Chapter XIII
On the description of Janamejaya’s Devî Yajñâ
1-4. Vyâsa said :– O King Janamejaya! Thus I have answered all your nice queries; also what Nârâyana spoke to the highsouled Nârada is also said by me. He who hears this greatly wonderful Purânam S’rî Devî Bhâgavatam certainly becomes dear to the Devî and all his actions become fructified with success. Now as regards your mental distress, how you prevent any evil falling to your late father in his future life, I advise you to do the Yajñâ in the name of Bhagavatî; and certainly your father will be saved. And you also better take the Most Excellent Mantra of the Mahâ Devî duly, according to rules; and your human life will then be crowned with success; (your life will be saved; thus you as well as your father will be saved).
5-12. Sûta said :– O Risis! Hearing thus, the King asked Vyâsa Deva to initiate in the Great Devî Mantra and thus to become his Guru. He was then initiated duly according to rules with the Great Mantra of Bhagavatî united with Pranava. When the Navarâtra period arrived, he called Dhaumya and other Brâhmanas and performed the Navarâtra Vrata so very dear to the Devî, according to his state. At this time for the satisfaction of the Devî, he caused this Devî Bhâgavata Purâna to be read by the Brâhmanas and fed innumerable Brâhmanas and Kumârîs (virgins) and gave in charity lots of things to the poor, orphans, and the Brâhmin boys and thus finished the Vrata. O Risis! Thus completing the Devîyajñâ, while the King was sitting on his seat, the fiery Devarsi Nârada came there from above playing with his lute. Seeing him there, all on a sudden, the King got up, and paid due respects to him by asking him to take his seat, with other necessary things. When the Devarsi became relieved of his labour of journey, the King asked him about his welfare and then enquired into the cause of his coming there.
13-19. O Devarsi! Whence and what for are you now coming? By your arrival here I am become blessed and feel that my Lord has come to me; now what can I serve to you; kindly command and oblige. Hearing this, the Devarsi Nârada said :– “O King! Today I saw in the Devaloka a very wonderful event. I wanted eagerly to inform that to you. Hence I have come here. Your father met with a bad turn of fate for his bad action. I saw today he assumed a divine form and he was going on a chariot. The Devas were praising him and the Apsarâs were encircling him. It seemed he was going in that dress to the Mani Dvîpa. O King! You performed the Navarâtra Vrata and read the Devî Bhâgavata; it seems, as a result of that, your father has now been rewarded with such a noble and good turn of fate. Now you have become blessed and your actions have borne fruits. You have delivered your father from the hell and so you have become an ornament in your family. Today your name and fame have extended to the Devaloka.”
20-30. Sûta said :– O Risis! Hearing these words from the mouth of Nârada, the King Janamejaya became very much happy and delighted and fell prostrate at the feet of Vyâsa Deva of glorious deeds and said :– O Best of Munis! By Thy Grace, today I have become blessed. Now what return can I pay to Thee save bowing down to Thee. I pray that Thou dost shew such favours to me ever and again. O Risis! Hearing these words of the King Janamejaya, Vâdarâyana Veda Vyâsa blessed him and spoke to him in sweet words :– “O King! Now leave all other actions. Read always the Devî Bhâgavata and worship the Lotus Feet of S’rî Devî. Leave off all laziness and now perform the Devî Yajñâ with great eclât. And you will surely be able to cross this bondage of the world. True there are various Purânas, the Visnu Purâna, the S’iva Purâna, but those cannot compare with one sixteenth of this Devî Bhâgavatam. In fact, this Purâna is the Essence of all the Purânas. How can the other Purânas be compared with this, wherein is established the Devî Mûla Prakriti? Reading this Purâna from the beginning to the end yields the result of reading the Vedas. So the wise persons should try their best to study it always.” Thus saying to Janamejaya, Veda Vyâsa departed. Then the pure minded Dhaumya and the other Brâhmanas highly praised the Devî Bhâgavatam and went to their desired places. And the King Janamejaya, on the other hand, began to read and hear always the Devî Bhâgavatam and spent his days happily in governing his kingdom.
Here end the Thirteenth Chapter of the Twelfth Book on the description of Janamejaya’s Devî Yajñâ in the Mahâ Purânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Chapter XIV
On the recitation of the fruits of this Purânam
1-17. Sûta said :– “O Risis! In days of yore, from the Lotus Face of the Devî Bhâgavata came out S’rî Mad Bhâgavatam in the form of half a S’loka, as the decided conclusion of the Vedas. About what She gave instructions to Visnu, sleeping on a leaf of a Banyan tree, that same thing, the seed of the S’rî Mad Bhâgavata, Brahmâ Himself expanded into one hundred Koti s’lokas. Then, Veda Vyâsa, in order to teach his own son S’uka Deva, condensed them into eighteen thousand s’lokas, in Twelve Books and named it S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam, the present volume. That voluminous book comprising one hundred Koti s’lokas compiled by Brahmâ are still extant in the Deva loka. There is no Purâna like the Devî Bhâgavatam, so merit-giving, holy and capable to destroy all the sins. The reading of every line yields the fruits of performing many As’vamedha sacrifices. Human beings addicted to worldly affairs will get the merit of giving lands to the Brâhmanas and they will enjoy also all the pleasures of the world and in the end will go to the region of the Devî, if they can hear, after they have fasted and controlled their passions, the recitation of this Purânam from the mouth of a Paurânik Brâhmana, who has been worshipped and given clothings and ornaments and is considered as a second Veda Vyâsa. Or, if anybody writes the whole of the Devî Bhâgavatam with his own hand or gets it written by a writer from the beginning to the end and gives to a Paurânik Brâhmin the book placed in a box of the form of a lion made up of gold and a cow yielding milk with her calf with gold as his sacrificial fee; or if he feeds as many Brâhmanas as there are the number of chapters of the Devî Bhâgavatam and worship as many Kumârîs (virgin girls) with saffron, sandalpaste and ornaments and feeds them with Pâysânna, he gets the merits of giving lands and enjoys all the pleasures of the world and goes in the end to the region of the Devî. He has no want of anything who daily hears with rapt devotion this Devî Bhâgavatam. One who has no wealth gets abundance of wealth, those who are students get knowledge, one who has no sons, gets sons if one hears this Devî Bhâgavatam with true devotion. A barren woman, or one who bears still-born children or whose offsprings never live long or who bears only a single child, gets all her defects removed, if she hears this Devî Bhâgavatam with a steadfast devotion. The house where this Purâna is worshipped, Laksmî and Sarasvatî dwell there, leaving their animosities towards each other. By the influence of this Devî Bhâgavatam the Dâkinîs, Vetâlas, Râksasas, and other ghosts cannot cast a glance even on its devotee. If anybody gets fever and if the S’rî Devî Bhâgavatam be read touching him with a concentrated attention, all the complaints disappear. By reading this Bhâgavatam, one hundred times even more difficult than the severe disease pthisis is cured.
18-20. If after performing the Sandhyâ, one reads only one chapter of this Bhâgavatam with a collected mind, he soon acquires the Real Knowledge. O Muni S’aunaka! While going to read this Bhâgavatam, first examine omens and then read. I have spoken already on this subject. If during the S’âradîya Pûjâ (the autumnal Durgâ Pûjâ), at the Navarâtra period, one reads with devotion this Bhâgavatam, the Devî Bhagavatî becomes greatly pleased and awards him results more than his desires.
21-31. During the Navarâtri period all can read well this book for the satisfaction of his Îsta Deva (his own deity) whether he be a Vaisnava, S’aiva, Saura, Gânapatya or a S’âkta. All can read this for the satisfaction of Laksmî, Umâ and other S’aktis. The Vaidik Brâhmanas are to recite this daily for the satisfaction of the Devî Gâyatrî. This Purânam is not contradictory to any sectarian belief. The reason of this being that to whatever deity he pays his worship, he must worship some S’akti or other, this is stated everywhere. So for the satisfaction of one’s own S’akti, all can read this, without contradicting each other. Never any woman nor any S’ûdra, is to read this herself or himself, even out of ignorance; rather they should hear this from the mouth of a Brâhmana. This is the rule of the S’âstras. (The vibrations and the consequent results would be truer then.) O Risis! What more to say on this book than this, that this Purânam is the most excellent of all and yields great merits. It is the essence of the Vedas. This I tell you with great certainty. There is not the least doubt in this. Reading or hearing this yields results equivalent to reading or hearing the Vedas. I now bow to the Devî of the nature of Hrîm and established by Gâyatrî, of the nature of Everlasting Existence, Intelligence and Bliss, Who stimulates our activities to the understanding of various subjects. Thus hearing the excellent words of Sûta, the great Paurânik, all the Munis of Naimisâranya worshipped him specially and as the result of hearing this Purânam glady became the servants of the Lotus Feet of the Devî and they attained the Highest Rest. The Munis expressed their humility and gratitude to Sûta frequently and bowed down to him again and again. And they said :– “O Sûta! It is you that have saved us from this ocean of world.” Thus (the great Bhâgavata) Sûta, the bee drinking the honey of the Lotus Feet of the Devî, recited before the assemblage of the best of the Munis this Purânam from the beginning to the end, the Secret of all the Nigamas and full of the Glories of the Devî Bhagavatî. After this the Risis bowed down to him and he blessed and honoured them.
Then he went away to his desired place. Here the Devî Bhâgavatam ends and is fully completed.
Here ends the Fourteenth Chapter of the Twelfth Book on the recitation of the fruits of this Purânam in the Mahâ Purânam S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vyâsa.
Here ends as well the Full Treatise, S’rî Mad Devî Bhâgavatam.
