Brāhmaṇas’ Stotra to Śrīmātā
This is the stotra that the brāhmaṇas of Dharmāraṇya sang to Śrīmātā when the daitya Karṇāṭaka was terrifying the region. He seized married couples at their wedding ceremonies by the māyā (power of illusion) of the daityas, and all Vedic rites came to a halt. It is found in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, chapter 18.
The brāhmaṇas gathered before Śrīmātā and sang a hymn that told of their helpless state and praised her with many names. Their stotra led to the birth of Mātaṅgī from the flames of Śrīmātā’s anger.
The setting
The daitya Karṇāṭaka had made the land around Dharmāraṇya unfit for a life of dharma. He took the form of a brāhmaṇa and went into wedding gatherings. When the Vedic mantras of the vivāha (marriage rite) were being recited, he seized the couple by daitya-māyā and carried them into the sky.
Fear of him had stopped all Vedic recitation, yajñas, sandhyā worship and other rites of dharma throughout the wider region. The brāhmaṇas gathered at Dharmāraṇya in distress and offered this stotra to Śrīmātā.
The stotra
The brāhmaṇas praised Śrīmātā with these names and identifications.
Basic names
- Brahmaputrī: daughter of Brahmā
- Brahmacāriṇī: one who follows brahmacarya, the great ascetic
- Jagaṇmātā: mother of the world
- Sarvagā: all-pervading, present everywhere
The forms she is
She is:
- Kshudhā: hunger itself
- Nidrā: sleep itself
- Tṛshṇā: thirst itself
- Krodha: anger itself
- Vismṛti: forgetfulness itself
Auspicious forms
- Śānti: peace
- Rati: love and delight
- Vijaya: victory
Divine identifications
- Māheśvarī: the great śakti of Maheśvara
- Sāvitrī: Gāyatrī herself, the mother of the Vedas
- Śrī: the devī of prosperity
- Umā: Śiva’s consort, the daughter of Himavān
- Mātā: the first mother
- Dhṛti: steadfastness and patience
- Pushṭi: nourishment and vitality
- Mahāmāyā: the great māyā
- Chāyā: shadow, the reflection of all being
- Jyotiḥsvarūpā: she whose form is pure light
The five elements
She is:
- Bhūmi: earth
- Tejas: fire
- Vāyu: wind
- Salila: water
- Ākāśa: space
Final names
- Mahāvidyā: the great knowledge, the highest vidyā
- Klīṃkārī: she who shows herself through the bīja (seed syllable) Klīṃ
- Prāntāri: the destroyer of enemies at the boundary
- Devarūpā: she whose very form is divine
What came after
The brāhmaṇas’ devotion moved Śrīmātā, and so did the terrible wrong done to the life of dharma. She was filled with fierce anger. Flames burst from her face, eyes, nose and ears. From those flames Mātaṅgī was born. She had eighteen arms, a dark body and a fearful form, and she was the śakti who would destroy Karṇāṭaka.
So the brāhmaṇas’ stotra led directly to the birth of Mātaṅgī and to the protection of all dharma in Dharmāraṇya.
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, chapter 18