91 - The Devi-mahatmya. 

The Eulogy of the Goddess.

The gods offered a hymn of praise to the goddess. — She granted them the boon that she will always become incarnate and deliver the world whenever it is oppressed by demons.

The rishi spoke:

1       When the great lord of the Asuras was slain there by the goddess, Indra and the other gods led by Agni offered praise to her, Katyayani, because they had gained their desire;* and their faces shone forth, and their hopes became manifest.† 

*For ishta-lambhad read ishta-labhad the Bombay edition.

† The Bombay edition reads vikashi-vaktrabja-vikashitashah, which means much the same.

2       “O goddess, who removest the sufferings of thy suppliants, be gracious!

Be gracious, O mother of the whole world! 

Be gracious, O queen of the uniyerse! safeguard the universe! 

Thou, O goddess, art queen of all that is moveable and immoveable 

3       Thou alone hast become the support of the world, Because thou dost subsist in the form of the earth! 

By thee, who existest in the form of water, all 

This universe is filled. thou inviolable in thy valour!

4       Thou art Vishnu’s energy, boundless in thy valour;

Thou art the germ of the universe, thou art Illusion sublime 

All this world has been bewitched, O goddess;

Thou indeed when attained† art the cause of final emancipation from existence on the earth! 

5       All sciences are portions of thee, O goddess 

So are all females without exception in the worlds§!

§The Bombay edition reads-

                           Striyah samastah sakalam jagachcha

“So are all females, and so is the whole world.”

By thee alone, as mother, this world has been filled!

What praise can there be for thee? Thou art beyond praise,

the sublimest expression ||! 

                  ||Paroktih; or “the expression of the sublime.”

6       When as being the goddess, who constitutes every created thing, 

And who bestows Svarga and final emancipation from existence, 

Thou are praised—for thy praise again 

What sublime words can be sufficient? 

7       O thou, who abidest under the form of Intelligfence

In the heart of every living creature; 

O goddess, who bestowest Svarga and final emancipation from existence, 

O Narayani, reverence he to thee! 

8       Thou in the form of minutes, moments and other portions of time, 

Dost bring results to pass;

O thou who art mighty in the death of the universe,

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

9       O thou who art beneficent with every happiness,

O lady auspicious, who accomplishest every petition,

O giver of refuge, O Tryambaka, O brilliant one, 

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

10     O eternal goddess, who constitutest the energy

Of creation, permanence and destruction, 

O thou abode of good qualities, who consistest of good 

qualities, 

O Nardyani, reverence be to thee!* 

* The Bombay edition inserts a verse here- 

O thou who art the Supreme Way for the salvation 

Of those that seek refuge, of the woe-begone and of the afflicted,

O goddess who takest suffering away from every one, 

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

11      O thou who ridest in a heavenly car yoked with swans.

Who assumest the form of Brabmani,† 

† The Energy (shakti, fem.) of Brahma. The swan ia his vehicle.

O goddess who sprinklest kusha-grass-steeped water,††

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

†† The Commentary translates ksharika as kshepana-karini or a-sektri.

12     Othou who holdest a trident, the moon and a serpent, 

Who art borne on a huge bull, 

With the natural character of Maheshvari, * 

* The Energy (shakti) of Maheshvara or Shiva. The trident, moon and serpent are his emblems and ornaments, and the ball is his vehicle.

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

13     O thou who art attended by the peacock and cock,

Who bearest a great spear, O sinless one; 

O thou who takest thy station in Kaumari’s† form, 

†The Energy of Kumara or Karttikeya. The peacock is his vehicle, and the cook is an attendant of his parents, Shiva and Parvati. 

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

14     O thou who boldest as thy finest weapons 

A conch, discus, club, and the bow S’aranga, 

Be gracious, thou who hast Vaishnavi’s†† form; 

†† The Energy of Vishnu. The oonoh, discus, club and bow are his weapons, 

O Nirayani, reverence be to thee! 

15     O thou who graspest a huge formidable discus,

Who hast uplifted the earth with thy tushes, 

O auspicious one, who hast a hog-like form, § 

§ The Energy of Vishnu in his incarnation as a boar. 

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

16     O thou who in the fierce man-lion|| form 

|| The Energy of Vishnu in his incarnation as a lion-headed man.

Didst put forth thy efforts to slay the Daityas, 

O thou who art connected¶ with the deliverance of the 

three worlds, 

¶ Another reading is Trailohya-trana-mahite, “O thou who art honoured with the deliverance of the three worlds.” 

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

17     O thou who hast a diadem and a great thunderbolt,

Who art dazzling with a thousand eyes, 

And who tookest away Vritra’s life-breath, O Aindri;**

** The Energy (shakti) of Indra, the slayer of Vritra. The diadem is his ornament, the thnnder-bolt his weapon, and he has a thousand eyes.

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

18     O thou who with the nature of Sh’iva-duti††

†† See canto lxxxvi, verse 25.

 Slewest the mighty hosts of the Daityas, 

O thou of terrible form, of loud shrieks, 

O Narayam, reverence be to thee! 

19     O thou who hast a face formidable with tushes,

Who art decorated with a garland of heads, 

O Ch’amunda, who grindest shaven heads, 

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

20    O Lakshmi, Modesty, Wide-Knowledge!! 

O Faith, Nourishment, Svadha, Immoveable! 

O Great-Night, Great-Illusion!* 

* The Calcutta edition reads “Wide-knowledge” again here. 

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! 

21     O Mental-Vigour, Sarasvati, Choice One! 

O Welfare, Wife of Babhru.† Dark One! 

† I.e., Shiva. 

O Self-controlled Queen, be thou gracious! 

O Narayani, reverence be to thee! ††

†† The Bombay edition inserts a veree here- 

O thou, the limit of whose hands and feet is everywhere, 

Whose eyes and head and mouth are everywhere, 

Whose ears and nose are everywhere;

O Narayani, reverence be to thee!

22     O thou who hast the nature of all. Queen of all!

O thou who possessest the might of all! 

From terrors save us, O goddess! 

O goddess Durga, reverence be to thee! 

23     Kindly is this thy countenance, 

Which is adorned with three eyes;

May it guard us from all created things! 

O Katyayani, reverence be to thee! 

24     Formidable with flames, exceedingly sharp,

Destroying the Asuras without quarter, 

May thy trident guard us from fear! 

O Bhadra-kali, reverence be to thee! 

25     Thy bell, that fills the world with its ringing

And destroys the glories of the Daityas, 

May thy bell guard us, O goddess, 

Even us like, children from sins! 

26     Besmirched with the blood and fat of the Asuras

As with mire, gleaming with rays, 

May thy scymitar be for our welfare! 

O Ch’andika, to thee we bow!

27     Thou deatroyst all sicknesses, when gratified;

         But when wrathful desiroyest all longed-for desires.

No calamity befalls men who have sought unto thee!

They who have sought unto thee become verily a refuge 

themselves! 

28     This slaughter that thou hast now wrought

On the great Asuras who hate righteousness, O goddess,

By multiplying thy body in many forms,- 

O Ambika, what other goddess achieves that? 

29     In the sciences, in the scriptures, which need the lamp of discrimination, 

And in the ancient sayings, who but thou 

Within the pit of selfishness, wherein is exceeding great darkness. 

Causes this universe to whirl about most grievously?

30    Wherever dwell Rakshasas and virulently-poisonous Nagas, Wherever foes exist, wherever the powers of the Dasyus,

And where flaming fire appears amid the ocean, 

There abiding thou dost safeguard the universe! 

31     O queen of the universe, thou safeguardest the universe!

Thou hast the nature of the universe, for thou upholdest the universe, 

Thou, art the lady worthy to be praised by the lord of the universe. They are 

The refuge of the universe, who bow in faith before thee!

32     O goddess, be gracious! Protect us wholly from fear of our foes 

Perpetually, as thou hast at this very time saved us promptly by the slaughter of the Asuras!* 

* For yatha sura-badhad read yathasura-badhad.

And bring thou quickly to rest the sins of all the worlds

And the great calamities which have sprung from the maturing of portents! 

33     To us who are prostrate be thou gracious, 

O goddess, who takest away affliction from the universe!

O thou worthy of praise from the dwellers in the three worlds, 

Bestow thou boons on the worlds!” 

The goddess spoke:

34     I am ready to bestow a boon. O ye hosts of gods, choose whatever boon ye desire in your mind; I grant it as a thing that benefits the worlds. 

The gods spoke:

35 O queen of all, complete thou* thus indeed the pacification of every trouble of the three worlds, and the destruction of our enemies. 

* For tvatha read tvaya. 

The goddess spoke:

36 When the twenty-eighth age has arrived, in the Vaivasvata Manv-antara, two other great Asuras shall be bom, Sh’umbha

37 and Nishumbha. Then born as the offspring of Yashoda’s womb in the cowherd Nanda’s house, and dwelling on the Vindhya

38 mountains, I will destroy them both. And again becoming incarnate in a very terrible form on the face of the earth, I

39 will slay the Vaiprach’itta† Danavas; and when I devour those fierce and great Vaiprac’itta Asuras, my teeth shall become

†The descendants of Viprach’itti. 

40 red like the flowers of the pomegranate. Hence the gods in Svarga and men in the world of mortals praising me shall always talk of me as “Red-toothed.”†† 

†† Rakta-dantika, 

41 And again after a period of a hundred years during which rain and water shall fail, praised by the munis I shall be

42 born, but not womb-begotten, on the earth, Then because I shall behold the munis with a hundred eyes, mankind shall therefore celebrate me as “Hundred-eyed.”§

§ Shatakshi.

43 Next, ye gods, I shall support* the whole world with the life-sustaining vegetables, which shall grow out of my own

* i.e., nourish, 

44 body, during a period of heavy rain. I shall gain fame on the earth then as Shakambhari; † and in that very period I shall slay the great Asura named Durgama. 

† “Herb-bearing” or “Herb-nourishing.” 

45 And again when taking a terrible form on mount Himavat I shall destroy Rakshasas for the sake of delivering the munis,

46 all the munis bowing their bodies reverently shall laud me then; hence my name “The terrible goddess” †† shall become celebrated. 

†† Bhima Devi. 

47 When Arunaksha§ shall work great trouble in the three worlds, I shall take a bee-like form, the form, of innumerable

§ Or Arunakhya in the Bombay edition; “When the Asura named Aruna shall work, &c,” 

48 bees, and shall slay the great Asura for the welfare of the- three worlds, and folk shall then extol me everyone as Bhramari.|| 

|| “The bee-like goddess.”

49 Thus whenever trouble shall arise caused by the Danavas, at each such time I shall become incarnate and accomplish the foes’ destruction.