The verse and its meaning · Devi Mahatmya · Devi Mahatmya — Mahishasura

Play, Praise, and a Raging Lion

Devi Mahatmya 2.50

सापि देवी ततस्तानि शस्त्राण्यस्त्राणि चण्डिका । लीलयैव प्रचिच्छेद निजशस्त्रास्त्रवर्षिणी ॥ अनायस्तानना देवी स्तूयमाना सुरर्षिभिः । मुमोचासुरदेहेषु शस्त्राण्यस्त्राणि चेश्वरी ॥ सोऽपि क्रुद्धो धुतसटो देव्या वाहनकेशरी । चचारासुरसैन्येषु वनेष्विव हुताशनः

Meaning · English

Then Chandika, the Goddess, cut down those weapons and missiles as though in play, she who herself rains down weapons and missiles. Her face unstrained, praised by gods and sages, the Goddess, the sovereign, loosed her weapons and missiles on the bodies of the demons. And her mount, the lion, mane shaken, furious, moved through the demon armies as a fire moves through forests.

Three Sanskrit words open this passage. Lila means play, a deed done with no strain and no stake, the way a child plays. Anayasta-anana means a face without effort: no clenched jaw, no sweat. Ishvari means the sovereign, the one who rules. Medhas tells the king and the merchant that Chandika cut down the weapons hurled at her as lila. The demons throw spears and swords in their thousands, and she answers them while herself raining weapons. Her face stays untroubled. Gods and sages praise her as she strikes the demon bodies. Then the lion, her mount, shakes his mane in fury and goes through the demon ranks like a fire in forests. Medhas tells this to two men who have lost kingdom and family and feel crushed by what has happened to them. The question behind their visit is how anything can stand against such force. His answer is the Goddess herself: against her, the massed power of the demons costs her no strain. The passage asks the listener only to see her this way, as the sovereign whose strength needs no effort. The classic commentators, Bhaskararaya and Nagoji Bhatta, are not drawn on here for this passage. The battle is told briefly. What the verses stress is her ease, the praise, and the lion's fury.

A grandmother kneads dough while children tumble around her, tugging at her sari, and she goes on without a pause or a frown. The crowd of demons is the tumbling children; her unhurried hands are the Goddess, whose work costs her no strain.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Every Weapon, Thrown at Once · Devi Mahatmya 2.48
• Next: Ganas Born of Her Breath · Devi Mahatmya 2.53
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