Hindu Vedic Philosophy (Puranas)

Burden of Evil on Earth and the Role of ‘Maha Maya’

Maharshi Veda Vyasa described to King Janamejaya in reply to the above and similar questions about the experience of Mother Earth in bearing the very heavy load of Evil Persons even in the ‘Dvapara Yuga’ itself and in ‘Kali  Yuga’ it surely would be far worse! Assuming the form of a cow, ‘Bhu Mata’ (Earth) wailed that  ferocious Kings like Jarasandha, Sisupala, Kamsa, Naraka, Salva and Kesi were ruling and there appeared to be no relief forthcoming in the near future.

She approached Indra, Brahma and finally to Lord Vishnu who told Brahma that the Trinity were responsible for the ‘Srishti, ‘Stithi’ and ‘Laya’ ( Creation, Preservation and Destruction ) and were certainly not independent by themselves, as they were carrying on with their own duties.  The Decider would have to determine as to how the understandable problem of Bhu Devi (Earth) be tackled, since her difficulties were genuine. ‘Let us all pray to Her and we have to follow Her Instructions’, said Lord Vishnu. On making a group prayer, the Prime Force Maha Maya appeared on the horizon with all Her splendour and made an order that as a first step,  Sage Kasyapa be born as Anaka Dundhubhi Vasudeva ( there were the joyous sounds of drums at the time of his birth), along his wife Aditi as Devaki; Vishnu as Krishna; The Supreme Maha Maya Herself to be born as Yashoda; Maha Maya to send Vishnu as Her Avatar to the prison and arrange Dundhubhi Vasudeva to transfer Krishna to Yashoda, the wife of Nanda who would be the foster mother of Krishna; She Herself would transfer Ananta Deva (Balarama) from Devaki to Yashoda; both Krishna and Balarama as they grew would destroy a number of Evil Forces; the Pandavas would be born as part incarnations of Yama Raja as Dharma Raja, Vayu Deva as Bhima, Indra as Arjuna, and Asvini Kumaras as Nakula and Sahadeva; the incarnate of Vasuki would be born as Bhishma; remnant forces of Evil would all be destroyed at the Battle of ‘Maha Bharata’ at Kurukshetra by arranging several situations of extraordinary nature at the battle field; and even far before the Great Battle right from the stage of Kuru Vamsa and the contemporary timed-dynasties!

Thus the pointed queries of King Janamejaya raised to Maharshi Veda Vyasa could be squarely   answerable by the fascinating explanations of the actions of Maha Maya most of which were ‘situational adjustments’[*]created by the Players in the Large Dimension Dramas themselves as influenced by Her Maya; while the rest of the explanations were reflections of Maha Bhagavati’s Supreme Illusion! The following Pages would unravel or disentangle the ‘knots’ to some of the queries made by the King.  [* The explanation as to why all the Pandava brothers married the same lady  was due to Arjuna’s breaking the ‘Matsya Yantra’and Draupadi was to select only Arjuna but that would not be permissible when the elders were not married yet; the ‘Dharma Sandeha’( The riddle of virtue) was solved by Arjuna’s mother, Draupadi herself, King Drupada, Arjuna’s other brothers, Bhishma and other elders of Kuru Vamsa and the Sages who attended the function. Another query of Janamejaya related to Bhishma’s ‘Pratigna’ ( the Great Vow of life) neither to accept Kingship nor marry lest next generation might claim the throne and the need to perpetuate the dynasty was important; as per Sastras such situations be overcome to let the widows of erstwhile Kings be married to any Brahmana and as such Veda Vyasa was instructed by his mother Satyavati and he could not disobey his mother.]

Maha Maya’s assurance to lighten the burden of Bhu Devi was thus taking shape. Vasudeva and Devaki were born, linked with their earlier births as Sage Kasyapa and Aditi. Kamsa who was Kalanemi in his previous birth killed ‘Sadgarbhas’or the six sons of  successively. Sadgarbhas were traced back to the good six sons of Sage Marichi and his wife Urna in the first Manvantara of Swayambhu Prajapati. They laughed at Lord Brahma as He became passionate to His own daughter Sarasvati and Brahma cursed them to be born to Danavas. Thus they were born to Demon Kalanemi. In their subsequent birth, the six of them were born to Hiranyakasipu  but were very virtuous and prayed to Brahma, who was happy that they were devotional. Brahma named them‘Sadgarbhas’ and gave them boons of longevity. As Hiranyakasipu realised that they were not giving heed to his words, he banished them to Patala to be born again as Devaki’s six sons killed by Kamsa who was Kalanemi in his earlier birth. [ In the previous pages it was described that the fetus to be born to Diti from Sage Kasyap was cut by Indra’s thunderbolt into seven pieces and were reborn to Devaki in her previous birth’s Aditi; Kamsa killed six sons and the seventh flew away and warned Kamsa. Apparently, these were the incidents repeated in two separate ‘Yuga’ births]. Then the transfers of Krishna and Balarama followed suit. Karna was born to Kunti and Sun God; Drona was part incarnation of Brihaspati and Asvathama of Rudra Deva; Virat was part incarnate of Maruts; Dhritarashtra was Daitya Hamsa in his earlier birth; Kripa and Krita Varma were Maruts; Duryodhana was Kali;Sakuni was Dwapara; Dhrushtadyumna part incarnate of Agni (Fire); Pradyuman of Sanat Kumara; Drupada a part incarnate of Varuna; Druapadi was of Lakshmi; Kunti was Siddhi; Madri was Dhriti; Gandhari was Mati; Sisupala was Hiranyakasipu earlier; Jarasandha was Demon Bipracchati; Salya was Prahlada; Demon Kesi was Hayasira in his previous birth and so on

Lord Krishna’s ‘Leelas’ ( Miracle Acts)

The transfer of Lord Krishna from Mathura to Gokula by Vasudeva was a mystery. A heavenly voice was heard that Vasudeva should hurry up to Gokula, that the heavy gates were all opened, the strong force of guards were put to slumber, the River Yamuna which was in spate under a spell of cyclone would give way, he should deposit Devaki’s Krishna on the bed of Yashoda (while  Rohini would have already given birth from Lord Balarama) and pick up the female child back to the prison in Mathura as though nothing happened as Kamsa would visit the prison to throw away the female child of Yashoda to skies which warned that indeed the eighth child of Devaki was safe elsewhere to kill him eventually.

The frightened Kamsa despatched his associates to locate and destroy the child one by one including Putana, Baka, Vatsa, Dhenuka, Pralamba, Sakata, Kesi and so on. It was a sport for Krishna and Balarama to terminate the many Demons thus sent by Kamsa. As time passed, the miracle acts of Lord Krishna included the punishment to the mighty and poisonous serpent Kaliya ; the lifting aloft of the Govardhana Mountain by a little finger; the ‘Vimochana’( Relief) of a curse by Narada to the two sons of Kubera viz. Nalakubara and Manigreeva who converted as tall trees Yamala and Arjuna in the backyard of Nanda as mother Yashoda tied Him to a grinding stone placed in between the trees since he was highly mischievous; and finally the  opening His mouth to Yasoda  as He was eating pebbles and sand and demanding His mouth to be opened wide only to witness the Whole Universe in it.  

As though his final days drew near to his end, Kamsa sent Akrura to Gokula to invite Krishna and Balarama to Mathura. On their entry into the City there was an enthusiastic welcome to the heroes of Gokula by onlookers- men, women and child. They broke the bow ‘Indra Dhanush’ easily, killed Kuvalayapidana the ferocius elephant, put an end to the powerful wrestlers Chanura, Mushtika, Sala and Tosala and finally shattered Kamsa with ease. The parents were released from prison and installed the maternal grand father Ugrasena back to the throne. Thread Ceremony was performed to the two boys who having taken the vow of celibacy moved into the hermitage of Muni Sandipana to learn Vedic knowledge, martial arts, Artha (Finance) and Administrative skills for twelve years, returned to Mathura. Kamsa’s father-in- law Jarasandha tried to kill Krishna and Balarama in seventeen battles and they were able to resist the high and mighty opponent mostly by mental alertness and planning. Jarasandha engaged Kala-Yavana ( the Black Yavana) of Mlechyas of foreign origin whose warriors far outnumbering those of Mathura were ruthless and sinful not used to the Regulations of ‘Dharma Yuddhas’ or Disciplined Battles, terrorising innocent men, women and children alike. Krishna led Kala Yavana into a cave where Sage Muchukunda was in deep slumber for centuries and mistaking him for a false and wily Krishna Himself kicked Muchukunda, who got the boon from Indra that who ever woke him up by force would be burnt off. Thus cleverly getting rid of Kala Yavana, Krishna got rid of the menace of Jarasandha till he was killed in a duel with Bhima of Pandavas as Jarasandha was destined to die in Bhima’s hands. But before Jarasandha’s end, he kept on tormenting Yadavas as Krishna’s killing Kamsa was never forgotten. Thus Krishna and Balarama decided to create another place Dvaraka as a beautiful port City which was constructed afresh by Visvakarma the Divine Architect. Having shifted to Dvaraka from Mathura, Yadavas and allies had a comfortable and peaceful time.Meanwhile, Lord Krishna desired to marry Rukmini and vice versa but her powerful brother Rukmi who hated Krishna since he was in the camp of  the deceased Kamsa, Sisupala and Jarasandha, preferred her marrying Sisupala instead. At the time of her marriage with Sisupala, Krishna eloped with Rukmini defeating the armies of the friends of Rukmi. In course of time, Krishna acquired seven other queens viz. Jambavati and Satyabhama in the context of winning Syamantaka Jewel and the rest of them viz. Kalindi, Mitravinda, Lakshmana, Bhadra and Nagnajiti.

Rukmini begot Pradyumana and at his name-giving ceremony just ten days of his  birth, Danava Sambara stole the child and threw him away in a sea knowing the boy was Krishna’s son. The child was devoured by a big fish and a fisherman gifted the fish to Demon Sambara again, who in turn gave it to Mayavati the cook in charge. As the fish was cut, a crying infant was seen and Narada who appeared there to give the link of her earlier life as Rati Devi, the wife of Manmadha and the infant in the stomach of the fish was Manmadha himself! After opening the third eye which burnt Manmadha, Lord Rudra was upset about the interruption of His meditation since the Demi-God of Love despatched flowery arrows on Lord Rudra  to notice Parvati Devi who was at that time worshipping Him being desirous of marrying Him so that  the end result should be the birth of Lord Muruga who only could destroy the Demon Taraka! When Rati Devi wailed that the cause of Universal Benefit took away her husband’s life, Lord Rudra appreciated the situation and gave the boon of Manmadha’s rebirth as Pradyumna the son of Krishna and Rati Devi herself as Mayavati. Indeed, whether Lord Krishna was aware or not of the past, present and future but surely was covered up by ‘Maya’ and  cried incessantly and addressed Maha Maya through sincere prayers that She should kindly restore his missing son Pradyumna soon. Maha Bhagavati Maya appeared and assured that Danava Sambara stole the child and would be restored when Pradyumna attained the age of youth. King Janamejaya raised a very pertinent question to Veda Vyasa as to how Lord Krishna being the incarnation of Maha Vishnu Himself had to pray to Maha Maya Devi to ascertain the where- abouts of His son! Veda Vyasa explained that once a human life is assumed the qualities of human beings are bound to be acquired automatically even to Incarnations more so because of the cover of Maya. Qualities like hunger, thirst, sleep, fatigue, fear, kindness, anger, pride, pleasure, pain, disease, old age, death are the natural phenomena of each and every human. Lord Rama in a far earlier incarnation too was ignorant of whether He had to go on forest life on the eve of His becoming the heir apparent; whether Lady Sita fancied for the golden deer and Rama left running to fetch it and lost sight of Sita from the hermitage since Ravana abducted her; whether on return to Ayodhya as Emporer Rama had to banish her on the flippant words of a washerman! Such were the situations that even ‘Avatara Purushas’had to go through once they were made as human beings. Similarly, Lord Krishna had to face the instant event. Indeed Maha Devi’s supremacy is eternal and undisputed!

Lord Krishna prays to Maha Deva

As the seniormost Queen Rukmini secured illustrious sons like Pradyumna who was the Demi-God of Love  Manmadha himself in his earlier birth as evidenced by Narada, other Queens like Jambavati were desirous of ideal sons to be born from Krishna, who too was expressive of the same kind of desire. Krishna thus approached the Great Sage Upamanyu, who was not only an expert of Vedas but a noted devotee of Lord Maha Deva with extraordinary mystic powers to initiate and guide Krishna in ascetic practice.

[ Sage Upamanyu was one of the three disciples of Sage Ayodhaumya named Aruni and Veda, besides himself. The Guru who assigned Upamanyu the duty of taking cows out for grazing asked him as to how was he so healthy and Upamanyu told that what ever was received as alms was consumed by him. The Guru asked him not to receive alms further.  But the  student was still healthy and the reason was the milk of the cows taken out for grazing. The Guru forbade that too and asked Upamanyu not to eat fruits nor drink water even. Finally, the student ate tree leaves and of the leaves some were poisonous and he became blind and fell in a deep well.The Guru prayed to Aswani Kumars to heal Upamanyu and the Kumars gave a medicine, but the disciple refused it unless approved by his Guru. Aswinis argued that his Guru never took permission from the Guru’s Guru and hence the medicine be taken;but Upamanyu said that who would rather continue to be blind but would never take the medicine without the Guru’s permission. Aswini Kumars were so pleased that Upamanyu imbibed the full knowledge of Vedas and Sastras at once, besides reviving his eye sight.]

Sri Krishna learnt from the Sage Upamanyu the Holy ‘Pasupati Mantra’, shaved his head and performed Tapasya to Lord Pasupatinath by subsisting on fruits in the first month, water in the second and third months and on air only standing on one leg later. In the sixth month, Lord Shiva appeared before Him seated on ‘Nandi’ the bull along with Devi Girija, when Maha Vishnu, Brahma, Indra and many Devas also accompanied. Sri Krishna prostrated before Maha Deva and Maha Devi and secured boons of getting sixteen thousand more wives, each getting ten sons all of whom very virtuous and valiant. Maha Devi too spoke that after living for hundred years, Krishna and Balarama would leave the mortal bodies and return to their own abodes; also, following a curse of Sages, their dynasty of Yadavas, Vishnis and Andhakas would be destroyed. Further, after Krishna’s ‘Niryana’ or demise, His wives would be plundered by robbers of their valuable jewellery as cursed by Sage Ashtavakra  and great misfortune would  befall on Yadu Vamsa. Thus prophesied Maha Devi and these future events were precisely as per one’s own ‘Karma’. Having seen the vision of Holy Appearences, Sri Krishna bowed out of immense adoration, showed reespect  to His spiritual Guru Sage Upamanyu and returned to Dvaraka happy with the boons, still awestruck with the memorable experience that He had!

Supremacy of Maha Deva Over Maha Vishnu

King Janamejaya was still unconvinced as to why Sri Krishna had to pray to Maha Deva Siva, as He Himself was a fulfledged Incarnation of Maha Vishnu. Maharshi Vyasa had already explained the position and further clarified as follows: Sri Krishna was an Incarnation of Maha Vishnu but not Maha Vishnu Himself.Any human ‘Avatara’ was to be considered in the context of a human being and could not, repeat not, be imagined other-wise as human features,  qualities and action-reaction pattern or cause and effect syndrome ought to be similar, although perhaps the impact of Maha Maya might be less pronounced in the context of Incarnations as in the case of ordinary human beings.This fact was described and emphasised in the earlier pages.

The subsequent clarification was also explained fairly emphatically that  the ‘inter-se’ superiority of Lord Vishnu over Lord Maha Deva was  not of such consequence or relevance, since all prayers reach the Eternal Paramatma; [ Akaasaat patitam Thoyam Yadha Gacchati Sagaram, Sarva Deva Namaskarah Kesavam Pratigachhati or Just as water falling from the sky converges into the Sea, all the prayers to various Gods finally reach Almighty]. Thus one might infer: ‘Sivaya Vishnu Rupaya , Siva Rupaya Vishnavey, Sivasya Hridayam Vishnuh Vishnyoscha Hridayagum Sivah’ or both Godheads are just the same and their hearts are the same. However if this explanation sounded nebulous the definite reply would be that the seniority position clearly was : Brahma, Vishnu and Siva signifying ‘Srishti’,‘Sthithi’and ‘Laya’ in that order or the functions of Creation, Preservation and Destruction. Veda Vyasa further explained that the Word ‘A’ meant Formation, ‘U’meant Protection and ‘M’ meant Demolition, reflecting the Three Characteristics of Satvika Guna, Rajasika Guna and Tamasika Guna. Most importantly, Veda Vyasa stated that the emphatic stress while pronouncing the last word or the Half Word ‘M’ of ‘OM’ stood for Maha Maya Bhagavati Herself. The speciality of the terminating half letter ‘M’was that it was not pronounced as a distinct and separate word, signifying thereby that the Half Word was ‘Maya’ or ‘Maheswari’ which had no Entity yet the ‘Most Distinctive’! [ ‘Vyakta Avyakta Swarupini’ or ‘Saguna-Nirguna Embodiment]. Sages confirmed that Vishnu was superior to Brahma and Maheswara was superior to Vishnu but in ‘Turiya’ State or of pure consciousness, beyond the three earlier States of ‘Jagrata’ ( waking concious-ness), ‘Svapna’ ( dreaming) and ‘Sushupti’ ( dreamlessness), the finality has no concept of superiority or otherwise)!  ‘Moola Prakriti’ created the Trinity, the entire Universe with living or non living entities and most interestingly the feature of ‘Ahamkara’ from Brahma downward to a blade of grass, not realising that Maha Bhagavati was the ‘Karanam-Kaaranam- Kartha’( Performance, Purpose and Performer or Action, Act and Actor) all by Herself! The role played by ‘Yoga Maya’ was thus unique as human beings upwards to various Devas of multi-levels or potencies experienced the Ego problem or Ahamkara rooted deep down in the inner consciousness whereas the actuality was different. Thus Maharshi Veda Vyasa explained that there had been a thick cover of ignorance ruling the entire Universe and the make-believe world was a typical mirage which continued to confuse humanity as a reality, where as the reality was a hallucination or a mere fantasy!

Origin of Mahishasura and his battle with Devas

 There were two mighty Demon brothers Karambha and Rambha, both desirous of   begetting brave children and practised severe ‘Tapasya’.  Karambha did  his  devotion inside deep waters and Indra having taken the form of a crocodile dragged the Danava’s feet and killed him. Rambha sat on the banks of River Indus  and performed  a rigorous Sacrifice to Lord Agni. Meanwhile, he found his elder brother dead in the depths of River Sindhu and desired to quit life but Fire-God appeared and prevented the suicide.

The Fire-God also gave him the boon of securing a son who would shake up the entire world. Rambha found that in the vicinity there was a passionate She-Buffalo. The he- buffalo which was also there killed Rambha. The she-buffalo killed herself on the funeral fire and while doing so gave birth to a hefty and ferocius Buffalo-Demon Mahishasura. Rambha too emerged from the Fire as The Fire God recreated him in another form who was eventually noted as ‘Rakta Bija’or the Seed of Blood. As Mahishasura grew, he performed tough penance and pleased Lord Brahma who gave him the boons that no force on earth could  kill him except by a woman whom the Danava made fun of,  little realising that the exception might soon be a reality of his death. Puffed up by the boons secured, the Demon Mahishasura created havoc in the World by trying to dislodge Devas from Heaven, torturing Sages and Munis; slaughtering men, women and children, rejoicing in all kinds of sinful activities and finally attempting to dislodge Indra and Devas from the Heaven. He sent a messenger to Indra asking Him to surrender or get ready for a war. Indra got furious and warned the Demon. The latter convened a War Conference and alerted all the Danavas to get ready and  assured them that he secured great boons from Brahma and that he was as good as immortal against any male power or animal power, excepting womanhood which was in any case helpless without male power! Indra too called for an urgent Conference of Devas including all the Planetary Heads like Varuna, Vayu, Agni, Surya, Saturn, Yama, Budha, Guru Brihaspati and so on to position themselves ready with their respective Vehicles and followers. So far, it was a battle between Indra and Mahisasura, during which the former Commander-in-Chief Chiksusa, General Vidala and Danava Tamra took up the offensive which Indra could control. But as Mahishasura himself entered the field and spread out his ‘Samavari Maya’ or the Illusion for all and thousands of Mahishasuras appeared on the battle field each acting as powerful as the other, Devas including Varuna, Yama, Kubera and Agni  fled away. Indra in his fast-track mind prayed to Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra about Mahishasura’s Illusionary tactics. Brahma got His conveyance Hamsa or the Swan, Vishnu by Garuda, Kartika His peacock, and Rudra His bull.While Indra  controlled Chaksura, Varuna by Asiloma, Yama by Trinetra, Kubera by Maha Hanu, Vishna fought Andhaka and Rudra restricted Mahishasura. But when the battle went on for hundred years and each year Mahishasura became mightier, it became clear that the Demon would not be shattered unless a female ‘Shakti’ would have to be thought of for the purpose. It was also realised that instead of depending on the female power of one Devi, say Sachi Devi, Vani,  Lakshmi or Parvathi individually, it would be ideal to unify the Powers of all and generate one Maha Nirguna Shakti who would  destroy the Demons once and for all. The Composite Super Energy converging into a Unique Shakti  thus emerged with all the Individual Shaktis of Trinity, Devas and their respective female powers embodying a mountain like Fire and dazzle which was not visualised even by Devas themselves let alone normal species. The Supreme Deity was endowed with the armoury and ‘Mantras’ of  Gods together  too.

Maha Devi’s Physical features

 Maharshi Veda Vyasa ventured to describe the splendorous outline of Her Image to King Janamejaya: Her Form was a mass of  blistering dazzle, Her Charmingly Extraordinary Face was that of  Maha Deva represented by ‘Tamoguna’; Her long and black Hair overhanging from Head to knees was like the Power of Yamaraja; Her three Eyes were the intensity and ferocity of  ‘Agni’, the pupils  being black, middle portion being white and the end of the eye balls being red;

he two Eye Brows were black like ‘Sandhyas’ ( twilights) curved like the arrows of Cupid; the two Ears created by Vayu or Air, Her Nose chiselled and attractive; teeth like gems of Daksha; lower lip like ‘Aruna’ the Charioteer of Sun and the upper lip after Lord Kartika; thighs and legs of  Earth and Varuna; eighteen hands of Vishnu and red fingers like the glitter of Vasu Devatas.

Soon after The Maha Devi was formed, various presentations were made to Her by the Devatas: the Ocean of Milk gifted a pearl necklace and eternal red robes; Vishvakarma provided ornaments for each part of Her Physique never seen in the Universe earlier; Varuna presented flowers of everlasting fragrance and freshness as well as a Vijayanti garland on her chest; Mountain Himalaya a ferocious lion as Her Conveyance; Maha Vishnu gave a Chakra (Discus); Sankara a ‘Trisula’ (Trident); Agni (Fire) Deva gifted a ‘Sataghni’ Weapon; Conch by Varuna; Divine Bow and Arrows by Vayu Deva ( Wind God); Yama God of Death a Sceptre; Indra his thundebolt; Brahma a ‘Kamandalu’a vessel of Holy Water Ganges; Kubera gifted a Drinking Cup of Gold and an everfresh Lotus; Varuna  a ‘Pasa’ (A Destructive Rope) capable of rounding off hundreds of Demons together and Visvakarma a high voltage Kaumudi Mace and  so on.

Mahishasura’s amorous proposals to Maha Devi

 With all the armoury and ornaments Maha Devi was comfortably mounted on the Lion and    laughed so deafeningly that the entire Universe trembled with fear as though a catastrophy occurred. Mahishasura too was shuddured at  the roar and his associates ran helter skelter to ascertain what was it about! One messenger reported to the Demon that he had an illusionary appearance of a huge sheet of  light and when seen intently looked like an outlined feminine figure, with a cool and smiling face of rare beauty, fully armoured and ornamented, seated on a lion with several Gods surrounded around Her.

Mahishasura, who never ever  realised that a female figure was mounted on a Lion with eighteen hands and was fully armoured as though ready to fight, felt that the Messenger must be crazy or the view was an Illusion created by the Devatas to frighten Danavas. Any way he sent his Prime Minister to take a personal Message to ‘that Woman’ to say that if really She were not an Illusion, She should meet and surrender to him and that he would assure Her to make her a life partner as the Reports received were that she was of  marriageable age without a husband. She roared in loud laughter  and asked him to convey the message to the stupid Demon to withdraw his fight  if he had any sense (which a Mahisha as an animal normally lacked),  apologise to Her and quietly to go down to the nether world Patala to save himself! The Prime Minister talked highly arrogantly and even desired to attack Her but for Her being a woman and Maha Devi said that She could have smothered him then and there but for His being a Messenger and Dharma Shastras or the discipline of War prevented Her to kill a Messenger. The Prime Minister left for Mahisha still asking for the Devi’s rethinking about the possibility of marrying his King and not to finally close the chapter of his King’s amorous offer to Her! The Messenger met the King and conveyed the proceedings that She was ready to fight. Mahisha called for a Conference and many opinions were expressed including a ridiculous explanation that the Devi indirectly meant that She could kill him by the corner looks of Her eyes, that She would lay him down and that She could take out his vitality in no time! The Resolution was that all the Four Methods viz. ‘Sama’ ( Counselling), ‘Dana’or  material temptation, ‘Bheda’  ( divide and rule) and finally ‘Danda’ or punishment. Thus Demon Tamra was sent to the battle field with the Brief that he should try all the Methods before punishing Her. Tamra did use the methods of good counselling, the temptation of marrying a hero like Mahisha and seeking to divide Her and the ‘timid’ Devas. Maha Devi laughed at the foolish alternatives proposed by Tamra and when he kept on arguing about the happiness that She could attain by Her union with Mahisha got terribly annoyed and roared thunderously when mountains shook and Tamra fled away back to Mahisha.

Carnage of Mahishasura’s Army

 As Tamra returned without result that the three initial methods of Sama, Dana and Bheda did not yield results, the Danavas got the firm reply that war was imminent. But one elderly Statesman among the Danavas, Vidaliksa expressed the concern that by taking advantage of the loophole in the boon given by Brahma to Mahisha of not getting killed by any species excepting by a female should cause concern; it might well be that by placing Her ahead, Devatas might kill Mahisha!

Durmukha said that whatever might happen the situation was of no return and they have to fight out without showing their backs any way. Vaskala bragged that when the entire Deva army including Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra had retreated and collapsed, why should one  think and plan strategies at this late stage;  this is an hour of action and not of precious- little- do- nothings and thus therefore was high time for action! As an initial step in the battle, the two Demons-Durmukha and Valsala- once again used the catch phrase of Devi’s romance with Mahisha. Maha Devi got infuriarated,  lost patience that She displayed for long and fired five arrows against Vaskala to start with. When he took up his club aloft, She hurled her own club and smashed his head to death. Her action was so swift that Durmukha’s reflexes did not work for a while as there were shrill shouts of Victory to Maha Devi and after regaining some composure Durmukha reacted with his arrows and bow. Meanwhile Maha Devi rained piercing arrows all around and hundreds of  Danava heads rolled all over and Durmukha’s chariot was shattered. As he jumped out and hit Devi’s lion with his club, She cut his throat with Her axe. There were screams of happiness heard from Devas, Gandharvas and Kannaras as also Great Sages and Siddhas from Earth. As the armies of Vaksala and Durmukha ran for their lives and fled back to convey the killings of their masters, Demon Mahisha got a shock that two great warriors had succumbed to death and that was unbelievable indeed. His General Chiksuraska, a Danava of never-ending cruelty and intense loyalty to Mahisha leapt from his seat and shouted with rage that the Devi would be destroyed for sure. He took Mahisha’s permission to shatter that Woman and bring her back to Mahisha dead or alive. Demon Tamra too accompanied the General. The moment he entered the war field, Chiksuraska kept on shouting at Devi that he had arrived to avenge the death of Vaksala and Durmukha and bombared with arrows, spears, maces, sharp swords and a lashing tongue. Tamra went near Bhagavati and hit the lion on its head with an iron ‘musala’ ( club) when Devi was provoked and hurled Her axe with dashing speed as the Demon fell, turned around and tried to throw  his musala but took the last breathing. The General Chiksaruska started screaming with rage and flew across to reach  Devi who pierced with Her spear through his body. The entire army ran for their lives in the same direction that they arrived. Asiloma and Vidalaksa were the two top Demons who not only had valour and might but were well versed in war tactics and diplomacy too. In fact these two were in the inner ring of Mahishasura’s court and get rarely provoked but could call a spade a spade always counselling their King Mahisha about the pros and cons of a given situation. Asiloma addressed Devi Bhagavati and asked Her as to why She had been killing Danava soldiers recklessly without least provocation, excepting request Her fair hand in wedding to their master. Was it a sin to ask Her for Mahisha’s wedding? After all She could simply say ‘no’, but why this carnage? Maha Devi replied to the calm reasoning put forth by Asiloma: ‘ I have no desire nor hatred. I stand for ‘Dharma’ and ‘Nyaya’( Virtue and Justice). Your King had perpetrated endless sins of severe nature and interfered with the natural way of human life and destroyed all norms of decency. He had hurt Devas, Indra and Trinity. Having secured boons from Brahma, he had harmed Brahma Himself and thus proved to be an ungrateful demon who should never be excused. I am the Origin of the Universe- The timeless, featureless, sexless, and faultless Super Energy without fear or favour. Mahisha’s consience is impure and had been wanting to marry Me; this is clear that he had no sense as he had been posseesed by high degree of Maya.’ Thus explaining in an impassioned manner, She advised  Asiloma and Vidalaksa to retreat to ‘Patala’ but both of the Demons decided to die while fighting rather than betraying their Master. Knowing fully well that Maha Bhagavati would kill them any way, they wished rather to get killed valiantly on the battle field than show their backs. Maha Bhagavati had fully acknowledged the maturity of their thinking and felled both of them after their waging a brilliant battle.

Maha Devi destroys Mahishasura

 So far Mahishasura was despatching his warriors to fight Maha Devi but when his most trusted Asiloma and Vidalaksa had also got smashed, he got into his chariot and faced the Devi in a handsome human form to impress Her with his smartness. The all- knowing Devi smiled and said that his human form did not make any impact on Her. The Demon harped again on the same topic of union between them. She said that the only union possible could be of a sincere devotee and Almighty as She was a Parashakti and Prakrithi wedded to Maha Purusha who was also the Maha Purusha Himself!

She was requested by all the Devas and the Trinity to protect them and wipe out the demons including him. Still persistent, the foolish Mahishasura gave the example of Mandodari, the daughter of King Chandrasena of Simhala, who took a vow of celibacy but when her younger sister was arranged a ‘Svayamvara’ ( bride’s choice of wedding) from a group of select suitors, Mandodari was tempted to select a husband although he proved to be a cheat later; Mahisha assured that he would never be like him. Maha Devi got highly infuriated with such narrations and said that he was not only stupid but also a coward and perverse and that he should decide at once either to fight or withdraw to ‘Patala’, lest he would not avail of the chance of fight but would unilaterally decide to destroy him. Meanwhile, two other followers of Mahisha viz. Durdhara and Trinetra had duels separately and got exterminated. Mahishasura changed his forms first like a lion and later on as an elephant and finally in his Sarabha form. The entire Universe and the Pancha Bhutas ( The Five Elements) were dislocated from their axis as the duel was in progress. The Danava tied up his tail to mountains and whirled them against Maha Devi, who was enjoying cups of Grape juice meanwhile. The Demon kept on transforming his body forms in such quick succession that one could hardly realise what was happening and each time there was a change, he was striking from various angles with different kinds of arms like arrows, swords, Trisulas (Tridents), clubs, and maces. Charged then with red eyes looking like torrential balls of fire, Devi Bhagavati finally lost Her cool and commanded Her Chakra  ( discus) which broke Mahisha’s body split into two, each part jumping one over another and the Greatest menace on Earth had thus been terminated; there were hysteric shriekings and reverberations of  earsplitting sounds of high volume drummings spread across the entire Universe to the utmost relief and ecstasy of all Devas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Kimpurushas, Apsaras and world wide congregations of Sages all rejoicing with celebrations.

As normalcy prevailed somewhat, the Devas and Trinity assembled in a Grand Felicitation Function  with Maha Devi presiding. The magnificent congregation described the features, miracles and recent happenings. Maha Devi replied that both Danavas and Devas were of the same creation of Hers and that  there was nothing like a distinct categorisation of Danavas and Devas, except that the proportion of the Three Gunas-Satvik, Rajas and Tamasic-varied from person to person and even different situations facing each person. The Eight Vices-Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Matsarya-  existed in the same person as the mind and heart at variance with each other; it would thus be a common enemy to both divinity and humanity in varying degrees; interaction of these common enemies needed to be minimised and that was the Tatva Gyan all about. Added to these features were the ‘Tapatraya’ or the three kinds of problems inherent in human life ( ‘Adibhautika’ or external pains like physical infirmities, pains from animals and  co-humans; ‘Adhyatmika’ or internal diseases; and ‘Adhidaivika’or natural occurences like cold, heat, rain, thunders, earthquakes etc.) over which fate determined the circumstances over which there could be little control anyway. But where there would be scope for self- control,  which was of utmost importance to balance the ‘Gunas’ properly. She Herself noted the individual accounts of Prarabhdha, Sanchitha, Vartamana and Bhavisya of all the beings - be it Brahma or a piece of grass. Nobody could escape the good and bad dimension or magnitude of each action. Thus life would be assessed in the strict accordance of the Rules already laid. Having said these words, Maha Bhagavati disappeared

Sumbha, Nikumbha and followers slayed by Devi Ambika

 As in the case of Mahishasura, the Demon brothers from Patala, named Sumbha and Nikumbha did the same indiscretion of ignoring the Supreme Power of Maha Bhagavati as Mahishasura and after strenuous Tapasya for an ‘Ajuta’ or ten thousand  years to Lord Brahma, secured boons for invincibility from any living species, except women.

As soon as they received the boons, they requested Sage Bhrigu to be their Guru and Adviser and the elder Sumbha was enthroned with Nikumbha as the next in command. The news spread out in the nether world and multitudes of Danavas were attracted to the King as he became invincible in the three worlds.The Fierceful Chanda and Munda Danava Warriors joined in with their entire armies. So did the fearful Danava Dhumralochana and his army. The notorious Raktabija who had the boons of creating another Raktabija for each drop of blood from his body also joined in. Together, they all created  deadly scare in all the three worlds and humbled Indra, Varuna, Agni, Vayu, and other Demi-Gods like Yama, Kubera as also tormented Sages. Thus the strong group of Demons reigned the Heavens besides the rest of the World for a thousand years and Indra and other Devas were displaced and disillusioned. Indra approached Deva Guru Brihaspati as to what should be done in this situation of wilderness. Deva Guru explained that the phase of frustration was a result of ‘Karma’ and the only recourse would be to approach Maha Devi Bhagavati and also enlist the support of Brahma, Maha Vishnu and Maha Deva. He recalled that at the time of Bhagavati destroying Mahishasura, Maha Devi told Indra at that time such crises, Indras and Devas could approach Her for help. Accordingly, they  prayed to Devi Bhagavati to provide rescue to them. They all recited the Seed Mantras of Devi like ‘Om Hreem’ incessantly; pleased by their devotion, Maha Bhagavati appeared in the Form of Ambika Devi, known over the Universe as Kausika Devi ; an alternate image created from Parvati Devi also emerged as Kalika Devi( Kalaratri)  looking angry with a countenance of black colour and  blood red lips too frightful to behold by Danavas. Ambika along with Kalika appeared on the back of a lion and they were seated comfortably looking cool and relaxed as the Historic Drama of the twin Demons and their followeres was to be unveiled! Even as Kausika Devi and Kalika were sighted on a lion, Demons Chanda and Munda happened to passby and had a fantastic view of Kausika and Her unparalelled beauty and could not take away their eyes staring and admiring Her. They ran to  Sumbha to convey the latest news and the former asked Sugriva, an intelligent spy cum messenger to collect information about the Lady and also sensitise Her about the valour, richness and smartness of the King Nisumbha and that he could be a richly deserving partner of life for Her.The Messenger used all his skills and sought Her to tempt with innumerable valuable gifts! He also conveyed to Her the most significant fact that his King was invincible and immortal, thanks to Brahma Deva’s boons. Kausika Devi pretended that She was impressed and said that the matrimonial offer looked highly gorgeous. There was however only a small catch and that could be to overcome Her as the King appeared to be such an illustrious warrior. She said that She took a bet in Her childhood among Her friends that She would marry only such a husband who could defeat Her in a fight! The Messenger coveyed the ‘small catch’ in the alliance to which the King felt was amusing. He consulted his younger brother Nikumbha who advised that Dhumralochana to approach the Devi Kausika but handle Her tenderly, as She said something childishly and was not, after all, aware of our valour! Dhumralochana repeated the same kind of amorous message from his King, when Kalika Devi intervened to say that instead of bragging he might as well display his valour as there was no point in wasting his breath. The Danava became furious, as Kalika the ‘ugly’ woman attacked him with a shower of arrows. As he dared to leap towards Kali abusing Her, Kausika Devi burnt the demon into ashes from Her fiery looks and his entire army ran back helter-skelter to return to their King. Kausika Devi blew Her conchshell so loudly as though She was inviting the next batch of Demons could be despatched for their death. Nisumbha volunteered to jump in the fray, but King Sumbha restrained him, as there were other Warriors were getting anxious to dispose of ‘that’ Maya Devi. He had thus signalled Chanda and Munda go along with their combined armies of huge volume and prowess, as they were all trained in war tactics including black magic, and  tantra of meanest type. Once again the catchphrase of wedlock with Sumbha was used by them. Kausika Devi was readily annoyed as She was surfeit of  praises and boasts; She created Devi Chandika from Her frown and Her face became red with anger. Chandika Devi was looking extremely dreadful with tiger skin around , wearing strings of skulls, deep eye holes, fat belly, protruding and uneven teeth and eighteen hands wearing variety of sharp weapons. She was biting elephants and horses with Her fingernails and crooked teeth , besides hundreds of Danavas who were creating such screeches of pain and death. The entire war field looked like a stream of blood and stinking flesh with corpses bundled up in mountain-like heaps. Such was the havoc created in the battle with Chanda and Munda who were dazed and terrified. She caught them by their necks  and took them to Devi Ambika as Sacrifices, cut their heads into pieces and drank their blood when Devas clapped and chanted Victory Musicals! As the remnants of Davanas ran for their lives to the King, the latter said that they were timid flies who had vulgar lust for life and deserved to depart to Patala as they had no place for them on Earth. Meanwhile  Raktabija was already ready waiting for the Master’s nod. On arrival at the battle field the three Shakties-Ambika, Kalika and Chandalika-welcomed them tauntingly asking him not to commence the praises of the King’s might, smartness and richness but come to the point of a fight without the initial pleasantries. As Raktabija spilled blood, each drop would  produce his prototype, the fact indeed  known to the Devis already. Lord Rudra gave the boon to the Demon and as such, the Demon was welcoming more and more of gashes so that as many drops of blood would produce as many demons. At this point, Kausiki Devi created more forms of Shakties such as Brahmani, Vaishnavi, Rudrani, Indrani, Varahi, Narasimhi, Kumari, Narayani, Sivani and so on to devastate the thousands of Danavas. Ambika then asked Kalika to extend Her tongue long and wide  and struck  an axe on the body of Raktabija so that the blood of the body got completely drenched out. This operation continued for some time and the blood of the very many Raktabijas was drenched out sysmatically by one form of the Demon pitted against another form of a Devi  and only the flesh left out was relished by the Devis.With the last effective Demon Raktabija having been eliminated, The Devi’s high voltage death-call sound  was heard clearly in the court of Sumbha and Nikumbla inviting them to death. Nikumbha made his appearance at the battle forthwith as he was aware that his turn to death was certain and door-knocking. He surely knew how difficult it would be to extinguish war experts like Chanda-Munda, Dhumralochana, and Raktabija as each one of them single handedly could keep Indra and Devatas on the run. Now that they had all gone down the drain, death was staring at his face. Indra and Devas were all in their celestial positions to watch the Memorable Sight of Nikumbha’s imminent massacre. As soon as he arrived in his chariot, he went off to business without preliminaries, unlike his predesessor warriors who would not initiate the fight hoping against hope that the Devi might relent to marry the King Sumbha as Nikumbha himself brainwashed them to use the four principles of Sama, Dana, Bheda and Danda before resorting to the last alternative. As Nikumbha sent a torrential rain of arrows on Devi Chandika, She kept on breaking the arrows as a sport while intermittently She was redirecting back to the Demon and meanwhile joking to Kalika Devi that these Danavas were so foolish as not to understand even now the impossibility of success in their mission but continue to hope against hope! Her mighty lion was let loose in the meantime which sprang up like a lightning, killing hundreds of Danavas who were massacred with their  blood flowing in streams. Nikumbha was infuriated and hit the lion on its head with a massive club, as it was hurt and withdrawn and  with the same club approached Kalika Devi. Chandika noticed the offensive of Nikumbha and with Her Trisula hacked his head into pieces, which  no doubt fell down smashed but shot up on its own circling around Devi Chandika as though it was paying his last homage! Simultaneously, his headless body with his club in hands was wandering all over, as a frightful spectacle was on display by  onlookers above but the fighting hands were severed into pieces by Maha Chandika  and his body assumed a mountain-like shape fell on ground with a startling sound of a ear-piercing thud.

The last Chapter of Sumbha was scripted by Maharshi Veda Vyasa to King Janamejaya more in remorse than in anger as those were the heartfelt feelings of the Demon. Having lost his dear brother, valued Ministers, Generals and countless Demon soldiers who had ruled the Three Worlds without even a minute question, Sumbha was already destroyed psychologically wondering the playful hand of Fate which turned his ‘Ahamkara’ ( Ego) into ashes. Indeed, he was now prepared to save his skin and return to Patala- from where he hailed originally from-but the future generations would describe him as a selfish coward who succumbed to timidity and certainly that was not a life worth living in disgrace. Thus putting up a face of courage and self respect rather than of humility and ignominy, Sumbha approached Ambika Devi with false feelings of bravado and expected pride and addressed Her that he would not feel like fighting with a fresh flower like Her, as She was meant for sentimental treatment rather than harsh language and that She was worth performing prayers to rather than picking up cudgels. Fully reading the Demon’s mind hiding fear of death and of sins of the past, Ambika smilingly replied that even at this stage, he could be excused as guilt and timidity were the predominant features in his heart. More over, She said, since he was not reconciled to fighting against Her due to infatuation and obsession, he could as well attack Chandika Devi who was excusively incarnated for the purpose. As  She said so, the full play of his ‘Arishvargas’ came up in His exterior mental frame and commenced displaying arrogance, anger and desperation of ‘do or die’ attitude. He picked up his powerful club and tried to jump against Chandika Devi and with Her own club, She broke the demon’s head into two parts, thus ending the disgusting Saga of Sumbha’s end to the horror of the Sub-terrain and the momentous rejoicing of the Three Worlds which heaved a sigh of relief and liberation. Indra and Devas with the Trinity in the background went in overwhelming  swoons of  excitement and ecstacy for they were forlorn for thousand years of relegation and sincerely conveyed gratitude to Devi

Glories of Chandika Devi

 King Janamejaya requested Maharshi Veda Vyasa to narrate some previous illustrations of devotion to Chandika Devi securing  Salvation. There was a  King of virtuosity named Suratha who ruled his subjects well and earned popularity. But, some Mlecchyas attacked and defeated his Kingdom and he had to take refuge in a hermitage of a Muni and practised Tapasya till better days could return to revive his Kingship again. Meanwhile a Vysya named Samadhi too sought refuge in the hermitage as his wife and sons became greedy and threw him out of the house.

The Muni described to the King and the Vysya about the kindness of Devi Maya whose sincere devotion would never fail. But the power of Maya or illusion was so powerful that even Brahma, Vishnu and Maha Deva were never exempt from its mighty pull. When Brahma and Vishnu had an argument as to who was more important, they found a ‘Linga’ or a never ending stone formation, whose depth and height were never known. Brahma said that he would ascertain the Linga’s height and flew up, while Vishnu went down to find out its depth. Both of them were tired going up and down for several years, but could not get a clue. But Brahma said that he found out the height and a Ketaki flower was a witness.When asked for confirmation the flower said that Brahma did reach the top. A voice was heard saying that both Brahma and the Ketaki flower were lying, because the flower rolled down from a height while Brahma caught hold of it. Since then Maha Deva cursed the flower that it should never be used for worshipping Him. Such was the power of Maha Maya that even Brahma or Vishnu could not comprehend It. The three ‘Gunas’ of Satvika, Rajas and Tamas had such a mighty pull that even Trinity were victims of these, let alone others! The Sage described that the ‘Moola Prakriti’ or the Super Force had no beginning nor end. She is Eternal, the Cause of Causes, the Vital Force residing in all beings. She is the all pervading innner consciouness or the ‘Brahman’ and a reflection of the beings, like Fire present in Fire only, rain present in rain only, sunshine present in sunshine only but not  in any other form. She is the doer, the doing and the deed. She is Sarasvati of Brahma, Maha Lakshmi of Maha Vishnu and Parvati of Maha Deva. She is the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. Devi Chandika’s  Bija ( Seed) Mantra is : Om Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundayai Vicchhe. When King Suratha and Vaisya ‘Samadhi’ performed meditation as suggested by the Muni, they were relieved of their respective difficulties. The King regained his throne as Mlecchas were overthrown. Vaisya ‘Samadhi’ too adopted a typical life of hermitage shedding his worldly desires.

Procedure of worshipping Maha Devi

 After ensuring external and internal purity ( ‘Bahya Suddhi’ and ‘Antar Suddhi’) and squatted with concentration, one should initiate ‘Achamana’ ( sipping water thrice) with ‘Kesavaya Svaha, Narayanaya Svaha,  Madhavaya Svaha etc; be ready with articles of worship; perform ‘Pranayama’ or controlled breathing; follow by ‘Bhuta Suddhi’ or purification of the old and installing the new representaion of Devi Bhagavati and observe internal ‘dhyana’ (meditating) to mean:

dissolve Earth into Water, Water into Fire, Fire into Air, Air into Ether, Ether into ‘Ahamkara’, ‘Ahamkara’ into ‘Mahat’ (Great Energy) and ‘Mahat’ into ‘Prakriti’ or ‘Maya’, or in other words imagine transformation of the Five Elements into Moola Prakriti; follow Bhuta Suddhi by ‘Jeeva Suddhi’ or align the Self with Parama Devi; proceed further by mentally setting Six Chakras (outer- most circle inserted by an inner circle, further inserted by four more inner circles one within another) thus arranging the installation of ‘Shat chakropasthitha Samsthitha’ simultaneously pronouncing the afore mentioned nine lettered Mantra, viz. ‘Om Aim Hrim Kleem Chamundaya Vicche’ and align the Mantra to the six chakras as also touching the relevant body parts of the Worshipper concerned. The ‘Kartha’or the Worshipper should perform ‘Sankalpa’ or mentioning the ‘Tidhi’(date), ‘Vara’ ( day) ‘Nakshatra’ or the relevant ‘Star’of the day, ‘Aayana’or the Course of the Solar Movement, Month, Year, Manvantara, Yuga, Place, Name of the Performer, ‘Gotra’ etc.; sprinkle water on the self, surroundings, articles and place of worship and recite the Mantra to remove obstacles for worship viz. ‘Astraya Phat’; place the Sacred Copper Plate in position; [ readily available from contemporary markets  or draw two hexagonal triangles - one straight and another inverted- crossing each other, draw a figure outside that image, an octagonal form of eight petals and outside this a ‘Bhupura’ or boundary lines. On the eight petals are inscribed the Bija Mantras with the ninth word inscribed at the central Ovum].The ‘Bindu’ or  ‘Adhara Shakti’ or the Super Energy at the Central Ovum which one has to worship. The ‘Yantra’( diagram) is expected to resemble human body and is a mystical representation of  Devi Maha Bhagavati to be worshipped.
Actual Puja commences while seated facing east and looking at the tip of the top triangle of the Yantra. The lowest triangle at the bottom right represents Lord Ganesha whose prayer is a traditional must. The  bottom left hand side is governed by Sun God, top left Corner by Lord Vishnu, and top right corner by Lord Shiva. The ‘Lokapalas’ or Direction-wise Guards protect as follows: Indra guards East, Agni
( Fire) guards South East, Lord Yama guards South, Nirruti South West, Varuna the God of Rain and Water  guards the West, ‘Vayu’ the God of Air guards North West, Soma or Moon guards North, and Ishana protects North East.  After propitiating the Devas and Lokapalakas, Puja to Devi Bhagavati starts  by Kara Nyasa and Anga Nyasa. The Karanyasa Mantras are: Aim- angushttabhyam Namah, Hreem- Tarjaneebhyam Namah, Sreem - Madhyamabham Namah, Aim- Anamikabhyam Namah, Kleem Kanishthikam Namah, Souh Karatala prushthabhyam Namah.   Anganyasa Mantras are: Aim Hridayaya Namah, Hreem Sirase Svaha, Sreem Sikhayavoushat, Aim Kavachahum, Kleem Netratraya aushath, Sauh Astrayaphut. Salutations to Maha Devi as follows:
Om Aim Sreem Aim Kleem Souh-Kriya Shakti Peethayai-Shri Padukayam Pujaami
      Om Aim Sreem Aim Kleem Souh-Jnana Shakti Kundalinyai-                  -DO-
Om Aim Sreem Aim Kleem Souh- Iccha Shakti Maha Tripura Sundaryai- -DO-
Nithyamba Pujas: The following Mantras to added after each Nityamba:-
Om Aim Hreem Shreem Aim Kleem Souh XXXX  Sri Padukayam Pujaya  Namah
Example:                  Do                         Kameswari Nityamba                         Do
Bhagamalini Nityamba, Nityaklinna Nityamba, Bherunda Nityamba,Vahnivasini  Nityamba, Maha Vajreswari Nityamba, Sivaduti Nityamba,  Tvarita Nityama, Kula Sundari Nityamba, Nitya Nityamba, Neelapataka Nithyamba, Vijaya Nithyamba, Sarva Mangala Nithyamba, Jwalamalini Nitymaba,Chitra Nityamba, Maha Nitya Nityamba, Parameswara Nityamba, Parameswari Devi, Mitresamayi Devi, Shashtheesa Mayi Devi, Uddishamayi Devi, Charyanathamayi Devi, Lopamudramayi Devi, Agashyamayi Devi, Kala- tapanamayi Devi, Dharmacharyamayi Devi, Muthakesivaramayi Devi, Deepakalanathamayi Devi, Vishnudevamayi Devi, Prabhakara Devamayi Devi, Vasudevayamayi Devi, Ratnadevimayi Devi and Sri Ramanandamayi Devi.

Navavarana Puja- Names of Devis in Nine Enclosures

 ‘Pradhama Avarana’ (First Enclosure) in Three Outer Lines:
          First Line: Anima Sidhamba, Laghima Sidhamba, Mahima Sidhamba, Isitva Sidhamba, Vasitva Sidhamba, Prakamya Sidhamba, Bhuti Sidhamba, Iccha Sidhamba, Prapti Sidhamba and Sarva Kama Sidhamba.
         Second Line: Sri Brahmi Matruka, Maheswari Matruka, Kaumari Matruka, Vaishnavi Matruka, Varahi Matruka, Mahendri Matruka, Chamunda Matruka, and Mahalakshmi Matruka.

Third Line: Sarva Sankshobhini Devi, Sarva Vidravini Devi, Sarvakarshini Devi, Sarva vashankari Devi, Sarvonmadini Devi, Sarva Mahankusa Devi, Sarva Khechari Devi, Sarva Beeja Devi, Sarva Yoni Devi, Sarva Trikhanda Devi, Trilokya Mohana Chakraswamini Devi and Prakata Yogini Devi.
‘Dvitheeya Avarana’(Second Enclosure): Kamakarshini Shakti, Buddhyakarshini Shakti, Ahankarakarshini Shakti, Sabdakarshini Shakti, Sparshakarshini Shakti, Rupakarshini Shakti, Rasakarshini Shakti, Gandhakarshini Shakti, Chittakarshini Shakti, Dhairyakarshini Shakti, Smrutyakarshini Shakti, Namakarshini Shakti, Beejakarshini Shakti, Atmakarshini Shakti, Amrutakarshini Shakti, Sharirakarshini Shakti, Sarva Aasha Paripurka Chakraswamini and Gupta Yogini.
 ‘Truteeya Avarana’ ( Third Enclosure): Anga Kusuma Shakti, Ananga Mekhala Shakti, Ananga Madana Shakti, Ananga Madanatura Shakti, Ananga Rekha Shakti, Ananga Vegini Shakti, Ananga Ankusha Shakti, Ananga Malini Shakti, Sarva Sankshobhana Chakraswamini, and Gupta thara Yogini.
 ‘Chaturdha Avarana’ ( Fourth Enclosure): Sarvakshobini Devi, Sarva Vidravini Devi, Sarvakarshini Devi, Sarvahladini Devi, Sarva Sammohini Devi, Sarva-Sthambhini Devi, Sarvajhrumbhini Devi, Sarvavashankari Devi, Sarva Ranjani Devi, Sarvonmadini Devi, Sarvatha Sadhika Devi, Sarva Sampatti Purani Devi, Sarva Mantramayi Devi, Sarva Dvandva Kshayankari Devi, Sarva Soubhagya Dayaka Chakraswamini Devi and Sampradaya Yogini Devi.
 ‘Panchama Avarana’ (Fifth Enclosure): Sarva Siddhiprada Devi, Sarva Sampathprada Devi, Sarva Priyankari Devi, Sarva Mangala Karini Devi, Sarva Kamaprada Devi, Sarva Dhuhkha Vimochani Devi, Sarva Mrithyu Prasamani Devi, Sarva Vighna Nivarini Devi, Sarvanga Sundari Devi, Sarva Sowbhagya Dayani Devi, Sarva Ardha Sadhaka Chakraswamini and Kulotheerna Yogini.
‘Shashtha Avarana’ ( Sixth Enclosure): Sarvagya Devi, Sarva Shakti Devi, Sarva Aishvarya Pradayani Devi, Sarva Jnanamayi Devi, Sarva Vyadhi Vinasini Devi, Sarvadhara Swarupa Devi, Sarva Papahari Devi, Sarva Anandamayi Devi, Sarva Raksha Swarupini Devi, Sara Epsitha Phalaprada Devi, Sarva Rakshakara Chakra Swamini and Nigarbha Yogini.
 ‘Saptama Avarana’ ( Seventh Enclosure): Vasini Vagdevi, Kameswari Vagdevi, Modhini Vagdevi, Vimala Vagdevi, Aruna Vagdevi, Jayani Vagdevi, Sarva Eswari Vagdevi, Kaulini Vagdevi, Sarva Rogahara Chakraswaini, Rahasya yogini, Banini, Chapini, Paasini and Ankusini.
 ‘Ashta’ Avarana’ (Eighth Enclosure): Maha Kameswari Devi, Maha Vajreswari Devi, Maha Bhagamalini Devi, Sarva Siddhiprada Chakraswamini and  Ati Rahasya Yogini.
 ‘Nava Avarana’ ( Ninth Enclosure): Sri Sri Bhattarika, Sarvanandamaya Chakraswamini and Parapara Rahasya Yogini.
Conclusion of Navavarana Puja:
Tripura Devi Namah: Dhyayami; Tripuresi Devi Namah: Avahayami; Tripura Sundari Devi Namah :Asanam Samarpayami;Tripurasiddhi Devi Namah: Snanam Samarpayami; Tripuramba Devi Namah: Vastram Samarpayami; Maha Tripura Sundari Devi Namah: Abharamam Samarpayami; Maha Maheswari Devi Namah: Gandham Dharayami; Maha Maharagni Devi Namah: Pushpam Pujayami; Srimad Simhasana Iiswaryai Devi Namah:Padam Pujaami; Lalitha Devi Namah: Gulphou Pujayami;  Maha Raagni Namah: Janghou Pujayami; Paramakushi Namah: Januni Pujayami; Chapinyai Namah :Urum Pujayami;Tripurayi Namah:Katim Pujayami; Maha Sundaryai Namah: Nabhim Pujayami; Sundaryai Namah: Vasitrayam Pujayami; Chakranathaya Namah:Udaram Pujayami; Charinyai Namah: Kantham Pujayami; Chakreswaryai Namah:Oshtham Pujayami; Maha Devai Namah: Kapolam Pujayami; Kameswaryai Namah: Dantapanktim Pujayami; Parama Eswaryai Namah:Chbukam Pujayami; Kamaraja Priyayai Namah:Nasika Dwayam Pujaami; Kamakotikayai Namah: Bhru Madhyam Pujaami; Sarv Patalayai Namah: Mukham Pujayami; Kulanthayai Namh: Parswam Pujaami; Amnayanathyayai Namah: Siram Pujamami; Sarva Amnaya Nivasinyai Namah : Padukam Pujayami; Maha Sringara Nayikayai Namah : Sarvangyani Pujayami.
 Maha Sakti Devi Namah:Dhoopam Aghrapaami; Maha Guptha Devi Namah: Deepam Darshayami; Maha Gupta Devi Namah: Nivedaym Samarpayami; Maha Ananda Devi Namah:Tamboolam Saparpayami; Maha Skanda Devi Namah: Mantra Pushpam Samarpayami; Maha Maha Sri Chakra Nagara Samragni Namah: Pradakshina Namaskaran Samarpayami. [Note: If the detailed worship on the above lines is not possible to perform, at least the following powerful Panchadasakshari mantra may be recited 108 times each day keeping in view the Sri Yantra with concentration:

                                Ka E La Hreem-Ha Sa Ka Ha La Hreem-Sa Ka La Hreem ]

Indra kills Trisira and Vritra and his penance

Prajapati Visvakarma, the famed Architect of Devas, had a son named Trisira or the three headed Brahmana boy who used to practise ascetism with one head, drink wine with another and look around in all directions with the third. Being an ardent student of Vedas, he was always engaged in severe Tapasya, especially ‘Panchagni Sadhana’ hanging upside down a tree branch exposed to Summer Sun, winter cold and heavy rainy season without food conquering worldly desires.

Being highly suspicious of the intentions of Trisira who might pose problem his own throne, Indra despatched Apsarasas to disturb Trisira’s rigorous meditation but to no avail. Indra thus killed him even when he was in meditation, even as he knew that killing a pious Brahmana in meditation was the highest possible sin. Furious with Indra’s dreadful deed, Visvakarma performed an inexorable Sacrifice by ‘Abhichara’ process  (taking revenge) reciting Atharva Veda Mantras, created a mountain like and ferocious boy with the sole objective of killng Indra.The huge boy was named Vritra or who could save his father as Vrinjina. Visvakarma equipped him with all kinds of war tactics and divine armoury including a swift and sturdy Chariot, a ‘Sudarshan’ like Disc, and a‘Trisula’ like spear. As Vritra grew, Indra was getting nervous and approached Deva Guru to prevent any risk from the Demon. Brihaspati warned Indra that he should better be prepared for a Big Battle as the forebodings were not conducive, as after all Indra had committed a heinous crime of killing a Brahmana out of pride and fear.  Meanwhile Vritra formulated his plans of attack and grouped a vengeful and desperate army of Danavas as his support. As the dooms day arrived, Indra and Devas were attacked and a furious Danava clan fought for hundred years and Indra leapt for life from Elephant ‘Airavata’ and ran by foot and Varuna, Vayu, Agni and all other Planetary heads and Devatas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras and so on fled too incognito.  At one stage Vritra caught hold of Indra and literally devoured him. All the Deva Chiefs prayed to Deva Guru to some how save Indra and Brihaspati managed Vritra to yawn with his mouth wide open and somehow helped Indra to manage to bale out from his mountain-cave like mouth of Vritra! As Indra and Devas fled and hid themselves from Vritra, the latter ruled Heavens for thousand years and Devas continued sporadic efforts to defeat Vritra and Danavas but to no avail. Indra and Devas approached Maha Deva for help and together along with Maha Vishnu prayed to Maha Devi and got Her blessings. Some senior Sages went in a delegation to Vritra requesting for truce with Indra and Devas. Vritra agreed that the truce be agreed provided that his death should take place neither during day or night, with a dry or liquid substance or by wood,  stone, thunderbolt and similar substance.The Sages agreed to the conditions. But Vritra’s father Visvakarma cautioned the son that  past history was a witness to Indra’s vicious acts and that he would certainly strike Vritra at an opportune time; he said that Indra was such a crook that he killed the foetus of his own mother’s sister Diti by entering into her womb by Anima and other Siddhis and  killing it into pieces; by taking the form of Sage Gautam and cheated the Sage’s wife Ahalya into bed, and recently killed Trisira on the suspicion that he might usurp his throne and so on. In course of the function like ‘Suthika Sauchak’ie one month after birth till ‘Samavartan’ or boy returning from ‘Gurukula’ after studies. Meanwhile Rahul came to realise that Varun had been demanding the Naramedha and ran away. After some time when he came to know that his father was exremely ill with dropsy as a result of Varuna’s curse, Rahul wanted to return home but Lord Indra advised him against it. Sage Vasishtha the well wisher Guru of Harischandra suggested that an alternate way of performing Naramedha as approved by Scriptures was neither day nor night but the twilight time. It was wrongly deduced that it was Indra who killed Vritra, but the actual position was that Maha Bhagavati entered and energised the Sea foam and terminated Vritra. That was why Maha Bhagavati was known as ‘Vritranihantri’. [ Srimad Maha Bhagavatha Purana stated that Maha Vishnu advised Devas to implore Sage Dadhichi to spare his backbone which was converted into a thunderbolt by Visvakarma the Architect of Devas with which was killed Vritra by Indra.] Badly hurt by the sense of guilt that he killed a Brahmana the result of which would be that of a Great Sin of ‘Brahma paataka’ as this woud be a second sin of killing Trisura, who was also a Bramhana, Indra felt miserable and hid himself in the stalk of a lotus in Manasarovar lake. As Indra was absconding for a long time, another  Indra King Nahusha was installed, and puffed up by the new position Nahusha asked for Sachi Devi to serve him, as he was the King then. Sachi asked for some time Indra befriended Vritra and when the latter was roaming on the Sea beach he took advantage of the situation and sent his thunderbolt to dip itself in the froth of the Sea waves and killed Vritra as the time time to make sure that her husband was really hiding or dead. She prayed to Devi Maha Bhagavati and explained her predicament to Her. Maha Devi asked Sachi to accompany a female messenger named Visvakama; they went by an air-borne vehicle to Manasarovar where she met Indra who was frightened with the sense of guilt hiding inside the stalk of a lotus. On narratinig the happenings of the new Indra, his desire to own Sachi as his wife, her asking him for time, praying to Maha Devi and the messenger Visvakama helped locating Indra, the latter advised Sachi to allure Nahusha into a forest by a Vehicle meant for Sages. She returned to Nahusha who borrowed the ‘Vimana’ ( air plane) of Sages who understood the deceipt of Nahusha and allowed both of them to board the vehicle saying : SARPA  SARPA, which had the double meaning of ‘ Get In and go’ and also ‘Serpent, Serpent’!The Great Muni was whipped by Nahusha to let the Vehicle go fast. The Vehicle dropped Nahusha in the thick of a forest who took the shape of a huge serpent and picked up the real Indra and Sachi Devi back to Heavens safe, when all the Devas were happy that original Indra returned! Nahusha secured his liberation only after the Maha Bharata was over and the Five Pandavas passed through the forest  and King Dharmaraja answered the  questions correctly from his serpent formation and liberated him too. By the Grace of Devi Bhagavati, Indra was reinstated and the curse of his ‘Brahma Hatya Pathaka’( killing a Brahmana) was already dissolved by way of atonement and sufferance in hiding at ‘Manasarovara’. Such was the Supreme Justice that Devi Maya did to every being without favour or prejudice. The powerful ‘Karma’or Fate works equitably to Tri Murthis downward to a grass blade, but the norms change with the passage of Yugas from Satya to Treta to Dvapara and Kali Yuga  when the percentage of Gunas would witness radical change by way of reduction to Satvik, medium to  Rajas and maximum to Tamas and when the peak reaches to Tamas, it then would be time for Universal Dissolution!

Sages Vasishtha Vs. Visvamitra and their ‘Ahankaras’ (Egos)

There was a fine interplay of Satvika, Rajasvika and Tamasika Gunas in respect of two illustrious Sages Vasishta and Visvamitra in the context of King Harischandra, son of Trisanku of Solar dynasty. The King had no issues and prayed to Lord Varuna who granted a boon on the condition that his son would be given away by way of Human Sacirifice ( Naramedha).

The son Rahul grew from stage to stage and at each could be to buy a boy for riches and sacrifice him.The King purchased a boy named Sunasepha from his very poor parents and readied him for the Sacrifice. Sage Visvamitra objected and as the King and Vasishtha did not heed, the ‘Varuna’ Manthra was given to Sunasepha by Visvamitra and thus the boy was rescued and Vauna’s indebteness to the King was dissolved. But the enmity between the two Sages was snowballed. Vasishtha cursed Visvamitra to become a crane and the latter cursed the former to become a Sarasa or an Adi bird. Both the birds quarrelled with each other for long on the same tree on the banks of Manasarovara. As Devas informed of the two birds, Lord Brahma relieved them of their mutual curses of the Sages and sought to bring about a reproachment of both the Great Sages.

Personality clashes of Sages and Kshatriyas

King Nimi Vs. Vasishtha

King Nimi of Ikshvasu dynasty was highly righteous and sought to perform in the name of Devi Bhagavati; Sage Vasishtha who was the dynasty’s Raja Guru agreed to be the Head Priest. At the arrived time when all the preparations were through, the Sage informed that Indra had called him too for a Sacrifice and sent word that King Nimi’s Yagna be rescheduled. King Nimi went ahead with his function as per schedule. Vasishtha returned and cursed Nimi that his mortal body would fall off

The King gave a return curse likewise. But since Nimi’s Yagna was not complete, he performed it as ‘Videha’ or without body as Lord Yama  was pleased with the Sacrifice and gave him the option of another nice birth or enter the first  Jiva body of Brihaspati but the King chose the Videha option. Vasishtha had to pray to his father Brahma who arranged that he be reborn as MitraVaruna.  In the past, Apsara Urvasi was infatuated by Mitra-Varuna and two issues were born, one was Agasti who beame an ascetic and the other was Ikshvaku who became a King. Mitra Varuna’s Jiva -body was still intact even before Brahma created original Vasishtha;  the Jiva of the present Vasishtha now dropped as a return curse of King Nimi entered the duplicate body of Mitra Varuna without any loss of original Vasishtha’s wisdom and Radiance!

King Yayati Vs. Sukracharya

In an another incident Sage Sukracharya cursed King Yayati. The Sage’s daughter Devayani married the King but objected to live with his another wife Sarmishtha  but still the King did not comply. The father of Devayani Sukracharya cursed that Yayati would become old and impotent. As the King entreated for forgiveness, the Sage’s curse was diluted that  if any of his sons could take the position of Yayati’s old form instead, then he could regain his youth. The youngest son of Sarmishtha, Puru who bore his father’s curse and after Yayati, he became a youthful King, the ancestor of Panadavas and Kauravas.  Veda Vyasa  affirmed that being an upright King, Yayati was also in a position to reverse the curse of the Danava Guru but restrained from doing so and quietly conceded to assume the old age as after all he did not commit a great sin in asking his  another wife Sarmishtha to bed; equally wonderful was the preparedness of Puru to take on the curse of the Sage and sacrificed his own youth for thousand years!    

Haihayas Vs. Bhargava

Conflicts of ego bewteen Kshatriyas and Brahmanas assumed snow-ball effect gradually. The Haihayas
 and Bhargavas had open disagreements to this extent that even pregnant women of Bhargavas were not spared of violence. Over a period of time, greed, jealousy and power proved to be the factors causing quarrels which finally climaxed into the era of Haihaya King Kartavirya of thousand hands and an ardent devotee of Avadhuti Dattatreya as also of Devi Maha Bhagavati.  As the violence by Haihayas on Bhargavas became acute, the latter assembled and prayed to Devi Girija intensely in an ‘Amarana Diksha’ ( Devotion till death). The  Devi appeared and assured that a boy would be born from Her thighs and would save them. But the Haihayas sought to blind the Brahmana lady who secured the boy- named Aurva or born of thighs, by the grace of Bhagavati. Ayurva was so radiant that all the Haihayas were all blinded. When the entire Haihaya clan prayed to the Brahmana lady to restore their eyesight, Aurva forgave them and their eyesight was restored. Haihayas got a lesson, as they all knew that Aurva was a gift of Devi Herself and they reverted back to their original position of reverence to Bhargavas in particular and Brahmanas in general. [ Parasurama, in Lord Vishnu’s incarnation, killed Kshatriyas in twenty one battles and also ended the mighty King  Kartaviryarjuna]

The origin of Haihayas was interesting. Once, Lord Surya’s  son, Revanta rode on the Celestial Horse‘Uucchaiswara’ and called on Maha Vishnu; Laxmi recognised the co-born Horse at the time of churning the Ocean and was lost in thoughts, despite Vishnu’s noting Her indifference. Vishnu became angry and cursed Her to become a mare as She was much captivated with the horse. Lakshmi Devi prayed to Maha Deva and Girija who sent the latter’s emissary to Vishnu with the request that He too be born as a horse. Lakshmi Devi confirmed to Devi Girija that her husband had great reverence for Mahadeva as Vishnu was praying to Maha Deva Himself. Hence Vishnu obliged and took the form of a Horse. The Animal Forms of Vishnu and Lakshmi gave birth to a male human child who was left in the forest but was ordained to be picked up by King Yayati’s son Turvasu ( Hari Varma) who was meditating for a son for hundred years.But meanwhile a Vidyadhara named Champaka and his spouse Madanashala were flying around and found a child of profound sparkle and desired to own him, but Indra warned them that the child who gave birth to Hari and Laxmi was actually meant  for Yayati’s son Hari Verma who was performing severe Tapasya for a male child who was subsequently named as ‘Eka Vira’ ( The One Only Warrior). As Ekavira grew into an ideal Youth with considerable learning and valour, King Turvasu and coronated Ekavira and retired to forests. Ekavira was popular as a worthy King. As he was roaming once on the banks of Ganges, he found a pretty girl crying. When cajoled, she ( Yasovati) said she was the companion of the Princess Ekavali, the daughter of King Rabhya and Queen Rukmarekha. The couple performed a Sacrifice and were blessed as Ekavali emerged from the Homa Kunda  ( Firepit). When the Princess and Yasovati were bathing in a Pond in their territory, Demon Kalaketu appeared, killed King Rabhya’s soldiers and made amorous advances to Ekavali. She entreated the Danava King from ‘Patala’ that her father desired her to be wedded to King Eka Vira of Haihayas and thus requested her to leave her. But the Danava King heeded little and forcibly took Ekavali away to Patala. On hearing about the incident, Eka Vira revealed his identity and wondered how to reach Patala to fight Kalaketu. Yasovati was distressed heavily and  prayed to Devi Bhagavati who in her dream informed that by the dint of a ‘Bija’ (Seed) Mantra which she learnt earlier by Lord Dattatreya be  meditated for a month with pure heart and on the banks of Ganges, she would meet King Eka Vira and help her to kill Kalaketu. As she knew the Triloka Thilaka Yogeswari Mantra, King Eka Vira was initiated in  it as follows:Hrim Gauri Rudrayathey yogeswari hum phut swaha. He was thus able to reach Patala, destroyed Kalaketu, rescued Ekavali back and married her under the care of her parents who prayed to Bhagavati with extreme gratitude . It was in the union of Eka Vira and Ekavali  that the famed Kartavirya was born in the Haihayas clan.

Play of ‘Maya’ - Narada’s wedding and womanhood !

Maharshi Narada  visited ‘Samyapraksha’, the Sacred Hermitage of  Maha Muni Veda Vyasa on the banks of River Saraswathi.The two Grand Sages exchanged mutual experiences and the inevitable play of ‘Maha Maya’( The Great Illusion) in their own lives. Veda Vyasa narrated the incidents of his past including the role played by Devi Bhagavati Maya as to how his father was enticed with his mother Satyavati-a fisher woman, the insistence of his mother to sleep with his own younger dead brother’s wives to beget children to uphold the family royalty, his temptation with Apsara Grithachi and the birth of Suka Muni, his extreme attachment with the son and the intense desire to be a family man even at the cost of sending him to ‘Videha’ King Janaka to brain wash the son to wed and the most painful feeling of his son’s loss when he died and so on.

Maharshi Narada recalled too of his own unforgettable memories of wedding who had been a confirmed Brahmachari (Bachelor) and, worse still, becoming a woman and as a wife with children and grandchildren!
Narada ( ‘Nara’ is Knowledge and ‘Da’ means Giver) was a ‘Loka Sanchari’ or Universal Tourist by virtue of a curse given by Daksha Prajapati as Narada interfered with his sons-Haryasvas; Whereas Daksha asked the sons  to learn and meditate well and then become ‘Grihasthis’ or House holders later but Narada guided them to perform ‘Tapasya’ and   be eligible to salvation instead of getting mixed up with worldly activities.Hence the curse. Such a legendary personality- a Brahma Manasa Putra or born of Lord Brahma’s mind- fell flat due to the powerful intentions of Maha Maya. In one incident, the two Devarshis Narada and Parvata fancied to visit Bhuloka and visit various Sacred Places and Rivers. Having gone on the pilgrimage, they had to stop over at the Kingdom of King Sanjaya as their movement for four months had to be halted due to the season of rains.The King made all the arrangements for their comfortable stay and also asked his youthful daughter Damayanti to oversee their needs of daily regular pujas. In course of time, Damayanti got atrracted by Narada by his erudite knowledge of Scriptures, his eternal youth and most importantly by his Sama Veda intonation as well as his musical talents, especially his excellent playing of Veena ( lute) instrument.There was a distinct attitudinal change of Damayanti towards Narada vis-a-vis Parvata which was not to the liking of the latter. He asked Narada whether there was any fascination for each other and he confirmed it. Parvata became furious as this was not the purpose of their coming to visit Bhuloka and the result was loathsome. Thus, Parvata left Narada’s company and cursed him to have a monkey face. King Sanjaya and wife sought to hurry up with Damayanti’s wedding but she was adamant to marry Narada only as she was infatuated with him, despite his face.He was an adept in the Science of Music, a virtual Nada Brahma and an authority of Swara, Grama and Murchchana. Sapta Swaras: Sadja, Rishabha, Gandhara, Madhyama, Panchama, Dhaivata and Nisada. Gramas are the gradual increase and decrease of Swaras; Mruchchanas: intonations and regulation of sounds by controlling the air and harmony through keys, changing keys for sound modulation and creating melodies] Damayanti also felt that after all Kinnaras the celestial musicians had horse faces and Narada was admired for his innumerable other qualities. Narada and Damayanti were married and were extremely happy. After a lapse of time, Maharshi Parvata visited Narada couple, withdrew his curse and Narada became normal again. Such was the play of Maya and strange were the ways of destiny which was a part of Bhagavati’s ‘Leelas’ never understood by Trimurtis, not to mention of Narada!
         
Devarshi Narada narrated another example of the pastime of ‘Maya’ to Veda Vyas which was even more telling. As Lord Vishnu and Narada were conversing once at Vaikuntha, Narada was proud to make a statement that happily he was not  a victim of Maya as he was beyond it but human beings often get victimised to it. Lord Vishnu called for His Vehicle Garuda and suggested that both could go out for a drive. He stopped Garuda at the City of Kannouj near a lake,  suggested that they might refresh with a swim and asked Narada to do so first. The moment Narada dipped in the water, Narada became a charming woman and lost his memory. Vishnu left quietly along with belongings like Narada’s clothes, lute and hand worn musical instruments. Meanwhile, King Taladhvaja of Kannauj arrived there with his followers and was immediately struck by the beautiful lady ( Narada) and enquired about her name and details. As the woman did not remember her antecedents, the King took her and married her in the presence of all according to Vedic rites and named her Sowbhagya Sundari.The King declared her as the Principal Queen and their marital life was exceedingly successful as they begot twelve sons who grew and were married too and she became a grand mother. As there was a terrible war with a neighbouring country, the sons and grandsons of the King  were killed but the he did not fight. An elderly woman well versed in Vedas and Mantras provided solace to the Queen and suggested that after the obsequies she might take bath in a ‘Pumthirdha’ for males  as the departed were all males. The elderly woman, who was Vishnu Himself  conducted the Queen to the lake and even after one dip realised that she was Narada himself! As the King was wailing about the whereabouts of the Queen, the elderly lady or Vishnu consoled the King and sent him back and had a hearty laugh to Narada who was put to shame as this was a pastime for Devi and Lord Vishnu was but an instrument in the entire drama to prove that none whatsoever was above ‘Maya’!Thus both Maharshi Veda Vyasa and Devarshi exchanged mutual experiences in the context of Maha Maya who rejoices, like a magician in making dolls dance as per Her will and pleasure, and plays with all living and non living beings from Lord Brahma to an insignificant pebble. She casts Her spell to the objects according to their ‘Karma’ and as per the mix of their own  ‘Gunas’ in various proportions. The Basic Laws prescribed by Maya Bhagavati are enforced by Her Three Agents, viz.Trinity and their deputies and the actions are perfomed by the individuals concerned according to their volitions which are again conditioned by their remote past, immediate past and current accounts of ‘Karma’!

Genesis of Lord Brahma and His various creations

Lord Brahma, born of Lord Vishnu’s navel of lotus, first created seven Manasa Putras or mind-born sons-Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasishtha. Then came Rudra from His anger, Narada from His lap, Daksha from right thumb and Virini ( Daksha’s wife) from left thumb. Brahma also created the Sanaka Brothers ( Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanat Kumaras) as ‘Manasa Putras’. From Daksha, Virini gave birth to five thousand sons in two lots but on  preaching by Narada, the sons left away in different directions and an angry Daksha cursed Narada to take  rebirth from Virni.

Then Daksha and Virini gave birth to sixty daughters of whom thirteen were married to Sage Kashyap, ten to Dharma, twenty seven to Moon, two each to Bhrigu, Aristanemi, Krisasva and Angira. Among the first lot of  seven Manasa Putras, Marichi begot Sage Kasyapa -who married the thirteen daughters of Daksha and Virini- and the Sage was responsible for  wide ranging Kasyapi creation of Danavas, Devas, Yakshas, reptiles, animals, birds and so on. Among Devas, the most significant son was  Sun or Vivasvan and his son was Vaivasvanta Manu. Besides Ikshvaku who was the eldest, Vaivasva Manu had other important sons viz .Nabhaga ( Ambarisha was his famous son who was a just and religious King), Dhrishta ( Dhrashtaka was his son who attained Brahmana Stature though he was a Kshatriya), Saryati  ( Anarta was his son and Sukanya was the pretty daughter married to Chyavana Rishi, who was old and blind but Awsini brothers gave eye sight and youth owing to her good character and chastity), Narisyanta, Pransu, Nriga, Dishta, Karusa and  Risadhra.  Ikshvaku had one hundred sons, Vikuski being the eldest.
King Janamejaya requested Maharshi Veda Vyasa to kindly describe why King Saryati’s beautiful daughter Sukanya married a blind and old Sage Chyavana. It so happened that the smart princess visited a garden along with her playmate girls. She was attracted to a bush from which there came an interesting illumination of  star like twinkling; she pricked a dried  piece of a tree branch and pierced into it. Immediately there came out a blood stream and a loud sound of human cry. Sukanya and mates ran away. She narrated the incident to her father who was afraid of the situation as that happened to be the hermitage of Sage Chyavana; as a result  the urine and stools of the entire army of the King stopped. King Saryati approached and profusely apologised to Sage Chyavana who was performing  severe Tapasya with eyes open for hundreds of years and he was blinded because of his daughter’s foolishly inquisitive nature. The King offered that her daughter was prepared to look after the blind Sage and if he agreed she would marry him. Thus the pretty and youthful Sukanya had willingly married the blind and old Sage and served him with great devotion. After a few years, two Aswini Kumars passing by, appreciated her service and dedication and offered to get back her husband’s eyesight as also his youth on one condition that when the Sage took bath in a lake nearby she should identify and recognise him as besides him they too would be just similar to pop up from the water. This test was indeed tough and Sukanya sincerely prayed to Devi Bhagavati to help her through the test. Her prayers were well answered and Sukanya did recognise the real Sage as there was a concentrated radiance of Sattva Guna that distinguished him from the other two. The Sage was delighted as he got back his sight and a clear impossibility of youth and sought a return gift from the Aswini brothers who desired to have a cup of Soma Rasa ( Elixir) from heavens. Chyavana Muni performed  ‘Agnistoma’ Sacrifice  but the Soma Rasa was refused by Indra, since the  Divine Physicians were not eligible. A mantrik fight became inevitable as a Deity bestowing magical powers, named Kritya, was invoked by the Sage who created a frightful demon, Mada, created havoc in heavens and all the Devas were unable to control him. Indra had to yield to Aswini brothers’  request and the invincible demon Mada had to be disintegrated into four parts, viz.a sexy  female, drinking, gambling and hunting.
       
Reverting back to Saryati, his grand daughter Revati was as well known as Sukanya; Anarta was Sukanya’s brother whose son was Revata who in his turn had one hundred sons and a daughter Revati. As Revata approached Lord Brahma through prayers for a suitable match for Revati, the latter suggested that Revati be brought to Brahmaloka. In this context, King Janamejaya raised a pertinent question to Maharshi Veda Vyasa whether it would ever be possible for Revata to imagine that he and his daughter Revati could visit Satyaloka for bridegroom hunting! Veda Vyasa confirmed that it was indeed possible to do so during that age. There were several instances in the past, that Danavas travelled Amaravati of Indra, Satyaloka of Brahma and Kailasa of Maha Deva. Arjuna reached Amaravati and stayed there for years. Thus in the present case, Brahma asked Revata and Revati to meet the former. But by the time they reached there Brahma was busy attending a musical concert and as this was over Brahma told Revata that the possible names suggested by Revata as ideal grooms and their sons and grandsons were long back dead and gone as they were then going through the twenty seventh Vivasvata Manvantara of Dvapara Yuga. Brahma suggested however the name of Balarama who along with Krishna would soon be born and Balarama the incarnation of ‘Ananta Deva’ would be a suitable bridegroom. As the father and daughter reached Bhuloka , Revati was happily wedded to Balarama, as ordained by Brahma. Maharshi Veda Vyasas explained that in Satya loka, there were no concepts of time, distance, age, disease and death as were applicable in Bhu loka.

Solar Dynasty- Origin and Highlights

Vivasvata Manu had a sneeze and was born the eldest son Ikshvaku who established the Solar dynasty. Devarshi Narada initiated him into the worship of Devi Bhagavati and prayed for the expansion of the Solar ( Vaivsvata ) dynasty and Ikshvaku was blessed with hundred sons; he ruled Ayodhya, sent ninty sons to the Eastern Provinces, eight to the Southern Provinces to govern and kept two with himself, including the eldest son Vikuksi.

Vikuksi or Sasada as known during his forest life became the King and his only son Kakustha (Indravahana or Puranjaya ) became a powerful Monarch. It was this time that Danavas attacked Indra and the Devas badly and the latter approached Maha Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu asked them to seek King Kakustha’s assistance; he agreed to the proposal provided Indra became the carrier during the War. Indra reluctantly had to agree and changed himself into a bull (Kakud) on whose hump sat the King and routed the Danavas and that was how the King was known as Kakustha or Indravahana or Puranjana. He had a lasting alliance with Indra and gave away all the riches of Danavas gained from the War to Devas. Kakustha’s son was King Prithu who was a part Avatar of Vishnu and an unfailing Devotee of Maha Bhagavati. His lineage was Visvarandhi-Chandra- mighty Yuvanasya- Savanta who built Savanti like Paradise-Brihasva-Kuvalasya who killed the ferocious Demon Dhundhu and was thus known as Dhundhumara-Haryasva-Nikumbha-Varahasva- Krisasva- Parasenajit –Yavanasva  and the legendary Mandhata who built one thousand and eight palaces and the immortal City of Benares and innumerable places of Pilgrimage.The story of Yavanasva was indeed interesting as he did not beget from several wives any child and hence performed a Sacrifice for days together. One night when he was sleeping in the Sacrificial Arena, felt terribly thirsty and drank the ‘Mantrik jal’ or Sacred water actually meant for his Senior Wife to let her conceive; subsequently he got pregnant and his Ministers had to cut his stomach open to deliver a male child. When the child cried for milk, Indra who was pleased with the Sacrifice appeared and fed the child with his forefinger  and thus was named as Mandhata. Known for his valour and courage, Mandhata was acclaimed as‘Sarva-bhouma’ and Indra gave him the title ‘Trasadasyu’ as he was a terror to robbers. He and wife Bindumati begot two sons Purukustha and Muchukunda. The son and grandson were religious and noble Kings but in the fourth generation there was a wicked person by name Satyavrata who never had respect either father or Guru Vasishtha. He had performed a crime in kipnapping a Brahmana bride and thus got banished from the Kingdom by his father King Aruna who cursed the son to become a chandala or the lowest class of Society. While wandering in the forests, the Chandala could not get anything to eat and hence killed a cow;  Vasishtha cursed Satyavrata to become a ‘piscachi’(Goblin) who would carry three marks of ‘Shankhu’ of leprosy on his forehead to indicate three crimes, one to abduct a Brahmana bride, to defy father and Guru before abandoning the Royal Palace and three to kill and  eat a cow! That was why Satyavrata was known as ‘Trisanku’!

Trisanku learnt a ‘Mula Mantra’of Maha Bhagavati from a Muni Kumara and being  deeply hurt by his previous acts of sins lit up a Sacrificial Fire and sought to jump into the flames. Devi Bhagvati realised the extreme transformation of the highly repenting ‘Piscachi’ and appeared to bless him to reach his aged father and assume  Kingship. Sage Narada conveyed Bhagavati’s wish and the King was highly pleased that his son Satyavrata finally secured Maha Devi’s kindness to his son, that his Piscachi and Chandala forms were freed and that he would be eligible for Kingship. He left for ‘Vanaprastha Ashram’ ( Retirement) and crowned his son. But King Satyavrata had ideas to reach Heavens in his present form of a mortal and enjoy the sweet experiences there including with Apsarasas. He asked Maharshi Vasishtha  to perform a Sacrifice to achieve that objective. The Maharshi said that the King could never ever fulfill his ambition, especially since his past actions were non – erasable sins giving him the ‘Tri Sankhus’. The King suggested that his ambition must be obtained even if he were to change his Guru and Spiritual Teacher! This angered Vasishtha who cursed the King to become a Chandala once again. As he might not carry on as the King in that form anymore, he paved the way for his son Harischandra to become the King. Meanwhile Sage Visvamitra’s wife Kausiki conveyed to her husband that Satyavrata was indeed a very kind person as when Visvamitra left on his Tapasya for several years, it was Satyavrata who saved her and her sons as they were srarved of hunger and she was even tried to sell one of the sons to save others. Satyavrata supplied deer meat daily to them but on one day no deer was available and thus killed Kamadhenu to feed them with its meat. Sage Visvamitra was moved with this and agreed to repay Satyavrata in Chandala form to reach heavens in his human form and through his mystic powers and Fire Sacrifices sent Satyavrata in the very human form of Chandala to Heavens. But Devas did not allow his entry there because of Satyavrata’s record of sins and kicked him back to Earth. But, Sage Visvamitra utilised substantial stock of ‘Punya’ and created another Swarga just like the original called ‘Trisankhu Swarga’ and installed Trisankhu as the King of that duplicate Swarga in between Bhuloka and Devaloka with equally attractive luxuries made possible  in that Swarga!

King Harischandra was at the top of the list of enemies for Sage Visvamitra, especially since the King was the disciple of Sage Vasishtha. On the other hand  the King’s father Trisankhu was so close to Visvamithra  that the Sage gave away a sizeable share of Visvamitra’s hard earned ‘Punya’ to forward ‘Trisankhu’ to Heavens and as his entry was disappoved there, further Punya was spent to create a brand new Trisankhu Svarga midway between Bhuloka and Svarga as a challenge to Devas and indirectly to Sage Vasishtha. There was another instance when Lohitasya the son of Harischandra was saved from Demi God Varuna’s debt to Harischandra on account of  Lohithasya’s Sacrifice that got  transfferred to the poor Brahmana boy Sunyasapha who was bought at a heavy price; Visvamithra gave the mantra to appease Varuna to Sunehesapha while Vasishta suggested the way out of the problem to Harischandra and arranged  Sunehesapha to be bought over. Keeping in view the above incidents, Visvamitra was waiting for an oppornunity to strike at Harischandra.Meanwhile another incident happened which angered Harischandra.

Once King Harischandra was horse riding on the banks of Ganges and found a woman wailing and the reason was that the lady was highly disturbed at Visvamitra’s continuous Sacrifices. Harischandra forbade the Sage to perform the Sacrifices.He got annoyed and created a Demon in the form of a Boar who created  havoc in the King’s forests; the King ran after the beast and finally killed it but lost his way.Visvamitra as an old Brahmana showed the way back but by a strange illusion created by the Sage extracted a promise to the Brahmana that he would give away his entire possessions in return. Harischandra’s Kingdom and power were  gone on return back.Visvamitra idenified himself as the Brahmana and told the King Harischandra that  he had also pay Dakshina as a cartful of gold for a Rajasuya Yagna that he did in the past. Harischandra moved out of the Kingdom to Kasi which was out of his domain. He sold his wife and son as slaves to repay Dakshina’s interest and he himself worked as a bonded labour at Kasi’s cremation ground to a Chandala who was his Master.[ The Cremation Place is still named as ‘Harishchandra Ghat’ on the banks of Ganges] Untold misery of hundreds of years was experienced by the wife Saivya and son Rohitasya at the masters’ abode performing menial jobs and he himself toiled as Gate keeper as the  bonded labour of ‘Chandala’with an endless debt by the years till their end. Subsequently, Lohitasya was bitten by a snake in the garden of the Master and died. There was no other help available even to carry the son’s dead body. Harischandra and Saivya could not recognise each other initially and Saivya begged of the Gate keeper to burn her son’s body. The Gate Keeper Harischandra insisted payment of fees for the task of cremation and she had none to afford. Half of her Sari was sold for the fees but the cremation charges were still due. It was at that final desperation when Saivya and Harischandra sought to jump into the fire along with the son’s dead body with their last silent  prayers on their lips for Devi Satakshi that Trimurtis, Indra and Devas appeared on the scene. When Indra invited to Devaloka, Harischandra waited for the affirmative nod of his Master, Chandala, who was Yama  Dharma Raja Himself! There were flowery rains from  Skies as a ‘Pushpak Viman’

(  Flight of Flowers) took off from the Cremation Ground for the Most Shining Couple of Truthfulness, Sacrifice,  Perseverance and exemplary devotion  to Devi Satakshi. Son Lohitasya was revived, as he too underwent the rigours of life at every stage since his  birth by the threats of death from Varuna Deva with whose blessings that he was born, to the stage of a fugitive in the forests and passed through the hardest life as a slave dying finally by a snake bite!

Magnificence of Satakshi Maha Devi

King Janamejaya desired to understand from Maharshi Veda Vyasa about the Glory of Maha Devi Satakshi whom the bright star of Solar Dynasty Harischandra was highly devoted to. There was a dreadful Demon Durgama, son of Ruru born in the family of Hirankyaksha. He developed a great theory that Devas had been becoming powerful because of Fire Sacrifices being performed by Sages and Brahmanas according to the Mantras prescribed in the Vedas and hence the root cause of  Vedas be desrtroyed.

With this objective in view, he performed very severe Tapasya for thousand years and the might of the meditation shook the Three Worlds and Lord Brahma was obliged to arrive by His Swan Chariot. The Demon asked for the specific boon to give him away all the Vedas to himself. As soon as Brahma gave the boon, there was complete chaos among Brahmanas and Sages as none could carry out daily worship starting from ‘Sandhya Vandana’, to ‘Homas’, ‘Sraddhas’, ‘Jata Karmas’, rites after deaths, ‘Vrathas’ or ‘Pujas’, and a whole lot of allied  activities including astrology, astronomy, fine arts, Artha Sastras, the Sciences of Wars like Astras, Sastras and so on as indeed the purpose and wherewithal of life is terminated. Indeed the balance of Nature, Planetary movement, lack of rains, water, crops, food and a threat to humanity and the other worlds, the entire creation was all affected! While Siddhas and Yogis could survive even without food, humanity in general including beasts and birds were affected for want of food; thus Maha Devi in an Extension of ‘Shakambhari Devi’ made possible a dispensation of vegetables and fruits and a general slackening  of hunger and thirst! Meanwhile one thousand ‘Akshouhinis’ of army [ one Akshouhini comprises 21,870 chariots, so many elephants, 65,610 horses, 109,350 foot soldiers] of Danavas were engaged in a fight with Maha Devi. From Her Personality emerged innumerable Main Shaktis like Bagada, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Jambhini, Kalika, Kamakshi, Kamala, Matangi, Mohini, Shodasa, Tarini, Tripura and Tulja Devi. There were  other ramifications of Maha Shakti as well who routed and destroyed Danavas headed by Durgama. Maha Devi stated in Her own profound voice in a manner that the totality of Universe would hear:  ‘I am Durga the killer of the concept of Durgama as there is nothing like ‘Durgama’ or Surpassable for Me! Vedas constitute parts of My Being. Protect them as a precious gift from Me.’ Having said thus Maha Bhagavati disappeared and the Trinity, Indra and Devas praised the Adi Shakti ( Primeval Energy) as the Universe was stabilised and World Order was re-established once again.

Ultimate Supremacy of Bhagavati Unquestionable

Interaction of Maha Maya and Ahamkara ( Illusion Vs. Egoism)   takes place so intensely that the false concept of  ‘first person –I or Mine’ often overshadows the Truth of Reality. Normal human beings are the major sufferers of this interaction and understandably so because of their vulnerability to defeats and successes happening at every step in life, resulting in sorrows and joys.

Strangely enough however, Devas who are expected to be the repositories of equanimity often tend to be the victims of this conflict. Worse would be in the case of Trinity sometimes! The conflict of Realism versus self-centeredness came to fore when Vishnu and Mahadeva began to claim supremacy over each other. Their inner awareness was overshadowed as they fought and tended to divide loyalties among Devas and the susceptible humans. The clash continued and they used to brag before their respective spouses who were quiet as they knew the Reality. As the collision took a serious turn, both Maha Lakshmi and Girija Devi left their respective abodes. Both Vishnu and Siva lost their controls and Shaktis. As both realised their follies and prayed to Maha Bhagavati, She appeared along with spouses and warned them that indeed they were like the grain and shell and in both the cases they were the shells and the Devi incarnations were the respective grains.

Daksha Prajapati – Sati Devi, Maha Deva and ‘Shakti Peethas’

Maha Muni Durvasa performed Tapasya of high quality to Devi Bhagavati and She was pleased with him and gifted a flower garland which was worn on his head. From there the Muni met Daksha Prajapati who asked for the gifted garland for worship; however he kept it in his bedchamber where he was intoxicated with the fragrance, got provoked by his animal instinct to sleep with his wife and worse still he abused Maha Deva .

The Garland was also an extension of  Bhagavati in whom the form of Sati Devi was present too and  as a ready witness of Sati Devi’s silent protest against Her father whose remarks on Her husband were unjust, she had no alternative but to quit a body which was not worthy of Her father’s ancestry and thus sacrificed Her life by installing Yoga Fire. On learning of this, Lord Siva grew furious and created Vira Bhadra with several Bhadra Kalis, being ready to destroy the three Worlds. He picked up Sati’s dead body and performed furious Siva Dance to release His  pent up emotions and intense feelings of love for Sati Devi and heightened anger for Daksha. Lord Vishnu cut off Sati’s body with arrows which were thrown away into hundred and eight places that were later known as  Shakti Peethas. If Vishnu did not do likewise, Lord Siva might not cool down soon enough. Lord Siva’s followers  destroyed the Sacrifice that was in the process already, but being an Ocean of Kindness, He installed the Sacrificed goat-head fixed on Daksha’s severed head, appeared at all the places wherever the body parts of Sati fell and blessed humanity to worship the Places as Holy Temples.

Veda Vyasa described the Siddha Peethas as mere hearing about these would destroy sins and worshipping the Deities would bestow powers.The face of Gauri is at Kasi with the name of Visalakshi; that in Naimisharanya as Linga Dharini; Lalitha Devi at Prayaga orAllahabad; in Gandha Madan by the name of Kamuki; in Southern Manasa as Kumuda; in Northern Manasa as Viswakama or the Provider of Desires; in Gomanta by the name of Gomati; in the Mountain of Mandara as Kamacharini; in Chaitraratha by name Mandotkata; in Hastinapura as Jayanti; in Kanyakubja as Gauri; in Malaya Mountain as Rambha; in Ekambara Peetha as Kirtimati; in Visve as Viswesvari; in Pushkara as Puruhuta; in Kedara Peetha as Sanmarga dayani; as Manda at the top of Himalayas; as Bhadrakarnika at Gokarna; as Bhavani at Sthanesvara; as Bilvapatrika at Bilvake; at Madhavi at Srisaila; Bhadra in Bhadresvara; Jara on Varaha Saila; as Kamala at Kamalaya; as Rudrani at Rudrakoti; Kali in Kalanjira; Maha Devi in Salagrama; Jayapriya at Sivalingam; Kapila at Mahalingam; as Muktesvari at Makota; as Kumari in Mayapuri; as Lalitambika at Sanatana; at Mangala at Gaya Kshetra; as Vimala at Puroshottama; as Utpalakshi at Sahasraksha; Mahotpala at Hiranksha; Amoghakshi at Vipasa River; Patala at Pundravardhana; Narayani as Suparsva; Rudra Sundari at Trikuta; Vipula Devi in Vipula; as Kalyani in Malayachala; Ekavira in Shyadri; Chandrika in Harischandra; Ramana  in Ramatheertha; as Mrigavati at Yamuna; as Kotini at Kota Theertha; Sugandha at Mandhavadana; Trisandhya at  Godavari; Rati Priya at Gandharva; Subhananda in Sivakundam; Nandini at Devika thata; Rukmini in Dvaravati, Radha at Brindavana; Devaki in Mathura; Paramesvari in Patala; Sita in Chitrakuta; Vindhyadhivasini in Vindhya Range; Maha Lakshmi at Karavira; Uma Devi in Vinayaka; Arogya in Vaidyanatha; Mahesvari in Mahakala; as Abhaya in all the Usna Thirthas; Nitamba in Vidhua mountain; Mandavi in Mandavya; Svaha in Mahesvari pura; Prachanda in Chagalanda; Chandika at Amarakantaka; Vararoha in Somesvara; Pushkaravati in Prabhasa; Devamata in Sarasvati; Paravara in Samudra thata; Mahabhaga in Mahalaya; Pingalesvari in Payosni; Simhika in Kritasoucha; Atisankari in Karthika; Lola in Utpalavartaka; Subhadra in Sona Sangam; Lakshmi at Siddhavana; Ananga in Bharatashrama; Visvamukhi in Jalandhara; Tara in Kishkindhya; Pushti in Devadaru Vana; Medha in Kashmira Mandala;Bhima in Himadri; Tusti in Visvesvara Kshetra; Suddhi in Kapalamochana; Mata in Karavarohana; Dhara in Sankhodhara; Dhriti in Pindaraka; Kala in Chandrabhaga River; Sivadharani in Acchoda; Amrita in Vena and as Urvasi in Vadari; also as Medicines in Uttarakuru; as Kuskodaka in Kusadwipa; as Manmatha at Hemakuta; as Satyavadini in Kumuda; as Vandaniya in Asvathha; as Nidhi Vaisravanalaya; as Gayatri in the mouth of Vedas; as Parvathi near to Siva; Indrani in Devaloka; Sarasvati in the face of Brahma;  Prabha in Solar disc; as Vaishnavi in Matrikas; Arundhati among Satis or the chaste women; Tilottama among Ramas; Maha  Devi in the form of Great Intelligence or ‘Samvid’; Bhramakala in the hearts of the embodied beings. Veda Vyasa told King Janamejaya that even if one recited the names of the hundred and eight Devis, the person concerned would secure immense peace of mind and of course if one visited and worshipped the Deities-at least as many as possible- he or she would attain bliss.The aftermath of Devi Sati’s yogic immolation, Sadasiva’s unleashed anger on Daksha and the stormy events that ensued witnessed an awful era of sorrow and aimless existence. Sadasiva went into severe Tapasya and Devas lost their usual splendour. That was the time when Danavas gained an upper hand and their Chief Tarakasura who performed rigorous penance to Lord Brahma secured a tricky boon from him of invincibility except from Sadasiva’s son, knowing well that Lord Siva was upset by His consort Sati Devi’s yogic end  and little possibility of Sadasiva’s re-marriage and begetting a child even in the distant future! Out of sheer desperation, Devas approached Maha Vishnu for help

Devas and Trinity pray to Maha Bhagavati of ‘Nirguna’ and ‘Nirakara’

In their own multi-disciplinary method, the entire Deva community,blessed in the presence of Trinity, made Vows to perform extreme Tapasya to please Maha Bhagavati; some resorted to continuous recitation of Her thousands of Holy Names or Her seed mantras; some executed Chandrayana Vratas of consuming one meal a day by graually reducing the fist-wise intake by each passing day;

some performed ‘Antar Yagna’s ( Inner Sacrifices) or ‘Prana Agnihotra Yagna’ or transforming external fire sacrifice into Interior Prana or Life Energy ( in other words, Fire Sacrifice of one’s Vital force). With such intense Tapasyas by Devas, Maha Bhagavati appeared and indicated that the menace of Takasura could be overcome only by Lord Kumara , the son of Maha Deva and Devi Parvati, who from Her own Shakti, would soon be born to King Himavanta. This blessing of Bhagavati was a mighty relief to all Devas who expressed their extreme gratitude to Her.They bowed to Her saying Om Tat Twamasi. [ Om (‘A: Srishti or Creation; Sthithi: Protection; Laya:Destruction),Tat (That Awareness), Twam (Eternity), Asi:(‘I’ or self)]. In other words: The Awareness of that Great Eternal Energy is within the Self. The Eternal Energy is far beyond the Five Stages of Consciousness or Sheaths viz.  ‘Annamaya’ (manifested or perceptible material dimension), ‘Pranamaya’(energy dimension), ‘Manomaya’( mind formed dimension arising out of thought, will and emotion), ‘Vijnanamaya’(dimension of experience) and ‘Anandamaya’( Final dimension of Bliss). The Three Phases of ‘Sat’, ‘Chit’, ‘Ananda’ or Wakefulness, Deep Sleep and ‘Samadhi’ are likened to’Tatvamasi’, thus Devas prayed to Devi Bhagavati.

Devi Bhagavati blessed the Devas and Trinity describing Herself as Nirguna and Nirakara but to facilitate the understanding of a Reality Being of Super Force, She assumed the Attributes and Shape of a Physical body so that Her Presence is anchored in the imagination of one’s mind. The Cover basically is Maya or a Make-Believe. Before Creation of the Universe, there was only the Supreme Energy and nothing else, which created Maha Maya or The Great Illusion of Existence. Maya interferes with the processs of Awakening the Reality; it is like the heat of fire, the rays of Sun, the coolnes of Moon, the force of Wind and so on. Paramatma or the Super Soul is at once identifiable in ‘Saguna’form or in ‘Nirguna’concept.The capacity to sift Reality from Illusion  becomes enabled  by Brahma Gyana which in turn emerges from ‘Chaitanya’ or Logic; this takes three forms viz. Icchha Sakti (the will), Jnana Shakti (where- with all), Kriya Shakti (the action be it in the form of meditation, Bhakti or Yoga). The ‘Sat Chit Ananda’ or the Reality Prompted Awakening of Bliss is the Final Reality! As Himavanta had the benefit of Bhagavati’s Appearance, She blessed him too with the boon of Girija becoming his daughter soon and the latter would be an Extension of Bhagavati, the Cause of Causes, the Entire Creation of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva down to each atom of which Himavanta, Girija Devi, Skand Kumara, and the Demon Tarkasura would all be the actors in the forthcoming drama. Himavanta requested Maha Devi to reveal Her Magnificent ‘Virat Rupa’or the Collossal Form and She obliged!

Maha Bhagavati’s ‘Virat Swarupa’

Maha Vishnu and Devatas were in raptures when Himavanta’s request to Maha Bhagavati to display Her  Collossal Form was granted. Her upper portion of the head is Satya Loka, Sun and Moon the eyes, Vedas Her utterances, the entire Universe is Her heart, Earth is Her loins, Bhuvarloka is the navel, Maharloka is the neck, Janarloka Her face, Tapoloka the lower part of Her head, Indras and Devathas in Svarloka are Her arms, sound emerges from Her ears,

Aswini Twins Her nostrils, fire is within Her face, eye brows represent Brahma, water  Her stomach, Lord Yama the Demi-God of death Her larger teeth, smaller teeth Her affection, Her Maya or Illusion is Her bewitching smile, Her side looks is Creation, Her lip is modesty and lower lip is materialism, unfairness is  Her back, Prajapati  is Organ of creation, Oceans are Her bowels, mountains are bones, veins are rivers, body hairs are trees, hairs on Her head are clouds, Her clothings are twilights, Her mind is Moon, Vishnu Her Vijnana Shakti, and Her destroying Shakti is Rudra. Bhagavati’s magnified appearanace was at once awesome and frightening, pleasing and alluring, cruel and kind, smiling but haughty. She is exceptionally radiant like several  Suns and remarkably spic in Her highly gorgeous form

‘Ashtanga’ ( Eight Limbed) Yoga’ Practice – Rules and Regulations

Himavantha was bewildred to witness the Virat Rupa of Devi and when She ended that view and gone back to Her normal Self which by itself was fantastic, Himavantha emboldened himself as to how he could recall Her Physical Form from time to time. Maha Devi suggested that the only plausible way to retain Her image would be through Yoga Practice.

The basic step in Yoga is to integrate the ‘Jeevatma’ with ‘Paramathma’ and win over the ‘Arishat Varga’ or the Six enemies of lust, anger, greediness, infatuation, ego and envy. Then one follows ‘Yama’ ( the tenfold practice of ‘Ahimsa’or nonviolence, ‘Satyam’ or truthfulness, ‘asteyam’ or non-pilfering of mind and deed; ‘Brahmacharya’ or celibacy, ‘Mita Ahara’ or frugal eating, ‘Bahya anthara Suchi’ or external and internal cleanliness, ‘Naithikitha’ or morality, ‘Daya’ or mercy, ‘Kshamata’ or pardon and ‘Sthirata’ or stability), ‘Niyama’ ( the ten fold practice of ‘Tapasya’ or atonement, ‘Astikyatha’ or unflinching faith in God, Vedas, Devas and Virtue; ‘Santhushti’ or contentment, ‘Danaseelatha’ or charity for good causes,‘ Puja’ or worship of Almighty, ‘Siddhanta Acharana’ or practice of established precepts, ‘Hri’or refrain from evil acts, ‘Sraddha’ or fortitude in performing acts of faith, ‘Japam’ or repetitive and silent utterances of Manthras, Gayatri, and prayers; and ‘ Homams’ or daily oblations to Sacred Fire) and five ‘Asanas’ or  postures viz. 1)‘Padmasana’ comprising of crossing the legs and drawing the feet of legs on the opposite thighs and simultaneously cathcing the toes of the right leg with the right hand right round the back and vice versa and sitting upright with ease ( Note: As this posture is practised only by expert Yogis, it would be sufficient to cross the hands on opposite thighs without streching the hands from the back); 2) ‘Swastikasan’ or place the soles of the feet completely under the thighs and sit erect; 3)‘Bhadrasan’ or placing the two heels on the two sides of the two nerves of the testicles near the anus and catching the two heels by the two hands at the lower parts of the testicles and sitting at ease. 4) ‘Vajra Asana’ or the Diamond posture consists of placing the feet on the two thighs and placing the fingers below the two thighs with hands and finally 5) ‘Virasan’ comprising sitting cross on the hams or hollow area behind the knee in placing the right foot under the right thigh and vice versa sitting straight and at ease.
        
 The next step in Yoga is Pranayama comprising three processes viz. Puraka  or breathing in by ‘Ida’ or left nostril and recite ‘OM’ sixteen times, then Kumbhaka  or  retain the breath in ‘Susumna’nadi and reciting OM sixty four times, and  Rechaka  or exhale by ‘Pingala’nadi  or right nostril by reciting OM thiry two times slowly. Pranayama may be done as many times as possible, say twelve times to start with and increase the number further to sixteen or so forth. Pranayama could be ‘Sagarbha’ or any Mantra of one’s choice or Vigarbha or just recite the Pranava Mantra or OM. When one does Pranayama fast, one would sweat out and that is a good practice. But that is for beginners only. When the exercise is performed faster and longer, then one gets body shivers which is of a middle order. The ultimate is when the practice reaches the peak then one would rise in the air! Pranayama follows Pratyahara , which means allowing senses to travel to specific objects spontaneously and forcibly reversing the travel from the objects back to senses. One has to hold ‘Prana Vayu’ or Life providing air in one’s body system at twelve places viz. toes, heels, knees, thighs, genitals, navel, heart, neck, throat, soft palate, nose, middle of the eye brows or ‘Bhrukuti’  and from these finally to the top of the head or Brahma Nadi.; this practice is known as ‘Dharana’ or holding up the Prana Vayu at each organ. Thereafter, the Yogi has to execute ‘ Dhyana’ or meditatation by clearing the mind and concentrating one’s choice of Almighy.  The Ultimate peak is known as ‘Samadhi’ or Bliss, which could be in the form of ‘ Samprajnata’ or ‘Sa-vikalpik’ when there is the consciousness of who is the Doer, what is the Doing and which is the Deed or the Actor, Action and Act, but in all these cases the Target is only one that is Eternal Almighty; simply stated in other words, Savikalpik Samadhi distinguishes the Atma and Paramathma, seeking to unify one into another. The Nirvikalpik Samadhi sounds like Aham Brahma Asmi, or God is me!  Maha Bhagavati thus described in brief the pracitice of  Ashtanga Yoga or the Eight Limbed Yoga practice viz. Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi.

‘Nadis’ and ‘Chakras’

 Devi Bhagavati described to Himavanta about physiological cum psychological analysis of human body, especially of various Nadis (Life webs) and Chakras. The word ‘Nad’ means streams; in the context of Yoga, Nadis are channels of Kundalini Energy as also of connectors of nerves or ‘Snayus’. The subtle yoga channels of energy from mind as well as ‘Chitta’ or consciousness of the self are through various physiological cords, vessels/tubes, nerves, muscles, arteries and veins.

There are 350,000 Nadis in human body(Ayurveda) mentioned 7,50, 000 Nadis) but the principal nadis are fourteen viz.Sushumna, Ida, Pingala,Gandhari, Hastajihva, Yashasvini, Pusha, Alambusha, Kuhu, Shankini, Payasvini, Sarasvati, Varuni and Yashodhara. The most important Nadis however are the first three above. Sushumna is at the center of the spinal cord and is of the nature of Moon, Sun and Agni or Fire. It originates from Sacral plexus or a network of nerves at the spinal  base upto the head at the top; it is from Moola Adhara  Chakra  and terminating at Sahsarara Chakra. Normally, Sushumna is inactive except when pranayama is performed. ‘Ida’ nadi is to the left of Sushumna, representing moon providing nectar like energy and ‘Pingala’ nadi is to the right side of Sushumna providing male like power. There is a cobweb like formation in the innermost area of Sushumna, called Vichitra or Chitrini Bhulinga Nadi, the centre of which is the seat of Ichha Shakti ( Energy of Desire), ‘Jnana Shakti’ ( Energy of Knoweldge) and ‘Kriya Shakti’ (Energy of Action). The middle portion of the Bhulinga nadi has the luminosity of several Suns, above which is the Maya Bija Haratma representing the sound like ‘Ha’. Thereabove is ‘Kula Kundalini’ representing Serpent Fire of red colour. Outside the Kundalini is the ‘Adhara Nilaya’ of yellow lotus colour denoting four letters viz. Va, Saa, Sa, Sa; this is the base or Moola Adhara supported by six lotus formations. Beyond the Moola Adhara is the Manipura Chakra of cloud lightning colour comprising ten lotus petals representing ten letters  da, dha, na, ta, tha, da, dha, na, pa, pha. This Mani Padma is the dwelling spot of Vishnu. Beyond the Mani Padma is’ Anahata Padma’ with twelve petals representing  Kha, Ga, Gha, ma, cha, chha, ja, jha, lya, ta, tha. In the middle is Banalingam, giving out the sound of Sabda Brahma. Therafter is Rudra Chakra   which represents,  sixteen letters : a, a’, i, i’, u, u’, ri, ri’, li, lri, e, ai, o, ar, am, ah. It is in this place that ‘Jeevatma’ gets purified into ‘Paramatma’ and hence known as ‘Visuddha Chakra’ . Further beyond is ‘Ajna Chakra ’ in between the two eyebrows where the ‘self ’ residesrepresenting two letters ha, and ksha, one commanding another or Paramatma commanding Jeevatma. Even above is the ‘Kailasa Chakra’ which Yogis call as Rodhini Chakra the central point is the ‘Bindu Sthan’.  In other words, a perfect Yogi has to perform  Puraka, Pranayama, fix the mind on Mooladhara lotus, contract and  arouse Kundalini Shakti  by lifting by  ‘Vayu’ between anus and genitals, pierce through the Adi Swayam Linga through various lotus petals and lotuses as described above, reach Sahasrara or thousand petal lotus and Bindu Chakra by the Union of  Prakriti and Purusha. Could there be another example of the breaking of barriers as delineated in ‘Lalitha Sahasranama’ as follows!

‘Mooladharaika  nilaya,Brahma Grandhi vibhedini/ Manipurantharuditha  Vishnu grandhi vibhedini/ Ajna Chakrantharalakstha Rudragrandhi vibhedini/  Sahasraambujarudha/ Sudha Sarabhi Varshinii /  Tatillatha Samaruchih Shatchakropathi  Samsthita / Mahasakthih Kundalini/ bisathanthu taniyasi/

 Indeed it would be rather difficult to practise Yoga on the above lines and hence would adopt  ‘Avayava Yoga’( limb wise) initially as described above viz. overcome ‘Shadvargas’ and practise Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Prathyahara, Dharana,Dhyana and Samadhi and then after lapse of many weeks and months of practice one could succeed in the above discipline!

Brahma Gyan ( The Knowledge of Almighty)

 Having outlined the precepts of Yoga, Devi Bhagavati was requested by the King of Himalayas to enlighten him as to how best to acquire ‘Brahma Gyan’ so that the Knowledge thus gained, albiet peripherally, be harnessed to take steps towards Her. Indeed, Brahma Gyan is not simple to acquire even to Illustrious Maharshis, Devatas and even Trinity, since its Wisdom is higher, deeper and far more mysterious and perplexing than the orbit of realisation of anybody, let alone human beings.

When one refers to Brahma Gyan, it is not to be misconstrued as the knowledge of Lord Brahma of the Trinity, but the highest of all ie. the Supreme Brahman who is Devi Bhagavati Herself, whom there is indeed nothing there beyond. That particular Brahma who is eternal, imperishable, all-knowing, and all powerful is the Unique and higher than the highest or the ‘Nirguna Brahma’ who does take physical forms at Her ( or His) will. It is that target that one should hit by utilising the ‘Bow’ of meditation and the ‘arrows’ of  OM Mantras. It is that Mystic Brahman who is the converging point of  three effective paths viz. ‘Sravana’(Absorbing by way of hearing), ‘Manana’ ( Cogitating by way of mental absorption) and ‘Dhyana’ ( mental concentration by way of meditation)). It is that ‘Antaryamin Purusha’ ( The Inner most Soul) that one has to seek and that is what Brahma Upasana all about. The ‘Atma’ is a bridge to ‘Paramatma’. Atma or Antaryamin is encased within  physical frame which is tied up with 750,000 ‘nadis’ (Life webs) fastened to the navel as the center of  wheel and this ‘Antaryamin’ resides in the heart. ‘Prajna’ or inner consciousness is a link to Maha Tatva or Prakruti on one hand and ‘Paramatma’
on the other. When human beings could maintain balance of the three qualities of Sattva, Rajasa and Tamo gunas or when the five bonds of ‘ Samsara’ or normal life are blunted if not severed, then ‘Jeeva’ is qualified for the entrance test for further stages of Enlightenment.[The five bonds are ‘Avidya’ or ignorance or lack of inclination,‘linga deha’or the raw physical form, ‘Paramachchada Prakriti’ bond or severe snapping of impulses or reactions whatsoever, ‘Kama’ bond or the pull of desires, and ‘Karma’ bond of fate]. The ‘Jnani’( The Pursuer) of Enlightenment reaches thus the threshold of the Universe and passes by ‘Sisumara’ (literally meaning the Infant Killer or the dolphin shaped sea mammal) or the constellation of North Pole  (Ursa Minor) where he becomes devoid of passions far beyond ‘Gunas’, Tatvas’and Bonds and enters the Golden Sheath or the Cosmic Egg. From there lies a sheet or a continuous path of Infinite Effulgence where there are no directions of north,east, west or south; no time measurements, no space dimensions but only ‘Brahma Conscience’ or ‘Hiranmaya Kosa’. Maha Bhagavati Devi thus defined the ‘Brahma Gyan’ as the Supreme Knowledge of Herself which is neither in Heavens, nor Satyaloka, nor Vaikuntha, nor even Kailasa but in one self who transforms the self or the ‘Atman’ unto ‘Paramatman’. Finally, the destination is within oneself and no where else viz. the heart likened with the Lotus Within! In this connection, Maha Devi emphasised the role of a Guru
( Spiritual Teacher) who is superior to one’s own father; for the parental combination provides birth but the Spiritual Instructor endeavors to break the cycle of births and deaths, by providing ‘Brahma Gyan’. Of course, one’s father is competent to teach Brahma Vidya, other things being equal!
In the context of imparting Brahma Gyan, Maha Devi Herself provided an anectode to Himavanta. A Muni named Dadhyam prayed to Indra for instructing him Brahma Gyan. Indra agreed on one condition that he should never impart to anybody else and that his head would be cut if the Muni did so. But Aswini Devata brothers approached the Muni after a few days and assured the Muni that his head would be pre-cut and kept safe and meanwhile a horse head would be fixed in place of the original head; from the horse head the Sage might teach Brahma Gyan to the Aswini Brothers and once Indra cut the horse head then the original head of the Sage would be replaced!

Bhakti and ‘Punya Kshetras’ ( Holy Places of Pilgrimage)

 Having explained Brahma Gyan, Devi Bhagavathi provided alternative routes of realising Her viz. Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga. Of these the Bhakti Marg is the simplest as it  involves the least pain of the body and enables facile concentration on the target. However, this too could inflict bodily hurt if it aims doing adverse reactions against others in a typical Tamasic manner

If a rajasic kind of Bhakti is the objective to fulfil one’s own desires, there is nothing unnatural about it. But the pure Satvik kind of ‘Nishkama (selfless) Bhakti’ is indeed the ideal as it gives an instant equation with the Object. In fact it leads to ‘Para Bhakti’ or highest form of dispassionate Devotion which has the pure feeling of ‘Sevya’ and ‘Sevaka’( Master and Servant) without even targetting Salvation. That kind of devotion is contented with whatever ‘Prarabdha’ has decided for the devotee and despite that there is no other feeling excepting the intoxication of pure love without strings, which is similar to ‘Jnana Yoga’. This extreme devotion, as Devi Bhagavati defines, is on the analogy of gold converted as an ornament or Bhakti in peak position tends to turn into ‘Brahmatva’ itself! Among the ways of such Supreme Bhakti, Maha Devi cited Prayers, ‘Japas’ ( repetitive recitation of  Devi’s various manifestations), Group chantings of Devi’s glories (Bhajans), hearing of Puranas, Mantras, Hymns and music-dance performances, observing fasts, executing ‘Vraths’ ( functions related to pujas of specific manifestation of Devi and so on). One another manner of Bhakti is to visit places of Pilgrimage or ‘Thirtha Yatras’
( Holy Temples and Rivers) for ‘Darshan’ and worship.

As ‘Bharat Varsha’abounds Temples and Holy Rivers all across its length and breadth, Maha Devi mentioned a few illustrative names, but when one’s heart is clean, each and every place of the ‘Karma Bhumi’ is a holy place of worship. Kolhapura on the banks of River ‘Panchaganga’ (in Maharashtra) is Maha Lashmi’s famous Temple situated. The Deity is also known as ‘Karaveera Nivasini Ambabai’ and the City is known as Dakshina Kasi and a Shakti Peetha too. Matripura in Sahyadri mountains or Western Ghats ( Mahur or Mahugadh in Maharashtra) is a Shakti Peetha, the seat of Renuka Devi and also the birth place of Dattatreya. Tuljapura is the abode of Tulja Bhavani (again in Maharashtra and a Shakti Peetha) and next to it Saptashringa  with the Temples of Hingula and Jwalamukhi.The Temples of Sakambhari ( Vaishno Devi and on Indrakeeladri -Vijayawada- in Andhra Pradesh), Bhramari (Hill top at Kasauni Town, near Almora, Uttrakhand), Sri Rakta Dandika ( Arunachal Pradesh and Rakteswari near Kateel , Mangalore) and Durga (Varanasi and Kanaka Durga Temple at Vijayawada); Vindhyachala Vasini (Central India), Annapurna ( Benares), Bhima Devi ( Vaishno Devi), Vimala Devi

( Puri), Chandrala Devi,  Kausika Devi at Kausika River ( Kosi River), Nilamba ( on top of Nilaparvata) ; Guhya Kali  (Nepal), Meenakshi ( Madurai), Sundari at Vedaranya ( Tamilnadu), Ekambaram ( Kanchi), Bhuvaneswara near Purushottama Kshetra as Parasakti; Mahalasa in South at Mallari, Yogeswari Varat, Bagala at Vaidyanath, Manidwipa as Bhuvaneswari, Yoni Mandala Kamakhya at North East ( Gauhati in Assam), Pushkara as Gayatri, Chandika in Amaresa, Pushkarekshini at Prabhasa (Gujarat), Linga Dharini at Naimisharanya, Puruhuta in Puksharaksha, Rati at Asadhi, Dandini at Chamundi, Bhuti in Bharabhuti, Nakuleswari at Nakula, Chandrika in Harischandra, Trisula in Japeswara, Sukshma in Amritakeswara, Shankari in Ujjain, Sarvani in Madhyama, Margadayani in Kedara Kshetra, Mangal at Gayakshetra, Sthanupriya at Kurukshetra, Swayambhu at Nakula, Ugra in Kankal, Mahananda at Attahasa, Bhimeswari at Bhima,  Bhairavi at Bhairava, Bhavani Sankari at Vastra Padma, Rudrani in Artha Koti, Visalakshi at Avimukta, Bhadrakarni at Gokarna, Bhadra at Bhadrakarnak, Utpalakshi at Suvarnaksha, Sthanivisa at Sthanu, Kamala at Kamalalaya, Muksewari at Makota, Kali in Kalanjara, Dhvani in Sankhukarna, Sthula in Sthulakeswara, and finally Parameswari Hrilleka in the lotus hearts of Jnanis. Recitation of the above names of Devi in the presence of Brahmanas  during ‘Shraddha’ days especially, ‘Pithru Devatas’ would be pleased to bless. There are certain ‘Vratas’( vows) to be performed by men and women, stated Maha Devi to  Himavanta, as She would be enormously delighted. Some illustrations are ‘Ananthatritiyaka Vrata, ‘Rasakalyani’ Vrata, ‘Ardrananda’ Vrata, to be performed on ‘Trithiya’or the Third of  Hindu Calendar. On a Krishna ‘Chaturdasi’ ie. the fourth day after the moon fall, every Friday  and Tuesday too, one might observe fasting till the twilight time of the evenings and perform worship to Devi Bhagavati and terminate fasting. Two Navaratras every Spring and Autumn ie in Vasanta and Dassera seasons daily fasting and worshipping by the dusk time be observed similarly.On the third day of Sukla Chaitra the ‘Dol’ Festival is of significance and ‘Sayanotsav’  of Ashadha Purnamasi too.The ‘Jagaranotsav’ of Kartik Purnamasi Masa, ‘Rathotsava’ of the third of Sukla Ashadha, the ‘Damanotsav’ every Chaitra and all the austerities of Kartika are all dear to Devi Bhagavati. In all these Vratas, puja of virgin Kumaris as though the devotees worship Devi Herself would gladden Her.