The Goddess of the Week : BHUVANESHVARI: Navasloki Devi Gita

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1.

We know you as Mahalakshmi,

We meditate on you as the Shakti of all.

May the Goddess inspire that knowledge and meditation of ours

 

2.

Hail to her in the form of the Cosmic Body;

Hail to her in the form of the Cosmic Soul;

Hail to her in the Unmanifest Sate

Hail to her in the form of the glorious Brahman

 

3.

Through her power of ignorance,

She shows herself as the world,

Like a rope appearing as a serpent, wreath and the like

Through her power of knowledge, she dissolves the world back into

herself

We glorify her, Ruler of the Universe

 

4.

Maya is variously called : Knowledge, illusion, matter, nature,

energy, or the unborn

Those versed in Saiva works call it intelligence

 

5.

>From the practical point of view, Maya is regarded as self-evident

In reality, however, it does not exist – only the supreme exists,

in

an absolute sense.

 

6.

My sacred syllabus : Hrim transcends the distinction of

`name'

and 'named', beyond all dualities.

It is whole, infinite being, consciousness, and bliss.

One should meditate on that reality within the flaming light of

consciousness.

 

7.

Fixing the mind upon me as the Goddess transcending all space and

time,

One quickly merges with me through realizing the oneness of the soul

and Brahman.

 

8.

Just like the Brahman is immortal; in front is Brahman, behind is

Brahman, on the right and the left;

It extends above and below. The Whole universe is just this Brahman,

the greatest.

 

9.

Like clarified butter hidden in milk, knowledge dwells in every being;

One should stir continuously, using the mind as the churning stick.

 

 

The Navasloki Devi Gita are regarded in their mantric aspect as the

concentrated sonic manifestations both of the Goddess and her Song.

The daily recitation of these nine, for those without time to recite

the whole of the Devi Gita; is viewed as a quick and potent means to

bring the presence of the Goddess directly into one's own life,

providing the same worldly and spiritual benefits as other more

complex forms of worshipping and meditating upon the Devi.

 

The Navasloki touches upon the major themes of the Devi Gita : the

nature of Ultimate Reality; its relation to this world, and the means

by which we humans can discover and assimilate that reality into our

own being.

 

Adapted from

The Devi Gita : The Song of the Goddess: A translation, Annotation

and Commentary

C. Mackenzie Brown.