७ सप्तमदशकः - शुकोत्पत्तः 7 saptamadashakah' - shukotpattih'

           ७ सप्तमदशकः -      शुकोत्पत्तः

          7 saptamadashakah' -        shukotpattih'

( The birth of sage Shuka is described. While sage Vyasa

wants him to adopt the duties of householder, Sage Shukha

was not interested, Sage Vyasa sheds tears. This is another

part of chapter X & Chapter XIV of book I)

On the very beautiful summit of Mount Meru, Vyasa, son of

Satyavatl, firmly determined, practised very severe austerities

for the attainment of a son.

Having heard from Narada, he, the great ascetic, repeated

the one syllabled mantra of Vak(vak beeja mantram) and

worshipped the Highest Mahamaya with the object of

getting a son.

He asked, Let a son be born to me as pure and as spirited

and powerful as fire, air, earth, and Akasa.

He thought over in his mind that the man possessed of Sakti

is worshipped in this world and the man-lacking Sakti is

condemned here, and thus came to the conclusion that Sakti

is therefore worshipped everywhere; and, therefore,

worshipped. Bhagavan Mahesvara coupled with the

auspicious Adya-Shakti and spent one hundred years without

any food.

He began his tapasya on that mountain summit which was

ornamented with the garden of Karnikara, where all the

Devas play, and where lives the highly ascetic Munis, the

Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Marut, the two Asvins, and the other

mindful Rishis, the knowers of Brahma and where the

Kinnaras always resound the air with their songs of music,

etc., such a place Vyasa Deva preferred for his tapasya.

The whole universe was infused with the spirit of asceticism

of the intelligent Parasara’s son Vyasa Deva; and the hair of

his head were clotted and looked tawny, of the colour of

flames. Seeing the fire of his asceticism, Indra, lord of Sachi,

became exceedingly terrified.

Bhagavan Rudra, seeing Indra thus afraid, fatigued and

morose, asked him: “O Indra, why do you look so fear-

stricken today? О Lord of the Devas! What is the cause of

your grief? Never show your jealousy and anger to the

ascetics; for the mindful ascetics always practise severe

asceticism with a noble object and worship Me, knowing Me

to be possessed of the all-powerful Sakti; they never want ill

of anybody.”

When Bhagavan Rudra said this, Indra asked him: “What is

his object?” At this, Sankara said: “For the attainment of a

son, Parasara’s son is practising so severe austerities; now

one-hundred years is being completed;

I will go to him, and give him today the auspicious boon of a

son.” Thus speaking to Indra, Bhagavan Rudra, the Guru of

the world, went to Vyasa Deva and, with merciful eyes, said:

“O sinless Vasavl’s son! Get up; I grant to you the boon, that

you will get a son very fiery, luminous and spirited like the

five elements fire, air, earth, water and Akasa, the supreme

JnanI, the store of all, auspicious qualities, of great renown,

beloved to all, ornamented with all Sattvik qualities, truthful

and valorous

Hearing these sweet words of Bhagavan Sulapani Maharsi

Krsna Dvaipayana bowed down to Him and went back to his

own hermitage. Tired with the labour of penance for many

years, he wanted to kindle fire by rubbing two fuels (Aran!)

with each other. While doing this, the high souled man

suddenly began to think strongly in his mind about

procreating a son.

He thought: “Will it be that my son will be born as this fire is

produced by the friction of the two churning sticks?

I have not got the wife, which the Pundits designate as

“Putrarani”, the youthful wife endowed with beauty, born of a

noble family, the chaste one I have not got with me.

This is known to all that a chaste wife, though clever in doing

all household duties, beautiful and giving happiness to one’s

desires, is yet always a sort of bondage. What more than this,

that the ever Bhagavan Mahesvara is always under the

bondage of woman. How, then, knowing and hearing all

these, I can accept this difficult householder’s life?

While he was thinking thus, the extraordinarily beautiful

Apsara Ghritaachi fell to his sight, close to him in the celestial

air.

Though Vyasa Deva was a Brahmacari (holding in control the

secret power of generation) of a very high order yet seeing

suddenly the agile Apsara (“a celestial nymph”) coming close

to him and looking askance at him, he became soon smitten

with the arrows of cupid and feeling himself distressed,

began to think what shall I do in this critical moment.

Unbearable amorous feelings now have come to me; now if I

take this celestial nymph, knowing that Dharma is

everywhere looking, and woman has come to take away my

precious fire of spirit acquired by my tapasya, then I will be

laughed at by the high-souled ascetic Munis, who will think

that I have lost my senses altogether. Alas! Why I who have

practised for one hundred years the most terrible ascetism,

have become so powerless by the mere sight of this Apsara!

The Pundits declare the household life as the source of

getting son, one’s heart’s desire and the source of all

happiness; so much so that it leads all the virtuous souls to

the pleasures of Heaven, and ordains Moksa (liberation) to

those who are Jnanls; and if I get such unrivalled happiness

from this householder’s life, I can have this Deva Kanya (the

clestial nymph) though blameable. But again that happiness

will not occur to me through her; there is no doubt in this. So

how can I take her. I heard from Narada how, in ancient days,

a king name Pururava, fell under the clutches of Urvasi and

ultimately felt great pain, being defeated by her.

कृष्णस्य तस्यारणितः शुकाख्य-

स्तव प्रसादादजणिष्ट पुत्रः ।

हृष्टो मुणिममङ्गलकमम चक्रे

तत्राऽऽणदतेया ववृ षुः सुमाणि ॥ १॥

kri'shnasya tasyaaranitah' shukaakhyastava

prasaadaadajanisht'a putrah' .

hri'sht'o munirmangalakarma chakre

tatraaditeyaa vavri'shuh' sumaani .. 1..

with help of your blessings(devi’s),that krishnadwaipayana

(vyaasa),from the fire stick, a son named shuka, was born. the

extremely happy muni, did all the auspicious rituals. the

devas rained flowers

As instructed by Sage Narada vyaasaa did severe penance to

obtain a good son. Because of the shakti of his tapas he

became bright and was illuminated. Siva came in front of him

and blessed him and confirmed that may he have a good

son. Hence, vyaasa began to rub 2 pieces of wood(arni), at

the same time thinking-“in order to have a good son I need

to get married. My condition right now is not suitable for

marriage. If I get married to a lady who is capable of giving

me a son I will get tied down to the life of a householder.”

As vyaasa was thinking like this, an apsara named ghritachi,

inspired by devendran, made herself visible in front of

vyaasa. she tried to enchant him in different ways. The

feeling of passion arose in the mind of vyaasa. He wondered

wether he should marry her. Eventually decided not to.

Though the brain gave a wise advice, the mind was

emotionally weak. The apsara got scared that vyaasa might

get angry and curse her, assumed the form of a parrot. At

this moment vyaasa lost all his control. His sperm fell into

fire. Like that from fire vyaasa got a good son. This happened

when he saw the ‘shuka’(parrot) form of the apsara. Hence

vyaasa named his son shuka. He bathed his son in the waters

of the ganges. He also performed all the auspicious rituals

that should be performed by the father. The devas showered

the place with flowers.

Seeing the dark-blue lady looking askance at him, Vyasa

Deva thought: “Indeed! What is to be done now? This

Devakanya Apsara Ghrtaci is not fit for my household.”

Then, seeing Vyasa Deva thus thoughtful, the Apsara thought

that the Muni might curse her and got terrified.

Confounded by terror, she assumed the form of a Suka bird

and fled away; Vyasa, too, became greatly surprised to see

her in the form of a bird.

The moment Vyasa saw the extraordinary beautiful form of

Ghrtaci, the Cupid entered then, in his body, and his mind

was filled with the thought of sweet feminine form and was

gladdened and all his body was thrilled with pleasure so that

the hair of the body stood on their ends.

Muni Vyasa Deva tried his best and exerted his power of

patience to its utmost, but failed to control his restless mind

to enjoy the woman. Though he was very energetic, and he

tried repeatedly to control his heart, enchanted with the

beautiful form of Ghrtaci, yet he could not, as due to a state

of things pre-ordained by God, control his mind.

At this state, when he was rubbing the firesticks to get the

sacred fire, (two pieces of wood used in kindling the fire) his

seed (semen) fell upon the Arani (the two pieces of wood

used in kindling the sacred fire).

But he did not take any notice of that, and he went on

rubbing the firesticks when arose from that Arani the

wonderfully beautiful form of Suka Deva, looking like a

second Vyasa.

This boy, born of Arani fuel, looked there brilliant like the

blazing fire of the sacrificial place, whereon of ghee are

poured

Seeing that son, Vyasa Deva was struck with great wonder

and thought thus: “What is this? How is that this son is born

without any woman”

Thinking for a while, he came to the conclusion, that this had

certainly come to pass as the result of boon granted to him

by Siva. No sooner the fiery Suka Deva, was born of Arani, he

looked brilliant, like fire, by his own tejas (spirit).

The river Ganges came there from the Himalayas and washed

all the inner nerves of the child Suka Deva, by her holy waters

and showers of flowers were poured on his head

Vyasa Deva next performed all the natal ceremoies of fhe

high-souled child; the celestial drums were sounded and

celestial nymphs began to dance and the lords of the

Gandharvas Visvavasu, Narada, Tumburu and others began

to sing with great joy for the sight of the son.

All the Devas and Vidyadharas began to chant hymns with

gladdened hearts at the sight of the divine form, the son of

Vyasa, born of Arani.

Bhagavan Vyasa Deva gave the name of the child as Suka as

during the moment of his birth he saw the form of Ghrtaci in

the form of the Suka bird.

Lord siva conferring the boon to vyaasa is there in book

1 chapter 10 of SDB the birth of suka in chap 14

केणचज्जगुः केचि वाद्यघोषं

चक्रुश्च िाके ििृतुः स्त्रियश्च ।

वायुवमवौ स्पशमसुखः सुगन्धः

शुकोद्भवे सवम जिाः प्रहृष्टाः ॥ २॥

kechijjaguh' kechana vaadyaghosham

chakrushcha naake nanri'tuh' striyashcha .

vaayurvavau sparshasukhah' sugandhah'

shukodbhave sarvajanaah' prahri'sht'aah' .. 2..

some sang songs in the sky. Some played instruments; ladies

danced; pleasant breeze spreading fragrant smell was

blowing; by the birth of shuka, everybody was extremely

happy.

the birth of shuka dev brought a lot of happiness to

everyone. The residents of heavens and residents of the

earth were very happy. the celestial drums were sounded and

celestial nymphs began to dance and the lords of the

Gandharvas Visvavasu, Narada, Tumburu and others began

to sing with great joy for the sight of the son. pleasant

breeze wafted with pleasant scent these are the signs of

good omen. All the Devas and Vidyadharas began to chant

hymns with gladdened hearts at the sight of the divine form,

the son of Vyasa, born of Arani

बालः स सद्यो ववृ धे सुचेताः

बृहस्पतेरात्तसमस्तणवद्यः ।

दत्वा णविीतो गुरुदणििां च

प्रत्यागतो हषमयणत स्म तातम् ॥ ३॥

baalah' sa sadyo vavri'dhe suchetaah'

bri'haspateraattasamastavidyah' .

datvaa vineeto gurudakshinaam cha

pratyaagato harshayati sma taatam .. 3..

3.That boy grew up very fast. That child who was intelligent,

learnt all knowledges from Brahaspathi, and with all humility

gave him “Teachers fee”(guru dakshina) & returned back and

drowned his father in joy.

No sooner the extraordinarily brilliant Suka Deva was born,

he grew up, and Vyasa Deva, who is master of endless

learning performed the son’s Upanayana ceremony.

No sooner the child was born than all the Vedas with all their

secrets and epitomes began to flash in the mind of Suka

Deva, as it reigned in Vyasa Deva.

Bhagavan Vyasa Deva gave the name of the child as Suka as

during the moment of his birth he saw Ghritachi in the form

of the Suka bird.

Suka then accepted Brihaspati as his guru and began

devotedly, with his whole head and heart, to perform duly

the Brahmacarya vow (the life of studentship and celibacy).

Muni Suka remained in the house of his Guru and studied

the four Vedas with their secrets and essences and all the

other Dharma sastras and gave Daksina to the Guru duly

according to proper rules, and returned home to his father

Krsna Dvaipayana. Seeing his son Suka, Vyasa Deva got up

and received him with great love and honour and embraced

him and took the smell of his head

युवािमेकान्ततपः प्रवृत्तं

व्यासः कदाणचच्छु कमेवमूचे ।

वेदां श्च शािाणि च वेस्त्रि पुत्र

कृत्वा णववाहं भव सद् गृहस्थः ॥ ४॥

yuvaanamekaantatapah'pravri'ttam

vyaasah' kadaachichchhukamevamooche .

vedaamshcha shaastraani cha vetsi putra

kri'tvaa vivaaham bhava sadgri'hasthah' .. 4..

4. once vyaasa said like this to that young shuka who was

practicing penance in isolation: oh son! You know about the

the vedas and the shastras. Get married and become a good

householder.

Having studied all the vedas, sri shuka became a young man.

But he lacked sensuality. So he got involved in doing

penance alone. Vyaasa, the father, was very unhappy. Vyaasa

wanted to get his son married. He (vyaasa) decided to advice

his son. His son should get married and become good

householder-is the essence of vyaasa’s advice

Vyaasa’s advice begins:

सवाम श्रमािां कवयो णवणशष्टा

गृहाश्रमं श्रेष्ठतरं वदस्त्रन्त।

तमाणश्रतस्त्रस्तष्ठणत लोक एष

यजस्व दे वाि् णवणधवस्त्रितंश्च ॥ ५॥

sarvaashramaanaam kavayo vishisht'aa

gri'haashramam shresht'hataram vadanti .

tamaashritastisht'hati loka esha

yajasva devaan vidhivatpitree'mshcha .. 5..

5.Very important wise people say that the position of a

householder is superior. This world is standing so long firmly

because of its dependence on this (the life of a householder).

Satisfy the gods and also the soul of your ancestors.

Sri shuka finds the topics on the functions of the sense

organs disgusting, he finds it more desirous to perform

penance in solitude. Knowing this vyaasa speaks to him: the

life of a householder is not lower than performing penance

in solitude to one who is not interested in anything. Wise

people consider the life of a householder to be the best.

Because the world is dependent on that to stand firmly. If

everyone becomes disinterested in any topics and become

sanyasis, then the next generation will not be born. For that

one should get married. It is the duty of the householder to

satisfy the souls of the ancestors and the gods. Not being

disgusted with marriage and performing penance in

isolation, it is the life of a married man that is more desirous

is what is said by various dharmas-this is vyaasa’s opinion at

the moment.

excellent sages achieved further excellence by becoming a

householder. This world is dependent and surviving on

householders. This satisfies all the ancestors and the gods.)

Srishuka feels it is better to do penance than allow ones

senses to control you. Sensing this vyaasa advices him thus:

severe penance is not considered below a householders life.

Knowledgeable persons consider a householders position to

be supreme. Because the world is totally dependent on them

for its survival. If everyone takes up sanyas then the next

generation will not be born. So one must get married.

Worshipping devas and and souls of one’s ancestors is the

duty of a householder. To die, performing the various duties

of a married life is desirable to being an unmarried

brahmacharya- this was vyaasa’s opinion now.

तवास्तु सिुत्र ऋिादहं च

मुच्येय मां त्वं सुस्त्रखिं कुरुष्व ।

पुत्रः सुखायात्र परत्र च स्यात्

त्वाम् पुत्र तीव्रैरलभे तपोणभः ॥ ६॥

tavaastu satputra ri'naadaham cha

muchyeya maam tvam sukhinam kurushva .

putrah' sukhaayaatra paratra cha syaat

tvaam putra teevrairalabhe tapobhih' .. 6..

may you have a good son. Let me(father) be free from debt;

a son, brings joy in this world and the other world; you will

help me to get this happiness, oh son! It is by performing

hard penanace that I got you.

Only if Son, grandson, great-grandson series exist will our

ancestors be happy. this is the belief of a householder. some

believe that only if the son grandson series exist only then

will we be free from our ancestor’s debt. To be freed of

ancestorial debts is the main aim of vyaasa. Loving thy son

when you are young and wishing that he will take care of you

when you are old--- these are pleasures of this world.

Relishing in heaven the shraadham performed by your son

on earth – this is the pleasure in heaven you enjoy. Wishing

for a son after growing old is very painful. To overcome this

pain one has to do severe penanace. Vyaasa still remembers

the severe penance he did to beget a son. He wished that his

son should not have a similar experience.

णकञ्च प्रमाथीणि सदे स्त्रियाणि

हरस्त्रन्त णचत्तं प्रसभं िरस्य ।

पश्यि् णपता मे जििीं तपस्वी

पराशरोऽणप स्मरमोणहतोऽभूत् ॥ ७॥

kincha pramaatheeni sadendriyaani

haranti chittam prasabham narasya .

pashyan pitaa me jananeem tapasvee

paraasharo'pi smaramohito'bhoot .. 7..

7. Not only that, the uncontrollable senses, is always

churning the human mind violently; parashara maharshi my

father, a sage, too, seeing my mother was overcome with

passion.

“Only people attached to household duties will think about

children and grandchildren, I am disgusted in the affairs of

this world probably”, the son might say.

Thus thinking like this vyaasa says: I have given up all the

feelings of my sense organs. Completely. For them I am

dead. No body need be proud of this fact. Just by being

proud of that will not make u immortal. Any tapasvi can

bring out what is there in their mind. My father Parasara,

though a great ascetic, was struck with Cupid’s arrows at the

sight of the daughter of a fisherman, named Kali and

accepted her in the boat. (this has been explained in detail in

chap 6 sloka 1 of DN. check it out). When the apsara menaka

danced in front of maharshi vishwamitra and how his mind

was provoked is a very well known story. An auspicious

daughter (shakunthala) was born from the womb of Menaka

by Visvamitra. It is similar to the restlessness experienced by

vyaasa when the apsara ghritachi came and stood before

him. Whose mind will get disturbed at what time nobody can

say. nobody can be proud of the fact that I have complete

control over all my senses. That is only a false pride

य आश्रमादाश्रममेणत तत्तत्

कमाम णि कुवम ि् स सुखी सदा स्यात् ।

गृहाश्रमो िैव च बन्धहे तुः

त्वया च धीमि् णक्रयतां णववाहः ॥ ८॥

ya aashramaadaashramameti tattat

karmaani kurvan sa sukhee sadaa syaat .

gri'haashramo naiva cha bandhahetuhu

tvayaa cha dheeman kriyataam vivaahah' .. 8..

8. one who goes from one stage of life to another, doing

the duties of that stage of life, will always have a life

filled with pleasure; The stage of life, as a householder, does

not create ties; so Oh great one you must get married.

Brahmacharyam, gaarhastyam,vaanaprastham, sanyaasam -

these are the 4 ashramas given in the puranas. Gaining

knowledge is the period of brahmacharyam. As a young

adult one should find someone to share your life with. One

should enjoy the material things in life- you should be

saturated. ‘this pleasure is short lived’ will be understood

then. One who understands this will never be desirous.

Without any compulsion he can move on to the stage of

vaanaprastham and finally to sanyasam. This is a safe and

uninhibited life. Without crossing all this, a person who goes

directly to sanyasam from brahmacharyam will face all the

difficulties mentioned above

Hearing these words of the father, Suka Deva said: “O father!

Kindly say this to me what pleasure is there on this earth that

is not mixed with pain. The happiness, that is mixed with

pain, is not called happiness by the wise.

The mind is full of passion. The good and the evil are mixed

in that. Depending on the situation each is awakened. No

one can tell in advance how and when what type of situation

will arise. So, lust, anger etc. can awaken any time. Only with

the help of regular exercise can one control these emotions.

Whatever should be done for the decline of passion all that .

should be done. Whatever needs to be done should be done

at the right time. In order to control lust. Get married, in the

correct way experience ecstasy – in this way if one lives lust

will diminish. Along with-it anger will also diminish.

Oppositely, if we suppress lust it will manifest as extreme

anger. Eventually that will weaken the mind.

“I will marry. But wont I be tied down?”- this doubt is out of

place. Just because one is married, he need not be tied down

to relations. By avoiding getting married one need not

displace one’s relations. Relations and theft are both in the

mind. relations are there due to marriage should not be

considered.

While vyaasa was saying all this sri shuka heard him with

concentration like a son. He is able to understand everything

also- Yes he is ‘Dheemaan’ . but he did not show any facial

expressions.

एवं ब्रुवािोऽणप शु कं णववाहात्

अद्यसक्तमाज्ञाय णपतेव रागी ।

पुरािकत्ताम च जगद् गुरुः स

मायाणिमग्नोऽश्रुणवलोचिोऽभूत् ॥ ९॥

evam bruvaano'pi shukam vivaahaat

adyasaktamaajnyaaya piteva raagee .

puraanakarttaa cha jagadguruh' sa

maayaanimagno'shruvilochano'bhoot .. 9..

9. Even after telling all this, the father of the puranas as well

as teacher of the world, realizing that Shukha was against

marriage, just like an ordinary father, caught in illusion, shed

tears

the advantages of getting married and the disadvantages of

not getting married was very clearly put forth by vyasa to his

son. After Hearing all this the son was least bit agitated. He

did not say anything- wether he wud marry or not. Vyaasa

was very depressed. As an ordinary father who does not have

any religious thoughts, he burst into tears. It was Jagadguru

and the author of the puranas, who cried. He did not cry

because of the destruction of knowledge! He did not cry

because the devotion to devi had reduced! He did not cry

because of the decline of penance! Then why? He cried

because his son was not getting ready to marry! this is the

vastness of ‘maya’. Even the Jagadguru got caught in ‘maya’.

भोगेषु मे णिस्पृहताऽस्तु मातः

प्रलोणभतो मा करवाणि पापम् ।

मा बाधतां मां तव दे णव माया

मायाणधिाथे सततं िमस्ते ॥ १०॥

bhogeshu me nispri'hataa'stu maatah'

pralobhito maa karavaani paapam .

maa baadhataam maam tava devi maayaa

maayaadhinaathe satatam namaste .. 10..

10.Oh mother, let me not crave for sensory enjoyment,

Let me not get attached and start committing sins. Oh

Goddess, let your maya not affect me; Oh Goddess who rules

over Maya, Always to you my salutations

His son, shukan, did not have sensorial attachments, so he

had no inclination to get married. it was such a person

vyaasan was forcing to get married. Many times, being

beaten by temptations, man tends to do evil activities. A

person with solid knowledge, including saints, at a weak

moment do things that are not to be done. Be indifferent to

luxuries, whatever temptations come your way do not get

entangled. - to achieve both one needs the blessings of

mayaadhinatha Devi. if mayeshwari blesses you, you can

control ‘maya’. To achieve this the poet bows down to the

Devi.

Devi bhagvatham 3rd skanda 14th chapter contents have been

compiled here

Thus ends the 7th chapter

दशकम 6 व्यास नारद समागमम् 6 shasht'hadashakah' - vyaasanaaradasamaagamah' Dasakam 6 Vyasa -Narada Samagama(Meeting of Vyasa and Narada)

                                   दशकम 6

                            व्यास नारद समागमम्

        6 shasht'hadashakah' - vyaasanaaradasamaagamah'

Dasakam 6 Vyasa -Narada Samagama(Meeting of Vyasa and

Narada)

(From this Dasakam the story of sage Sukha is told (Book I chapter

IV). In this chapter an introduction to sage Vyasa is given and it is

described as to how he wanted a child badly. Sage Narada advices

him to do penance addressed to Parasakthi. Accordingly he climbs

the Meru mountain to do the penance.)

1.त्वदिच्छया िे दि पुलस्त्यिाचा

पराशराि् दिष्णुपुराणकरुतुः

मुनेर् हररर् लोकदहराय िीपाि्

यथा प्रिीपोSजदन कृष्णनामा

tvadichchhayaa devi pulastyavaachaa

paraasharaadvishnupuraanakartuh' .

munerharirlokahitaaya deepaad

yathaa pradeepo'jani kri'shnanaamaa .. 6-1..

1.Oh Goddess, as per your desire and the advice of sage Pulasthya,

Sage Parasara compiled an epic called Vishnu Purana and got a

son named Krishna, who was a torch lit From the lamp of Vishnu, for

the benefit of the world

Amongst the puranas the 1st purana to be written is Vishnu puranam.

The author is parashara maharshi. According to the instruction of

pulasthya maharshi, parasharan wrote this grantham. What was the

reason behind all this? Devi’s wish.

Parashara maharshi was on a thirth yatra. Co-incidentally reached the

banks of kalindi river. He wanted to cross the river. Satyavati, a

nishada’s daughter, brought the boat. The maharshi got into it.

Satyavati started to row the boat. When they reached the middle of

the river, the maharshi became intoxicated with love. He who wished

to enjoy her with all her beauty and youth approached her. That girl,

who smelt like a fish, changed to a saffron smelling girl, by the power

of the maharshi’s tapas. “it is morning”. She reminded the maharshi.

By using his powers of tapas he changed morning to night. Satyavati

got pregnant by the maharshi. By then they reached the other side of

the river. The maharshi said,” what has happened , has happened

under the direction of the Providence. you will give birth to an avatar

of Vishnu and he will compose the puranas and subdivide the vedas.

He will be famed in the 3 worlds.” ( in devi bhagvatham, 2nd

skandam,2nd chap this story is given.)

That maharshi who had the powers to change the fishy smell to a

saffron smell and change day into night, how was he not able to

control his urges. The reason is devi’s wish.

In this way vishnu’s part came to earth as parashara’s and satyavati’s

son. His name was Krishna. As he was a part of Vishnu he grew up as

soon as he was born. That story is related in the next sloka.

2.िेिं चरुर्ात दििर्र् स कृष्ण-

द्वै पायनो व्यास इदर प्रदसद्धुः

िेिान्त सूत्रादण पुराणजालम्

महे दरहासं च महाम्श्चकार

vedam chaturdhaa vyadadhatsa kri'shna-

dvaipaayano vyaasa iti prasiddhah' .

vedaantasootraani puraanajaalam

mahetihaasam cha mahaamshchakaara .. 6-2..

2.That Krishna Dwaipayana was well known as sage Vyasa, as

he compiled, systematized and divided the Vedas into four parts. He

also composed guidelines of the Vedas, Puranas. He also wrote

great and well known epics.

 Krishna, The son of parasharan, was given by devi herself. Because he

was born in an island he is also known as dwaipayana. Apparently he

was born at the end of dwaparayuga. It is said that he is the one who

split the single veda into 4 parts. Like that the vedas got 4 parts as rig,

yajur, sama,and atharva vedas. Because he expanded the vedas into

several branches he is also known as ved vyasa. He is also known for

his composition of epics like Mahabharata, puranas, samhitas and

divided the vedas to several branches.

Sutras means concise aphorisms(brief saying or phrase that expresses

an opinion or makes a statement of wisdom without the flowery

language of a proverb). They give the essence of the arguments on a

topic.. To summarise The vedant words that were embedded and

spread all over the Upanishads, the vedant sutras were written. It

consists of 191 tribunals ( arguments) in 555 slokas. – they are called

the brahma sutras. Vedvyas has written 18 puranas. To decide which is

which is not an easy task. Theoretical references are there in some

puranas. But they lack oneness. puranas written by vyasa is there in

devi bhagvatham. Vyasa is not a name given to a person. 1 day light

of brahma is 1 kalpa.1 kalpam is 1000 chaturyugam. Every

chaturyugam has a dwaparayugam. In each and every dwapara yuga

there are people who write the vedas and the puranas. They are all

vyasas. In the 28th dwaapara-yugam the vyaasa dharmas were scripted

by Krishna dwaipayana. The previous 27 dwaparayuga vyasas are

given in devi bhagvatham skanda 1 chap 3.

3.रपुः प्रिृत्तुः कळदिङ्कपोरम्

मात्रा स सम् लादळरमाश्रमान्ते

पश्यन्नर्न्यामनपत्यरां स्वाम्

सपुत्रभाग्यादरशयं च िध्यौ

tapah' pravri'ttah' kalavinkapotam

maatraa sa samlaalitamaashramaante .

pashyannadhanyaamanapatyataam svaam

saputrabhaagyaatishayam cha dadhyau .. 6-3..

3.He who was engaged in Thapas in his hermitage, saw a little

sparrow being fed lovingly by its mother. The one without any

possessions was thinking about the unsatisfied state of his

childlessness. And how fortunate the ones with sons were.

The story of krishna dwaipayana begins. He saw a small chatak bird

feeding its young one with lots of love and care. At that moment,

from the power of his penance the feeling of parenthood arose. To

pamper a son when he is young. To be taken care of by that son at

old age; sitting in heaven and accepting the offerings given by the

son while conducting the death rites-only the fortunate can

experience this bliss. The ones without sons do not experience

happiness either in the current world or in the world of dead. Vyasa

felt that being childless was a sign of poverty. He thought for a long

time about the fortune of being a father.

In long— past days Satyavatl’s son Veda Vyasa, while in his own

hermitage on the banks of the river Sarasvatl, was greatly surprised to

see a pair of Catakas (sparrows). He saw the pair putting frequently,

food into the beak of their young one, just born of the egg, of

beautiful body, red mouth, and greasy body. They did not care at all

for their own hunger and toil; all they were interested in, was to

nurture their young one. He said also that the pair are rubbing their

bodies over the young one’s body and kissing lovingly its mouth, thus

feeling the highest pleasure.

Seeing this wonderful affection of the two sparrows towards their

young, Veda Vyasa became very anxious and thought over the

following in his mind. Oh! What wonder is there, when the birds have

so much loving affection towards their child, that men, who want

services from their sons, would show their affection towards their

sons!

This pair of sparrows will not perform the happy marriage of their

young one and will not see the face of their son’s wife; nor when they

will grow old, that their child would become very religious and serve

them to attain great merits in Heaven nor do they expect that their

child would earn money and satisfy them; nor the child would

perform Sraddha when they would be in the next world; nothing of all

these. Nor will the child perform the Sraddha ceremony at Gaya; nor

will the child offer the oblation of a blue bull on the day of offering

the sacrifice to its ancestor (the bull is then let loose and held sacred);

yet the pair of sparrows have so much affection towards their young

one! Oh! in this world to touch the body of the son, especially to

nurture the sons, is the highest happiness in life. There is no prospect

in the birth of the son-less; never, never will Heaven be his. Without

son, there is none other who can be of help in the next world. Thus in

the Dharma Sastras, Manu and other Munis declare that the man who

has sons goes to Heaven and the sonless one can never go to

Heaven.

The man possessing a son is entitled to the Heavenly pleasures can be

vividly seen, rather than imagined. The man with son is freed from

sins; this is the word of the Vedas. The sonless man becomes very

much distressed even at the time of death and while lying on bed that

is ground at that time, mournfully thinks:

‘This all my vast wealth, various things, this my beautiful house, who

will enjoy all these’?

 “When the sonless man is thus perplexed in his mind at the time of

his death and becomes restless, then it is sure that his future career is

full of misfortunes; unless one’s mind is calm and serene at the time

of death, he can never attain a good goal.

4.सत्पुत्रलाभाय रपदचकीर्ुत

स्तीव्रं महामेरुसमीपमेत्य

आरार्नीयुः क इदर क्षणं स

दचन्तारुरो लोकगुरुुः स्थिरोभूरुः

satputralaabhaaya tapashchikeershu

steevram mahaamerusameepametya .

aaraadhaneeyah' ka iti kshanam sa

chintaa''turo lokaguruh' sthito'bhoot .. 6-4..

4.He who was a teacher to the world, got ready to do severe penance

for the sake of getting a good son, And reached near to the Maha

meru mountain, stood still for a minute numbed ‘which God should I

meditate on’.

Vyasa came to conclusion-to obtain a good son he will have to

perform severe penance. The penance can be performed on the great

Meru mountain. The maharshi walked upto the mountain. Suddenly

he had a doubt-which god will give him a good son? Whom should

 he meditate on? The teacher of the world also gets stunned with

 doubts!

 Thus, thinking variously, Satyavatl’s son Veda Vyasa sighed heavily

 and became unmindful. He thought of various plans and at last,

 coming to a definite conclusion, went to the Sumeru mountain to

 perform tapasya. On reaching there, he thought which Deva he will

 worship! Visnu, Siva, Indra, Brahma, Surya, Ganesa, Kartikeya, Agni, or

 Varuna? Who will grant him boon quickly and thus satisfy his desires.

 Lok-guru vyasa also was also in doubt.

 5.दश्रनारिस्तत्र समागरस्त्वर् -

 कृपा कटाक्षाङ् कुरिन् महदर्तुः

 अर्घ्ात दिसंपूदजर आसनिो

 व्यासेन पृष्टुः प्रहसदन्निाSSह

 shreenaaradastatra samaagatastvat

 kri'paakat'aakshaankuravanmaharshih' .

 arghyaadisampoojita aasanastho

 vyaasena pri'sht'ah' prahasannivaaha .. 6-5..

5. At that time, in that place due to your merciful glance, the sage

Narada reached there. He who was shown respect and worshipped

with water, sat down on a seat, with a smile started to answer the

question asked by vyasa

 ‘Which God should I pray to’ the moment this doubt arose in vyasa’s

 mind, at that moment sri narada reached there. He is the teacher of

 vyasa, the teacher of the world-that sadguru who had a solution to all

 the doubts. Even now he came to clear a doubt. As devi’s

 compassionate glance grows, that is how the guru arrives. Vyasa

 worshipped Narada. When he heard vyasa’s doubts, with lots of love,

 with a light smile started to say:

 While thus tossing in his mind, came there the Muni Narada, of one

 mind, with lute in hand, accidentally in his course of travels. Seeing

 Narada, the Satyavati’ s son Veda Vyasa gave him a hearty welcome,

 with great gladness, offering his Arghya and Asan (seat) and asked

 about his welfare. Hearing this question of welfare, then Narada Muni

spoke: “O Dvaipayana! Why do you look so worried? First speak this

out to me .

Veda Vyasa said: The sonless man has no goal; therefore there is no

happiness in my mind; I am always anxious to get a son and therefore,

I am very sad. Today my mind is sorely troubled with one idea, which

Deva I should satisfy with my tapasya, who will grant me my desires;

now I take refuge in you. О merciful Maharsi! You are omniscient;

answer quickly as to which Deva I should take refuge in, who will

grant me a son.

 Thus questioned by Krsna Dvaipayana, Veda Vyasa, the high souled

Narada Muni, well versed in the Vedas, became very glad and spoke

thus:

6.दकं दचन्तया कृष्ण भजस्व िे िीम्

कृपािरी िास्थिरिानिक्षा

अहे रुरेर्ा खलु सितहेरुर्

दनरस्तसाम्यादरशया दनरीहा

kim chintayaa kri'shna bhajasva deveem

kri'paavatee vaanchhitadaanadakshaa .

ahetureshaa khalu sarvahetur

nirastasaamyaatishayaa nireehaa .. 6-6..

oh Krishna! Why this doubt? Worship the Goddess; this devi is

merciful, she is capable of fulfilling your desires, She is the cause of

everything. She does not have desires, there is none who is equivalent

to her and she is not the reason for any cause.

Narada spoke such that he answered vyasa’s doubt of ‘whom should I

worship’. Devi has the capability and she has compassion also. She

does not have to depend on anybody to satisfy the desires of her

devotees. Devi is the cause for everything in this world. She does not

have any reason for anything. Devi is equivalent only to herself.

7. सैर्ा महाशस्थिररदर प्रदसद्धा

यिाज्ञया ब्रह्मरमेशरुद्ाुः

ब्रह्माण्डसगतस्थिदरसम्श्ृरीच

कुितस्थन्त काले न च रे स्वरन्त्ाुः

saishaa mahaashaktiriti prasiddhaa

yadaajnyayaa brahmaramesharudraah' .

brahmaand'asargasthitisamhri'teeshcha

kurvanti kaale na cha te svatantraah' .. 6-7..

7.She who is like that is famous in the name of Mahasakthi, it is under

the orders of devi that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, are creating,

looking after and destroying the universe. Hence they are not

independent.

This universe was created from nothing, that is brahma. brahma only

is shakti. The similarity between brahma and shakti has been

explained in chap 1 sloka 5. Shakti is the cause for all creations-each

creation has a specific shakti. eyes have the shakti of sight, ear has the

shakti to hear, tongue the shakti to speak, the organs of digestion

have the shakti to digest, the brains has the shakti to analyse, the

mind has the shakti to think, the sun and the lamp has the shakti to

throw light, wind has the shakti to blow, brahma has the shakti to

create, Vishnu has the shakti to protect, and rudra has the shakti to

destroy-in this way each and every shakti is creating. All this is like a

shower of rain. All this rain is held together by collective shakti. This

collective shakti is none other than Devi. All learned people call devi

mahashakti. It is with the help of the devi the trimurti are involved in

the art of creation. They cannot do these works without any

instructions. Once they get the instruction they have no choice but to

carry it out. They-The trimurtis- are completely dependent on the

devi. Only devi is independent.

8.यस्याच रे शस्थिदभरे ि सित -

 कमात दण कुितस्थन्त सुरासुराद्ाुः (सुरासुर)

मत्ततया मृगाुः कृष्ण परदत्रणच

शिेर् दिर्ेयाुः क इहादिर्ेयुः

yasyaashcha te shaktibhireva sarva-

karmaani kurvanti suraasuraadyaah'

martyaa mri'gaah' kri'shna patatrinashcha

shaktervidheyaah' ka ihaavidheyah' .. 6-8..

8.They also are performing all acts due to the power of that Sakthi

and Oh Krishna! the devas, asuras and others, Humans animals and

birds follow her desire, Who is there who do not obey her

completely?

Mahashakti swaroopini’s obedient people are the trimurtis as was

mentioned in the previous slokas. The power to do their own

respective creative work they got from mahashakti swaroopini. This

means that with help of the shakti given by devi the trimurtis are able

to do their respective duties. Check dashkam 10. the trimurtis along-

with the other living beings and vegetations are indebted to devi .

9.प्रत्यक्षमुख्यैर् न च साप्रमाणैर्

ज्ञेया रपोदभुः कदिनैर् िृरैच

न िेिशास्त्राध्ययनेन चादप

भक्त्यैि जानादर पुमान् महे शीम्

pratyakshamukhyairna cha saa pramaanair

jnyeyaa tapobhih' kat'hinairvrataishcha .

na vedashaastraadhyayanena chaapi

bhaktyaiva jaanaati pumaan mahesheem .. 6-9..

9. She cannot be known by well evident rules or by performing

very hard penance or by following strict fasting procedures. Nor is it

necessary that by learning Vedas and Sastras you may know about

her. Human beings come to know about her only through devotion.

How will we recognize the maha shakti swaroopini form of devi?

Apparently, assumption, stories, sound extra are the documented way

of recognizing devi. we cannot hear devi with the help of our ears,

cannot touch with our fingers, cannot see with our eyes, cannot taste

with our tongue, cannot smell with our nose. like this with our 5 sense

organs we cannot recognize devi. according to documents, doing

yagna is not devi. When we see smoke we can assume that fire is

there. similarly can we assume the existence of devi – no. learning the

vedas, hard penance will not get u close to devi. Only pure devotees,

can know her through their devotion.

10. रामेि भक्त्या सररं भजस्व

सिात र्त्तिां कृष्ण रिास्तु भद्म्

इत्यूचुदर् ब्रह्मसुरे गरे स

व्यासस्तपोर्त्ं दगररमारुरोह

taameva bhaktyaa satatam bhajasva

sarvaarthadaam kri'shna tavaastu bhadram .

ityoochushi brahmasute gate sa

vyaasastapo'rtham girimaaruroha .. 6-10..

10.Oh Krishna you yourself sing about her with devotion. For she is

the one who gives everything. Pray to her with full devotion, may you

achieve what you want. After telling this when sage Narada departed,

Vyasa started climbing Meru mountain to do penance.

As vyaasa was nearing the Meru mountain is when the seeds of doubt

started sprouting in his mind. With the reminder of sage narada these

doubts were cleared. Vyaasa realized that she is omnipotent. He also

realized that he needs to make the devi happy by doing penanace.

This way she will give him a good son. Thinking like this he reached

the peak of meru mountain.

11.इहास्थि पयात कुलदचत्तिृदत्तर्

गुरुं न पश्यादम महत्तमं च

सन्मागतरो मां नय दिश्वमारुः

प्रसीि मे त्वां शरणं व्रजादम

ihaasmi paryaakulachittavri'ttir

gurum na pashyaami mahattamam cha

sanmaargato maam naya vishvamaatah'

praseeda me tvaam sharanam vrajaami .. 6-11

11.Now here I am with my mind engaged in various thoughts. Neither

am I able to see a guru nor any great souls. Oh mother of the

universe! make me walk in the right path. Be pleased with me and I

am surrendering to you.

Ending this dasakam the poet tells the devi: when vyaas was confused,

narada came as a guru to him to guide him, he also told him what to

do. Same way please guide me to the right path, I pray to thee.

Thus ends the 6th chapter

दशकम्-5 सुद्युम्नकथा 5 panchamadashakah' -sudyumnakathaa Dasakam 5 Story of Sudhymna

                      दशकम्-5 सुद्युम्नकथा

             5 panchamadashakah' -sudyumnakathaa

                Dasakam 5 Story of Sudhymna

(This story is related in the beginning of Chapter 12 of book

1 of Devi Bhagwatha which deals with the birth of

Pururuvas(son of Sudhyumna). It has been told there that

sage Vasishta told Sudhymna the story of the Goddess in

nine days and these nine days is later believed to have

become the Navarathri festival. In the second sloka of this

dasakam, there is a mention of Ilavrutha, the continent

created by Goddess Parvathi, where only females are there.

Any male entering there would become a female)

1.जाता सुतेळा मनुसप्तमस्य

संप्रार्त्थितोSनेन मुननर्िनसष्ठः

शम्ोः कटाक्षेण सुतां कुमारम्

चक्ेः स कालेन बभुर् राजा

jaataa sutelaa manusaptamasya

sampraarthito'nena munirvasisht'hah' .

shambhoh' kat'aakshena sutaam kumaaram

chakre sa kaalena babhoova raajaa .. 5-1..

1.For the seventh Manu, a daughter called Ila was born. As per his

prayers, sage Vasishta, by the grace of Lord Shiva, made that

daughter into a son. With the passing of time, he became a king.

A specific period of time is called manvantaram. In 1 kalpa there are

only 14 manvantaras. Kalpa means brahma’s day time i.e creation

time. The ruler of a manvantara is called manu. There are only 14

manvantaras so only 14 manus. The 7th manu’s (vivaswan i.e.sun) son

was shraadhadevan. He was also called vaivasvath manu.

 Vaivasvath manu wished a virtuous son be born to him. His kulaguru,

vashishta got ready to perform a yagnam for this. Manu’s wife said to

vashishta that she wanted a girl to be born. The yagnya was very

successful. A girl was born to manu. How did this happen manu

asked? He wanted a boy only. Understanding this vasishtha muni

prayed to Lord shiva.Due to the blessings of lord shiva and the

strength of the muni’s tapa, the princess turned into a prince. The

daughter was named Ila. When the princess was changed into a

prince a change in name also took place. Over a period of time he

became a king.

2.सुद्युम्ननामा मृगयानर्हारी

गतो हयारूढ इळार्ृतं सः

स्त्रीत्वं पुनः प्राप्य सुतं नहमां शोर्

र्व्रे पनतम् पुत्रमसू त चैषा

sudyumnanaamaa mri'gayaavihaaree

 gato hayaarood'ha ilaavri'tam sah' .

streetvam punah' praapya sutam himaamshor

vavre patim putramasoota chaishaa .. 5-2..

2. Once,he who was named as Sudhyumna went for hunting, riding

on a horse, reached a continent named Ilavritha. He once again

turned into a lady and chose the son of moon as her husband and

they both had a son.

We had earlier said that manu’s daughter had changed to a son, he

was known as sudhyumnan. One day he got on to horse and went

hunting. He was fascinated by the beautiful forest and entered the

forest ‘ilavrita’. He immediately changed into a woman and the horse

into a mare.there he fell in love with chandran’s son budhan and

begot a child who was called pururavas.

Once upon a time, wearing beautiful earrings, with extraordinary bow

named Ajagab and holding the arrow-case full of arrows on his back,

he went out on hunt to a forest, riding on a horse, Going about in the

regions of forest, the king got for this sikar, buck, hare, boar,

rhinoceros, bison, buffalo, young elephant, Srimar deer, wild fowl and

various other animals fit for sacrificial purposes; thus, he went on

deep into the interior of the forest.

This divine forest was adorned with rows of Mandara trees and

situated at the bottom of Mount Sumeru. Various trees and flowers

were spreading the beauty of the forest all around; at places were

Asoka creepers, Vakula, Sal, Tal, Tamal, Campak, Panasa, mangoe, Nip,

Madhuka, pomegranate, cocoanut, Yuthika, plantain, kunda creeper,

and various other trees and flowers; at some other places the bowers

formed of Madhavl creepers enhanced the beauty and shed the lustre

all around.

There were lakes and reservoirs of water in the forest filled with

swans, karandavas, and other aquatic birds. The bamboo trees on

their banks becoming filled with air were emitting sweet musical

sounds; and at many places of that all blissgiving forest, there were

bees—humming sweetly and delighting the minds of people there.

Now, the Rajarsi Pradyumna became highly gladdened in his heart to

see his interior of the forest, resonated with the cooing of the cuckoos

and beautified by various lovely flowers; and no sooner he entered

there than he was turned into a female and his horse, also, turned into

a mare; the king, then, became seriously anxious.

How can I in this woman condition go back to my house and how

shall I govern my kingdom? Alas! Who has deceived me thus!”.

The king became overpowered with great care and anxiety and did

not go back, out of shame, to his palace; but he began to wander to

and fro on the outskirts of that forest.

He became known afterwards as woman Ila. Now, once, on an

occasion, Budha, while he was wandering at his will, came up there

and seeing the beautiful Ila with her gestures and amidst the pastures

surrounded by women, became passionately attached towards her;

and Ila, too, seeing the beautiful Budha, the son of Candra Deva,

became desirous to have him as her husband. They became so very

much tied in love towards each other, that intercourse took place

there.

Thus Bhagavan Budha generated, in the womb of Ila, Pururava; and Ila

gave birth, in due time, to son Pururava in that forest.

3.न्यर्ेदयत् सा गुरर्े र्नसष्ठा-

यैंषा कदानचनिजपुं स्त्वकामम्

तत्साधनाथं हरमे र् दध्यौ

मुननः प्रसिस्तमुर्ाच शम्ुः

nyavedayatsaa gurave vasisht'haa

yaishaa kadaachinnijapumstvakaamam .

tatsaadhanaartham harameva dadhyau

munih' prasannastamuvaacha shambhuh' .. 5-3..

3.One day she(the son of manu, who had become a mother), after his

desire to become a lady was over, informed Guru Vasishta. For

achieving that he(Vasishta) meditated on Lord Shiva, and made shiva

happy. Lord Shiva told him(the rishi):

After attaining motherhood, manu’s son desired to become a man as

before. He expressed this desire to his guru vasishitha. He was the

one who had changed princess Ila to a prince. He had to show the

strength of his tapas again. Like before, guru vasishtha, prayed to lord

siva. Without any delay lord shiva made himself visible to him( guru)

and said:

She then, with an anxious heart, recollected, while in the forest, her

(rather his), family priest Vasistha Deva.Now then Vasistha Deva,

seeing the distressed condition of king Sudyumna became affected

with pity and pleased Mahadeva, Sankara, the most auspicious Deva

of all, by hymns and praises.

When Bhagavan Sankara wanted to grant him the boon that he

desired, Vasistha Deva wanted that king would be turned again into

man as before.

4.इळार्ृतं मा पुरुषः प्रयातु

प्रयानत चेत् सोSस्त्वबला तदै र्

एर्ं मया नननितमेर् सौम्य

गौयाि ः प्रसादाय भर्ान् नप्रयो मे

ilaavri'tam maa purushah' prayaatu

prayaati chetso'stvabalaa tadaiva .

evam mayaa nishchitameva saumya

gauryaah' prasaadaaya bhavaan priyo me .. 5-4..

4.”No male should ever enter the place called Ilavrutha. If he enters,

he would immediately transform into a lady”. This has been

decided by me only for the happiness of Parvathi. But you happen to

be my favourite.

Long ago when shiva and Parvati were playing their amorous divine

games at ilavritha, maharshis came there. They returned when they

saw that it was not the right time. Parvathy requested shiva that only

ladies should be permitted to enter ilavritha. Shiva fulfilled this wish of

Parvathi. From that day onwards men were prohibited from entering

ilavritha. Unaware of this sudhyumna reached there. That is how he

became a lady. Even his horse transformed into a mare. Now lord siva

was in a dilemma, if he converts manu’s child to a man as before ,

Parvathi will be displeased. Nor can he say no to vasishtha’s wish,

because he is an ardent devotee of lord siva, and shiva loved him a

lot.

Once upon a time, Sanaka and other Rsis went to this forest (ilavrata)

to pay a visit to Sankara, illuminating the ten quarters by their holy

aura. But then Bhagavan Sankara was in amorous dealing with

Sankari. The beautiful Devi Ambika was then naked and sitting on the

lap of Sankara and therefore became very much ashamed at their

sight. She got up hurriedly, and putting on a cloth, and remained

there shuddering, with great shame and sensitiveness. The Rishis also,

seeing them engaged in amorous dealings, went away quickly to the

hermitage of Nara Narayana.

 “Then Bhagavan Sankara, seeing Sankari too much sensitive, said:

“Why are you so much bashful and shy?I am doing just now what will

give you pleasure. О Beautiful one! Whoever male will enter from

today and hereafter, within the boundaries of this forest, will be

instantly converted into a woman.”

Though the forest gave all delights to all, yet, having this defect, all

the persons that know of this curse, carefully avoided the forest.

That is how the prince became a lady and his horse was also not

spared.

5.न पक्षभेदोSत्र ममार्त्स्त गौरी

भर्ाम्श्ि तृप्तौ भर्तां मदीयौ

इतः परं तस्य मनोरपत्यम्

मासं पुमान् स्याद र्ननता च मासम्

na pakshabhedo'tra mamaasti gauree

bhavaamshcha tri'ptau bhavataam madeeyau .

itah' param tasya manorapatyam

maasam pumaan syaadvanitaa cha maasam .. 5-5..

5.In this matter I cannot take sides. From now on this child of king

Manu, will be a man for one month and the next month will be a lady.

Now the desires of Parvati and vasishta are opposing each other. Now

he needs to take a decision without showing partiality to the other.

Manu’s son can be a man one month and a lady the next month. Like

this alternate months he can be a man and a lady. This was sivas

impartial decision..so in a year 6 months manhood and 6 months

womanhood.

6.एर्म् नशर्ोक्तेन् मनोरपत्यम्

लब्ध्वा च पुम्श्स्त्वं धरणीं शशास

सत्रीत्वे च हम्येषु नननाय कालम्

जनो न चैनं नृपमभ्यनन्दत्

evam shivoktena manorapatyam

labdhvaa cha pumstvam dharaneem shashaasa .

streetve cha harmyeshu ninaaya kaalam

jano na chainam nri'pamabhyanandat .. 5-6..

6. As per what shiva said, manu’s child, attained manhood and

ruled the earth. During the time when he is in the form of a lady, he

spent his time in his palace and due to this the people of the

country did not respect him.

So accordingly, chandran’s son’s wife became a man again. When he

was a man, as a king he ruled the earth. When he became a woman

he would hide in his palace. He did not rule the kingdom as a queen.

The citizens were not ready to accept a ruler who was not a man nor

woman.

Thus, by the favor of Vasistha Deva, king Sudyumna got this boon and

returned to his kingdom and began to govern it. When he used to

turn into a woman, he used to remain inside, and when he used to

become a man, he governed his kingdom. At this the subject became

very anxious and did not welcome the king as they used to do before.

Some days passed away in this way when the prince Pururava grew up

into manhood.

7.पूरुरर्स्यात्मसुतोSपिनयत्वा

राज्यं नर्रक्तो र्नमेत्य भुपः

निनारदात् लब्धनर्ाणिमन्त्रो

भक्त्या स दध्यौ भर्ताररणीं त्वाम्

purooravasyaatmasute'rpayitvaa

raajyam virakto vanametya bhoopah' .

shreenaaradaallabdhanavaarnamantro

bhaktyaa sa dadhyau bhavataarineem tvaam .. 5-7..

7.That king who was not interested in the duties of a king, gave the

kingdom to his son Pururuvas and got the Navaarnava manthra from

Sage Narada, and started showing devotion to you in form of

bhavathaarini (bhoomidevi/Parvati devi).

When he realized the citizens were not giving him respect, the king

gave the kingdom to his son pururavas. When he was the wife of

chandran’s son, pururavas was born. As the king was not interested in

worldly matters, sage narada appeared before him.. He initiated the

king on the “navaarna mantra”. He chanted with full devotion and

meditated on the ‘bhavatarini’ form of devi. “ओम् ऐम् ह्रीम् क्लीम्

चामुण्ढायै नर्च्चे” this is the navaarna mantram. It is also called

navakshara mantram.

8.नसम्हानधरुढाम अरुणाब्जनेत्राम्

त्वां सुप्रसिामनभर्ीक्ष्य नत्वा

सतुत्वा च भक्त्या र्त्िरपुम्श्स्त्वमेष

लेभेSथ सायुज्यमर्ाप चान्ते

simhaadhirood'haamarunaabjanetraam

tvaam suprasannaamabhiveekshya natvaa .

stutvaa cha bhaktyaa sthirapumstvamesha

lebhe'tha saayujyamavaapa chaante .. 5-8..

8. You who rode on the neck of a lion, with eyes red like the petals of

a red coloured lotus, one who was extremely happy, he saw in front of

his eyes, saluted and praised you with total devotion and attained

complete and permanent manhood; later on he attained liberation.

 By chanting the navakshara mantram sudhyumnan pleased the devi.

He saluted with great devotion when he got a vision of the devi. He

got the boon of being a man permanently from the devi. Immediately

he started praising the devi. Ultimately he achieved sayoojyam.

The story of sudhyumna is there in most puranas, with slight

differences.you will find this story in the SB 9th skanda, 1st chapter, it

does not have the story of the devi hymn. SDB 1st skanda, 2th chapter

this story is there. The story of sudhyumna as a female and as a male

and also his prayers to tarinidevi and getting mukti is found here. The

benefits of performimg devi bhagvatham navaha-yagnam is

described in some chapters of skanda puranam. guess the

sudyumna’s story is there in this also.vasishth muni read the devi

bhagvatham to sudhyumna in 9 days. these 9 days Sudhyumna

observed the navratri fast with all bhakti and pleased the devi. On

completion is when the devi appeared before him it is said. With the

help of devis blessings he was able to remain a male and at the end

got sayyoojya mookti- yes he gained both. The story to become a

male permanently is not there neither in SDB nor in SB. In SDB,where

the glories of navaha-yagnam is mentioned, only there it is

mentioned. How sudhyumna attained a status of permament

manhood is there in the 8th shloka of the above mentioned chapter.

9.शौयं न र्ीयं न च पौरुषं मे

नैर्ार्त्स्त च सत्रीसहजा नतनतक्षा

मूढो न जानाम्यशुभमं शुभम् च

दे यं त्वया मे शुभमेर् मातः

shauryam na veeryam na cha paurusham me

naivaasti cha streesahajaa titikshaa .

mood'ho na jaanaamyashubham shubham cha

deyam tvayaa me shubhameva maatah' .. 5-9..

9.I do not have bravery nor the stamina that goes with being a man,

I definitely do not have the patience which is a quality in ladies. This

ignorant me is not able to differentiate between goodand evil. Oh!

mother grant me only what is good.

According to the writer he is not born with the good qualities of a

man or a woman. Children do not have the ability to differentiate

between good and bad qualities. But what is good for the child the

mother knows. Remove all the bad qualities and keep only the good

qualities, requests the writer.

10.पश्यानन मातः प्रर्रान् गुरुं स्ते

कारुण्यतो मां सुपथा नयन्तु

सत्संगसंभानर्तनचत्तर्ृनत्तर्

भर्ानन ते दे नर् नमः प्रसीद

pashyaani maatah' pravaraanguroomste

kaarunyato maam supathaa nayantu .

satsangasambhaavitachittavri'ttir

bhavaani te devi namah' praseeda .. 5-10.

10.Oh Mother may I be able to see all the well known Gurus. Let

them guide me with compassion to travel on the path of goodness. I

should turn into a good human being by keeping good company. Hey

devi! I salute thee..

How will fools who do not have good qualities survive? By keeping

company of mahatmas foolishness can go, our inner eye can also

open. To have the good company of mahatamas one needs to have

the blessings of devi.. the meaning of “माताः ” is ‘ you know all my

weaknesses’. Oh Bhavani , Oh Goddess , get pleased with me.

Thus ends the 5th chapter

दशकम् 2 हयग्रीव कथा 2 dviteeyadashakah' - hayagreevakathaa

                              

२ द्वितीयदशकः  -    हयग्रीवकथा
2 dvitīyadaśakaḥ  -    hayagrīvakathā

(Once the devas approached lord Vishnu for help in conducting a

Yajna. Due to the pressure of the bow ., Lord Vishnu’s head got cut

and fell in the sea/ As per the advice of Lord Brahma , the devas

prayed the Goddess. She told them to join a horse’s head on the body

of Vishnu. He woke up and in war killed a dangerous Rakshasa

called Hayagreeva. This occurs in the 5th chapter of first Skanda of

Devi Bhagawatham.)

रणेषु दैत्येषु हतेषु देवाः पुरा प्रहृष्टाः सहदातृशर्वाः । 

                                        यियक्षवो यज्ञपतिं विनीताः प्रपेदिरे विष्णुमनन्तवीर्यम् ॥ २-१॥

raṇeṣu daityeṣu hateṣu devāḥ purā prahṛṣṭāḥ sahadātṛśarvāḥ .
yiyakṣavo yajñapatiṃ vinītāḥ prapedire viṣṇumanantavīryam .. 2-1..

1.The devas who had killed the asuras in war earlier, the very

happy devas had a desire to conduct a Yagyna. Along with

Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma, with humility approached the

indestructible Lord Vishnu.

This shloka condenses the events described in skanda 1 chap

5 of devi bhagavatham.

Long ago there was a ghastly war between the devas and the

asuras which lasted for 10000 years. The devas won this war.

They were very happy and wanted to perform a yagna with

Vishnu as the chief. Good deeds should be performed

without any delay. The devas along with brahma and siva

went to meet Vishnu.

Vishnu has indestructible courage. The devas went to war

with Vishnu as senapati. That is why the devas won the war.

दृष्ट्वा च निद्रावशगं प्रभुं तमधिज्यचापाग्रसमर्पितास्यम् ।
आश्चर्यमापुर्विबुधा न कोऽपि प्राबोधयत्तं खलु पापभीत्या ॥ २-२॥

dṛṣṭvā ca nidrāvaśagaṃ prabhuṃ tamadhijyacāpāgrasamarpitāsyam .
āścaryamāpurvibudhā na ko'pi prābodhayattaṃ khalu pāpabhītyā .. 2-2..

2. They were surprised to see the Lord sleeping with his

head(chin) on the string of the bow. Due to the fear of

committing a sin, they did not wake him up.

It was Vishnu who fought the war and won it for the devas.

Though the asuras were destroyed HE too was exhausted. He

dug the bow that he had strung tight, onto the ground

vertically, & rested his chin on it and slept. The string of the

bow got bent due to the weight of vishnu’s head. It was at

this time the devas came to meet him. Yagna without the

presence of Vishnu will be of no use. The yagna could not be

postponed also. Awakening Vishnu was the only option. At

that time Siva said, “it is sinful to awaken a person who is

sleeping”. Afraid of committing a sin no one had the courage

to awaken Vishnu. Looking at him sleeping due to exhaustion

astonished the devas.

हरेस्तदानीमजसृष्टवम्र्या मुखार्पणाकुञ्चितचापमौर्वी ।
भग्ना धनुश्चार्जवमाप सद्यस्तेनाभवत्सोऽपि निकृत्तकण्ठः ॥ २-३॥

harestadānīmajasṛṣṭavamryā mukhārpaṇākuñcitacāpamaurvī .
bhagnā dhanuścārjavamāpa sadyastenābhavatso'pi nikṛttakaṇṭhaḥ .. 2-3..

3.The frame of the bow, which was bent due to the pressure

applied by Lord Vishnu’s face, at that time termites created

by Lord Brahma, straightened the bow(the bend was gone).

Due to this,he became one whose neck was cut.

To awaken a person who is sleeping is sin. Suppose he gets

up without being awakened, thought brahma. It is believed

that brahma created termites at this time. According to

brahma’s instruction these beings went and got stuck onto

vishnu’s bow. They started to bite into the bow-string,

causing it to break. The bow straightened. With that vishnu’s

neck got sliced, and his head got thrown. And so brahma’s

idea of awakening Vishnu without calling was a failure.

कायाच्छिरस्तूत्पतितं मुरारेः पश्यत्सु देवेषु पपात सिन्धौ ।
चेतः सुराणां कदने निमग्नं हाहेति शब्दः सुमहानभूच्च ॥ २-४॥

kāyācchirastūtpatitaṃ murāreḥ paśyatsu deveṣu papāta sindhau .
cetaḥ surāṇāṃ kadane nimagnaṃ hāheti śabdaḥ sumahānabhūcca .. 2-4..

4. as the devas kept watching, they saw vishnu’s head

separated from the body, and fall into the ocean. The devas

were drowned in sorrow, and a large sound “Alas,

alas” rose from them.

Vishnu did not awaken when he got up. As soon as the bow

frame straightened his neck got chopped off. His head was

thrown upwards, and eventually fell into the ocean. The

devas were drowned in sorrow. The devas cried loudly. The

world was enveloped in darkness.

..किमत्र कृत्यं पतिते हरौ नः कुर्मः कथं वेति मिथो ब्रुवाणान् ।

देवान् विधाताऽऽह भवेन्न कार्यमकारणं दैवमहो बलीयः ॥ २-५॥

kimatra kṛtyaṃ patite harau naḥ kurmaḥ kathaṃ veti mitho bruvāṇān .
devān vidhātā''ha bhavenna kāryamakāraṇaṃ daivamaho balīyaḥ .. 2-5

5. “This is the end of Vishnu, at this moment what can we do?

How will we do something?” Brahma spoke to the devas who

were talking like this amongst themselves, “this cannot

happen without any particular reason. Alas! This is the result

of his past deeds.

For the devas Vishnu was always a friend in distress. When

his head was cut they started talking amongst themselves.

“What to do?” “How to do?”. Even though the head was cut

off, Vishnu was not dead brahma knew. So, he tried to pacify

the devas. Things will not happen without a cause. For his

head to cut and thrown he must have had some previous

karma. Everybody has to face the results of his past karmas

ध्यायेत देवीं करुणार्द्रचित्तां ब्रह्माण्डसृष्ट्यादिकहेतुभूताम् ।
सर्वाणि कार्याणि विधास्यते नः सा सर्वशक्ता सगुणाऽगुणा च ॥ २-६॥

dhyāyeta devīṃ karuṇārdracittāṃ brahmāṇḍasṛṣṭyādikahetubhūtām .
sarvāṇi kāryāṇi vidhāsyate naḥ sā sarvaśaktā saguṇā'guṇā ca .. 2-6..

6.” Pray to that merciful goddess, who is the cause of

creation, maintenance and destruction of this universe. The

all-powerful devi, who is with qualities(sagun) and at the

same time devoid of qualities(nirgun), will guide you to what

to do next.

Thus brahma tried to pacify the dejected and confused

devas. We must meditate in the nirgunna or sagunna form of

devi. Devi is all powerful, she is also the reason for all that

happens, she is compassionate. “what can we do now?” This

was the solution given by brahma to the zombied devas.

It has been mentioned about the all powerful Devi in the 1st

dashaka, 5th shloka. She thus manifests herself like this in this

universe. The nirguna sound explains this Devi. The saguna

devi has a specific form. Meditating on the saguna or nirguna

devi gives the same result. It is to the convenience of the

worshippers that the devi form is accepted.

इत्यूचुषः प्रेरणया विधातुस्त्वामेव वेदा नुनुवुः सुराश्च ।
दिवि स्थिता देवगणांस्त्वमात्थ भद्रं भवेद्वो हरिणेदृशेन ॥ २-७॥

ityūcuṣaḥ preraṇayā vidhātustvāmeva vedā nunuvuḥ surāśca .
divi sthitā devagaṇāṃstvamāttha bhadraṃ bhavedvo hariṇedṛśena .. 2-7..

7. With the advice given by Brahma, the devas and the vedas

started praying to you with specific mantras. Without any

delay Devi manifested herself in the sky and said to the

group of devas,” only good will happen to you with Vishnu’s

head cut”

As per the advice given by brahma the devas started to pray

to devi. The vedas (that were incarnate there in their forms,

for the successful issue of the Deva’s work) started to pray to

devi with their own mantras. Without any delay devi

appeared in the sky and said,” only good will happen to you

all from the Vishnu whose head has been chopped off.”

• Devi bhagvatham skanda 1 chapter 5 slokas 53 to 68

   Whoever reads these slokas with devotion will get all

   what he desires. Whoever will hear this devotedly

   during trisandhya will be free from troubles. This

   stotra has been sung by the vedas so it is equivalent to

   the vedas.

दैत्यो हयग्रीव इति प्रसिद्धो मयैव दत्तेन वरेण वीरः ।
वेदान् मुनींश्चापि हयास्यमात्रवध्यो भृशं पीडयति प्रभावात् ॥ २-८॥

daityo hayagrīva iti prasiddho mayaiva dattena vareṇa vīraḥ .
vedān munīṃścāpi hayāsyamātravadhyo bhṛśaṃ pīḍayati prabhāvāt .. 2-8..

8.” A famous valorous Rakshasa called Hayagreeva, due to

the power of the boons given by me, that he can be only

killed by one who has a head of a horse, Is

troubling the sages and Vedas due to his own strength.”

The good that is going to happen to the devas is told here.

To make it clear a danger is warned. An asura by the name

hayagreev did penance by chanting the the single syllable

maya bheej mantram ‘hrim’ for many years.and in due course

Devi manifested in front of him. The asura then asked her for

a boon. ”Only someone with the head of a horse can kill me”.

Devi granted him the boon. A person with a head of a horse

can never be born, thinking like this the asura asked the

boon. After getting the boon he knew he was invincible and

immortal, made him arrogant. He started troubling the munis

and the vedas with his strength. He started troubling the

rishis also. If the asura continues like this it was definite that

the devas too would have to bear his atrocities.

दैवेन कृत्तं हरिशीर्षमद्य संयोज्यतां वाजिशिरोऽस्य काये ।
ततो हयग्रीवतया मुरारिर्दैत्यं हयग्रीवमरं निहन्ता ॥ २-९॥

daivena kṛttaṃ hariśīrṣamadya saṃyojyatāṃ vājiśiro'sya kāye .
tato hayagrīvatayā murārirdaityaṃ hayagrīvamaraṃ nihantā .. 2-9..

9.The head of Lord Vishnu has got cut due to the will of Fate.

So join a horse’s head on his headless body. Then the killer

of Mura, in his form of Hayagreeva, will kill the

Rakshasa called Hayagreeva swiftly.

“May your head fall off” Laxmi had so cursed* Vishnu. That

curse took effect now. vishnu’s head is gone. Now you can fix

a head of a horse onto his body. Then Vishnu will become

‘hayagreevan’ (one with the head of a horse.) he can also

destroy the asura hayagreeva. ‘Let good come to you’ was

said in the previous sloka. The slaying of the vicious wicked

asura hayagreeva is the good.

• Once upon a time , seeing the beautiful face of his dear wife Laxmi

  devi hari laughed in her presence. At this laxmi devi came to think

  that ”He has seen surely something ugly in my face and therefore

  he laughed. Otherwise why my husband would laugh on seeing

  me. But what reason can there be to see ugliness in my face after

  so long a time. And why should he laugh without seeing

  something ugly, without any cause. Or it may be , he has made

  some other beautiful woman as my co wife” with these various

  arguments in her mind, Mahalaxmi got angry and tamo guna

  slowly possessed her & in anger slowly said “Let thy head fall off”.

  She cursed without any thought of good or bad causing her own

  suffering.

त्वमेवमुक्त्वा सदयं तिरोधास्त्वष्ट्रा कबन्धेऽश्वशिरो मुरारेः ।
संयोजितं पश्यति देवसङ्घे हयाननः श्रीहरिरुत्थितोऽभूत् ॥ २-१०॥

tvamevamuktvā sadayaṃ tirodhāstvaṣṭrā kabandhe'śvaśiro murāreḥ .
saṃyojitaṃ paśyati devasaṅghe hayānanaḥ śrīharirutthito'bhūt .. 2-10..

10.After telling like this you vanished. Thwasthaa (the

sculptor of the heavens) joined a horse’s head onto the

headless body of Lord Vishnu. While the devas were seeing,

Lord Vishnu woke up from deep slumber with the head of a

horse..

After conveying everything to the devas, devi vanished. As

per the instruction of devi, the heavenly sculptor, twashtta,

joined a horses head onto Vishnu’s body. Like this Vishnu

woke up as hayagreeva. ‘Hayam’ means horse, and ‘greeva’

means neck.

*Thwashta-- Vishwakarma; the heavenly builder.

दैत्यं हयग्रीवमहन् हयास्यो रणे मुरारिस्त्वदनुग्रहेण ।
सदा जगन्मङ्गलदे त्वदीयाः पतन्तु मे मूर्ध्नि कृपाकटाक्षाः ॥ २-११॥

daityaṃ hayagrīvamahan hayāsyo raṇe murāristvadanugraheṇa .
sadā jaganmaṅgalade tvadīyāḥ patantu me mūrdhni kṛpākaṭākṣāḥ .. 2-11..

11. The horse faced Vishnu, with your blessings, in a war,

defeated an asura named hayagreeva. Oh! mother of the

universe! Who does good for the world, may your

compassionate glances, fall always on my head.

Though he got his head cut, nothing happened to Vishnu. It

only turned out to be blessing to the devas. It is due to the

blessings of the Devi everything ended well. That same Devi

brings good to this world. If you get that grace from her no

obstacles will come to you.

The story of Vishnu, transforming into hayagreeva, and killing

of the asura hayagreeva can be found in Devi-bhagvatham

1st skanda chapter 5 one can find this story.

Thus ends the 2nd chapter.

As Indra and other Gods were performing a Sacrifice in the presence of

Brahma and Mahesa, they had all desired Maha Vishnu to preside over

the Function and called on Him. But, Lord Vishnu was in ‘Yoga Nidra’or

the Sleep of Deep Meditation and nobody would dare wake Him. More

over, interruptions of somebody’s speech, the love of a couple, or

waking up a person’s deep sleep are sins equivalent to ‘Brahma hatya’

or killing of a Brahmana.

The Lord was seated in a ‘Padmasana’ posture squatting with His legs

folded and resting His chin on the top of His Bow with an Arrow fully

drawn. As the Sacrifice was to be concluded, Lord Siva advised Lord

Brahma to create a White Ant, ‘Vamri’ and directed it to bite the arrow

gently which should wake up the Lord to consciousness and thus make

the request. The Vamri sensed the delicate situation and requested

Brahma to grant it a return boon for the great risk being undertaken in

disturbing the Yoga Nidra of no less a personality than Maha Vishnu

Himself! Lords Brahma and Siva gave a boon to the Vamri that what

ever trickles from the Sacrificial Offerings of Ghee in the Homa Kunda

(Fire Pit) would spill out could be collected as its share. As commanded

by Brahma, the insect bit the fore-end of the arrow and the tight string

gave way at once and the entire Universe reverberated with horrifying

sound as the earth quaked, mountains were shaken, Oceans rose high,

Sun lost way and Devas got traumatised. Maha Vishnu’s Head was

severed with His Crown and there was no trace as to where it fell! Along

with Devas, Brahma and Siva cried like human beings as there was a

‘Pralaya’-like situation (Universal Dissolution). Then Deva Guru

Brihaspati consoled Indra, Brahma and Siva and encouraged them to

face the grim situation, as such eventualities did happen in the past.

The only recourse that Lords Siva and Brahma, accompanied by Indra

and Demi-Gods, had was that in one voice, they made an intense

appeal to Maha Devi Bhagavati, the Eternal Cause of Causes, the very

Original Energy, the Life Force of entire Creation, the Bindu and

Pranava, the Sourcing Fountain of knowledge and above all the

Embodiment of Charity and Forgiveness. Pleased by the most sincere

prayers of Brahma and Siva, ‘Nirguna’ Maha Devi hinted that there

ought to be a cause for the tragedy. In the company of Maha Lakshmi,

once Maha Vishnu laughed by thinking of something. Lakshmi Devi

failed to understand the possible reason as to what Vishnu was so

amused about. Was it a spot on Her face or was it due to another

woman in His desire? Then as Vishnu did not clarify, Lakshmi assumed

‘Tamasic Guna’ and gave a curse to Him saying that His head should

fall off. Thus happened the resultant tragedy despite Her sincere

repentance.

While this tragedy took place, there was a coincidental incident that a

tough Danava of extraordinary cruelty, named Hayagriva or the

Demon with the neck of a horse, resorted to severe ‘Tapas’ (

Meditation) to Maha Bhagavati for thousands of years by following a

strict regime of Sacrifice and unflinching devotion. Maha Devi

appeared before the Rakshasa and granted him a boon that no Power

in the Universe could cause death to him, except by an Extraordinary

Energy in the form similar to his own viz. Hayagriva form alone could

destroy him. Brahma and Siva hastened with the solution to the

present gravest tragedy and instructed Devata’s own Architect,

Visvakarma to do the needful. The Architect killed a horse at once and

fixed its neck to Lord Vishnu’s severed head and thus emerged Lord

Hayagriva.

दशकम् 1 दे वि महीम Devi Mahima

         दशकम् 1

       दे वि महीम

      Devi Mahima

 (This is the first chapter of the book and here the poet tells

us about the greatness of the goddess. The Goddess about

whom, he deals with is Parasakthi(the divine power) . She is the

one who grants to gods, devas, human beings asuras , the

power to act. If she does not give power to them, they would

not be able to do anything..Though I am referring to her as

“she” , the poet clearly brings out the fact, that she is neither,

“she “ nor”he”. This is the summary of Chapter IV of book I

of Devi Bhagwat )

यस्मिविदं यत इदं यवददं यदिात्

उत्तीर्णरूपम् अविपश्यवत यत्समस्तम्

नो दृश्यते च िचसां मनश्च दू रे

यद्भावत चाSSवदमहसे प्रर्मावम तिै।।1।।

yasminnidam yata idam yadidam yadasmaat

     utteernaroopamabhipashyati yatsamastam .

no dri'shyate cha vachasaam manasashcha doore

     yadbhaati chaadimahase pranamaami tasmai .. 1-1..

I salute to all the devas to help me, by removing all obstacles,

to write this adaptation of the famous book, Devi Bhagvatham,

written by Ved Vyaas. This Devi Stuti roopam ‘Devi

Narayaneeyam’ consists of 41 chapters and a total of 480

shlokas.

I am beginning this work by saluting that great enlightened

supreme being(aadi mahas). What is aadi mahas? Mahas means

splendour, light. The 1st illusionary light, aadi mahas. The words

like, brahmam, aatma, that are described in the scriptures, is

     this aadi mahas. The yogis who are deep into meditation

     experience this aadi mahas as a bright light.

     Initially it was this aadi mahas that existed as the one and only

     ultimate truth. This world was formed when the light(aadi

     mahas) scattered. The reason, the doer and the foundation was

     this aadi mahas. We assume a rope to be a snake in dim light.

     The cause, doer and foundation of this accidental snake, is the

     rope. All the time there was no snake only a rope. The snake

     was never present. The illusionary snake disappears as soon as

     light is switched on. There is no reaction on the rope that was

     thought to be the illusory snake. How a rope is thought to be a

     snake, same way the universe is an illusion of the aadi mahas.

     As there is nothing different in the rope from the snake, there is

     nothing that is different in the universe from the aadi mahas.

     A rope and a snake are similar in size. But with respect to size

     the universe and aadi mahas are not similar. The universe is

     only 1/4th of the aadi mahas. The remaining 3 parts operates as

     divinity, is what is said in the purush suktam

     पादो᳚ऽस्य॒ विश्ाा॑ िूतावना॑

                          ॒      । वर॒पादा॑ स्या॒मृतं ा॑ वद॒ वि

     paado'sya vishvaa bhootaani . tripaadasyaamri'tam divi .

     (purush suktam, shloka 3)

     The purusha is greater than all the greatness which can be

     expressed by words. His one part has become all these (visible)

     worlds, and his three parts rest in the immortal world of the

     transcendence.

It is the same thing that has been described in the shloka “यदिात्

       उत्तीर्णरूपम् “(yadasmaat utteernaroopam). Aadi mahas can see

       everything without the help of the sense organs. But, nobody

       can visualize that. Tgat is devoid of any characteristics. Even if

       we make our mind and words clean and good, we cannot reach

that splendour or pleasure(mahas). This supreme pleasure

cannot be imagined by the mind or described in words. The

mantras in the Upanishads describe as the ‘inner eye’ or the

‘mind within a mind’

In this way that which is at the same time unavaible to the mind

and indescribable by words, that aadi mahas which is the

reason for everything and the protector of all, the poet awaits

the blessings of that aadi mahas with devotion. The poet firmly

believes if one has that blessing only then can he do any work.

न स्त्री पुमान् न सु रदै त्यनरादयो न

क्लीबं न िूतमवप कमणगुर्ादयश्च

िूमंस्त्वमेि सदनाद्यविकायणनन्तं

सिं त्वया जगवददं विततं वििावत।।2।।

na stree pumaan na suradaityanaraadayo na

   kleebam na bhootamapi karmagunaadayashcha .

bhoomamstvameva sadanaadyavikaaryanantam

   sarvam tvayaa jagadidam vitatam vibhaati .. 1-2..

2. Oh supreme soul, you are neither woman nor man, neither a

ghost or an eunuch, you are devoid of actions or good

qualities. You have no beginning or end and you have no

results. This entire universe glows under your protection.

‘Bhoomaav’ means the supreme soul. In the previous shloka we

heard a sound called ‘aadi mahas’. The words bhoomaav,

brahmam etc are its synonyms. We cannot say ‘What is’ or ‘how

is’ bhoomaav, but we can say how it is not and what it is not.

This is the famous ‘neti, neti-this is not the truth’ path

according to scriptures. If we can obstruct anything that is

disputable in this visible universe, there will be nothing

undisputable to obstruct. Only if there are Unobstructable and

indisputable things, only then will there be some power in the

argument. If we point to each and every one of them asking ‘is

this brahmam’, then the answer from the vedas will be-‘it is not

this’ ‘not this’. But the vedas will never tell that ‘brahmam is not

this’. ‘this is not brahmam’ is the language of the vedas. A deva,

a man, a lady, an eunuch or an asura or a person devoid of

good characteristics, does not mean brahmam. But at the same

time all of them are part of brahmam. It existed even before the

universe was created-that is, it is limitless. All things created

have a result. Brahmam does not have any result. It does not

get exhausted nor does it get destroyed. It is spread all over the

universe. There is nothing that is not under its control in this

universe. The entire universe is wrapped by it. Ishavasya

Upanishad explains this ‘ishavasyamidam sarvam’ (mantram –

1). The above is the meaning. The all powerful form of devi

described in devi bhagavatham is this brahmam. Devi’s

compassion and influence has been described in this book.

रूपम न तेSवप बहुरूपिृदात्तशस्मिर्

नाट्यं तनोवि नटित् खलु विश्रं गे

ििाण वर् ते सरसनाट्यकलाविलीना

ििा अहो सहृदयााः क्षर्िियस्मन्त।।3।।

roopam na te'pi bahuroopabhri'daattashakti-

   rnaat'yam tanoshi nat'avatkhalu vishvarange .

varshaani te sarasanaat'yakalaavileenaa

   bhaktaa aho sahri'dayaa kshanavannayanti .. 1-3..

3. You do not have a form. But like an actor, and with the help

of a lot of powers, assuming several forms, in this universal

stage(jagath mandapam), you enact different characters. Your

ardent devotees enjoy and get involved in that blissful

enactment of yours. They spend their years in minutes. What a

wonder!

An actor, wears several costumes, and enacts several characters,

in different stages(theatres). Whatever costumes he wears and

whatever character he enacts, an actor will always be an actor. A

change in costumes or in the character does not affect the

actor. An actor sometimes acts as a thief or a murder. But he is

not treated as a criminal by the society. Nor does the sins of

having killed or thieved touch him. Still his fans watch his acting

and enjoy. Sometimes he is praised also. A formless brahmam,

takes up a form and enacts many divine plays. For that he wears

several costumes. The props that help him to enact the different

characters are the different shaktis. The svetashwara Upanishad

explains about these shaktis in the following mantra:

परास्य शक्तिर्विर्वधैव श्रूयिे(parāsya śaktirvividhaiva śrūyate)[sve.up.

chap 6 shloka 8]

अस्य परा शक्तिः - asya parā śaktiḥ - His power is far over all |

एव ववववधा च श्रूयते - eva vividhā ca śrūyate - under a thousand

names only men hear of it

His power is far over all, only men hear of it under a thousand names.

Yes, the shaktis are the props needed by the the supreme soul

for enacting the different roles. According to the props there

will be changes in the act and costumes. In this manner the

formless brahmam adorns various forms. This is called

avatarams. Whatever character the brahmam assumes there is

no change in the basic characteristics of brahmam. The acts of

the actor called brahmam, takes place in the collective stage of

the crores of universes. The fans who enjoy his acts, are his

devotees like the devas, man and asuras. The act is always full

of the 9 emotions(navarasa) [shringarahasyakaruna:

roudraveerabhayanaka:

bibhalsaatbhutashantachyE tyE tyE na varasasmrita:]

Nine emotions are Shringara (love/beauty), Hasya (laughter),

Karuna(sorrow), Raudra (anger), Veera (heroism/courage), Bhayanaka

(terror/fear), Bibhatsa (disgust), Adbutha (surprise/wonder), Shantha

(peace or tranquility).

Those fans-devotees- who enjoy these acts, are not aware of

the passage of time. 1000’s of years pass off in minutes.

रूपानुसारर खलु नाम ततो बुधैस्त्वं

दे िीवत दे ि इवत चावस वनगद्यमाना,

दे व्ां त्वयीयणस उमा कमलाथ िाग् िा

दे िे तु िण्मुख उमापवतर अच्युतो िा।।4।।

roopaanusaari khalu naama tato budhaistvam

   deveeti deva iti chaasi nigadyamaanaa .

devyaam tvayeeryasa umaa kamalaa'tha vaag vaa

   deve tu shanmukha umaapatirachyuto vaa .. 1-4..

4. prayers dedicated to you is according to the forms assumed

by you. Hence, wise people say that you are a devi or a deva.

When you assume the form of devi(goddess) you are known as

uma(Parvati), kamala (Lakshmi) or saraswati etc and also various

other names. When you assume the form of a deva(god) you

are known as shanmukhan, shiva, or Vishnu etc and also various

other names.

Just as brahmam does not have any forms, it does not have any

specific prayers dedicated to it. But when the need arises it

does take a form, as mentioned in the previous shloka. When a

particular form is accepted then a dedicated prayer is also

formed. Brahmam is neither a man nor woman nor an eunuch,

when it assumes a male form then it is called ‘deva’ and when it

assumes a female form it is called ‘devi’-it is very natural; devi

forms are many. According to the forms, prayers are dedicated

to Parvati, Lakshmi, saraswati etc and various other prayers. The

male form of brahmam is also many. According to the male

forms brahmam is also called subramanium, shiva, Vishnu etc.

whatever character brahmam assumes it is brahmam only.

त्वम् ब्रह्म शस्मिरवप धातृरमेशरुद्ै ाः

ब्रह्माण्ड सग्ण पररपालनसंह्रतीश्च

राज्ञीि कारयवस सु भ्रू वनजाज्ञयैि

ििेष्वनन्यशरर्ेिु कृपािती च II5II

tvam brahma shaktirapi dhaatri'ramesharudraih'

   brahmaand'asargaparipaalanasamhri'teeshcha .

raajnyeeva kaarayasi subhru nijaajnyayaiva

   bhakteshvananyasharaneshu kri'paavatee cha .. 1-5..

5. You are Brahma. You are shakti also. Oh beautiful one! (one

with a well shaped eyebrows)! Like a queen you direct brahma,

shiva and Vishnu to create, destroy and maintain, respectively,

this universe. Also, you support your devotees who cannot

depend on others for support.

It was mentioned earlier that brahmam has no form. This

formless brahmam is imagined by devotees of different

religions with various forms. For example, for the vaishnavaites

Vishnu is the brahmam; for the shaivites shiva is the brahmam;

for those who worship shakti it is the shakti-le this for different

people brahmam is different. Like this different religions

assume different gods and goddesses that they like as

brahmam, and pray to them. This is known as ‘saguno-

upasana’.

Devi bhagavatham is the religious book that glorifies the shakti

form of brahmam. This religious book, devi narayaneeyam, is a

follower of this devi bhagavatham. Hence, please understand in

this book, devi narayaneeyam, that, the words brahmam, &

shakti refers to the same shakti form of brahmam.

How brahmam became devi was already explained before. In

this shloka it is explained that brahmam and devi is one and the

same. Brahmam and are not 2 different things. Shakti is the

visible state of brahmam. The invisible state of shakti is

brahmam. The snake that is coiled up in the earth is brahmam;

the snake that comes to bite is shakti; both are same. The

difference is only in the state. It was mentioned in the 3rd shloka

about the different shakti’s. there it was mentioning about the

passive state of the powers. But, the powers mentioned in this

shloka is not about the passive powers, it is the representation.

In the 3rd shloka the powers were the props that help brahmam

to enact the roles. We must try to understand that in this shloka

it is not telling us about those powers.

When brahmam is in a state of visibility, then it became shakti.

This is the powerful form of devi. This supreme powerful actress

of the universe. One can imagine her as a queen, the officials

enforce this-this the tradition of ruling. As per the imagination

of the powerful form of devi, brahma creates this universe,

Vishnu protects it, and rudra destroys it. ‘Subhru’ means one

with a well shaped brow. The devi has no difficulty in getting

the work done by the trimurthis-she just needs to move her

eye-brows. This is the effect of devi. Devi is the one who shows

mercy on devotees. Very few people in this universe have both,

capabilities and compassion. The all powerful form of devi is a

pot full of capability and compassion. Examples of these will be

shown in this religious book.

माता करोवत तनयस्य कृते शुिावन

कमाण वर् तस्य पतने िृश्मेवत दु ाः खम्

िृद्धौ सुखं च ति कमण न, नावप दु ाः खं

 त्वं ह्येि कमणफलदा जगतां विधारी II6II

maataa karoti tanayasya kri'te shubhaani

    karmaani tasya patane bhri'shameti duh'kham .

vri'ddhau sukham cha tava karma na naapi duh'kham

    tvam hyeva karmaphaladaa jagataam vidhaatree .. 1-6..

6. oh mother! For the sake of the sons you do many good

deeds; you feel extreme sorrow when he experiences a downfall

in his life; at the same time you also feel extremly happy when

he experiences success in his life. You are devoid of any duties

and sadness; you are the only one who protects and directs this

universe, and distributes the rewards for the deeds done.

The all powerful form of devi creates, maintains and annihilates

the universe with the help of the trimurthis. In this sense we can

say that all living things are devi’s children-and devi is the

mother. What is the difference between the other mothers and

devi? I will tell. Other mothers for the benefit of their chidren’s

future do a lot of good deeds. When the children suffer the

mothers feel very sad, at the same time when the children

succeed they feel very happy. These mothers and children are

depended on their deeds, they are tied down by the result of

the deeds done by them in their previous birth. Hence they will

experience sadness and happiness. Devi in the form of mother

is not dependent on past deeds; in fact she is independent of

the deeds done. Devi is not tied down by the results of her

deeds. All living creatures experience the result of their past

deeds due to devi. Hence, those who crave for happiness

should perform good actions and pray to devi.

सिणर ििणवस दयामत एि िृष्ट्ट्या

वसिाः सुबीज इि िृस्मद्धमुपैवत ििाः

दु बीजिद् व्रजवत नाशमिि एि

त्वं वनर्णर्ा न वििमा न च लोकमाताः II7II

sarvatra varshasi dayaamata eva vri'sht'yaa

   siktah' subeeja iva vri'ddhimupaiti bhaktah' .

durbeejavadvrajati naashamabhakta eva

   tvam nirghri'naa na vishamaa na cha lokamaatah' .. 1-7..

7.You shower mercy everywhere. Just like how a good seed

sprouts when it rains, similarly, your devotees also experience

success because of your merciful showers; a non devotee gets

destroyed just as how a bad seed gets destroyed; definite. Oh

mother of the universe, you are not bereft of compassion, you

are also unbiased.

It was mentioned earlier that devi was compassionate. Then

why is it that some are not able to experience her blessings?

Why happiness and sadness are not experienced in the same by

everyone? Is devi biased? Or is it because she is not

compassionate? This shloka gives the answers to the above

questions.

When it rains, some seeds sprout whereas some seeds rot. Here

iit is very clear that the rain is unbiased. Good seeds grow when

they get rain. Bad seeds rot. The rain is common to both type of

seeds. It is the good and bad cells present in the seeds that

cause the growth and failure of sprouting of a seed. Devi is the

universal mother; all living things are her children. Devi’s

compassionate shower falls on everyone the same way. Those

living things who pray to devi and are always shielded by devi

experience her showers of blessings. Those who do not take her

shelter do not experience this.

It is not that devi is not compassionate, she is also unbiased. In

order to experience devi’s blessings one has to take the shelter

of devi, pray to devi. So, living things should be like the good

seed to grow with the blessings showered by devi. Wise

humans should realise this point and do good deeds. Should

take the shelter of devi with all soul.

सिोपरीश्रर वििावत सुधासमुद्-

स्तन्मध्यताः पररिृते विविधैाः सुदुगगाः

छरावयते वरजगतां ििती मर्द्वीपाख्ये

वशिे वनजपदे हसीताननाSSस्ते II8II

sarvopareeshvari vibhaati sudhaasamudra-

   stanmadhyatah' parivri'te vividhaih' sudurgaih' .

chhatraayite trijagataam bhavatee manidvee-

   paakhye shive nijapade hasitaananaa''ste .. 1-8..

8. oh! Eeshwari!, the ocean of nectar shines above everything.

Hey Parvathi! You sit in the middle of your residence, called

manidweepa, with a soft smile on your face, surrounded by

many beautiful forts, sheltering the 3 worlds like an umbrella.

It is mentioned in devi bhagavatham that devi’s place of

residence is manidweepam. The perfect place for vaishnavaites

is vaikunta, for shaivites it is kailasha, for devotees of radha-

krishna it is goloka. Similarly, for shakti devotees it is

manidweepa. This world is outside the universe. The

chintamanigriha is inside 18 strong and beautiful fortresses.

That is where devi is present. The world of manidweepam is

situated in the middle of the ocean of nectar.

To know more about the mani dweepam check chapter 39 of

this book. Devi is all powerful and is in a very auscipious form.

यस्ते पुमानविदधावत महत्त्वमुच्चैर्

यो नाम गायवत श्रृ र्ोवत च ते विलज्जाः

यश्चाSSतनोवत िृशमात्मवनिेदनं ते

स स्वान्यर्ावन विधु नोवत यथा तमोSकणाः II9II

yaste pumaanabhidadhaati mahattvamuchchai-

   ryo naama gaayati shri'noti cha te vilajjah' .

yashchaatanoti bhri'shamaatmanivedanam te

   sa svaanyaghaani vidhunoti yathaa tamo'rkah' .. 1-9..

9. Anybody who describes your greatness in a loud voice, who

without any sense of shyness hears and sings your name,

whoever offers himself totally before you, he(one who

observes devotion) will have his sins destroyed, like how the

sun removes the darkness.

It has been mentioned earlier that that devi is compassionate

and unbiased. This shloka explains the method to please devi

and hence destroy the sins committed by one. Repeatedly talk

about devi’s glories; hear devi’s prayers; praise devi’s prayers;

give oneself up in front of devi with devotion. Whoever

observes all the above things they will be able to destroy their

sins. When the sun rises darkness gets shifted on its own. In the

same way with the help of devotion to devi all the sins will get

destroyed.

Hearing, praising, remembering, service at the lords feet,

worshipping(archanam), salutation(vandanam),

service(daasyam), and offering oneself to a diety(aatmanivedan)

are the 9 different means of devotion that is given in bhagavath

gita. Amongst all the final path is surrendering oneself to the

almighty. It means surrendering in front of your favourite deity.

Then it becomes the duty of that favourite deity to protect that

devotee- in short the devotee is protected.

त्वां वनगुणर्ां च सगुर्ां च पुमान् विरिो

जानावत वकविदवप नो विियेिु सिाः

ज्ञेया िि त्ववमह मे िितापहस्मिम्

िस्मिं ददस्व िरदे पररपावह मां त्वम् II10II

tvaam nirgunaam cha sagunaam cha pumaan virakto

   jaanaati kinchidapi no vishayeshu saktah' .

nyeyaa bhava tvamiha me bhavataapahantreem

   bhaktim dadasva varade paripaahi maam tvam .. 1-10.

10.Those men who are detached from the pleasures of senses,

recognize you as one with and without qualities, whereas those

who are attached are not able to understand you at all. I wish to

understand you here and now. Oh Goddess! who destroys

sorrow of this world, grant me devotion to you and Oh

goddess! who grants boons, please protect me.

It was mentioned in the 5th shloka about the all-powerful form

of devi. Here, the sound form of devi that is visible in the

brahma, that is mentioned here. The quality-less(nirgunna) devi

has no form. The devi with a definite form is quality-

full(sagunna). The wise devotees who are detached from the

pleasures of the sense organs, see devi as both nirgunna and

sagunna. Whereas who are attached to the pleasures provided

by the sense organs do not know anything about devi. He

shows no interest in knowing about it. Even if somebody is

ready to explain, he shows no interest in listening to him. Only

people who have no attachments can understand devi.

The poet wishes that he know more about devi. Only devotees

can know about devi. So, the poet requests devi to convert him

into a devotee. Only if one prays to devi with devotion will they

be free from the sorrows of this world. The poet also knows

that devi is a granter of boons. That is why he is praying to devi.

The poet prays to devi to protect him from all situations.

The 1st chapter describes the glories of devi. Devi is none other

than the brahman mentioned in the vedantic scriptures. The

primary cause of devi, compassion, unbiasedness, her

headquarters, her habit of granting boons, have been described

here.

Thus ends the 1st chapter

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