Devi Gita

DEVI GITA

Tarakasura, the Illuminator of Duality performed a severe tapasya, a great penance. Then Brahma came to him and said, "What boon do you desire? Choose from me some boon, and I will grant you your desire."

Tarakasura said, "I want to be immortal. I wish that I will never die."

Brahma replied, "That's impossible. Nothing can remain forever. Everything born must die at some time or other. Choose another boon."

Tarakasura thought for a moment and then said, "Well, if I have to die, then I want my death to occur only at the hands of the son of Siva."

Brahma said, "Tathastu, I will give you that boon!"

So Tarakasura, the Illuminator of Duality, conquered the entire earth and made everyone on earth servants of the Illuminator of Duality. He then marched straight up to the heavens and sat down on the throne of Indra. He threw all the Gods and Goddesses out of heaven, and became Lord of the three worlds.

Then he ordered, "I want everyone to serve the Illuminator of Duality. No one will worship the Gods. Don't waste time meditating. Just serve me. I will be the only one worshipped in the three worlds." At this news, the Gods became extremely depressed, and in that dejected state they asked one another, "What are we going to do about this? We need the son of Siva in order to get rid of this wicked asura. All of this is overwhelming! How are we going to combat such a state of affairs?"

Then the Gods and Brahmins, rishis and munis, all went to the himalayas and began to perform various forms of tapasya to request the Divine Mother to make Her presence manifest. They recited hymns to the Goddess and sang the stories of Her manifestations. They performed the fire sacrifice and did yoga asanas and pranayama, and mudras and kriyas and japa and tapa, and in every way they invoked the Divine Mother. They propitiated Her and begged Her to please make Her presence manifest.

When they lost themselves in the ecstasy of divine devotion, Mother came and spoke to them. She said, "What is it that you want?"

"Oh Mother, Tarakasura, the Illuminator of Duality, has won the boon that only the son of Siva can destroy him. With the strength of this boon he has been working evil on the earth, and has made everyone a servant of duality. Therefore, we want you to come and manifest yourself in an embodied form. Please Mother, marry with Siva again, and give us the son that will lead the armies of divinity to be victorious in battle.

Mother said, "I accept, and I will try to fulfill your wish. I will take birth in the home of Himalaya, and then I will do tapasya in order to secure Siva's blessings. If He wills, I will marry with Him, and when Siva will accept me as his wife, we will bring forth the son that will lead the armies of divinity to become victorious in battle."

Hearing this news, Himalaya began to cry. "Mother, what have I done to deserve the honor of having You take birth in my home? How should I act when I become the father of the Divine Mother? How shall my home be when the Divine Mother takes birth within it? What shall be my tapasya? What shall be my way of life? What shall be my words? What shall be my actions? How shall I regard you? How shall I serve you? How can I love You purely, so that Your mission can be fulfilled? Please explain this to me."

And with these questions of Himalaya, the teachings of the Devi Gita begin.

Gita means a song, Devi is the Goddess, the Song of the Divine Mother Goddess. The Devi Gita is comprised of twelve chapters included within the Seventh Skandha, or Book, of the Ãr¤mad Devi Bhagavatam, from Chapters 29-40, and it teaches a doctrine of wholistic spirituality. All of the various philosophies are links in the chain to higher understanding. All of the forms of Yoga are united in the union with the Supreme. Without wisdom one cannot produce right actions; without devotion one cannot meditate. All Yogas, all wisdom, all paths comprise a harmony of divine insight.

Devi Gita teaches both the worship of the deity with form and the meditation on the Cosmic Divinity beyond form and knowledge. It is a compendium of spiritual disciplines, constantly weaving its tapestry of harmony so that all actions in life become expressions of the longing for the highest attainment.

Only two possibilities exist in any translation: that the translator is true to the original, or true to the translation; either the Sanskrit will be faithfully and correctly reported, or the English. I have chosen the Sanskrit , because I am hopeful that this work will have greater usage for sincere students, who in addition to learning the Philosophy of the Goddess, are also interested in studying Her native language. It is my opinion that the more we love someone or some thing, the greater is our desire to learn about it. That is, devotion can never be separated from Wisdom. This is clearly indicated in the present text as well. Therefore, as we fall deeper and deeper in love with the Divine Mother Goddess, it becomes more and more important for us to study Her native language, and for this reason, in some places in the translation of this text, the English may seem a little clumsy (to say the least).

I want to go on record as saying that this is not solely because I am completely illiterate and don't know proper English syntax, but rather that I may be excused, for this attempt is to follow as closely as possible the word order from the original Sanskrit . The reader will thus find some verses beginning with long prepositional phrases, and others with the subject and especially the verb, coming at the end of the sentence. Please excuse this cumbersome technique, but it is my hope that students of Sanskrit can use this as a critical grammar text, and maybe even learn to chant the original Sanskrit with understanding, in addition to its tremendous importance as an exposition of the Philosophy of the Goddess.

I would like to acknowledge loving seva by Vittalananda, Janardanananda, and excellent suggestions by Klaus and the entire Devi Mandir family. Especially I bow to Shree Maa, who provided the inspiration for this and other spiritual endeavors, which allow me to make a contribution to mankind's expression of the ultimate love for God. I hope that this work will be finished in such a way as to make you all proud of your contributions, as I am proud to have such friends and associates as yourselves. Namaste to you all.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati Devi Mandir, 1991

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