Devi Mahatmya · Durga Saptashati · Chandi Path
From the Markandeya Purana, 13 chapters, 700 shlokas
The Devi Mahatmya, the first shastra of the whole Devi tradition. Chapters 81 to 93 of the Markandeya Purana, seven hundred shlokas, hence the name Saptashati. Three charitras, three acts: Madhu-Kaitabha, Mahishasura, and Shumbha-Nishumbha. In between, two hymns that live in every throat, “या देवी सर्व-भूतेषु” and “नारायणि नमो ऽस्तु ते।” In the sharad Navratri it is still recited in home after home.
The chapters below currently open in the original Hindi; the full English translation is in progress.
About the text
The Devi Mahatmya, also called the Durga Saptashati and the Chandi Path, is the principal shastra of Devi worship. The rishi Markandeya tells his disciple Kraushtaki the story of the coming of Savarni Manu, and inside it another story opens. King Suratha, stripped of his kingdom, and the vaishya Samadhi, thrown out of his home by his own kin, both reach the rishi Medha in the forest and ask: understanding everything, why does the mind stay tied in this attachment? The rishi’s answer is a single word, Mahamaya. Then the rishi recounts three charitras of that Mahamaya.
The three charitras are these:
- First charitra (chapter 1): the slaying of Madhu and Kaitabha. The Devi invoked out of Vishnu’s yoga-nidra, and the destruction of both daityas.
- Middle charitra (chapters 2 to 4): the slaying of Mahishasura. The Devi’s emergence from the gathered radiance of all the gods.
- Final charitra (chapters 5 to 13): the slaying of Shumbha and Nishumbha. Kaushiki appearing from Parvati’s sheath, the seven Matrikas, Brahmani, Maheshvari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasimhi, and Aindri, the slaying of Raktabija, the birth of Chamunda, and the two famous hymns, the “Ya Devi” and the “Narayani.”
The order of recitation
The recitation goes in order, because each chapter rests on the one before. One chapter per sitting is enough, and the whole text is completed in thirteen days. If the recitation is taken up as a sankalpa in the sharad Navratri, the bright fortnight of Ashvin, chapters one through nine are read on the first nine days, the tenth on Dashami, and the remaining eleven through thirteen over the next three days.
The shlokas most often taken up in daily recitation: 1.1 to 1.3 (Markandeya’s words); 4.17 (“दुर्गे स्मृता हरसि भीतिम्”); 5.12 to 5.37 (the “Ya Devi”, twenty-five shlokas); 11.7 to 11.22 (“नारायणि नमो ऽस्तु ते”, sixteen shlokas); and 11.51 (“इत्थं यदा यदा बाधा”).
The Devi Mahatmya, 13 chapters
Chapter 1 · The slaying of Madhu and Kaitabha
Shlokas 1 to 78 · First charitra
The meeting of King Suratha and the vaishya Samadhi. Both are in sorrow, yet their affection still clings to the very people who betrayed them. The rishi Medha’s answer, Mahamaya. Then the ancient story itself: Vishnu’s yoga-nidra at the end of the kalpa, Madhu and Kaitabha born from the wax of his ears, Brahma’s hymn to the Devi, Vishnu’s waking, and the slaying of both daityas.
Chapter 2 · The birth of the Devi, and the rout of the army
Shlokas 1 to 70 · Middle charitra (1)
Mahishasura has seized Indra’s throne. The gods take refuge with Vishnu and Shiva. The radiance of all the gods merges into one mass and takes the Devi’s form, and every god offers her his weapon. Then the great battle, and the slaying of the generals, Chikshura, Chamara, Udagra, Karala, and the rest.
Chapter 3 · The slaying of Mahishasura
Shlokas 1 to 44 · Middle charitra (2)
Now Mahishasura himself stands before her in buffalo form. Form after form he changes, a lion, then a man, then an elephant, then a buffalo again. The Devi presses his neck down with her foot, pierces him with the trident, and severs his head with the sword. From here she is called Mahishasura-Mardini.
Chapter 4 · The hymn of Indra and the gods, and the boon
Shlokas 1 to 38 · Middle charitra (3)
After the victory, the gods’ long hymn, “दुर्गे स्मृता हरसि भीतिम्।” Pleased, the Devi told them to ask a boon. The gods asked only this, that whenever they remember her, she should appear. The Devi said, so be it, and vanished.
Chapter 5 · The “Ya Devi” hymn, and Shumbha’s envoy
Shlokas 1 to 79 · Final charitra (1)
Shumbha and Nishumbha have taken Indra’s throne. The gods go to the Himalayas and praise the Devi, that famous “या देवी सर्व-भूतेषु”, twenty-five times, each time one form of the Devi: Vishnu-maya, consciousness, intellect, sleep, hunger, shadow, power, thirst, forbearance, birth, modesty, peace, faith, radiance, Lakshmi, steadiness, livelihood, memory, compassion, contentment, mother, delusion, and at the end, awareness. Then Kaushiki from Parvati’s bathing, the dark-hued Kalika, and the envoy sent by Shumbha.
Chapter 6 · The slaying of Dhumralochana
Shlokas 1 to 19 · Final charitra (2)
Shumbha sent Dhumralochana with an army of sixty thousand. With a single roar the Devi burned him to ash. Then the Devi’s lion destroyed the whole army.
Chapter 7 · The slaying of Chanda and Munda, the birth of Chamunda
Shlokas 1 to 26 · Final charitra (3)
Chanda and Munda arrive with a full four-limbed army. The Devi darkens with anger, and from her brow springs Kali of the dreadful face. Kali swallows the entire army and hands the severed heads of Chanda and Munda to the Devi. The Devi gives her a name, Chamunda.
Chapter 8 · The slaying of Raktabija, the seven Matrikas
Shlokas 1 to 63 · Final charitra (4)
Shumbha raised the entire asura host. From the bodies of the gods their shaktis come forth, Brahmani, Maheshvari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Narasimhi, Aindri, and Shiva-duti. Then Raktabija, from whose every drop of blood a new asura stood up. Kali drank his blood before it could touch the ground, and so he was slain.
Chapter 9 · The slaying of Nishumbha
Shlokas 1 to 40 · Final charitra (5)
Now Nishumbha himself is in the battle, striking with ten thousand arms. Weapon after weapon of his breaks. The Devi drives the trident hard into his heart. Then out of him another Nishumbha begins to emerge, and she severs that head too.
Chapter 10 · The slaying of Shumbha
Shlokas 1 to 30 · Final charitra (6)
Shumbha’s taunt, that the Devi is fighting on the strength of others. The Devi draws all the mother-powers back into herself and says, I am alone. Then an astonishing duel, a fist-fight rising into the sky. In the end the trident splits Shumbha’s chest and he falls.
Chapter 11 · The Narayani hymn
Shlokas 1 to 55 · Final charitra (7)
The gods’ heart-touching hymn, in which every shloka comes to rest on “नारायणि नमो ऽस्तु ते”, sixteen times. Then the Devi’s boon: whenever obstruction comes, she will appear. And the hint of avatars to come, Yogamaya (in the house of Nanda the cowherd), Raktadantika, Shakambhari, Bhima, and Bhramari.
Chapter 12 · The fruits of recitation
Shlokas 1 to 41 · Final charitra (8)
The Devi herself says what fruit comes to one who reads and hears this Mahatmya. Fire, water, weapons, storms at sea, lions, a king’s wrath, captivity, protection in every danger. And the greatness of the yearly sharad worship.
Chapter 13 · The boons to Suratha and the vaishya
Shlokas 1 to 17 · Conclusion
King Suratha and the vaishya Samadhi practice tapas for three years. The Devi appears before them and grants each a boon. Suratha will be Savarni Manu in the next manvantara, and the vaishya receives the very knowledge he longed for.
For the reader
The Devi Mahatmya has by tradition been the heart of Durga worship. In this edition every shloka is given in Devanagari exactly as it stands, from the standard edition of the Markandeya Purana, with roman transliteration and the meaning and sense in simple language. Both famous hymns, the “Ya Devi” of chapter 5 (twenty-five shlokas) and the “Narayani” of chapter 11 (sixteen shlokas), are complete, every shloka on its own.
Those who want a purely Sanskrit commentary may turn to Swami Jagadishwarananda’s “Devi Mahatmya” (Advaita Ashrama) or Swami Chinmayananda’s edition.