Guest guest Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 Today is the last day of the Navaratri. We are eagerly waiting for Nanda's message. I just finished my prayers. Recited all the prayers known to me. Found out that Devya Adharvasirsham is also called Durga Upanishad. Devi Mahatmyam has become popular all over India due to the excellent work done by two agencies. One of them is Ramakrishna Math. Sri Sri Chandi has always been very popular in Bengal where the Saktha religion is widely prevalent. So it is not surprising that all the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna were devoted to the epic. On all auspicious days the Puja ritual in the Math includes Chandi Parayana. However to our disappointment we found that it is not read out loud. The Navaratri celeberations in Belur math is something worth watching. I saw it on TV. The Math(in Madras) also conduct an all night Kali Puja on Dipavali day with the public being allowed to watch. The Ramakrishna Math, Madras published the first English translation by Swami Jagadiswarananda in 1953. Swami Jagadiswarananda had earlier translated the epic into Bangla, which was published by the Udhbodan Office. This was much earlier. A couple of quotes from the preface "Devi –Mahatmya, otherwise called Durgasaptasati or the Candi is a sacred text used by the Hindus for daily chanting like the Gita." "To call on God as Mother is a most characteristic feature of Hinduism. Sri Ramakrishna has shown in his life that to adore God in this way is best suited for this age." This is a literal translation and still available in Ramakrishna Math. A Tamil translation was brought out by Ramakrishna Math, Madras in 1957. This was written By Sri. Subramania Iyer (aka Anna (big brother)) who was a direct disciple of Swami Shivananda (Tarak aka Taraknath Ghoshal) a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. His translation was mainly based on the book Sapthasathi Sarvaswam. Under the guidance of Anna a number of books were published by Ramakrishna Math, Madras. They published a book called Mantra Vidhanam where all the known Mantras were compiled for the first time. The book in Tamil included the ways of reciting the epic also. I am sure the Bengali translation would have also included this. The other agency which has played a very big role is The Gita Press, Gorakpur. They have brought out a number of versions. Original text and text with Hindi translation. The ways of reciting the epic is also given. These books are very well proof read. Printed on excellent paper, and priced very low. These are a boon to all Chandi Upasakas. Happy Vijaya Dasami to all !!! Jai MAA !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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