Arjuna's Hymn to Devi

[Jainarayan]

I don't know if anyone has seen this, but I came across it not too long ago. I thought devotees of Devi might like it. I myself am thinking of adding it to my prayers, though I don't know if it would be OK to include this, because I am not Shakta (I know, God is not jealous ). I do say prayers to honor and praise several deities along with Sri Krishna.

Arjuna's Hymn to Devi

I bow to you, O foremost of Siddhas, O Noble One that dwells in the forest of Mandara, O Virgin, O Kali! O wife of Kapala! O you of a black and tawny hue.

I bow to you. O Beneficent Kali, I bow to you, O Maha-kali, O wrathful One. I bow to you. O Tara the savior the great boon bestowing one.

O Durga! Great Being, the fierce bestower of victory! O personification of Victory! O you that bears a banner of peacock plumes, O one decked with every ornament.

O you that wields an awful spear, the holder of sword and-shield, O you that were born as the younger sister of the chief of cowherds, O eldest sibling, born in the family of the cowherd Nanda!

O you who are always fond of buffalo's blood, born of Kusika's clan, dressed in yellow robes, having assumed the face of a wolf you devoured the Asuras! I bow to you who are fond of battle!

O Uma! O Sakambhari! O you that are white in hue, and also black! O slayer of the Asura Kaitabha! O yellow-eyed one! O you that see everything! O you of eyes that have the color of smoke, I bow to you!

You are the Vedas, the Srutis, and the greatest virtue! You are propitious to Brahmanas engaged in sacrifice. You are all knowing; you are ever present in the sacred abodes erected to you in cities of Jamvudwipa, I bow to you!

You are the Knowledge of the highest truth among sciences, and you are that sleep of creatures from which there is no waking. O mother of Skanda, possessor of the six highest attributes of Divinity, O Durga that dwells in the most inaccessible regions.

You are called Swaha, and Swadha, and the subtle divisions of time such as Kala, and Kashta. You are the goddess of knowledge: Saraswati, and the mother of the Vedas, and the personification of Vedanta.

With inner mind purified, I praise you, O great goddess; let victory always attend me through your grace, on the field of battle.

In inaccessible regions, where there is fear, in places of difficulty, in the abodes of your worshipers and in the nether regions, you always dwell. And in battle you always defeat the Danavas.
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You are the unconsciousness, the sleep, the illusion, the modesty, and the beauty of all creatures. You are the twilight, and the radiant light of day! You are Savitri, and you are the mother of all creation.

You are contentment, development, fortitude and light. You increase the radiance of the Sun and the Moon. You are the prosperity of those that prosper. The Siddhas and the Charanas behold you in deep contemplation!

[JayaRadhe]

Namaste!
I think you might be interested to read the Lakshmi Tantra. It is one of the Vaishnava Pancharatra tantras, but it focuses exclusively on the position of Lakshmi. It is stated several times throughout that it is Lakshmi herself who takes on the form of each of the different devis. One interesting part I just opened up to is in 9.1:

I am Narayani Devi, always cooperating in performing the functions of Narayana. He consists of gyana (knowledge), ananda (bliss), and kriya (activity). I, too, consist of gyana, ananda, and kriya.

Then, in 9.7-9, she goes on to say:

In the beginning, I, the Holy Goddess, manifest as Mahalakshmi Devi and assume the two forms of Krishnaa (the dark one, a name of both Kali and Draupadi) and Brahmini. These are my supreme forms as classified by the three gunas. O Shakra (name of Indra), during the reign of Svayambhuva Manu, for the benefit of all the worlds, I, Mahalakshmi, appeared as Mahishasuramardini (Durga).

She claims other interesting things throughout the text as well, such as that she is the Buddhist goddess Tara when Vishnu becomes Buddha and that the form of Mohini was actually Vishnu taking on her own form. I'm not exactly sure how accurate the information is, but it is very interesting from a scholarly point of view at the very least!

[Jainarayan]

Namaste.

That is interesting. It sounds a lot like this VisishtAdvaita and Sri Vaishnavism.

[JayaRadhe]

Namaste.

That is interesting. It sounds a lot like this VisishtAdvaita and Sri Vaishnavism.

Yes, much of modern Vaishnavism is actually, in part, the result of the Pancharatra texts. The Pancharatra scriptures generally say that the rules of Vedic sacrifice are generally too complicated for our age and our current understanding is too dark to understand them. Therefore, they instead recommend image worship and bhakti as the surest path to God from the Dwapara Yuga onward. Very interesting stuff!

[shian]

Thank you
beautiful praises from Arjuna

and very interesting sect who worship Sri Lakshmi Devi as Istadevata, i want to know much about Vaishnava shaktism ( we have another thread about devotee of Maa Radha ).

I have read the article who explain the superiority of Maa Sita.
They explain that many things happened in Ramayana is absolutely Maa Sita's will, even why She is trapped in Rahvana's kingdom etc and why not release Her self because She is not different with Rama, all is Her own will.

[JayaRadhe]

Namaste, Shian Ji!

Thank you
beautiful praises from Arjuna

and very interesting sect who worship Sri Lakshmi Devi as Istadevata, i want to know much about Vaishnava shaktism

Yes, at my own level of bhakti/mukti, I find the Lakshmi Tantra to be very enlightening as well! You should check it out. It's kind of expensive from where I ordered it. However, that was in part due to the shipping costs because I live in the U.S. but had to order it from India.

( we have another thread about devotee of Maa Radha ).
I have read the article who explain the superiority of Maa Sita.

Would you post links to both of these, please? I would find them very interesting!

They explain that many things happened in Ramayana is absolutely Maa Sita's will, even why She is trapped in Rahvana's kingdom etc and why not release Her self because She is not different with Rama, all is Her own will.

I have heard this as well: That she was Vedavati earlier (experiencing love in seperation from the Lord) and then reincarnated as Sita in order to experience both forms of love for the Lord (love in seperation and romantic love), as well as in order to rebuke Ravana for what he did to her in her previous life as Vedavati*. That would definitely explain why the Divine Mother decided to have Ram chase after Maricha in the form of the golden deer and also why she would convince Lakshman to help Ram, which ultimately led to her abduction. Anything you would have to add, I'm sure, would be greatly welcomed by me as well as other bhaktas!

*Local legends state that Vedavati, an earlier form of Lakshmi Devi, was practicing austerities in the forest in order to win Lord Vishnu for a husband. However, Ravana, wanting her for himself, tried to ravish her. She denied him and then burnt herself to ashes, promising to come back and be the cause of his destruction.