it be that I shall be fanned
By the hands of heavenly women[1316] with their beautiful couris?
When, too, shall I be happy enough to see my body
Pecked by crows, devoured by dogs, drawn along the earth by jackals.

Carried by Thy currents, tossed upon Thy banks,
And borne by Thy waters to and fro!

5

May the daughter of Jahnu be ever victorious and protect us,
She who is like the fresh fibrous stem of the lotus-like feet of Viṣṇu,[1317]
Like a garland of jasmine[1318] flowers on the head of Śiva,
Like the banner of victory of Lakṣmī presiding over liberation,
She[1319] who cleanses us of the stain of sin arising from the Kaliyuga.[1320]

6

May Thy sacred water be pure for my daily bathing,
Thy water covered with leaves of palm and tamāla,[1321]
Of Sāla[1322] and pine, with all their creepers
On which play no rays of the Sun.[1323]
White and brilliant, like the conch, the Moon, and the water-lily,
Stirred by the rising breasts of the wives of the Gandharvas,

Devas, Siddhas, and Kinnaras,[1324]
What time they bathe therein.

7

May the water of Gangā, who ever charms, sanctify us;
She who has fallen from the feet of the enemy of Mura,[1325]
Who wanders upon the head of the enemy of Tripurā,[1326]
The Destructress of sins.

8

May the auspicious water of Gangā ever purify us;
The Destructress of sins, the great enemy of sins,
Adorned with waves, wandering in the mountains,
Piercing through the caverns of the Lord of mountains[1327]
With roaring sounds.
Stealer of the dust from the feet of Lord Hari.[1328]

9

Whosoever at early dawn,
Having cleansed his body
And purified his mind

Of all uncleanliness arising from the sinful Kaliyuga,
Reads this hymn to Gangā composed of eight verses,
Shall never fall into the ocean of the world again,
But shall attain liberation.

From Indra

MAHĀLAKṢMĪ

(MAHĀLAKṢMĪSTOTRA)

BY INDRA[1329]

INDRA said:

1

O Mahālakṣmī! I salute Thee,
Thou art Mahāmāyā[1330] and Śrīpītha.[1331]
Worshipped art Thou by Devas,
Holder of conch, disc, and mace.[1332]
O Mahālakṣmī! I salute Thee.

2

O Mahālakṣmī! I salute Thee.
Mounted art Thou on the back of Garuda.[1333]
Thou art a terror most formidable to Asura Kola.
Thou removeth all sins.
O Devī Mahālakṣmī! obeisance to Thee.
O Mahālakṣmī!
Thou knowest all.

3

Giver of boons art Thou to all;
Formidable terror to the wicked;
Remover of all pain and sorrow.
O Devī! salutation to Thee.

4

O Devī Mahālakṣmī!
Thou art the giver of intelligence and success,
And of both worldly enjoyment and liberation.
Thou art the self of Mantra.[1334]
O Mahālakṣmī! obeisance to Thee.

5

Thou art without beginning or end.
O Supreme Devī Mahālakṣmī!
Thou art the primeval power,
And art born of yoga.
O Mahālakṣmī! salutation to Thee.

6

Thou art both gross and subtle,[1335]
Thou art terrible and a great power,
Great-bellied art Thou.[1336]
Thou removeth all great sins.
O Mahālakṣmī! obeisance to Thee.

7

O Devī Mahālakṣmī!
Thou art the supreme Brahman,
The ever-pervading Ātman.
Thou art the great Lord[1337]
And Mother of the world.
O Mahālakṣmī! Salutation to Thee.

8

O Devī clad in white raiment,[1338]
Adorned with varied gems.
Mother and upholder of the world art Thou.
O Mahālakṣmī! obeisance to Thee.

9

The Sādhaka[1339] who ever reads[1340] this hymn to Mahālakṣmī.
Composed of eight verses,
Attains a kingdom and all success.

10

Whosoever reads this hymn once a day
Is freed from sin,
He who reads it twice a day
Has ever abundance of paddy[1341] and wealth.

11

Whosoever reads this hymn thrice a day,
All his great enemies perish;
Mahālakṣmī ever bestows Her grace on him,
Grants him all boons,
And does him all good.

THE END

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Notes

[←1]

Śāradā Tilakam (chap. i.). See Introduction to Tantra Śāstra by Sir John Woodroffe--sub. voc. ”Śiva and Śakti,” of which the above is in part (with added matter) an abbreviation.

[←2]

Praṇamya prakṛtim nityām paramātmasvarūpinīm (chap. i.). Śāktānandataranginī, both Tāntrik works of high authority.

[←3]

Kubjikā Tantra (First Paṭala).

[←4]

Sāradā (loc. cit).

[←5]

See Bhāskararāya’s Commentary on the Lalitā Sahasranāma (verse 36), and the Pādukāpancaka in The Serpent Power.

[←6]

See Ṣatcakranirūpaṇa of Purnānanda Svāmi in The Serpent Power.

[←7]

Śāradā (loc. cit).

[←8]

Ibid.

[←9]

Ibid.

[←10]

See Commentary on verse 49 of the Ṣatcakranirūpaṇa, and generally as to the subject-matter of this Introduction, my “Introduction to Tantra Śāstra.”

[←11]

See Goraksha Samhitā, Bhutaśuddhi Tantra, and Yoginī Tantra, Part I, p. 10.

[←12]

See Ānandalaharī of Śankarācārya, verse 8. The dhyāna is well known to the Tāntrik sādhaka.

[←13]

Lalitā, verse 121.

[←14]

Bhagavadgītā (chap. xiv., verses 3,4).

[←15]

Mahāmāyā without māyā is nirguṇā, and with māyā, saguṇā. Śāktānandataranginī (chap. i.).

[←16]

Śāktānandataranginī (chap. L).

[←17]

Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa (chap. i.); Prakṛtikhanda. Br. Nāradiya Pr.

[←18]

See chap. ii. of Devī Bhāgavata.

[←19]

Devī is worshipped on account of her soft heart. Śāktānandataranginī (chap. iii.).

[←20]

Part I., Chapter X.

[←21]

Such as Mukunda, an aspect of Viṣṇu. Lalitāsahasranāma, verse 838.

[←22]

Ibid, verse 153, and Commentator’s note to Chapter II., where Devī is addressed as Supreme Light (paramjyotih), Supreme Abode (paramdhāma), Supreme of Supreme (parātparā).

[←23]

See the Lalitā.

[←24]

See the saying of Rāmaprasāda, the poet-devotee of Kālimā, quoted at p. 714 in Babu Dinesh Chunder Sen’s “History of Bengali Literature.”

“Though the Mother beat him, the child cries ‘Mother! O Mother!’ and clings still tighter to her garment. True, I cannot see Thee, yet am I not a lost child. I still cry ‘Mother!’

[←25]

Mātastvatparamamrūpam tanna jānāti kashchana (see chap. iii. of Śāktānandataranginī)

[←26]

Amurtauchitsthironasyāt tatomurtim vichintayet (ibid., chap. i., as was also explained to Himavat by Devī in the Kurma Purāṇa).

[←27]

Ibid., and as such is called Tripurā (see Bhāskararāyā’s Commentary on Lalitā, verse 125).

[←28]

Ibid., chap. iii., which also says that there is no eunuch form of God.

[←29]

So in Candi (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa) it is said:

“Vidyāh samastāstava devī bhedāh,
Stryah samastāsakalā jagatsu.”

The Tāntrika, more than all men, recognizes the divinity of woman, as was observed centuries past by the author of the Dabistan. The Linga Purāṇa also, after describing Arundhati, Anasūyā and Shachi to be each the manifestation of Devī, concludes: “All things indicated by words in the feminine gender are manifestations of Devī.” Similarly the Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa.

[←30]

Sarvatantrarūpā Sarvayantrātmīkā (See Lalitā, verse 53).

[←31]

Padma Purāṇa says: “Viṣṇu ever worships the sapphire Devī.”

[←32]

Ājnvarastanatatimtanuvrittamadhyām (Bhuvaneśvarīstotra), tanumadhya (Lalitā, verse 79). krishodari (Ādyakālisvarūpāstotra, Mahānirvāṇa Tantra, 7th Ullāsa).

[←33]

Stotra and dhyāna commonly represent Her as having large, full, and erect breasts--pīnastanādye (in Karpurādistotra), pinonnatapayodharām) (in Durgā-dhyāna of Devī Purāṇa), bakshojakumbhāntari (in Annapurṇāstava) āpivarastanatatim (in Bhuvaneśvarīstotra)--which weight her limbs--kuchabharanamitāngīm (in Sarasvatidhyāna), annapradānaniratāngstanabhāranamrām (in Annapūrṇastava). And the Lalitā, verse 15, says: “Her golden girdle supports Her waist, which bends under the burden of Her breasts, thrice folding the skin below Her bosom” (trivalīvalayopetām).

[←34]

So it is said in the tenth śloka of the Karpūrākhyastava samantādāpīnastanajaghanadhrikyauvanavatī. Śankarācarya, in his Tripurāsundarīstotra, speaks of Her nitaniba (buttocks) “as excelling the mountain in greatness” (nitambajitabhūdharām). The Javanese also call Her Loro Jongram, “The pure exalted virgin with beautiful hips.”

[←35]

The physical characteristics of the Devī in Her swelling breasts and hips are emblematic of Her great Motherhood, for She is Śrimātā.

[←36]

See the Lalitāsahasranāma, verse 4 et seq. “Her brow (aṣṭamīcandravibhrājadalika sthala śobhitā), Her eyebrow (vadanasamara māngalyagrihatoranacillika), Her twin breasts (kāmeśvarapremaratnamani pratiphalastani), Her waist (ratnakinkinikārabhyarashanādāma bhūṣitā), “Her thighs, known only to Kameśa” (Kāmeśajnātasaubhāgya mardavorudvayānvitā), Her lower limbs (indragopa parikṣipta smaratunā bhajandhikā); Her instep ‘arched like the back of a tortoise,’ the bright rays from her nails and the soles of Her feet in beauty shaming the lotus.”

[←37]

From the beautiful litany to the Devī in the Lalitāsahasranāma.

[←38]

Bhāskararāya’s Commentary on Lalitā, verse 170.

[←39]

She whose body is, as the Devī Purāṇa says, immeasurable.

[←40]

Śāktānandataranginī (chap. iii.).

[←41]

In order to display Her power to Her husband who had not granted, at Her request, His permission that She might attend at Dakṣa’s sacrifice (see “Principles of Tantra” and for an account of the daśamahāvidyā, their yantra and mantra, the Daśamahāvidyā upāsanārahasya of Prasanno Kumar Shastri).

[←42]

The number is variously given as 50, 51, and 52.

[←43]

Here at Her shrine the menstruation of the earth which, according to Hindu belief, takes place in the month of Assar, is said to manifest itself. For three days during ambuvāchī no cooked food is eaten by the women, nor does any cooking take place in the house.

[←44]

Brahmabindu Up, p. 12.

[←45]

See chap. iii. of the Śāktānandataranginī, where it is said: “The Parabrahman, Devī, Śiva, and all other Deva and Devī are but one, and he who thinks them different from one another goes to Hell.”

[←46]

Hymn to Jagadambikā in Chapter XIX.

[←47]

Sūtasamhitā, 1, 5, 3, which divides such worship into Vedic and Tāntrik (see Bhāskararāya’s Commentary on Lalitā, verse 43).

[←48]

In which Devī is worshipped in the form of mantra according to the instructions of the Guru.

[←49]

Śiva as such.

[←50]

Benares. The Kāśipanchakastotra of Śankara says that the pure Ganges is the flow of knowledge and Kāśī is Śiva’s mind (Jnānapravāhāvimalādigangā sakāśikāham nijabodharūpah).

[←51]

Devarāja or Indra.

[←52]

Hence Śiva is called Candraśekhara.

[←53]

Digambaram, as are the Yogis of whom He is Master. For He is clothed with space itself.

[←54]

The Ṛṣi of that name.

[←55]

The refrain is: “I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī.”

[←56]

A constant simile. The world is a storm-tossed ocean not free of danger, even in moments of calm, for therein many dangers, perils, and terrors lie.

[←57]

For Śiva swallowed the poison which issued at the churning of the ocean to save the earth from its dangerous presence.

[←58]

For with the ordinary eyes He bears in the forehead the eye of wisdom.

[←59]

Śiva is the conqueror of death (“mrityunjaya”), for he gives that knowledge which frees man of its terrors.

[←60]

Even often of the low-caste Candālas and others, for Śiva is the adored and protector of all.

[←61]

His peculiar weapon.

[←62]

For all causes potentially lie in His destructive energies, the manifestation of which is the prelude of re-creation.

[←63]

Śūla, tangka, pāśa, daṇḍa, His implements.

[←64]

As Kālabhairava. Usually he is white and smeared with ashes “shining like a mountain of silver.”

[←65]

Hence He is called Mahādeva.

[←66]

Vichitratāṇḍavapriyam. Śiva is often pictured dancing as Natarāja. The place of the dance is the body of the individual and the world spoken of as vanam (the forest), on account of the multitude of its components. He as the inner ātman causes all things to dance into and out of life, and again into it. All life and activity comes through Him, “the unseen Lord of the stage.”

[←67]

Bhuktimuktidāyakam--that is, He gives both worldly and heavenly enjoyment, and that release from both which is the unending bliss of liberation.

[←68]

Hung on a girdle.

[←69]

Righteousness. For dharma, religion, law, and duty, are the bridge whereby the dangerous waters of the world are passed.

[←70]

Unrighteousness.

[←71]

The cause and fruit of action whereby man is bound to the phenomenal world until by knowledge, karma is exhausted and destroyed, and liberation (through Śiva, with whose essential being His worshipper becomes one) is attained.

[←72]

The desired (or patron) Deity of the devotee.

[←73]

For He is the Supreme Unity.

[←74]

Each world (for there are many) is called an egg of Brahmā the creator (brahmāṇḍa). Śiva the great Destroyer by His loud laughter shatters them.

[←75]

Brahmā.

[←76]

Siddhi--namely, aṇimā, mahimā, garīmā, laghimā, prāpti, prākāmya, iṣitva, and vaṣitva. The power to become very small, vast, light, heavy, power of vision and movement, the powers of creation and control over the worlds and their Lords. These siddhi are powers of the all-pervading ātmā, and to greater or less degree may be acquired by Śivayogins according as they realize their unity therewith.

[←77]

Kāśivāsiloka punyapāpaśodhakām: for to the liberated there is neither sin nor virtue which are qualities of the phenomenal jivātma only. The liberated are above both.

[←78]

Nītimargakovidam.

[←79]

See Tripurasundarī--post.

[←80]

Devī of prosperity.

[←81]

Śiva.

[←82]

In the Viṣṇu Yāmala, Viṣṇu says of the Devī: “Thy supreme form none know “(mātastvatparamarūpam tannajānāti kashchana), (see chap. iii Śāktānandataranginī).

[←83]

In the Viṣṇu Yāmala, Viṣṇu says of the Devī: “Thy supreme form none know “(mātastvatparamarūpam tannajānāti kashchana), (see chap. iii Śāktānandataranginī).

[←84]

See post.

[←85]

Vidyā.

[←86]

Seed of a plant sacred to the worship of Śiva.

[←87]

That is, She makes the mudrā vara and abhaya. In the first the hand is held forth in front of the body with the palm upward and horizontal, the fingers together, and the thumb crossing the palm to the fourth finger. In the second the hand is held up with the fingers and thumb in the same positions with the palm towards the spectator.

[←88]

Tārā, the ordinary pearl, is called muktā.

[←89]

Sindūra, the Bhairavī’s body is painted with vermilion and Her garments also are red.

[←90]

Kuchabharaṇamrām (see Introduction).

[←91]

The Devī is Bhavānī as the spouse and giver of Life to Bhava.

[←92]

Sages.

[←93]

There are three forms of the Devī--the gross or physical, with hands, feet, etc.; the subtle (sūkṣma), consisting of mantra and the supreme (parā), which is the real or own (svarūpā). The form of the Devī has both prakāśa and vimarśa aspects--that is real and secondary or manifested. Thus the Vāmakeśvara Tantra says: “The Devī Tripurā is Her real form. She who is of a red colour is the manifested one.”

[←94]

Of the alphabet or mātṛkā (panchāśadākṣaramayīm). These letters stand for the vṛtti (functions and qualities of being). The Devī is thus mātṛkāmayī, or composed of mātṛkā.

[←95]

Vyakhya. according to the Śabda Kalpadruma = vivaraṇam (description), or grantha (book), and also commentary, but here denotes a mudrā of that name.

[←96]

Śiva, one of the forms of the four mahāpreta, whose bīja is “Hsau.”

[←97]

The androgyne form, called ardhanārīśvara, half being Śiva and the other half Śakti. According to Hindu belief, the wife is the pure and sacred (puṇyā) half of her husband’s body, and besides shares the purity and merits of her husband according to the common saying Śarīrārdham smṛtā jāyā puṇyā puṇyāphale samā.

[←98]

Lakṣmī.

[←99]

That is, the power of destruction, maintenance, and creation.

[←100]

The four bhāvas are states or conditions of Kuṇḍalinī appearing as sound and its subtle elements, and are Parā, whose abode (sthāna) is the mūlādhāra; Paśyantī in the svādhiṣṭhāna; Madḥyamā in the anāhata; and Vaikharī in the viśuddha issuing through the throat (see next note). There appears, however, to be some difference as to the location of the second.

[←101]

Parā is the first condition of Kuṇḍalinī in the form of tāmasik sound in the Mūlādhāra; Paśyantī is the bhāva when Kuṇḍalinī, associated with manas, reaches the position variously stated as the svādiṣṭhāna or manipūra; Madhyamā, when it reaches the anāhatacakra, associated with buddhi; and Vaikharī is when Kuṇḍalinī issues through the throat in the form of the fifty letters. It is said that though there are thus four kinds of speech, the gross-minded do not understand the first three, and think speech to be Vaikharī alone.

[←102]

That is, Āim the bīja of Sarasvatī. The Devī is ‘three syllabled’ (Tryakṣarī)--that is, the bīja of the three divisions of the Panchadaśi, Vāgbhava, Kāmārāja and Śakti. According to the Vāmakeśvara Tantra, Vāgiśvarī is the jnānā śakti, which is in the vāgbhava division, and confers salvation, the kāmārāja and śakti divisions being the kriyā and ichchhā sākti (see the Lalitā, verse 126).

[←103]

Sacchinmayī, the Brahman being sat and chit.

[←104]

That is, they ultimately so appear, though previously existing as subtle elements of sound.

[←105]

The six sins: Lust (kāma), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), delusion (moha), pride (mada), envy (mātsaryā).

[←106]

Akunchya vayam by pūraka of prānāyāmā.

[←107]

As Śakti of Śiva.

[←108]

Śiva. The Androgyne form ardhanārīśvara.

[←109]

A lower order of Devas (devayoni).

[←110]

Wives of the Siddhas, also celestial spirits (devayoni) inhabiting the atmospheric plane (bhuvah).

[←111]

Asvāditāsavarasāruna netrapadma.

[←112]

Pādapa, so called because the tree drinks by its roots. As to the celestial trees (see “Wave of Bliss” post).

[←113]

Seat or shrine.

[←114]

Sumeru.

[←115]

For She as Kuṇḍalinī goes from the mūlādhāra to the śivasthāna in the sahasrāra and returns moist with the nectar of Her union with Him.

[←116]

Rajādhani. Literally capital city of Śiva.

[←117]

That is from the mūlādhāra cakra to the śivasthāna.

[←118]

The suṣuṁnā is the central “nerve” (nādī), or, rather, channel of energy in the body in which the lotuses (ṣatcakra) are threaded with their heads normally downwards. As Kuṇḍalinī becomes stirred by the yoga process, She ascends from the mūlādhāra and enters the higher cakra. As She does so, the lotuses upturn and expand again, closing on her departure.

[←119]

The text which has sausuvartma kamalāni vikāshayantim, is not, however, intelligible, and the metre is short. Possibly it is a misprint for saumyang.

[←120]

That is, nothing but intelligence caitanyamātra tanu.

[←121]

Nādā, as Rāghava Bhatta says, exists in the three states of nibodhikā or bodhinī, nāda, and in the form of bindu, according to the predominance of the guṇa. These three and the śaktis, jnānā, kriyā and ichhā, of which they are special manifestations, are said to be in the form of sun, moon, and fire respectively. The moon (indu) is ichchhā (will and desire), the eternal precursor of creation. Kriyā is like the sun, which makes all things visible. Jnānā is fire, as it burns up all actions (see Ṣatcakranirūpaṇā, verse 49, and Sāradā Tilaka, chap. i.).

[←122]

As Viṣṇu.

[←123]

Narakārnatārinī.

[←124]

Spouse of Śiva. The Devī Purāṇa says; “She who was burned by the fire of yoga was again born of Himālaya; as She has the colour of the conch, jasmine, and moon, she is called Gaurī.” Her colour is golden. Śiva said to Pārvatī: “O Daughter of Himalaya, I am white as the moon and thou art dark. I am the sandal-tree, and thou art, as it were, a snake entwined round it.” Pārvatī, taking umbrage at this remark upon Her dark complexion, went away to the forest, and there, by the performance of austerities, gained for herself a golden complexion beautiful as the sunlit sky.

[←125]

Khedāshāmine.

[←126]

Śiva.

[←127]

Devī of speech and learning.

[←128]

Vāksiddhi or siddhi of words.

[←129]

Ambikā.

[←130]

Sākṣātsabdabrahmasvarūpiṇī: the “sound” or manifested Aparabrahman, as opposed to the absolute, the Parabrahman. The Devī and the Śabdabrahman are, in fact, one, though men speak of Her as His Śakti (power).

[←131]

Ādyā.

[←132]

Vapuhpratipādayitrī. The Devas have bodies, subtle though they be, as the Śabdabrahman Himself has.

[←133]

Brahmā.

[←134]

Himavat, whose daughter, as Pārvatī, the Devī was.

[←135]

For they derive their power from the Devī, the All-Mother, whose children they are, and who also manifests as their Spouse.

[←136]

These constitute the eight-fold forms (aṣṭamūrti) of Śiva, viz, Sarva, Bhava, Rudra, Ugraha, Bhīma, Paśupati, Īśāna, Mahādeva.

[←137]

The Deva of Love.

[←138]

Trisrotah, for there are three Ganges: the heavenly (Mandākinī), earthly (Alakanandā), and that of the nether world (Bhogavatī).

[←139]

As to the descent of Gangā into the jaṭa of Śiva (see Hymn to Gangā, post).

[←140]

Literally Lord of Kalā. Kalā is a digit of which there arc sixteen in the moon. The amākatā is that from which the nectar is distilled.

[←141]

Kumudinī, which blooms and opens at night.

[←142]

Kamalinī.

[←143]

Mountain (Śaila), which is that which is made of masses of stone (Śilā)--a rhetorical comparison between the hardness of stone and Her tenderness.

[←144]

Trayā. The whole Veda is so called because it consists of song, prose, and verse; or because the Rik, Yajus, and Sāma are alone referred to as Veda.

[←145]

Cf. verse 2 of Mahimnastava of Puṣpadanta.

[←146]

Literally, “Though thou art to be meditated upon, thou dost not stay in the path of mind” (cf. Mahimnastava, loc. cit, and Śruti, which says, “Yato vāco nivarttante aprāpya manasā saha.”)

[←147]

That is, as the subsequent fall makes the ascent useless, so human incarnation is without avail for those who, without excuse in such incarnation, do not worship the Devī.

[←148]

Kālidāsa in the Ritusamhāra says that in the hot weather women should wear fine cloth, powder their hair with fragrant scent, and smear their breasts with sandal, ground with cool water.

[←149]

She as Kuṇḍalinī resembles a sleeping serpent with three and a half coils abiding in the mūlādhāra.

[←150]

The Mūlādhāra cakra (see last note).

[←151]

Vidyullatā balaya vibhramamudvahanti. This is the sense of the passage which may literally mean that the Devī carries the beauty (vibrahma) of wristlets, like a streak of lightning, or “the Devī is sporting like a streak of lightning.”

[←152]

Khamasnuvānā. Kham is here Śiva in the Sahasrāra, whither the Devī repairs when Her passion is aroused by the lightning of the Kāmāgni around Her fanned by the leftward revolution of the red Kandarpavayu.

[←153]

That is the Sahasrārapadma.

[←154]

Mūlādhāra.

[←155]

Margenātena--that is, the nādī suṣumnā.

[←156]

Apīvarastanatatīm.

[←157]

Tanuvrittamadhyām.

[←158]

Japamāla, with which japa or recitation of mantra is done.

[←159]

Kalaśa.

[←160]

Literally, holding cintā, which is a name for the jñāna mudrā, or manual gesture so called.

[←161]

The six sins

[←162]

That is, the gestures (Mudrā) which grant boons and dispel fear. In the first the hand is held horizontally, the palm open, the fingers close to each other, and the thumb across the palm and touching the root of the third finger. The second is the same, but the hand is held upwards vertically, the palm being shown to the spectator.

[←163]

That is, the vara and abhayamudrās, ante.

[←164]

In this form the Devī is represented as being surrounded by four elephants, which pour nectar over ‘her from jars held in their trunks.

[←165]

One of the names of Bhuvaneśvarī (see p. 171 of Prosanna Kumar Shastri’s “Daśamahāvidyā”).

[←166]

Of a dark green. It is not clear why this colour is here mentioned, as the colour of Durgā is a golden yellow. It is, however, the colour of other forms, which are those of the one and the same Devī. Thus the colour of Kālī is that of anjana (black, collyrium), Tārā is nīlā (dark blue), Mātanginī is asitā (black) or shyāmāngī (dark green). The hue of Shodashī (Śrī) is that of the rising sun (bālārkākanti), at it is that of Bhuvaneśvarī (uddaddinakaradyuti). The colour of Bhairavī is said to be that of a thousand rising suns; of Chinnamastā that of a million suns; Dhūmāvati is of an ashen colour (vivarnā); Bagalāmukhī is all yellow (pītavarṇā), and Kamalā is said to be like lightning (saudāminisannibhā)--see Prosanna Kumar Shastri’s “Daśamahāvidyā”.

[←167]

The Daityas, enemies of the Devas, whose Protectress the Devī is.

[←168]

Asitakānti. It is difficult to arrive at English translations for some Sanskrit words of colour. Mātanginī here referred to is also spoken of as shyāmāngī or dark green; and dark green and dark-blue seem also to be used interchangeably.

[←169]

Mātanginī, one of the Daśamahāvidyā.

[←170]

Anangatantrām--influenced or swayed by Ananga (“the bodiless one”), a name of the Hindu God of Love, Kāma.

[←171]

Avirnidāsha jalashikharashobhivaktrām. The cause is shown in the preceding line--play and union with her Lord.

[←172]

Red and black berries used as goldsmiths’ weights.

[←173]

Śiva, the “beautiful throated,” also called Shitikaṇṭha (“peacock-throated”), from the colouring caused by His drinking the venom which arose at the churning of the ocean.

[←174]

Anugamyamānau--that is, the Vedas worship and adore Her.

[←175]

Janghā. cf. Lalitāsahasranāma, verse 18, where the Devī’s calves are compared to “the sapphire-studded quiver of the God of Love, with rounded ankles and instep arched like the back of a tortoise.”

[←176]

Śiva, also called Vriṣaddhvaja.

[←177]

Śiva is always represented with three eyes, the third being the eye of wisdom, which in man opens on the realization of divinity.

[←178]

Uru (cf. Lalitāsahasranāma, verse 17. “The symmetry and smoothness of Her thighs are known only to Kāmeśa (Śiva). Her knees shine like jewelled discs.”

[←179]

Cf. First Canto of Kālidāsa’s Kumāra Sambhavam.

[←180]

Madhyamenabayasā.

[←181]

Shroni.

[←182]

Murtirmadhyastava.

[←183]

Shronyaustanauchayugapat prathayishyatochchairbālyāt parena bayasā parihristasārah--that is, the waist is so slender and the breasts and hips so heavy that it would seem that the greater part of the body, which goes to the making of the waist, had been taken away and put into the breasts and hips, and formed their bulk.

[←184]

Bālyātparenabayasā. Literally the age which follows childhood, which is the cause of these changes in woman’s body.

[←185]

Romāvalivilāsitena, which appears with puberty (cf. verse 15 of the Lalitā).

[←186]

Nābhi, which also means any navel-like cavity.

[←187]

Pallalamapradhriśyam--from all but Śiva: a similar idea to that of verse 17 of the Lalitā, where it is said that the beauty of the Devī’s thighs are known only to Her Lord Kāmeśa (Śiva).

[←188]

Lāvanyavāribharitāng.

[←189]

That is, Rati, Spouse of Kāma or Smara, the God of Love, son of Kṛṣṇa and Rukminī. The son of Kāma is Aniruddha, and his companion is Vasanta, the spring. He is armed with a bow-and-arrows, the bow string being a line of bees, and the arrows flowers of different plants.

[←190]

When the Devas desired a commander for their forces in their war with Tāraka, they sought the aid of Kāma in drawing Śiva towards Pārvatī, whose issue alone could destroy the demon. Kāma undertook the mission, and shot his arrows of love at Śiva, when the latter was doing tapas. Śiva, however, who was offended at this disturbance of his devotions, burnt Kāma down with a flash from the fire of His third eye. Subsequently Kāma was reborn in the form of Pradyumna at the request of Rati.

[←191]

For Śiva’s body is covered with ashes.

[←192]

Samadasyakumbhau, the ichor which exudes from the temples of elephants in rut.

[←193]

The ashes are thus compared to foam, and the sandal paste to the vermilion with which the temples and foreheads of fine elephants are painted.

[←194]

That is, Kāma, the God of Love.

[←195]

For Śiva burnt him (see ante n. 5). The Devī’s arms embrace the neck of Śiva.

[←196]

Sa eva jātah. Literally, “He is indeed born.” His birth is fruitful.

[←197]

The fruit of the tree called tyālākucho in Bengali, which, when ripe, is very red, and to which the lips of young women are often compared (cf. Meghadūta, verse 2, “Pakvabimbādharoṣthī”).

[←198]

The Devī bears the crescent moon on her head as does Śiva.

[←199]

Tasya svayam galati Devī purāṇapāshā--that is, he is freed of rebirth, the fruit of Karma. Here commences the phala (fruit or result portion) of the stotra.

[←200]

The Māyābīja (see Fifth Ullāsa, verse 10).

[←201]

Kālī (see Fourth Ullāsa, verses 30 et seq.). She is thus called Kālakarshinī.

[←202]

Bīja of Lakṣmī, Devī of prosperity or beauty.

[←203]

Karālī.

[←204]

The Bījābhidāna says Ka = Kālī, Ra = Brahmā, Ī = Mahāmāyā. The half circle of candrabindu is the universal Mother, and the point is the destroyer of misery.

[←205]

Kalyāṇī, or She who bestows peace and happiness (see the Lalitā, verse 73). According to the Padmapurāṇa, Devī is worshipped as Kalyāṇī in the Malaya mountains.

[←206]

Kalāvatī (see the Lalitā, verse 74). The Kālā, or arts, are sixty-four in number. The Śakti should always be Kalāvatī. Devī is also called Kalāmālā, or garland of the arts. Kalāvatī may also mean possessed of all arts complete.

[←207]

A name of Lakṣmī-Devī is Kamala, for She is all Śaktis. In verse 73 of the Lalitā, Devī is called Kāmakalārūpā, on which Bhāskararāya says that there are three bindus and the hārdakala. The first bindu is called Kāma, and the last Kalā; but according to the rule pratyāhāra, Kamalā includes all four. Kālikā Purāṇa says, Devī, is alone indicated by Kāma.

[←208]

Kalidarpaghnī.

[←209]

Kapardīśakripanvitā. Kapardīśa is a title of Śiva derived from his matted hair.

[←210]

Kālikā, because She devours Śiva as Mahākāla (see Mahānirvāṇa Tantra, Fourth Ullāsa, verse 31).

[←211]

Kālamātā.

[←212]

Kālānalasamadyuti.

[←213]

Kapardinī. Spouse of Śiva, called Kapardi from his matted hair (see Lalitā, verse 151). The Viśva says that Kaparda means the matted hair of Śiva and the cowdung cakes. When Śiva incarnated, as Mailāra, his spouse was decked with a garland of cowdung-cakes.

[←214]

Karālāsyā.

[←215]

Karunāmritasāgarā (see Lalitā, verse 73).

[←216]

Kripāmayī.

[←217]

Kripādhārā.

[←218]

Kripāpārā.

[←219]

Kripāgamā.

[←220]

Kṛṣānu. Kṛṣānuretas is an epithet of Śiva whose male seed is fire.

[←221]

Kapilā.

[←222]

Kṛṣṇā.

[←223]

Kṛṣṇānandavivardhinī. Kṛṣṇa is here the supreme Lord.

[←224]

Kālaratrī. The Lalitā, verse 101, speaks of the Devī as attended by hosts of Śaktis, Kālarātrī, and others--that is the twelve Śaktis from Kālarātrī to Tankārī, one in each petal of the anahāta padma. The Varāha Purāṇa says that Raudrī, who was born from darkness and went to the Blue Mountain to perform penance (the Śakti causing destruction) is called Kālarātrī.

[←225]

Kāmarupā (ibid., verse 73), Kalika Purāṇa--says that Devī is called Kāma because She came to the secret place in the Blue peak of the great mountain (Kāilāsa) along with Śiva, for the sake of desire, and because She fulfils desires and destroys and restores the body of Kāma.

[←226]

Kāmapāśavimocinī.

[←227]

Kādambinī. In the heat of India the rain-cloud is welcome, and in some of Her forms She is dark.

[←228]

Kalādhārā.

[←229]

Kalikalmaṣanāśinī (see Lalitā, verse 113), Kūrma Purāṇa says that the repetition of the names of Devī destroys the multitude of sins in the Kālī Age.

[←230]

Kumāripūjanapritā. The Kumārī pūjā, or worship of virgins, is a pūjā common in Bengal. The worship is by men, whereas the sadhavapūjā, or worship of married women, is done by women. Or Kumārī may directly refer to the Devī Herself. She is known as the unmarried Kumārī. A sūtra of the Śiva Sūtras runs Iccāśaktih Umā kumārī. The energy of desire is Umā, the unmarried. Bhāskararāya (Commentary, Lalitā, verses 25, 40) says: As play She creates the universe, hence She is Kumārī, or She destroys (mārayate) the ground (ku) of the great illusion. Hence She is Kumārī; Kumārī is the enjoyer and not to be enjoyed, as She is one with the Yogi, the enjoyer.

[←231]

Kumārī pūjakālayā, or “who art the refuge of such worshippers.”

[←232]

Kumāribhojanānanda. The Kumārīs are feasted at the Kumārī pūjā.

[←233]

Kumārīrūpadhārinī. So a very young marriageable girl is called Gauri.

[←234]

Kadambavanasanchārā (see Hymn to Tripurasundari, post).

[←235]

Kadambapuṣpasantoṣā (see Lalitā, verse 73).

[←236]

Kadambavanavāsinī (see the Lalitā, verse 23). The palace of Cintāmani is surrounded by a gallery of gems (maṇimaṇḍapa). Around this is the grove of Kadamba trees, which in the Purāṇās are said to be seven yojanas in height in the space between the walls of gold and silver. The Bhairavayāmala says the abode of Bindu is the ocean of nectar. The five yonis--that is, the five Śakti angles in the śricakra--are the divine trees. There is the grove of Nīpa trees. Within that is the gallery of gems. Within that is the palace of Cintāmaṇi.

[←237]

Kadambapuṣpamālinī. The Lalitā, verse 8, speaks of Devī as decked above her ears with clusters of Kadamba flowers.

[←238]

Kishorī.

[←239]

Kālakaṇṭhā. Devī is also called Kālakaṇṭhī, or wife of Kālakaṇṭha, a name of Śiva whose throat was coloured by the poison he swallowed at the churning of the ocean. According to Devī purāṇa, Kālakaṇṭha was worshipped at Kālanjara.

[←240]

Kalanādaninādinī. Water-birds which sing to one another at night--the male to the female and the latter to the male--sitting on opposite banks of the river. Their passionate devotion is often alluded to by the poets.

[←241]

Kādambaripānaratā.

[←242]

Kādambarīpriyā. Kādambarī is mead. Bhāskararāya (Commentary, Lalitā), dealing with the Tripurā Upanishad, which prescribes that mead, fish, flesh, and cooked cereals should be offered to the Devatā, says that it enjoins those who are allowed to take wine, flesh, etc., that they should do so after first dedicating them to the Brahman, and minimize the habit by gradation (see the same idea expressed in Manu v., 56, Bhāg. Pr. XI., 5-11).

[←243]

Kapālapātraniratā.

[←244]

Kamkālamālyadhārini.

[←245]

Kamalāsanasantuṣṭā.

[←246]

Kamalāsanavāsinī.

[←247]

Kamalālayamadhyasthā.

[←248]

Kamalāmodamodinī.

[←249]

Kalahamsagatī. Hamsa is variously translated goose, swan, flamingo. A swaying waddle like that of a duck is admired. As the swans live in the celestial lake called Mānasa, so She lives in the minds (mānasa) of Her devotees.

[←250]

Klaibyanāśinī.

[←251]

Kāmarūpinī (see also post).

[←252]

Kāmarūpakritavāsā (see next note).

[←253]

Kāmapīthavilāsinī. Kāmarūpa, the great Tantrika centre in Assam, one of the Mahāpīthas, where the genital organ of the Devī fell on the severance of Her dead body by Viṣṇu after the Dakṣa Yajna. Kāmarupa is also one of the Ādibhuta, which are in the Mūlādhāra and other tattvik centres (see the Lalitā, verse 82).

[←254]

Kamanīyā.

[←255]

Kalpalatā. The Kalpa tree is one of the celestial trees in the heaven of India, which yielded whatever one desired. Woman is likened to a creeper (latā) embracing and depending on her husband (see also the Lalitā, where the Devī is called Bhaktimatkalpalatikā, the kalpa creeper of the devotee).

[←256]

Kamanīyavibhūṣanā, or “who art the possessor of beautiful ornaments.”

[←257]

Kamanīyagunārādhyā; or it may mean that the Devī is to be worshipped by the worshipper with all best and tender feeling.

[←258]

Komalāngī.

[←259]

Krishodarī. Literally, small of belly (see Bhuvaneśvarī stotra, apivarastanatating tanuvrittamadhyām, and the Lalitā, verse 79, tanumadhyā).

[←260]

Kāranāmritasantoshā. Kārana is one of the technical terms given to the purified wine consumed as an element of the Tāntrika pancatattva.

[←261]

Kāranānandasiddhidā.

[←262]

Kāranānandajapeshtā.

[←263]

Kāranārchchanaharshitā.

[←264]

Kāranārnavasangmagnā.

[←265]

Kāranavratapālinī. Vratas are ritual acts and devotional exercises which do not belong to the obligatory (nitya) karma.

[←266]

Kastūrīsaurabhāmodā. Musk is used in worship to scent candan, etc.

[←267]

Kastūrītilakojjvalā. The tilak is the mark worn by sectarian Hindus on the forehead.

[←268]

Kastūrīpūjanaratā.

[←269]

Kastūrīpūjakapriyā.

[←270]

Kastūrīdāhajananī.

[←271]

Kastūrīmrigatoshinī.

[←272]

Kastūrībhojanapritā.

[←273]

Karpūrāmodamoditā. Camphor is burnt in worship during ārati, and is used to scent the pādya, betel leaf, etc., offered to the Devī.

[←274]

Karpūramālābharanā. Balls of camphor are strung together in a garland.

[←275]

Karpūracandanākshitā.

[←276]

Karpūrakāranāhladā.

[←277]

Karpūrāmritapāyinī.

[←278]

Karpūrasāgarasnatā.

[←279]

Karpūrasāgarālayā.

[←280]

Kūrchchabījajapapritā. Hūm is the Kūrchhabīja.

[←281]

Kūrchchajapaparāyayanā--that is, She who mutters “Hūm” when conquering the demons. The Devī then constantly uttered the hūmkāra with its threatening, roaring sound.

[←282]

Kulīna. Kula, according to the Tantra, means Śakti. Akula = Śiva. The union of Kula with Akula is called Kaula, the essence common to both Śiva and Śakti. Hence Devī is Kaulinī (see Lalitā, verse 37). Both Kula and Akula are in the Sahasrāra. Kulācāra is the way of the Kaula division of Tāntrik worshippers.

[←283]

Kaulikārādhyā. The Kaulikas are followers of Kulācāra (see last note). So also in the Lalitā, verse 17, the Devī is addressed as “adored by Dakṣinas and Adakṣinas.”

[←284]

Kaulikapriyakārīnī.

[←285]

Kulacārā, v. ante.

[←286]

Kantukinī.

[←287]

Kulamārgapradarshinī.

[←288]

Kaśīśvarī. Kāśī is Benares, the sacred city of Śiva.

[←289]

Kartahartrī; and thus the Lalitā speaks of the Devī as the moon-light which soothes those burned by the triple fires of misery.

[←290]

Kāśīśavaradayinī (“Lord” is Śiva).

[←291]

Kāśīśvarakritāmodā.

[←292]

Kāśīśvaramanoramā.

[←293]

Kalamanjīracaranā.

[←294]

Kvanatkāncīvibhūṣanā.

[←295]

Kāncanādrikritāgarā (the mountain Kāncana or Sumeru). Durvāsa says in his Lalitāstavaratna (verses 2-4): “Let the gold mountain be victorious whose body is the universe resounding with the music of celestial women living in the golden bowers of creepers of the mountain peak. We salute the three peaks which are the seats of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, extending to the four quarters of the earth. In their midst is another peak 400 yojanas (a yojana is eight or nine miles) in height, making the place beauteous with the golden rays of its flowers, and I worship it.” The Lalitā Sahasranāma (verse 22) also addresses Devī as dwelling on the middle peak of Mount Sumeru.

[←296]

Kāncanācalakaumudi.

[←297]

Kāmabījajapānanda. The Kāma bīja is “klīm.” When the “Ka” and “La” are eliminated, the remaining “īm” is called kāmakalā, which is in the turīya state. In the Lalitā, verse 225, Devī is called creatrix of the mantra klīm (“klīmkarī”). Klīmkāra is Śivakāma, and She is His wife.

[←298]

Kāmabījasvarūpinī--that is, She is “klīm” itself.

[←299]

Kumatighnī. Devī is also (Lalitā, verse 78) Sadācāra pravarttakā, because She makes men move to right action.

[←300]

Kulīnārtināśinī.

[←301]

Kulakāminī.

[←302]

Krīm, Hrīm, Śrīm mantravarṇena kālakanṭakaghātinī.

[←303]

Because She appeared from the lotus.

[←304]

Feminine of Īśvara, or Lord, or Ruler.

[←305]

Or Cancalā, the fickle one, for nothing is so fickle as wealth and prosperity--”here to-day and gone to-morrow.”

[←306]

Prosperity.

[←307]

Beloved of Hari (Viṣṇu).

[←308]

Lotus.

[←309]

Who dwells in the lotus.

[←310]

Wealth.

[←311]

The exalted One, for prosperity exalts.

[←312]

Beauty and prosperity.

[←313]

Holding the lotus in her hands.

[←314]

The blue Sarasvatī, Devī of speech (see note 1, ante). Nīla Tantra says She is in the form of all language (sarvabhāṣā ayī). The Nīlasarasvatī Yantra is figured at p. 93 of the Dashamahāvidyā.

[←315]

Karttri (for dhyāna see p. 94 Daśamahāvidyā).

[←316]

As did the celestial Kalpa tree in Indra’s heaven.

[←317]

Material success, psychical powers, spiritual attainment.

[←318]

Spouse of Śiva (Sharbha).

[←319]

Her dhyāna is given as follows: The Devī is in the midst of four blazing funeral pyres; Her feet as described in verse 1; formidable, with garland of severed heads; short of stature; big-bellied; tiger skin round the waist; youthful; four-armed; protruding tongue; giving vara; holding the articles mentioned in verse 1 (the skull and lotus in left hands); a ṛṣi Akshobhya in the form of a serpent on her head; her body lustrous as that of the moonbeams; formidable teeth; smiling face; three eyes blazing like the morning sun.

[←320]

Māyānanga vikārarūpalalane.

[←321]

Ardhacandrātmike--that is, the crescent sign below the bindu in candra bindu. She is both bindu and Nāda (see Introduction). It is also said that there are eight varṇa above the bindu of Hrīm, commencing with ardhacandra, and ending with unmani, of which the third is Nāda. Here, as the Mahāsvachchanda Tantra states, the Devī should be contemplated.

[←322]

Two tantrik bīja mantras: as to Hūm. Phat is the astra or weapon mantra

[←323]

Mantrātmike

[←324]

Vedanāngnahigocharā, as to her three forms (vide ante).

[←325]

Literally, “becoming one with the Deity.” Identification of the self and the Deity with attributes; one of the four forms of qualified liberation--Sālokya, Sārūpya, Sāmīpya, Sāyujya. Those who know the Brahman and such worship to be imperfect reject them, and attain the unconditioned bliss (kaivalya) which transcends all other states. But these others must be passed before the end is reached, which the Śaktirahasya summarizes by a short verse: “A mortal who worships by ceremonies, by images, by mind, by identification, by knowing the self attains kaivalya.”

[←326]

That is Parameśvara, in whom the threefold energies which manifest in the trimūrti are contained tasyastri parameśvari trinayanabrahmādi samnyātmanah.

[←327]

The Deva, in this like man, is a samsārin or inhabitant of the samsāra, which comprises earth, the antarikṣa, and heaven (svarga), the abode of the Deva. The latter has wife and children, is engaged in conflict with demons, and so forth. When the merit which gains the Deva heaven is exhausted, he descends to earth again.

[←328]

That is, the Deva bow their heads at the feet of the Devī, receiving on their heads the dust of Her feet.

[←329]

Various spirits and inferior divinities of more or less evil and malignant character.

[←330]

A form of Śakti attendant on the Devī in Her terrible forms.

[←331]

Khacara (vultures, eagles, etc.).

[←332]

Brihaspati

[←333]

Deva of Love.

[←334]

He has the powers of mohanam and stambhanam, the latter being one of the Tāntrika Ṣatkarma.

[←335]

A particular form of Stambhanam called jalastambha.

[←336]

Devayoni of that name inhabiting the antarikṣa.

[←337]

Fruit or result of the stotra.

[←338]

Labhate devyām kavitvām.

[←339]

A form of the Devī assumed for the destruction of the Daitya Canda, and who assisted in the destruction of the demon Raktabīja (see Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa).

[←340]

Mahiṣa.

[←341]

Manohamsa, the hamsa, is variously described as a swan, goose, and flamingo.

[←342]

The Devī is standing on Her lion (v. post) with the noose (pāśa) beneath Her feet.

[←343]

The Man-lion (Avatāra) of Viṣṇu, in which He destroyed the Daitya Hiraṇyakaśipu, father of His devotee Prahlāda.

[←344]

See last note. The avatāra is generally represented with the King of the Daityas across his knees, tearing asunder with his hands and claws the latter’s belly.

[←345]

Which accompanies the Devī as Durgā. After the destruction of Hiraṇyakaśipu, Viṣṇu’s wrath was not appeased. The world trembled, fearing what he might do. The Devas asked the help of Śiva, who assumed the Sharabha form--that of a lion with wings and eight feet--who tossed up Viṣṇu into the air and held him there until he had become powerless. The lion then went to the feet of Durgā, whom he accompanies.

[←346]

Gaja, the elephant form subsequently assumed by the Asura, Mahiṣa.

[←347]

Śiva and Śakti, the “Male” and “Female” elements, from whose union springs the universe (see Introduction to Tantra Śāstra and Principles of Tantra.)

[←348]

That is, Kulācāra, one, and the highest, of the divisions of Tāntrik worshippers often misunderstood, and therefore subject of reproach; and which is contrasted in the next line but one with the more popular and conventional worshipper of Keśava and Kauśika.

[←349]

Viṣṇu.

[←350]

An epithet both of Śiva and Indra, probably here the former.

[←351]

Smara, the God of Love; Śiva, who slew him, is his “enemy.”

[←352]

Daityāri: usually an epithet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but as Hari has already been mentioned, possibly the reference may be to Indra.

[←353]

i. e., orderly, according to the direction and sequence of the dhyāna or stotra.

[←354]

Literally, “If I be deprived of.”

[←355]

Siddhāspada, where the perfect (siddha) are, or where Siddhi (power and perfection) may be gained.

[←356]

That is, they are the healers of our pain.

[←357]

Śiva Bhūteśvara or Bhūtanātha. Bhūta, which in a general sense means “beings,” specifically refers to the spirits and ghosts by whom Śiva is surrounded and of whom He is Master.

[←358]

It is by the Devī’s aid that Śiva is Parameśvara, for without Śakti He is nothing, and without Her life-giving energy and support cannot exist. As the Kubjikā Tantra says: “Without their Śaktis the husbands are but preta” (inert corpses). So also the Jnānārnava: “O beloved, pure Sadāśiva without Śakti is without motion like a corpse, for without Śakti He can do nothing.”

[←359]

Svātmānam parirabhya. Literally, having embraced Himself. The Devī is, however, in a dualistic sense, His sacred half, and in reality one with Him and His own self (see Mahānirvāṇa Tantra, chap. i.).

[←360]

Daivādvichyuta candra candanarasaprāgalbhya garbashravat--”Haply” in the poetical sense, as the nectar should be in the moon, but it happens to be dropping from the sacred feet of the Devī. Moreover, the Parambindu, which is Śivaśakti, is in the crescent of Nirvāṇakalā, which is by Amākalā the sixteenth digit of the moon-circle (Candramaṇḍala), whence flows the nectar which, as Ichchhā, is the eternal precursor of creation (see Commentary, verse 49, of the Ṣatcakranirūpaṇa in The Serpent Power).

[←361]

Viddhā, not as the original has it, Siddha.

[←362]

Brahmānandasarābhiṣeka in the original should be Brahmānandarāsābhiṣeka.

[←363]

Mahas, not maham, as in the text.

[←364]

Nirmalacidānandatrayamdaivatam.

[←365]

Verses 9 to 12 are a free rendering of a text which in parts is so corrupt as to be untranslatable with accuracy.

[←366]

Chowrie.

[←367]

That is, fire.

[←368]

The Devīs so called.

[←369]

Salutation to the Devī slayer of Mahiṣa.

[←370]

For She has all powers.

[←371]

The abhaya mudrā

[←372]

Stambhanam, uchchātanam, and māraṇam, three of the Tāntrik Ṣatḳarma.

[←373]

Śivé.

[←374]

All forms of the Devī, as also the forms of all Devatā, whether in the strict sense avatāra or not, are māyik, but to the worshipper none the less real.

[←375]

Feminine of Maheśvara, a title of Śiva as great Lord and Ruler of the worlds.

[←376]

Annapūrṇé namostute--the refrain.

[←377]

The Devī as She who yields and is yet Herself unaffected by māyā.

[←378]

Dharmaputī--that is, a wife married with religious rites. There are other forms of marriage.

[←379]

Śiva.

[←380]

Devas.

[←381]

As is Śiva.

[←382]

Annadānaratā, or food generally.

[←383]

Sādhakas, those who practise sādhanam (see Introduction To Tantra Śāstra)

[←384]

Kucabhārānate (see Introduction).

[←385]

That is, the svādhishṭhāna padma.

[←386]

Sharangayuvatīmaye, which equals sharangaśaktisvarūpe. The sixfold śaktis are: Hṛdayānga śakti, śirongga śakti, śikhānga śakti, netrānga śakti, avachānga śakti, and astrānga śakti which refer to the Tāntrika nyāsa, done on the heart, head, crownlock, eyes, the body, and the concluding gesture with the palms of the hands, accompanied by the astra bīja or “phat.”

[←387]

That is, Indrāṇi, Kaumāri, and other Mātrikas.

[←388]

Sāmrājya.

[←389]

Sarvānandakare. Sarva is one of the eight forms (aṣṭamūrti) of Śiva; or it may literally mean “giver of delight to all.”

[←390]

This is the phala (fruit or result) portion of the stotra. All devotional works contain a phala chapter or verse, which states the result or reward (phala) to be obtained by their perusal, recitation, or hearing. If any worshipper invokes Devī by any particular name, such as Armada, he obtains the corresponding fruit. So the Sūta Samhitā (iv, 33, 29, 30) says: “All names arc attributed by His own māyā to Brahman, yet some apply specially by the wish of Śiva Himself. O sages! by the repetition of such names one becomes the supreme Lord Himself and before His lotus face Śadāśiva dances with His Spouse” (see Bhāskararāya Commentary, Introduction to second Chapter of the Lalitāsahasranāma).

[←391]

Devī of prosperity and wealth.

[←392]

Literally, “made japa of”

[←393]

The bīja, or “seed” mantra of the Devī whose other bīja is the vāgbhava bīja or “aim.”

[←394]

The colour of Sarasvatī is white. Thus She is elsewhere represented as “white, holding the vīnā” (Svetavīnādharā); “adorned with white flowers” (svetābharaṇabhūṣitā), “holding a white rosary” (svetākṣasūtrahastāca), “besmeared with white sandal paste” (svetacandanacarcitā), “clad in white raiment” (svetāmbaradharā), and the like. Here Her whiteness is compared to the moon.

[←395]

She is seated on and represented as surrounded by lotuses.

[←396]

Dāvāgni. She destroys such thoughts.

[←397]

Viṣṇu

[←398]

Samsārasāre. The samsāra is the illusory world of birth and rebirth, which is said to be asara (unreal, unsubstantial, fleeting). The reality behind this phenomenal illusion is the Devī, who plays, and whose play is world-play.

[←399]

The vāgbhavabīja.

[←400]

Rūpārūpaprakāśe.

[←401]

Brahmā, whose Spouse She is.

[←402]

The “qualities,” or conditions, which are the substance of Prakṛti or sattva, rajas, and tamas.

[←403]

She is nirguṇā, for She and the Parabrahman are in Their essence one.

[←404]

The forms of the Devī are threefold: parā (supreme), sūkṣmā (subtle), which consists of mantra and sthūla (gross or physical), with hands and feet. But She is neither of these in the sense that the only true form (svarūpa) is above and beyond them both.

[←405]

Nāpivijnātatattve; another reading being nāpivijnānatattve. The reference is to Her supreme (para) form, of which the Viṣṇu Yāmala says “none know” (Mātastvatparamam rūpam tannajānāti kashcana (see chap. iii. of the Śāktānandataranginī).

[←406]

She as the Brahman is akhaṇḍa ”everywhere” and yet in the limited sense “nowhere,” in the sense that She is at some particular place and not elsewhere, or partly here and partly there.

[←407]

In past, present, and future.

[←408]

Japa, which includes that which would not be understood as recitation in the English sense--viz., manasa or mental, and the inaudible japa.

[←409]

The bīja of the Devī.

[←410]

Her colour is white

[←411]

A stringed musical instrument.

[←412]

Dehibuddhimprashastām; the great prayer to Her.

[←413]

Revelation; generally applied to the Vedas in which Sarasvatī is spoken of (see Muir, OṢṬ., verse 339). She is also called Mother of Vedas.

[←414]

Śāradā.

[←415]

Dhī.

[←416]

Dhāranā, dhriti (or constancy), mati. She is the “hymn of praise,” for it is composed of words, and She is the Devī thereof, and word and speech itself.

[←417]

She eternally exists as the reality behind all appearance, and is the cause of the fleeting appearance itself.

[←418]

Sages.

[←419]

She ever appears in new forms, and yet Herself in Her aspect as Atmā, persists as the one and same.

[←420]

Puṇya.

[←421]

Viṣṇu and Śiva.

[←422]

Mātra--the atomic part of things.

[←423]

Mātrārdhatattve. She is so very subtle: or alternatively the Mātrārdha below the Sāhasrāra.

[←424]

The husband of Mā or Lakṣmī--that is, Viṣṇu, whose Spouse She was. She as Prakṛti gives joy to the paramātmā, who is the enjoyer (bhoktā).

[←425]

The mantra, as currently recited is Om Om Kshīm, Kshīm, svarupe. “Kshīm,” for She is the destructress of sin.

[←426]

Mohemugdhapravāhe. Mugdhā is generally used in connection with nāyikā--that is, a simple, artless innocent maiden, as yet unacquainted with love. The general and correct reading is mugdhemohapravāhe.

[←427]

Stambhanam; one of the six “magical” powers known as the ṣatkarma, whereby a person may be paralyzed in action or speech. So a disputant might seek the power of stambhanam to close the mouth of, or confuse his adversary.

[←428]

Various words which all mean “word” or “speech.”

[←429]

Literally, the giver of siddhi (success) in all knowledge of which She is the presiding Devī.

[←430]

Both buddhi and manas.

[←431]

Prasaratu (“flow freely”).

[←432]

He who is brahmachārin. Here commences the phala portion of the stotra.

[←433]

Maunin.

[←434]

Vratin. The vrata are voluntary religious practices and devotions as distinguished from the obligatory daily ritual.

[←435]

Nirāmishah.

[←436]

The trayodaśi; the Sarasvatī vrata day.

[←437]

Or Brihaspati, the Lord of Speech.

[←438]

Trayodaśi.

[←439]

The month is divided into two halves (pakṣa), according as the moon is waxing or waning.

[←440]

Amṛtatvam--that is, liberation (mukti).

[←441]

The Lord Śiva.

[←442]

Satī.

[←443]

Satī, or faithful. The name of the daughter of Dakṣa. Brahmā Pr. says: “The faithful Spouse Satī became Umā, who ever dwells with Śiva.”

[←444]

Sādhvi, or chaste. She is of unequalled virtue as being attached to none but Her Lord (see Lalitā, verse 43, where Bhāskararāya cites the Ācārya (Saundaryalahari), which says: “How many poets share the wife of Brahmā? Cannot everyone by means of wealth become the Lord of Śrī (Viṣṇu)? But, O virtuous one, first among faithful women, your breasts are untouched save by Mahādeva, not even by the paste of Kuravaka.” (a kind of paste made of the leaves of the red amaranth used to redden the cheeks, breasts, palms, and soles of Hindu women). Devī Bhāg. Pr. also says: “Thou art praised as Sādhvi on account of Thy unequalled fidelity to Thy Lord.”

[←445]

Bhavaprīta. Bhava is Śiva.

[←446]

Bhavāni.

[←447]

Aryā, which literally means noble, but which here means, as the commentator Nīlakantha says in reference to the hymn to Durgā in the Mahābhārata (see post) prāpyabrahmasvarūpa, the own form of the accessible Brahman as distinguished from the Nirguṇa Brahman beyond thought and speech. The very nature of the Devī is manifestation, and She is near to us in the world.

[←448]

Bhavamochinī--that is, from the samsāra or phenomenal world.

[←449]

Durgā--that is, Sa ya durgatim harati.

[←450]

Jayā.

[←451]

Ādyā.

[←452]

Trinetrā.

[←453]

Śūladhārinī. The śūla is a weapon of the Devī.

[←454]

Pinākadhārini--that is, Spouse of Śiva, who wields the Pināka bow broken by Rama; hence he is called Pinākin.

[←455]

Citrā.

[←456]

Candaghantā, the first of the nine Durgās in the Durgā Kavaca.

[←457]

Mahātapāh. For the Devī as Umā Aparṇā did great austerities to gain Śiva as Her husband.

[←458]

Cittarupā. Citta is mental substance.

[←459]

Citā, which in Tantra has a twofold meaning (sma`sānam dvividham Devī citā yonīmāheśvari) for, whereas on the first the body is burnt, so in the second is the fire which consumes passion (Niruttara Tantra, chap. i.).

[←460]

Citih = jnānā.

[←461]

Sarvamantramayī.

[←462]

Satyā, that which persists through the threefold time--past, present, and future--of which the opposite is asatyā. That which is real and not fictitious (yathārthasvarūpa). The epithet Satyā, which occurs thrice in this stotra, has also, besides “real,” three other meanings: (1) Eternal, (2) the best (uttamā), and (3) sthitiśīla, whose nature it is to exist.

[←463]

Satyānandasvarūpinī.

[←464]

Anantā.

[←465]

Bhāvini. In the ordinary sense bhāvini, as sentimental, emotional, is a term which, according to the Amarakośa, is commonly applied to women, as are the terms pramadā (pleasing), kāntā and lalanā (beautiful), and nitambinī (possessing beautiful nitamba or buttocks). But here the word refers to the bhāvas, paśu, vīra, and divya, which are each manifestations of Her.

[←466]

Bhāvagamyā.

[←467]

Bhāvyā.

[←468]

Sadāgatih.

[←469]

Śāmbhavī, Spouse of Śiva (Śambhu).

[←470]

Devamātā.

[←471]

Cintā.

[←472]

Ratnapriyā.

[←473]

Sarvavidyā; and so also the Lalitā, verse 137, speaks of Her as being all the Śāstras (śāstramayī). The Brahmā Pr. says that from Her breath came the Vedas; from the tip of Her throat the sixty-four sciences; from the rest of Her limbs all other Tantras; and from Her shoulders the science of love.

[←474]

Dakṣakanyā. Dakṣa was one of the Prajāpatis and father-in-law of Śiva, who was married to his daughter Satī, a manifestation of the Devī.

[←475]

Dakṣayajnavināśinī. Because on Her account Śiva, Her husband, destroyed the dakṣayajna.

[←476]

Aparṇā (see Hymn entitled “May the Devī Grant Me Pardon”, post).

[←477]

Anekavarṇā.

[←478]

Pātalā: a reddish-pink, the colour of the Bhairavīmurti.

[←479]

Pātalāvati.

[←480]

Pattāmbara parīdhānā.

[←481]

Kalamanjīraranjinī.

[←482]

Amiyavikramā.

[←483]

Krūrā. Literally, “cruel”--that is, to the demonic beings which She destroyed, though even not truly so, for as Candī says, She destroyed them not only for the happiness of the world, but for their own happiness, so that being slain by Her hand they might go to heaven.

[←484]

Sundarī.

[←485]

Purasundarī.

[←486]

Vanadurgā: the Devī of the forests. The foresters, before entering the forests, offer pūjā to Vanadurgā as protectress against their dangers and terrors.

[←487]

Mātangi; that is, of the Ṛṣi Matanga.

[←488]

Matangamunipūjitā.

[←489]

Brāhmī.

[←490]

Maheśvarī (feminine of Maheśvara), an appellation of Śiva.

[←491]

Spouse of Indra, one of the eight Mātṛkās.

[←492]

Spouse of Kārtikeya or Skanda, the leader of the celestial hosts. The Devī is also Mother both of Kumāra and Gananātha (Gaṇeśa), and is so called in the Lalitā, verse 94 (Kumāragananāthāmbā), where it is said that the Devatā of egoism (ahamkāra) is Kumāra. The Varāha Pr. says: “Viṣṇu is the Puruṣa, or Śiva is so called, Avyaktā is Umā or Lakṣmī, the lotus-eyed. From the interaction of these two arises ahamkāra. This ahamkāra is the guha (skanda), the leader of the army.”

[←493]

The vaiṣṇavī śakti.

[←494]

See Hymn entitled “May the Devī Grant Me Pardon”, post.

[←495]

Śakti of Varāha, the boar incarnation, one of the eight Mātrkas.

[←496]

Devī of wealth, prosperity, and beauty.

[←497]

Puruṣākritih. Puruṣa is man, male, or person; the primeval man; the spirit of the universe, manifesting as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, etc.; the passive spectator of the acts of Prakṛti. But in their ground both are one. Therefore Devī is in such sense Puruṣa also. So Kṛṣṇa, to screen his action from Rādhikā, manifested as Kālī.

[←498]

Vimalā.

[←499]

Utkārṣinī.

[←500]

Jnānā, for the Devī is jnānā, kriyā, and ichchhā śaktī.

[←501]

Kriyā.

[←502]

Satyā

[←503]

Buddhidā. Buddhi (intellect), the function of which is determination (niścayakāsinī), is part of the fourfold antahkaraṇa: constituted by Buddhi and Manas (aspects of mind), Ahamkāra (egoity) and cintā (contemplation).

[←504]

Bahula-bhumā.

[←505]

Bahulapremā.

[←506]

Sarvavāhanavāhanā. Literally whose vehicle (vāhana) is the vāhana of Sarva (Śiva), or a bull.

[←507]

Niśumbhaśumbhahananī. These were two Daityas, or enemies of the Devas, slain by the Devī (see Candī). The Daityas were sons of Diti and the Devas children of Aditi, hence they are called Āditeya.

[←508]

Mahiṣāsuramardinī (vide ibid.).

[←509]

Madhukaitabahantri. Two Daityas (ibid).

[←510]

Caṇḍamuṇḍavināśini: two generals of Śumbha and Niśumbha (ibid.)

[←511]

Sarvāsuravinarśa.

[←512]

Sarvadānavaghātinī. The Dānavas were enemies of the Devas, children of Danu, a daughter of Dakṣa and Kāśyapa.

[←513]

Sarvaśāstramayī.

[←514]

Satyā.

[←515]

Sarvāstradhārinī. Astra is a weapon which is thrown--a projectile; and śastra, in the next verse, is a weapon which is held.

[←516]

Anekaśastrahastā (see last note).

[←517]

Anekāstrasyadhārinī.

[←518]

Kumārī.

[←519]

Kanyā.

[←520]

A girl up to fifteen years of age is so called (Kaiṣoram āpancadaśāt). It is said that up to sixteen years one is known as bālā. At thirty one is Taruṇī, at fifty-five praudhā, and above that vriddhā. As the verse runs:

Aṣōdaśād bhaved bālā,
Trinśatā tarunī matā,
Panca pancāśatā praudhā,
Bhaved vriddhā tatah param.

[←521]

Yuvatī.

[←522]

Yati: one who controls the passions is an ascetic. The Devī practised great austerities to gain Śiva as Her husband.

[←523]

That is, below fifty-five years old, an adult woman who is no longer bashful or timid in the presence of her lord.

[←524]

Over fifty-five years old.

[←525]

Vriddhamātā.

[←526]

Balapradā. The litany in the Tantrasāra here ends at the 87th name, short of the prescribed number of names.

[←527]

Here commences the phala portion.

[←528]

Sic; vide ante. Wherever 100 or 1,000 is mentioned (the former in the title of the present hymn) 108 or 1,008 is to be understood, for zero is an inauspicious number.

[←529]

Dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa--piety, wealth, desire, and liberation--(see Introduction to Tantra Śāstra).

[←530]

See “Hymn to Annapurṇā” post.

[←531]

Mistress of Suras (Devas).

[←532]

i.e., make pūja.

[←533]

Siddhi (see Introduction to Tantra Śāstra).

[←534]

Gorocanā.

[←535]

Alakta.

[←536]

Madhutraya--that is, ghee, honey, and sugar.

[←537]

Śiva.

[←538]

The fifteenth day of the dark half of the lunar month; a very dark day on which Śavāsana and similar rites are also accomplished.

[←539]

There are twenty-seven lunar mansions, of which Śatabhiṣā is the twenty-fourth, containing a hundred stars.

[←540]

Prakaśasvarūpa. Prakāśa is light and manifestation.

[←541]

Spouse.

[←542]

That is, the Sahasrārapadma.

[←543]

That is, he is making the two mudrās called vara and abhaya respectively.

[←544]

Literally, “make japa”.

[←545]

As is frequently the case in Tāntrik works, the mantra is not given in the text, but must be spelt out. Thus the Sanskrit is vakamvahnisamstham trimurtyā prajuṣtam saśānkenayuktam--that is, as “vakam with vahni attended by trimurti, combined with śaśāngka.” Vakam = “Ś” (tālavya). Vahni is the “fire.” = “r,” trimūrti = the long vowel ī, and śaśāngka, the moon in “whose lap is the hare,” or “man in the moon” = “m” (anusvāra). Ś + r + i + m = śrīm the Lakshmībīja (see the Ādyakālīstotra of Mahānirvāṇa Tantra).

[←546]

Literally, Nabhovahni (not vāyu, as the text has it, for the vāyu bīja is yam); miśram (not mitram as Prasanna Kumāra Shāstrī’s edition has it); tatovāmanetram sudhā dhāmavimbam niyojyaikāvaktram--that is, nabhas combined with vahni, and then vāmanetra and the receptacle of nectar (the moon) applicable in the case of Ekavaktra. Nabhas = “ha” or “bha” (here the former), vahni = “ra,” vāmanetra = long ī, and the moon is anusvāra (“m”), H + r + ī + m = Hrīm, known as the māyā bīja. Then the śloka more clearly points to the bīja meant by saying it is that applicable to Ekavaktra. The latter is the Bhairava of Bagalāmukhī, whose bīja is also Hrīm.

[←547]

Literally, Virinchim kṣitistham tatovāmanetram vidhum nādayuktam--that is, virinchi, kṣiti and vāmanetra, together with moon combined with nāda. Virinchi = “ka”, kṣiti = “La,” vāmanetra =long ī, the moon = “m” (anusvāra). K + l + ī + m = Klīm. The three elements of the mantra are given--viz., Śrīm, Hrīm, Klīm--but the actual bīja of Tripuṭā is Śrīm, Hrīm, Klīm, Hrīm, Śrīm, Klīm, Klīm, Śrīm, Hrīm.

[←548]

The Deva of love (Kāma), of whom Śiva is described as the enemy, for he burnt him with the fire of his eye.

[←549]

Anga.

[←550]

Literally, make japa. “Thrice,” as follows Śrīm, Hrīm, Klīm, Hrīm, Śrīm, Klīm, Klīm, Śrīm, Hrīm.”

[←551]

See last note.

[←552]

The beautiful youth Kāma. Cf. Verse 5 of Karpūrādistotra.

[←553]

The Devas.

[←554]

That is, he sets his feet on the heads of kings.

[←555]

The great powers, aṇimā, laghimā, etc.

[←556]

The heart lotus (not anāhata) in which the Iṣṭadevatā is worshipped.

[←557]

One of the celestial trees (see HYMN “Wave of Bliss”, post).

[←558]

Yoni. There are five yonis or śakti angles in the Śrīcakra.

[←559]

Kuṇḍala.

[←560]

Subakṣojanamrām.

[←561]

Pāśakam.

[←562]

Angkuśa.

[←563]

Puṣpavānām (see Comm. Lalitā, verse 2) According to the Yoginihṛdaya, the noose is Ichchā; the goad, jnāna; and the bow and arrows the kṛyā śaktis respectively.

[←564]

Sumadhyām.

[←565]

She wears a candrahāra, so called because it has a moonlike ornament in its centre.

[←566]

Tulākota.

[←567]

Cāmara or chowrie, the bushy tail of the Cāmara (the yak; bos grunniens), used as a fly-whisk or fan, an insignia of royalty, and also used as a streamer on the heads of horses.

[←568]

Karanda--alangkāra pātra.

[←569]

Samudgam, translated in the Bengali as a pān-box with camphor, which is put into pān (betel).

[←570]

Hakārārddhavarṇām--that is, She is Kāmakalā-svarūpā (see Ādyākālīstotram, the Kāmakalāvilāsa, cited in the Lalitā sahasranāma, verse 73.) Another name for Kāmakalāsvarūpā is Kāmapurasvarūpā. The half Ha resembles a bindu, of which there are three--viz., the bindu at the base of the triangle from which the A-ka-tha trikoṇa emanated and the visargah above. See Kālīcarana’s commentary on the Pādukāpancakam, in The Serpent Power.

[←571]

Tribindusvarūpā--there are three such in Kāmakalā.

[←572]

Jnāna, ichchhā, and kṛyā śaktis of the Devī.

[←573]

Diagram used in Tāntrik worship (see Introduction to Tantra Śāstra.)

[←574]

With the āvāhana mantra--viz., iha āgacha iha āgacha, iha tishtha, iha tishtha atra adishthānam kuru mama pujām, grihāna. (“Come here, come here! Stay here, stay here! accept my worship”).

[←575]

See Mātṛkābheda Tantra. The word puṣpa (flower) has here a technical sense. Puṣpaśabdena atra riturucyate. Mātṛkābhedatantra pramānānusārena anurāyāh kanyāyāh prathama eva riluratrā uccyate. Tantrāntaretu vivāhitāyāh eva bālāyāh rituratra vivakṣitah.

[←576]

Pāmara, one who is low or vile, a very contumelious term.

[←577]

Success, perfection, fruition.

[←578]

That is, Dharma (religion, piety), artha (wealth), Kāma (desire and its fulfilment), and Mokṣa (liberation). (See Introduction to Tantra Śāstra).

[←579]

Pūjā.

[←580]

Lakṣmī.

[←581]

Viṣṇu.

[←582]

Devī as daughter of Himavat.

[←583]

Śiva.

[←584]

Spouse of Kāma, the God of Love.

[←585]

The God of Love.

[←586]

That is, the six āvarana or attendant Devatās on the Devī.

[←587]

Makes japa of.

[←588]

See Introduction to Tantra Śāstra.

[←589]

There are eight gems or treasures (nidhi) of Kubera--viz., padma, mahāpadma, makara, kachchapa, mukunda, nīla, nanda, śankha. The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa gives the meaning of nidhi in the following śloka (“Lakṣmī is the presiding Devatā of the vidyā, called Padminī. The nidhis are Her supporters. Listen while I speak of them”):

Padminināma yā vidyā,
Lakṣmī stadadhi devatā,
Tadādhārāsca nidhaya,
Stan me nivadatah śrinu.

[←590]

That is, the Śaktis Brāhmī, etc.

[←591]

The lokapālas or guardians of the points of the compass (N., N. W., W., S. W., N.E., E., S.E., and S. Indra, Yama, Varuna, Kubera, Vivasvat, Soma, Agni and Vāyu).

[←592]

Pāmara.

[←593]

Aṇimā, Laghima, etc.

[←594]

Vidhātrī = Creatrix; but both the terms Vidhātrī and Creatrix of the world are used in the text.

[←595]

The six aiśvarya are Śrī (beauty and auspiciousness), Vīrya (power), jñāna (Wisdom), Vairāgya (dispassion), Kīrti (glory) and Māhātmya (greatness). Bhagavān is He who is possessed of these six aiśvarya. All these are in the Devī who is hence called Bhagavatī (see Devī Bhāg. Pr., Saktirahasya; Bhāskararāya, op. cit., verse 65), and as here, Aiśvarya rūpā.

[←596]

Ādyā.

[←597]

Śivé, voc. of Śivé, feminine of Śiva.

[←598]

Śiva.

[←599]

The opening in the top of the head, whence in the case of yogis the soul on death issues.

[←600]

Ākāśakalpā.

[←601]

Prakāśasvarūpā.

[←602]

Mandaceta.

[←603]

Makes japa.

[←604]

Ādhāraśakti.

[←605]

Tvāmādheyarūpā.

[←606]

Jagatvyāpyarūpā.

[←607]

Abhāva, the last of the seven categories of Kanāda’s system (Vaiśeṣika Sūtra). Thus darkness is the abhāva of light.

[←608]

Bhāva.

[←609]

Aṇu.

[←610]

Vibhu.

[←611]

Makes japa.

[←612]

Svarūpam labhante--that is, he attains that form of liberation which is known as svārūpya mukti (receiving the same form as that of the Devatā worshipped).

[←613]

Sadāsatsvarūpam, on which Nīlakantha says: Vyavahāra drishtyā sat, paramārthadarshanena asat; that is the world is real (sat) from the point of view of practical life and reason; to all those, in short, who have not experimentally realized the Advaita Tattva; but to those who have, and from the transcendental standpoint, it is, in fact, unreal (asat).

[←614]

Sattva, rajas, and tamas, the substance of Śakti, as Prakṛti (see Introduction).

[←615]

Ramate--that is, “in her own self” (svasminnevakrīrate) (N) She shines. Hence She is also called Lalitā. “She who plays;” Padma pr. says, “having passed beyond the worlds, She plays; hence She is called Lalitā.” Beyond Śakti and Śiva there exist various manifestations of Parāśakti and Sadāśiva, each in its own sphere. But Mahāsakti, who is Paramaśiva, crossing all worlds in the supreme sphere of Mahākailāsa. She it is who is known as Lalitā and Kāmeśvarī.

[←616]

Viṣṇu as Enemy of the Daitya Mura.

[←617]

Because He is born, He creates dependent on Bhagavatī. In the next verse the argument is: “Let Brahmā be not the creator; why not, then, Viṣṇu?” To which the answer is given of His dependence on Ananta.

[←618]

Viṣṇu reposes on the 1,000-headed Serpent Ananta.

[←619]

Netra.

[←620]

Which is again the support of Ananta.

[←621]

And that container requires a support. Therefore the ādhāraśakti is the Mother of all. For this reason, in commencing any pūja, the Ādhāraśakti is worshipped on account of Her being the supporter of all, and that Śakti is none but the Mother of all.

[←622]

Śaktirūpā.

[←623]

Yoganidra, the sleep of pralaya.

[←624]

That He might be roused from his sleep and take part in the cosmic process. Sūta continues; “Having meditated upon Her who is Māyā and Saguṇā, and giver of liberation and Nirguṇā, I will tell you, O munis, the whole Purāṇa, which is the best and the most sacred Śrīmadbhāgavata of 18,000 Sanskrit Ślokas.”

[←625]

Literally, “Those who come to take shelter with Her.”

[←626]

That is, the organic and inorganic world.

[←627]

The energy of Viṣṇu, the sustaining power of the Universe.

[←628]

Sakalā. Nagoji Bhatta is not happy in his Commentary when he says that sakalā here means “endowed with the sixty-four arts” (kalā), such as dancing, music, painting, literature, acting, etc., and who are devoted to their husbands, modest, etc. The Devī is not, according to this noble line, in these only but in all women, however ignorant of the “arts” or low born they may be.

[←629]

Vidyāh samastāstavadevi bhedāh.
Striyah samastāh sakalā jagatsu.

The Devibhāṣyam of Panchānana Tarkaratna translates the verse as, “All sciences, all things (bhedāh), and all women are of Thee.”

[←630]

The verse here changes from upendra vajrā to anustup metre.

[←631]

That is, She who is, as Nagoji says, of a shining nature (dyotana`sīlā).

[←632]

Svarga.

[←633]

Mukti.

[←634]

That is, nischayātmakam jnānam.

[←635]

For she is the support of all beings; fem. of Nārāyana, a name of Viṣṇu.

[←636]

For She is in the form of time.

[←637]

As is Her Spouse Śiva with his third eye of wisdom.

[←638]

Either as Nagoji says “white Devī,” or the Devī of that name, who issued from the body of Mahādevī.

[←639]

The commentator says “that She is the possessor of it” (śakti); but there is in reality no difference between śakti and the possessor of śakti, though human understanding and speech may make such difference.

[←640]

The guṇas--the three sattva, rajas, and tamas, and their derivatives, the Tattwas.

[←641]

Nagoji says that gunāśraye gunamaye = gunāśraye agunamaye. Though the gunas inhere in Her, She is not as is the jīva, affected by them.

[←642]

See next note.

[←643]

Śakti, or energy of Brahmā whose vehicle (vāhana) is a swan (hamsa), or flamingo, as it is variously rendered.

[←644]

Grass used in pitṛ kṛyā and agni kṛyā.

[←645]

As Brahmā does with the holy water (śāntijalam) from his pot called kamaṇḍalu.

[←646]

Associated with Śiva.

[←647]

The vāhana of Śiva.

[←648]

Śakti, or energy of Maheśvara or Śiva.

[←649]

Both the cock and peacock are said in the Mahābhārata to be the vāhana of Kārtikeya. Gopal Chakravarti renders it, however, as “the best of peacocks.”

[←650]

A kind of missile, dart spear, lance, or pike.

[←651]

The Śakti of Kumāra, or Kārtikeya, son of Śiva and Pārvatī and Commander of the celestial hosts.

[←652]

The Śakti of Viṣṇu, who holds the conch, discus (cakra), etc.

[←653]

See next note.

[←654]

Viṣṇu, in His boar-incarnation, uplifted on His tusks the world which had been submerged in the waters.

[←655]

As Śakti of Viṣṇu in the narasimha incarnation, in which He slew the Daitya Hiranyakaśipu.

[←656]

The Devī is here invoked as Aindri, the śakti of Indra, who is crowned, and whose weapon, like that of Jupiter, is the thunderbolt and who has a thousand eyes.

[←657]

An Asura slain by Indra.

[←658]

The Devī is known as Śivadūtī, because Śiva was engaged by Her as messenger to Śumbha and Niśumbha.

yatoniyukto dautyena tayā devyā śivah svayam
śivadūtīti lokesmingstatah sā khyutim āgatā.

Caṇḍī, eighth Māhātmya.

[←659]

Devī is so called because She slew the Asuras Canda and Muṇḍa (see verse 25, chap. vii. Candī).

[←660]

Muṇḍamathane; not as one translation of the Caṇḍī has it, “who grindest shaven heads.”

[←661]

That is, as Nagoji says, the knowledge pertaining to the Ātman (adhyātmavidyā) contained in the Upaniṣads; not “wide knowledge,” as last mentioned translator renders it.

[←662]

Mantra of Pitṛs.

[←663]

For Devī is both vidyā (knowledge) and avidyā (nescience), or Prakṛti.

[←664]

Medhā, which Nagoji says = dhāranāvati buddhi, or firm, steady, concentrated buddhi.

[←665]

Bhūti, which ordinarily means wealth = here, according to Gopal Chakravarti aiśvaryarūpinī--that is, the eighth siddhi; or, according to Nagoji, it is sattvapradhāna (“greatly excelling in sattva guṇa”).

[←666]

A name of Śiva, Viṣṇu, or Fire. According to Nagoji the rajoguṇa śakti is here indicated.

[←667]

Tāmasī--that is, tamogunayuktā.

[←668]

Niyate, which ordinarily means fate (adrisṭa); but here denotes, according to Nagoji, the Mūlaśakti, the root or primeval Śakti. It does not mean, an stated in the last-mentioned translation, “O self-controlled Queen!”. In the case of the Devī there is no self to be controlled. She controls others, not Herself.

[←669]

According to Gopal, the Devī is so called because She was born in the hermitage of the Muni Kātyāyana, but the Vedantists say that Kātya is he who is devoted to the Brahman (brahmaniṣṭa), and She who is attained by them is Kātyāyanī.

[←670]

Auspicious Kālī.

[←671]

Anah.

[←672]

As Gopal says, even Rajahs, not to mention others, become the slaves of such an one.

[←673]

Dharma.

[←674]

There are fourteen kinds of vidyā--viz., four Veda, six Anga, Mimāmsa, Nyāya, Dharmaśāstra, Purāṇā. Gopal says vidyā and upavidyā, such as Indrajāla, Gārudakadyāh, Dhanurvidyā, etc.

[←675]

Śāstra--that is, tarka (logic), nīti. etc.

[←676]

Literally; the “first sayings”--that is Veda or the Karmakāṇḍa.

[←677]

Viveka = jnāna (Gopal).

[←678]

Atīva.

[←679]

The reference is to the samsāra. It is a “pit,” for men fall into it; and it is “dark,” for it obstructs knowledge.

[←680]

Mamatvam, which Gopal defines as asvakīye svakiyatvābhimūnah--the sense of ownness in respect of a thing not one’s own--e.g., to take the body to be the self; to think I am white, I am tall, etc

[←681]

Demonic beings.

[←682]

That is, the submarine fire.

[←683]

Because She pervades all things.

[←684]

Indra, Brahmā, etc.

[←685]

Gopāla Chakravarti renders it: “Those who are devoted to Thee are themselves worshipped--even by Indra, Brahmā, etc., the Lords of the Universe--therefore Thou art the supporter of the universe.”

[←686]

Unusual phenomena, such as earthquakes, comets, hurricanes, etc.

[←687]

Bhuh, bhuvah, svah (see Introduction to Tantra Śāstra).

[←688]

Then Devī said: “Now I bestow a boon, O Devas” (Caṇḍī).

[←689]

Her form was that of their combined powers.

[←690]

Ambika.

[←691]

Great Ṛṣis or Seers.

[←692]

Viṣṇu.

[←693]

Śiva, for they, too, adore Her.

[←694]

Buddhi.

[←695]

Enemies of the Devas.

[←696]

Sattva, Tamas, Rajas. Nature as spirit, as the veil of spirit, and of descent and ascent from spirit to matter and matter to spirit (see Introduction to Tantra Śāstra).

[←697]

Ordinarily, the world which consists of the guṇas is imperfect, but She who is it and yet transcends it, is perfect.

[←698]

Viṣṇu and Śiva.

[←699]

As the Viṣṇu Yāmala cited in the Śāktānandataranginī, says (Māstvatparamam rūpam tanna jānāti kashchana, chap. iii.) “Her supreme form is that which none know.”

[←700]

Not as it has been rendered, “Thou art the entire world which is composed of parts”--the world is but a part of Her. Hindu belief is not pantheistic in the ordinary European sense of the word.

[←701]

Avyākrita, of which Nagoji Bhatta says: Ṣadvidha vikārarahitatvāt, on account of its being void of the six forms of change.

[←702]

Of whom the Śāktānandataranginī says: “Pranamya prakritim nityām paramātma svarūpinīm” (chap. i.).

[←703]

The Mantra of that name.

[←704]

The lunar ancestors of the human race and the earthly ancestors of the seventh degree, to whom offering is made in pitṛkriyā.

[←705]

Vow or voluntary rite(see Introduction to Tantra Śāstra).

[←706]

Sages.

[←707]

This passage has been rendered: “Thou studiest with Thy organs, which are the essence of strength well restrained.” But the Devī does not study, nor has She organs restrained or otherwise.

[←708]

Because they were breathed out by Īśvara.

[←709]

Of the Vedas so named.

[←710]

Of the Vedas so named.

[←711]

Of the Vedas so named.

[←712]

Part of the Sāmaveda, the office of the Udgātri.

[←713]

For She has all powers.

[←714]

i.e., agriculture, cattle-rearing, and trading.

[←715]

As the Lalitā Sahasranāma says, “She soothes like moonlight all those who are burnt by the triple fires of misery” (tāpatraya) of phenomenal existence.

[←716]

Medhā, which Gopal Chakravarti says = Dhāranāvati buddhi.

[←717]

Nagoji says: “Duhkhaprāpyatvena durgāsi iti uchyate” (to be attained to with great difficulty).

[←718]

Asangā-nirlepā (G. C.) cidānandamayitvāt (on account of Her being cit and ānanda).

[←719]

Lakṣmī.

[←720]

Viṣṇu.

[←721]

The Daitya brother of Madhu.

[←722]

Daughter of guru, the Lord of the Mountains.

[←723]

Śiva, who bears on His head the crescent moon.

[←724]

Yama.

[←725]

That is, the Daityas.

[←726]

The four aims of being.

[←727]

Nagoji Bhatta says tatah here means that after that (svarga), and in order of time they gain mokṣa (liberation).

[←728]

Not “Let these practise sin so as to descend to Hell for long.” as it has been rendered. The Devī’s desire is to save even Her foes. The translation of the alternative reading given by the translation referred to is nearer the sense of the text.

[←729]

Here follows the prārthaitā (prayer).

[←730]

Literally, leaflike (pallava), soft, and supple.

[←731]

The Ṛṣi in Caṇḍī continued: Thus was the upholder of the world hymned by the Devas who did worship Her with celestial flowers, perfumes, unguents, and incense upon which the Devī, highly honoured with this hymn, said to the Devas: “Choose what ye desire of me”. On which the latter prayed that whenever they called upon Her She might come to their assistance, and that whatever mortal should praise Her with this hymn should prosper. Bhadrakāli said, “Be it so,” and vanished from their sight.

[←732]

Nagoji says that Devī = prakāśātmika, that which is by its nature light and manifestation.

[←733]

Mahādevī (see note 1, ante).

[←734]

Because She is the cause of all auspicious things.

[←735]

Śṛṣṭiśakti, or śakti (power) of creation (N. B).

[←736]

Bhadrāyai. Literally, good = rakṣanaśakti, the Vaiṣṇavaśakti, which maintains (N. B.).

[←737]

Nityāyai; or She is the Śakti Nitya (N. B.).

[←738]

That is, She is samhāraśakti or śakti of dissolution, the tāmasika śakti (according the Commentator Gopal Chakravarti), as contrasted with Dhātrī, the rājasika śakti, and indorūpā (moon form), the sāttvika śakti (vide post).

[←739]

Daughter of Guru, the Lord of the Mountains.

[←740]

Creator and upholder.

[←741]

The moon here stands for all luminous things: or it may mean indorūpā in the technical sense of yoga śāstra.

[←742]

Sukhā = paramānandarūpā.

[←743]

That is, aṇimādirūpā (G. C.), the eight siddhis--aṇimā, laghima, etc.

[←744]

Gopal Chakravarti says this means Rākṣasaśakti (demonic power); also alakṣmī (misfortune). At the time of worship of Lakṣmī (Devī of Prosperity) on the fifth day after vijayadaśamī, the Devī Alakṣmī is worshipped in the house in the form of a misshapen figure, and then thrown away.

[←745]

Bhubritām, which, according to G. C., means mountains, for wealth in the form of gems, etc., are found therein.

[←746]

Maheśvarī or Śivaśakti.

[←747]

Which means, according to Nagoji: “She who is known with difficulty (duhkhajneyā).

[←748]

As N. B. says: Durgātsamsārātpārāngkaroti, etc. G. C. says it means She whose abode is not known in either time or space.

[←749]

For She is not only antaryāminī, but remains even at the time of dissolution. She is feminine because She supports all things as their mother.

[←750]

Khyatihprakritipuruṣayor bhedajnānām (N. B.). Viveka khyātih is a term in Sānkhya denoting the cause of liberation, the recognition of the self (Puruṣa) by the self; not as one published rendering runs, “to fame;”

[←751]

As tāmasika śakti.

[←752]

Dhūmra; that which is with smoke; the sacrificial rite; here the knowledge of the rites.

[←753]

Atisaubhāgyā. As such She is (N. B.) vidyārūpinī, as putting an end to the samsāra. For this reason She, as G. C. says, greatly delights all.

[←754]

Atiraudrāyā, because, as N. B. says, She, as avidyā, is the cause of the samsāra with all its terrors.

[←755]

Jagatpratishtāyai = (as N. B. says) jagadupādānakāraṇam; or, as, G. C. has it, She is sarvāntaryāminī, who dwells in the inmost being of all things.

[←756]

Which = (G. C.) dyotanaśīla, whose nature it is to lighten, or (N.) devaśakti.

[←757]

Or mulāvidyā (Nagoji).

[←758]

Namastasyai, namastasyai, namastasyai namo namah. The refrain throughout the succeeding verses.

[←759]

Cetana = (Nagoji says) chitśakti, or mind. She Herself is nirvikalpacitśakti, but manifests as savikalpacitśakti in all worldly beings.

[←760]

The mind, as the aspect so named of the antahkaraṇa.

[←761]

Nidrārūpena. According to Nagoji, nidrā = suṣupti, the state of dreamless sleep where all sense functions are at an end. According to G. C., svapna or dreaming sleep also.

[←762]

Nagoji says this word=samsāratāpābhāvah, or lack of worldly pain. The samsāra is like a burning flame. In its shadow there is coolness and peace. According to Gopal Chakravarti, however, it = ātapābhāvah. Ātapāh = prakāśarūpatvātvidyā, or knowledge on account of its giving light, and therefore as the lack of it She is avidyā.

[←763]

Śakti: power, action.

[←764]

Which, as Nagoji says, is the desire for that which is not one’s own (anātmīyā); thirst for enjoyment, possession, individual life, etc.

[←765]

Which is the desire not to return evil to those who have done us wrong, notwithstanding our power to do so (N. B.).

[←766]

Jātīrūpeṇa: that which classifies and differentiates one body of beings from another.

[←767]

Which Nagoji says means the control of the senses and renunciation of all worldly things.

[←768]

That is, Nagoji says, āstikatvam (belief in God’s existence); or, according to Gopal Chakravarti, also a firm and strong faith in Veda.

[←769]

Wealth, etc.

[←770]

That is, jīvikā, the callings of husbandmen, merchant, cattle-rearing, etc.

[←771]

Which Nagoji says is the desire of removing the pain of others.

[←772]

Which Nagoji defines as satisfaction with that which one possesses as distinguished from longing for what one has not got.

[←773]

She is jananī, and, as Nagoji says, pālayitrī (protectress).

[←774]

Bhrānti. A thoroughly Indian conception, though some modern Hindus have lost the sense of it. Gopal Chakravarti gives as an example the classical instance of the jīva taking mother-of-pearl to be silver, etc.

[←775]

Cit = citśakti (N. B.), and according to Gopal Chakravarti, who says the jīva is here meant, caitanya.

[←776]

Indra.

[←777]

Queen and Ruler of the worlds.

[←778]

The Good Devas.

[←779]

Their evil enemies.

[←780]

The Devī, who is the mahākāraṇasvarūpā, is also the kāryasvarūpā. As cause She is in the effect and is the śaktirūpa by which all things are done (N).

[←781]

Here is meant the Śakti of Rudra (N).

[←782]

Lakṣmī, Devī of Prosperity and Beauty.

[←783]

Puṣti: nourishment.

[←784]

Vijayā. The Devī Pr. says: “After conquering this very powerful King of the Daityas, named Padma, She is known in the three worlds as Vijayā and unconquerable (aparājitā).”

[←785]

See Hymn to Annapurṇā, post. Here the Īśvara Śakti (N.).

[←786]

A name of Lakṣmī.

[←787]

Medhā, which means, in particular, the retentive faculty or memory, and in general, intelligence.

[←788]

For in Her all men have their being. She is as Ādhāraśakti, their support (N.).

[←789]

As the Purāṇas represent them as doing. The verse deals with the attributes of the ādhāraśakti.

[←790]

Gaganam.

[←791]

Literally, “headed by,” or instances of principal Devas.

[←792]

Brahmā.

[←793]

Śiva.

[←794]

Subrāmshu, or the moon.

[←795]

Lord of Death.

[←796]

Lord of the Air.

[←797]

The elephant-headed Deva, son of the Devī as Pārvatī and Śiva.

[←798]

Vimūdha (see also Umāsanghitā of Śiva Purāṇā).

[←799]

Ye vā stuvanti manujā amarān vimudhā,
Māyā gunaistava caturmukha viṣṇurudrān,
Subrāmshuvahniyamavāyuganeśamukhyān,
Kim tvāmrite janani to prabhavanti kārye.

[←800]

The sacrifice done with ghee poured into fire.

[←801]

Alpadhiyah.

[←802]

The mantra used in homa.

[←803]

Svāhā nacet tamasi te kathamāpuraddhā,
Tvām eva kim nahi ya janti tato hi mudhah.

[←804]

Here apparently trees and the like, as contrasted with the animal world. She allots the karma (N).

[←805]

The Devas, Her children.

[←806]

That is, the Devī does not slay even the Daityas for the mere savage pleasure of killing, and even those whom She slays are slain by Her for the good of the world and their own good, that being slain by Her hand they may go to heaven (see next verse). The Kumārasambhavam says that a man cannot cut down even a poisonous tree if planted by his own hand.

[←807]

Devānganāsuratakelimating viditvā.

[←808]

That is, a celestial body. For, as Daityas do not perform sacrificial rites, etc., so they cannot gain heaven. But when killed by the hand of the Devī, thither they go to their enjoyment, and Devas are protected.

[←809]

Sons of Danu. Enemies of the Devas.

[←810]

Krīḍarasa that is, līlā.

[←811]

Krīḍārasastava nachānyatarotrahetuh (cf. the Vedantic sutra okavattulīlā kaivalyam).

[←812]

Viṣṇu and Śiva.

[←813]

Dhūrttaīh purāṇa caturairhari śankarānām,
Sevāparāshcha vihitāstava nirmitānām.

Men, the verse says, thus worship the creature instead of the Creatrix.

[←814]

Jnātvā surāmstava vashān asurārddhitāngshcha,
Yevai bhajanti bhuvi bhāvayuta vimagnāu,
Dhritvā kare suvimalang khalū dipakangte,
Kupe patanti manujā vijaletighore.

(See also Umāsanghitā.)

[←815]

Knowledge and nescience, the source of nivritti and pravritti, with the latter’s attendant miseries.

[←816]

Knowledge and nescience, the source of nivritti and pravritti, with the latter’s attendant miseries.

[←817]

Kilamandadhibirnārāditā janani bhogaparaistathājnaih.

[←818]

Devas.

[←819]

Tadvai nayelpa matayo manasā bhajanti,
Bhrāntāh patanti satatam bhavasāgarete.

[←820]

Nīlakantha derives the word from chadi (“the wrathful one fearful to the whole world”). Śruti says of the Brahman: Mahadbhayam vajramudhyatam (“great fear and a ready thunderbolt”)

[←821]

Viṣṇu.

[←822]

Śiva.

[←823]

Sarasvatī is She who causes speech. Sound springing from the Mūlādhāra wherein is Devī Kuṇḍalinī proceeds from the stage of mere sound (para), the potentiality of growth in the seed to that of Paśyantī, when the latter begins to sprout; then to Madhyamā, when the first two small leaves appear but inseparate, and lastly, as Vaikharī, when they separate, remaining united only at their base.

[←824]

Viṣṇu.

[←825]

The Ṛṣi of that name.

[←826]

The Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, and Nrisingha avatāra of Viṣṇu.

[←827]

Chalakrit, which Nīlakantha says = Vāmana Avatāra of Viṣṇu. Chalakrit, because Balirāja was deceived by him.

[←828]

Śiva, who retired into the forest after the death of Satī, and who was powerless to protect even his own linga.

[←829]

Śiva.

[←830]

Gaṇeśa, son of Śiva, so powerless.

[←831]

Devī is (as the Lalitā, verse 133, also says), “easily worshipped” (sukhā-rādhyā), without bodily pain by fasting etc., without restrictions on. the mode of meditation. In the Karma Pr. the Lord describes to Himavat an easy mode of worship if he be unable to meditate on the Supreme Form. The Devī is also “easily pleased” (Lalitā, verse 162, kṣipraprasādinī)--that is, even by a little worship as the Saura and Śiva Purāṇas say of the Lord of Umā, with whom the Devī is one.

[←832]

Garvabhāvāt.

[←833]

Devī is “all-bewildering” (Sarvamohinī). In Karma Pr., Śiva says: “This Māyā is dear to me by which the world is bewildered. I bewilder the whole universe with the Devas, Daityas, and men.” The operation of the tāmasika guṇa veils from them the truth.

[←834]

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa says: “That Divine Devī Mahāmāyā forcibly draws away the minds of even the sages (Munis), and leads them into confusion.”

[←835]

Because they are pratyakṣadevatā--that is, visible, and She, the supreme ground of them, is beyond vision, mind, and speech.

[←836]

The reading of much śruti (revelation) teaches them nothing, for their ignorance conceals from them its true meaning.

[←837]

Paramārthatattva. Śankhya says that there are two different kinds of artha or object. One is bhoga (enjoyment), the second, which is the supreme object (paramārtha) is mokṣa (liberation). The one exists in the current issuing from Devī (Avidyā), the other returns on the other current, which draws to the Devī (Vidyā).

[←838]

Śiva.

[←839]

The Sun (Sūrya).

[←840]

Here used generally for Śāstra, though also used in a special sense as denoting Veda and Tantra, to the latter of which, Nīlakantha perhaps refers. Nānātantraihmohakaih (“many deluding Tantras”). The reference is here to the dualistic scriptures.

[←841]

Svabuddhirachitairvividhāgamaishcha (“composed by themselves”).

[←842]

Mohamantranipunām.

[←843]

According to Nīlakantha, Brāhmanas.

[←844]

Literally, “said by themselves” (svoktāgamaih)--that is as Nīlakantha says, puruṣapranitāgamaih (or Āgamas composed by men and not revealed by Śiva).

[←845]

Viṣṇu and Śiva who are themselves only the children of the Mother, and as much creatures, though of the highest kind, as others are.

[←846]

The first and best of the four ages: Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kalī, the commonly supposed present age. In the second, virtue (dharma) decreased by a quarter, in the third by a half, and in the present or Kalī age only a quarter of dharma remains.

[←847]

The guṇa, which manifests on the moral plane as goodness.

[←848]

Literally, “bad Āgama,” a name applied by some to the Tantra of the “downward current” (arddharetas), but here has a general significance to all Śāstra, whether Tantra or otherwise, of a dualistic character (asachchhāstrāni).

[←849]

Tūrye yuge bhavati chātibalang gun.asya,
Turyasyatena māthitānyasadāgamāni tvam,
Gopayanti nipunāh kavayah kalauvai
Tatkalpitān suraganā napi sangstuvanti,

“Imagined by them” (tatkalpitān). This does not mean that the Devas do not exist. Hari, Hara, Īśa, Gaṇeśa, Bhāskara, and others have been mentioned in previous verses. The verse is stutivāda, in which that which is its direct object, is dealt with to the exclusion of all others. What is meant is that She alone is to be worshipped and not any other. Kalpanā is to mistake one thing for another. Thus the world is taken (kalpitā) to be real when the Brahman alone is so. And so, too, mother-of-pearl is mistaken for silver (shuktirajatakalpanā), or a rope for a snake (rajjusarpakalpanā); so people take the Devas to be the ultimate object of worship when it is only the Devī whose manifestations they are, who is such.

[←850]

Sages

[←851]

See Introduction.

[←852]

Yogasiddhām. The manifested Devī as Umā was a great yoginī.

[←853]

Are never reborn. According to Hindu ideas the child suffers great pain and misery in the womb of its mother, the remembrance of which is lost on its birth into the world.

[←854]

That is, caitanya (Nīlakantha). See the Samkṣepaśāriraka.

[←855]

In name and form (nāmarūpātmaka.).

[←856]

Bhavakrityakartā. Literally, “performer of worldly action”--that is, those stated. For, according to Vedānta and Nyāya, it works therein by its Śakti, though in Śankhya the Puruṣa is merely an enjoyer, spectator, and witness (bhoktā, draṣtā, sākṣī).

[←857]

Cf. Dakṣinamūrtisamhitā.

[←858]

The twenty-four beginning with Mahat.

[←859]

Vide ante.

[←860]

Jarāni; mere matter but for the informing life of the Goddess.

[←861]

The so-called “senses” of knowledge (Jnānendriya), viz.: Cakṣu (eye), Śrotra (ear), ghrāṇa (smell), rasanā (tongue), tvak (skin) and of action (karmendriya); viz., Vak (speech), pāni (hand), pāda (feet), pāyu (anus), upastha (genitals).

[←862]

Indriyāni guṇakarmayutāni. Thus, form (rūpa) is the guṇa or object (viṣaya) of the eye, and darśana (or seeing), its function (karma).

[←863]

The Mantra used in Agnikriyā and wife of Agni.

[←864]

If the Mantra Svāhā, which is the Devī, be not said, then the Devas get nothing from the homa. Their Śastric portion they obtain by virtue only of the Devī as Svāhā, the cause thereof.

[←865]

The Devī protects the Devas, and if the Devas are maintained, then the whole world is maintained, as the Devas are Her agents in the maintenance thereof.

[←866]

Manujā, which here, according to Nīlakantha, includes Devas.

[←867]

The Demon Mahiṣa.

[←868]

Gatingtava yathārthatayā na jagmuh.

[←869]

The hymn concluding, Devībhāgavata continues, Vyāsa said: “Devī, thus praised, said in soft, sweet voice, ‘Oh, best of Devas, tell Me what other thing most difficult and hard to accomplish you would have Me do?’”

[←870]

Kṛṣṇā.

[←871]

Kumāri

[←872]

For She observed brahmacarya.

[←873]

Pīnashronipayodhare.

[←874]

Lakṣmī.

[←875]

Viṣṇu.

[←876]

Brahmacarya.

[←877]

Śiva.

[←878]

In ancient times a long bamboo surmounted with a flag was set up on the 1st of Assar, in honour of Indra to secure rain.

[←879]

Cakra.

[←880]

Striviśuddhāchayābhuvī.

[←881]

Bhujangā bhogavasena, which Nīlakantha says is Sarpaśarirākārena.

[←882]

Thus used for the churning of the ocean.

[←883]

Tridivam or svarga; for there “the Three” shine.

[←884]

The son of Jambāsura, whom the Devī fought for many years before he was slain by Her (see Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa). During the great Durgā festival in autumn, the Devī is represented as slaying this formidable Asura, so called as having assumed the form of a buffalo.

[←885]

Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah, the earthly, atmospheric, and celestial spheres.

[←886]

Śivābhava. Śiva is so called because he is auspicious.

[←887]

Two Companion Devatās of Durgā.

[←888]

Spouse of Mahākāla, an aspect of Śiva.

[←889]

Siddhumāmsapa`upriye. Siddhu is a spirit distilled from molasses.

[←890]

Bhutaih, which Nīlakantha says here denotes the oldest beings, Brahmā and other Devas.

[←891]

Literally, one who rescues from difficulty.

[←892]

Sandhya, early dawn when the stars are vanishing, and evening as they are about to appear.

[←893]

Thus praised by the son of Pāndu, the Goddess showed Herself to him.

[←894]

Siddhi (success,) which here means the supreme siddhi or mukti (liberation).

[←895]

That is according to the commentator jīvanam.

[←896]

Sandhyā or junction-time, morning and evening.

[←897]

Kālarātri which is pralayarātri, or the night of the dissolution of all things.

[←898]

Born in the race of the sage Kuśika.

[←899]

The virgin state, or the first of the āśramas.

[←900]

Skanda, or Kārtikeya, son of Śiva and the Devī.

[←901]

Ugrachārī, which should be ugrachārinī, but this is Arsha (composed by Ṛṣis), to whom the rules of grammar do not apply.

[←902]

The Devī practised great austerities to gain Śiva as Her husband.

[←903]

Companion Devatās of Durgā.

[←904]

Mrityu, the God of Death.

[←905]

Bahurūpā (see the Lalitā, verse 155). The Devī Bhāg. Pr. says, “She is formless because She is supreme, She has many forms because of Her activity” (see also Devī and Vāmana Purāṇas): “She is also the Śakti of the countless Rudras.” The term is much commented upon in the Purāṇas, Upapurāṇas, and Tantras.

[←906]

Anekavidharūpinī.

[←907]

Virūpākṣī. Śiva is also called Virūpākṣa. His eyes are, either owing to his state of samādhi, or consumption of bhang, pictured as in a vague, dreamy, half-open state.

[←908]

Śavarair varvaraischaiva pulindaischa supūjitā--a line worthy of remark, for these were savage and non-aryan tribes.

[←909]

During worship of the image the worshipper rings a bell. There was a constant ringing of bells.

[←910]

Pattisha, a kind of spear with a sharp edge.

[←911]

Auspicious days. On the ninth (Navamī) there is Caṇḍīpātha (reading of Caṇḍī), and on the eleventh (Ekādaśī) fasting.

[←912]

Kṛṣṇa’s eldest brother.

[←913]

Rajanīya in text is said to be a wrong reading for mahanīya.

[←914]

Kalahapriyā. Literally, quarrelsome.

[←915]

Niṣṭha, which according to the commentator, here means maraṇam.

[←916]

That is, mukti (Liberation).

[←917]

Foster-father of Kṛṣṇa.

[←918]

The dark (tāmasika) energy, called Raudrī, is said to be Cāmuṇḍā. There are said to be nine crores of different Cāmuṇḍās. (see Bhāskararāya Comm., Lalitā, verse 155).

[←919]

Sandhyā.

[←920]

Kālī and Tārā are always so represented (see Karpūrādistotra).

[←921]

Surāmāmsabalipriyā.

[←922]

Devī of wealth and prosperity.

[←923]

Devī of misfortune and poverty.

[←924]

Sons of Danu, enemies of the Devas.

[←925]

The Gāyatrī mantra.

[←926]

Mantraganasya, or, according to another reading, bhūtaganasya.

[←927]

The present offered to the officiating Brāhmaṇa.

[←928]

Priest

[←929]

Dharmabuddhi, a term difficult to translate. A man is said to have dharmabuddhi who has great respect for religion and duty.

[←930]

The Devas were children of Aditi, as the Daityas were of Diti.

[←931]

Sāngyātrikānām = potavanijām.

[←932]

That is, She is the Mother of Kubera, the King of the Yakṣas, a class of Devayoni.

[←933]

Mother of the serpent divinities (Nāgās).

[←934]

Brahmacarya

[←935]

Brahmavādinī

[←936]

The name of an asterism.

[←937]

The name of Śiva as clad in tiger-skin.

[←938]

Author of the Rāmāyana. Tradition says that he obtained a boon from the Goddess of learning and composed that work.

[←939]

Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana, one of the Vyasas, arranger of the Purāṇas, etc., who is said to have had all such śāstra by heart.

[←940]

Mānasī, which the Commentator says = “Satyasangkalpātmikā chetovritti” that is, whose will and thought fully realizes itself.

[←941]

Surādevi.

[←942]

Indra

[←943]

Ārani are the two sticks of samid wood used to kindle sacrificial fire.

[←944]

Brāhmaṇas who cherish fire in the house and perform homa thrice daily.

[←945]

Wife of Agni, the mantra used when making homa.

[←946]

Of whom there are eight: Apa, Dḥruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, Pratyusha, Prabhāsa (see Vishnupurāṇa, Book I., chap. xv.)

[←947]

e.g., north and south, east and west, etc.

[←948]

A terrible spirit of that name.

[←949]

A female demon who attempted to destroy, but who was destroyed by the infant Kṛṣṇa.

[←950]

Name of the twenty-seventh constellation, containing thirty-two stars.

[←951]

Kṣatriyā

[←952]

The science of Brahman.

[←953]

The Mahāmantra ”om”. Vaṣat is a mantra. As Svāhā is used with homa, so srauṣat, vauṣat, vaṣat, and svadhā are used in pitṛkriyā.

[←954]

Brahmā

[←955]

Wife of the sage Vaśiṣṭha, famous for her constancy and devotion.

[←956]

Ekabhartrinām

[←957]

Bhedovivādashīlānām.

[←958]

Spouse of Indra.

[←959]

Here follows the phala portion.

[←960]

Siddhi

[←961]

The tyrant who sought to slay Kṛṣṇa. The Chapter concludes: “Having thus addressed the Devī, the Lord disappeared, and She, too, saluting Him, expressed Her consent by saying, ‘So be it’.”

[←962]

Siddhasenānī. The siddhas are here yogis and sages. Nīlakanṭha (cited post as N.), in his Commentary, says the term means: She who, as leader (literally, commander of an army), gives success in yoga and attainment of the supreme abode.

[←963]

Āryye. Literally, noble, but here means, as Nīlakantha says, prapya-brahmasvarūpa--the own form of the accessible Brahman, as distinguished from the nirguṇa Brahman beyond thought and speech.

[←964]

Kumārī. It also means (N.) that She is very young.

[←965]

Kāpālī, one of Her forms. Kāpāla is Rudrā, as leader of Kāpālas (Kāpālikas).

[←966]

Kapilākṛṣṇapingalā.

[←967]

Auspicious Kālī, who gives prosperity to Her devotees.

[←968]

The great Kālī, Destructress in the form of death.

[←969]

Spouse of Caṇḍa, or Kālāntaka, or Yama.

[←970]

Candā--bold, daring, brave, courageous.

[←971]

Tārinī, for She delivers from calamity.

[←972]

Varavarninī (N.), not “beautiful coloured,” as it has been translated.

[←973]

Kātyāyanī

[←974]

Karālī = krure or cruel (to demons and other ill-doers). Karālavadanā (wide-opened mouth) is an epithet of Kālī. “Gaping-mouthed, terrible, four-armed, with dishevelled hair”--Karālavadanām ghorām, chatur-bhujām, as the Kālī dhyāna runs.

[←975]

Vijaya--that is, particular (viśisṭ.a) victory (N.).

[←976]

Jayā. Jayā and Vijayā are also the names of two female attendants (Sakhī) of Durgā.

[←977]

Gopendra or Kṛṣṇa. In the Harivamśa and Caṇḍī it is said that with the view of defeating the designs of Kamsa in regard to the destruction of Devakī’s offspring, Devī will be born as the ninth child of Yaśodā in the same night as Kṛṣṇa was born as the eight child of Devakī, when Kṛṣṇa would be carried to Yaśodā and She to Devakī.

[←978]

Jyeṣtha--śreṣthā--superior to or best of all.

[←979]

In whose house Kṛṣṇa was reared.

[←980]

The Asura of that name (see Caṇḍī).

[←981]

A name of the Devī, as born in the race of the sage Kuśika.

[←982]

Kokamukhe--when in battle with Raktabīja.

[←983]

See Hymn to Annapūrṇa, post.

[←984]

Shākambarī. Shōka is a vegetable food given by Devī at the time of famine (Caṇḍī).

[←985]

Svetā (N.), not white, as it has been translated.

[←986]

Kṛṣṇā (N.), not black, as it has been translated.

[←987]

A Daitya brother of Madhu (Caṇḍī).

[←988]

Virūpākṣī

[←989]

Dhūmrākṣī (N.) says grey and green, like those of a cat.

[←990]

Here Upaniṣads.

[←991]

Jātavedasī. Jataveda is a name of Agni (Fire).

[←992]

Chaityeshu. Ordinarily this term is applied to the Buddhist shrine, of which it is commonly said: “One should not enter a Jaina’s temple or Buddhist chaitya, even if pursued by an elephant” (Hastinā tādyamānopi na gachchet jaina-mandiram also dhaitya mandiram.) Here the term means devatālaya.

[←993]

A Purāṇic island by that name, not as it has been translated; “Who dwellest continually near to mountain precipices and sepulchres.”

[←994]

“The great sleep of embodied beings,” according to the last translator: But Mahānidrā (great sleep) is here mukti (liberation), which is the result of the Brahmavidyā, spoken of in the preceding line.

[←995]

Kārtikeya. By this it is meant that She is sarvadevatārūpā, in the form of all Devas, of whom Skanda is selected as a type (N.).

[←996]

Kāntāravāsinī (N.).

[←997]

Mantra used with homa, but here it means that all ritual acts are her embodiment (Sarvakarmarūpā).

[←998]

Mantra used in pitṛkriyā (see last note).

[←999]

Kalā is a division of time--one minute forty-eight seconds, and kāṣṭḥa is one-thirtieth of that.

[←1000]

Devī of speech and learning.

[←1001]

She is sarvavāng-māyā-rūpa (N.).

[←1002]

End of the Vedas or Upaniṣad.

[←1003]

The nether world.

[←1004]

Jambhane = tandrā (N.), not “destroyer” as it has been translated.

[←1005]

Mohinī = Nidrā (N.).

[←1006]

Māyā = adbhutapradarśanām (N.).

[←1007]

Hrī = lajjā representative of, and including all other actions of mind (N.).

[←1008]

Śrī, or prosperity, and other attributes of Lakṣmī.

[←1009]

Sandhyā. the intervening period when night is going and morn coming. and vice versa, applied here to similar junction times in the creation and dissolution of the world (N.).

[←1010]

Sāvitri. She who, by the lustre of Sūrya, reveals (N.).

[←1011]

Because, as a mother, She supports the world and all beings therein.

[←1012]

Aiśvarya. The supreme faculties of omnipresence, omnipotence, etc.

[←1013]

Maheśvara. She is the greatest wealth of Brahman.

[←1014]

Sankya or Samādhi, where light appears and the ātman is known (N).

[←1015]

Siddhas here mean those who are liberated whilst yet living (jīvanmukta), and Cāranas those who are siddhas from their birth.

[←1016]

The Devī is so called as the Spouse of Śiva, destroyer of the tripura, or cities of the three Asuras--Kamalākṣa, Tarakākṣa, and Vidyun-māli. According to the Kālikā Purāṇa, Paraśiva is Tripurā, because he has three pura in Him, His body becoming triple upon the manifestation therein of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva. The Devī is then the Śakti of Paramaśiva.

[←1017]

The Kadamba (Nauclea cadamba) is a tree with orange fragrant blossom whereunder Kṛṣṇa played (see Ādyākālisvarūpaśtotra in Mahānirvāṇa Tantra). Kadamba also denotes number (multitude), and in this sense the Kadamba forest is the universe which the Devī permeates.

[←1018]

Śiva with the central eye of wisdom. Śiva is also Tryambaka, because He is the father of the three Devas, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra (Tarkālangkāra Commentary, Mahānirvāṇa Tantra). The Ṛgvidhāna uses it as equivalent of Mahādeva.

[←1019]

Muni. As the bank of cloud gives water, so She quenches the spiritual thirst of munis.

[←1020]

Nitambajitabhudaram. Nitamba literally means buttocks, which, however, here reads rather absurdly in English, the side or hips being pārśa, kakṣa, or shroni (cf. tenth śloka of the Karpurākhyastava ”Samantādāpinastana-jaghanadhrikyauvanavatī”)

[←1021]

That is, of the dark blue colour seen when the blue of the sky appears through a freshly-formed black rain-cloud.

[←1022]

A stringed musical instrument of that name.

[←1023]

Mukhasamullasattvārunim. Vāruni is wine made from rice. Here and in following verses the divine ambrosia (amṛta) is referred to.

[←1024]

“Rising” (cf. Durgādhyāna in “Devī Purāṇa”) pīnonnata payodharām. As to weight and greatness, see Annapūrṇādhyāna, Bhuvaneśvaristotra, “āpīvarastanatating tanuvrittamadhyām,” and Introduction.

[←1025]

Madārunakapolaya

[←1026]

Lilayā. Play (līlā) is the mark of a Deva, and the Devī’s substance is play (lilāmayī). The Devī is Lalitā (“She who plays”): Padma Purāṇa says: “Having passed beyond the world She plays, hence She is called Lalitā.” But the Creation is also Her play.

[←1027]

Ṣaḍāmbhu--that is, the six cakra or centres in the human body: the mulādhāra, svādihṣṭhāna, manipūra, anāhata, viśuddha, and ājnāpadmas (see the translation of the Satcakra Nirūpaṇa from the Sanskrit, The Serpent Power). The Devī exists as Kuṇḍalinī in these cakra.

[←1028]

Satatasiddhisaudaminim. Siddhi (power so called), which lies latent, is instantly brought to light by Her.

[←1029]

Scarlet hibiscus, the Tāntrik flower sacred to the Devī.

[←1030]

Ṛṣi.

[←1031]

The musical instrument which She holds and which rests on Her breast.

[←1032]

For she is also Kamalā or Lakṣmī.

[←1033]

Madārunāvilochanam

[←1034]

That is, charmer of Śiva who destroyed Kāmadeva with the fire from His eyes when the latter sought to distract him by thought of passion from the yoga in which he was engaged.

[←1035]

Smaretprathama puṣpinīm, literally “as having the first ‘flower’” which is used in the same symbolical sense as in English. The puṣpotsava is the religious festival held on its first appearance at puberty.

[←1036]

Rudhiravīndunīlambaram--that is, stained with the puṣpa (“flower”). As this first shows itself when woman is ready to bear, so in the blue sky, which is the Devī’s garment, signs are seen which herald Her creation.

[←1037]

Grihītamadhupānikām

[←1038]

Madhuvighurnanetranchalam

[←1039]

Ghanastana bharonnatām: “heavy” (cf. Annapūrṇadhyāna Annapradāna-niratām stanabhāranamrām”); “high” (cf. Durgādhyana, ante Introduction); “close,” so that, as it is said in the Kumarāsambhavam (chap. i.) of Kalidāsa: “Even the filament of a lotus could not be passed between them” (“mrinālasūtrāntaramapyalabhyam”).

[←1040]

Galitachikurām. The Devī in this and other forms, as Kālī, Tārā and Chinnamastā is so represented. The epithet is a common one in Tantra (cf. Karpūrādistotra, verse 3).

[←1041]

Jaba, v. ante. So also the Lalitā (verse 147), “whose body is like the China rose.”

[←1042]

See the Ādyākālisvarūpa Stotra in the Mahānirvāṇa Tantra.

[←1043]

The Devī is, according to the Lalitā Sahasranāma (verse 59) chāruhāsa (with beautiful smile), indicating a certain state of consciousness (prabodha) of highest bliss.

[←1044]

These are Her weapons. The Tantrarāja (Vāsana chap.) says: “Mind is the bow of sugar-cane, desire the noose, anger the goad, and the five subtle sources of the elements (tanmātra) the five arrows of flowers.” But the Yoginīhridaya says: “The noose is Iccāśakti, and goad Jnānāśakti, and the bow and arrows Kriyāśakti.”

[←1045]

She deludes men with her māyā; hence the Lalitā (verse 137) calls Her “all-bewildering” (sarvamohinī). The Kurma Purāṇā says: “This māyā is dear to me by which the world is bewildered. I bewilder the whole universe with the Devas, Daityas, and men.”

[←1046]

Cikurabandhasairiṇdhrikām: for Her hair, which is in some of Her aspects dishevelled, is in others beautifully arranged.

[←1047]

The River Ganges, in whom the Devī manifests.

[←1048]

Śiva. The Ganges in its descent from heaven at the call of Bhagīratha was caught in the matted hair of Śiva.

[←1049]

Amarāvatī. The city of India.

[←1050]

Kaliyuga. The fourth, and, according to orthodox views, the present age, marked by the prevalence of sin.

[←1051]

By the celestial Ganges called Mandākinī.

[←1052]

Sumeru

[←1053]

Siddhas are celestial spirit (devayoni) of great purity.

[←1054]

A species of grass used in worship.

[←1055]

Munis

[←1056]

The flower and grass is thrown by them when they worship the Ganges in the morning and evening.

[←1057]

Gangā is called Bhagirathi, because She was brought down from heaven by the prayer of Bhagīratha, son of the solar race, in order to secure heavenly bliss for his kinsmen.

[←1058]

Kamaṇḍalu, a gourd-shaped vessel used by ascetics.

[←1059]

Pitāmaha. Brahmā is so called.

[←1060]

The thousand-headed serpent Ananta Deva (see Viṣṇu Purāṇā).

[←1061]

Hence the river is called Jāhnavī. The verse speaks of the stages of the descent of the heavenly stream. Ṛṣi Jahnu swallowed the Ganges, and then, at the prayer of Bhagīratha, he let it issue from his thigh. The Ganges is called his daughter as She issued from him.

[←1062]

Manohārinī (“mind stealer”).

[←1063]

Śiva, like the ascetics, wears a coil of matted hair (Jaṭa)

[←1064]

Śiva.

[←1065]

Benares, through which the Ganges flows.

[←1066]

Fearlessness is the special gift of the Devī. The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇā says: “When You are remembered in times of difficulty, You take away all fear of all beings.” She is Bhayāpahā (remover of fear); for Śruti says (“Tai Up.” ii. 9, 1): “By knowing the bliss of that Brahman none fear anything.”

[←1067]

That is, Viṣṇu, who is clad in yellow, and whose city is His heaven (Vaikuṇṭha).

[←1068]

Men

[←1069]

That is, when on death, they are thrown into the Ganges.

[←1070]

The Devī is the Holy Mother (Śrīmātā), the first of Her names.

[←1071]

Indra, King of the celestials.

[←1072]

Pada or portion.

[←1073]

Feminine of Bhagavān, a term applied to God, and which means He who possesses Bhaga.

[←1074]

Svarga

[←1075]

Śiva

[←1076]

Viṣṇu

[←1077]

Viṣṇu and Śiva.

[←1078]

Death (prāṇaprayāṇotsava), for it is the entrance to heavenly bliss.

[←1079]

Vaikuṇṭha

[←1080]

Bhava is Śiva, and is His name in the watery form of the aṣṭamūrti (eight forms). The Vāyu Purāṇa says that He is called Bhava because all things come from Him and subsist in water. The Devī is Bhavānī as the Spouse and giver of life to Bhava.

[←1081]

Brahmā

[←1082]

Śiva

[←1083]

Kārtikeya, son of Śiva.

[←1084]

Ananta on whom Viṣṇu reposes.

[←1085]

Generally Śāstra and in special technical sense Tantra in which the Devī is the Guru.

[←1086]

Clarified butter.

[←1087]

The supreme Lord.

[←1088]

Tāmbūla, or pan, which is chewed.

[←1089]

Prithukatitate.

[←1090]

Feminine of Bhagavān.

[←1091]

Devī as daughter of Dakṣa (see Introduction).

[←1092]

Ambhoruhacatulacakṣu. Literally, the lotus eye is ever moving, now glancing here, now there. Motionless eyes in women are not considered beautiful.

[←1093]

Śiva

[←1094]

One of the five heavenly trees in the garden and city (Amarāvatī) of Indra--viz., Mandāra, Pārijāta, Santāna, Kalpavrikṣa, Harichandana.

[←1095]

The stringed instrument of that name borne by the Devī as Sarasvatī.

[←1096]

Nātangī. So also the Annapurṇā dhyāna represents the Devī as giver of food “stooping from the weight of Her great breasts” (annapradāna niratāmstanabhāranamrām, and see verse 6 post).

[←1097]

Mātangīruciragati bhangī bhagavatī.

[←1098]

Name of the Devī. According to the Kālikā, and Brahmā Purāṇas the Devī, as the daughter of Himavat, renounced even leaves as food (a-parṇā = without leaf); hence she is called by Devas Aparṇā. According to another derivation, the name comes from apa (removing), rina (debt). So Bhāskararāya, who gives it, says in his Devīstava; “When you have not discharged your debt to me, though I respect your name, O Śivé why are you not ashamed to bear the name of Aparṇā?” (discharger of debt)? According to the Nirukta, parna = falling. Aparṇa = free from falling.

[←1099]

That is, it is by Her favour that Śiva forms part of Her.

[←1100]

Himādrehsambhūtā--that is, the Himālaya, hence She is also called Girijā (mountain-born).

[←1101]

Either from their natural colour or because dyed with lac.

[←1102]

The bee goes to the lotus; the bees (her hair) settle upon her (lotus) face.

[←1103]

Kucābharanatā

[←1104]

Disease (rujānghantrī).

[←1105]

Literally, one who goes (gantrī).

[←1106]

Latikā. Dim, of latā creeper to which woman is compared, for she clings to her husband as the creeper to the tree. Hence worship with woman in the Tāntrik Pancatattva is called latāsādhana.

[←1107]

Cidānanda which, with sat (being), constitutes the nature of the Supreme Being (Parabrahman).

[←1108]

That is, some worship a particular Devatā to gain a particular result--e.g., Sarasvatī for learning, Lakṣmī for wealth etc.; but Śankarācārya worships the supreme Aparṇā, whom the Devas worship, who is without qualities, and does so only to give Her honour.

[←1109]

Full kaivalya mokṣa, liberation above the various pāda, sālokya, etc. for muktī is of various kinds.

[←1110]

Law of religion, duty, etc.

[←1111]

That is Kubera, Deva of wealth.

[←1112]

A name of Kāma, God of Love

[←1113]

Satām. She gives liberation to them.

[←1114]

The Supreme Being, for it preceded Śakti, as Śruti says, “Sa aikshata,” etc. As the Śāradā Tilaka (chap. i.) says: “Saccidānanda vibhavāt sakalat parameshvarāt, āsīchchaktistītonādonādbindusadmudbhavah.

[←1115]

A bird (cuculus melanolcucus) which is said to live on raindrops.

[←1116]

That is, just as the cātaka is given something, though it does not and cannot pray for it, so what the writer of the hymn receives must, since his devotion (bhakti) is so small and lacking in the force of prayer, be due to some undisclosed merit acquired as the result of past karma.

[←1117]

Kalpalatikā--that is, a creeper which, like the kalpa tree, grants all desires that may be asked of it.

[←1118]

Ganeśa

[←1119]

Tattatpāpaih. Literally, “those particular sins”--the sins of the hymnist who knows what they are.

[←1120]

Feminine of Īśa (Lord).

[←1121]

Brahmā

[←1122]

Giver of liberation--that is, Viṣṇu.

[←1123]

See Introduction to Tantra Śāstra.

[←1124]

Great powers, such as aṇimā, laghimā, etc., the power of becoming extremely light or heavy, of entering into things, etc., which, in their fulness, constitute the aiśvarya of the Lord (Īśvara), and in a lesser degree of those who approach His nature.

[←1125]

Himālaya, for Devī was the daughter of the Mountain-King Himavat.

[←1126]

Dakṣa, in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, reproaching Śiva, says: “He roams about in dreadful cemeteries, attended by hosts of ghosts and spirits, like a madman, naked, with dishevelled hair, wearing a garland of dead men’s skulls and ornaments of human bone, pretending to be Śiva (auspicious), but in reality Aśiva (inauspicious), insane, beloved by the insane, the Lord of Bhūtas (ghosts and spirits), beings whose nature is essentially darkness” (Muir, OṢṬ., iv. 738). The cremation ground is His abode, for there the passions are burnt away.

[←1127]

God of Love, whom Śiva consumed.

[←1128]

Paśupati: a name of Śiva: as to Paśu (see Introduction to Tantra Śāstra). Here the equivalent of Lord of men.

[←1129]

Beneficent one. According to the Padma Purāṇa Devī is worshipped as Kalyāṇī in the Malaya mountain, to which reference is made in verse 20.

[←1130]

Bhītaivāsīt, or may be abashed.

[←1131]

Jāhnavī, whence Gangā is called Jāhnavī. When Gangā fell from Heaven, Śiva first held Her in the locks of his hair, until Her anger at being called down by Bhagīratha had abated. She then fell into the Bindu lake, whence issue the seven sacred streams. One branch followed Bhagīratha wherever he went, and on the way flooded the sacrificial flame of the muni Jāhnu. In his anger he drank up its waters. Bhagīratha’s work seemed to be fruitless. But after intercession, the muni allowed the waters to flow from him, and as so, issuing from him, the Ganges is called his daughter Jāhnavī.

[←1132]

Amarāvatī, the city of Indra.

[←1133]

Literally, fever-produced disease (jvarajanitapīdāpasarati).

[←1134]

Yamunā

[←1135]

Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

[←1136]

A Daitya slain by Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

[←1137]

Kunjapunja.

[←1138]

The refrain is translated in the first line.

[←1139]

The cowherd who brought up Śrīkṛṣṇa, when his life was threatened by Kamsa.

[←1140]

Literally, “who are slaves to Her by reason of their inhabitancy of Her banks”

[←1141]

After the rāsalīlā Śrīkṛṣṇa and the Gopīs are tired by their dance and play, and are refreshed by repose upon Her banks where gentle breezes blow.

[←1142]

Rivers are either male (nada) or female (nadī). Of the former class are the Sone, Sindu, etc., and of the latter Gangā, Narmadā, Gandakī, etc.

[←1143]

Her sandy banks are so.

[←1144]

Of a soft and silvery white.

[←1145]

For use in the ritual worship of Śiva.

[←1146]

Malam (manomalam). Impurity is a thing which is dark. The river by the white splendour of its white banks and blossoms is therewith contrasted.

[←1147]

For luminously white is She like the moon.

[←1148]

The beloved of Śrīkṛṣṇa.

[←1149]

Śrīkṛṣṇa; for He too bathes in her stream, which possesses also His dark colour.

[←1150]

Alluding to the destruction of the Asuras, called Kālakeya. These excluded the Devas from svarga. On their chiefs bring slain by Indra, they betook themselves to the depths of the ocean, whence they issued at night to destroy the Ṛṣis. The latter asked the aid of Viṣṇu, who told them to go to Agastya. He at one sip swallowed all the oceans, which thus disappeared (therefore “sleeping oceans” of text) until the River Ganges was brought down by Bhagīratha when they were again filled with Her waters. This incident is attributed to the Yamunā, both rivers being manifestations of the same Devī.

[←1151]

Literally, Ali, which, according to the Amarakośa = Sakhi; female friend, referring to the Gopīs who loved Krishna.

[←1152]

Lampata; Whose senses were roused by the scent of the pastes which had fallen from the scented body of Kṛṣṇa.

[←1153]

Kṛṣṇa (“imperishable one”).

[←1154]

Vilola. Her hair is dishevelled and moving in the movements of breeze and play.

[←1155]

Literally, “In the case of those who come down to bathe in Her waters She ever destroys all righteousness of master and servant”--that is, all are equal in Her waters which purify all without distinction.

[←1156]

The text has Nandinandana, but this has no meaning. Nandanandi is He who pleases Nanda or Kṛṣṇa, whose foster-father Nanda the cowherd was.

[←1157]

With the Gopī women.

[←1158]

A beautiful flowering tree with yellow blooms under, and on which (as when he stole the garments of the bathing Gopīs) Kṛṣṇa played

[←1159]

A kind of Jasmine.

[←1160]

Śabda is Brahman, and mantra the manifestation thereof. From manana arises realization of the monistic truth. Man of mantra comes from the first syllable of manana, and tra from trāna, or liberation from the bondage of the samsāra. That is called mantra which calls forth (āmantrana) the caturvarga, and which is the svarūpa of Devatā. (See Introduction to Tantra Śāstra and the Chapter on Mantra Tattva in Principles of Tantra.)

[←1161]

Ibid., The Tāntrik diagram which is worshipped in lieu of the image (pratimā). The Gāyatrī Yantra is figured on the cover of this work. Mantra is Devatā, and yantra is mantra, in that it is the body of the Devatā, who is mantra.

Yantram mantramayam proktam mantrātmā devataivahi
Dehātmanoryathā bhedo yantradevatayostathā (Kaulavalīya Tantra).

“The substance of yantra is mantra. Devatā is mantra. As there is a distinction between body and ātmā, so there is between yantra and Devatā.”

[←1162]

By the āvāhana mantra, always said in worship of the pratimā.

[←1163]

Ritual gesture, it being said; Devānām modadā mudrā tasmāttām yatnātścaret (see Introduction to Tantra Śāstra)”--”Mudrā is giver of pleasure to Devas, therefore it should be done with care.”

[←1164]

Want of means to perform the proper worship.

[←1165]

A celebrated line; Kuputtro jāyetā kvacidapi kumātā nabhavati.

[←1166]

How is this stated if the hymn be the work of Śankarācārya, to whom it is attributed, for he is said to have died at the early age of thirty-two?

[←1167]

Lambodarajananī. The Deva is the elephant-headed Ganeśa.

[←1168]

That is, a low caste such as the Caṇḍāla, who eats any filth.

[←1169]

A crore is 100 lakhs; a lakh is 100,000.

[←1170]

That is, japa, which is only recitation (in English) in its lowest form, the highest form being mental (mānasa) only. Japa, which is defined as vidhānenā mantroccaraṇam, is either vācaka, upāmshu, or mānasā (see Tantrasāra, 75 et seq.).

[←1171]

Śiva, to whom the rest of the attributes in this verse refer.

[←1172]

Śiva is represented naked, as the Yogins, of whom He is the Master, ever are.

[←1173]

Paśupati. Paśu literally means animal, but men are also pas.

[←1174]

Bhūteśa, Śiva is surrounded by hosts of spirits.

[←1175]

Mrida is a title of the sāttvika Śiva. She is His Spouse.

[←1176]

Devī is the Spouse of the countless Śivas called Rudras, in whom the tamoguna prevails. The dark (tamas) energy, called Raudrī, is said to be Cāmuṇḍā.

[←1177]

Upacāra. There are sixteen such, called the shoḍaśa pūjā upacāra--viz., (1) āsanam (seat); (2) svāgatam (welcome); (3) pādyam (water for feet) (4) Argyam (offering of water, durva grass, rice, etc.); (5) and (6) ācamanīyam; (water for sipping; twice); (7) madhuparka (honey, ghee, milk); (8) snānam (bathing); (9) vasanam (cloth); (10) ābharanam (jewels); (11) gandha (scent, sandal paste, etc.); (12) puṣpa (flowers); (13) dūpa (incense), (14) dīpa (lights); (15) naivedyam (food); (16) vandanam or namaskāra (prayer).

[←1178]

Śyāmā

[←1179]

A great name of the Devī. The Devī Purāṇa says that She is so called because the Devas were delivered from fear in difficulty and battle; hence She is deliverer (Durgā). The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa and the Lakṣmī Tantra in the Pancarātra says: “In this place I shall kill a great Daitya (Titan) named Durgama. Hence my name shall be Durgā.”

[←1180]

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa says: When Thou art remembered in times of difficulty, Thou takest away all fear of all things.”

[←1181]

Jagadambā.

[←1182]

Is the name of a celebrated ghat at Benares, where the bodies of the dead are burnt, and at which the gem of the ear ornament of the Devī fell. The Kāśipanchakastotra of Śankara says that where there is nivṛtti of manas, there is the great peace. That peace is the foremost of tīrthas (here rivers) and Maṇikarṇikā (Manonivṛtti paramopaśāntih sā tīrthavaryā maṇikarṇikāca).

[←1183]

One of the forms of qualified mukti (liberation); the four muktis are Sālokya (remaining in the same region with the Deva), Sāmīpya (remaining near the Deva), Sārupya (receiving the same form as the Deva), and Sayujya (becoming one with the Deva).

[←1184]

Prayāṇotsava--that is, death.

[←1185]

Viṣṇu

[←1186]

The Bird King, who is the vehicle (vāhana) of Viṣṇu, son of Kaśyapa by his wife Vinetā, elder brother of Aruṇa.

[←1187]

The colour of Viṣṇu’s robes. The verse is intended to show the unity of both Viṣṇu and Śiva.

[←1188]

The Ṛṣis once disputed amongst themselves as to the relative merits of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, and the Ṛṣī Bhrigu was sent to test them. The first and last on being purposely slighted by Bhrigu showed the weakness of resentment. Finding Viṣṇu lying down with Lakṣmī in the daytime he upbraided him for this and planted with force his foot on his chest. Viṣṇu not only took all this in good part, but rubbing the foot of Bhrigu expressed the hope that the latter had not hurt it by his action. On this exhibition of divine quality the palm was adjudged to Viṣṇu, who thereafter bore the mark of Bhrigu’s foot on his breast.

[←1189]

Tridaśah, a collective name for the other Devas. The thirty-three (three being understood) gaṇas of Devas, of which the Devī is Tridaśeśvarī.

[←1190]

In heaven (Svarga).

[←1191]

For the enjoyment in Svarga, which is part of the worlds of birth and rebirth, is not eternal, but on fruition the jivātmā again descends to earth to work out its unexhausted karma.

[←1192]

Sāyujyepi. As to sāyujya

[←1193]

Viṣṇu

[←1194]

A great and brilliant gem worn by Viṣṇu.

[←1195]

Benares

[←1196]

Nirvāṇāmokṣa, the highest form of Mukti (liberation). As the saying goes: “Ayodhyā, Mathurā, Gayā, Kāśi, Kānci, Avantikā, Purī, these seven tīrthas (places of pilgrimage) give mukti, but Kāśī (Benares) gives nirvāṇa mukti.”

[←1197]

As the servant awaits the orders of his mistress, so mukti (liberation) awaits the command of Maṇikarṇikā.

[←1198]

Benares

[←1199]

Mukti

[←1200]

Piety, wealth, fulfilment of desire, and liberation.

[←1201]

Kṛṣṇa, who is often so figured.

[←1202]

Mount Govardhana, which Kṛṣṇa, by his might, upheld.

[←1203]

Curls of hair on the breast of Viṣṇu.

[←1204]

At the churning of the ocean, poison issued which, to save the world, Śiva swallowed. It coloured His throat blue; hence he is called Nīlakantha.

[←1205]

The River Ganges

[←1206]

Viṣṇu

[←1207]

They with Brahmā; for as the Rudrayāmala says “Though three they are one” (Ekam murtistrayo deva). All the Devas and Devīs are but manifestations, with the apparent limitations incident thereto, of the Supreme Unity--the Brahman.

[←1208]

Śiva and Viṣṇu.

[←1209]

That is, they cease to differ from one another, having become Hari and Hara, who are themselves one.

[←1210]

Indra, king of the celestials.

[←1211]

The sun (Sūrya).

[←1212]

The first is the vehicle (Vāhana) of Śiva. The second, the carrier of Viṣṇu.

[←1213]

Brahmā

[←1214]

Not human years.

[←1215]

Śiva

[←1216]

The Vaidika Aśvamedha.

[←1217]

Īśvarī (feminine of Īśvara or Lord) of the Suras or Devas.

[←1218]

So called because called down from Heaven by Bhagīratha of the solar race.

[←1219]

Tantra.

[←1220]

Gangā was born at the feet of Viṣṇu. So it is said in the mantra used when bathing in the Ganges: “Viṣṇupādābja sambhūte Gange bhuvanatārini dharma dravīti” (the Ganges is dharma in liquid form) “vikhyāte pāpam me hara Jāhnavi.”

[←1221]

Deva of Death.

[←1222]

Into sin.

[←1223]

The Himālaya.

[←1224]

Son of Santanu by Gangā.

[←1225]

The tree in the paradise of Indra which granted all desires.

[←1226]

Vimukhavanitākritataralāpānge.

[←1227]

So called after Bhagīratha, who called her down to earth

[←1228]

Vasudhāhārā--that is, as a necklace adorns a woman, so the Devī by the flowing lines of Her stream, adorns the Earth.

[←1229]

A river flowing from the Himalaya into the Ganges.

[←1230]

Paramānandā, as is the Supreme, whose manifestation She is.

[←1231]

The heaven of Viṣṇu

[←1232]

That is, a caṇḍāla, one of the lowest and most unclean castes.

[←1233]

A kos is two miles.

[←1234]

Īśvarī, of the world.

[←1235]

For the Ganges is the manifestation of the Supreme in the form of the sacred river.

[←1236]

Jahnu

[←1237]

Viṣaya, which also in a had sense means a sensualist or materialist.

[←1238]

Paṭhati. Literally, “reads,” but used for the vidhiling tense paṭhet. Thus in Caṇḍi it is said: “Paṭhet stotram samāhitah,” and in the Vatukastotra, “Paṭhetvāpāṭhayetvāpi” (“should read or have read to him”).

[←1239]

That is, the hymn.

[←1240]

i.e., forms of worship (pūjā), sacrifice (yajna), etc.

[←1241]

That is, Śankarācārya.

[←1242]

Śiva

[←1243]

One of the sacred rivers of India, and a form of the Devī.

[←1244]

The ocean is the husband of all rivers.

[←1245]

Rebirth is caused by karma.

[←1246]

When a man is about to die, a messenger is sent by Yama to take his life.

[←1247]

The refrain is translated in the first line.

[←1248]

The is stuti (praise). In all sanskrit works the particular Devatā who is the subject of hymn, meditation or prayer is spoken of as the greatest of all. Tīrtha is not only a place of pilgrimage such as a shrine and the like, but also, according to the Amarakośa, a sacred river.

[←1249]

The present or fourth age, marked by the predominance of sin, each of the preceding eras (Dvāpara, Tretā, Satya) being more virtuous than the other. In the Kaliyuga era time works evilly.

[←1250]

The cakravāka bird (by some said to be the Brahmini duck) celebrated in sanskrit poetry for its devotion to its mate. During the night-time the male and female birds call to each other from opposite banks of the stream, as I have heard them do on the reaches of the lonely Malia River in Northern Orissa.

[←1251]

Dāritāpadacalam

[←1252]

The Mahāmuni Mārkaṇḍeya.

[←1253]

The edition used has punarbhavābdhi janmajam, but this seems meaningless, and it is read as janmaghnam.

[←1254]

Bhavābdhi dukhha barmadé. Literally, “armour given to the pain of the world.”

[←1255]

A lakh is 100,000.

[←1256]

Amara--i.e., Devas.

[←1257]

Demonic spirits, opponents of the Devas or Suras.

[←1258]

A class of spirits (Devayoni).

[←1259]

Dhīra--that is because they are undisturbed by men who have become enemies to their brother creation.

[←1260]

Ṛṣis and munis of that name.

[←1261]

Śiṣṭa, which means a gentle and learned man who governs himself by his own wisdom, and is not governed by external restraints.

[←1262]

The bee hovers on the lotus seeking honey. The sages gather round the feet of the Devī seeking the wisdom of which She is the embodiment.

[←1263]

Munis and ṛṣis.

[←1264]

Indra

[←1265]

Both enjoyment and liberation is given to men: to animals enjoyment (bhukti), though they, too, by merit acquired in present birth may attain future birth in human form.

[←1266]

Brahmā

[←1267]

Maheśakeśajātate. As to Gangā. It is the same and only Devī who manifests both as Gangā and Narmadā, and all other rivers and things.

[←1268]

Hunting is sinful. The singers are a mixed caste.

[←1269]

Kirātasūtavādaveṣu pandita śathe. When the Dakṣayajna was destroyed by Śiva, it changed into a mare (Vadavā). Śiva followed, and it plunged into ocean. Fire is produced by it. The Śloka says that Her water is so great and pure that it is unaffected by this fire. As regards the rest of this somewhat obscure verse, it means that the Devī is the remover of the sin of all whoever they may be.

[←1270]

One of the great hells.

[←1271]

Sulabhya dehadurlabham. Not that it is easy to attain human birth. On the contrary, it is said: “Naratvam durlabham loke and vidyātatra sudurlabhā,” etc. (“The state of a man is difficult to attain, and still more so that of a wise one,” cited in Sahitya Darpaṇam, chap. i, by Viśvanātha Kavirāja). What is apparently meant is that, compared with the difficulty of attaining to Śiva, the state of humanity is easily attainable.

[←1272]

The name of the Devī, the “bountiful Lady” who gives food and presides over Kāśī, the Holy City of Benares.

[←1273]

Feminine of Īśvara or Lord.

[←1274]

The Himalaya purified by the presence of the Devī, who there incarnated as Pārvatī, daughter of Himavat, the Mountain-King.

[←1275]

Pralaya, the destruction of the world.

[←1276]

Benares

[←1277]

Great Īśvarī

[←1278]

Benares

[←1279]

Feminine of Īśvara or Lord.

[←1280]

Union of the human (jivātmā) with the supreme (paramātmā) soul effected through the practice of Yoga.

[←1281]

That is, sin.

[←1282]

Two of the fourfold aims (Caturvarga) of sentient being--viz., dharma (religion, duty, etc.), artha (wealth, wherewith life is sustained and religious sacrifices are effected), Kāma (desire which prompts great achievements and fulfilment), and mokṣa or liberation.

[←1283]

That is, Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah, the terrestrial atmospheric and the heavenly spheres.

[←1284]

Aiśvarya (lordship).

[←1285]

The sacred mount and paradise of Śiva; esoterically the Sahasrāra whereto as Kuṇḍalinī She repairs.

[←1286]

The daughter of Guru, the King of mountains

[←1287]

A name of the Devī. When of the age of sixteen she practised great austerities that She might be the Spouse of Śiva, upon which Her mother, endeavouring to persuade Her, said, U (“Oh”), Mā (“not”). As it is said by Kālidāsa in the first Canto of the Kumārasambhavam; “Umeti mātrā tapaso niṣiddhā paschā dumākhyāng sumukhijagāma.” (“By the words U, Mā, She was thus forbidden by Her mother to practise austerity, thereafter the pure Umā obtained Her name.”) Umā is Kumārī, who has renounced all attachment, and is devoted to Her Lord. A sūtra runs, “Icchāśaktih Umā kumārī” (The energy of will is Umā the unmarried). The Commentary on this sūtra, cited by Bhāskararāya, says: “The eternal state is his whose mind has ascended the degrees of yoga called vismaya, and who realizes the supreme Bhairavata (an aspect of Śiva). That Yogi obtains at length the Icchāśakti called the Supreme Queen (Parābhattārika) known also as Kumārī.”

[←1288]

Name of the Devī as Spouse of Śankara, the benefactor.

[←1289]

Name of the Devī as one of the aṣtanāyikā and Spouse of Deva Kārtikeya.

[←1290]

This term, applied to the Veda generally, means particularly the Tantra in the form in which the Devī is guru and Śiva, śiṣya. As it is said:

Nirgato girijā vaktrāt,
Gatāscha girija śrutim,
Matascha vāsudevasya,
Nigamā parikathyate.

In the Lalitā the Devī is addressed as nijājnarūpā nigamā (the nigama are the expressions of Thy commands).

[←1291]

The Tāntrik (“seed”) mantras, such as Hrīm, Hūm, Klīm, etc. Mantras are classified according to the syllables they contain.

[←1292]

The Mahāmantra Om, composed of A + u + m, coalesced by sandhi into Om. The three varṇas signify the three members of the Trimurti, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva, who, as the Rudrayāmala says, are born of the Praṇava (Om), and though in appearance three, are yet one (ekamūrtistrayo devāh). From the Praṇava all Devas, Vedas, sun, moon, and all being comes by the power of Devī, the supreme Śakti.

[←1293]

Mokṣā, or unity with the supreme, and therefore liberation from rebirth in the phenomenal world.

[←1294]

Brahmāṇḍabhāṇḍodari. The Brahimāṇḍa (universe) is the “mundane egg” of Brahmā.

[←1295]

Dīkṣā, through which each Hindu passes, by reception of his mantra. It is said sometimes that initiation is the third birth, the first being that from the mother, the second is upanayana (investiture with sacred thread), and the third is initiation. The Tantras speak of thirty-two Dīkṣās, from Sudhavidyā to Anuttara.

[←1296]

That is, as creator, maintainer, and destroyer.

[←1297]

Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah

[←1298]

For She flows in the form of the three sacred rivers: Gangā, Yamunā, and Sarasvatī.

[←1299]

The father of Satī, a manifestation of Devī, who, dying at the Dakṣayajna reappeared as Pārvatī.

[←1300]

Because Ganeśa and Kārtikeya, Her children, suck Her right breast.

[←1301]

Mālā

[←1302]

Pustaka, which is also known as the Vidyāmudrā.

[←1303]

The warrior caste.

[←1304]

Lord of the universe.

[←1305]

When his yajna was destroyed by Her husband Śiva. There are two Dakṣas--Prajāpati, and a human king, an incarnation of the former. Though Śiva destroyed the sacrifice, Devī was the instrument. The Lalitā, verse 120, addresses the Devī both as Dākṣāyanī (daughter of Dakṣa) and Dakṣayajna vināsinī (destroyer of the sacrifice of Dakṣa).

[←1306]

Śiva

[←1307]

Ibid

[←1308]

From the Brihatstotraratnākara, edited by Jagannātha Mehta (Benares).

[←1309]

Sapatnī. Pārvatī, the daughter of Himālaya, is one wife and Gangā the other.

[←1310]

The stream is compared to a necklace of pearls on the dress of a man or woman.

[←1311]

So named as having been called down by Bhagīratha.

[←1312]

When the bells are rubbed against the necks of the elephants. The picture is one of victory, pomp, and beauty.

[←1313]

Benares

[←1314]

Whisks made of yak tails.

[←1315]

Vārastrī

[←1316]

Divyastrī

[←1317]

Gangā was born from the feet of Viṣṇu.

[←1318]

Mālati. Gangā, on Her fall from Heaven, touched the head of Śiva. There Her white encircling stream is compared to a wreath.

[←1319]

That is, Gangā.

[←1320]

The fourth and worst of the ages.

[←1321]

Names of trees. The reference to pine and palm show the descent of the stream from the Himalaya to the plains of Bengal.

[←1322]

In the caverns of the Himalaya.

[←1323]

In the caverns of the Himalaya.

[←1324]

Classes of minor divinities or Devayoni.

[←1325]

That is, Śrīkṛṣṇa (Viṣṇu), who slew the Daitya Mura.

[←1326]

That is, Śiva, who conquered the three cities made of gold, silver, and iron of the three Asuras Kamalākṣa, Tārakakṣa, and Vidyunmāli respectively.

[←1327]

Himālaya

[←1328]

Viṣṇu, from whose feet She was born.

[←1329]

From the Brihatstotraratnākara, edited by Jagannātha Mehtā (Benares).

[←1330]

She who is both the Authoress and Victrix of Māyā (delusion), the supreme Śakti.

[←1331]

Abode of wealth and beauty.

[←1332]

The implements held by Viṣṇu, Her Spouse.

[←1333]

The bird-king carrier (vāhana) of Viṣṇu.

[←1334]

Mantrātmikā (see Introduction).

[←1335]

See Introduction.

[←1336]

Mahodari, for all things are in Her.

[←1337]

Maheśvarī

[←1338]

Lakṣmī is generally clad in red and Sarasvatī in white, but the Supreme Śakti has all the attributes and qualities of the rest.

[←1339]

Worshipper. See Introduction to Tantra Śāstra.

[←1340]

Here follows the phala portion of the stotra.

[←1341]

When pūjā is done to Lakṣmī, the Mūrti (Lakṣmirkānta) is placed on paddy, which is kept in the Thakurghar for a whole year, and then thrown into the Ganges.