Hinduism Devī Māhātmya
by
Raj Balkaran
  • LAST REVIEWED: 12 January 2022
  • LAST MODIFIED: 12 January 2022
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0250

Introduction

The Sanskrit narrative text Devī Māhātmya—“The greatness of the Goddess” (also known as Durgā Saptaśatī and Caṇḍī Pāṭha, henceforth DM)—extols the tripartite triumphs of the all-powerful Goddess (Devī, Ambikā, Caṇḍikā, Durgā) over the universe-imperiling demons. Devī manifests for the protection of the gods, and cosmic order as a whole, in times of dire need. These exploits of this formidable feminine power constitute the first articulation of a Great Goddess within the Indian subcontinent. While the DM equates supreme reality with the feminine Hindu concepts of maya (illusion, magic), śakti (power, force, energy), and prakṛti (material nature), it posits no systematic theory. As only narrative can, the DM instead masterfully interweaves these philosophical strands, along with preexisting feminine faces within the Vedic fold, into the figure of a feminine divine whose greatness surpasses that of the Vedic pantheon, and even that of the cosmic Trimurti comprised of the “Great Gods” Brahma, Vishnu [Skt. Viṣṇu], and Shiva [Skt. Śiva]. The DM serves not only to exalt the Goddess as supreme, but also celebrates her paradoxical nature: she is both one and many, immanent and transcendent, liminal and central, gentle and fierce, motherly and martial. Yet there is no ambiguity in her status as all-powerful. She is utterly invincible. While power is something the gods possess, power is something the Goddess is. It is she, then, who ultimately creates, preserves, and destroys the universe and all beings within it. Variously dated between the 4th and 8th century CE, the DM finds a home as part of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, comprising chapters 81–93 thereof. Far from a textual relic, the DM is recited as liturgy in goddess temples, during individual daily spiritual practice, and at temples and homes especially during the autumnal navaratra (“nine nights”) Hindu Goddess festival, commonly known as Durgā Pūjā. The DM independently circulates not only within this rich liturgic life, but as a standalone mythological, philosophical, and theological authority on the Hindu Goddess. In this respect, it is not dissimilar from the Bhagavad Gita’s circulation independent of the Mahābhārata in which it is couched. The DM’s recitation is considered beneficial for listeners and reciters alike. As exemplified and overtly stated in the DM, engaging the glories of the Goddess invariably secure her protection and benediction.

General Overviews

Coburn 1984 shows that powerful as any given deity might be, he or she can only ever contain a portion of that totality of divine power that the Goddess of the DM embodies. Similarly, Kinsley 1978 discerns the various traditions folded into the Devī Māhātmya to argue that the vision of the Goddess therein transcends these threads and is distinct from the great male gods of Hinduism. Coburn 1985 is a seminal work in that it traces the epithets and myths of the DM to earlier Sanskrit sources, demonstrating the manner in which the DM leverages preexisting material to establish its revolutionary theological vision. Coburn 1991 offers a scholarly English translation of the DM, along with English translations of the hymns to the Goddess and her great Mysteries (rahasyas) typically appended to the DM for ritual purposes. Yokochi 1999 provides a thorough analysis of the myths of the Goddess of the DM, alongside related Sanskrit texts and material culture, in order to locate the text’s composition socio-historically. Mirashi 1968 engages in the dating of the DM, and Tiwari 1983 speculates on the process of compilation resulting in the DM as we have it today. Sarkar 2018 examines the Goddess’s appearance as Mahāmāyā (in the first episode of the DM) in light of three classical Hindu philosophical traditions: Sāṃkhya, Śaiva Siddhānta, and Vedanta. Söhnen-Thieme 2002 similarly examines the narrative components of the DM to shed light on which elements were borrowed from preexisting Sanskrit narrative texts. Balkaran 2019a is the first literary study of the DM as a synchronic whole. It reveals the sophisticated narrative structure of the DM and the extent to which that structure prioritizes the worldly duty of kings over the other-worldly duty of ascetics. Balkaran 2019b explores the extent to which the DM encodes an ambivalence on behalf of the devī (goddess) between violent wrath and compassionate care, paying close attention to the DM’s second hymn (the Śakrādi Stuti), offering a new English translation thereof.

  • Balkaran, Raj. The Goddess and the King in Indian Myth: Ring Composition, Royal Power, and the Dharmic Double Helix. Abingdon, UK, and New York: Routledge, 2019a.

    First close synchronic reading, showing the DM’s sophisticated narrative structure and the manner in which that structure prioritizes the worldly duty of kings over the other-worldly duty of ascetics.

  • Balkaran, Raj. “Visions and Revisions of the Hindu Goddess: Sound, Structure, and Artful Ambivalence in the Devī Māhātmya.” Special Issue: On Violence; Voices and Visions from the Hindu Goddess Traditions. Edited by Patricia Dold. Religions 10.5 (2019b): 322–340.

    DOI: 10.3390/rel10050322

    This study demonstrates the extent to which the DM encodes an ambivalence on behalf of the devī (goddess) between violent wrath and compassionate care. It pays special attention to the text’s second hymn, the Śakrādi Stuti (chapter 4), offering a translation thereof.

  • Coburn, Thomas B. “Consort of None, Śakti of All: The Vision of the Devī-Māhātmya.” In The Divine Consort: Radha and the Goddesses of India. Edited by John Stratton Hawley, 153–165. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984.

    This paper shows that the Goddess of the Devī Mahātmya is without consort; she related to male deities as their power (śakti), not as their consort.

  • Coburn, Thomas B. Devī Māhātmya: The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition. Columbia, MO: South Asia Books, 1985.

    This important study examines the epithets and myths of the Devī Mahātmya and traces them to earlier sources. It also offers translations of hymns to the Goddess both from the Devī Mahātmya and elsewhere.

  • Coburn, Thomas B. Encountering the Goddess: A Translation of the Devī-Māhātmya and a Study of Its Interpretation. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991.

    Modern scholarly English translation of the DM. Also includes translations of hymns to the Goddess and great Mysteries (rahasyas) appended to the DM for ritual purposes.

  • Kinsley, David R. “The Portrait of the Goddess in the Devī-Māhātmya.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 46.4 (1978): 489–506.

    DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/XLVI.4.489

    This study discerns the various goddess traditions folded into the DM to argue that the vision of the Goddess therein transcends these threads and is distinct form the great male gods of Hinduism.

  • Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu “A Lower Limit for the Date of the Devī-Māhātmya.” Purāṇa 10.1 (1968): 179–186.

    Mirashi examines an inscription that probably drew from the DM in order to argue for an earlier date of composition of the DM.

  • Sarkar, Bihani. “From Magic to Deity, Matter to Persona: The Exaltation of Māyā.” In The Oxford History of Hinduism: The Goddess. Edited by Patrick Olivelle and Donald R. Davis Jr., 39–61. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.

    Examines the first form of the Goddess in the DM (as Mahāmāyā) in light of three classical Hindu philosophical traditions: Sāṃkhya, Saiva Siddhānta, and Vedanta.

  • Söhnen-Thieme, Renate. “Goddess, Gods, Demons in the Devī Māhātmya.” In Stages and Transitions: Temporal and Historical Frameworks in Epic and Purāṇic Literature; Proceedings of the Second Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas, August 1999. Edited by Brockington Mary and Radoslav Katičić. Zagreb, 239–259. Croatia: Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2002.

    This article analyzes the structure of the narrative components of the DM in order to consider which elements were borrowed from preexisting Sanskrit narrative texts.

  • Tiwari, Jagdish N. “An Interesting Variant in the Devī-Māhātmya.” Purāṇa 25.2 (1983): 235–245.

    Tiwari draws on a discovered manuscript to speculate that the DM originally circulated in a more pared-down form than we have it today.

  • Yokochi, Yuko. “The Warrior Goddess in the Devīmāhātmya.” In Special Issue: Living with Sakti; Gender, Sexuality and Religion in South Asia. Edited by Masakazu Tanaka and Musashi Tachikawa. SENRI Ethnological Studies 50 (1999).

    Thorough analysis of the myths of the Goddess of the DM, alongside related Sanskrit texts and material culture, aimed at socially and historically locating the composition of the Devī Māhāmtya.

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