Chapter 19 - On chanting the hymns to the Devī

1. Vyāsa said :-- The Bhagavān Viṣṇu spoke again unto Prajāpati :-- Brāhmaṇ! All these beings fascinated by Māyā, cannot know the Real Essence, the Highest Truth.

2. We, too, are fascinated by that Māyā; and hence we also, being blinded by that, do not at all remember That Highest Eternal Puruṣa, calm and quiet, the World Teacher, the Highest Self, of the nature of Pure Existence, Intelligence and Bliss.

3. O Brahmā! I am Viṣṇu, I am Brahmā, I am Rudra, thus our I-ness ahamkāra has blinded our eyesight; and we are made unable to recognise That Eternal Highest Self.

4. As the wooden dolls dance according to the will of the player, the magician, I also am similarly fascinated by the Māyā and am thus incessantly rolling about like a dependent man.

5-6. O Brahmā :-- In the beginning of the Kalpa, Maheśvara, You and I saw the wonderful unspeakable form and glory of that Highest Self at the time of Rāsamandala in the Māni Dvīpa where there was the Mandāra Tree and the Devas assembled. Then I also saw that wonderful thing a second time in the Sudhārnava ocean of nectar, and the most wonderful of it is this, that until we were able to See that Form, we did not hear anything of Her before!

7. Therefore, O Devas! Today do you all remember that Prime Force, the Highest Self, that all beneficent Force that yields all good and auspicious things; That Very Force will fulfill now all your desires.

8. Vyāsa said :-- O king! No sooner the Bhagavān Hari addressed thus, Brahmā and the other Devas at once mentally began to meditate on that Eternal Yoga Māyā, the Goddess of the Universe.

9. Being thus meditated, at once appeared before their eyesight the Devī, the Goddess of the Universe, whose colours were like the blood red Javā flower, holding in two of Her hands noose, hook, or goad, while the third hand indicated favour and the fourth hand bade all discard every sort of fear.

10. As the web comes out of a spider and sparks come out of fire, so this whole Universe comes out of that Goddess. We all bow down before Her with our humble hearts, full of devotion.

11. We all salute to that Goddess of the Universe, Bhuvaneśvarī, under Whose Māyic force this whole Universe, moving and unmoving, is created; Who is All-Intelligence and the Ocean of Mercy.

12. This world appears real to him who is unable to realise Her Real Essence; and the world drops off as unreal no sooner he realises Her Presence. We all meditate on that All Intelligent Goddess and we all pray to Her that She may grant unto us more strength to meditate Her and Her alone so.

13. We all want to know Mahā Lakṣmī, we all meditate on the Omnipotent; May the Goddess grant unto us strength to meditate on Her so.

14. O Thou, the Remover of the world’s afflictions! Best Thou pleased unto us; O Thou, kind hearted! Do this work for us and promote our good. O Thou, Lord of the Earth! Dost Thou relieve the burden of the earth by killing these Asuras and bring on our welfare.

15. O Thou, Lotus-Eyed! If Thou dost not show Thy mercy towards the gods, they will never be able to strike their enemies with their weapons in the battlefield. O Goddess! Thou didst verify the truth of this before, when Thou didst assume the appearance of a Yakṣa and utter the following sentences “O Fire! You burn this blade of grass,” etc. (in the Kena Talavakāra Upanīṣada.)

16. O Mother! Kaṃsa, Bhauma, Kālayavana, Keśī, Jarāsandha, the son of Brihadratha, Vaka, Pūtanā, Khara, Śālva and other vicious kings respectively are dwelling on the earth. Dost Thou better kill them and relieve the burden of the Earth.

17. O Lotus-Eyed! Thou hadst killed those Asuras without any effort that were not slain by Viṣṇu or Maheśvara and they ended their lives, while they were beholding Thy pleasing countenance.

18. O Goddess! Holding Moon on Her forehead! These Hari, Hara, Brahmā and the other gods are unable to move a step without the help of Force; nothing to speak any further, the thousand headed King of Serpents is unable to hold this earth even for a moment, were he not provided with the Śakti of upholding this world.

19. Indra said :-- O Bhagavatī! Would Brahmā be ever able to create this world without the aid of Sarasvatī! Would Viṣṇu, the Deva of the Devas, be ever able to preserve it without the aid of Lakṣmī or would Maheśvara be ever able, to destroy this world without the help of His Umā; no, never! These Devas, the Trinity, are able to take their respective parts in the keeping up of the world simply because they are united with the forces, incarnate in Sarasvatī, etc., who are again parts of Thee.

20. Viṣṇu said :-- O Vimale! Were we deprived of Thy Force, the Creator would never have been able to create the world, I would never have been able to preserve it and Maheśvara would never have been able to destroy. Therefore O Devī! Thou alone art reigning as the Supreme Goddess amidst all the glories in the creation, preservation, and destruction of this Universe.

21-22. Vyāsa said :-- O king! Thus praised by the Gods, the Goddess then addressed them :-- O Devas! Let all anxieties leave you all; I will do what the Devas have desired, even if it be very difficult to do in this world; now explain what is troubling the Goddess Earth.

23. The Devas replied :-- The wicked kings are troubling very much this Earth. She cannot any longer bear their burden; therefore She came crying unto us.

24. O Bhuvaneśvarī! Now it is Your duty to remove this load of earth. O Auspicious One! Know this, the desire of the gods.

25-28. O Mother! In days of yore, You have killed the most powerful Dānava named Mahiṣa, attended by lakhs and lakhs of Dānavas and Daityas; What to speak! You have slain Śumbha, Niśumbha, Raktavīja, the very powerful Caṇḍa Munḍa, Dhumralocana, Durmukha, Duhsana, the strong Karāla and many other cruel Dānavas.

Now, similarly kill the wicked kings, the enemies of the Gods and save the Earth from their heavy loads.

29. Vyāsa said :-- Thus addressed by the Devas, the Most Auspicious One, the Devī, whose colour was black and who looked askance, said smiling in a tone, grave and deep, like that of the rumbling of a raincloud.

30. O Suras! I have already thought over how the burden of those wicked kings, the parts incarnate of Asuras, can be removed.

31. I will, by My own power, rob them of their powers, of that highly prosperous and affluent Jārasandha, the king of Magadha, and others, the parts incarnate of the wicked Asuras, that are now shining on the Earth.

32. O Devas! You would all better go down and incarnate yourselves as part incarnations, impregnated with My power, and help thus in the removal of the load of this earth.

33. The Deva Prajāpati Maharṣi Kaśyapa would first of all go with his his wife and incarnate as Ānaka Dundubhi Vasudeva, in the race of Yadu.

34. The Imperishable Bhagavān Viṣṇu will also incarnate as part, owing to the curse of Bhṛgu, as the son of Vasudeva.

35. O Devas! I will be born, then, in the womb of Yaśodā, in Gokula and will accomplish all the ends of the Gods.

36. I will send Viṣṇu from the prison to the Gokula; also I will transfer Anāntā Deva from the womb of Devakī to the womb of Rohiṇī.

37. They two will grow, day by day, by My Force and at the end of the Dvāpara Yuga, will no doubt kill the wicked kings.

38-39. Arjuṇa too, the part incarnate of Indra, will destroy the armies of those kings. Yudhiṣṭhira, the part incarnate of Dharma, Bhīmsena, that of of Vāyu, Nakula and Sahadeva the incarnate of the two A’svins, and Bhīsma, the incarnate of Vasu as the son of the Gaṅgā, will take their respective births and exhaust their armies.

40. O Devas! Now be calm and quiet and go. Let the Earth be also calm and quiet; be confident that I will certainly remove the load of this earth.

41. I will make the above mentioned Gods as my instruments merely and I will destroy, by My own force, the Kṣatriyas in the battlefield of Kurukṣettra.

42. Malice, jealousy, foul intention, desire, attachment, vanity, covetousness, desire for victory, lust, and fascination are the vices that will destroy the Yādavas.

43. The race of Yadu will end owing to the curse of a Brāhmaṇa. The Bhagavān also will leave His mortal coil due to a curse.

44. Now go and incarnate in your respective parts, with your wives, in Gokula and Mathurā, and be helpers in the work of the Lord.

45-46. Vyāsa said :-- Saying thus, the Devī the Goddess of the Universe, the Māyā Incarnate of the Highest Self disappeared. The Devas and the Earth went to their respective places. O king Janamejaya! the Goddess Earth was pleased with the Devī’s words, and being quiet, remained surrounded with various medicinal plants and creepers.

47. Then the subjects felt peace and pleasure, the Brāhmaṇs also grew stronger in happiness and prosperity, and the Munis became glad and began to perform their religious acts with fresh zeal and alacrity.

Here ends the Nineteenth Chapter in the Fourth Book of Śrī Mad Devī Bhāgavatam of 18,000 verses, the Mahā Purāṇam, on chanting the hymns to the Devī by Maharṣi Veda Vyāsa.