Hymns to the Goddess

by Arthur Avalon [Sir Arthur Woodroffe] London: Luzac [1913] NOTICE OF ATTRIBUTION

THE Goddess or Devī (as the Hindus call Her) is God (as the Western worshippers address Him) in Its Mother aspect. The latter not uncommonly deem such attribution of feminine quality to be "heathenish"; but this condemnation (for the criticism has, of course, this intendment) is itself singularly foolish in that it is thereby implied that of two sets of terms (neither of which is in its strict sense applicable to the Deity as the Author of forms), one is, in fact, a more correct description than the other. In the Navaratneśvara it is said: "That Devī, who is existence, consciousness, and bliss, should be thought of as a female or as a male, or as pure Brahman. In reality, however, She is neither male nor neuter (that is to say, that She is not bound to any particular form)." No one contends that the Brahmatattva in the supreme abode beyond appearances is masculine as opposed to feminine, or the latter as contrasted with the former. Like all else in this matter, words are but the babbling endeavour of our plane to express that which is above it. It is not easy, then, to explain the condemnation except upon the assumption that those who pronounce it think their mother's sex to be inferior to their own, and that thus Deity is unworthily described by any other terms than those of masculine excellence. But Hindus, who ever place the name of mother before that of father, and to whom garbha dhāraṇapoṣābhyām pitur mātā gariyasi, have no partiality for such mistaken notions. On the other hand, it is possible that they might not understand the Christian expression "Mother of God," nor approve it even after they had learnt the limited and special sense which theology gives to this epithet. The Tāntrika would least of all admit the insufficiency of the conception of God as Mother. For the Devī manifests in his own mother, in his prakṛti (as he calls his wife), and in all women. As the Kubjikā Tantra says: "Whosoever has seen the feet of woman let him worship them as those of his guru" (Strinām pādatalam driṣtvāguruvadbhāvayet sadā). Whilst male and female are both Her aspects, yet Śakti is, in a sense, said to be more revealed in the female than in the male form. And so the Muṇḍamāla Tantra says: "Wherever there is a śaktī (female), there I am." On account of this greater manifestation, women are called Śakti. From this, however, it must not be supposed that Śakti is less present in such forms as Śiva and Kṛṣṇa and others. If, as the author of the Tantra Tattva says, a sādhaka who is a worshipper of the Kṛṣṇamūrti desires to see Him as Kālī, Bhagavān, who fulfils the desires of devotees, will assume that form. All forms come into existence upon the manifestation of consciousness in the play of Her whose substance is consciousness. Though the Sāktānandataranginī says: Devī is worshipped on account of Her soft heart (komalāntahkaraṇam), yet the use of the term "Mother" has other grounds than those which are founded upon an appeal to the natural feelings which the sweetness of the word "Mother" evokes. The meaning of the term "Devī" is prakāsātmikā, or that which is by its nature Light and Manifestation. And the word is used in the feminine gender because the One, as Śakti and Prakṛti, bears and nourishes all things as their Mother. The Devī is therefore the Brahman revealed in Its Mother aspect (Śrimātā) as Creatrix and Nourisher of the worlds. Worshippers of Devī or Śakti are called Śāktas. But those who have a true knowledge of Śakti-tattva without which, according to Śāstra, Nirvānamokṣa is unattainable, will in thought surpass the sectarianism which the terms "Śākta", "Vaiṣṇava" and "Śaiva" ordinarily connote. Whatever forms the Devī assumes in Her aspect with attributes are but Her forms. As the author last cited says, the sādhaka will know Her, whether the appearance be that of Kṛṣṇa, Durgā, or Mahādeva. The Vaiṣṇava may consider Her as Viṣṇu in the form of Śakti, or the Śākta may look upon Her as Śakti in the form of Viṣṇu. To those who, immersed in the ocean of Her substance, which is cits'akti, are forgetful of all differences which appertain to the world of form, Kṛṣṇaśakti, Śivaśakti, or Kāliśakti, and all other manifestations of śakti, are one and the same. And so Rāmaprasāda, the Bengali poet and Tāntrik, sang: "Thou assumeth five principal forms according to the differences of worship. But, O Mother! how can you escape the hands of him who has dissolved the five and made them into one?" The hymns to the Devī in this volume (introduced by a stotra to Her Spouse the Kālabhairava) are taken from the Tantra, Purāṇa, Mahābhārata, and Śankarācārya, who was "the incarnation of devotion" (bhaktāvatāra) as well as a great philosopher; a fact which is sometimes ignored by those who do not wish to be reminded that he, whose speculative genius they extol, was also the protagonist of the so-called "idolatrous Hinduism." As his great example amongst many others of differing race and creed tell us, it is not, from the view of religion, the mark of discernment (even though it be the mode) to neglect or disparage the ritual practice which all orthodoxies have prescribed for their adherents. Stava and pujā are doubtless the sādhana appropriate to the first of the several stages of an ascent which gradually leads away from them; but they are in general as necessary as the higher ones, which more immediately precede the attainment of brahmabhāva and siddhi. Apart, however, from this aspect of the matter, and to look at it from the point of view of that modern product, the mere "student of religions," who is not infrequently a believer in none, a knowledge of ritual (to use that term in its widest sense) will help to a greater and more real understanding of the mahāvākya of the Āryas than can be gained from those merely theoretical expositions of them which are now more popular. Those, again, whose interests are in what Verlaine called "mere literature" will at least appreciate the mingled tenderness and splendour of these Hymns, even in a translation which cannot reproduce the majesty of the sanskrit ślokas of the Tantra and Purāṇa, or the rhyme and sweet lilting rhythms of Śankara. Of the Hymns now published, those from the Mahābhārata and Candī have already been translated; the first, in the English edition of the Mahābhārata, by Protap Chandra Roy and by Professor Muir in his "Original Sanskrit Texts," and the second by Mr. Pargiter, whose rendering of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (of which it is the most celebrated portion) has been printed by the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [paragraph continues] Ādyākālisvarūpastotra has also been previously published as part of a rendering by myself of the Mahānirvāṇa Tantra. The first two sets of Hymns have been translated afresh. In the translation of such works a Sanskrit dictionary (however excellent) is not either a sufficient or reliable guide. It is necessary to study the Hindu commentators and to seek the oral aid of those who possess the traditional interpretation of the Śāstra. Without this and an understanding of what Hindu worship is and means, absurd mistakes are likely to be made. I have thus, in addition to such oral aid, availed myself of the Commentaries of Nīlakanṭha on the Mahābhārata, of Gopāla Chakravarti and Nāgogī Bhatta on Candī, and of Nīlakantha on the Devībhāgavata. As regards the Tantra, the great Sādhana Śāstrā, nothing which is of both an understanding and accurate character can be achieved without a study of the original texts undertaken with the assistance of the Tāntrik gurus and pandits, who are the authorized custodians of its traditions. The other stotras are now rendered in English for the first time; at least, I have come across no translation of them. The text of the Tantrasāra which has been used is that edited by Shrījut Rasik Mohun Chatterjee. It is not free from faults, which have necessitated reference to other Manuscripts. A more correct text of the Tārāshtakam, from the Nīla Tantra, is given in the Brihatstotraratnākara, to which reference has also been made for the hymns of Vālmīki and Indra. Both Ellen Woodroffe and myself have collaborated in the translation of the hymns by Śankara. For the rest, as also for the Introduction and Commentary, I am alone responsible. Some of the notes deal with matter familiar enough to the Hindu reader but have been inserted for the use of his English friends. Other portions of the commentary will, I believe, be found to be of use to both.

March 1, 1913 HYMNS TO THE GODDESS CONTENTS

Preface v

Hymn to Kālabhairava

Bhairavī Bhuvaneśwarī Ādyakālī Lakṣmī Tārā Mahiṣāmardinī Annapurṇā Sarasvatī Durgā Triputā (From PURĀNA) Sarvaviśvajananī Ambikā Caṇḍikā Mahādevī Jagadambika (From MAHĀBHĀRATA) Durgā Ārya (From ŚANKARĀCĀRYA) Durgā Tripurasundarī Gangā Ānandalaharī Yamunā Devyaparāda kshamāpana Maṇikarṇikā Gangā (From ŚANKARĀCĀRYA) Narmadā Annapurṇā (From VĀLMĪKI) Gangā (From INDRA) Mahālakṣmī HYMNS TO THE GODDESS INTRODUCTION SANĀTANA BRAHMAN is called sakala when with Prakṛti, as It is niṣkala when thought of as without Prakṛti (prakṛteranya), for kalā is Prakṛti. 1 To say, however, that Śakti exists in or with, the Brahman is an accommodation to human thought and speech, for the Brahman and Śakti are in fact one. Śakti is eternal (anādirūpā), and Brahmarūpā, and both nirguṇā and saguṇā. 2 She, the Goddess (Devī), is the caitanyarūpiṇi devī who manifests all bhūta; the ānandarūpiṇi devī by whom the Brahman, who She is, manifests Itself, 3 and who, to use the words of the Śāradātilaka, pervades the universe as does oil the sesamum seed. "Sa aikṣata," of which Śruti speaks, was itself a manifestation of Śakti, the paramāpūrvanirvāṇaśakti, or Brahman, as Śakti. From the paraśaktimaya issued nāda, and from nāda, bindu 4. The state of subtle body known as kāmakalā is the mūla of mantra, and is meant when the Devī is spoken of as mūlamantrātmikā. 1 The Parambindu is represented as a circle the centre of which is the Brahmapada, wherein are Prakṛti-puruṣa; the circumference of which is encircling māyā. It is in the crescent of nirvāṇakalā the seventeenth, which is again in that of amākalā the sixteenth, digit of the moon circle (candramaṇḍala), situate above the sun-circle (sūryamaṇdala), the Guru and the Hamsah in the pericarp of the 1,000 petalled lotus (sahasrārapadma). The bindu is symbolically described as being like a grain of gram (canaka), which under its encircling sheath contains a divided seed--Prakṛti-puruṣa or Śakti-Śiva. 2 It is known as the Śabda Brahman. 3 A polarization then takes place in paraśaktimaya. The Devī becomes unmukhi. Her face is turned to Śiva. There is an unfolding which bursts the encircling shell. 4 The devatāparaśaktimaya exists in the threefold aspect of bindu, bīja, and nāda, the last being in relation to the two former. An indistinct sound then arises 5 (avyaktātmāravobhavat). Nāda, as Rāghava Bhatta 6 says, exists in three states, for in it are the three guṇas. The Śabda Brahman manifests Itself in the threefold energies, Jnāna, Ichhā, and Kriyā Śakti. 7 For, as the Vāmakeśvara [paragraph continues] Tantra says, the Devī Tripurā is threefold, as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Īśa. Paraśiva exists as a septenary under the forms of Śambhu, Śadāśiva, Īśāna, Rudra, Viṣṇu, and Brahmā. The last five are the Mahāpreta, four of whom form the support, and the fifth the seat, of the bed on which the Devī is united with Paramaśiva in the room of cintāmaṇi stone on the jewelled island clad with clumps of kadamba, and heavenly trees set in the ocean of ambrosia. 1 Śakti is both māyā and mūlaprakṛti, whose substance is the three guṇas, representing nature as the revelation of spirit (sattva); nature as the passage of descent from spirit to matter, or of ascent from matter to spirit (rajas), and nature as the dense veil of spirit (tamas). The Devī is thus the treasure-house of guṇas (guṇanidhih). 2 Mūlaprakṛti is the womb into which the Brahman casts the seed from which all things are born. 3 The womb thrills to the movement of the essentially active rajoguṇa, and the now unstable guṇas in varied combinations under the illumination of Śiva (cit) evolve the universe which is ruled by Maheśvara and Maheśvarī. The dual principles of Śiva-Śakti, which are the product of the polarity manifested in Paraśaktimaya, pervade the whole universe, and are present in man in the svayambhulinga of the mūlādhāra and the Devī Kuṇḍalinī, who in serpent form encircles it. The Śabdabrahman assumes the form of the Devī Kuṇḍalinī, and as such is in the form of all breathing creatures (prāṇi), and in the form of letters appears in prose and verse. She is the luminous vital energy (jīvaśakti), which manifests as prāṇa. Through the various prakṛta and vaikṛta creations, issued the Devas, men, animals, and the whole universe, which is the work and manifested form of the Devī. For, as the Kubjikā Tantra says, "Not Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra create, maintain, and destroy, but Brāhmī, Vaiṣṇavī, Rudrāṇī. Their husbands are but as dead bodies." The Goddess (Devī) is the great Śakti. She is māyā, for of Her the māyā which produces the samsāra is. As Lord of māyā, She is Mahāmāyā. 1 Devī is avidyā (nescience), because She binds; and vidyā (knowledge), because She liberates and destroys the samsāra. 2 She is Prakṛti, 3 and, as existing before creation, She is the ādya (primordial) śakti. She is the vācaka-śakti, the manifestation of cit in Prakṛti; and the vācya śakti or cit itself. The ātmā should be contemplated as Devī. 4 Śakti or Devī is thus the Brahman revealed in its Mother aspect (srīmātā) 5 as creatrix and nourisher of the worlds. Kālī says of Herself in Yoginī Tantra: 6 "Saccidānandarupāham Brahmaivāham sphuratprabham." So the Devī is described with attributes both of the qualified 7 Brahman, and (since that Brahman is but the manifestation of the Absolute), She is also addressed with epithets which denote the unconditioned Brahman. 1 She is the great Mother (ambikā) sprung from the sacrificial hearth of the fire of the Grand Consciousness (cit) decked with the Sun and Moon; Lalitā--"She who plays"--whose play is world-play; whose eyes, playing like fish in the beauteous waters of Her Divine face, open and shut with the appearance and disappearance of countless worlds, now illuminated by Her light, now wrapped in her terrible darkness. 2 For Devī, who issues from the great Abyss, is terrible also in Her Kālī, Tārā, Chinnamastā, and other forms. Śāktas hold that a sweet and complete resignation of the self to such forms of the Divine Power denotes a higher stage of spiritual development. 3 Such dualistic worship also speedily bears the fruit of knowledge of the Universal Unity, the realization of which dispels all fear. For the Mother is only terrible to those who, living in the illusion of separateness (which is the cause of all fear), have not yet realized their unity with Her, and known that all Her forms are those of beauty. The Devī as Parabrahman is beyond all form and guṇa. The forms of the Mother of the universe are threefold. There is first the Supreme (para) form, of which, as the Viṣṇu Yāmala 1 says, "none know." There is next Her subtle (sūkṣma) form, which consists of mantra. But, as the mind cannot easily settle itself upon that which is formless, 2 She appears as the subject of contemplation in Her third or gross (sthūla) or physical form, with hands and feet and the like, as celebrated in the Devīstotra of the Purāṇas and Tantras. Devī, who as Prakṛti is the source of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara, 3 has both male and female forms. 4 But it is in Her female forms that she is chiefly contemplated. For, though existing in all things, in a peculiar sense female beings are parts of Her. 5 The Great Mother, who exists in the form of all Tantras and all Yantras, 6 is, as the Lalitā says, the "unsullied treasure-house of beauty," the sapphire Devī 7 whose slender waist, 1 bending beneath the burden of the ripe fruit of her breasts, 2 swells into jewelled hips heavy 3 with the promise of infinite maternities 4. Her litanies depict Her physical form from head to foot, celebrating Her hair adorned with flowers and crowned with gems; Her brow bright as the eighth-day moon; Her ruby cheeks and coral lips; teeth like to "the buds of the sixteen-syllabled mantra," and eyebrows curved as are the arches at the gate of the palace of Kāmarāja; Her nose; Her teeth; Her chin; Her arms; and "Her twin breasts offered in return for that priceless gem which is the love of Kāmeśvara"; Her waist girdled with jewelled bells; Her smooth and faultless limbs rounded beneath the "jewelled disc of the knee like the sapphire-studded quiver of the God of Love" descending in lines of grace to Her bright louts feet, 1 which dispel the darkness of Her worshippers. 2 For moonlight is She, yet sunbeam, soothing all those who are burnt by the triple fires of misery (tāpatraya). Her face, Her body from throat to waist, and thence downwards, represent the vāgbhava and other kūta. The colour of the Devī varies according to the form under which She is contemplated. Thus, in conferring liberation, She is white; as controller of women, men, and kings, She is red; and as controller of wealth, saffron. As creatrix of enmity, She becomes tawny; and in the thrill of love, passion (śṛngāra), She is of the colour of the rose. In the action of slaying She becomes black. Thus, Devī, the Supreme Light, is to be meditated upon as differently coloured according to Her different activities. 3 After the description of the form of the Devī in brahmāṇḍa follows that of Her subtle form, called Kuṇḍalinī in the body (piṇḍāṇḍa). As the Mahādevī 4 She exists in all forms as Śarasvatī, Lakṣmī, Gāyatrī, [paragraph continues] Durgā, Tripurasundarī, Annapurṇā, and all the Devī who are avatāra of the Brahman. 1 Devī, as Satī, Umā, Pārvatī, and Gourī, is spouse of Śiva. It was as Satī, prior to Dakṣa's sacrifice (dakṣayajna) that the Devī manifested Herself to Śiva 2 in the ten celebrated forms known as the daśamahāvidyā--Kālī, Bagala, Chinnamastā, Bhuvaneshvarī, Mātanginī, Shorosi, Dhumāvati, Tripurasundarī, Tārā, and Bhairavī. When at the dakṣayajna She yielded up Her life in shame and sorrow at the treatment accorded by Her father to Her husband, Śiva took away the body, and, ever bearing it with him, remained wholly distraught and spent with grief. To save the world from the forces of evil which arose and grew with the withdrawal of His divine control, Viṣṇu, with his discus (cakra), cut the dead body of Satī, which Śiva bore, into fifty-one fragments, which fell to earth at the places thereafter known as the fifty-one 3 mahāpīthasthānas, where Devī, with her Bhairava, is worshipped under various names. Thus the right and left breasts fell at Jalandhara and Ramgiri, where the Devī is worshipped as Tripuramālinī; the yoni at the celebrated shrine at Kamrup in Assam, where the Devī is worshipped as Kāmākṣā or Kāmākhyā (see ibid.); 4 the throat, shoulders, nose, hands, arms, eyes, fingers, tongue, buttocks, lips, belly, chin, navel, cheeks, thighs, teeth, feet, ears, thumbs, heels, toes (some at Kālīghat), waist, hair, forehead, with skeleton (several of these parts being themselves divided), fell at other pītha, at each of which the Devī is worshipped under different names in company with a Bhairava or Śiva, also variously named. Thus, the Devī at Kālīghat is Kālikā, and the Śiva Nakuleśvara, and the Devī at Kamrup is Kāmākshā, and Her Bhairava is Ramānanda. These are but some only of Her endless forms. She is seen as one and as many: as it were, but one moon reflected in countless waters. 1 She exists, too, in all animals and inorganic things, since the universe, with all its beauties, is, as the Devī Purāṇa says, but a part of Her. All this diversity of form is but the infinite manifestations of the flowering beauty of the one Supreme Life--a doctrine which is nowhere else taught with greater wealth of illustration than in the Śākta Śāstras and Tantras. The great Bharga in the bright sun, and all Devatā, and, indeed, all life and being are worshipful, and are worshipped, but only as Her manifestations. 2 And he who worships them otherwise is, in the words of the great Devībhāgavata, 3 "like unto a man who, with the light of a clear lamp in his hands, yet falls into some waterless and terrible well." It is customary nowadays to decry external worship, but those who do so presume too much. The ladder of ascent can only be scaled by those who have trod all, including its lowest, rungs. The Śaktirahasya summarises the stages of progress in a short verse, thus: "A mortal who worships by ceremonies, by images, by mind, by identification, by knowing the self, attains kaivalya." Before brahma-bhāva can be attained the sādhaka must have passed from pūjābhāva through hymns and prayer to dhyāna-bhāva. The highest worship 1 for which the sādhaka is qualified (adhikāri) only after external worship, and that internal form known as sādhāra 2 is described as nirādhāra. Therein Pure Intelligence is the Supreme Śakti who is worshipped as the Very Self, the Witness freed of the glamour of the manifold universe. By one's own direct experience of Maheśvarī as the Self, She is, with reverence, made the object of that worship which leads to liberation. JẈ. Footnotes 1:1 Śāradā Tilakam (chap. i.). See Introduction to Tantra Śāstra by Sir John Woodroffe--sub. voc. "Śiva and Śakti," of which the above is in part (with added matter) an abbreviation. 1:2 Praṇamya prakṛtim nityām paramātmasvarūpinīm (chap. i.). Śāktānandataranginī, both Tāntrik works of high authority. 1:3 Kubjikā Tantra (First Paṭala). 1:4 Sāradā (loc. cit). 2:1 See Bhāskararāya's Commentary on the Lalitā Sahasranāma (verse 36), and the Pādukāpancaka in The Serpent Power. 2:2 See Ṣatcakranirūpaṇa of Purnānanda Svāmi in The Serpent Power. 2:3 Śāradā (loc. cit). 2:4 Ibid. 2:5 Ibid. 2:6 See Commentary on verse 49 of the Ṣatcakranirūpaṇa, and generally as to the subject-matter of this Introduction, my "Introduction to Tantra Śāstra." 2:7 See Goraksha Samhitā, Bhutaśuddhi Tantra, and Yoginī Tantra, Part I, . 3:1 See Ānandalaharī of Śankarācārya, verse 8. The dhyāna is well known to the Tāntrik sādhaka. 3:2 Lalitā, verse 121. 3:3 Bhagavadgītā (chap. xiv., verses 3,4). 4:1 Mahāmāyā without māyā is nirguṇā, and with māyā, saguṇā. Śāktānandataranginī (chap. i.). 4:2 Śāktānandataranginī (chap. L). 4:3 Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa (chap. i.); Prakṛtikhanda. Br. Nāradiya Pr. 4:4 See chap. ii. of Devī Bhāgavata. 4:5 Devī is worshipped on account of her soft heart. Śāktānandataranginī (chap. iii.). 4:6 Part I., Chapter X. 4:7 Such as Mukunda, an aspect of Viṣṇu. Lalitāsahasranāma, verse 838. 5:1 Ibid, verse 153, and Commentator's note to Chapter II., where Devī is addressed as Supreme Light (paramjyotih), Supreme Abode (paramdhāma), Supreme of Supreme (parātparā). 5:2 See the Lalitā. 5:3 See the saying of Rāmaprasāda, the poet-devotee of Kālimā, quoted at in Babu Dinesh Chunder Sen's "History of Bengali Literature." "Though the Mother beat him, the child cries 'Mother! O Mother!' and clings still tighter to her garment. True, I cannot see Thee, yet am I not a lost child. I still cry 'Mother!' 6:1 Mātastvatparamamrūpam tanna jānāti kashchana (see chap. iii. of Śāktānandataranginī) 6:2 Amurtauchitsthironasyāt tatomurtim vichintayet (ibid., chap. i., as was also explained to Himavat by Devī in the Kurma Purāṇa). 6:3 Ibid., and as such is called Tripurā (see Bhāskararāyā's Commentary on Lalitā, verse 125). 6:4 Ibid., chap. iii., which also says that there is no eunuch form of God. 6:5 So in Candi (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa) it is said: "Vidyāh samastāstava devī bhedāh, Stryah samastāsakalā jagatsu." The Tāntrika, more than all men, recognizes the divinity of woman, as was observed centuries past by the author of the Dabistan. The Linga Purāṇa also, after describing Arundhati, Anasūyā and Shachi to be each the manifestation of Devī, concludes: "All things indicated by words in the feminine gender are manifestations of Devī." Similarly the Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa. 6:6 Sarvatantrarūpā Sarvayantrātmīkā (See Lalitā, verse 53). 6:7 Padma Purāṇa says: "Viṣṇu ever worships the sapphire Devī." 7:1 Ājnvarastanatatimtanuvrittamadhyām (Bhuvaneśvarīstotra), tanumadhya (Lalitā, verse 79). krishodari (Ādyakālisvarūpāstotra, Mahānirvāṇa Tantra, 7th Ullāsa). 7:2 Stotra and dhyāna commonly represent Her as having large, full, and erect breasts--pīnastanādye (in Karpurādistotra), pinonnatapayodharām) (in Durgā-dhyāna of Devī Purāṇa), bakshojakumbhāntari (in Annapurṇāstava) āpivarastanatatim (in Bhuvaneśvarīstotra)--which weight her limbs--kuchabharanamitāngīm (in Sarasvatidhyāna), annapradānaniratāngstanabhāranamrām (in Annapūrṇastava). And the Lalitā, verse 15, says: "Her golden girdle supports Her waist, which bends under the burden of Her breasts, thrice folding the skin below Her bosom" (trivalīvalayopetām). 7:3 So it is said in the tenth śloka of the Karpūrākhyastava samantādāpīnastanajaghanadhrikyauvanavatī. Śankarācarya, in his Tripurāsundarīstotra, speaks of Her nitaniba (buttocks) "as excelling the mountain in greatness" (nitambajitabhūdharām). The Javanese also call Her Loro Jongram, "The pure exalted virgin with beautiful hips." 7:4 The physical characteristics of the Devī in Her swelling breasts and hips are emblematic of Her great Motherhood, for She is Śrimātā. 8:1 See the Lalitāsahasranāma, verse 4 et seq. "Her brow (aṣṭamīcandravibhrājadalika sthala śobhitā), Her eyebrow (vadanasamara māngalyagrihatoranacillika), Her twin breasts (kāmeśvarapremaratnamani pratiphalastani), Her waist (ratnakinkinikārabhyarashanādāma bhūṣitā), "Her thighs, known only to Kameśa" (Kāmeśajnātasaubhāgya mardavorudvayānvitā), Her lower limbs (indragopa parikṣipta smaratunā bhajandhikā); Her instep 'arched like the back of a tortoise,' the bright rays from her nails and the soles of Her feet in beauty shaming the lotus." 8:2 From the beautiful litany to the Devī in the Lalitāsahasranāma. 8:3 Bhāskararāya's Commentary on Lalitā, verse 170. 8:4 She whose body is, as the Devī Purāṇa says, immeasurable. 9:1 Śāktānandataranginī (chap. iii.). 9:2 In order to display Her power to Her husband who had not granted, at Her request, His permission that She might attend at Dakṣa's sacrifice (see "Principles of Tantra" and for an account of the daśamahāvidyā, their yantra and mantra, the Daśamahāvidyā upāsanārahasya of Prasanno Kumar Shastri). 9:3 The number is variously given as 50, 51, and 52. 9:4 Here at Her shrine the menstruation of the earth which, according to Hindu belief, takes place in the month of Assar, is said to manifest itself. For three days during ambuvāchī no cooked food is eaten by the women, nor does any cooking take place in the house. 10:1 Brahmabindu Up, . 10:2 See chap. iii. of the Śāktānandataranginī, where it is said: "The Parabrahman, Devī, Śiva, and all other Deva and Devī are but one, and he who thinks them different from one another goes to Hell." 10:3 Hymn to Jagadambikā in Chapter XIX. 11:1 Sūtasamhitā, 1, 5, 3, which divides such worship into Vedic and Tāntrik (see Bhāskararāya's Commentary on Lalitā, verse 43). 11:2 In which Devī is worshipped in the form of mantra according to the instructions of the Guru. HYMN TO KĀLABHAIRAVA BY ŚANKARĀCĀRYA KĀLABHAIRAVA (KĀLABHAIRAVĀṢṬAKA) I WORSHIP Kālabhairava, 1 Lord of the city of Kāśī, 2 Whose sacred lotus feet are worshipped by the King of Devas, 3 The compassionate One, Whose sacrificial thread is made of serpents, On whose forehead shines the moon. 4 The naked one, 5 Whom Nārada 6 and multitudes of other Yogis adore. Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje. 7 I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī, Blazing like a million suns, Our great Saviour in our voyage across the ocean of the world. 1 The blue-throated, 2 three-eyed 3 grantor of all desires, The lotus-eyed, who is the death of death, 4 The imperishable One, Holding the rosary of human bone 5 and the trident. 6 Kāśikāpurādhinātha Kālabhairavam bhaje. I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī, The primeval cause, 7 Holding in His hands trident, axe, noose, and staff 8 --Him of the black body, 9 The first of all Deva 10, imperishable, incorruptible, Lord formidable and powerful, Who loves to dance wonderfully. 1 Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje. I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī, Of great and beautiful body, The giver of both enjoyment and liberation, 2 Who loves and smiles upon all His devotees, Whose body is the whole world, Whose waist is adorned with little tinkling bells; 3 Beautiful are they, and made of gold. Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje. I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī, The protector of the bridge of dharma, 4 Destroyer of the path of adharma, 5 Liberator form the bonds of karma, 6 The all-pervading giver of welfare to all, Whose golden body is adorned with serpent coils. Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje. I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī Whose feet are beautiful with the lustre of the gems thereon-- The stainless, eternal Iṣṭadevatā, 1 One without a second, 2 Destroyer of the pride, and liberator from the gaping jaw of the God of Death. 3 Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje. I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī, 4 Whose loud laughter broke the shell of many an egg of the lotus-born; 5 Strong ruler, at whose glance the net of sin is broken; Giver of the eight powers, 6 Whose shoulders serpents garland. Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje. I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī, The Saviour of all, giver of great fame, The all-pervading One, Who purifies of both sin and virtue the people of Kāśī; 1 The ancient Lord of the world, Wise in the wisdom of all moralities. 2 Kāśikāpurādhinātha kālabhairavam bhaje. Footnotes 15:1 Śiva as such. 15:2 Benares. The Kāśipanchakastotra of Śankara says that the pure Ganges is the flow of knowledge and Kāśī is Śiva's mind (Jnānapravāhāvimalādigangā sakāśikāham nijabodharūpah). 15:3 Devarāja or Indra. 15:4 Hence Śiva is called Candraśekhara. 15:5 Digambaram, as are the Yogis of whom He is Master. For He is clothed with space itself. 15:6 The Ṛṣi of that name. 15:7 The refrain is: "I worship Kālabhairava, Lord of the city of Kāśī." 16:1 A constant simile. The world is a storm-tossed ocean not free of danger, even in moments of calm, for therein many dangers, perils, and terrors lie. 16:2 For Śiva swallowed the poison which issued at the churning of the ocean to save the earth from its dangerous presence. 16:3 For with the ordinary eyes He bears in the forehead the eye of wisdom. 16:4 Śiva is the conqueror of death ("mrityunjaya"), for he gives that knowledge which frees man of its terrors. 16:5 Even often of the low-caste Candālas and others, for Śiva is the adored and protector of all. 16:6 His peculiar weapon. 16:7 For all causes potentially lie in His destructive energies, the manifestation of which is the prelude of re-creation. 16:8 Śūla, tangka, pāśa, daṇḍa, His implements. 16:9 As Kālabhairava. Usually he is white and smeared with ashes "shining like a mountain of silver." 16:10 Hence He is called Mahādeva. 17:1 Vichitratāṇḍavapriyam. Śiva is often pictured dancing as Natarāja. The place of the dance is the body of the individual and the world spoken of as vanam (the forest), on account of the multitude of its components. He as the inner ātman causes all things to dance into and out of life, and again into it. All life and activity comes through Him, "the unseen Lord of the stage." 17:2 Bhuktimuktidāyakam--that is, He gives both worldly and heavenly enjoyment, and that release from both which is the unending bliss of liberation. 17:3 Hung on a girdle. 17:4 Righteousness. For dharma, religion, law, and duty, are the bridge whereby the dangerous waters of the world are passed. 17:5 Unrighteousness. 17:6 The cause and fruit of action whereby man is bound to the phenomenal world until by knowledge, karma is exhausted and destroyed, and liberation (through Śiva, with whose essential being His worshipper becomes one) is attained. 18:1 The desired (or patron) Deity of the devotee. 18:2 For He is the Supreme Unity. 18:3 See ante, , note 4. 18:4 Each world (for there are many) is called an egg of Brahmā the creator (brahmāṇḍa). Śiva the great Destroyer by His loud laughter shatters them. 18:5 Brahmā. 18:6 Siddhi--namely, aṇimā, mahimā, garīmā, laghimā, prāpti, prākāmya, iṣitva, and vaṣitva. The power to become very small, vast, light, heavy, power of vision and movement, the powers of creation and control over the worlds and their Lords. These siddhi are powers of the all-pervading ātmā, and to greater or less degree may be acquired by Śivayogins according as they realize their unity therewith. 19:1 Kāśivāsiloka punyapāpaśodhakām: for to the liberated there is neither sin nor virtue which are qualities of the phenomenal jivātma only. The liberated are above both. 19:2 Nītimargakovidam. HYMNS TO THE DEVĪ FROM TANTRA BHAIRAVĪ 1 (BHAIRAVĪSTOTRA) FROM THE TANTRASĀRA 2 THUS shall I pray to Thee, O Tripurā, 3 To attain the fruit of my desires, In this hymn by which men attain that Lakṣmī, 4 Who is worshipped by the Devas. Origin of the world thou art, Yet hast Thou Thyself no origin, Though with hundreds of hymns. Even Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara 5 cannot know Thee. 6 Therefore we worship Thy breasts, Mother of all Śāstra, 7 Shining with fresh saffron. O Tripurā, 1 we adore Thee, Whose body shines with the splendour of a thousand risen suns, Holding with two of thy hands a book 2 and rosary of rudrākṣa beads, 3 And with two others making the gestures Which grant boons and dispel fear. 4 With three lotus eyes is Thy lotus face adorned. Beauteous is Thy Neck with its necklace of large pearls. 5 O Mother, how can the ignorant, whose minds are restless with doubt and dispute, Know Thy form ravishing with its vermilion, 6 Stooping with the weight of Thy breasts, 7 Accessible only by merit, Acquired in previous birth? O Bhavānī, 1 the munis 2 describe thee in physical form; 3 The Śruti speaks of Thee in subtle form; Others call Thee presiding Deity of speech; Others, again, as the root of the worlds. But we think of Thee As the untraversable ocean of mercy, and nothing else. Worshippers contemplate Thee in their heart As three-eyed, adorned with the crescent moon, White as the autumnal moon, Whose substance is the fifty letters, 4 Holding in Thy hands a book, a rosary, a jar of nectar, and making the vyakhya mudrā. 5 O Tripurā, Thou art Śambhu 1 united with Pārvatī. 2 Thou art now Viṣṇu embraced by Kamalā, 3 And now Brahmā born of the lotus. 4 Thou art again the presiding Devī of speech, And yet again art the energy of all these. I, having taken refuge with the four-- Bhāvas, 5 Parā, and others 6 born of the vāgbhava (bīja), 7 Shall never in my heart forget Thee, the supreme Devatā, Whose substance is existence and intelligence, 1 And who expresseth by Thy throat and other organ The bhāva appearing in the form of letters. 2 The blessed, having conquered the six enemies, 3 And drawing in their breath, 4 With steady mind fix their gaze on the tip of their nostrils, And contemplate in their head Thy moon-crested form, 5 Resplendent as the newly risen sun. The Vedas proclaim that Thou createth the world, Having assumed the other half of the body of the enemy of Kāma. 6 Verily is it true, O Daughter of the mountain and the only World-mother, That had this not been so, The multitude of worlds would never have been. In company with the wives of the Kinnaras, 1 The Siddha women, 2 whose eyes are reddened by wine 3 Having worshipped Thee with the flowers of celestial trees 4 In Thy pītha 5 in the caverns of the golden mountain, 6 Sing Thy praises. I worship in my heart the Devī whose body is moist with nectar, 7 Beauteous as the splendour of lightning, Who, going from Her abode to that 8 of Śiva, 9 Opens the lotuses on the beautiful way 10 of the suṣuṁnā. 1 O Tripurā, I take refuge at Thy lotus feet, Worshipped by Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara; The abode of bliss, the source of the Vedas, The origin of all prosperity; Thou whose body is Intelligence itself. 2 I shall never forget Her who is the giver of happiness; She it is, O Mother, who, in the form of the Moon, Creates the world full of sounds and their meanings, And again, by Her power in the form of the Sun, She it is who maintains the world. And She, again, it is who, in the form of Fire, destroys the whole universe at the end of the ages. 3 Men worship Thee under various names-- As Nārāyaṇa 1; as She who saves from the ocean of Hell; 2 As Gaurī; 3 as the allayer of grief; 4 as Sarasvatī, 5 And as the three-eyed giver of knowledge. 6 O Mother of the world, such as worship Thee with twelve Verses of this hymn attain to Thee, and gain all powers 7 of speech and the supreme abode. Footnotes 23:1 Fem. of Bhairava, a name of Śiva. 23:2 P. 596, Ed. Rasik Mohun Chatterjee. 23:3 See Tripurasundarī--post. 23:4 Devī of prosperity. 23:5 Śiva. 23:6 In the Viṣṇu Yāmala, Viṣṇu says of the Devī: "Thy supreme form none know "(mātastvatparamarūpam tannajānāti kashchana), (see chap. iii Śāktānandataranginī). 23:7 Vāngmaya. 24:1 See post. 24:2 Vidyā. 24:3 Seed of a plant sacred to the worship of Śiva. 24:4 That is, She makes the mudrā vara and abhaya. In the first the hand is held forth in front of the body with the palm upward and horizontal, the fingers together, and the thumb crossing the palm to the fourth finger. In the second the hand is held up with the fingers and thumb in the same positions with the palm towards the spectator. 24:5 Tārā, the ordinary pearl, is called muktā. 24:6 Sindūra, the Bhairavī's body is painted with vermilion and Her garments also are red. 24:7 Kuchabharaṇamrām (see Introduction). 25:1 The Devī is Bhavānī as the spouse and giver of Life to Bhava. 25:2 Sages. 25:3 There are three forms of the Devī--the gross or physical, with hands, feet, etc.; the subtle (sūkṣma), consisting of mantra and the supreme (parā), which is the real or own (svarūpā). The form of the Devī has both prakāśa and vimarśa aspects--that is real and secondary or manifested. Thus the Vāmakeśvara Tantra says: "The Devī Tripurā is Her real form. She who is of a red colour is the manifested one." 25:4 Of the alphabet or mātṛkā (panchāśadākṣaramayīm). These letters stand for the vṛtti (functions and qualities of being). The Devī is thus mātṛkāmayī, or composed of mātṛkā. 25:5 Vyakhya. according to the Śabda Kalpadruma = vivaraṇam (description), or grantha (book), and also commentary, but here denotes a mudrā of that name. 26:1 Śiva, one of the forms of the four mahāpreta, whose bīja is "Hsau." 26:2 The androgyne form, called ardhanārīśvara, half being Śiva and the other half Śakti. According to Hindu belief, the wife is the pure and sacred (puṇyā) half of her husband's body, and besides shares the purity and merits of her husband according to the common saying Śarīrārdham smṛtā jāyā puṇyā puṇyāphale samā. 26:3 Lakṣmī. 26:4 That is, the power of destruction, maintenance, and creation. 26:5 The four bhāvas are states or conditions of Kuṇḍalinī appearing as sound and its subtle elements, and are Parā, whose abode (sthāna) is the mūlādhāra; Paśyantī in the svādhiṣṭhāna; Madḥyamā in the anāhata; and Vaikharī in the viśuddha issuing through the throat (see next note). There appears, however, to be some difference as to the location of the second. 26:6 Parā is the first condition of Kuṇḍalinī in the form of tāmasik sound in the Mūlādhāra; Paśyantī is the bhāva when Kuṇḍalinī, associated with manas, reaches the position variously stated as the svādiṣṭhāna or manipūra; Madhyamā, when it reaches the anāhatacakra, associated with buddhi; and Vaikharī is when Kuṇḍalinī issues through the throat in the form of the fifty letters. It is said that though there are thus four kinds of speech, the gross-minded do not understand the first three, and think speech to be Vaikharī alone. 26:7 That is, Āim the bīja of Sarasvatī. The Devī is 'three syllabled' (Tryakṣarī)--that is, the bīja of the three divisions of the Panchadaśi, Vāgbhava, Kāmārāja and Śakti. According to the Vāmakeśvara Tantra, Vāgiśvarī is the jnānā śakti, which is in the vāgbhava division, and confers salvation, the kāmārāja and śakti divisions being the kriyā and ichchhā sākti (see the Lalitā, verse 126). 27:1 Sacchinmayī, the Brahman being sat and chit. 27:2 That is, they ultimately so appear, though previously existing as subtle elements of sound. 27:3 The six sins: Lust (kāma), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), delusion (moha), pride (mada), envy (mātsaryā). 27:4 Akunchya vayam by pūraka of prānāyāmā. 27:5 As Śakti of Śiva. 27:6 Śiva. The Androgyne form ardhanārīśvara. 28:1 A lower order of Devas (devayoni). 28:2 Wives of the Siddhas, also celestial spirits (devayoni) inhabiting the atmospheric plane (bhuvah). 28:3 Asvāditāsavarasāruna netrapadma. 28:4 Pādapa, so called because the tree drinks by its roots. As to the celestial trees (see "Wave of Bliss" post). 28:5 Seat or shrine. 28:6 Sumeru. 28:7 For She as Kuṇḍalinī goes from the mūlādhāra to the śivasthāna in the sahasrāra and returns moist with the nectar of Her union with Him. 28:8 Rajādhani. Literally capital city of Śiva. 28:9 That is from the mūlādhāra cakra to the śivasthāna. 28:10 The suṣuṁnā is the central "nerve" (nādī), or, rather, channel of energy in the body in which the lotuses (ṣatcakra) are threaded with their heads normally downwards. As Kuṇḍalinī becomes stirred by the yoga process, She ascends from the mūlādhāra and enters the higher cakra. As She does so, the lotuses upturn and expand again, closing on her departure. 29:1 The text which has sausuvartma kamalāni vikāshayantim, is not, however, intelligible, and the metre is short. Possibly it is a misprint for saumyang. 29:2 That is, nothing but intelligence caitanyamātra tanu. 29:3 Nādā, as Rāghava Bhatta says, exists in the three states of nibodhikā or bodhinī, nāda, and in the form of bindu, according to the predominance of the guṇa. These three and the śaktis, jnānā, kriyā and ichhā, of which they are special manifestations, are said to be in the form of sun, moon, and fire respectively. The moon (indu) is ichchhā (will and desire), the eternal precursor of creation. Kriyā is like the sun, which makes all things visible. Jnānā is fire, as it burns up all actions (see Ṣatcakranirūpaṇā, verse 49, and Sāradā Tilaka, chap. i.). 30:1 As Viṣṇu. 30:2 Narakārnatārinī. 30:3 Spouse of Śiva. The Devī Purāṇa says; "She who was burned by the fire of yoga was again born of Himālaya; as She has the colour of the conch, jasmine, and moon, she is called Gaurī." Her colour is golden. Śiva said to Pārvatī: "O Daughter of Himalaya, I am white as the moon and thou art dark. I am the sandal-tree, and thou art, as it were, a snake entwined round it." Pārvatī, taking umbrage at this remark upon Her dark complexion, went away to the forest, and there, by the performance of austerities, gained for herself a golden complexion beautiful as the sunlit sky. 30:4 Khedāshāmine. 30:5 Śiva. 30:6 Devī of speech and learning. 30:7 Vāksiddhi or siddhi of words. BHUVANEŚVARI 1 FROM THE TANTRASĀRA 2 Now I pray for the attainment of all blessings to Bhuvaneśvarī, The cause and Mother 3 of the world, She whose form is that of the Śabdabrahman, 4 And whose substance is bliss. Thou art the primordial One, 5 Mother of countless creatures, Creatrix of the bodies 6 of the lotus-born, 7 Viṣṇu and Śiva. Who creates, preserves, and destroys the three worlds. O Mother! by hymning Thy praise I purify my speech. O Daughter of the Mountain-King, 1 Thou art the cause of the world-destroying energy of Śiva, 2 Who manifests in earth, water, fire, ether, the sacrificer, the sun and moon, 3 And who destroyed the body of Manmatha. 4 O Mother! men only worship the triple-streamed Gangā 5 Because She shines in the matted hair of Śiva, 6 Which has been purified By the dust of Thy lotus feet. As the moon 7 delights the white night lotus 8 and none other, As the sun delights the day lotus 1 and none other, As one particular thing only delights one other, Thou, O Mother! delightest the whole universe by Thy glances. Although Thou art the primordial cause of the world, Yet art Thou ever youthful; Although Thou art the Daughter of the Mountain-King, 2 Yet art Thou full of tenderness. Although Thou art the Mother of the Vedas, 3 Yet they cannot describe Thee. 4 Although men must meditate upon Thee, Yet cannot their mind comprehend Thee. 5 O Mother of the worlds! Those who have reached that birth amongst men Which if so difficult to attain, And in that birth their full faculties, Yet nathless do not worship Thee, Such, though having ascended to the top of the stairs, Nevertheless fall down again. 1 O Bhavānī! Such as worship Thee with fragrant flowers and sandal paste, Ground with cool water 2 and powdered camphor, Gain the sovereignty of the whole world. O Mother! like the sleeping King of serpents, 3 Residing in the centre of the first lotus, 4 Thou didst create the universe. Thou dost ascend like a streak of lightning, 5 And attainest the ethereal region. 6 Thy body, having been moistened with the nectar flowing from That, 1 Thou dost again reach Thy abode 2 by that way. 3 O Mother and Spouse of Maheśvara! They in whose heart Thou glitterest are never reborn. O Gaurī! with all my heart I contemplate Thy form, Beauteous of face, With its weight of hanging hair, With full breasts 4 and rounded slender waist, 5 Holding in three hands a rosary, 6 a pitcher, 7 and a book, And with Thy fourth hand making the jnānamudrā. 8 O Bhuvaneśvarī Yogis who have restrained their senses And have conquered the six enemies, 9 In yoga with calm minds behold Thee Holding noose and a goad, And making the vara and abhaya mudrās. 1 Thou art Lakṣmī, Rivalling the lustre of molten gold, Holding two lotuses in two of Thy hands, And with the other two making the gestures which grant boons and dispel fear. 2 Four elephants holding jars (in their trunks), Sprinkle Thy head with nectar. 3 O Bhavānī! Thou art Durgā, 4 seated on a lion, Of the colour of durvā grass, 5 Holding in Thy eight hands various kinds of dreadful weapons, And destroying the enemies of the immortals. 1 I remember again and again the dark 2 primeval Devī 3 swayed with passion, 4 Her beauteous face heated and moist with the sweat (of amorous play), 5 Bearing a necklace of Ganjā berries, 6 and clad with leaves. O Spouse of Śrīkaṇṭha, 7 I place on my head Thy blue lotus feet, Which are followed by 8 the Vedas, As swans are lured by the tinkling sound of an anklet. O Bhavānī! I worship thy body from ankle to knee, 1 Upon which the bull-bannered one 2 gazes with great love, And who, as if not satiated by looking thereon with two eyes, Has yet made for himself a third. 3 I call to mind thy two thighs, 4 Which humble the pride of the trunk of an elephant, And surpass the plantain-tree in thickness and tenderness. 5 O Mother! youth 6 fashioned those thighs That they may support as two pillars the weight of thy (great) hips, 7 Looking at thy waist, 1 it would seem as if it had been absorbed And become the great bulk of thy breasts and hips. 2 By the youth 3 which clothes the body with hair, 4 May it ever be resplendent in my heart! O Devī! may I never forget thy navel, 5 As it were a secure inviolate pool, 6 Given to Thee by Thy blooming youth, Filled with the liquid beauty 7 of the beloved of Smara, 8 He who was fearful of the fire from the eyes of Hara. 1 Thy two lotus-like breasts, smeared with sandal, Which bear ashes telling of Śiva's embrace, 2 Call to mind the vermilion-painted temples moist with ichor 3 Of some (impassioned) elephant Rising from his bath in waters, Flicked with foam. 4 O Mother! Thy two arms, beauteous with the water Dripping from Thy body bathed from neck to throat, Seem to have been formed by the crocodile-bannered One, 5 As long nooses wherewith to hold the throat of his enemy 6 (Śiva). May I never forget them! O Daughter of the Mountain-King, Again and again have I looked upon Thy shapely neck, Which has stolen the beauty of a well-formed shell, And is adorning with pleasing necklace and many another ornament; Yet am I never satiated. O Mother! he has not been born in vain 1 Who oft calls to his mind Thy face, with its large round eyes and noble brow, Its radiant cheeks and smile, The high, straight nose, And lips red as the bimba fruit. 2 Whoever, O Devī! contemplates upon Thy wealth of hair, Lit by the crescent moon, 3 Resembling a swarm of bees hovering over fragrant flowers, Is freed of the ancient fetters which bind him to the world. 4 The mortal who in this world Devoutly from his heart reads this hymn, Sweet to the ears of the wise, Attains for ever all wealth in the form of that Lakṣmī Who attends the crowned kings who are prostrate at Her feet. Footnotes 31:1 The Devī in her aspect as Lord and Ruler of the world. 31:2 P. 567. 31:3 Ambikā. 31:4 Sākṣātsabdabrahmasvarūpiṇī: the "sound" or manifested Aparabrahman, as opposed to the absolute, the Parabrahman. The Devī and the Śabdabrahman are, in fact, one, though men speak of Her as His Śakti (power). 31:5 Ādyā. 31:6 Vapuhpratipādayitrī. The Devas have bodies, subtle though they be, as the Śabdabrahman Himself has. 31:7 Brahmā. 32:1 Himavat, whose daughter, as Pārvatī, the Devī was. 32:2 For they derive their power from the Devī, the All-Mother, whose children they are, and who also manifests as their Spouse. 32:3 These constitute the eight-fold forms (aṣṭamūrti) of Śiva, viz, Sarva, Bhava, Rudra, Ugraha, Bhīma, Paśupati, Īśāna, Mahādeva. 32:4 The Deva of Love. 32:5 Trisrotah, for there are three Ganges: the heavenly (Mandākinī), earthly (Alakanandā), and that of the nether world (Bhogavatī). 32:6 As to the descent of Gangā into the jaṭa of Śiva (see Hymn to Gangā, post). 32:7 Literally Lord of Kalā. Kalā is a digit of which there arc sixteen in the moon. The amākatā is that from which the nectar is distilled. 32:8 Kumudinī, which blooms and opens at night. 33:1 Kamalinī. 33:2 Mountain (Śaila), which is that which is made of masses of stone (Śilā)--a rhetorical comparison between the hardness of stone and Her tenderness. 33:3 Trayā. The whole Veda is so called because it consists of song, prose, and verse; or because the Rik, Yajus, and Sāma are alone referred to as Veda. 33:4 Cf. verse 2 of Mahimnastava of Puṣpadanta. 33:5 Literally, "Though thou art to be meditated upon, thou dost not stay in the path of mind" (cf. Mahimnastava, loc. cit, and Śruti, which says, "Yato vāco nivarttante aprāpya manasā saha.") 34:1 That is, as the subsequent fall makes the ascent useless, so human incarnation is without avail for those who, without excuse in such incarnation, do not worship the Devī. 34:2 Kālidāsa in the Ritusamhāra says that in the hot weather women should wear fine cloth, powder their hair with fragrant scent, and smear their breasts with sandal, ground with cool water. 34:3 She as Kuṇḍalinī resembles a sleeping serpent with three and a half coils abiding in the mūlādhāra. 34:4 The Mūlādhāra cakra (see last note). 34:5 Vidyullatā balaya vibhramamudvahanti. This is the sense of the passage which may literally mean that the Devī carries the beauty (vibrahma) of wristlets, like a streak of lightning, or "the Devī is sporting like a streak of lightning." 34:6 Khamasnuvānā. Kham is here Śiva in the Sahasrāra, whither the Devī repairs when Her passion is aroused by the lightning of the Kāmāgni around Her fanned by the leftward revolution of the red Kandarpavayu. 35:1 That is the Sahasrārapadma. 35:2 Mūlādhāra. 35:3 Margenātena--that is, the nādī suṣumnā. 35:4 Apīvarastanatatīm. 35:5 Tanuvrittamadhyām. 35:6 Japamāla, with which japa or recitation of mantra is done. 35:7 Kalaśa. 35:8 Literally, holding cintā, which is a name for the jñāna mudrā, or manual gesture so called. 35:9 The six sins (see , n. 3). 36:1 That is, the gestures (Mudrā) which grant boons and dispel fear. In the first the hand is held horizontally, the palm open, the fingers close to each other, and the thumb across the palm and touching the root of the third finger. The second is the same, but the hand is held upwards vertically, the palm being shown to the spectator. 36:2 That is, the vara and abhayamudrās, ante. 36:3 In this form the Devī is represented as being surrounded by four elephants, which pour nectar over 'her from jars held in their trunks. 36:4 One of the names of Bhuvaneśvarī (see of Prosanna Kumar Shastri's "Daśamahāvidyā"). 36:5 Of a dark green. It is not clear why this colour is here mentioned, as the colour of Durgā is a golden yellow. It is, however, the colour of other forms, which are those of the one and the same Devī. Thus the colour of Kālī is that of anjana (black, collyrium), Tārā is nīlā (dark blue), Mātanginī is asitā (black) or shyāmāngī (dark green). The hue of Shodashī (Śrī) is that of the rising sun (bālārkākanti), at it is that of Bhuvaneśvarī (uddaddinakaradyuti). The colour of Bhairavī is said to be that of a thousand rising suns; of Chinnamastā that of a million suns; Dhūmāvati is of an ashen colour (vivarnā); Bagalāmukhī is all yellow (pītavarṇā), and Kamalā is said to be like lightning (saudāminisannibhā)--see Prosanna Kumar Shastri's "Daśamahāvidyā". 37:1 The Daityas, enemies of the Devas, whose Protectress the Devī is. 37:2 Asitakānti. It is difficult to arrive at English translations for some Sanskrit words of colour. Mātanginī here referred to is also spoken of as shyāmāngī or dark green; and dark green and dark-blue seem also to be used interchangeably. 37:3 Mātanginī, one of the Daśamahāvidyā. 37:4 Anangatantrām--influenced or swayed by Ananga ("the bodiless one"), a name of the Hindu God of Love, Kāma. 37:5 Avirnidāsha jalashikharashobhivaktrām. The cause is shown in the preceding line--play and union with her Lord. 37:6 Red and black berries used as goldsmiths' weights. 37:7 Śiva, the "beautiful throated," also called Shitikaṇṭha ("peacock-throated"), from the colouring caused by His drinking the venom which arose at the churning of the ocean. 37:8 Anugamyamānau--that is, the Vedas worship and adore Her. 38:1 Janghā. cf. Lalitāsahasranāma, verse 18, where the Devī's calves are compared to "the sapphire-studded quiver of the God of Love, with rounded ankles and instep arched like the back of a tortoise." 38:2 Śiva, also called Vriṣaddhvaja. 38:3 Śiva is always represented with three eyes, the third being the eye of wisdom, which in man opens on the realization of divinity. 38:4 Uru (cf. Lalitāsahasranāma, verse 17. "The symmetry and smoothness of Her thighs are known only to Kāmeśa (Śiva). Her knees shine like jewelled discs." 38:5 Cf. First Canto of Kālidāsa's Kumāra Sambhavam. 38:6 Madhyamenabayasā. 38:7 Shroni. 39:1 Murtirmadhyastava. 39:2 Shronyaustanauchayugapat prathayishyatochchairbālyāt parena bayasā parihristasārah--that is, the waist is so slender and the breasts and hips so heavy that it would seem that the greater part of the body, which goes to the making of the waist, had been taken away and put into the breasts and hips, and formed their bulk. 39:3 Bālyātparenabayasā. Literally the age which follows childhood, which is the cause of these changes in woman's body. 39:4 Romāvalivilāsitena, which appears with puberty (cf. verse 15 of the Lalitā). 39:5 Nābhi, which also means any navel-like cavity. 39:6 Pallalamapradhriśyam--from all but Śiva: a similar idea to that of verse 17 of the Lalitā, where it is said that the beauty of the Devī's thighs are known only to Her Lord Kāmeśa (Śiva). 39:7 Lāvanyavāribharitāng. 39:8 That is, Rati, Spouse of Kāma or Smara, the God of Love, son of Kṛṣṇa and Rukminī. The son of Kāma is Aniruddha, and his companion is Vasanta, the spring. He is armed with a bow-and-arrows, the bow string being a line of bees, and the arrows flowers of different plants. 40:1 When the Devas desired a commander for their forces in their war with Tāraka, they sought the aid of Kāma in drawing Śiva towards Pārvatī, whose issue alone could destroy the demon. Kāma undertook the mission, and shot his arrows of love at Śiva, when the latter was doing tapas. Śiva, however, who was offended at this disturbance of his devotions, burnt Kāma down with a flash from the fire of His third eye. Subsequently Kāma was reborn in the form of Pradyumna at the request of Rati. 40:2 For Śiva's body is covered with ashes. 40:3 Samadasyakumbhau, the ichor which exudes from the temples of elephants in rut. 40:4 The ashes are thus compared to foam, and the sandal paste to the vermilion with which the temples and foreheads of fine elephants are painted. 40:5 That is, Kāma, the God of Love. 40:6 For Śiva burnt him (see ante n. 5). The Devī's arms embrace the neck of Śiva. 41:1 Sa eva jātah. Literally, "He is indeed born." His birth is fruitful. 41:2 The fruit of the tree called tyālākucho in Bengali, which, when ripe, is very red, and to which the lips of young women are often compared (cf. Meghadūta, verse 2, "Pakvabimbādharoṣthī"). 41:3 The Devī bears the crescent moon on her head as does Śiva. 41:4 Tasya svayam galati Devī purāṇapāshā--that is, he is freed of rebirth, the fruit of Karma. Here commences the phala (fruit or result portion) of the stotra.