Garudapurana 1.133

The Glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa — 133 / Brahmā said: / Those who drink eight aśoka buds under the asterism Punarvasu / on the bright eighth lunar day in the month of Caitra do not incur sorrow.

"O Aśoka! O beloved of Hara! O born of the spring month! / Distressed by grief, I drink you; make me free from sorrow forever!"

(Thus the Aśokāṣṭamī observance.) / Brahmā said: / When the bright eighth lunar day in Āśvayuja is conjoined with Uttarāṣāḍhā, / that is spoken of as Mahānavamī, and ablution, donation, and the like become imperishable.

Even on the ninth lunar day alone, one should worship Durgā. / This is a great religious observance of great merit, performed by Śaṅkara and others.

For the conquest of enemies, a king, eating only unbegged food or the like from the sixth lunar day onwards, / accompanied by recitation and fire offerings, or should continuously feed maiden girls.

"durge durge rakṣiṇi svāhā" is this mantra in worship and other rites. / The nine goddesses end with "namaḥ", accompanied by the syllables beginning with the long vowels and the rest.

With six phrases ending in "namaḥ", "svāhā", "vaṣaṭ", and so on, upon the heart and other limbs, / having performed ritual placement from the thumb to the little finger, one should indeed worship the auspicious goddess.

On the eighth lunar day, nine chambers made of wood, or just one, [should be made]. / In that, the Goddess should be fashioned out of gold or even silver.

One may worship her upon a trident, a sword, a book, a painted cloth, or a maṇḍala. / Holding in her left hands a skull-cup, a shield, a bell, a mirror, a warning gesture, a bow,

a banner, a small hand-drum, and a noose; / and [in her right hands] a lance, a club, a trident, a thunderbolt, a sword, likewise a goad,

an arrow, a discus, and a dart—such is Durgā endowed with weapons. / The remaining ones should have sixteen hands, omitting the collyrium and the hand-drum.

Rudracaṇḍā, Pracaṇḍā, Caṇḍogrā, Caṇḍanāyikā, / Caṇḍā, Caṇḍavatī, Caṇḍarūpā, Aticaṇḍikā,

and ninth, Ugracaṇḍā, who is in the center, possessing the splendor and form of fire; / yellow like yellow pigment, reddish, black, dark-blue, smoky, white,

and spoken of as yellow-pale, as well as green in the archer's stance (ālīḍha). / Her buffalo-demon is seized by the fist holding the hair at the tip of her sword.

Having recited the ten-syllabled spell, he is not bound by anyone. / Then one should worship a sword measuring fifteen aṅgulas and a trident; / or one may worship her residing in a liṅga, in sandals, or even in water.

One should protect the manifold worship, and cause fasting on the eighth lunar day. / At the end of the night, one should slaughter a five-year-old buffalo and a he-goat

in accordance with rule, with the name "Kālikālī". The blood and other offerings arising from it / [one should offer] to Pūtanā in the south-west, and to the sinful demoness in the north-west.

One should give to Carakī in the north-east, and to Vidārikā in the south-east.

Thus ends the one hundred and thirty-third chapter, titled "The Mahānavamī Observance," in the Ācārakāṇḍa of the first section called Pūrvakhaṇḍa in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.