Shakti Sadhana Programme for Navarathri [ Day Two]

[Guest guest]

The Rishi said:

 

46-49. Sir, every being has the knowledge of objects perceivable by

the senses. And object of sense reaches it in various ways. Some

beings are blind by day, and others are blind by night; some beings

have equal sight both by day and night. Human beings are certainly

endowed with knowledge, but they are not the only beings ( to be so

endowed), for cattle, birds, animals and other creatures also

cognize (objects of senses).

 

50-58. The knowledge that men have, birds and beasts too have; and

what they have men also possess; and the rest (like eating and

sleeping) is common to both of them. Look at these birds, which

though they possess knowledge, and are themselves distressed by

hunger are yet, because of the delusion, engaged in dropping grains

into the beaks of their young ones. Human beings are, O tiger among

men, attached to their children because of greed for return help. Do

you not see this? Even so men are hurled into the whirlpool of

attachment, the pit of delusion, through the power of Mahamaya ( the

Great Illusion), who makes the existence of the world possible.

Marvel not at this. this Mahamaya is the Yoganidra[7], of Vishnu,

the Lord of the world. It is by her the world is deluded. Verily

she, the Bhagavati, the Mahamaya forcibly drawing the minds of even

the wise, throws them into delusion. She creates this entire

universe, both moving and unmoving. It is she who, when propitious,

becomes a boon-giver to human beings for their final liberation. She

is the supreme knowledge, the cause of final liberation, and

eternal; she is the cause of the bondage of transmigration and the

sovereign over all

lords.

 

The king said:

 

59-62. 'Venerable sir, who is that Devi whom you call Mahamaya? How

did she come into being, and what is her sphere of action, O

Brahmana? What constitutes her nature? What is her form? Wherefrom

did she originate? All that I wish to hear from you, O you supreme

among the knowers of Brahman.'

 

The Rishi said:

63-71. She is eternal, embodied as the universe. By her all this is

pervaded. Nevertheless she incarnates in manifold ways; hear it from

me. When she manifests herself in order to accomplish the purposes

of the devas, she is said to be born in the world, though she is

eternal. At the end of a kalpa when the universe was one ocean( with

the waters of the deluge[8]) and the adorable Lord Vishnu stretched

out on Sesa[9] and took the mystic slumber, tow terrible asuras, the

well-known Madhu and Kaitabha, sprung into being from the dirt of

Vishnu's ears, sought to slay Brahma; Brahma, the father of beings,

was sitting in the lotus( that came out) from Vishnu's navel. Seeing

these two fierce asuras and Janardhana asleep, and with a view to

awakening Hari, (Brahma) with concentrated mind extolled Yoganidra,

dwelling in Hari's eyes. The resplendent Lord Brahma extolled the

incomparable Goddess of Vishnu, Yoganidra, the queen of cosmos, the

supporter of the worlds, the cause of the sustentation and

dissolution alike (of the universe).

 

72-74. Brahma said: 'You are Svaha and Svadha. You are verily the

Vasatkara and embodiment of Svara. You are the nectar. O eternal and

imperishable One, you are the embodiment of the threefold mantra. You

are half a matra, though eternal. You are verily that which cannot be

uttered specifically. You are Savitri and the supreme Mother of the

devas.

 

 

Foot Note :

[7] YoganindrA is the tAmasic power of Hari.

[8] Pralaya or deluge overtakes the world at the end of an aeon,

when rain and rising water submerge the whole earth. The unified,

undifferentiated water to which everything is reduced signifies

primordial cause.

[9] Anatha, Lord of serpents who supports the earth, is the Lord's

couch.

 

 

 

 

>From DEVI MAHATMYAM.

Glory of the Divine Mother.

700 Mantras on Sri Durga.

English Translation by Swami Jagadiswarananda.

Sri Ramakrishna Math, 11th Impression.

 

 

Will Continue…

I pray to the Divine Mother to shower HER blessings on those who

read this MAhAtmaya.