From Durga Saptashati
Markandeya Purana
Rsi Markandeya on Maha-Maya - The Great Illusion
All beings are hurled into the whirlpool of selfishness which is the pit of delusion; through the power of the Great Illusion they make worldly existence permanent. Marvel not then at this. This is the contemplation-sleep of the lord of the world, and the Great Illusion that comes from Hari; by it the world is completely deluded. Verily she, the adorable goddess, Great Illusion, forcibly drawing the minds even of those who know, presents them to delusion. By her is created this whole universal both moveable and immoveable; she it is who when propitious bestows boons on men with a view to their final emancipation, She is Knowledge supreme; she is the eternal cause of final emancipation, and the cause of the bondage of worldly existence; she indeed is the queen over all lords.
The king spoke:
Adorable Sir! Who then is that goddess whom thou stylest Mahāmāyā? How was she born, and what is her sphere of action, O brāhman? And what is her disposition, and what is her nature, and whence did she originate, the goddess?
The ṛṣi spoke:
She exists eternally, embodied as the world. By her this universe was stretched forth. Nevertheless her origin is in many ways; hear it from me. When she reveals herself in order to accomplish the purposes of the gods, it is then said in the world that she is born; she is also named the Eternal One. While the adorable lord Viṣṇu, stretching Śeṣa out, wooed the sleep of contemplation at the end of the kalpa, when the universe was converted into absolute ocean, then two terrible Asuras named Madhu and Kaiṭabha, springing from the root of Viṣṇu’s ear, sought to slay Brahmā. Brahmā the Prajāpati stood on the lotus that grew from Viṣṇu’s navel; and seeing those two fierce Asuras and sleeping Janārdana, and standing with heart solely thereon intent, in order to awaken Hari, extolled that Sleep of contemplation which had made its dwelling in Hari’s eyes— the lord of splendour extolled Viṣṇu’s Sleep, which is Queen of the universe, the supporter of the world, the cause of permanence and dissolution, full of reverence, incomparable.
Brahmā prayed:
Thou art Svāhā, thou art Svadhā; thou indeed art Vaṣaṭkāra, thou hast sound for thy soul; thou art the nectar of the gods, the two eternal letters, thou existest having the three-fold mātrās for thy soul; thou existest half a mātrā in duration yet eternal; thou indeed canst not be uttered specifically; thou art the Sāvitrī,[14] thou art the divine mother[15] sublime. By thee indeed everything is maintained, by thee this world is created, by thee[16] it is protected, O goddess! and thou dost always consume it at the end. At its emanation thou didst take the form of creation, and in protecting it thou hast the form of permanence, and at the end of this world thou wilt have the form of contraction, O thou who containest the world! Thou art the Great Knowledge, the Great Illusion, the Great Vigour, the Great Memory, and the Great Delusion, the Lady, the Great Goddess, the Great Demon. And thou art the original source[19] of the universe, the exciting cause of the three qualities; thou art the Night of the world’s destruction, the Great Night, and the Night of delusion, terrible! Thou art Good Fortune, thou art Queen, thou art Modesty; thou art Intelligence characterized by perception; thou art Shame, Nourishment, and Contentment, Tranquillity and Patience also. Thou art terrible, armed with sword, with spear, with club, and with discus, with conch, with bow, and having as weapons arrows, slings[20] and an iron mace. Thou art gentle, yea more than gentle, exceedingly beautiful to those who are wholly gentle; thou art indeed beyond the highest and the lowest, Queen supreme! And whatever or wherever a thing is, whether good or bad, thou art the energy which all that possesses, O thou who art the soul of everything. Can I extol thee more than this?[21] By thee, who art such, he indeed, who created the world, who protects the world, who consumes the world, is brought under the dominion of sleep. Who is able here to extol thee? Since Viṣṇu, I and Śiva have been made by thee to assume bodies, who then may be powerful enough to extol thee? Being such, do thou, O goddess, lauded thus, bewitch these two unassailable Asuras, Madhu and Kaiṭabha, with thy exalted powers, and let the imperishable master of the world be lightly brought back to consciousness, and let him rouse up his intelligence to slay these two great Asuras!
The ṛṣi spoke:
Then the goddess of darkness, extolled thus by the Creator there in order to awaken Viṣṇu to slay Madhu and Kaiṭabha, issued forth from his eyes, mouth, nose, arms and heart and breast, and stood in the sight of Brahmā. Janārdana, master of the world, being quitted by her, rose up from his couch in the universal ocean; and he saw those two then, Madhu and Kaiṭabha, evil of soul, excelling in heroism and prowess, red-eyed through anger, fully prepared to devour Brahmā. Thereupon the adorable lord Hari rose up and fought with those two, striking them with his arms, for five thousands of years. And they, exceedingly frenzied with their power, deluded by the Great Illusion, exclaimed to Keśava, “Choose a boon from us!”
The god spoke:
You must both be slain by me! What need is there of any other boon here? Thus much indeed is my choice.
The ṛṣi spoke:
Gazing then at the entire world which was nothing but water, those two, who had been thus tricked, spoke to the adorable lotus-eyed god,—“Slay us where the earth is not overwhelmed with water.”
The ṛṣi spoke:
“Be it so” said the adorable wielder of the conch, discus and club, and cutting them with his discus clove them both asunder, heads and buttocks.
Thus Mahamaya was born when praised by Brahmā himself. Now listen again, I tell thee of this goddess’ majesty.
The ṛṣi spoke:
Of yore there was a fight for a full hundred years between the gods and Asuras, when Mahiṣa was lord of the Asuras and Indra lord of the gods; in it the army of the gods was vanquished by the Asuras who excelled in valour, and the Asura Mahiṣa after conquering all the gods became the Indra. Then the vanquished gods, placing the Prajāpati Brahmā at their head, went where abode Śiva and Viṣṇu. The thirty gods described to them accurately what had happened, the full story of the gods’ discomfiture which had been wrought by the Asura Mahiṣa,—“He, Mahiṣa, in his own person domineers over the jurisdictions of the Sun, Indra, Agni, Vāyu and the Moon, of Yama and Varuṇa and of the other gods. Cast out by that evil-souled Mahiṣa from Svarga all the hosts of the gods wander on the earth like mortals. It has now been related to you both, all that has been wrought by the foe of the Immortals, and we have sought you both as a refuge; let his destruction be devised!”
Having thus heard the words of the gods, Viṣṇu was wroth and Śiva also; both their faces became furrowed with frowns. Then issued forth great energy from the mouth of Viṣṇu who was full of intense anger, and from the mouths of Brahmā and Śiva; and from the bodies of Indra and the other gods went forth a very great energy; and it all amalgamated. The gods beheld the mass of intense energy there like a burning mountain, pervading the other regions of the sky with its blaze; and that unparalleled energy born of the bodies of all the gods, which pervaded the three worlds with its light, gathering into one became a female. By what was Śiva’s energy her face was developed, and by Tama’s energy grew her hair, and her arms by Viṣṇu’s energy, by the Moon’s her twin breasts; and her waist came into being by Indra’s energy, and by Varuṇa’s her legs and thighs, by the Earth’s energy her hips, by Brahmā’s energy her feet, her toes by the Sun’s energy, and by the Vasus’ energy her hands and fingers, and by Kuvera’s her nose; and her teeth grew by the Prajāpati’s energy, and three eyes were developed by Agni’s energy; and her eyebrows were the energy of the two twilights, and her ears Vāyu’s energy; and the coming into being of the energies of the other gods became the auspicious goddess.
Then gazing at her, who had sprung from the combined energies of all the gods, the Immortals who were afflicted by Mahiṣa felt a keen joy. The bearer of the low Pināka drawing a trident forth from his own trident gave it to her; and Kṛṣṇa gave a discus pulling it out of his own discus; and Varuṇa gave her a conch, Agni a spear, Māruta gave a bow and a quiver filled with arrows.[4] Indra lord of the Immortals gave a thunder-bolt pulling it out of his own thunder-bolt; the Thousand-eyed gave her a bell from his elephant Airāvata. Yama gave a rod from his own rod of Fate, and the lord of the waters a noose; and the Prajāpati gave her a necklace of beads, Brahmā an earthen water-pot; the Sun bestowed his own rays on all the pores of her skin, and Destiny gave her a sword and a spotless shield; and the Ocean of milk a spotless necklace of pearls and also a pair of undecaying garments. And a celestial crest-jewel, a pair of ear-rings, and bracelets, and a brilliant half-moon ornament, and armlets over all her arms, and also a pair of bright anclets, a necklet, of the finest make, and rings and gems on all her fingers — these Viśvakarman gave to her, and also a brightly polished axe, weapons of many shapes and also armour that could not be pierced. And Ocean gave her a garland of fadeless lotus-flowers for her head and another for her breast, and a very brilliant lotus-flower besides. Himavat gave her a lion to ride on and gems of various kinds. Kuvera gave a drinking cup full of wine. And Śeṣa, the lord of all the serpents, who supports this earth, gave her a serpent-necklace adorned with large gems. Honoured by other gods also with gifts of ornaments and weapons, the goddess uttered a loud roar blended with a horse-laugh again and again. The whole welkin was filled with her terrible roar. By that penetrating and exceedingly great roar a great echo arose, all the worlds shook and the seas trembled, the earth quaked and all the mountains moved. And “Conquer thou!” exclaimed the gods with joy to her who rode on the lion and the munis extolled her as they bowed their bodies in faith.
Seeing all the three worlds greatly agitated, the foes of the Immortals uniting all their armies rose up together, with uplifted weapons. “Ha! what is this?” exclaimed the Asura Mahiṣa in wrath, and rushed surrounded by all the Asuras towards that roar. Then he saw the goddess, pervading the three worlds with her light, causing the earth to bow at the touch of her feet, grazing the firmament with her crest, shaking the whole of Pātāla with the twang of her bow-string, standing pervading the sky all around with her thousand arms. Then began a battle between the goddess and the enemies of the gods, in which every region of the sky was illumined with the weapons and arms hurled in abundance. And the Asura Mahiṣa’s general, the great Asura named Cikṣura, fought with her; and the Asura Cāmara attended by his cavalry fought along with others. The great Asura named Udagi'a with six myriads of chariots fought; and Mahāhanu with a thousand myriads gave battle; and the great Asura Asiloman with fifty millions; with six hundred myriads Yāskala fought in the battle; Ugradarśana with many troops of thousands of elephants and horses, and surrounded with ten million chariots fought in that battle; and the Asura named Viḍāla fought in the battle there, surrounded with fifty myriads of myriads of chariots. And other great Asuras in myriads, surrounded with chariots, elephants and horses, fought with the goddess in that battle there. Now the Asura Mahiṣa was surrounded with thousands of ten million times ten millions of chariots and elephants and horses in the battle there. With iron maces and javelins, with spears and clubs, with swords, with axes and halberds they fought in the battle against the goddess. And some hurled spears, and others nooses, but they assailed the goddess with blows from their swords in order to slay her.
And then the goddess Caṇḍikā clove, as it were in merest play, those weapons and arms by raining forth her own weapons and arms. The goddess betrayed no exertion in her countenance, while the gods and ṛṣis were praising her. The queenly goddess hurled her weapons and arms at the Asuras’ bodies. The lion also that bore the goddess, enraged and with ruffled mane, stalked among the armies of Asuras, like fire through the forests. And the deep breaths, which Ambikā fighting in the battle breathed forth, came into real being at once as troops by hundreds and thousands. These fought with axes, with javelins, and swords and halberds, destroying the Asura bands, being invigorated by the goddess’ energy. And of these bands some raised a din with large drums, and others with conchs, and others besides with drums, in that great battle-festival. Then the goddess with her trident, her club, with showers of spears, and with her sword and other weapons slaughtered the great Asuras in hundreds, and laid others low who were bewitched with the ringing of her bell; and binding other Asuras with her noose dragged them on the ground. And others again, cloven in twain by sharp slashes of her sword and crushed by blows with her mace, lie on the ground; and some grievously battered by her club vomited forth blood. Some were felled to the ground, pierced in the breast by her trident. Some being closely massed together were cut in pieces by the torrent of her arrows in the battle-field. Following the manner of an army, the afīlicters of the thirty gods gave up the ghost; some with their arms cut off, and others with severed necks; their heads fell from others, others were torn asunder in the middle; and other great Asuras fell to the earth with legs clean cut off; some were cloven by the goddess into two parts, with a single arm and eye and foot to each part; and others fell and rose again, although with head cut off. Headless corpses, still grasping the finest weapons, fought with the goddess; and others danced there in the battle, keeping time to the strains of the musical instruments. Corpses, with heads severed, still held swords and spears and lances in their hands; and other great Asuras were shouting to the goddess, “Stand! stand!” With the prostrate chariots, elephants and horses and Asuras the earth became impassable where that great battle took place. And large rivers formed of torrents of blood straightway flowed along there amidst the armies of Asuras, and among the elephants, Asuras and horses.
Thus Ambikā brought that great army of the Asuras to utter destruction in a moment, even as fire utterly consumes a huge pile of grass and timber. And the lion, with quivering mane, stalked on roaring aloud.While he prowled[15] as it were for lives out of the bodies of the foes of the Immortals, the battle was fought there between those troops of the goddess and the Asuras, so that the gods in heaven sending down showers of flowers gratified her.
The ṛṣi spoke:
Now the great Asura, the general Cikṣura, seeing that army being slaughtered, advanced in wrath to fight with Ambikā. The Asura rained a shower of arrows on the goddess in the battle, as a cloud deluges mount Mem’s summit with a shower of rain. The goddess, cutting asunder the masses of his arrows then as it were in play, smote his horses with her arrows and their charioteer; and split his bow forthwith and his banner raised high aloft; and with swift missiles pierced his limbs as he stood with shattered bow. His bow shattered, his chariot useless, his horses killed, his charioteer slain, the Asura armed with sword and shield rushed at the goddess. With the utmost celerity he smote the lion on the head with his sharp-edged sword, and struck the goddess also on her left arm. His sword shivered to pieces as it touched her arm (O prince). Thereon red-eyed with anger, he grasped his pike, and he, the great Asura, flung it at Bhadrakālī, as it were the Sun’s orb blazing brightly with its splendour from out the sky. Seeing that pike falling on her, the goddess hurled her pike, and it shattered that pike into a hundred fragments and the great Asura also.
When he, Mahiṣa’s very valiant general, was slain, Cāmara, the afflicter of the thirty gods, advanced mounted on an elephant; and he also hurled his spear at the goddess. Down to the ground Ambikā quickly struck it, assailed with a contemptuous hoot and rendered lustre-less. Seeing his spear broken and fallen, Cāmara filled with rage flung a pike; and that she split with her arrows. Then the lion leaping up fastened on to the hollow of the elephant’s forehead, and fought in close combat aloft with that foe of the thirty gods; but both then fell, as they were fighting, from the elephant to the ground. They fought closely locked together with most terrible blows. Then quickly springing up to the sky, and descending, the lion severed Cāmara’s head with a blow from his paw.
And Udagra was slain in battle by the goddess with stones, trees and other things, and Karāla also was stricken down by her teeth and fists and feet. And the goddess enraged ground Uddhata to powder with blows from her club; and killed Yāskala with a dart, Tāmra and Andhaka with arrows. And the supreme three-eyed goddess slew Ugrāsya and Ugravīrya and Mahāhanu also with her trident. With her sword she struck Viḍāla’s head clean down from his body. She despatched both Durdhara and Durmukha to Tama’s abode with her arrows.
Now, as his army was being thus destroyed utterly, the Asura Mahiṣa in his own buffalo-shape terrified her troops. Some he laid low by a blow from his muzzle, and others by stamping with his hooves, and others because they were lashed with his tail and gashed with his horns, and others again by his impetuous rush, his bellowing and his wheeling career, and others by the blast of his breath— thus he laid them low on the face of the earth. Having laid low the van of her army, the Asura rushed to attack the great goddess’ lion. Thereat Ambikā displayed her wrath. And he, great in valour, pounding the surface of the earth with his hooves in his rage, tossed the mountains aloft with his horns and bellowed. Crushed by his impetuous wheelings the earth crumbled to pieces; and the sea lashed by his tail overflowed in every direction; and the clouds pierced by his swaying horns were rent to fragments; mountains fell in hundreds from the sky, being cast down by the blast of his breath.
Caṇḍikā looked on the great Asura, as swollen with rage he rushed on, and gave a way to her wrath then in order to slay him. She flung her noose full over him, and bound the great Asura fast. And he quitted his buffalo shape when held hound in the great battle, and then became a lion suddenly. While Ambikā is cutting off his head he took the appearance of a man with scymitar in hand. Straightway the goddess with her arrows swiftly pierced the man together with his scymitar and shield. Then he became a huge elephant, and tugged at her great lion with his trunk and roared, but the goddess cut off his trunk with her sword as he made his tugs. Next the great Asura assumed his buffalo shape again, and so shook the three worlds with all that is moveable and immoveable therein. Enraged thereat Caṇḍikā, the mother of the world, quaffed a sublime beverage again and again, and laughed as her eyes gleamed ruddy. And the Asura roared out, puffed up with his strength and valour and frenzy, and hurled mountains against Caṇḍikā with his horns. And she, shivering to atoms with showers of arrows those mountains that he hurled, spoke to him in confused words, while her mouth was rendered ruddier by the mead that she had drunk.
The goddess spoke:
Roar, roar on thy brief moment, O fool, the while I quaff this mead! The gods shall soon roar, when I shall slay thee even here.
Exclaiming thus she leaped upwards and sat herself on that great Asura, and kicked him on the neck with her foot and struck him with her spear. And thereupon he, being assailed by her foot, half issued forth from his own mouth in sooth, being completely encompassed by the goddess’ valour. That great Asura being thus attacked half issued forth indeed. The goddess struck off his head with her great sword and laid him low.
Then perished all that Daitya army with great lamentation. And all the hosts of the gods rose to the highest exultation. The gods and the great heavenly ṛṣis poured forth praises to the goddess, the Gandharva chiefs burst into song and the bevies of Apsarases into dances.
The ṛṣi spoke:
When that most valiant evil-souled army of the gods’ foes was vanquished by the goddess, Śakra and the hosts of other gods poured forth their praises to her with their voices, reverently bending down their necks and shoulder’s, while their bodies looked handsome because their hair stood erect with exultation.
Stotra made by gods
देव्या यया ततमिदं जगदात्मशक्त्या निःशेषदेवगणशक्तिसमूहमूर्त्या । तामम्बिकामखिलदेवमहर्षिपूज्यां भक्त्या नताः स्म विदधातु शुभानि सा नः ।
यस्याः प्रभावमतुलं भगवाननन्तो ब्रह्मा हरश्च न हि वक्तुमलं बलं च । सा चण्डिकाखिलजगत्परिपालनाय नाशाय चाशुभभयस्य मतिं करोतु ।
या श्रीः स्वयं सुकृतिनां भवनेष्वलक्ष्मीः पापात्मनां कृतधियां हृदयेषु बुद्धिः । श्रद्धा सतां कुलजनप्रभवस्य लज्जा तां त्वां नताः स्म परिपालय देवि विश्वम् ।
किं वर्णयाम तव रूपमचिन्त्यमेतत् किञ्चातिवीर्यमसुरक्षयकारि भूरि । किं चाहवेषु चरितानि तवाति यानि सर्वेषु देव्यसुरदेवगणादिकेषु ।
हेतुः समस्तजगतां त्रिगुणापि दोषै- र्न ज्ञायसे हरिहरादिभिरप्यपारा । सर्वाश्रयाखिलमिदं जगदंशभूत- मव्याकृता हि परमा प्रकृतिस्त्वमाद्या ।
यस्याः समस्तसुरता समुदीरणेन तृप्तिं प्रयाति सकलेषु मखेषु देवि । स्वाहासि वै पितृगणस्य च तृप्तिहेतु- रुच्चार्यसे त्वमत एव जनैः स्वधा च ।
या मुक्तिहेतुरविचिन्त्यमहाव्रता त्वं अभ्यस्यसे सुनियतेन्द्रियतत्त्वसारैः । मोक्षार्थिभिर्मुनिभिरस्तसमस्तदोषै- र्विद्यासि सा भगवती परमा हि देवि ।
शब्दात्मिका सुविमलर्ग्यजुषां निधान- मुद्गीथरम्यपदपाठवतां च साम्नाम् । देवि त्रयी भगवती भवभावनाय वार्तासि सर्वजगतां परमार्तिहन्त्री ।
मेधासि देवि विदिताखिलशास्त्रसारा दुर्गासि दुर्गभवसागरनौरसङ्गा । श्रीः कैटभारिहृदयैककृताधिवासा गौरी त्वमेव शशिमौलिकृतप्रतिष्ठा ।
ईषत्सहासममलं परिपूर्णचन्द्र- बिम्बानुकारि कनकोत्तमकान्तिकान्तम् । अत्यद्भुतं प्रहृतमात्तरुषा तथापि वक्त्रं विलोक्य सहसा महिषासुरेण ।
दृष्ट्वा तु देवि कुपितं भ्रुकुटीकराल- मुद्यच्छशाङ्कसदृशच्छवि यन्न सद्यः । प्राणान् मुमोच महिषस्तदतीव चित्रं कैर्जीव्यते हि कुपितान्तकदर्शनेन ।
देवि प्रसीद परमा भवती भवाय सद्यो विनाशयसि कोपवती कुलानि । विज्ञातमेतदधुनैव यदस्तमेत- न्नीतं बलं सुविपुलं महिषासुरस्य ।
ते सम्मता जनपदेषु धनानि तेषां तेषां यशांसि न च सीदति बन्धुवर्गः । धन्यास्त एव निभृतात्मजभृत्यदारा येषां सदाभ्युदयदा भवती प्रसन्ना ।
धर्म्याणि देवि सकलानि सदैव कर्मा- ण्यत्यादृतः प्रतिदिनं सुकृती करोति । स्वर्गं प्रयाति च ततो भवती प्रसादा- ल्लोकत्रयेऽपि फलदा ननु देवि तेन ।
दुर्गे स्मृता हरसि भीतिमशेषजन्तोः स्वस्थैः स्मृता मतिमतीव शुभां ददासि । दारिद्र्यदुःखभयहारिणि का त्वदन्या सर्वोपकारकरणाय सदार्द्रचित्ता ।
एभिर्हतैर्जगदुपैति सुखं तथैते कुर्वन्तु नाम नरकाय चिराय पापम् । सङ्ग्राममृत्युमधिगम्य दिवं प्रयान्तु मत्वेति नूनमहितान्विनिहंसि देवि ।
दृष्ट्वैव किं न भवती प्रकरोति भस्म सर्वासुरानरिषु यत्प्रहिणोषि शस्त्रम् । लोकान्प्रयान्तु रिपवोऽपि हि शस्त्रपूता इत्थं मतिर्भवति तेष्वहितेषुसाध्वी ।
खड्गप्रभानिकरविस्फुरणैस्तथोग्रैः शूलाग्रकान्तिनिवहेन दृशोऽसुराणाम् । यन्नागता विलयमंशुमदिन्दुखण्ड- योग्याननं तव विलोकयतां तदेतत् ।
दुर्वृत्तवृत्तशमनं तव देवि शीलं रूपं तथैतदविचिन्त्यमतुल्यमन्यैः । वीर्यं च हन्तृ हृतदेवपराक्रमाणां वैरिष्वपि प्रकटितैव दया त्वयेत्थम् ।
केनोपमा भवतु तेऽस्य पराक्रमस्य रूपं च शत्रुभयकार्यतिहारि कुत्र । चित्ते कृपा समरनिष्ठुरता च दृष्टा त्वय्येव देवि वरदे भुवनत्रयेऽपि ।
त्रैलोक्यमेतदखिलं रिपुनाशनेन त्रातं त्वया समरमूर्धनि तेऽपि हत्वा । नीता दिवं रिपुगणा भयमप्यपास्तम् अस्माकमुन्मदसुरारिभवं नमस्ते ।
शूलेन पाहि नो देवि पाहि खड्गेन चाम्बिके । घण्टास्वनेन नः पाहि चापज्यानिःस्वनेन च ।
प्राच्यां रक्ष प्रतीच्यां च चण्डिके रक्ष दक्षिणे । भ्रामणेनात्मशूलस्य उत्तरस्यां तथेश्वरि ।
सौम्यानि यानि रूपाणि त्रैलोक्ये विचरन्ति ते । यानि चात्यन्तघोराणि तै रक्षास्मांस्तथा भुवम् ।
खड्गशूलगदादीनि यानि चास्त्रानि तेऽम्बिके । करपल्लवसङ्गीनि तैरस्मान्रक्ष सर्वतः ।
https://stotranidhi.com/hi/durga-saptasati-chapter-4-sakradi-stuti-in-sanskrit/
The ṛṣi spoke:
Thus was she, the Upholder of the worlds, hymned by the gods, and they paid honour to her with celestial flowers that blossomed in Nandana, and with perfumes and unguents.
Moreover all the thirty gods in faith censed her with heavenly incenses. Benignly sweet in countenance she spoke to all the prostrate gods.
The goddess spoke:
Choose, ye thirty all! whatever ye desire of me, for I grant it with pleasure, being highly honoured by these hymns.
The gods spoke:
Thou, O adorable lady, hast accomplished all, nought remains undone, in that this Asura Mahiṣa, our foe has been slain. Yet if thou must grant us a boon, O goddess great! whenever we call thee, call thee to mind, do thou away with our direst calamities! And whatever mortal shall praise thee with these hymns, O lady of spotless countenance, to prosper him in wealth and wife and other blessings by means of riches, success and power do thou incline always, O Ambikā, who art propitious to us!
The ṛṣi spoke:
Being thus propitiated by the gods for the good of the world and on their own behalf, “Be it so!” said she, Bhadrakālī; and vanished from their sight, O king.
