Chapter 167 - Greatness of Bhūtamātṛkā (Bhūta-mātṛkā)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Īśvara said:

1-2. Thereafter, O great Goddess, a pilgrim should go to the shrine of Bhūtamātṛkā stationed there within a distance of a hundred Dhanus to the west of Sāvitrī.

She is accompanied by nine crores of Gaṇas and is crowded with the company of Pretas and Bhūtas (spirits). She is worshipped in many ways by Siddhas, Gandharvas and other Devas.

The Devī said:

3. People in a group run about all round singing, dancing and laughing rapturously in every village and town in the name of Bhūta-Mātā.

4. Like an intoxicated person they prattle and babble and fall on the ground like an inebriated one. They run as though very furious and drag others as though they are corpses.

5. People are made unhappy as though suffering from delirium. Like a goblin, they wade through wine and muddy slough of ashes.

6. Is this way shown by the scriptures or merely customary? O Lord, my mind is confused. Hence it behoves you to clarify.

7 How is she to be adored by men residing in Prabhāsa-kṣetra? Why did the Goddess go there? When did she come? On which day and in which month should her great festival be celebrated?”

Īśvara said:

8. Listen, O Goddess, I shall tell what you have in your mind. It is my opinion that the devout will have faith.

9. After the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara had elapsed and Vaivasvata Manvantara had arrived, the Goddess was born as the daughter of the Mountain as a result of the insult inflicted at her by Dakṣa.

10. In the second Dvāpara, you were given in marriage to me by the Mountain. The marriage was celebrated delighting all the Devas.

11. O my beloved, I joyously sported about in your company in the Mandara mountain having many beautiful caves with divine materials of sport. You appeared lustrous with your plump, protruding breasts and big buttocks.

12. You appeared highly delighted and lustrous with a radiant countenance resembling a white lotus. You appeared like a new shoot issuing forth from the tree of the burnt Kandarpa (Kāmadeva). You (of plump protruding breasts and big buttocks) were lying on a rich bed of great value and beauty. So I made love to you.

13-14. In the intercourse with you that followed a hundred years according to the reckoning of gods elapsed. Then, O Goddess, there came out due to constriction, from your watery secretion a woman with deep cave-like belly. She was black in colour with a hideous face, tawny eyes and dishevelled hairs.

15. She was Śivā with a garland of skulls as her ornament, wearing headless trunks and broken skulls on her head. She held Khaṭvāṅga weapon and skeletons (in her hands). Torsos and skulls were held up in her hands.

16. She was dad in the hide of a tiger. Small bells in her girdle jingled. Ḍamarukas (small drums) were played upon. She filled the sky with her hissing Phetkāra.

17. There were other women too at her sides. Listen to their names from me. Their female companions, the Brāhmaṇa-rākṣasīs, were beautiful to look at.

18. They pervaded the entire earth. They had ten crores of varieties among them and were well-established. Four among them were the chief ones. They possessed great strength and valour.

19. They are: (1) Raktavarṇā, (2) Mahājihvā, (3) Akṣayā, and (4) Pāpakāriṇī. All the Brahma-Rākṣasas over the earth are born in the families of these.

20. Generally these have their comfortable residence on Śleṣmātaka trees. They are fickle like moving, lofty palm trees. They dance and laugh.

21. They should be known as the original leaders of she spirits in this world. They are extremely dark-complexioned. These spirits move about in the space.

22. They undoubtedly hover around the sky on the tops of trees.

23. Similarly from my semen virile was born a male being having my form and embellishments. He too held skulls and Khaṭvāṅga. He was covered with a hide.

24. He was followed by many spirits with the faces of lions and tigers reaching up to the sky. They were terrible and hideous.

25. O Goddess, being born thus he was overwhelmed with hunger and spoke to me so. On seeing him hungry I granted him this boon.

26. “Whatever is touched by the hands of both of you shall be night itself. You will be powerful during nights. Both of you will not be so powerful during the day. Protect the worlds as though they were sons. May piety and righteousness be preserved.”

27. Thus, O beloved, the groups of Bhūtas and Mātṛs were told by me. Within a moment, those two born of Bhavānī and Bhava became united.

28. O lady of pure smiles, I became delighted in mind on seeing them and spoke to you:

29. “See, O fair lady, see these two born of a part of mine. They possess hideous, miraculous and loveable features. They cause humour too.”

50. Three names of these are remembered in the world, viz. Bhrātṛbhāṇḍā, Bhūtamātā and Udakasevitā. Their virility and courage is very well-known.

31. With palms joined in reverence, they looked at me and asked: “O Lord, in which place can we have our residence?”

32. When both of them spoke thus, I granted them boons and said: “There is an excellent holy spot in Bhārata in the Saurāṣṭra region.”

33. It is called Prabhāsa. There is welfare. It is liked by me. It is stationed in the southern extremity to the south-west of the shrine of Kūrma.

34. In that place are remembered the three constellations, Svātī, Viśākhā and Anurādhā. You must stay in that spot till the end of the Manvantara.

35. I shall narrate other means of sustenance of which the Bhūtas are always fond.

36. These are your permanent residences: the places where there are thorny trees, the creeper of Niṣpāva(?), where someone’s wife (widowed?) marries again and where there is Valmīka (an ant-hill).

37. Your residence is that house where there are five men, three women, three cows, darkness and fire from fuel.

38. Your residence is that house the plot whereof is occupied by Bhūtas and Pretas and where there are eight asses, one sheep, three cows, five buffaloes, six horses and seven elephants.

39. Your base is that place where these things are placed haphazardly: Uddālaka plants, food-baskets, Sthāli and other cooking vessels etc.

40. O lady, your stay is in that place where these things are carelessly scattered: mortar and pounding rod, where women sit on the lower part of the frame of a door (Umbarā in Marathi) etc. and where people speak harsh words.

41. You will wander along with your Bhūtas over those places where ripe and unripe grains are eaten in the house and also the branches likewise. (If the reading is Śākāḥ—vegetables?)

42. In a house where handicapped men with defective limbs place fire on the lids of Sthālīs, is the place of resort of all undesirable beings.

43. In a house where human bones are kept day and night, this group of Bhūtas will wander as they please.

44. Do enter that place along with the Bhūtas where people call the Pināka-bearing Lord (Śiva) as an ordinary being and do not assert that he is superior to everything else.

45-46. That place is an abode befitting the Bhūtas where these plants grow: creeper Kanyā (called Koraphaḍ in Marathi), Indian fig tree called Rohī, Agastya, Bandhujīva flower (dog rose) Karavīra in particular, Nandyāvarta and Mallikā (jasmine).

47-48. The places where these trees are found are the favourite haunts of all Bhūtas: Tāla, Tatnāla, Bhallāta, Tintiṇīkhaṇḍa (tamaind [tamarind?]), Bakula, Kadalīkhaṇḍa (plantains), Kadamba, Khadira, Nyagrodha, Aśvattha, Cūta (mango), Uduṃbara and Panasa (jack-fruit).

49-50. If there is a crow’s nest in a garden or in a house or if there is Bhikṣubiṃba on the southern side of a house or if a Biṃba tree grows above, Bhūtas shall have their residence there.

51. One should agree that the following houses are the abodes of Bhūtas: where there is no worship of the Liṅga, where Japa etc. are not performed and where people are devoid of devout feelings.

52. Do enter the houses of those men whose faces are dirty, who habitually wear dirty clothes and who are householders with unclean teeth.

53. Do enter the houses of those people who habitually cohabit with prohibited women, who commit adultery and who indulge in sexual intercourse during dusks.

54. Why expatiate much? Do enter the houses of those who are excluded from (avoid) their daily rituals and who are devoid of devotion to Rudra.

55. Resort immediately to those persons who take food without giving food and water to kinsmen and those who have the Sapiṇḍa kinship, offering-of-water relationship. (These are the degrees of kinship).

56. Do enter fearlessly a house where husband and wife are antagonistic to each other. Do enter it along with the Bhūtas.

57-60. That house of men is your abode where people have no love aṇd affection for Vāsudeva, where (an idol of) Hari is not kept, where Japa, Homa, etc. are not performed, where there is no sacred ash in the house, where no adoration is performed even during parvan days and especially on the fourteenth lunar day, where people do not apply sacred ashes during dawn and dusks on the eighth lunar days in the dark halves, where people do not worship Mahādeva during Pañcadaśī (fifteenth day) and where people do not celebrate great festivals traditionally celebrated by town dwellers as well as residents of rural areas.

61. Where there is no chanting sound of the Vedas, where there is no adoration of preceptor etc., and which is devoid of the rites unto the Pitṛs—that place is remembered as the abode of Bhūtas.

62. In a house where mutual quarrel takes place every night and in a place where aged ones take food while children sit watching delightedly—do enter that place along with Bhūtas.

63. O my beloved goddess, I was asked thus by her: “In which month and on which date will I be honoured by the people?” and I told her:

64. “Your eternal festival shall be celebrated on the fourteenth lunar day and the New-Moon day in the month of Mādhava (Vaiśākha).

65. If on those days during the celebration of the great festival women worship her (You) by means of oblations, flowers and incense, do not enter their house.

66-68. Do not on any account enter cow-pens, parks, houses etc. of those who joyously repeat the (sacred) names like. “O Nārāyaṇa, O Hṛṣīkeśa, O Puṇḍarīkākṣa, O Mādhava, O Acyuta, O Ananta, O Vāsudeva, O Janārdana, O Nṛsiṃha, O Vāmana, O Acintya, O Keśava etc., and also O Rudra, O Rudra, O Rudra, obeisance, obeisance to Śiva.” Do not spoil their wealth and property.

69. Do not possess those men who are afraid of adverse rumour and those people who perform purity rites and sacrifices of deities, Japa, Homa, auspicious rites etc., those who abide by the customs and conventions of the land and the traditions obtaining in the community.

The Devī said:

70. O Lord of the chiefs of Devas, it behoves you to tell me when the worship of the Bhūta Mother should be performed by persons seeking happiness?.

Īśvara said:

71. Everywhere this goddess who is the cause of welfare of children is worshipped under different names, at different times and by means of different rites.

72. Pūjā should be performed from the Pratipad (i.e. first lunar day) to the fourteenth lunar day in the month of Vaiśākha through Preraṇī (yakas) and Prekṣaṇīyakas (motivating and dramatic performances (?)).

73-74. This goddess may be under an old or broken trees. The devotees should sprinkle water thereon by means of pitchers filled with water. They should worship by means of Grīvā-sūtrakas (chains and sacred threads) (a sort of Maṅgala-sūtra), Sindūra, flowers, incense etc. Siddhavaṭa (holy fig tree) should be worshipped and its branch should be planted.

75. The devotee should watch even as she is worshipped with efforts by men desirous of welfare and feed them with Kṣipra, Saṃyāva, Kṛśara, Apūpa and milk puddings.

76. A man who performs worship thus duly shall obtain increase in the number of sons and cattle and become healthy.

77. Neither Śākinīs nor Piśācas nor Rākṣasas affect his house. The children grow up without ailment.

78. Now, O goddess, I shall explain how the festival should be celebrated by men in due order beginning with Pratipad by means of Preraṇīyakas and Prekṣaṇīyakas.

79. There shall be allusions and indications of the adverse results of misdemeanour. There shall be satiric parodies and mockery of heretics. Men shall demonstrate everything by means of wonderful feats and jocular remarks.

80. Particularly on the fifth lunar day, there should be tumultuous shouts and sounds at night. After worshipping the goddess there should be Jāgara (vigil or keeping awake at night) assiduously.

81. (The various Preraṇīyakas and Prekṣaṇīyakas follow:) A husband who regularly studies the Veda has been killed due to the greed of wealth through breech of faith. O people, the culprit is being impaled on the stake, See!

82. Was this wicked man who ravished other men’s wives seen by you all? His hands have been chopped off. He is being paraded seated on a donkey!

83. Torn by means of swords, adorned by means of jewels (in the form of swords?) he is seated in a pleasant seat. The meritorious person thus goes on happily!

84. O people, why don’t you see this wretch who has been disloyal to his master? He is being cut with a saw. Blood is being splashed out from within.

85. Here comes a thief contemptible to everyone. He is being beaten with sticks. He is being taken away by hangman.

86. O people, his face is kept looking down. He is ashamed. He is bound and taken away to be executed. The onlookers show various gestures against him. He is lamenting in various kinds of notes.

87. His hair has turned grey. His moustache and beard are grey. He is clad in white. There is a white banner above. Don’t see him beaten by the maids with Viṭaṅkas(?).

88. “I am a widow. He made me come out of my house. He took me to his house and indulged in sex with me. Why then does this foolish fellow not maintain me and feed me?”

89. “He is always a leader with eyes rolling. He has the ornaments of the terrible god Bhairava. He has begun to experience lethargy. The foolish fellow is taken here and there and is to be executed.”

90. “There is only one depressed feeling of disgust in his heart. That pertains to money, fields etc. Although he is only a child he has performed a great Vrata to-day. Don’t you see him in a hurry? He is red-eyed with limbs black like those of a crow.”

91. “He has committed sins like this. He has tied up birds within the hollows of trees and others with iron fetters. He has cut them into pieces with arrows and many pieces of wood.”

92. “Look at the hittings and blows producing hissing sounds!”

93-94. “You will catch hold of this evil-minded woman with a face half-black. Her hairs are in a dishevelled condition. She is dancing. See, she is like a Yoginī. The sound of the anklets, is grave and majestic as she begins her devil dance. Her eyes and feet are like those of an inebriated woman. She goes ahead surrounded by children.”

95. “She has kept a basket on her hips. Her blanket is lustrous round her. She wanders from house to house. She goes round the earth dancing all the way.”

96. A devotee surrounded by his sons, brothers and friends should celebrate these festivals by means of Preraṇīyakas and Prekṣaṇīyakas of this sort and similar ones.

97-99. On the ninth or eleventh lunar day, lamps should be lit around the pit. Various kinds of faces and masks should be made of wood or paste, depicting hideous as well as calm features. These faces are those of the Mātṛs, Caṇḍikā etc., as well as the Rākṣasas. The devotee shall cause the faces of the Bhūtas, Pretas, Piśācas and Śākinīs depicting different emotions and features.

100. O great goddess, the whole place should be well guarded by many guards and watchmen. The man should spend the New-Moon day by means of various items of worship, even as beasts and animals and birds carry on their natural cries.

101. Then at nightfall, the devotee should go to the place where the goddess is surrounded by people. There should be loud shouts and cries with Phetkāras and songs in chorus.

102. Vīracaryā is the name given to the celebration in the form of taking a procession of lamps around the various parts of the city at night. This procession of lamps facilitates the achievement of all things.

103. This procession of lamps should be performed every day till the fifteenth Tithi. The great festival of Bhūtamātṛ should be celebrated on the fifteenth. As long as the master of the house is alive, there will not be any obstacle in the house.

104. On another occasion, after the lapse of a great deal of time, five crores of Piśācas were born from the drops of perspiration from the body of Bhūtamātṛ.

105. All of them are great, cruel-faced with flames emitted from the tongues. Their bellies are thin. These Piśācas have their palms as vessels (for food). Their food consists of the oblation offered.

106. They are dry and lean with the veins prominently visible in the body. They are clad in skins and hides. They grow long hairs and beards. Mortars constitute their ornaments. Winnowing baskets constitute their umbrellas, seats and garments.

107. These are the Piśācas of a variety called Aṅgārakas. They follow the path of the Mātṛs. At night their hairs shine lustrously and they emit sparks of fire out of their mouths.

108. These powerful Piśācas reside in lying-in-chamber of confinement. Their mouths appear split as far as their ears. Their eyebrows appear to be hanging down. Their noses are stout.

109. There are other Piśācas called Viṣādanas (poison-eaters). Their hands and feet are turned backwards. They move as fast as the wind. They eat flesh at the time of battles.

110. Out of pity for these petty-minded ones, I looked at these Piśācas with compassion and said thus:

111. “I granted them the power of vanishing within the bodies of the subjects, and the power to assume any form as they please. They can roam about during the two Sandhyās (dusk and dawn). They were given habitat and means of sustenance.

112-114. O my beloved, I granted these Piśācas the following places as residence: vacant houses, empty shrines, those in ruins, those with faulty constructions, the main highway and the side streets, quadrangles, places where three roads meet, doorways, attics, terraces, exits and entrances (outlets and inlets), paths, rivers, Tīrthas, Caitya-trees and long winding roads.

115-119. Unrighteous people were made their means of sustenance formerly: People who do not follow the rules of castes and stages of life, artisans and craftsmen, those who torment good people, thieves, those who are ungrateful and commit breach of trust. If these people continue their activities with ill-gotten wealth, Piśācas will be the presiding deities. Naivedyas for these Piśācas shall be liquor, meat, powdered gingelly seeds mixed with curds or wine, Apūpas, Kṛśaras made of turmeric, cooked rice mixed with gingelly seeds etc.

Their garments shall be black and the flowers offered to them shall be grey and smoke-coloured. Such is the Bhūta-Mātā, the goddess of all Bhūtas and Piśācas. She is splendid and surrounded by the groups of all Bhūtas.

120-121. This goddess got established in Prabhāsa to the north of the sea. He who understands the nativity of the goddess that is destructive of sins, shall never beget a defective, despicable child. He is never assailed by the defects of Bhūtas, Pretas and Piśācas.

122. He shall be rid of all sins. He shall be endowed with conjugal felicities. He will obtain all that he desires. He will delight the hearts of women.

123. The devotees should accept and believe in the Bhava-Bhūta-Mātṛ, the bestower of freedom from fear. Even through her laughs, graces and service, she grants fearlessness. Those devotees become happy in the company of brothers, servants, sons and kinsmen. They will be free from all kinds of disasters and tortures.