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The Song of the Goddess:
The Devi Gita:
Spiritual
Counsel of the Great Goddess
“The
Song of the Goddess:
The Devi Gita: Spiritual Counsel of the Great Goddess by C.
Mackenzie Brown (State University of New York Press)
provides a translation, with introduction, commentary, and
annotation, of the medieval Hindu Sanskrit text the Devi
Gita (Song of the Goddess). It is an important but not
well-known text from the rich Sakta (Goddess) tradition of
India . The Devi Gita was composed around the fifteenth
century C.E., in partial imitation of the famous Bhagavad
Gita (Song of the Lord), composed some fifteen centuries
earlier. The Song of the Goddess makes available a
contemporary translation of the Devi Gita, with an
historical and theological analysis of the text in the
introduction. The book is divided into sections of verses,
and each section is followed by a comment explaining key
terms, concepts, ritual procedures, and mythic themes. The
comments also offer comparisons with related schools of
thought, indicate parallel texts and textual sources of
verses in the Devi Gita, and briefly elucidate the
historical and religious background, supplementing the
remarks of the introduction.
To avoid any confusion and also be aware, there are two
other devi gitas. The first of which is found in the Kurma
purana. This is a conversation with Parvati and Himavan,
introduced by Lord Vishnu as Kurma. Goddess Parvati is
praised here by 1008 names and She grants him two cosmic
visions and i nstructs him. The other devi gita is found in
the Mahabhagavata purana, which actually refers to the
conversation of Parvati and Himavan as Parvati Gita. The
narrator of this section of the Mahabhagavata Purana is Lord
Shiva. However, by Devi gita, we refer only to the gita
found in the Devi Bhagavatam.
The magnificent dialogue between Himalayas and the Divine
Mother, when She declared that She would take birth in his
house as the Goddess Parvati. Himalayas asked, "How shall I
act when I become the father of the Divine Mother? What will
be my attitudes towards life? What will be my spiritual
discipline? How can I remember Your divinity all the time?"
The answers to these and other questions are presented in
English translation.
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.
It is an excerpt from a much larger work, the Srimad Devî
Bhagavatam. This self-contained text describes an
incarnation of the Devi, the Goddess. She discourses on her
nature, and how she wants to be worshipped, particularly
with Yogic practices, meditation and rituals.
Devi Gita constitutes the last ten chapters of the seventh
Skandha of the Devi Bhagavatam. In the puranas, one will
find several gitas and many mahatmyas. The differences are
that in the mahatmya, the glorification of the deity is by
recounting the various deeds of the God and offering praise
to the divinity. A gita, on the other hand, is a direct
revelation of the truth from the disciple, which often
includes the manifestation of the cosmic form. While
mahatymas emphasize bhakti, gita stresses a balance of
bhakti and jnana.
The setting of the Devi Gita is introduced by Janamejaya’s
query to Vyasa regarding the supreme light who became
manifest on top of the Himalaya mountain. Vyasa talks about
the demon Taraka, who has obtained a boon that he can be
killed only the son of Lord Shiva, knowing fully well that
Sati has immolated herself. Therefore, the gods became
scared and went to Himalayas and worshipped Her asking to
born and marry Lord Shiva. Shakti then appears before them
and grants them a boon that her manifestation will be born
as Gauri as the daughter of Himavan. Himalaya becomes choked
with emotion when he hears that She, whose belly contains
millions of universes, is about to become his daughter. He
requests as follows, “Proclaim to me your nature, and
declare that yoga conjoined with bhakti and that jnana in
accord shruti whereby you and I become one.”
In the Devi Gita, following Himalayas request, the Devi
proceeds to describe her essential forms. The Devi declares
that prior to creation, She is the only existent entity, the
one supreme Brahman and is pure consciousness. Then She
outlines the basic evolution of the causal, subtle and gross
bodies of the supreme Self when enjoined with maya. The
treatment here is very similar to that of Vedantasara and
Panchadasi, but in much more simpler terms than the latter.
Then She reveals Her forms (both the frightful and pleasing)
to the gods and Himalaya . Then follows a detailed summary
of the yoga, the stages of bhakti and the ways to attain
Her.
Devi Gita is both simple and profound. It is different from
other gitas in the respect that statements are clear and can
not be reinterpreted according to one’s taste. For example,
several commentaries have been written on the Bhagavad Gita
of Krishna , wherein each commentator feels differently
regarding bhakti and jnana. For example, it required
Madhusudana Saraswati to explain krama mukti in clear terms
(though Shankara mentions it also) of bhakti. But Devi Gita
is clear: “Even when a person performs bhakti, knowledge
need not arise. He will go to the Devi’s Island (similar to
Brahmaloka). Till the complete knowledge in the form of my
consciousness arises, there is no liberation.” Similarly,
the words of ‘coming’ ‘going’ ‘becoming’ cause confusion
since one can not ‘become’ Brahman, if one is already one.
The Devi Gita provides a clear explanation that all these
terms are applicable only as long as one in maya. It is the
clarity of these terms and the simple explanation of complex
vedantic and philosophical questions that makes Devi Gita
unique.”
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0791453944/reviews/104-2662646-5898301#07914539443200
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