In celebration : Navarathri. DEVI MAHATMYA : An introduction

October 4, 2005

We are grateful to Shri P.R.Ramachander for taking the time to

translate the Auspicious Devi Mahatmya and send it to us. We have

decided to take this opportunity to have his work posted here in the

group part by part as our way of honouring the Navarathri.

Introduction

This book which relates the story of how the devi (mother Goddess)

killed Madhu and Kaidabha as Vishnu Maya (Thamasic-base), killed

Mahishasura as Lakshmi (Rajashic form-materialistic) and killed

Shumbha and Nishumbha in the form of Goddess Saraswathi (Sathvic-

spiritual) is known as Devi Mahatmya in South India, Chandi in West

Bengal and as Durga Sapthasathi in the northern parts of the country

including Varanasi. It consists of Chapters 74 to 86 (13 chapters)

of the Markandeya Purana and has 700 stanzas. This Purana is also

authored by Veda Vyasa and is a medium sized Purana.

The stories of Devi Mahatmya are as told by Sage Markandeya to Sage

Baguri. He tells him that one king called Suradha, who was driven

out of his kingdom by his own people met one Vysya (businessman)

called Samadhi who was driven out of his home by his wife and sons,

in the forest. They discover that though their own people have

driven them out, they are both worried about the welfare of their

people. It appears to them that this is unnatural. So they approach

Sage Sumedhas who was also living in the forest. The sage tells them

that all this is the illusion created by the great Goddess called

Vishnu Maya. They became curious and want to know about this great

mother Goddess. He then relates to them the story of Devi Mahatmya,

which consists of three stories in all of which the mother Goddess

kills the enemies of Gods.

The first story is that of Madhu and Kaidabha. They take birth from

the earwax of Lord Vishnu while he was asleep and start troubling

Lord Brahma who was sitting on the lotus originating from the belly

of Lord Vishnu. Lord Brahma prays to the Goddess to help him

continue his work of creation. The goddess appears and takes the

form of Lord Vishnu and kills both Asuras after wrestling with them

for thousands of years. Since both these Asuras were of Thamasic

origin, she also had a thamasic form.

The second story is of how the mother Goddess helped the devas by

killing Mahishasura. This Asura who had the form of buffalo, drove

away the devas and Indra from their homes. They all go and approach

the holy trinity for the redressal of their grievances. This made

those three gods very angry and the innate power of the Goddess in

them came out and joined together. This goddess was further

strengthened by the powers of the various Gods. She was equipped

with arms by all devas. This goddess, mainly consisting of the anger-

generated power killed Mahishasura.

The third story is of how the Great Asura brothers Shumbha and

Nishumbha were killed by the goddess. This time the gods approach

Goddess Uma who was wandering in the Himalaya Mountains and told her

of her sufferings. Out of the body of the Goddess came Koushikhi or

Chandika. She was black in colour. She along with the powers

generated by various Gods killed Shumbha and Nishumbha.

Sage Markandeya then tells of how, The king Suradha and Vysya

Samadhi did penance on the goddess and got the boons that they

wanted.

In the twelfth chapter of this great book, the Goddess tells that

for one, who reads or hears, these three stories of her, there is

nothing impossible to obtain including salvation.

In my translation I am following the interpretation of this great

book by Brahmasri Kandiyur Mahadeva Sastrigal in malayalam, which

is based on the text given to him by Sri Hari Krishna Sharma of

Aurangabad , based on the commentaries on the book given in

explanatory guides of the book viz. Durga Pradeepa, Gupthavathi,

Chathurdhari, Santhanavi, Nagoji bhatti, Damsodharam and Jagat

chandra chandrika.

It is believed that just possession of this book has helped many

great people to fight evil spirits as well as getting the blessings

of the Goddess herself. Several such folk stories abound all over

India. One of those famous one in Kerala was how one great Manthrika

called Kalluru Namboodhiri was asked by a king called Shakthan

Thamburan, to enter the Kodungaloor Bhagawathi temple at night after

the festival and bring back his ring from the closed sanctum

sanctorum. He did this easily by taking with him a copy of Devi

Mahatmya. This book though it is a treasure house for all those

trying for super natural powers is also a book leading one to get

his wishes fulfilled and also attain salvation.

It is believed that reading of the book during Sharad and Vasantha

Navarathris is auspicious. In Appendix 1, summary of talk given by

Swami Krishnanada on "Esoteric significance of Devi Mahatmya

" is

given and Appendix 2 gives the great Sthothra with meaning which

summaries the story of Devi Mahatmya.

Parayana Krama or prescribed methods of reading

Devi Mahatmya is a story but each of its slokas is considered as

mantras. There are two methods of how to start reading Devi

Mahatmya. The first one is called Tryangam and consists of reading

three prayers viz Devi Kavacham, Devi argalam and Devi keelakam

followed by meditation and chanting of the Navakshari manthra given

by

Om Iym hreem kleem Chamandayai , viche nama.

This manthra is of very great power and should not be chanted

unless, it is taught by a Guru.

The other is Navangam, where nine prayers are recited before

starting reading of the book. They are chanting of 1.Nyasa 2.Avahana

3,Namani 4. Argala 5.Keelaga 6.Hrudhaya 7.Dhala 8.Dhyana and

9.Kavacha.

It is recommended that the entire Devi Mahatmya should be read in

one sitting. After completion of the reading it is necessary to

chant the Devi Suktham consisting of the slokas seven to 36 of

chapter 8, is to be chanted. If the Guru has taught the navakshari

manthra, then it should also be meditated up on.

People who cannot do this should read the Pradhama charithra

consisting of the first chapter on the first day, the Madhyama

Charithra consisting of the next three chapters on the next day and

the remaining Uthama Charitha consisting of the next 9 chapters on

the third day.

Another method of completing the full reading by seven days viz one

chapter on the first day, next two chapters on the second day, next

one chapter on the third day, next four chapters on the fourth day,

next two chapters on the fifth day, next one chapter on the sixth

day and last two chapters on the seventh day.

It is important to know that daily the parayana should start with

the trayanga manthras, text of Devi Mahatmya followed by the

chanting of Devi Suktham. It is also essential not to stop in

between while reading a chapter. If for some reason, it is stopped,

the entire chapter should be read again.

It has also been told that

"Geethi, seegri, sirakhambhi, hyakurvano vinasyathi,

Thatho jnathwaiva sampannamidham prabhyathe budhai,"

Those who sing it, those who read it fast, those who read with

shaking of their head, those who read from the text in their own

handwriting , those who read without understanding the import and

those who read in a very feeble tone, do not get the benefit of

reading a work. It has also been told that any book, which has less

than one thousand slokas should be recited from memory to get full

benefit. Those who cannot should keep the book on a stand and read

it without touching it.

The benefit of reading Devi Mahatmya several times is given below:-

Three times-to get rid of black magic

Five times-to get rid of difficulties caused by planets

Seven times- to get rid of great fear.

Nine times –Peace,

Eleven times - to get over fear of death, attraction of the king

Twelve times -getting desires fulfilled and destruction of enemies

Fourteen times-to attract women as well as enemies

Fifteen times-Pleasant life and getting of wealth

Sixteen times-to get sons and grand sons

Seventeen times-to get rid of fear of the King

Eighteen times-to get occult powers

Twenty times-For war to end

Twenty-five times-To come out of prison

Hundred times –to get rid of great sorrow, banishment from caste,

Loss of life, salvation

Hundred and eight times – Fulfilling any wanted desire

One thousand times-Goddess Mahalakshmi will visit him and he will

get all wealth and

The kathyayani thanthra mentions various other methods of reading

Devi Mahatmya. Some of them are: -

1. Chant before and after every sloka, the Navakshari manthra.

This would make your magical chants effective.

2. Chant Om Bhoor Buva swaha before every sloka and then chant

Suva, bhuva, bhoo Om after every sloka. Chanting one hundred times

would get you occult powers.

3. Add "Jatha Vedase" before every sloka and chant. This

would

lead to fulfillment of all desires.

4. After every manthra chant thr tryambaka manthra viz.

"Tryambakam yajamahe

Sugandhim pushtivardhanam

Urvarurkamiva bhandhanam

Mrityor mukshiya ma -mrtat."

This would prevent untimely death.

5.Chant Tryambaka manthra one hundred times before and after reading

Devi Mahatmya and this will lead to avoidance of early death.

October 5, 2005

does it have any negative impact if one read parts of

DM?

Everyday morning after taking a bath while doing puja,

I recite

a.devI kavacham

b.argalAstotram

c.11th chapter devaiH krtA nArAyaNiistuti (The Hymn to

Narayani by the Gods)

d.Aparadha-ksamapana-stotram

e.devI aparAdha kshamApaNa stotram by Adi sankarA

(in this order)

from Devi Mahatmya

this I am doing it for past three years.

I have not seen any negative effect.

please advise if this is a wrong way.

thanks,

manoj.

=============================================

the normal method is kavacam; argalam and keelakam and avaakshari in the bgining

and the three sooktas etc afrer DM. And the method of reading is

PAA THO YAM VI PRA KAA RA

1 2 1 4 1 1 2 chapters per day

===========================================================

--- NMadasamy <nmadasamy

wrote:

> We are grateful to Shri P.R.Ramachander for taking

> the time to

> translate the Auspicious Devi Mahatmya and send it

> to us. We have

> decided to take this opportunity to have his work

> posted here in the

> group part by part as our way of honouring the

> Navarathri.

>

> Introduction

>

> This book which relates the story of how the devi

> (mother Goddess)

> killed Madhu and Kaidabha as Vishnu Maya

> (Thamasic-base), killed

> Mahishasura as Lakshmi (Rajashic form-materialistic)

> and killed

> Shumbha and Nishumbha in the form of Goddess

> Saraswathi (Sathvic-

> spiritual) is known as Devi Mahatmya in South India,

> Chandi in West

> Bengal and as Durga Sapthasathi in the northern

> parts of the country

> including Varanasi. It consists of Chapters 74 to 86

> (13 chapters)

> of the Markandeya Purana and has 700 stanzas. This

> Purana is also

> authored by Veda Vyasa and is a medium sized Purana.

>

> The stories of Devi Mahatmya are as told by Sage

> Markandeya to Sage

> Baguri. He tells him that one king called Suradha,

> who was driven

> out of his kingdom by his own people met one Vysya

> (businessman)

> called Samadhi who was driven out of his home by his

> wife and sons,

> in the forest. They discover that though their own

> people have

> driven them out, they are both worried about the

> welfare of their

> people. It appears to them that this is unnatural.

> So they approach

> Sage Sumedhas who was also living in the forest. The

> sage tells them

> that all this is the illusion created by the great

> Goddess called

> Vishnu Maya. They became curious and want to know

> about this great

> mother Goddess. He then relates to them the story of

> Devi Mahatmya,

> which consists of three stories in all of which the

> mother Goddess

> kills the enemies of Gods.

>

> The first story is that of Madhu and Kaidabha. They

> take birth from

> the earwax of Lord Vishnu while he was asleep and

> start troubling

> Lord Brahma who was sitting on the lotus originating

> from the belly

> of Lord Vishnu. Lord Brahma prays to the Goddess to

> help him

> continue his work of creation. The goddess appears

> and takes the

> form of Lord Vishnu and kills both Asuras after

> wrestling with them

> for thousands of years. Since both these Asuras were

> of Thamasic

> origin, she also had a thamasic form.

>

> The second story is of how the mother Goddess helped

> the devas by

> killing Mahishasura. This Asura who had the form of

> buffalo, drove

> away the devas and Indra from their homes. They all

> go and approach

> the holy trinity for the redressal of their

> grievances. This made

> those three gods very angry and the innate power of

> the Goddess in

> them came out and joined together. This goddess was

> further

> strengthened by the powers of the various Gods. She

> was equipped

> with arms by all devas. This goddess, mainly

> consisting of the anger-

> generated power killed Mahishasura.

>

> The third story is of how the Great Asura brothers

> Shumbha and

> Nishumbha were killed by the goddess. This time the

> gods approach

> Goddess Uma who was wandering in the Himalaya

> Mountains and told her

> of her sufferings. Out of the body of the Goddess

> came Koushikhi or

> Chandika. She was black in colour. She along with

> the powers

> generated by various Gods killed Shumbha and

> Nishumbha.

>

> Sage Markandeya then tells of how, The king Suradha

> and Vysya

> Samadhi did penance on the goddess and got the boons

> that they

> wanted.

>

> In the twelfth chapter of this great book, the

> Goddess tells that

> for one, who reads or hears, these three stories of

> her, there is

> nothing impossible to obtain including salvation.

>

> In my translation I am following the interpretation

> of this great

> book by Brahmasri Kandiyur Mahadeva Sastrigal in

> malayalam, which

> is based on the text given to him by Sri Hari

> Krishna Sharma of

> Aurangabad , based on the commentaries on the book

> given in

> explanatory guides of the book viz. Durga Pradeepa,

> Gupthavathi,

> Chathurdhari, Santhanavi, Nagoji bhatti, Damsodharam

> and Jagat

> chandra chandrika.

>

> It is believed that just possession of this book has

> helped many

> great people to fight evil spirits as well as

> getting the blessings

> of the Goddess herself. Several such folk stories

> abound all over

> India. One of those famous one in Kerala was how one

> great Manthrika

> called Kalluru Namboodhiri was asked by a king

> called Shakthan

> Thamburan, to enter the Kodungaloor Bhagawathi

> temple at night after

> the festival and bring back his ring from the closed

> sanctum

> sanctorum. He did this easily by taking with him a

> copy of Devi

> Mahatmya. This book though it is a treasure house

> for all those

> trying for super natural powers is also a book

> leading one to get

> his wishes fulfilled and also attain salvation.

>

> It is believed that reading of the book during

> Sharad and Vasantha

> Navarathris is auspicious. In Appendix 1, summary

> of talk given by

> Swami Krishnanada on "Esoteric significance of Devi

> Mahatmya

> " is

> given and Appendix 2 gives the great Sthothra with

> meaning which

> summaries the story of Devi Mahatmya.

>

> Parayana Krama or prescribed methods of reading

>

> Devi Mahatmya is a story but each of its slokas is

> considered as

> mantras. There are two methods of how to start

> reading Devi

> Mahatmya. The first one is called Tryangam and

> consists of reading

> three prayers viz Devi Kavacham, Devi argalam and

> Devi keelakam

> followed by meditation and chanting of the

> Navakshari manthra given

> by

> Om Iym hreem kleem Chamandayai , viche nama.

>

> This manthra is of very great power and should not

> be chanted

> unless, it is taught by a Guru.

>

> The other is Navangam, where nine prayers are

> recited before

> starting reading of the book. They are chanting of

> 1.Nyasa 2.Avahana

> 3,Namani 4. Argala 5.Keelaga 6.Hrudhaya 7.Dhala

> 8.Dhyana and

> 9.Kavacha.

>

> It is recommended that the entire Devi Mahatmya

> should be read in

> one sitting. After completion of the reading it is

> necessary to

> chant the Devi Suktham consisting of the slokas

> seven to 36 of

> chapter 8, is to be chanted. If the Guru has taught

> the navakshari

> manthra, then it should also be meditated up on.

>

> People who cannot do this should read the Pradhama

> charithra

>

=== message truncated ===

Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005

October 6, 2005

, manoj sadangi

<kalahandimanoj> wrote:

>

> does it have any negative impact if one read parts of DM?

> Everyday morning after taking a bath while doing puja,

> I recite

Im just trying to understand, how can reading the great DM text can

bring negative impact, during any time especially during Navarathri?

It is a story about our DEVI. Her truimph against evil, She is

showing us the way of how to do it, how cant it cause an adverse

effect other than bring goodness for all. If you cant read it all,

what is wrong reading it part by part. Its better than not to read at

all, dont you agree? I think all this fear others put about the

negativity of DM recitation is baseless. They are trying to hijack

our state of mind. Neever never let them do it to you.

Im am sorry, I am suppose to post the other parts yesterday, but my

computer gone bust!. Bad management actually, never send for

servicing for a long time, so my computer protest and choose to shut

down. And I cant post the remainder of the DM send by Shri

Ramachandra becau my computer gone to for servicing. I will do it

once im got it back.

October 6, 2005

I believe you can find the whole thing on www.puja.net

-

NMadasamy

Wednesday, October 05, 2005 10:21 PM

Re: In celebration : Navarathri. DEVI MAHATMYA : An

introduction