History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.689
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.689
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The Tithitattva (pp. 69–72), Nirṇayasindhu and other works provide that in the Navarātra the performer should hear the recitation of the Vedas (Vedapārāyaṇa) and that beginning with the first tithi up to the 9th he should himself mutter Caṇḍīpāṭha (recitation of Devīmāhātmya) or engage a person to do so, reciting it once on the first, twice on 2nd tithi and so on up to nine times on 9th tithi. The Devīpurāṇa provides for pūjā, japa and homa and the mantras therefore by saying that the worship of Devī is to be performed by casting into the fire sesame and with curds, milk and ghee. The Devī-mantra is either what is called the Jayantīmantra⁴⁴¹ (quoted in note) or the mantra of nine syllables (quoted in the note). The Dvaitanirṇaya-siddhāntasaṅgraha states that the mantra is either one that a man's *guru* has taught him, or the Vedic verse ‘Jātavedase sunavāma’ (Ṛg. I. 99.1) or one with nine letters or the one ‘namo devyai mahādevyai’ or the ślokas in the Saptaśatī.⁴⁴² The Tithitattva quotes (pp. 69–71) a long passage from the Vārāhī-tantra about the result of reciting Devīmāhātmya several times. A few verses are cited for sample. "When some great danger threatens, one should recite (Devīmāhātmya) seven times; if repeated twelve times one secures fulfilment of one's desires and the destruction of enmity; if repeated 14 times, an enemy would be subdued and a woman would be brought under one's control;
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repeating a hundred times results in increase of one's kingdom, if repeated a thousand times Lakṣmī comes to a man of her own accord As Aśvamedha is the prince among sacrifices, as Hari (is superior) among gods, so the laud called Saptaśatī is the highest among all lauds⁴⁴³" The Tithitattva further provides that one should recite⁴⁴⁴ before the reading of the 'prathamacarita' the ṛṣi (sage), the metre &c. of it and also when repeating the *Madhyamacarita* and the *Uttaracarita* Very great importance was attached in ancient and medieval times to the recitation of mantras and even modern men brought up in English schools, colleges and Universities often implicitly believe in their efficacy, even if one may not understand their meaning. The qualities of the sounds of mantras or of parts of mantras (such as 'hrīm') and their potentialities, the various devices employed when using them are deemed of far greater importance than the meaning. The Gītā (X 25) itself puts Japa-yajña as the highest among yajñas such as those of *dravya* (materials or money), tapoyajña (Gītā IV 28). Mantras are supposed to have a tremendous effect on the sub-conscious mind and it may perhaps be so if one concentrates one's mind thereon to the exclusion of all else. A person could himself recite the Saptaśatī or engage a person to read it to him who was called *pāṭhaka* or *vācaka* as in T. T. p.
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72, Durgārcana p 661 Some very orthodox writers went so far as to lay down that a śūdra could only listen to the Mahābhārata or Saptaśatī but could not read it himself. Raghunandana⁴⁴⁵ like Kamalākara appears to have held this view. One should stop reading at the end of a chapter and not in its middle; but if for some reason one had to stop in the middle of a chapter, when one again commenced reading or reciting Saptaśatī, one should not proceed from where one left off in the middle of a chapter, but begin with the first verse of the chapter half read or recited. Provision was made that the reader engaged for reading Saptaśatī should be handsomely requited for his labour by gifts of gold, silver, cows with bell-metal pails for milking. Mr Ghosh notes (p. 39) that besides the reader of Devīmāhātmya a separate priest is selected to repeat the mūlamantra a hundred thousand times and is called *Jāpaka*. The Nirṇayasindhu (pp 185–186) gives elaborate descriptions of Śatacandi-pāṭha and Sahasracandi In the first, ten well-conducted brāhmaṇas including the ācārya are chosen. They are to recite together Saptaśatī once on the 1st day, twice on the 2nd, thrice on the 3rd and four times on the 4th; in this way Saptaśatī would be repeated one hundred times. In Sahasracandi one hundred brāhmaṇas are to be chosen and they are to repeat Saptaśatī for four days as in Śatacandi-pāṭha A thousand brāhmaṇas are to be fed and one hundred cows are to be donated.
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The Nirṇayasindhu notes that these two are not included in the great digests but there is popular usage to this effect.