Chapter XXV
On the Devi’s Highest Supremacy
1. The King said :– O Best of Munis ! Hearing these sorrows of Sri Krisna, the part incarnate of Visnu Bhagavan, I am in doubt on your utterances.
2. Behold ! Bhagavan Vasudeva is the part incarnate of Narayana; how could the Asura Sambara steal away His son from the lying-in-chamber !
3. The beautiful Dvaraka city is specially well-guarded; the lying-in-chamber is again within the centre of that; under these circumstances, how was it that the Daitya could enter there and steal away the child !
4. O Son of Satyavati ! How was it that Vasudeva could not know that ! This appears very strange to me !
5. O Brahmana ! Please explain to me why was that child stolen away from the lying-in-chamber, though Sri Krisna was staying there at the city; and how was it that he was not able to know this beforehand !
6. Vyasa said :– O King ! The Maya called Sambhavi (Parvati’s) is the cause; it fascinates and deludes the minds of human beings. Thus it is known to us. Who is there in this world that is not deluded by this Maya?
7. The Jivas, no sooner they are born as human beings, are immediately overcome with human qualities; the Deva or Asura qualities or their natures do not then visibly exist.
8-9. O King ! Hunger, thirst, sleep, fear, lassitude, delusion, sorrow, doubt, pleasure, egoism, old age, disease, death, non-knowledge, knowledge, displeasure, envy, jealousy, pride and weariness; all these human qualities are seen to exist in human embodiments.
10-11. Behold ! The night wanderer Raksasa Maricha assumed, by his Maya, the form of a golden deer and came before Sri Ramchandra; and Ramchandra was not the least aware of it. Then the stealing away of Sita, the death of Jatayu, Rama’s going to the forest on the very day of his installation to the throne of Ayodhya; the death of his father due to his bereavement, all these Sri Ramchandra did not know a bit beforehand.
12. When Ravana stole away Janaki and carried her by force Rama did not know this before or after that event had happened. He wandered from forest to forest in search of Her, like a quite ignorant man.
13. Afterwards He killed Bali, the son of Indra and with the help of the monkeys, erected a bridge across the ocean, and, crossing it, went to Lanka.
14. He sent the chief monkeys to all the quarters in search of Sita and had to undergo all the troubles of deadly battles in the great battlefield.
15. The most powerful Raghunandana was tied down by NagapaSa (snakes) and was afterwards freed from it by Garuda.
16. Then, being furiously enraged, the great Raghava slew Kumbhakarna, Nikumbha, Megha Nada and Ravana.
17. The Janardan Ramchandra was not aware of the innocence of Sita; and therefore He made her take an oath about the purity of Her character and even made Her undergo an ordeal of fire.
18. Afterwards Ramachandra, the son of DaSaratha, had to banish his dear blameless Sita on the mere ground of bad name, imputed to her by some ignorant person and that he would be thus blamed by the public.
19. He did not know that KuSi and Lava were His two sons, born in the forest. Afterwards when the Muni Valmiki told him, He came to know of them.
20. Behold also Ramachandra could not know about the departure of Sita to Patala; getting angry once He was about to kill his brother Laksmana even.
21. Rama, the slayer of the RakSasa Khara did not know that Kala Purusa was coming to him. He, incarnating in the human body, did acts all becoming to a man. Similarly Sri Krisna, the descendant of Yadu, taking human birth did acts all like a man. What more discussion can there be in this?
22. Lo ! From the very outset He fled, out of fear of Kamsa, to Gokula; afterwards he fled out of fear of Jarasandha to the Dwarka city.
23. Knowing all the rites and ceremonies of the Sanatan Dharma (the Eternal Religion) He stole away Rukmini who was chosen as bride elect by SiSupala. This act was very unreligious of Him.
24. Sambara Daitya stole away his newly born child and Krisna lamented for this. Afterwards on coming to know of the real state of things from the Goddess Bhagavati, He was very glad. Therefore it can be easily seen from all these circumstances that He had to yield to pleasures and to undergo remorse like ordinary human beings.
25. Again, under the orders of his wife Satyabhama, He had to go to Heaven to bring the Parijata tree and He had to fight with Indra. This shows clearly that He was under the subjection of His wife.
26. In that battle Hari with disc in hand defeated Indra; the Lord of the Devas, took away the Kalpa tree and retained the prestige of His respected wife (whom He had offended).
27. Again Satyabhama tied down Hari against a tree and presented Him as a gift to Narada; afterwards she, the passionate woman, freed Krisna on paying an equivalent of gold coins.
28-29. On seeing Rukmini’s many sons, Pradyumna and others, all qualified with diverse qualifications, His wife Jambavati prayed to Sri Krisna with humility, so that she may have also many beautiful sons. For her sake, Krisna firmly resolved to practise tapasya and went to the place where the great devotee of Siva, Upamanyu, was staying.
30. Hari desiring to have sons engaged Upamanyu as His spiritual guide and obtained from him the Mantram called PaSupata Mantra and became a Dundee (holder of a staff) and shaved His head.
31-32. In the first month He subsisted on fruits only and meditated on Siva and repeated silently the Siva mantra. Thus He practised very severe austerities. In the second month He subsisted on water only and stood on only one leg. In the third month he lived on air only and stood on the end of His great toe.
33-36. Thus time passed away. In the sixth month the God Rudra, holding Moon on His forehead, was pleased with His asceticism and devotion and appeared before Him on that spot. The God Maha Deva came on a bull; He was attended by Brahma and Visnu, Indra and the other Devas, Yakshas and Gandarbhas and addressed thus :– “O high minded Krisna of Yadu’s descent; I am pleased with Your severe asceticism; now ask Your desired
boon; I will grant it just now. I fulfil all the desires of all my devotees; what desire, then, there can be that is not fulfilled, when I am seen by the devotees !”
37-38. Vyasa said :– The son of Devaki was very glad to see the God Samkara and fell prostrate at His feet. Then that eternal supreme God of the Devas began to recite hymns in praise of Him in a tone as deep as the rumbling of a cloud.
1. Krisna said :– O Deva of the Devas ! O Lord of the world ! You alone destroy the misfortunes and sorrows of all the beings. O Destroyer of Asuras ! You are the Cause and Creator of this universe. I salute Thee.
2. O One having a blue throat ! I bow down to Thee ! O Holder of trident ! I again and again salute Thee ! O Lord of Parvati ! You destroyed Daksa’s sacrifice. I salute Thee.
3. I am blessed by Thy sight and think myself as having discharged all my duties and satisfied. O Virtuous One ! My human birth is crowned with success by saluting Thy feet.
4. O Lord of everything ! O three-eyed ! I am tied down to this world by my attachment towards my wives; now I take refuge unto Thee to free me from these bonds.
5. O Destroyer of sorrows ! I am very much troubled on attaining this human birth; O Bhava ! I am afraid of this world; and hence I take refuge unto Thee; now save me.
44-45. O Destroyer of cupidity ! I experienced a good deal of troubles in the womb; next out of fear to Kamsa I had to go to Gokula where I suffered much pains; there I had to obey the orders of cow-herds; there I had to attend as Nanda’s cow-herd, the pasturing of his cows and was constantly suffocated with the awful dust thrown up by the cows; I had to wander constantly in the wild forests of Brindaban.
46. O Omnipresent One ! I had to leave my dear ancestral place, the city of Mathura, a rare place to be found anywhere else, out of the great fear of Kala Yavana, the king of the Mlechchas and had to go to Dwaraka city.
47-48. O Lord ! In order to preserve the cause of religion, I had to hand over the best prosperous kingdom to Ugrasena, due to the curse of Yayati. My elders made him the king of the Yadavas; following their examples, I gave him the kingdom and am now serving him always like his servant.
49. O Sambhu ! The householder’s life is exceedingly troublesome; it makes one subject to one’s wife and go against his religion. There we are always dependent on others; and no word is heard or dreamt even, how to free oneself from those bondages of the world. Oh ! What an irony of Fate.
50. O Destroyer of cupid ! My wife Jambavati, on seeing the sons of my wife Rukmini has urged me to practise this Tapasya so that she might get excellent sons born to her also.
51. O Lord of the Devas ! O Lord of the world ! I am engaged in this asceticism with the desire to get sons; O Deva ! I feel shame in asking you for the sons !
52. You are the lover of your devotees; You give eternal freedom; You are the Lord of all the Devas. By worshipping and satisfying You, who is so fool as to ask for this trivial and transient thing !
53. O Omnipresent One ! O Sambhu ! O Lord of the world ! Knowing You as the giver of salvation, I, still deluded by Maya, ask from You, being requested by my wife, this happiness that sons be born to me of my wife.
54-55. O Samkara ! This world and its concerns are the abode of all sorrows; it is the cause that brings in all sorts of pains and troubles, and it is transient and will go to destruction. I know all these; still my mind does not desist from it.
1. Vyasa said :– O great and powerful king ! The God of Gods, Maha Deva, thus praised and adored by Govinda, the Destroyer of enemies, replied :– You will get many sons.
2. You will get sixteen thousand one hundred wives and no doubt you will get ten sons of each of them. These sons will be very powerful and valorous.
58-60. The good-looking Samkara saying these words remained silent; then Sri Krisna bowed down at the feet of Girija, the wife of Samkara. Then the Goddess Parvati addressed repeatedly to Vasudeva and said :– O mighty armed ! O Krisna ! O best of human beings ! You will be the typical exemplary householder; (all people will try to follow you). When one hundred years will pass away, your race will be extinct, due to the curse of the Brahmana and Gandhari.
61. Your sons and the other Yadavas will lose their senses on drinking liquor; they will kill each other in the battle field and thus will be extirpated.
Note: Here Visnis and Andhkas are meant.
62. Then you and your elder brother Balabhadra (Balarama) will give up your bodies and will ascend to the Heavens; O Mighty Person ! Do not grieve in matters that cannot be avoided.
63. You should know that there can be no remedy to what will inevitably come to pass; therefore no one is to grieve for them; this is all along my view.
64. O Madhusudana ! After Your death, due to the curse of Astavakra Muni, your wives will be forcibly stolen away by indomitable robbers. There is no doubt in this.
65. Vyasa said :– When Devi Parvati thus spoke, Sambhu, with the other gods disappeared; Krisna too, bowed down to Upamanyu and went back to the city Dvarka.
66-67. Therefore, O King ! Though Brahma and the other Devas are heard to be the lords of the world, still they are all being tossed hither an thither by the waves of the ocean of Maya. They are all like wooden dolls subject to Maya.
68. As their previous karmas, so their several manifestations in the field of action, by the Great Maya, the incarnate of Para Brahma.
69. She has no differences nor any want of mercy; That Goddess of the universe is always leading the Jivas towards the Eternal Freedom (freedom from Maya).
70. Had She not created this world, moving and unmoving and if She had not remained there as the Controller of the Jivas in the shape of unshakeable consciousness the Kutasthya Chaitanya, this whole world would have become devoid of any consciousness, like an
insentient substance and would have dissolved in the Tamasi Maya (sheer darkness). There is no doubt in this.
71. Therefore that Goddess of the Universe has, through Her mercy, created all these worlds and Jivas, and resting incarnate in each Jiva, is directing each and every of them according to his karmic merits and demerits.
72. Therefore it is a matter not to be doubted that Brahma and the other gods are all under this Maya; the Suras and Asuras are subject to Her.
73. Therefore, O king ! Know this as certain that the Great Goddess moves and enjoys freely according to Her will; She is not dependent on anybody. Therefore it is the duty of everyone to serve and worship, with whole head and heart, that Devi.
74. In these three worlds there is nothing higher or more excellent than Her. Therefore this birth cannot be crowned with success in any other way than remembering that Highest Force, the Para Sakti and Her place.
75-77. One should always think, without any difference, that Eternal World Mother, thus “Let me not be born in that family which has not that Supreme Goddess for its presiding Deity; I am that Goddess Bhagavati and no other; I am Brahma, untouched by sorrows.” One should hear first from the mouth of one’s Spiritual Guide; next by hearing Vedanta and
other religious scriptures, one should first form an idea of that Bhagavati; and then if one daily meditates on That Goddess, the Highest Self incarnate with one minded devotion, one will get, within a short period, the Eternal Freedom; else there is not the least chance, even if one performs lots of innumerable good works of becoming free.
1. SvetaSvatara and other pure hearted Risis obtained this freedom from the bondages of Maya by meditating, in their hearts, this Highest Self and nothing else.
2. Brahma, Visnu and the other Devas, Gauri, Laksmi and other goddesses, all worship This Supreme Goddess, of Sachchidananda Para Brahmani.
3. O pure-hearted king ! I answered all that you asked me, terrified with the fears of this world; what more do you want to hear?
81-82. O king ! I have described this wonderful Purana narrative, destructive of sins, productive of virtue. He who daily listens to this Bhagavatam equal alike to Veda, becomes freed from all sorts of sins and goes to the region of the Highest Goddess and passes his time in the midst of the Highest Glory. There is no doubt in this.
83. Suta said :– “O Risis ! This Sri Mad Bhagavatam, called otherwise the Fifth Puranam was recited, in detail, in days of yore by Vyasa. Whatsoever I heard from him, I have now told exactly the same to you.”
Here ends the 25th Chapter in the Fourth Skandha of Sri Mad Devi Bhagavatam, the Maha Puranam, of 18,000 verses, by Maharsi Veda Vyasa on the Devi’s Highest Supremacy.
Note :– The best mantra is the whole hearted devotion to one’s Guru, and devotion and surrender of one’s Self to the Supreme Mother, doing works without attachment to the fruits thereof. This will lead to dispassion and Renunciation. To one who is faithful in this, all the
other mantras will be duly revealed and all his desires will be found to be true and fulfilled. Here ends as well as the Fourth Skandha.