Chapter 11: Hymn to Narayani
The Rishi said: When the great lord of asuras was slain
there by the Devi, Indra and other devas led by Agni, with their object
fulfilled and their cheerful faces illumining the quarters, praised her,
(Katyayani). The devas said: 'O Devi, you who remove the sufferings of your
suppliants, be gracious. Be propitious, O Mother of the whole world. Be
gracious, O Mother of the universe. Protect the universe. You are, O Devi, the
ruler of all that is moving and unmoving. You are the sole substratum of the
world, because you subsist in the form of the earth. By you, who exist in the
shape of water, all this (universe) is gratified, O Devi of inviolable valour!
You are the power of Vishnu, and have endless valour. You are the primeval
maya, which is the source of the universe; by you all this (universe) has been
thrown into an illusion. O Devi. If you become gracious, you become the cause
of final emancipation in this world.
Salutation be to you, O Narayani, O you who are good
fortune, modesty, great wisdom, faith, nourishment and Svadha, O you who are
immovable O you, great Night and great Illusion. Salutation be to you, O
Narayani, O you who are intelligence and Sarasvati, O best one, prosperity,
consort of Vishnu, dark one, the great nature, be propitious. O Queen of all,
you who exist in the form of all, and possess every might, save us from error,
O Devi. Salutation be to you, Devi Durga! May this benign countenance of yours
adorned with three eyes, protect us from all fears.
When satisfied, you destroy all illness but when wrathful
you (frustrate) all the longed-for desires. No calamity befalls men who have
sought you. Those who have sought you become verily a refuge of others. Who is
there except you in the sciences, in the scriptures, and in the Vedic sayings
to light the lamp of discrimination? (Still) you cause this universe to whirl
about again and again within the dense darkness of the depths of attachment.
Where raksasas and snakes of virulent poison (are), where foes and hosts of
robbers (exist), where forest conflagrations (occur), there and in the mid-sea,
you stand and save the world. O Queen of the universe, you protect the
universe. As the self of the universe, you support the universe. You are the
(goddess) worthy to be adored by the Lord of the universe. Those who bow in
devotion to you themselves become the refuge of the universe. O Devi, be
pleased and protect us always from fear of foes, as you have done just now by
the slaughter of asuras. And destroy quickly the sins of all worlds and the
great calamities, which have sprung from the maturing of evil portents. O Devi
you who remove the afflictions of the universe, be gracious to us who have
bowed to you. O you worthy of adoration by the dwellers of the three worlds, be
boon-giver to the worlds.
The Devi said: O Devas, I am prepared to bestow a boon.
Choose whatever boon you desire in your mind, for the welfare of the world. I
shall grant it. The devas said: ' O Queen of all, in this same manner, you must
destroy all our enemies and all the afflictions of three worlds.’ The Devi
said: 'When the twenty-eighth age has arrived during the period of Avaisvsvata
Manu, two other great asuras, Shumbha and Nishumbha will be born. Then born
from the womb of Yashoda, in the home of cowherd Nanda, and dwelling on the
Vindhya mountains, I will destroy them both. Thus whenever trouble arises due
to the advent of the danavas, I shall incarnate and destroy the foes.'
Here ends the eleventh chapter called 'Hymn to Narayani' of
Devi-Mahatmyam in Markandeya Ppurana, during the period of Savarni, the Manu.
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