Maha Navami

[Guest guest]

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 !!!