{"collection":"tantra","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/tantra/htg/htg24.htm","path":"tantra/htg/htg24.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/tantra/htg/htg24.htm","text":"Hymns to the Goddess, by John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), [1913]\nTHOU art liberation,\u00a02 prosperity, life,\u00a03\n Fame, modesty, and learning, reverence and intelligence,\n Twilight,\u00a04 night, lustrous day,\n Sleep and the night of death,\u00a05\n \u0100ry\u0101, K\u0101ty\u0101yan\u012b, Kau\u015bik\u012b,\u00a06\n Observant of brahmacarya,\u00a07\n Mother of the leader of the celestial hosts,\u00a08\n Formidable one,\u00a09\n She who undergoes great austerities\u00a010\nJaya and Vijay\u0101,\u00a01\n Contentment, nourishment, forgiveness, mercy, eldest sister of Yama,\u00a02 clad in blue silken raiment,\n Of various form,\u00a03 without form, having many forms.\u00a04 With red, half-opened eyes.\u00a05\n Large-eyed protectress of Thy votaries.\n O Goddess! Thou resideth on the peaks of fearful mountains, by rivers, and in caves, forests, and groves.\n Greatly worshipped by the \u015aavara, Varvara, and Pulinda tribesmen,\u00a06\n Thou traverseth in all directions of the world\n With peacock-feathered flags.\n Thou livest on the Vindhya mountain,\n Surrounded by fowls, goats, sheep, lions, and tigers,\n Amidst the constant ringing of bells.\u00a07\n Thou holdest the trident and spear.\u00a08\nSun and moon are Thy banners.\n Thou art the ninth day of the dark half of the month,\n And the eleventh day of the light half thereof.\u00a01\n Baladeva's\u00a02 sister art Thou, glorious one,\u00a03\n Fond of warring\u00a04 (with demons),\n Abode of all creatures.\n Thou art death,\u00a05 and the supreme end\u00a06 of men,\n Daughter of the cowherd Nanda,\u00a07\n Unconquered,\n Wearing bark and good cloth;\n Raudr\u012b,\u00a08 twilight,\u00a09\n With dishevelled hair,\u00a010\n And who art death,\n Fond art Thou of offerings of wine and flesh.\u00a011\n Thou art Lak\u1e63m\u012b,\u00a012\n And assumest the form of Alak\u1e63m\u012b\u00a013 for the destruction of D\u0101navas,\u00a014\nThou art S\u0101vitri\u00a01 of the Vedas,\n Mother of Mantras.\u00a02\n Thou art the Dak\u1e63in\u0101\u00a03 of the \u1e5btvik,\u00a04 and art in the altars of sacrificial rites,\n And the religious sense\u00a05 of \u1e5a\u1e63is.\n Thou art Aditi of Devas.\u00a06\n Plough of cultivators, earth of all creatures,\n The success of merchants who fare in big ships,\u00a07\n The coast of ocean,\n And foremost Yak\u1e63i of the Yak\u1e63as,\u00a08\n Suras\u0101 of N\u0101g\u0101s,\u00a09\n Virginity\u00a010 of maidens and good fortune of women,\n Knower of the knowledge of Brahman,\u00a011\n Initiation and supreme beauty,\n Lustre of light, Rohin\u012b\u00a012 of planets.\n Lakshm\u012b, most successful art Thou in courts and fortresses,\n In the confluence of rivers and in the full moon.\n Thou art called Krittiv\u0101sa.\u00a013\nThou art Sarasvat\u012b in the works of V\u0101lm\u012bki,\u00a01\n Memory in those of Dvaip\u0101yana,\u00a02\n Religious sense of \u1e5a\u1e63is\u00a03 and (perfect) mind of Devas.\u00a04\n Thou art the Goddess of wine,\u00a05\n Adored art Thou by Thy creatures for Thy deeds.\n Thou art the charming look of Indra,\n And art the thousand-eyed\u00a06,\n Dev\u012b of ascetics,\n \u0100ran\u012b\u00a07 of Agnihotra Br\u0101hma\u1e47as,\u00a08\n Hunger of all creatures,\n Who satisfieth those in heaven.\n Thou art Sv\u0101h\u0101,\u00a09\n Contentment, patience,\n Receptacle of the Vasus,\u00a010 hope of men,\n Contentment which comes of work fully done;\nAll the quarters and their opposites,\u00a01\n Flame of fire, lustrous Sakun\u012b,\u00a02\n P\u016btan\u0101,\u00a03 the terrible Revat\u012b,\u00a04\n Overpowering sleep of all beings,\n Warrior.\u00a05\n Of learning Thou art, Brahmavidy\u0101,\u00a06\n Om and Va\u1e63at.\u00a07\n The \u1e5a\u1e63is know Thee as P\u0101rvati amongst women.\n As Praj\u0101pati\u00a08 has said, Thou art Arundhat\u012b\u00a09 amongst women, with but one husband.\u00a010\n The difference of disputants.\u00a011\n Famous also art Thou as Indr\u0101\u1e47\u012b\u00a012\n This universe, mobile and immobile, is permeated by Thee.\n Without a doubt Thou art saviour in all battles.\n Amidst fires and on the banks of rivers,\n Amidst robbers, in forests and caverns,\n When in prison or when assailed by enemies,\n And in all times and places where life is in peril.\nMy heart, my reason, and mind are devoted to Thee.\n Deliver me from all sins. Be gracious to me.\n Whoever rising at dawn reads\u00a01 for the space of three months\n This sacred hymn to Dev\u012b compiled by Vy\u0101sa,\n Being himself pure and of controlled mind.\n Obtains the desired fruit.\n Whoever reads it for six months, to him also\n The desired fruit is given. Such as read it for nine months obtain celestial vision, and he who reads it for one year gains all such success\u00a02 as man may desire.\n O Dev\u012b! as was said by Dvaip\u0101yana, Thou art the supreme divine Brahman.\n Thou destroyest the bonds and the fearful destruction of men,\n The loss of children and wealth, fear of death and disease.\n Thou art in the form of desire, and dost grant the objects thereof.\n Having deluded Kamsa, Thou enjoyest the whole world,\n And I also shall live as a cowherd among kine;\n To accomplish my work I shall become a cowherd of Kamsa.\u00a03\n154:1 The sacred hymn as sung in ancient times by \u1e5a\u1e63is, related in chap. lviii of the Harivam\u015ba, a sequel of the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata.\n154:2 Siddhi (success,) which here means the supreme siddhi or mukti (liberation).\n154:3 That is according to the commentator j\u012bvanam.\n154:4 Sandhy\u0101 or junction-time, morning and evening.\n154:5 K\u0101lar\u0101tri which is pralayar\u0101tri, or the night of the dissolution of all things.\n154:6 Born in the race of the sage Ku\u015bika.\n154:7 The virgin state, or the first of the \u0101\u015bramas.\n154:8 Skanda, or K\u0101rtikeya, son of \u015aiva and the Dev\u012b.\n154:9 Ugrach\u0101r\u012b, which should be ugrach\u0101rin\u012b, but this is Arsha (composed by \u1e5a\u1e63is), to whom the rules of grammar do not apply.\n154:10 The Dev\u012b practised great austerities to gain \u015aiva as Her husband.\n155:1 Companion Devat\u0101s of Durg\u0101.\n155:2 Mrityu, the God of Death.\n155:3 Bahur\u016bp\u0101 (see the Lalit\u0101, verse 155). The Dev\u012b Bh\u0101g. Pr. says, \"She is formless because She is supreme, She has many forms because of Her activity\" (see also Dev\u012b and V\u0101mana Pur\u0101\u1e47as): \"She is also the \u015aakti of the countless Rudras.\" The term is much commented upon in the Pur\u0101\u1e47as, Upapur\u0101\u1e47as, and Tantras.\n155:4 Anekavidhar\u016bpin\u012b.\n155:5 Vir\u016bp\u0101k\u1e63\u012b. \u015aiva is also called Vir\u016bp\u0101k\u1e63a. His eyes are, either owing to his state of sam\u0101dhi, or consumption of bhang, pictured as in a vague, dreamy, half-open state.\n155:6 \u015aavarair varvaraischaiva pulindaischa sup\u016bjit\u0101--a line worthy of remark, for these were savage and non-aryan tribes.\n155:7 During worship of the image the worshipper rings a bell. There was a constant ringing of bells.\n155:8 Pattisha, a kind of spear with a sharp edge.\n156:1 Auspicious days. On the ninth (Navam\u012b) there is Ca\u1e47\u1e0d\u012bp\u0101tha (reading of Ca\u1e47\u1e0d\u012b), and on the eleventh (Ek\u0101da\u015b\u012b) fasting.\n156:2 K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a's eldest brother.\n156:3 Rajan\u012bya in text is said to be a wrong reading for mahan\u012bya.\n156:4 Kalahapriy\u0101. Literally, quarrelsome.\n156:5 Ni\u1e63\u1e6dha, which according to the commentator, here means mara\u1e47am.\n156:6 That is, mukti (Liberation).\n156:7 Foster-father of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a.\n156:8 The dark (t\u0101masika) energy, called Raudr\u012b, is said to be C\u0101mu\u1e47\u1e0d\u0101. There are said to be nine crores of different C\u0101mu\u1e47\u1e0d\u0101s. (see Bh\u0101skarar\u0101ya Comm., Lalit\u0101, verse 155).\n156:9 Sandhy\u0101.\n156:10 K\u0101l\u012b and T\u0101r\u0101 are always so represented (see Karp\u016br\u0101distotra).\n156:11 Sur\u0101m\u0101msabalipriy\u0101.\n156:12 Dev\u012b of wealth and prosperity.\n156:13 Dev\u012b of misfortune and poverty.\n156:14 Sons of Danu, enemies of the Devas.\n157:1 The G\u0101yatr\u012b mantra.\n157:2 Mantraganasya, or, according to another reading, bh\u016btaganasya.\n157:3 The present offered to the officiating Br\u0101hma\u1e47a.\n157:4 Priest.\n157:5 Dharmabuddhi, a term difficult to translate. A man is said to have dharmabuddhi who has great respect for religion and duty.\n157:6 The Devas were children of Aditi, as the Daityas were of Diti.\n157:7 S\u0101ngy\u0101trik\u0101n\u0101m = potavanij\u0101m.\n157:8 That is, She is the Mother of Kubera, the King of the Yak\u1e63as, a class of Devayoni.\n157:9 Mother of the serpent divinities (N\u0101g\u0101s).\n157:10 Brahmacarya.\n157:11 Brahmav\u0101din\u012b.\n157:12 The name of an asterism.\n157:13 The name of \u015aiva as clad in tiger-skin.\n158:1 Author of the R\u0101m\u0101yana. Tradition says that he obtained a boon from the Goddess of learning and composed that work.\n158:2 K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Dvaip\u0101yana, one of the Vyasas, arranger of the Pur\u0101\u1e47as, etc., who is said to have had all such \u015b\u0101stra by heart.\n158:3 Vide ante (see p. 157, note 5).\n158:4 M\u0101nas\u012b, which the Commentator says = \"Satyasangkalp\u0101tmik\u0101 chetovritti\" that is, whose will and thought fully realizes itself.\n158:5 Sur\u0101devi.\n158:6 Indra.\n158:7 \u0100rani are the two sticks of samid wood used to kindle sacrificial fire.\n158:8 Br\u0101hma\u1e47as who cherish fire in the house and perform homa thrice daily.\n158:9 Wife of Agni, the mantra used when making homa.\n158:10 Of whom there are eight: Apa, D\u1e25ruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, Pratyusha, Prabh\u0101sa (see Vishnupur\u0101\u1e47a, Book I., chap. xv.)\n159:1 e.g., north and south, east and west, etc.\n159:2 A terrible spirit of that name.\n159:3 A female demon who attempted to destroy, but who was destroyed by the infant K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a.\n159:4 Name of the twenty-seventh constellation, containing thirty-two stars.\n159:5 K\u1e63atriy\u0101.\n159:6 The science of Brahman.\n159:7 The Mah\u0101mantra \"om\". Va\u1e63at is a mantra. As Sv\u0101h\u0101 is used with homa, so srau\u1e63at, vau\u1e63at, va\u1e63at, and svadh\u0101 are used in pit\u1e5bkriy\u0101.\n159:8 Brahm\u0101.\n159:9 Wife of the sage Va\u015bi\u1e63\u1e6dha, famous for her constancy and devotion.\n159:10 Ekabhartrin\u0101m.\n159:11 Bhedoviv\u0101dash\u012bl\u0101n\u0101m.\n159:12 Spouse of Indra.\n160:1 Here follows the phala portion. (see p. 73, note 1).\n160:2 Siddhi.\n160:3 The tyrant who sought to slay K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. The Chapter concludes: \"Having thus addressed the Dev\u012b, the Lord disappeared, and She, too, saluting Him, expressed Her consent by saying, 'So be it'.\"","title":"Hymns to the Goddess: From Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata: \u0100ry\u0101, from the Harivam\u015b\u0101","type":"page"}