Markandeyapurana 84
English (machine translation) 84
- Language
- English
Contents
- 84.38 — 2 parts
84.1
The sage said:
Then, when Mahiṣāsura was slain, all the hosts of gods, / led by Indra, began to offer praise to the goddess.
84.2
When that evil-minded one of great power and the army of the gods' enemies / had been slain by the goddess, Śakra and the hosts of gods, / their necks and shoulders bowed in reverence, their bodies lovely with hair bristling in delight, / praised her with words:
84.3
The gods said:
'To that Ambikā, who pervades this universe by her own power, / whose form is the aggregate of the powers of all the hosts of gods, / worshiped by all gods and great sages, / we bow in devotion: may she bestow auspicious things upon us!
84.4
She whose incomparable majesty and might the blessed Ananta, / Brahmā, and Hara are not capable of declaring— / may she, Caṇḍikā, turn her mind to protecting the whole world / and destroying the fear of evil!
84.5
You who are yourself good fortune in the dwellings of the virtuous, misfortune / in the houses of the wicked, intellect in the hearts of the wise, / faith in the good, modesty born of high birth— / to you we bow: protect the universe, O goddess!
84.6
How can we describe this inconceivable form of yours, / or your abundant, boundless power that destroys the asuras, / or your wondrous deeds in battles / among all the hosts of gods, asuras, and the rest, O goddess?
84.7
You are the cause of all the worlds; though possessing the three guṇas, you are not known / by faults, and you are boundless even to Hari, Hara, and the rest; / you are the refuge of all; this entire universe is a portion of you; / for you are the unmanifest, supreme, primordial Prakṛti.
84.8
O goddess, you by the utterance of whose [name] all the gods / attain satisfaction in all sacrifices, / you are indeed the Svāhā, and the cause of satisfaction to the host of ancestors; / therefore you are also proclaimed by men as Svadhā.
84.9
You who are the cause of liberation, whose great vows are inconceivable, / you are contemplated by munis seeking liberation, their senses and truth-essences well restrained, / all their faults cast off: / for you, O goddess, are that supreme, blessed knowledge.'
84.10
You whose essence is sound, the treasure-house of the purest Ṛg- and Yajur-[vedas],
and of the Sāman-chants with lovely recited verses of the Udgītha;
O goddess, you are the threefold Veda, the blessed lady, for the welfare of the world,
and the livelihood of all worlds, the destroyer of supreme afflictions.
84.11
You are Medhā, O goddess, knowing the essence of all scriptures;
you are Durgā, the boat that brings unattached passage across the difficult ocean of existence;
you are Śrī, who have made your sole abode in the heart of the foe of Kaiṭabha;
you alone are Gaurī, who have established yourself with the moon-crested [Śiva].
84.12
Gazing upon your face—gently smiling, spotless, resembling the orb of the full moon,
lovely with the lustre of finest gold,
exceedingly marvelous—it was struck nonetheless by Mahiṣāsura,
who had assumed great fury!
84.13
Yet seeing it angered, terrible with knitted brows,
having the hue of the rising moon, O goddess, that Mahiṣa
did not immediately surrender his life's breath is a great wonder indeed;
for who remains alive upon seeing an enraged Yama?
84.14
Be gracious, O goddess! You are supreme for the well-being [of the world];
when enraged, you immediately destroy entire lineages;
this is known just now, since this exceedingly vast army
of Mahiṣāsura has been brought to its end.
84.15
They are honored in the realms; theirs are riches;
theirs are glories; and their assemblage of dharmas does not languish;
they alone are blessed, endowed with devoted children, servants, and wives,
to whom you, ever granting prosperity, are gracious.
84.16
O goddess, every day the virtuous person, with great reverence,
carries out all righteous deeds,
and through your grace goes thence to heaven;
for are you not the grantor of fruits in all three worlds, O goddess?
84.17
Remembered as Durgā, you take away fear from every living being;
remembered by those in good fortune, you grant a mind exceedingly auspicious;
O dispeller of poverty, misery, and fear, who other than you
ever has a compassionate heart to bring help to all?
84.18
‘By their slaying the world attains happiness; thus let these [asuras]
commit sin no longer, that would lead to hell for a long time;
let them attain death in battle and go to heaven’—
thinking thus, surely, O goddess, you slay your foes.
84.19
Why do you not reduce all the asuras to ashes by your glance alone,
seeing that you cast your weapon against the enemies?
‘Let even the foes, purified by weapons, go to the [higher] worlds’—
such exceedingly virtuous intention is yours even toward them.
84.20
By the flashing bursts of your sword's radiance and by the fierce
masses of light from your trident's tip, the eyes of the asuras
were not destroyed, because they were beholding
this face of yours, worthy to be compared to the radiant crescent moon.
84.21
Your conduct, O goddess, quiets the behavior of the ill-behaved;
such is this form of yours, inconceivable, unequaled by others;
and your prowess destroys those who stole the prowess of the gods;
in this manner, compassion was displayed by you even toward enemies.
84.22
To what can this valor of yours be compared?
And where is a form that instills fear in enemies, yet is exceedingly charming?
Compassion in heart and ruthlessness in battle are seen
in you alone, O goddess granting boons, throughout the three worlds.
84.23
By the destruction of the enemies, this entire triad of worlds
has been protected by you; and slaying them in the forefront of battle,
you have led the multitudes of foes to heaven, and our fear
arising from the arrogant enemies of the gods has been cast away. Homage to you!
84.24
Protect us with the trident, O goddess, and protect [us] with the sword, O Ambikā;
protect us with the sound of the bell, and with the sound of your bowstring.
84.25
Protect in the east, and in the west, O Caṇḍikā; protect in the south
and in the north, by the brandishing of your spear, O ruler!
84.26
Those gentle forms of yours that move about in the three worlds,
and those that are exceedingly terrible, with them protect us and also the earth.
84.27
The sword, trident, mace, and whatever weapons are yours, O Ambikā,
resting in your sprout-like hands, protect us on all sides with them.
84.28
The seer said:
Thus praised by the gods, the sustainer of the worlds was worshiped
with heavenly flowers grown in Nandana and with perfumes and unguents.
84.29
With devotion, perfumed by all the thirty [gods] with heavenly incense,
her face beaming with favor, she spoke to all the bowed-down gods.
84.30
The goddess said:
Choose, all you thirty [gods], whatever is desired from me;
well-worshiped with these hymns of praise, I grant it with great affection.
84.31
[The gods thought:] ‘What other difficult task is to be done, we do not know.’
Having heard these words of the goddess, the dwellers of heaven replied.
84.32
The gods said:
Everything has been done by the Blessed Lady; nothing remains undone,
inasmuch as this Mahiṣāsura, our enemy, has been slain.
84.33
And if a boon is to be given to us by you, O great goddess:
whenever remembered, you should destroy our supreme misfortunes.
84.34
And whatever mortal shall praise you with these hymns, O spotless-faced one,
for the increase of his wealth, prosperity, fortunes, riches, wives, and other assets,
may you, pleased, be favorable forever, O Ambikā!
84.35
The sage said:
Thus propitiated by the gods for the sake of the worlds and for their own sake, / saying 'So be it,' Bhadrakālī vanished, O king.
84.36
Thus it has been told, O king, how the goddess, wishing the welfare of the three worlds, / was born of old from the bodies of the gods.
84.37
And how she arose again from the body of Gaurī / for the slaying of the wicked Daityas, Śumbha and Niśumbha,
84.38
and for the protection of the worlds, as a benefactor to the gods— / hear that as narrated by me; I tell it to you properly.
84.38.p1
Thus ends the eighty-fourth chapter in the Devīmāhātmya of the Sāvarṇika Manvantara in the glorious Mārkaṇḍeya Mahāpurāṇa.
84.38.p2
Eighty-fifth Chapter - 85
Translations (1)
- The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa — Frederick Eden Pargiter 1888, English
Commentaries (1)
- Guptavatī — Bhāskararāya Makhin 1741, Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit