Devibhagavatapurana 9.50.46

9.50.46

śrīnārāyaṇa uvāca |
namaste parameśāni rāsamaṇḍalavāsini |
rāseśvari namaste'stu kṛṣṇaprāṇādhikapriye ||

Nârâyana said:-- O Nârada! Now I am saying the Râdhâ Stotra. Listen. O Thou, the Highest Deity, the Dweller in Râsa Mandalam! I bow down to Thee; O Thou, the Chief Directrix of the Râsa Mandalam; O Thou dearer to Krisna than His life even, I bow down to Thee. O Thou, the Mother of the three Lokas! O Thou the Ocean of mercy! Be pleased. Brahmâ, Visnu and the other Devas bow down before Thy lotus feet. Thou art Sarasvatî; Thou art Savitrî; Thou art S’ankarî; I bow down to Thee; Thou art Gangâ; Thou art Padmâvatî; Thou art Sasthî; Thou art Mangalâ Chandikâ; Thou art Manasâ; Thou art Tulasî; Thou art Durgâ; Thou art Bhagavatî; Thou art Laksmî; Thou art all, I bow down to Thee. Thou art the Mûla Prakriti; Thou art the Ocean of mercy. Obeisance to Thee! Be merciful to us and save us from this ocean of Samsâra (round of birth and death). O Nârada! Anybody who remembers Râdhâ and reads this Stotra three times a day does not feel the want of anything in this world. He will ultimately go to Goloka and remain in the Râsa Mandalam. O Child This great secret ought never to be given out to any. Now I am telling you the method of worship of the Durgâ Devî. Hear. When any one remembers Durgâ in this world, all his difficulties and troubles are removed. It is not seen that anybody does not remember Durgâ. She is the object of worship of all. She is the Mother of all and the Wonderful S’akti of Mahâdeva.

She is the Presiding Deity of the intellect (Buddhi) of all and She controls the hearts of all and She removes the great difficulties and dangers of all. Therefore She is named Durgâ in the world. She is worshipped by all, whether a S’aiva or a Vaisnava. She is the Mûla Prakriti and from Her the creation, preservation and destruction of the universe proceed. O Nârada! Now I am saying the principal nine lettered Durgâ Mantra, the best of all the Mantras. “Aim Hrîm Klîm Châmundâyai Vichche” is the nine lettered Vîja mantra of S’rî Durgâ; it is like a Kalpa Vriksa yielding all desires. One should worship this mantra by all means. Brahmâ, Visnu, and Mahes’a are the Risis of this mantra; Gâyatrî, Usnik and Anusthubha are the chhandas; Mahâkâlî, Mahâ Laksmî and Sarasvatî are the Devatâs; Rakta Dantikâ, Durgâ, and Bhrâmarî are the Vîjas. Nandâ, Sâkambharî, and Bhîmâ are the S’aktis and Dharma (Virtue), Artha (wealth) and Kâma (desires), are the places of application (Viniyoga). Assign the head to the Risi of the mantra (Nyâsa); assign the chhandas to the mouth and assign the Devatâ to the heart. Then assign the S’akti to the right breast for the success and assign the Vîja to the left breast. Then perform the Sadamga Nyâsa as follows:-- Aim Hridayâya namah, Hrîm S’irase Svâhâ, Klîm S’ikhâyâm Vasat, Châmundâyai Kavachâya Hum, Vichche Netrâbhyâm Vausat, “Aim Hrîm Klîm Châmundâyai Vichche” Karatalaprisihâbhyâm Phat.

Next say touching the corresponding parts of the body:-- “Aim namah S’ikhâyâm, Hrîm Namah” on the right eye; “Klîm Namah” on the left eye, “Châm Namah” on the right ear, “Mum namah” on the left ear, ndam Namah” on the nostrils; “Vim Namah” on the face; “Chchem Namah” on the anus and finally “Aim Hrîm Klîm Châmundâyai Vichche” on the whole body. Then do the meditation (dhyân) thus:-- “O Châmunde! Thou art holding in Thy ten hands ten weapons, viz., Khadga (axe), Chakra (disc), Gadâ (club), Vâna (arrows), Châpa (bow), Parigha, Sûla (spear), Bhûs’undî Kapâla, and Khadga. Thou art Mahâ Kâlî; Thou art three-eyed; Thou art decked with various ornaments. Thou shinest like Lilânjan (a kind of black pigment). Thou hast ten faces and ten feet. The Lotus born Brahmâ chanted hymns to Thee for the destruction of Madhu Kaitabha; I bow down to Thee.” Thus one should meditate on Mahâ Kâlî, of the nature of Kâmavîja (the source whence will comes). Then the Dhyânam of Mahâ Laksmî runs as follows:-- O Mahâ Laksmî, the destroyer of Mahisâsura! Thou holdest the garland of Aksa (a kind of seed), Paras’u (a kind of axe), Gadâ (club), Isu (arrows), Kulis’a (the thunderbolt) Padmâ (Lotus), Dhanu (bow), Kundikâ (a student’s waterpot), Kamandalu, Danda (rod for punishment), S’akti (a kind of weapon), Asi (sword), Charma (shield) Padmâ (a kind of waterlily), Ghantâ (bell,) S’urâpâtra (a pot to hold liquor), S’ûla (pickaxe), Pâs’a (noose) and Sudarsana (a kind of weapon). Thy colour is of the Rising Sun.

Thou art seated on the red Lotus. Thou art of the nature Mâyâvîja (the source whence female energy comes). So Obeisance to Thee! (The Vîja and the Devî are one and identical). Next comes the Dhyânam of Mahâ Sarasvatî as follows:-- O Mahâ Sarasvatî! Thou holdest bell, pickaxe, plough (Hala), Conch shell, Musala (a kind of club), Sudars’ana, bow and arrows. Thy colour is like Kunda flower; Thou art the destroyer of S’umbha and the other Daityas; Thou art of the nature of Vânîvîja (the source whence knowledge, speech comes). Thy body is filled with everlasting existence, intelligence and bliss. Obeisance to Thee! O Nârada! Now I am going to say on the Yantra of Mahâ Sarasvatî. Listen. First draw a triangle. Draw inside the triangle eight petalled lotus having twenty-four leaves. Within this draw the house. Then on the Yantra thus drawn, or in the S’âlagrâma stone, or in the jar, or in image, or in the Vânalingam, or on the Sun, one should worship the Devî with oneness of heart. Then worship the Pîtha, the deities seated also on the dais, i.e., Jayâ, Vîjayâ, Ajitâ, Aghorâ, Mangalâ and other Pîtha S’aktis. Then worship the attendant deities called Âvarana Pûjâ:-- Brahmâ with Sarasvatî on the east, Nârâyana with Laksmî on the Nairirit corner, S’ankara with Pârvatî on the Vâyu corner, the Lion on the north of the Devî, and Mahâsura on the left side of the Devî; finally worship Mahisa (buffalo). Next worship Nandajâ, Raktadantâ, S’akambharî, S’ivâ, Durgâ, Bhîmâ, and Bhrâmarî.

Then on the eight petals worship Brahmâ, Mahes’varî, Kaumârî, Vaisnavî, Vârâhî, Nâra Simhî, Aindrî, and Châmundâ. Next commencing from the leaf in front of the Devî, worship on the twenty four leaves Visnu Mâyâ, Chetanâ, Buddhi, Nidrâ (sleep), hunger, shadow, S’akti, thirst, peace, species (Jâti), modesty, faith, fame, Laksmî (wealth), fortitude, Vriti, S’ruti, memory, mercy, Tusti, Pusti (nourishment), Bhrânti (error) and other Mâtrikâs. Next on the corners of the Bhûpura (gates of the Yantra), Ganes’a Ksettrapâlas, Vatuka and Yoginîs are to be worshipped. Then on the outside of that Indra and the other Devas furnished with weapons are to be worshipped as per the aforesaid rules. For the satisfaction of the World-Mother various nice offerings and articles like those given by the royal personages are to be presented to the Mother; then the mantra is to be repeated, understanding its exoteric and esoteric meanings. Then Saptas’ati stitra (Chandî pâtha) is to be repeated before the Devî. There is no other stotra like this in the three worlds. Thus Durgâ, the Deity of the Devas, is to be appeased every day. He who does this gets within his easy reach Dharma, Artha, Kâma, and Moksa, the four main objects of human pursuits (virtue, wealth, enjoyment and final beatitude). O Nârada! Thus I have described to you the method of worship of the Devî Durgâ. People get by this what they want.

Hari, Brahmâ, and all the Devas, Manus, Munis, the Yogîs full of knowledge, the Âs’ramîs, and Laksmî and the other Devas all meditate on S’ivânî. One’s birth is attained with success at the remembrance of Durgâ. The fourteen Manus have got their Manuship and the Devas their own rights by meditating on the lotus feet of Durgâ. O Nârada! Thus I have described to you the very hidden histories of the Five Prakritis and their parts. Then, verily, the four objects of human pursuits Dharma, Artha, Kâma and Moksa are obtained by hearing this. He who has no sons gets sons, who has no learning gets learning and whoever wants anything gets that if he hears this. The Devî Jagaddhâtrî becomes certainly pleased with him who reads with his mind concentrated on this for nine nights before the Devî. The Devî becomes obedient to him who daily reads one chapter of this Ninth Skandha and the reader also does what is acceptable to the Devî. To ascertain before-hand what effects, merits or demerits, would accrue from reading this Bhâgavata, it is necessary by examining through the hands of a virgin girl or a Brâhmin child, the auspicious or inauspicious signs. First make a Sankalpa (resolve) and worship the book. Then bow down again and again to the Devî Durgâ. Then bring there a virgin girl, bathed well and worship her duly and have a golden pencil fixed duly in her hand and placed in the middle on the body.

Then calculate the auspicious or inauspicious effects, as the case may be, from the curves made by that pencil. So the effects of reading this Bhâgavata would be. If the virgin girl be indifferent in fixing the pencil within the area drawn, know the result of reading the Bhâgavata would be similar. There is no doubt in this. Here ends the Fiftieth Chapter of the Ninth Book on the Glory of S’akti in the Mahâpurânam S’rîmad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa. Here ends the Ninth Book. The Ninth Book Completed.