On the appearing of the Dânava Tâmra before the Devî [ p. 389 ] 1-3. Vyâsa said :— The King Mahisâsura, maddened with pride, heard the messenger’s words and called the aged and experienced ministers and said thus :— O Ministers! What am I to do now? Better judge you all well, and speak out definitely to me. Is it that this Devî has been created by the Devas like the Mâyâ of Sambarâsura and thus has appeared before us? You are all dexterous and know where to apply the four means of success, viz., conciliation, gift or bribery, sowing dissensions, and war; and therefore you would better tell me which one of the above four, I am to adopt now.
4-7. The ministers said :— O King! One should always speak true and at the same time pleasant; the wise ones should then select only those which are beneficial and apply them. O King! As a medicine, though bitter, cures diseases, so true words, though appearing unpleasant, lead to beneficial results. Those that are simply pleasant, are generally injurious as to their effects. O Lord of the Earth! The bearers and approvers of truth both are very rare; truth speakers also are very difficult to be seen; laudatory sycophancy is found in a great measure in this world. O King! Nobody in the three worlds knows what will be good or what will lead to inauspicious results? How can we then definitely pronounce our judgment in this difficult matter?
8-9. The King said :— Let each of you say separately, according to his own intellect, what is his opinion; I will hear them all and consider [ p. 390 ] for myself. Clever persons should hear the opinions of several persons, then judge for himself what is the best and then adopt that as what is to be done.
10. Vyâsa said :— Hearing his words, the powerful Virûpâksa came out foremost of all and began to say pleasant words to the King.
11-16. O King! Please take for certain, what has been spoken by that ordinary woman, swelled with vanity, as words simply to scare you. The efforts and courage of a woman are known to all; who will be afraid therefore, to hear abusive language from a woman, praising her ownself in matters of warfare? O King! You have conquered the three worlds by your own heroic valour; now if you acknowledge your inferiority, out of fear to a woman, you would be subject to very much disgrace in this world. Therefore, O King! I will go alone to fight with Chandikâ and I will kill Her. You can stay here now without any fear. O King! See my prowess now; I am just now going with my army and I will kill that violent Chandikâ, maddened with pride, or I will tie Her down by a coil of snakes and bring Her before you; then that Lady, seeing Herself helpless, will become quite submissive to you; there is no doubt in this.
17-30. Vyâsa said :— Hearing these words of Virûpâksa, Durdhara said :— O King! Virûpâksa is very intelligent; what he has said just now is all reasonable and true. O King! You are intelligent; hear my words full of truth also. As far as I think, I consider that woman with beautiful teeth as passionate. For that woman of broad hips has expressed a desire to bring you under control by making you fearful; the mistresses, proud of their beauty generally use such words when they become passionate. When they behave in this way, people call these amorous gestures. These crooked words of mistresses are the chief causes in attracting dear persons unto them. Those who are skilled in the art of love affair, some of them can know these things thoroughly well. O King! That woman has said, “I will pierce and kill you by arrows, face to face, in the battlefield.” The sense of this is different. The wise persons that are clever and experienced in the art of finding out the cause, declare that the above sentence is pregnant with deep and esoteric meaning. You can easily see that the handsome women have no other arrows with them; their side-glances are their arrows. And their words carry their hidden meanings, and, expressing their desires, are their flowers. O King! Brahmâ, Visnu and Mahes’a even have no powers to shoot arrows at you; how can, then, that helpless woman, who appears so passionate, dart real arrows at you? O King! That lady said :— “O Stupid! I will kill your King by my arrow-like eye-sight.” But the messenger was wanting in that power to appreciate; so he, no doubt, understood her words in their [ p. 391 ] contrary sense. The saying of that lady, “I will lay your lord in the death-bed in the battle-field” is to be taken in the light of inverted sexual intercourse, where woman is above the man. Her utterance, “I will take away the vitality (life) of your lord” is also significant. The semen virile is known as the vitality (life). Therefore the above expression means that she will make you devoid of your virility. There can be no other meaning. O King! Those women that are excellent shew by too much of their covert expressions (innuendos) that they select and like very much their beloved. The experts only in these amorous affairs will be able to appreciate these things. Knowing thus, dealings ought to be made with Her so that the harmony in amorous sentiments be not broken. O King! Sâma (conciliation) and Dâna (gifts) are the two means to be adopted; there is no other way. By these two, that Lady, whether she be proud or angry, is sure to have brought under control; I will go now and bring Her before you by such sweet words. O King! What is the use of my talking too much? I will make Her submissive to you like a slave girl.
31-44. Vyâsa said :— Hearing those words of Durdhara, the Dânava Tâmra, who was very experienced in finding out the real nature, said :— “I am telling you what is sanctioned by virtue and is at the same time full of sweet amorous feelings, pregnant with deep meanings. Kindly hear; O Giver of honour! This intelligent woman is not at all passionate nor devoted to you; nor has that woman used any covert expressions to you. O Great Hero! This is strange indeed that a Lady, beautiful, handsome, and of strange features, at the same time alone and helpless, has come here to fight. A good-looking woman, powerful, and having eighteen hands is never heard of, nor ever seen by me in these three worlds. She is holding in each of Her hands powerful weapons. O king! All these seem to be the contrary actions of Time. O King! I saw ominous dreams during the night; and I conclude, therefore, that great dangers are over our heads. Early in the morning twilight, I saw in my dream that a woman, wearing a black raiment, was weeping in the inner courtyard; that some inauspicious events are forthcoming can be easily judged from the above. O King! The birds were screaming hoarsely in every house and various calamitous events were seen in various houses; at this time that woman, firmly resolved, was challenging you to fight; it, therefore seems to me that there is something very serious in this matter. O Lord! This woman is neither human, nor a Gandharvî, nor the wife of any Asura. Only to cause delusion to us, she, this wondrous Mâyâ has been created by the gods. O King! In no case, weakness is to be resorted; it is wise by all means to fight as best as possible; what is inevitable will come to pass; this is my opinion. No one is able to unriddle the doings [ p. 392 ] of the Devas, whether they would be auspicious or inauspicious. Therefore intelligent ones should weigh pros and cons carefully and remain patient and steady. O King! Life or death is at the hands of Destiny; Nobody, therefore, can do it otherwise.”
45-51. Hearing this, Mahisâsura said :— “O Highly fortunate Tâmra! Better, then, stand for fight, fully resolved and go to that Lady, beautiful, and conquer Her according to rules of justice and bring Her before me. In case She does not come under your control in fight, kill Her; but if She comes round, then show Her honour; do not kill Her. O All-knowing! You are a great hero and at the same thoroughly conversant with Kâma S’âstra (science of love); therefore conquer that Fair One by any means you can. O valiant Tâmra, of mighty prowess! Go then with a mighty force and ponder over again and again and find out Her intention. Is She prompted by passion or by real inimical feeling or by any other motive? Try to find out whose Mâyâ is this? Know all these beforehand; then find out the remedy; next fight with Her according to your strength and prowess. Weakness should not be shown nor merciless behaviour is to be resorted; you should behave with Her according to the bent of Her mind.”
52. Vyâsa said :— O king! Thus hearing the King’s words, Tâmra coming as if under the sway of Death, saluted the king Mahisa and marched away with his army.
53-66. That wicked Dânava, who, on his way, began to see all the fearful inauspicious signs, indicative of Death, became surprised and was caught with fear. When he arrived at the spot, he saw the Devî standing on a lion, while She was decorated with all the weapons and instruments, and all the Devas were chanting hymns to Her. Tâmra, then bowed down before Her with humility and modesty and addressed Her with sweet words, according to the rules of the policy of conciliation. “O Devî! Mahisa, the lord of the Daityas, has become enchanted on hearing Your beauty and qualifications and has become desirous to marry You. O Beautiful One! You would better be graciously pleased with that conqueror of the Immortals, the Mahisâsura; O Thou of delicate limbs! Make him your husband and enjoy all the exquisite pleasures of the Nandana garden as best as you can. The end and aim of attaining this human form, beautiful in every respect and the abode of all bliss, is to enjoy, in every way, all the pleasures of human existence and to avoid the sources of all troubles. This is the rule.
“O Thou of beautiful thighs like those of the young of an elephant! Your soft and delicate lotus-like hands are fit to play only with nice balls of [ p. 393 ] flowers; why then are You holding in Your hands all the weapons and arrows? What is the use of holding ordinary arrows, when those two eye-brows like bows, are existing with You? What need have you to take ordinary arrows when you are graced with those piercing eye sights, your arrows. The war is exceedingly painful in this world; those who know thus ought never to fight. It is only those human beings that are prompted by greed that fight with each other. What to speak of those sharpened arrows, one ought not to fight with flowers even; O Devî! You can well say who is it that feels pleasure, when one’s own body is pierced? Therefore, O Delicate One! Gladly you can worship Mahisa, the lord of the world and the object of worship of the Devas and Dânavas. Then he will satisfy all your desires. What more to say, you will no doubt be his queen-consort. O Devî! If one tries one’s best, it is doubtful whether one would be crowned with success; therefore keep my this request; you will surely get all the best pleasures. O Beautiful! You are well acquainted with all the politics; therefore you better enjoy thoroughly the pleasures of the kingdom for full many years. And if you marry Mahisa you will have beautiful sons and those sons again will be kings; and enjoying the pleasures of your full grown womanhood, you will no doubt, be happy in your old age.”
Here ends the Eleventh Chapter of the Fifth Book on the appearing of the Dânava Tâmra before the Devî in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the holding of counsel by Mahisâsura [ p. 393 ] 1. Vyâsa said :— The World-Mother, hearing Tâmra’s words, spoke laughing a little and with a deep voice like that of a rumbling thunder cloud.
2-13. The Devî spoke :— “O Tâmra! Go and say to your Lord Mahisa who, it seems, is stupid, whose end is nigh, who has become very passionate, and who is void of knowledge what is proper and what is improper. I am not like your grown up mother, the she-buffalo, having horns, eating grass, with a long tail and a big-belly. I do not like to have Visnu, the god S’ankara, Brahmâ, Kuvera, Varuna, or Fire. How then can I select a beast? If I do so, I will be an object of much censure amongst the several worlds. I am not desirous of any more husband; my Husband is existing; though He is the Lord of all, Witness of All, yet He is not the Actor; He is without any desires and He is calm [ p. 394 ] and tranquil. He, the S’iva, is devoid of any Prakritic qualities, without any attachment, the Great Infinite, without anyone to rely on, without any refuge, omniscient, omnipresent, the Great Witness, the Full, and the seat of the Full, the Auspicious. He is the abode of all, capable to do all, the peaceful, capable to create everything and He is seeing everywhere. How can I then leave Him and try to serve the dull, stupid Mahisa? Let him come and fight with this understanding that he will be defeated and be made the conveyance of Yama, the God of Death or the carrier of water of the human beings. And if that impious heretic desire to live, let him fly at once to Pâtâla with all his demon comrades; else I will slay him in battle. See! The combination of similar substances leads to happiness; and if out of ignorance, the connection takes place between things entirely different in their natures, it becomes at once the source of all pains and troubles. You are a thorough illiterate when you ask me to worship your lord; do you not see me endowed with exquisite beauty? and what is your Mahisa? A buffalo with horns; how can then creation become possible between us? Better fly away or fight if you like; I will kill you and your friends, and if you leave the region of Heavens and the share of Yajñâ, then you will become happy.”
14-30. Vyâsa said :— O King! Thus saying, the Devî howled and roared so loudly that it appeared strange and it caused a great terror to the Dânavas who took it as the great dissolution of the universe at the end of a Kalpa. The earth and the mountains trembled; the wives of the Dânavas, had miscarriages at that terrific noise. Tâmra hearing that sound was terrified; his mind became unsteady and he at once fled to Mahisa. O King! The Dânavas present in the city became deaf; thy fled and became very anxious and were absorbed in the thought whence and how that sound came. The lion, too, enraged and, raising up its manes, roared so loud that the Daityas became very much terrified. Mahisa, too, became confounded to see Tâmra returning; he then held a council with his ministers what ought to be done next? Mahisâsura said :— “O best of the Dânavas! Shall we now take our shelter within the forts? Or shall we go out and fight? Or will it be favourable to us if we fly away? You all are intelligent and versed in all the S’âstras and unconquerable by your foes; therefore ought you all to consult over the the matter in utmost privacy for our success at the present moment. The root of Kingdom lies in the council in the secret place (cabinet) and Statesmanship; if this counsel be kept well preserved in secrecy, then that Kingdom is also kept entire; therefore it is highly incumbent that the plan be kept in strictest confidence amongst the good and virtuous ministers. If the plan be out, then destruction comes both to the King and his Kingdom; hence the plan must be kept secret [ p. 395 ] by those wanting glory, lest it be taken advantage of and rendered ineffective by other persons. O Ministers! Now declare, taking due consideration of time and place, after duly discussing and ascertaining what is the best course to adopt, what would be beneficial and full of reason and intelligence. First find out the cause why this powerful woman, created by the Devas has come here alone and helpless? That woman is challenging us to fight. What more wonder can there be than this? Who can say in the three worlds what the result will be, whether it will be good or otherwise? Victory comes not to many persons nor defeat comes to a single individual; therefore victory or defeat lies at the hands of the Luck and Destiny. Those who plead for place, policy, statesmanship, they say what is Fate? Is there anyone who has seen Fate? (Adrista) No one has seen His appearance. It may be argued that there may exist such a thing as Fate; to which it might be replied, what proofs are there for such an existence? Thus the weak persons alone hold it out as their only hope; nowhere are seen energetic persons who can fulfil their ends by their own efforts, by those who enrol themselves under Fate. Therefore “effort,” “energy” are the words of the heroes and “Fate” is the word of the cowards. You should all consider today these subjects fully and intelligently and then decide what are we to do?”
31-39. Vyâsa said :— Thus hearing the King, the famous Vidâlâksa with folded hands spoke thus :— O King! First it should be definitely ascertained whose wife is she, this woman possessing large eyes? Whence and for what purpose has she come here; next what ought to be done should be decided. It seems to me that the Devas, knowing that your death will ensue from the hands of a woman, have created very carefully this lotus-eyed woman out of their own essences. And they are lying in wait, unknown to anybody in the celestial space with a desire to see the battle but really to fight with you. In due time, they will undoubtedly help this woman. When the war will ensue, Visnu and the other Devas will put this woman in front and slay us all. Whereas this Devî will slay you. This is their earnest desire. O King! I have come to know this beforehand; but what will be the actual result I cannot say. I cannot say also whether it is advisable for You to fight now; therefore it would be better if you consider yourself well on this matter of the gods and do accordingly. Our duty, the duty of your servants lies in this :— That we should sacrifice at any moment our lives for the preservation of your prestige and to enjoy with you whenever you are enjoying. But, O King! It is extremely advisable to ponder over this very carefully when we see that this woman, though alone, is challenging us to fight who are armed with powerful soldiers. [ p. 396 ] 40-44. Durmukha said :— O King! I know for certain, that we will not get victory in this battle; still we ought not to show our backs; for that would lead us to sheer disgrace. Even in our encounter with Indra and other Devas, we did nothing hateful and blameable; then how can any of us fly away when we come face to face with a helpless woman? Therefore fight we must; that is certain; let whatever happen. What is inevitable, must come to pass. Thus considered, what need we care for the result? If we die in the battle, we will get name and fame; if we be victorious, we will get happiness. Thus thinking both the cases, we must fight today. Death is inevitable when our longevity expires; our prestige will suffer if we fly away; therefore we ought not to spend uselessly our time in thus expressing our vain regret for life or for death.
45-51. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing thus the Durmukha’s words, Vâskala, the eloquent speaker, thus spoke to the king, with clasped hands and his head bowed down. O King! You need not think thus in agony with this unpleasant affair; alone I will kill that Chandikâ, of unsteady eyes. O Best of kings! To be always prompt and energetic indicates that one is steady in one’s heroic valour; to consider one’s enemy as dreadful is contrary to above; so we ought now to take recourse to heroic valour. O King! Therefore I will discard fear altogether and fight out valiantly; I will no doubt, send Chandikâ in the battlefield to the abode of Death. I fear not Yama, nor Indra, nor Kuvera, nor Vayu nor Agni, nor Visnu, nor S’ankara, nor Moon nor Sun; I do not fear any of them; what fear can I, then, entertain of that vain arrogant woman, who has got none to support her. I will kill Her with these arrows, sharpened on stones. You can see today the prowess of my arms and enjoy peace; you will not have to go to battle anymore to fight with Her.
52-65. Vyâsa said :— O King! Vâskala having said thus to the lord Mahisa in a haughty spirit, Durdhara bowed down and said thus :— O Lord of the earth! Let the purpose be whatsoever, with which the beautiful Devî with eighteen hands, the creation of the gods, may come hither, I will vanquish Her. O King! I think, it is simply to terrify you, as the Suras have thus created this Mâyâ woman; therefore, do you forsake your delusion by knowing this merely as a scare. O King! Such is the statesmanship; now hear about the workings of the ministers. Ministers in this world are of three kinds :— (1) Sâttvik; (2) Râjasik and (3) Tâmasik. Those ministers in whom the Sattva quality is predominant, they perform their Master’s duties according to their own strength. The Sâttvik Mantris (ministers) are well versed in their Mantra S’âstras (the policies and statesmanship), virtuous and one-pointed in their thoughts, they never do any injury to their king and they fulfil [ p. 397 ] their own purposes. The Râjasik Mantris are of different sorts; they are always after their own interests; at times, whenever they like, they do the State duties. The Tâmasik Mantris always look of their own interests out of their greedy nature; they serve their ends even by ruining the regal interests. It is the Tâmasik Mantris that are influenced by the bribes from the enemies, become separated at their hearts from their own masters and give out the secrets to the enemies, while staying in their homes. They always advise alienation policy like the sword ensheathed in a scabbard; and when the time of war comes, they always frighten their masters. Therefore, O King! Never put your trust on ministers; if you do so, they will always hinder you in your actions and counsels; what harm cannot be done by those ministers that are treacherous, greedy, deceitful and void of any intelligence and always addicted to vicious acts, when they are trusted! Therefore, O King! I will go myself to the battle and serve your purpose; you need not be at all anxious in this matter. I will soon bring before you that vicious woman; I will do your actions by my own strength and powers. Let you be calm; and look at my strength, fortitude and valour.
Here ends the Twelfth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the holding of counsel by Mahisâsura in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam the Mahâ Purânam, of 18,000 Slokas by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the killing of Vâskala and Durmukha [ p. 397 ] 1-6. Vyâsa said :— O King! The two powerful Dânavas Vâskala and Durmukha, well-versed in arts of warfare, went out for battle, maddened with their prowess. The two Dânavas, elated with vanity, went to the battle-field and began to address the Devî in voice deep as the rumbling of a cloud. O Beautiful Devî! You better choose and worship the Lord of the Daityas, that high-souled Mahisâsura who has conquered all the Devas. He will come before you in privacy in a human shape, with all auspicious signs and adorned with beautiful ornaments. O Sweet smiling One! better place your highest feelings of love on the lovely Mahisa as your husband, and you will get all the pleasures of the three worlds as you desire. O Sweet speaking! In short, if you select him as your husband, you will be the mistress of those incomparable worldly happinesses that women always aspire.
7-13. Hearing thus the words of Vâskala and Durmukha, the Devî said :— “O Stupid! Do you think Me as deluded by passion? Do I not possess strength and intelligence that I will worship that hypocrite Mahisa [ p. 398 ] as husband? See! The ladies of a high family select those persons that are equal in rank as far as family and distinctions, qualifications and propriety of conduct are concerned or those who are superior in beauty, cleverness, intelligence and other qualifications. Then how can a Devî, becoming passionate, worship the worst of all beasts, the beast Mahisa? O two Asuras! Go you immediately to your King Mahisa resembling in his body like an elephant and having a pair of horns and tell him, Go either to Pâtâla (the nether regions) or come and fight with Me; the Lord of the Devas will no doubt be happy if the war ensues. O Stupid! My advent here cannot go in vain; I will easily slay you and then depart; knowing this do as you like. O Beast! Without conquering Me, you would get no shelter either in the heavens, or in this earth, or in the caves of mountains?”
14-25. Vyâsa said :— Hearing thus, the two powerful Daityas, with eyes reddened with anger, firmly resolved to fight and took bows and arrows in their hands. O Descent of Kuru! The Devî then made a terrible noise and fearlessly stood there. The two Dânavas then began to shoot dreadful arrows at Her. For the victory of the Devas, the Devî also begin to hurl arrows after arrows on the two Dânavas, emitting a sweet sound. Vâskala first came forward with no delay; and Durmukha stood aloof there simply as a witness. The terrible fight then ensued between the Devî and Vâskala; arrows, swords and weapons were seen shining in the air and raised terror to those that were dull in intellect. Then the Mother of the Universe seeing Vâskala growing turbulent shot at him five arrows sharpened on stone. The Dânava, too, cut off the arrows of the Devî and hurled seven arrows at Her, seated on a lion. The Devî cut off the Dânava’s arrows and shot at that hypocrite, sharpened arrows and began to laugh frequently. She again cut off his arrows with Ardhachandra arrow; Vâskala then pursued the Devî with a club in his hands to slay Her. Seeing the arrogant Dânava with club in his hands, Chandikâ Devî struck him down on the ground with Her own club. The very powerful Vâskala fell down on the ground but rose up within a very short time and hurled again on the Devî his club. Seeing him again attacking Her, the Devî got angry and pierced him with Her trident; Vâskala fell down, thus pierced, and died.
26-38. Vâskala falling thus dead on the field, the soldiers of the wicked demon routed; whereas the Devas became glad and repeatedly shouted aloud, “Victory to the Devî.” On this Daitya being slain, Durmukha came forward on the battle-field, filled with anger and accompanied by a stronger army. Mounted on a chariot, shielded all over his [ p. 399 ] body with a coat of armour, Durmukha came before the Devî, shouting all along, “Wait, wait, O You weak woman!” and with bows and arrows in his hands. The Devî blew Her conchshell and made sounds by stretching Her bow in order to make the Dânava infuriated with anger. The Asura then began to shoot sharp arrows after arrows like poisonous snakes. The Mahâmâyâ, by Her own arrows, cut off those of Her enemy and began to shout loudly. The fight then raged furiously, when both parties began to use arrows, S’aktis, clubs, Musalas, and Tomaras. Blood began to flow in the battle-field in torrents like rivers and on the banks of that river of blood, were seen the severed heads of the dead bodies which looked like so many hollow shells of gourds, as if kept there by the attendant of the god of Death, for their swimming purposes. The battle-field, then, became very dreadful and impassable; at some places dead bodies are lying; wolves are feeding on their flesh; at other places are seen jackals, dogs, herons, crows, vultures, eagles, and other voracious birds and beasts and iron-tipped arrows, eating the dead bodies of those wicked demons. Air began to emit an offensive smell, because of its contact with these corpses; and there were heard the heart-rending sounds of various carnivorous birds and animals. Then the wicked Durmukha began, as if inspired by the god of Death, to address the Devî angrily and arrogantly with his right hand raised up before Her. “Your brain has become perverted; fly away just now or I will send you unto death, or you better accept the proud Mahisa, the lord of the Daityas, as your husband.”
39-50. The Devî said :— “O Villain! I see your death at hand this very day; therefore you are deluded and therefore raving like a mad man. I will kill you today like Vâskala. O Stupid! Better fly away; or if you prefer death, then wait; I will slay you first; then the dull Mahisa, the son of a she-buffalo.” Hearing thus, Durmukha, as if prompted by Death, hurled dreadful arrows on the Devî. Instantly the Devî, too, cut off all his arrows and, infuriated with anger, pierced the Dânava by sharpened arrows as Indra had pierced Vritrâsura before. The fight then turned out very dreadful. O King! Weak persons become very afraid and strong ones become very excited. Instantly the Devî cut off the Asura’s bow and broke his chariot by five arrows. On seeing his chariot broken, the powerful Durmukha attacked on foot the Devî with his club, very hard to overcome. He knocked at the head of the lion with that club with great force; but the powerful lion did not become unsteady, though so very hard hit. Seeing the demon thus standing before Her, the goddess Ambikâ cut down his head by her sharpened axe. On his head being thus severed, Durmukha fell down dead on the field. The band of Immortals, then, loudly shouted, “Victory to the Devî.” When Durmukha was slain, the [ p. 400 ] Immortals from the celestial space began to chant praises and hymns to the Devî, showered down flowers on Her head and gave shouts of “Victory to the Devî.” The Risis, Siddhas, Gandarbhas, Vidyâdharas, and Kinnaras all became very glad to see the Demon dead on the field.
Here ends the Thirteenth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the killing of Vâskala and Durmukha in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâpurânam, of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the killing of Tâmra and Chiksura [ p. 400 ] 1-4. Vyâsâ said :— Hearing the death news of Durmukha, Mahisâsura became blind with anger and began to utter repeatedly to the Dânavas, “O! What is this? What is this? Alas! That delicate woman has slain in battle the two heroes Durmukha and Vâskala! Lo! Now look at the wonderful workings of the Daiva (Fate). It is the acts virtuous, or otherwise that make men dependent; and the powerful Time awards pleasure or pain accordingly. The two powerful Demons are killed; what are we to do hereafter? You all judge and say what is reasonable at this critical juncture.”
5-23. Vyâsa said :— When the powerful Mahisa said thus, his general Chiksura, the great warrior spoke as follows :— “O King! Why are you so anxious as to take away the life of a delicate woman? I will kill Her;” thus saying he departed for battle, mounted on his chariot and accompanied by his own army. The powerful Tâmra accompanied him as his attendant; the sky and all the quarters became filled with the clamour of their vast army. The auspicious Devî Bhagavatî saw them before Her and She made an extraordinary wonderful sound with Her conchshell, with Her bow string and with Her great bell. The Asuras heard that and trembled and fled, speaking amongst each other, “What is this?” The Chiksurâksa seeing them turning their backs, told them very angrily, “O Dânavas! What fear has now overcome you? I will slay today this vain woman in the battle with arrows; so you should quit your fear and remain steady in battle.” Thus saying, the Dânava Chieftain Chiksura came fearlessly before the Devî with bows and arrows in his hands and, accompanied by his army, angrily spoke thus :— “O Thou of large and broad eyes! Why are you roaring to terrify the weak persons! O the Soft limbed One! I have heard all about your deeds but I am not a bit afraid of You. O One of beautiful eyes! It is a matter of disgrace, rather sin, to kill a woman; knowing this my heart wants to pass over this act (does not like to do it, if my purpose be served without it).
[ p. 401 ]
O Beautiful One! The women fight with their side glances and amorous gestures; but I have never heard a woman like you coming to fight with arms and weapons. Even the delicate flowers, Mâlati, etc., cause pain on the bodies of beautiful women like you; so it is not advisable to fight against you with flowers even; what to speak of sharpened arrows! Fie on those who spend their lives according to the Ksatriya Dharma! Oh! Who can praise that Dharma which allows this dear body of ours to be pierced by sharpened arrows? This dear body is nourished by sweet food, by being smeared with oil, and by smelling the scents of beautiful flowers. Ought, then, one to destroy it by arrows from an enemy? Men get their bodies pierced by arrows and then become rich. Now is it possible for the riches to give pleasure afterwards when they caused such pains in the beginning? Even if this be so, fie on those riches! O Beautiful One! It seems you are not intelligent; why have you desired to fight instead of to enjoy sexual pleasures. O beautiful! What merits have you found in the battle that you have chosen this. Where you see the action of the axes and spears, striking each other with clubs, and hurling of sharpened arrows and weapons and where, when death comes, jackals come and feed upon the dead bodies, what merits have you been able to trace out in these things! It is only those cunning poets that praise these; they say that those who die in battle go to heaven! O Beautiful! Those sayings are, no doubt, mere flatteries. Therefore, O Excellent One! Go away anywhere else you like; or accept this king Mahisa, the tormentor of the Devas, as your husband.”
24-30. Vyâsa said :— O King! The Dânava Chiksura speaking thus, the Divine Mother addressed him thus :— O Stupid! Why are you speaking false words, having no significance, like a literary man giving out mere words only? You do not know anything of politics, ethics, metaphysics; you serve the illiterate and stupid; therefore, you are also a first class illiterate; you do not know what are the royal duties; then what are you speaking before me? I will kill that Mahisâsura in battle make the soil muddy with his blood, thus establish firmly My pillar of Fame and then go happily to My abode. Surely will I slay that vain vicious demon, the tormentor of the Devas. Better fight steadily. O Stupid! Better go to Pâtâla with all the Dânavas, if you and Mahisa desire to live any longer. And if you like to go unto death, then be ready and fight without any delay; I will slay you all; this is My firm resolve.
31-39. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing the Devî’s words, the Dânava, proud of his own strength, began to hurl instantly on Her showers of arrows, as if another shower of rain burst upon Her. The Devî cut off those arrows [ p. 402 ] into pieces by Her sharp arrows and shot at him dreadful arrows like poisonous snakes. Then their fight became astounding to the public; the Divine Mother, then, struck him with Her club so much that he fell down from his chariot. That vicious demon, thus struck by the club, remained senseless near to his chariot for two muhûrtas, fixed like a mountain. Tâmra, the tormentor of the foes, seeing him thus, could not remain steady and came forward to fight with Chandikâ. The Devî seeing him laughed and said, “O Dânava! Come, Come, I will instantly send you unto death. Or, what is the use of your coming? You are so weak that you can be called lifeless. What is that stupid Mahisa doing now? Is he thinking out the way to save his life? You all are too weak; no use in killing you, all my labours will go in vain, if that wicked Mahisa, the enemy of the gods, be not slain. Therefore, do you go to your home and send here your king Mahisa. I am staying here in that form in which that wicked one likes very much to see Me.”
40-56. Hearing Her words, Tâmra became very angry and drawing his bow up to his ear, began to hurl arrows after arrows on Chandikâ Devî. The Bhagavatî, too, had her eyes reddened with anger and drawing Her bow began to shoot arrows quickly at the demon, wishing to kill, as early as possible, the enemy of the gods. In the meanwhile, Chiksura regained his senses, and taking up again his bow in an instant, came before the Devî. Then Chiksura and Tâmra, the two valiant warriors, began to fight dreadfully with the Devî. Mahâ Mâyâ then, became very angry and began to hurl arrows after arrows so incessantly that all the armours of all the Dânavas became pierced and were cut down to pieces. The Asuras, thus pierced by arrows, became infuriated with anger and hurled angrily a network of arrows upon the Devî. The Dânavas, thus struck with sharp arrows and filled with cuts and wounds looked like the red Kims’uka flowers in the spring. The fight then grew so severe between Tâmra and Bhagavatî that the seers, the Devas, were all struck with wonder. Tâmra struck on the head of the lion with his dreadful hard Musala (club), made of iron, and laughed and shouted aloud. Seeing him thus vociferating, the Devî became angry and cut off his head by her sharp axes in no time. The head being thus severed from the body, Tâmra, though headless, for a moment turned round his Musala and then fell down on the ground. The powerful Chiksura, seeing Tâmra thus falling down, instantly took up his axe and ran after Chandikâ. Seeing Chiksura with axe in his hand, the Bhagavatî quickly shot at him five arrows. With one arrow, his axe was cut down, with the second arrow his hands were cut and with the remaining ones his head was severed from his body. Thus when the two cruel warriors were slain, their soldiers soon fled [ p. 403 ] away in terror in all directions. The Devas were exceedingly glad at their downfall and showered gladly flowers from the sky and uttered shouts of Victory to the Devî. The Risis, Gandarbhas, the Vetâlas, the Siddhas and Châranas were all very glad and began to utter repeated, “O Goddess! Victory, victory be Yours.”
Here ends the Fourteenth Chapter of the Fifth Skandha on the killing of Tâmra and Chiksura in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam, of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the slaying of Vidâlâksa and Asilomâ [ p. 403 ] 1-3. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing the two Demons slain by the Devî, Mahisâsura became very much amazed and sent the powerful Asilomâ and Vidâlâksa and the other Dânavas to the battle to kill the Devî. The Dânavas, all very skilled in the art of warfare, marched on for battle, fully equipped with weapons and clad in armour, and we attended by a vast army. They arrived there and saw the Divine Mother with eighteen hands taking Her stand on a lion, with axes and shield in Her hands.
4-5. The calm-tempered Asilomâ appeared before the Devî ready to kill the Daityas, saluted Her and smilingly said :— O Devî! Why have You come here? and what for You are killing these faultless Daityas? O Beautiful One! Tell all these to me truly. We will make treaty with you.
6-17. Take gold, jewels, pearls and any other excellent things the you like and retire from the field as early as passible. Why do you like this warfare tending to increase misery; the wise persons say that it leads to the destruction of all happiness. Your body is very delicate; it cannot bear the stroke of flowers even; then why are you suffering the stroke of weapons on your bodies; I am very much puzzled to think these things. See! The cleverness is judged when peace is the result thereof; for it leads always to happiness. Then why are you liking to fight which will lead only to pain and suffering. Happiness is only to be had and pain is to be avoided; this is the rule. O Devî! That happiness is again of two kinds :— Permanent and transitory. The pleasure that comes out of the knowledge of Atmajñân is permanent and that which is derived from enjoyments is transitory; these who know truly the Veda S’âstra, they avoid this transitory pleasure of enjoyments. If you follow the opinion of the Mimâmsakas and do not believe in the [ p. 404 ] existence of future births, even then you ought not to fight; when you have got this youthful age, you ought to enjoy the excellent pleasures in this world. O One of lean stomach! And if you doubt in the existence of the other worlds after death, even then you ought to desert from fighting and perform, in this life, such actions as will lead you to the attainment of Heavens. This fully developed womanhood is transient; knowing this do virtuous actions always; the wise ones always avoid tormenting others; thus one ought to perform things not contradictory to Dharma, Artha and Kama. Therefore, O Auspicious One! Do You also things virtuous always. O Mother! Why are you killing these Daityas without any cause? There is, again, the feeling of mercy; the lives again of all are dependent on Truth. Therefore the sages always preserve piety, mercy and Truth. O Beautiful One! Then what is the use in Your killing these Demons? Please say explicitly on this point.
18-27. The Devî said :— O Powerful one! Hear why I have come here and why I am killing the Daityas? I answer your question on the above points. O Demon! I, though merely a spectator, always go about all over the worlds, seeing the justices and injustices done by the several souls there. Never I possess any desire of enjoyment, nor have I greed for anything, nor have I enmity with any creature. Only to preserve the virtue and religion and to keep up the righteous, I roam over the worlds. This is My vow and I always adhere to it. To preserve the good and to put down the evil doers is My duty. Many Avataras are to take their incarnations, cycles after cycles, to preserve the Vedas; therefore I incarnate Myself in yugas after yugas. Now the wicked Mahisa is ready to destroy the Devas; seeing this, I have come here to kill him. I tell you verily that I will slay that vicious powerful Mahisâsura, the enemy of the gods. Knowing this, you remain or depart, as you desire. Or you can go to Mahisa, that impious son of a she-buffalo, and say what is the use in sending other Asuras to the battle; he can come himself and fight. If your king likes to make a treaty, then let him avoid his enmity with the Devas and go down to the Pâtâla. Let him return to the Devas whatever he has taken perforce from them and go to the Pâtâla, where Prahlâda is residing.
28-29. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing thus the Devî’s words, Asilomâ asked gladly, before the Devî, the powerful Asura Vidâlâksa :— Well, Vidâlâksa! You have heard just now all what the Devî has said; now are we to observe treaty or declare war. What are we to do under the circumstances?
30-34. Vidâlâksa said :— Our king knows full well that his death will certainly take place in the battle; knowing this, he is not willing [ p. 405 ] to make peace, out of his egoism and vanity. He is seeing before him daily the deaths of the Dânavas and still he has sent us to battle. Who can overcome the destiny? The duty of a servant is a very difficult one; he will have to be always submissive and obedient, without caring the least for his own self-respect; just as the dancing dolls are completely under the hands of the actors and their movements vary according to the pulling of the wires employed in making them dance. How can we then go to our master and say such hard words as he would give away to the Devas all the gems and jewels and go down to Pâtâla with other Dânavas. One considers it one’s duty to speak pleasant words though untrue; true words cannot be beneficial; true and at the same time beneficial words are very rare in this world; at such critical cases, one ought to remain silent. Especially heroes ought never to excite their kings by useless words; this is the essence of politics. We should never go and advise our king with eagerness what is best or to ask advice from him about such things; the king would then certainly be very angry. Therefore we ought to do our duties to the king, even if our lives be at stake. To consider our lives as nothing and to fight for our king are what is best for us.
35-57. Vyâsa said :— O King! Thus thinking, the two heroes then wore their coats of armour, mounted on their chariots and, with bows and arrows in their hands, became ready for fight. First Vidâlâksa shot seven arrows; the great warrior Asilomâ stood aloof at a distance as a mere witness. The Divine Mother cut off those arrows to pieces with Her arrows, no sooner they reached Her, and then shot at Vidâlâksa three arrows sharpened on stone. The demon Vidâlâksa fell senselss by these arrows on the battle-field and after a short while died, as if ordained by Fate. Seeing Vidâlâksa thus dead, Asilomâ took up his bows and arrows and came up, for fight. The hero, then, raising his left hand, said briefly, thus :— “O Devî! I know that death is inevitable to the Dânavas; still I am ready to fight; for I am dependent and Mahisa is of very dull intellect; he cannot make any distinction between what is really good and what is merely pleasant. I will never speak before him unpleasant words, though beneficial. Rather I will sacrifice my life in the battle-field than advise him anything, be that auspicious or inauspicious. The Dânavas are being killed no sooner they are shot at by your arrows; seeing this I consider Fate superior to all. Prowess does not lead to any success; Fie on one’s prowess! Thus saying, the Demon began to shower arrows after arrows on the Devî; the Devî, too, cut them to pieces with Her own arrows before they came to Her; and, becoming angry, soon pierced him with arrows. The Devas witnessed this sight from above. The body of the [ p. 406 ] Demon was then covered with cuts and wounds; blood began to flow from them; the Demon consequently began to shine like the jovial Kimsuka tree. Asilomâ then lifted aloft his heavy iron club and ran after Chandikâ and hurt the lion on his head with anger. Not caring at all this severe stroke of the club inflicted by that powerful Demon, the lion tore asunder his arms with his claws. Then that dreadful Demon leapt with club in his hand and got up the shoulder of the lion and hit the Devî very hard. O King! The Devî, then, baffled the hit and cut off the Demon’s head with Her sharp axe. The head being thus severed, the Demon was thrown on the ground with great force; seeing this, a general cry of distress arose among his soldiers. The Devas shouted aloud “Victory to the Devî” and chanted hymns to Her. The drums of the Devas resounded and the Gandarbhas began to dance in great joy. Seeing the two Demons thus lying dead on the battlefield, the lion killed some of the remaining forces by his sheer strength and ate up others, and made the battlefield void of any persons. Some fled away in great distress to Mahisâsura. The fugitives began to cry aloud, “Save us, save us” and said, “O King! Asilomâ and Vidâlâksa are both slain; and those soldiers that remained were eaten up by the lion.” Thus they told and plunged the King in an ocean of dire distress. Hearing their words, Mahisa became absent minded through pain and grief and began to think over the matter with great anxiety.
Here ends the Fifteenth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the slaying of Vidâlâksa and Asilomâ in S’rîmad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam, of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the conversation between the Devî and Mahisâsura [ p. 406 ] 1-7. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing those words, the King Mahisa in anger addressed the charioteer Darûka :— “Bring over my chariot quickly. That chariot is drawn by one thousand excellent horses, is bedecked with banners, flags, and ensigns, is furnished with various arms and weapons, and is endowed with good wheels of a white colour, and beautiful poles in which the yoke is fixed.” The charioteer brought the chariot instantly and duly informed the king, “O King! I have got the chariot ready at your door, your beautiful chariot, bedecked with beautiful carpets and various arms and weapons.” Hearing that the chariot had been brought, Mahisa thought, the Devî might not care him, seeing him ugly faced with a pair of horns and therefore decided to assume a human shape and then go to the battle. The beauty and cleverness are the delights [ p. 407 ] of women; therefore I will go before Her, with a beautiful body and with all the cleverness and dexterities. For I will never be delighted with anything but that woman looking at me with fondness and becoming passionately attached to me.
8-33. Thus thinking, the powerful King of the Demons quitted the buffalo appearance and assumed a beautiful human shape. He put on beautiful ornaments, armplates, etc., and wore divine cloths and had garlands on his neck and thus shone like a second Kandarpa, the god of Love. Taking, then, all the arrows and weapons, he mounted on the chariot, and attended by his army, went to the Devî, elated with power and vanity. The Devî blew Her conchshell when She saw Mahisâsura, the lord of the Dânavas, come before Her with a handsome appearance, tending to captivate the minds of mistresses and surrounded by many powerful and valiant warriors. The King of the Demons heard the blow of the conchshell, wondrous to all, came up before the Devî and smilingly spoke to Her thus :— O Devî! Whatever person there exists in this world, this wheel of Samsâra (the eternal round of births and deaths), be he or she a man or a woman, everyone always hankers after pleasure or happiness. And that pleasure is derived in this world by the combination of persons with each other; never is it seen where this combination is absent. Again this combination is of various kinds; I will mention them; Hear. Union is of various kinds according as it arises out of affection or out of natural consequences. Of these, I will now speak of unions coming out of affection, as far as my understanding goes. The union that comes between father, mother and their sons arises out of affection; it is therefore good. The union between brother and brother is middling, for mutual interests of give and take are there between the two. In fact, that union is considered as excellent which leads to happiness of the best sort and that union which leads to lesser happiness is known as mediocre. The union amongst the sailors, coming from distant lands, is known as natural. They come on various errands concerning their varied interests. This combination, because it offers the least amount of happiness, is considered as worst. The best union leads in this world to best happiness. O Beloved! The constant union of men and women of the same age is considered as par excellence; for it gives happiness of the very best sort. Both the parties, men and women, are elevated when they want to excel each other in their family connections, qualities, beauty; cleverness, dress, humility and propriety of conduct. Therefore, O Dear! If you establish with me that conjugal relation, you will get, no doubt, all the excellent happiness. Specially I will assume different forms at my mere will. All the Divine jewels and precious things that I have [ p. 408 ] acquired after defeating Indra and the other Devas in battle, and others are lying in my palace; you can enjoy all of them as my queen consort or you can make a charity of them as you like. O Beautiful One! I am your servant; consequently, at your word, I will no doubt quit my enmity with the Devas. In short, I will do anything that leads to your pleasure and happiness. O Sweet speaking One! O Large-eyed One! My heart is enchanted very much with your beauty; I will do, therefore, as you order me. O One having a broad hip! I am very much distressed; I now take refuge unto You. O One having beautiful thighs! I am very much struck with the arrows of Cupid, and I am very much discomforted; therefore, save me. To protect one who has come under one’s refuge is the best of all virtues. O One of a somewhat whitish body! O One having a slender waist! I will spend the remaining portion of my life in serving you as your obedient servant. Never will I act contrary to your orders to the risk even of my life. Take this as literally true and do accordingly. I now throw aside all my weapons before Your feet; O Large eyed! I am very much distressed by the arrows of Cupid; dost Thou therefore show Thy mercy on me. O Beautiful One! Never I showed my weakness to Brahmâ and the other Devas; but today I acknowledge that before You. I have defeated Brahmâ and others; they are fully acquainted with my prowess in the battlefield. But, O Honoured Woman! Though I am so powerful, I now acknowledge myself as your servant. Better look at me and grant your mercy.
34. Vyâsa said :— O King! Mahisa, the lord of the Daityas, having said so, that beautiful Bhagavatî laughed loudly and spoke smiling :—
35-45. The Devî said :— I do not desire any other body than the Supreme One! O Demon! I am His Will-power; I therefore create all these worlds. I am His S’ivâ (auspicious) Prakriti (Nature); That Universal Soul is seeing Me. It is owing to His proximity that I am appearing as the Eternal Consciousness, manifesting Itself as this Cosmos. As irons move owing to the proximity of magnets, I, too, though inert, owing to His proximity, work consciously. I do not desire to enjoy the ordinary pleasures; you are very dull and stupid; there is no doubt in this, when you desire sexual union. For women are considered as chains to hold men in bondage. Men bound up by iron chains can obtain freedom at any time, but when they are fastened by women, they can never obtain freedom. O Stupid! You now want to serve the source of urine, etc. Take refuge under Peace; peace will lead you to happiness. Great pain arises from connection with women; you know this; then why are you deluded? Better avoid your enmity with the Devas and [ p. 409 ] roam over the world anywhere you like. Or, if you desire to live, go to Pâtâla; or fight with Me. Know this for certain that I am stronger than you. O Dânava! The Devas collected have sent Me here; I tell you this very truly; I am satisfied with you by your words of friendship; therefore dost thou fly away while you are living. See! When words are uttered seven times amongst each other, friendship is established between saints. That has been done so amongst us; so there is friendship now between you and me; I won’t take away your life. O hero! If you desire to die, fight gladly; O powerful one! I will, no doubt, kill you.
46-65. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing the Bhagavatî’s words, the Dânava, deluded by passion, began to speak in beautiful sweet words :— O Beautiful One! Your body and the several parts thereof are very delicate and beautiful. A mere sight of such a lady makes one enchanted. Therefore, O Beautiful faced one! I fear very much to strike against your body. O Lotus-eyed One! I have subjugated Hari, Hara, the Lokapâlas and the several other Devatâs; I therefore ask whether it is proper for me to fight with you! O Fair one! If you like, you marry and worship me, or you can return to your desired place whence you have come. You have declared friendship with me; I therefore do not like to strike any weapons on you. I have now spoken for your good and welfare. You can gladly go away. O beautiful one! You are a fair woman with beautiful eyes; what fame shall I earn by killing you! O One of slender waist! Murdering a woman, a child, and a Brâhmin certainly makes the murderer liable to suffer the consequences thereof. I will certainly carry you today to my place without killing you. If I use force to you, I will not get happiness; for, in such cases, the application of force leads to no happiness. O One having good hairs! I salute before you and speak that a man cannot be happy without the lotus face of a woman; similarly a woman cannot be happy without a man’s lotus face. Where comes off the good combination between these two, then the highest pitch of happiness is conceived and pain arises on the disjunction thereof. True that you are well decked with ornaments all over your body but you seem wanting in cleverness; for you are not worshipping me. Who has advised you to renounce enjoyments? O Sweet speaking One! If this be true; then surely he is your enemy; he has deceived you. O Dear! Leave your this stubbornness and marry me; both of us shall then be happy. Visnu shines well with Kamalâ, Brahmâ looks splendid with Savitrî, Rudra is well associated with Parvatî and Indra with S’achî, so I will shine well with you; there is no doubt in this. No woman can ever be happy without any good husband. And why are you not then, ack- [ p. 410 ] nowledging me your husband even when you have got him. O Beloved! Where is now that Cupid of dull intellect? Why is he not troubling you with his maddening delicate five arrows? O Fair one! I think that Madana (the god of Love) out of his pity to you, seeing that you are very weak is not striking his arrows on you as he has done to me. O One looking askance! Or it may be that I have got some enmity with that Cupid; else why is he not shooting arrows at you? Or my enemies the Devas have advised the God of Love not to dart his arrows on you. O One of slender body! As Mandodarî had to marry afterwards, when she became passionate, a hypocrite, and so she had to repent thinking that she had not married before a beautiful auspicious king, so I think, O One, having eyes like the young of a deer! You, too, will have to repent like her if you decline to marry me now.
Here ends the Sixteenth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the conversation between the Devî and Mahisâsura in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâpurânam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On Mandodarî’s accounts [ p. 410 ] 1-2. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing thus, the Devî asked the Dânava, “Who is that Mandodarî? Who is that king who was not first taken by her? And who is that king whom she married afterwards? And how did she repent afterwards? Describe all these in detail to me.”
3-26. Thus asked by the Devî, Mahisa began to say :— “O Devî! There is a place, named Simhala, noted in this earth and decorated with various trees and prosperous with wealth and grains. A virtuous king, named Chandrasena, used to reign there; he was calm, peaceful, truthful, heroic, charitable, steady, forbearing, well versed in polities, ethics and morals vast as a wide ocean, learned in S’âstras, knowing all forms of religions and much skilled in archery. He was mindful in governing his subjects and he used to punish according to the laws of Justice. The king had a beautiful well-qualified wife, very handsome and broad-hipped. She was very much devoted to her husband and always engaged in religious acts and of good conduct. This wife, endowed with all auspicious signs, gave birth to a beautiful daughter in her first delivery. The King Chandrasena, the father, was very pleased to have this beautiful daughter and gladly called her by the name of Mandodarî. This daughter began to grow daily like the phases of the Moon. When she grew ten years old, she became very handsome. The King now became anxious to have [ p. 411 ] a suitable bridegroom and used to think of it everyday. The Brâhmins then told the king that there was a prince named Kambugrîva, the intelligent son of the powerful king Sudhanvâ of Madra; this prince was endowed, with all kingly qualifications and versed in all knowledge and was therefore a fit match for your daughter. The king then asked his dear qualified wife that he would like to marry his daughter to Kambugrîva. The queen, hearing this, asked her daughter Mandodarî that her father was desiring to marry her to Kambugrîva, the son of the king of Madra. Hearing her mother’s words, Mandodarî spoke thus :— “O Mother! I have got no desire to marry; I will not accept any husband; I will take the vow of leading a chaste virgin life and thus pass the rest of my life. O Mother! There is nothing more miserable in this ocean of world than dependence; I therefore prefer to lead incessantly a life of severe asceticism. The Pundits versed in the S’âstras say that taking up the vow of separateness and independence leads to salvation; I will thus be liberated; I have no need for a husband. At the time of marriage ceremony, one has to say before the consecrated Fire that one will remain always a dependent to one’s husband in every way; besides in a father-in-law’s house, one has to pass one’s time as a slave, as it were, to one’s mother-in-law and to husband’s (younger) brothers; again one will have to think oneself as happy when one’s husband is happy and as unhappy when one’s husband is unhappy; this is the worst of all miseries. Again if the husband marries again another woman, then this misery of having a co-wife is extreme. O Mother! Jealousy arises then towards even one’s own husband and therefore suffering is endless. Therefore what happiness can there be in this dream-like worlds; especially with women who are made dependent by Nature? O Mother! I heard that in days of yore the religious son of Uttânapâda, Uttama was younger than Dhruva; and yet he became King. And the King Uttânapâda banished his dear wife, solely devoted to her husband, without any cause, to the forest. Therefore women have to suffer such diverse pains while their husbands are living; and if by chance the husband dies, then women get interminable pains; the widowhood becomes the only source of grief and sorrow. Again if the husband be in foreign lands, women become subjected to the fire of Cupid, and then the house becomes an object of more agony. Thus whether the husband lives or dies, there is no happiness at any time. Thus, according to my opinion, I ought never to accept any husband.”
27-31. The Mother then told her husband all about what the daughter had said. Mandodarî would accept the vow of a life-long virgin; she had no desire to marry. She had brought forward many faults in a worldly life and thus would perform vows and Japams and pass her time alone.
[ p. 412 ]
She did not yearn after a husband. The King, hearing thus, came to know, that his daughter had no intention to marry and so began to pass his time without giving away his daughter in marriage. Thus the daughter lived in family protected by her father and mother; by that time signs of puberty were seen in the body of the daughter. Her comrades requested her repeatedly to select a bridegroom; but she spoke many words of wisdom and did not show any inclination for marriage.
32-44. Once, on an occasion, that beautiful faced woman went out with her female attendants on a pleasure trip to a garden, beautified with various trees. There the slender bodied one began to play and enjoy with her comrades in picking up various flowers and beautiful flowering creepers. Just at that time, the famous King of Kosala, the powerful Vîrasena came there accidentally. Alone he was on his chariot, attended by a few soldiers; his large army and retinue were coming slowly behind him at some distance. Her comrades, then, looking at that King from a distance, told Mandodarî, “O friend! See! Somebody, strong and beautiful, like a second God of Love is coming towards us, mounted on a chariot. I think some King he will be and we are very lucky that he has come here.” While thus talking, the King arrived there. The King, looking on that blue coloured woman with beautiful eyes became surprised and getting down from the chariot, asked the maidservant, “O Gentle one! Who is this woman with large eyes! Who is her father? Tell me this without any delay.” The attendant smiling, told him thus :— O Beautiful-eyed One! Pray speak first who are you? What for have you come here? What do you want to do here? The female attendant thus asking him, the King replied :— There is a very beautiful country named Kosala, in this earth; I am the King of that place; my name is Vîrasena. My fourfold army is coming at my will at my back. I have lost my way and have come here. Know me as the King of the country Kosala.
45-49. The female attendant said :— “O King! This lotus-eyed one is the daughter of the King Chandrasena; her name is Mandodarî. She has come here in this garden for sporting.” Hearing thus the attendant’s words, the King replied :— “O Sairandhri! You appear to be smart; therefore make the King’s daughter understand my following words clearly! O Sweet-eyed one! I am the King descended from the Kakutstha line; O fair woman! Marry me according to the rules of Gandarbha marriage.”
Note :— Gandharva marriage: one of the eight forms of marriage; this form of marriage proceeds entirely from love or the mutual inclination of a youth and maiden without ceremonies and without consulting relatives.
[ p. 413 ]
“O broad hipped One! I have no other wife; you are a beautiful woman, of a good family and of a marriageable age; I therefore like to marry you? Or your father may marry you to me according to rules and ceremonies; if so, I will no doubt be your husband as you desire.”
50-55. Mahisa said :— O Devî! The female attendant, expert in the science of love, hearing the King’s words, spoke to the daughter smilingly and in sweet words. “O Mandodarî! A very good-looking beautiful King of the solar dynasty has come here; he is very pretty, powerful, and of your age; O Beautiful! The King is entirely devoted to you and loves you very much. O Large-eyed One! Your time of marriage has come and yet you have not married; rather you are against it. Your father is, therefore, always very sorry and remorseful. See! How many a time your father sighed and told us, ‘O attendants! Always serve my daughter and awaken her to this.’ But you are engaged in penances and austerities, in Hatha Dharma; therefore we cannot request you on this matter. The Munis have said :— To serve the husband is the highest virtue of a woman. O Large-eyed! Women get Heaven if they serve their husband; therefore you better marry according to rules and ceremonies.”
56. Mandodarî said :— I am not going to marry; better that I should perform an extraordinary tapasyâ (asceticism); O Girls! You go and ask the King desist in his request; why is he shamelessly looking at me.
57-59. The female attendant then said, “O Devî! Passion is very hard to conquer; time is also surmountable with difficulty; so know my advice as the medicinal diet and keep my request. And if you do not keep it, surely danger will befall you.” Hearing this, Mandodarî replied, “O attendant! I know whatever is ordained by Fate will inevitably come to pass; for the present, I am not going to marry at all.”
60-61. Mahisa said :— The female attendant, knowing this her obstinate view, told the King :— “O King! This woman likes not a good husband; you would better go wherever you like.” The King heard and did not want to marry that woman any more; and, being sad and broken-hearted, went back with his army to Kosala.
Here ends the Seventeenth Chapter of the Fifth Skandha on Mandodarî’s accounts in the Mahâpurânam, S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the killing of the Dânava Mahisâsura [ p. 414 ] 1-4. Mahisa said :— O Devî! Mandodarî had a sister Indumatî; unmarried and endowed with all auspicious signs. She grew up in time to a marriageable age. The Svayambara assembly (a marriage in which the girl chooses her husband from among a number of visitors assembled together) was then called for the marriage of the maiden Indumatî. The Kings from various parts came there and the maiden Indumatî selected from among them a beautiful strong king, of noble lineage and endowed with all auspicious signs. At that time, by the undescribeable power of Destiny, Mandodarî seeing the deceitful, cunning, and hypocrite King of Madra, became passionate and desired to marry him.
5-17. That slender woman Mandodarî then addressed her father thus :— “O Father! Seeing the King of Madra in this assembly, I am desirous to marry him; so perform also my marriage ceremony now.” When the king heard this request from her own daughter privately, he became very glad and began with promptness, to make preparations for the marriage. He invited the King of Madra to his own palace and gave him in marriage his own daughter Mandodarî, according to due rites and ceremonies with an abundance of dowry and wealth. The King of Madra Chârudesna became very glad to marry the beautiful Mandodarî and went back with her to his own abode. The King Chârudesna then enjoyed her for good many days; when one day a maid-servant found the king in sexual intercourse with another maid-servant in a lonely place and divulged this to Mandodarî; she finding the king in that state became angry and rebuked him with a slight smiling countenance. Again, on another occasion, Mandodarî saw the king willingly engaged in amusements and sports with an ordinary beautiful woman and became very sorry and thought thus :— When I saw him in the Svayamvara, I could not recognise him as a cheat; I am deceived by this King; Oh! What a wrong act have I done through delusion. This King is a rogue and he is totally shameless and has no dislike for contemptible things; it is now too late to repent for him. How can I have any affection for this husband; fie on my living now! I forsake from this very day all the pleasures with my husband and all other worldly pleasures, and I take recourse now to contentment alone. I have committed a very wrong act that I ought never to have done; therefore it causes intense pain to me now. If I now commit suicide, then that sin will never forsake me, and I must have to enjoy the consequences thereof. And if I return to [ p. 415 ] my father’s house, I will not be happy there, for my companions seeing me thus will, no doubt, ridicule me. Therefore, it is now advisable for me to avoid all the sensuous pleasures, become dispassionate and remain here patiently and abide by the strange combinations of Time.
18-20. Mahisa said :— Thus that women lamented and remorsed and began to remain there, very much sorrowful and distressed, renouncing thoroughly all the pleasures of the world. O Auspicious One! I am the king, yet you are showing your dislike for me; know, eventually, you, too, will be passionate and entertain afterwards an illiterate coward. Keep my word even now, it will be of great benefit and it will serve as a medicinal diet to you as to all women. In case you do not follow my advice, you will have to meet with extreme pain and misery, certainly.
21-25. Hearing the words of Mahisâsura, the Devî said :— O you fool! Go to the lower worlds or stand up for fight; I will send you and the other Dânavas unto death and then go away at my pleasure. O Demon! I take up form to preserve the righteous, whenever they suffer pain in this earth. O Lord of the Daityas! Formless, birthless I am; yet, at times, I take up form and be born to save the Devas. Know this firmly. O wicked Mahisa! The Devas prayed to Me for your destruction. Therefore I will not rest until I kill you. I speak all these truly to you. Therefore fight or go to Pâtâla, the abode of the Asuras; I speak truly to you again that I will destroy you wholly.
26-51. Vyâsa said :— O King! Hearing thus the Devî’s words, the Dânava took up his bow and came to the battle, fully stretching the string of his bow up to his ears, and began to shoot sharpened arrows with great force at the Devî. The Devî, too, hurled with anger, arrows tipped with iron and cut off the Asura’s arrows to pieces. The fight between them rose to such a terrible pitch that it caused terror to both the Devas and the Dânavas, trying hard to be victorious over each other. In the midst of the terrible encounter, the demon Durdhara came up to fight and made the Devî angry and shot arrows, all terribly poisonous and sharpened on stones, at Her. The Bhagavatî, then, got very angry and hit him hard with sharp arrows. Durdhara, struck thus, fell down dead on the battlefield like a mountain top. The demon Trinetra, well skilled in the uses of arrows and weapons, seeing him killed, came up to fight and shot at the Great Goddess with seven arrows. Before these arrows came on Her, She cut them to pieces with Her sharp arrows and by Her trident killed Trinetra. Trinetra thus killed, Andhaka quickly came in the battlefield and struck violently on the head of the lion with his iron club. The lion killed that powerful Andhaka by striking the demon [ p. 416 ] with his nails and, out of anger, began to eat his flesh. Mahisâsura became greatly astonished at the death of these Asuras and began to shoot pointed arrows, sharpened on stone, at Her. The Devî Ambikâ cut his arrows into two before they came on Her and struck the Demon on his breast by Her club. That vile Mahisâsura, the tormentor of the Devas, fell in a swoon under the stoke of the club but patiently bore it and, at the next moment, came again and struck the lion on his head by his club. The lion, too, by his nails rent that great Asura to pieces. Mahisâsura, then, quitting the man-form took up the lion-form and by his claws cut the Devî’s lion and wounded him very much by his nails. On Mahisâsura taking up this lion-form, the Devî became very angry and began to shoot arrows after arrows at him all very terrible, sharp and like poisonous snakes. Then the Asura quitting the lion form assumed the appearance of a male elephant, oozing out juice from his temples and began to hurl the mountain tops by his trunk. Seeing the mountain peaks thus hurled on Her, She cut them off to pieces by Her sharp arrows and began to laugh. The Devî’s lion on the other hand, sprang on the head of the elephant Mahisa and by his claws rent him to pieces. To kill the Devî’s lion, then, Mahisa quitted his elephant-form and assumed the appearance of a Sarabha, more powerful and terrible than lion. The Devî seeing that Sarabha became angry and struck on the head of that Sarabha with Her axe; the Sarabha, too, attacked the Devî. Their fight became horrible; Mahisâsura, then, assumed the appearance of a buffalo and struck the Bhagavatî by his horns. That horrible Asura, of hideous appearance, swinging his tail, began to attack the thin bodied Devî. That violent Asura caught hold of the mountain peaks by his tail and, whirling them round and round, hurled them on the Devî. That vicious soul, then, maddened with his strength, laughed incessantly and addressed thus :— “O Devî! Be steady in the battlefield. I will send you today unto death, and your youth and beauty too. You are an illiterate fellow as you have come maddened to fight with me. Really you are deluded in your pretensions that you are very strong; this idea of yours is absolutely false. I will kill you first and the hypocrite Devas after who want to vanquish me by standing up a woman in their front.”
52-53. The Devî said :— “O Villain! Do not boast; keep yourself firm in the fight. Today I will kill you and make the Devas discard their fear. O Wretch! You are a Sinner; you torment the Devas and terrify the Munis. Let me have my drink of sweet decoction of grapes. And then I will slay you undoubtedly.” [ p. 417 ] 54-70. Vyâsa said :— O King! Saying thus, the Devî, wrathful and eager to kill Mahisâsura, took up the golden cup filled with wine and drank again and again. When the Devî finished Her drink of the sweet grape juice, She pursued him with trident in Her hands, to the great joy of gladdening all the Devas. The Devas began to rain showers of flowers on the Devî and praised Her and shouted victories to Her with Dundubhi (a Divine drum) Jai, Jîva; victory, live. The Risis, Siddhas, Gandarbhas, Pis’âchas, Uragas, and Kinnaras witnessed the battle from the celestial space and became very much delighted. On the other hand, Mahisâsura, the hypocrite Pundit, began to assume various magic forms and struck the Devî repeatedly. The Devî Chandikâ, then, infuriated and with eyes reddened, pierced violently the breast of that vicious Mahisa with Her sharp trident. The Demon, then, struck by this trident, fell senseless on the ground; but got up in the next moment and kicked the Devî forcibly. That Great Asura, thus kicking the Devî, laughed repeatedly and bellowed so loudly that the Devas were all terrified with that noise. Then the Devî held aloft the brilliant discus of good axle and of thousand spokes and loudly spoke to the Asura in front :— O Stupid! Look! This Chakra will sever your throat today; wait a moment, I am sending you instantly unto death. Saying this, the Divine Mother hurled the Chakra. Instantly that weapon severed the Dânava’s head from his body. The hot streams of blood gushed out from his neck as the violent streams of water get out from mountains, coloured red with red sandstones. The headless body of that Asura moved, to and fro, for a moment and then dropped on the ground. The loud acclamations of “Victory” were sounded to the great joy of the Devas. The very powerful lion began to devour the soldiers that were flying away, as if he was very hungry. O King! The wicked Mahisâsura thus slain, the Demons that remained alive were terrified and fled away, very much frightened, to Pâtâla. The Devas, Risis, human beings and the other saints on this earth were all extremely glad at the death of this wicked Demon. The Bhagavatî Chandikâ quitted the battlefield and waited in a holy place. Then the Devas came there with a desire to praise and chant hymns to the Devî, the Bestower of their happiness.
Here ends the Eighteenth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the killing of the Dânava Mahisâsura in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the prayer and hymns to the Devî [ p. 418 ] 1. Vyâsa said :— O King! Then Indra and all the Devas became very glad to see the great Mahisâsura slain; they all began to praise and chant hymns to the World-Mother.
2-33. The Devas said :— It is by thy Power that Brahmâ becomes able to create this world, Visnu, to preserve, and Mahes’vara to destroy during the Pralaya time (the Great Dissolution) of this universe. But when they are bereft of Thy Power, they are quite unable to do such. Therefore, O Devî! Thou art undoubtedly the Prime Cause in the preservation and destruction of this whole Universe. O Devî; Thou art, in this world, Fame, idea and ideal, memory; Thou art the goal, mercy, compassion, faith, constancy, earth; Thou art Kamalâ, the Mantra Ajapâ, respiration and perspiration, nourishment, Jayâ, Vijayâ (the destroyer of obstacles; a name of Durgâ); Thou art contentment, correct notion, measure, intellect, Ramâ (Laksmî), (wealth), knowledge, forgiveness, beauty, intelligence; Thou art the S’akti (power) of Rudra, Thou art Girijâ and the Energy of God Umâ and all other forces in this universe; this is known to everyone in the three worlds. Without any or all of these forces, no one is able to perform any action. Thou art the Supreme Cause of all this world. Therefore everything rests on Thee. If Thou wert not the upholding Power, how could Kurma (in the Tortoise Incarnation) and Ananta have upheld this world? O Mother! Wert Thou not this Earth, could all these world-load of things have rested on the sky? O Mother! Those human beings that worship Brahmâ, Visnu, Rudra, Moon, Fire, Yama, the God of Death, Vâyu, Ganes’a, and the other Devas, they are certainly deluded by Thy Mâyâ. Could all those Devas do any action or any favour without Thy Energy? O Mother! Those that offer in any Sacrifice, a profuse quantity of ghee (clarified butter) as oblations to the several Devas, they are certainly conceived to be of very narrow views; Wert Thou not the Svâhâ, could it have been possible for those Devas to get the offered oblations at that very instant? Certainly, therefore, they are fools and ignorant persons. There is no doubt in this. O Mother! Thou givest the several objects of nourishment and enjoyment to all the beings in this universe by Thy parts (the several transformations of these material things); it is Thou that nourishest the Devas, Thy devotees, as well as the others (the Dânavas, according to their Karma). O Mother! As the owner of any garden plants, with pleasure, the beautiful trees in his [ p. 419 ] garden for his delight and, finding some of them not to bear any fruits or leaves or of a bitter taste, does not cut them off by their roots, so, O Devî! Thou hast brought into existence these Daityas out of their inferior Karmas and Thou art supporting them. Knowing that the Daityas like to enjoy the celestial nymphs, Thou hast, out of compassion, killed them by their arrows in the battlefield, to afford them facilities in their re-birth in Heavens and thus to enjoy the Deva women which they could not have got in any other possible way. Therefore this Thy dealings with them are to fulfil their intentions and not to kill them. O Mother! It is a great wonder that to kill these Asuras Thou hadst to assume this Divine Body; Thou couldst have done so by Thy mere will. It seems that this act of Thine is but a mere Pastime. There is no other cause for this. O Devî! Those human beings that do not worship Thee in this dreadful age of Kâlî, they are certainly deceived by the cunning Purâna makers who have deluded them to worship Hari and Hara, who are Thy creations. Oh! What an amount of evil has befallen to those poor souls! O Devî! Those men know that the Devas, tormented by the Asuras, are Thy devotees, and yet they worship them; certainly such fellows, holding the lighted torches in their hands, plunge deep into the darkest waterless wells. O Mother! Thou art the Vidyâ (Blissful Intelligence) and Thou grantest pleasure and liberation; Thou art the Avidyâ, (Great Delusion) and thus Thou causest bondage and pain in this world. O Mother! Thou only destroyest the affliction of the human beings; those that want liberation worship Thee, and those that are ignorant and attached to worldly enjoyments do not worship Thee. What more can be said than this, that Brahmâ, Visnu, Mahesa and the other Devas incessantly worship Thy adorable lotus-feet; but those men that are of dull intellect and are mistaken, they do not meditate Thy feet and, therefore, they come again and again into this ocean of world. O Chandikâ! It is through the grace of the dust of Thy lotus-feet that Brahmâ, Visnu, and Mahes’vara are creating, preserving and destroying this universe. Therefore, O Goddess! Those men that do not serve Thee, are certainly very unfortunate. O Mother of the Universe! Thou art the Goddess of speech of the Suras and the Asuras; thus if Thou didst not dwell in their mouths, they would not have been able to utter a single word; therefore, O Goddess! How can men speak, when they are thus deprived of Thee! O Mother! It is due to the curse of Bhrigu Muni that Hari takes several incarnations as Fish, Tortoise, Boar, Man-Lion, and deceitful Dwarf Incarnations; all these show clearly the dependence of Hari,
*N.B. - The Devas and the Daityas are the opposite polarities of the same creation.
[ p. 420 ]
How, then, can they avoid the fear of death when they serve these dependent incarnations! O Mother! It is well known that the male generative organ of S’ambhu, the Mahâdeva fell unto the ground, owing to the curse of Bhrigu Muni, when he went to the hermitage of the Risis. How can, then, happiness come in this world or in the next, to those who worship such a S’ambhu who wears human skulls on His body! O Devî! Those that worship Ganes’a, born of the above qualified Mahâ Deva are awfully mistaken; they are especially quite ignorant of Thee, the Goddess of the Universe, that can be easily worshipped and that can give the fourfold aims of human existence. O Devî! It is out of Thy kindness that Thou hast slain with Thy arrows the enemies and thus hast translated them into Heavens; otherwise they would have certainly gone down to Hell owing to their own Karmic effects. Brahmâ, Hari, Hara and the other Devas cannot realise Thy greatness; how can, then, ordinary men know Thee, when they are deluded by immeasureably strong Sâttva, Râjas and Tâmas qualities. O Mother! Those who do not worship Thy lotus-feet as very hard to be brought within this mind and therefore worship this visible Sun and Fire, they cannot grasp the Essence of the Vedas, demonstrated by hundreds of passages of S’ruti; they are deluded and simply suffer pains. O Mother! I think that the influences of Thy Sâttva, Râjas and Tâmas qualities are widely known in this world; those qualities as taught in various deluding schools of Tantras by various persons, stimulate people to the worship of Visnu, Mahes’vara, Sun and Ganes’a and thus detract them from worshipping Thee. O Mother! Those that detract thus the Brâhmanas from worshiping Thy lotus-feet and advise them through the Âgamas, to worship Hari, Hara and others, Thou dost not get angry with them, rather Thou dost shew Thy kindness to them and make them widely celebrated as possessing the occult powers of enchanting, bringing others under their control, or attracting towards them various other persons. In the Satya Yuga, Sâttva Guna was more powerful and therefore the untrue S’âstras could not rear their heads; but in this Kâlî Age, owing to the Sâttva Guna being not so powerful, the lower qualities have got preponderance; so these so-called clever Pundits instead of worshipping Thee, worship Hari, Hara and the other Devas, the products of their fancy and hide Thee. O Mother! Thou art the Brahmâ Vidyâ, the knowledge of the Supreme Consciousness, Thou givest liberation to Thy devotees when they succeed in their Yogas. Therefore the pure Sâttvik Muni meditate on Thee and Thee alone. Those that get themselves diluted in Thee, they are very blessed; what more to speak of them in their praise, they will no longer have to suffer any pains in their mother’s wombs! O Mother! Thou art inherent [ p. 421 ] as Chit S’akti (the power of consciousness) in the Supreme Spirit and therefore He is become manifest specially as this Great Cosmos and becomes known as the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer of this world, fashioned out of five elements. O Devî! What male can by his own power work out this Jagat Prapancha, enjoy it and move in this, without the aid of Thy power. O Bhagavatî! This universe has been created by Thee; Thou art, therefore, its Mother. The twenty-four Essences or Tattvas are inert; how can they without Thy Chits’akti, create this universe? O Devî! Never can these senses and organs, endowed with Guna and Karma, do any work or bestow any fruits without Thy energy.
O Mother! Wert thou not Svâhâ, the instrumental cause in the sacrifice, how could the Devas have got their shares of the ghee offered in the Yajñâs by the Munis! Therefore, O Devî! Thou art, no doubt, preserving this universe. O Bhagavatî! It is Thou that hast created this world in the beginning; it is Thou that art preserving the gods Hari, Hara and others; it is Thou that art destroying this universe. Therefore, O Brâhman! The Devas cannot know Thy deeds; how can, then, the men who are of dull intellect, know Thee. O Mother! Thou hast now saved the Devas by killing this terrible Mahisâsura. O Mother! All the Vedas have not been able to know exactly all Thy movements; how can we, of dull intellect, praise Thee! O Mother! Thou has served our cause by killing our enemy, the wicked Dânava, the inconceivable source of pain to all the world by this act of Thine, Thy fame has spread far and wide in this universe; therefore, O Thou of renowned prowess! Thou art the Mother of this world; save us, and maintain us by Thy mercy.
34-35. Vyâsa said :— O King! The Devas having praised the Devî thus, the Devî addressed them gently :— “O Devas! Say if you have any other difficult thing for Me to do; remember Me whenever any difficult crisis occurs to you; I will destroy that evil.”
36-42. The Devas said :— “O Devî! All our purposes have been served when Thou hast killed lately our enemy Mahisâsura. Now dost Thou do for us so that we can always recollect Thy lotus feet, and our Bhakti be firm and steadfast towards Thee. It is only the Mother the bears the thousand offences of the son; we, therefore, cannot say why men, knowing this, do not worship the Mother of the Universe. There are two birds always dwelling in this body, Jivâtmâ (human soul) and the Paramâtmâ (the Supreme Soul). They are so very intimate friends toward each other that they never separate. But there is no other third friend that can bear the faults of these two. Therefore the embodied soul that forsakes Thee, his friend, can never attain any welfare; what more to say [ p. 422 ] on this! That vicious soul is very unlucky amidst the Devas and men, no doubt. He who on attaining this excellent human body, attained with much difficulty, does not remember Thee frequently by words and deeds, is certainly the vilest of men. O Devî! Whether in times of distress or happiness, Thou art our Saviour; therefore dost Thou protect us with Thy best weapons. O Devî! There is no other means of our security than the Grace of the dust of Thy Feet.”
43. Vyâsa said :— O King! The Devas having prayed to the Devî thus, the Devî vanished then and there. The Devas, seeing the disappearance of the Devî, were sufficiently struck with surprise.
Here ends the Nineteenth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the prayer and hymns to the Devî in S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the Mahâ Purânam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
On the peace of the world [ p. 422 ] 1-11. Janamejaya said :— O best of Risis! I have now seen the wonderful excellent deeds of the Devî for the enhancement of peace in this world. Though I have heard from thy lotus face these nectar-like words, still I am not satisfied. O best of Munis! What did the chief Devas do when the Goddess disappeared, kindly say to me. O Bhagavân! I think those Jîvas cannot fully comprehend these excellent sacred deeds of the Devî, that are less fortunate and have done not many meritorious deeds in this world. O Muni! What to speak of the less fortunate souls, even the Mahâtmas who are well versed in hearing such things, can hardly be satiated on hearing the Devî’s deeds. O! Fie to those, that do not hear of these things, the essence of essences, on hearing which men become Immortals. The Mother’s Lîlâ is to preserve the Devas as well as the great Munis and to serve as a boat for the human beings to cross this ocean of world. How can, then, the grateful souls forsake Her? The Pundits versed in the Vedas declare, that the Devî’s life is able to fulfil all the desires. Therefore the liberated souls that want liberation, the worldly souls, the diseased all ought to drink incessantly the nectar-like nectar of Devî’s doings. Especially the kings that are engaged in Dharma, in earning wealth and in enjoyments, ought to hear Her life. O Muni! When the liberated souls drink the nectar-like doings of the Devî, what doubt can there be with the ordinary human beings, to listen with rapt devotion those wondrous things! O Best of Munis! It is those that worshipped the Goddess Bhavânî in their previous births with [ p. 423 ] beautiful Kunda flowers, Champaka flowers and Bel leaves, they have, it is inferred, in their present births become possessed of rich enjoyments. And those devoid of any devotion, that obtained this human body in the land of Bhârata and did not worship the Mother Goddess, they are, in the present births, without grains and riches, diseased, and void of any issues. Wander they always as servants, carrying out orders, and bearing on the burden loads; day and night, they seek for their own selfish ends, yet they cannot get their belly full meals. The blind, deaf and dumb; lame and lepers suffer pain and misery in this earth; seeing them, it should be inferred that they never worshipped the Goddess Bhavânî. And those that are wealthy, prosperous, attended by numerous attendants and are always enjoying, like kings, it is to be inferred that they certainly worshipped the lotus feet of the Mother Goddess in their past lives.
12-15. Therefore O Son of Satyavatî! As you are kind-hearted, kindly narrate before me the excellent deeds of the Devî. O best of Munis! Where did the Goddess, Mahâ Laksmî, created out of the energies of all the gods, depart after She had slain the Mahisâsura and had been worshipped and praised by the Devas? O highly Fortunate one! You told me that She vanished from the sight of the Devas; now I like to know where is She staying now, whether in the Heavens or in the Land of Mortals? Did She melt away then and there or did She descend to Vaikuntha or did She go to the mountain Sumeru? O Muni! Narrate all these duly before me.
16-50. Vyâsa said :— O King! I told you before about the beautiful Mani Dvîpa; that island is the place of sport to the Devî and very dear to Her. In that place Brahmâ, Visnu, Mahâdeva were transformed into females; they afterwards became males and were engaged in their respective duties. That place is grand and splendid and is in the centre of the ocean of Nectar; the Devî Ambikâ assumes various forms there as She likes; and She sports there. To that Mani Dvîpa the auspicious Devî departed after She had been praised by the Gods, to that place where sports always the eternal Bhagavatî Bhuvanes’varî, the incarnate of Para Brahmâ. When the Highest Goddess vanished, the Devas installed, on the throne of Mahisâsura, the powerful King S’atrughna, endowed with all auspicious qualities, the Lord of Ajodhyâ and descended from the Solar line. After making him thus the King, Indra and the other Devas went to their respective abodes on their own conveyances. O King! The Devas having gone to their places, the subjects were governed on this earth according to Dharma; and they passed their times in ease and comfort. It used to rain, then, timely and the earth was covered with plenty of grains and wealth; the [ p. 424 ] trees were all filled with fruits and leaves and gave enjoyment to people. The cows with their udders full like earthen pots gave such a profuse quantity of milk that men began to milk them whenever they liked. The rivers’ waters were all clear and cooling; and they flowed full in regular channels; the birds grouped round them. The Brâhmanas, versed in the Vedas, were engaged in performing sacrifices; the Ksattriyas observed their virtues and were engaged in doing charities and in their education; the kings held their rods of justice and were engaged in governing their subjects; though the several kings were busy with various arms and weapons, they all became fond of peace. Thus no wars nor quarrels were seen amongst the subjects; and the mines yielded plenty of wealth to the people. O best of Kings! There were the Brâhmans, Ksattriyas, Vais’yas and S’ûdras who became the devotees of the Goddess. The Brâhmanas and Ksattriyas used, then, to perform so many sacrifices that, at every nook and corner in this globe, the sacrificial altars and the sacrificial posts became visible. The female sex became gentle and of good behaviour, truthful and chaste towards their husbands respectively. Atheism and unrighteous acts vanished entirely from the face of the earth; the people left all dry discussions; they argued only about the S’âstras that did not go in contra-distinction to the Vedas. Nobody liked to quarrel with each other; poverty, and evil inclinations were checked; the people everywhere lived in happiness. Untimely death was not there; so the people had no bereavements with their friends; no distress was seen. Famine, want of rains, and deadly plagues were out of sight. The people had no illness even; and jealousies and quarrels vanished. O King! all men and women began to sport merrily everywhere like the Gods in Heaven. Theft, atheism, deceit, vanity, hypocrisy, lustfulness, stupidity, and the anti-Vedic feelings were not to be seen. O Lord of the Earth! All the men were then extremely devoted to their Dharma and engaged in serving the Brâhmanas. The Brâhmins were also, according to the three-fold plan of the creation, Sâttvik, Râjasik and Tâmasik. The Sâttvik Brâhmins were all versed in the Vedas, clever and truthful; they were kind, they controlled their passions and they did not accept any presents from others. Filled with their ideas of Dharma, they used to perform their Purodâsa and other such sacrifices with Sâttvik rice, etc., but never, never did they immolate any animals.* O King! The Sâttvik Brâhmanas gave charities, studied the Vedas and offered sacrifices for themselves. These were their three ordained actions. They were busy in these. O King! The Râjasik Brâhmanas were versed in the Vedas and acted as priests to the Ksattriyas
*N.B. - Where the victim is fastened during the time of immolation. [ p. 425 ] and ate flesh as sanctioned by recognised rules. They were busy with their six duties. They offered sacrifices on their own behalf, assisted others in sacrifices, took gifts, made charities, studied and taught others the Vedas. The Tâmasik Brâhmanas were angry, attached to worldly objects, and jealous. They studied very little of the Vedas and spent most of their time in serving the kings. O King! Mahisâsura was killed, all the Brâhmanas were glad and began to practise Dharma according to the Vedas, observed vows and made charities. The Ksattriyas began to govern the subjects, the Vaisya carried on their trading business and the other tribes went on with their agriculture, preservation of the cows, and lending money on interest. Thus all men became vary glad on the death of Mahisa. Devoid of cares and anxieties, the subjects got much wealth! The cows were endowed with suspicious signs and gave plenty of milk and the rivers flowed full of waters. The trees looked splendid with abundance of fruits; men were without diseases: in short, people had no mental agony and too much or too little of rains were not there; S’alavas, mice, birds, and seditions we not extant. O King! The beings died not prematurely; rather enjoyed incessantly, their full health and possessed lots of riches; especially beings, engaged in the Vedic Dharma, served the lotus feet of Chandikâ and thus spent their lives.
Here ends the Twentieth Chapter of the Fifth Book on the peace of the world in the Mahâpurânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.