Devishataka 85_59

85_59

O people, being deeply respectful, seek refuge in, take shelter in, that remembrance of—recollection of—the Āryā, the Devī. What kind of remembrance? The supreme, the highest practice of austerity: observance of rules and self-restraint. The meaning is that remembrance of the Devī alone is the supreme austerity. For what purpose? For the nourishment—the growth—of intellects. The plural expression is used because the intellect has eight aspects, as is said: 'Desire to hear, hearing, grasping, retaining, knowledge, discernment, inductive reasoning, and deductive refutation—intellect is considered eightfold.' (85)