CHAPTER 11: Hymn to Nārāyaṇī

ṛṣir uvāca

11.1 The seer said:

Devyā hate tatra mahāsurendre sendrāḥ surā vahnipurogamās tāṁ
kātyāyanīṁ tuṣṭuvur iṣṭalābhād vikāsivaktrābjavikāsitāśāḥ

11.2 “After The Devī Had Slain the great asura chief, Indra and the Other Gods, led by Agni, praised Kātyāyanī for Granting their wishes. With hopes fulfilled, their faces beamed.

Devi prapannārtihare prasīda prasīda Mātar jagato ’khilasya
Pras
īda Viśveśvari pāhi viśvam Tvam īśvarī Devi carācarasya

11.3 ‘O Devī, Who Remove the sufferings of those who take refuge in you, be gracious. Be Gracious, Mother of the entire world. Be Gracious, Ruler of All. Protect the universe, O Devī, Who Are The Ruler of the Moving and the Unmoving.

ādhārabhūtā jagatas Tvam Ekā mahīsvarūpea yataḥ stithāsi
ap
āṁ svarūpasthitayā tvayaitad āpyāyate ktsnam alaghyavīrye

11.4 You Alone Are The Sustaining Power Of The World, for You Abide In The Form Of The Earth. By You, Who Exist In The Form Of Water, all this universe prospers, O Devī Of Unsurpassable Strength.

tvaṁ Vaiṣṇavī śaktir anantavīryā viśvasya bījam paramāsi Māyā
sammohitaṁ Devi samastam etat Tvaṁ vai prasannā bhuvi muktihetu

11.5 Of Boundless Might, You Are Viṣṇu’s Power, The Source Of All, The Supreme Māyā. Deluded, O Devī, is all this universe. In this world, You Alone, When Pleased, Are The Cause Of Liberation.

vidyāḥ samastās tava Devi bhedāḥ striyaḥ samastāḥ sakalā jagatsu
Tvayaikay
ā pūritam Ambayaitat Kā te stutiḥ stavyaparāparokti

11.6 All Forms Of Knowledge Are Your Aspects, O Devī, as are All Women In The world. By You Alone, The Mother, Is This world filled. What praise can be sung to You Who Are Beyond Praise?

Sarvabhūtā yadā Devī bhuktimuktipradāyinī
Tvaṁ stutā stutaye kā vā bhavantu paramoktaya

11.7 O Devī, Who Have Become All Things, Who Bestow Enjoyment And Liberation—when You are praised, what Words, however excellent, can extol You?

Sarvasya Buddhirūpea janasya hdi sasthite
svarg
āpavargade Devi Nārāyaṇī namo ’stu te

11.8 Salutation be To you, Devī Nārāyaṇī, Who Abide As Intelligence In The Hearts Of All Beings, Granting Heavenly Reward And Final Liberation.

kalākāṣṭhādirūpea pariṇāmaPradāyini
vi
śvasyoparatau Śakte Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.9 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who Bring Change As The Moments Of Ever-Passing Time, Who Are The Power At The Cessation of the universe.

Sarvamagalamāṅgalye Śive sarvārthasādhike
sara
ye Tryambake Gauri Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.10 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who Are The Good Of All Good, The Auspicious One; To You Who Accomplish Every Intent; To You, The Refuge, The All-Knowing, Shining Gauri!

Sṛṣṭisthitivināśānāṁ Śaktibhūte Sanātani
Gu
ṇāsraye Guamaye Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.11 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who Are The Power Of Creation, Sustenance, And Destruction; Who Are Eternal; Who Are The Source And Embodiment Of The Threefold Energy.

śaraṇāgatadīnārtaparitrāṇaparāyae
sarvasy
ārtihare Devi Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.12 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who Are Intent On Rescuing the distressed and afflicted that take refuge in You; to You, O Devī, Who Temove the suffering of all.

hasayuktavimānasthe Brahmāṇīrūpadhārii
kau
śāmbhakarike Devi Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.13 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who Assume The Form Of Brahmāṇl, Riding In A Swanyoked Chariot, O Devī, And Sprinkling sanctified water.

triśūlacandrāhidhare Mahāvṛṣabhavāhini
heśvarīsvarūpea Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.14 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who Have The Form Of Māheśvarl, Bearing Trident, Moon, and Serpent, and Riding a mighty bull.

mayūrakukkuavte mahāśaktidhare ’naghe
Kaum
ārīrūpasasthāne Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.15 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who Have The Form Of Kaumāri, The Faultless One attended by peacock and cock, and Bearing A Great Spear.

śakhacakragadāśārgaghītaparamāyudhe
pras
īda Vaiṣṇavīrūpe Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.16 Salutation be To you, Nārāyaṇī, Who Have The Form Of Vaisṇavl, Holding The Supreme Weapons of Conch, Discus, Mace, and Bow. Be Gracious!

ghītogramahācakre daṁṣṭroddhtavasundhare
Var
āharūpiŚive Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.17 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Auspicious One, Who Have Viṣṇu’s Boarlike Form, Grasping A Great, Formidable Discus and Uplifting The Earth With Your tusks.

Nsiharūpeogrea hantuṁ daityān ktodyame
trailokyatr
āṇasahite Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.18 Salutation be To You, Nārāyanl, Who In The Ferocious Form Of The Man-Lion Are Intent On Killing the daityas and Protecting the three worlds.

kirīṭini mahāvajre Sahasranayanojjvale
v
traprāṇahare Caindri Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.19 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who Are Adorned With Diadem, Great Thunderbolt, and Thousand-Eyed Radiance; to You, O Aindrī, Who Took the demon vṛtra’s life-breath!

Śivadūtīsvarūpea hatadaityamahābale
Ghorar
ūpe Mahārāve Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.20 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who In The Form Of Śivadūtī, Of Frightful Visage and Piercing Shrieks, Slew the mighty demon army.

daṁṣṭrākarālavadane śiromālāvibhūṣae
muṇḍe muṇḍamathane Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.21 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Whose Mouth Bares Its Terrifying Teeth and Whose Neck Is Adorned With A Garland Of Skulls; To You, O Cāmuṇḍā, Destroyer of Muṇḍa!

Lakmi Lajje Mahāvidye Śraddhe Puṣṭi Svadhe Dhruve
Mah
ārātri Mahāmāye Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.22 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Who Are Good Fortune, Modesty, Great Knowledge, Faith, Prosperity, Satisfaction to The Ancestral Spirits, Constancy, The Great Night, and The Great Illusion.

Medhe Sarasvati vare bhūti bābhravi tāmasi
niyate Tva
ṁ prasīdeśe Nārāyai namo ’stu te

11.23 Salutation be To You, Nārāyaṇī, Most Excellent Sarasvatī, Who Are Intelligence and Well-Being, The Divine Consort and The Dark One, Ever Constant. Be gracious, O You Who Are Supreme!

Sarvasvarūpe Sarveśe Sarvaśaktisamanvite
bhayebhyas tr
āhi no Devi Durge Devi namo ’stu te

11.24 O Devī, Who Exist In The Form Of All, Who Are The Ruler Of All, Possessing All Power, protect us from fears. O Devī Durgā, salutation be to You!

etat te Vadanaṁ Saumyaṁ Locanatrayabhūṣitam
p
ātu naḥ sarvabhūtebhyaḥ Kātyāyani namo ’stu te

11.25 May This Gentle Face Of Yours, Adorned With Three Eyes, protect us in every way. O Kātyāyanī, salutation be to you!

Jvālākarālam Atyugram aśeṣāsurasūdanam
Tri
śūlam pātu No Bhlter Bhadrakāli namo ’stu te

11.26 May Your Terrible, Flaming Trident, Exceedingly Sharp and Destroying all asuras, protect us from dread. O Bhadrakālī, salutation be to You!

hinasti daityatejāṁsi svanenāpūrya yā jagat
S
ā Ghaṇṭā pātu No Devi pāpebhyo naḥ sutān iva

11.27 May Your Bell that destroys the daityas’ life-force and fills the world with its ringing protect us from all evils, O Devī, even As A Mother Protects her children.

asurāsgvasāpakacarcitas te karojjvala
ś
ubhāya khago Bhavatu Caṇḍike Tvāṁ natā vayam

11.28 May Your Sword, smeared with the mire of asuras’ blood and fat and blazing as the sun’s rays, be for our welfare. O Caṇḍikā, we bow to You!

rogān aśesān apahasi tuṣṭā ruṣṭā tu kāmān sakalān abhīṣṭān
Tv
āĀśritānāṁ na vipannarāṇām Tvāāśritā hy āśrayatāṁ prayānti

11.29 When pleased, You Destroy All Afflictions, but when Displeased, You Thwart all aspirations. No calamity befalls those who have taken refuge In You, and they who resort To You become a refuge to others.

etat Ktaṁ Yat Kadanam Tvayādya Dharmadviṣām Devi mahāsurāṇām
R
ūpair Anekair Bahudhātmamūrtiṁ Ktvāmbike tat prakaroti Kānyā

11.30 O Devī, Multiplying Your Own Form Into Many, You Have Wrought Destruction on the mighty asuras who hate righteousness. O Ambikā, Who Else can accomplish that?

Vidyāsu Śāstreu VivekadīpeĀdyeu Vākyeu Ca Kā Tvad Anyā
Mamatvagarte ’timahāndhakāre vibhrāmayaty etad atīva viśvam

11.31 Who Other Than You Abides In All Forms of Learning, In The Sacred Texts That Are Lights Of Understanding, In The Primordial Wisdom Of The Vedas? yet Who Else Confounds this universe in the darkest abyss of attachment?

Rakṣāmsi yatrograviṣās ca nāgā yatrārayo dasyubalāni yatra
d
āvānalo yatra tathābdhimadhye tatra sthitā Tvaṁ Paripāsi Viśvam

11.32 Where malevolent beings and venomous serpents lurk, where enemies and thieves abound, where forest conflagrations rage, there and even in mid-ocean You Stand And Protect the universe.

Viśveśvari Tvaṁ paripāsi Viśvaṁ Viśvātmikā Dhārayasīti Viśvam
Vi
śveśavandyā Bhavatī Bhavanti Viśvāśrayā ye Tvayi Bhaktinamrāḥ

11.33 O Ruler Of The Universe, You Protect the universe. You Are The Essence Of all things, and You Support All that Is. All kings must praise You, O Revered One, and those who bow to You in devotion become the Refuge of all.

Devi Prasīda Paripālaya no ’ribhīter Nityaṁ yathāsuravadhād adhunaiva sadya
pāpāni sarvajagatāṁ Praśamaṁ nayāśu utpātapākajanitāṁś ca mahopasargān

11.34 Be Gracious, O Devī. Even As You Have destroyed the asuras, protect us always from the fear of enemies. May You Subdue the evils of all the worlds and great disasters born of ominous portents.

praatānāṁ Prasīda Tvaṁ Devi Viśvārtihārii
trailokyav
āsināīḍye lokānām varadā bhava

11.35 To those who bow down To You, Be Gracious, O Devī, Who Remove the afflictions of all and Who Are Worthy of praise by the dwellers of the three worlds. Confer Your Boons upon the worlds.’

Devy Uvāca

11.36 The Devī Said:

Varadāhaṁ Suragaṇā Varaṁ Yan Manasecchatha
Ta
ṁ Vṛṇudhvaṁ Prayacchāmi Jagatām Upakārakam

11.37 ‘O hosts of gods, I Am The Giver Of Boons. whatever blessing is your heart’s desire, choose that, and I Will Grant it for the welfare of the world.

Devā ūcu

11.38 The Gods said:

SarvābādhāPraśamanaṁ TrailokyasyĀkhilesvari
evam eva Tvay
ā Kāryam asmadvairivināśanam
11.39 ‘O Ruler of all, may You Allay all the miseries of the three worlds and so, too, Annihilate our enemies.’

Devy Uvāca

11.40 The Devī Said:

Vaivasvate ’ntare Prāpte Aṣṭāvimśatime Yuge
śumbho niśumbhaś caivānyāv utpatsyete mahāsurau

11.41 ‘When the twenty-eighth cycle in the age of the manu Vaivasvata has come, two other great asuras, also named śumbha and niśumbha, will arise.

Nandagopaghe jātā Yaśodāgarbhasambhavā
tatas tau nāśayiyāmi Vindhyācalanivāsinī

11.42 Then Shall I Be Born in the home of the Cowherd Nanda, brought forth From Yaśodā’s womb; and Dwelling in the Vindhya Mountains, I Shall Destroy the two asuras.

punar apy atiraudrea rūpea pthivītale
Avat
īrya haniyāmi vaipracittāṁs tu dānavān

11.43 Again, Having Incarnated on earth in a Surpassingly Horrific Form, I Shall Slay the demons descended from Vipracitti.

Bhakayantyās ca tān ugrān vaipracittān mahāsurān
Rakt
ā Dantā bhaviyanti Dāḍimīkusumopamāḥ

11.44 Upon Devouring those fierce asuras, My Teeth Will Become Red like Pomegranate Flowers.

tato Māṁ Devatāḥ svarge martyaloke ca mānavāḥ
stuvanto vyāhariyanti SataTaṁ Raktadantikām

11.45 Thereafter, In Praise Of Me, The Gods in heaven and the humans in the mortal realm will forever call Me Raktadantikā.

Bhūyas ca Śatavārikyām anāvṛṣṭyām anambhasi
munibhi
ḥ sastutā Bhūmau Sambhaviyāmy Ayonijā

11.46 Again, when no rain has fallen for a hundred years and there is no water on earth, Then Praised by sages, I Shall Appear, But Not Born Of A Womb.

tataḥ Śatena Netrāṇāṁ nirīkiyāmi yan munīn
k
īrtayiyanti manujāḥ Śatākṣīm Iti Māṁ tata

11.47 since I Shall Behold the Sages With A Hundred Eyes, humankind Will Glorify Me As Śatāksī.

tato ’Ham akhilaṁ lokam ātmadehasamudbhavai
bhariyāmi surāḥ śākair āvṛṣṭeḥ prāṇadhārakai

11.48 Causing the rains to fall, O gods, I Shall Support The Entire World With Life-Sustaining Vegetables Brought Forth From My Own Substance.

Śākambharīti Vikhyātiṁ tadā yāsyāmy Ahaṁ Bhuvi

11.49 Thus Shall I Be Celebrated On Earth As Śākambharī,

tatraiva ca vadhiyāmi durgamākhyaṁ mahāsuram
Durg
ādevīti Vikhyātaṁ Tan Me Nāma bhaviyati

11.50 and then also Shall I Slay a great asura called durgama and thus come to be Celebrated As The Devī Durgā.

Punaś Cāhaṁ Yadā Bhīmaṁ Rūpaṁ Ktvā himācale
Rak
ṣāmsi kayayiyāmi munlnāṁ trāṇakāraṇāt

11.51 again, when I Have Assumed A Terrible form in the Himālayas, I Shall Destroy malevolent beings for the protection of the Sages.

tadā Māṁ munayaḥ sarve stoyanty Ānamramūrtaya
Bhīmādevīti Vikhyātaṁ tan Me Nāma bhaviyati

11.52 Then all the Sages, with bodies bowed, will praise Me. Thus Shall I come to be Celebrated by the Name of Bhīmadevī.

yadāruṇākhyas trailokye mahābādhāṁ kariyati
Tad
āhaṁ Bhrāmaraṁ Rūpaṁ Ktvāsakhyeyaapadam

11.53 When a demon called Aruṇa wreaks great havoc in the three worlds, then Shall I Assume Form As A Swarm Of Countless Bees

trailokyasya hitārthāya vadhiyāmi mahāsuram
Bhr
āmarīti Ca Māṁ lokāstadā stoyanti sarvata

11.54 and Slay the great asura for the welfare of the three worlds. Thus will people everywhere extol Me As Bhrāmarī.

itthaṁ yadā yadā bādhā dānavotthā bhaviyati
tad
ā TadāvatlryāHaṁ Kariyāmy AriSakayam

11.55 And so, whenever danger arises from demonic sources, I Shall Descend And Bring about the Complete Destruction of enemies.’”