In this Chapter, we bow down again and again to Narayani. Nara means man, humanity; ayana means eyes. She is the eyes of Humanity. She energizes Narayana, She is the exposer of consciousness.

We bow down to Divinity with all the energy of consciousness.

Verse 29 in this chapter is a very important mantra that you can make japa whenever some one is ill.

In Verse 39, we pray her to terminate distubances in the three worlds: gross, subtle, and causal.

In verse 42, Vindhyachala is the Mountain of Kknowledge, the mountain of one pointed existence from Bindu.

Whenever oppression arise from confused thoughts the Goddess shall manifest to destroy the foes.

Q&A

1. Why does the poet switch the metre of the verse from 32 syllables to 44 in this chapter?

Anushtub (32 syllbles) is the chanda (metre) of narration, it is used for narratives. Trishtubh (44 syllables) is the metre of praise, it is used to express the song of devotion.

2. What is the relation between the heart and intelligence?

When we know in our heart, it is sincere and our response is svabhavic as opposed to knowing in our mind.
Maa says, when we have intelligence in our heart, it is medha.

3. In verse 6, if it is true that "all women in the world reflect your capacity entirely", then why don't we see this perfection in all women?

Shiva and Shakti revolve around each other reciprocally. You will inspire your Shiva to act like Shiva and he will regard his wife as the Divine Mother. Her inspiration makes him divine and his understanding makes her divine.

4. What does it mean to become a refuge to others?

We do so in different ways. By being a good friend, by providing inspiration and knowledge, by doing sadhana. Receive the knowledge of the Chandi and pass it on either through your words or deeds.

5. In verse 29, is there a way to sense whether Mother is frustrating our desires because She is displeased, or if the difficulty is our tapasya and we have to push through it?

Obviously we have to push through. Her displeasure indicates wither inappropriate desire or that the right effort to fulfill the desire was not taken (effort is not pure).

6. Does a devotee remain quiet when he/she has sickness or is it good for he/she to be humble and ask Divine Mother for help with the infirmity after doing japa and chanting?

Never inappropriate to ask Mother for what you need. Please remove my infirmity so that I have no obstruction to my sadhana.

7. Here the 3 eyes of the Goddess are described as being in union - sun /moon and fire - I assume that sun moon would be shiva/shakti in union - is the fire symbolic of divine passion or purification?

The Sun is the light of wisdom, the moon the light of devotion, and fire the light of meditation.

8. Historically, which came first: the Devi Gita or the Devi Mahatmyam?

Devi Mahatmyam is from the Markandeya Purana. The Devi Gita came from the Devi Bhagavatam, 900-1000 years later.

9. In Verse 20-21 chapter 7 - It says that Durga actually slayed the asuras Chanda and Munda. And Kali did not actually slay them but only brought Durga the heads of these asuras. Is this true?

Yes it is true. But Kali and Durga are the same. There is only one Goddess. One God.

10. Is the recitation of kshama prarthana reflect the style of self-deprecation?

No, it reflects humility. Self-deprecation: I beat myself and put myself down. Humility I plead to Mother to make me better. I push myself down so that She can raise me up.

11. What is the significance of the Bee (Brahmari) in verse 53?

The bee knows exactly where to find the nectar. It goes to the flower takes the nectar and nourishes other flowers and us.

Maa says be a bee, don't be a fly. Flies move from one dirty place to another and are attracted to filth. Bees just go for the nectar and brings the nectar home and prepares the nourishment of honey.

12. Everyone is praising Mother with every action they perform. Can you explain this?

All energy is Her. So every action we perform is the manifestation of her energy. Some of us our praising her gloriously and some less. Thief wants to be perfect thief, sadhu the perfect sadhu. Every action is taking us to perfection, our definition of Dharma. One day we will realize what that ultimate perfection will look like and we will switch our energies to attain that perfection.

13. In verses 50-53 she assumes a terrible form, Bhimadevi, on the mountain Himalaya? What does Bhima mean?

Bhima means terrible. Not in the sense of awful. Terrible in the sense of astonishing, mesmerizing, grand, gigantic, so hard to describe. Maa says She is the authority over all energies.

14. When is the 28th epoch of Vaivasvata Manu. Is it an actual time? Is it saying here that the same Shumbha and Nishumba will be reborn. So self deprecation and self conceit will keep coming back. If this has already happened is there a text about these stories?

It is more a manifestation of mind. As mind evolves we go through the predominant characteristic of the mind. Right now we are in the reign of the eighth Manu. Best to call them as paradigms of reality.

15. Why slay the agitated awareness?

People who resist the predominant attitude of the mind will have confusion of agitated awareness. In this manvantara, Our ultimate dharma is to become Savarni. When they resist, Mother will remove the confusions born of agitated awareness. Because manifestations of nature are transient we have to unite with soul.

16. In verse 47, why does She have hundred eyes?

She sees in all directions, at all times.

17. In verse 46, what is the meaning of "rain shall cease for hundred years?"

This is not a literal interpretation. When there is no further nourishment of devotion, She can't take birth in the wombs of women. She can take birth only in the heart of devotees. If earth is devoid of devotion, even still, I will take birth in the hearts of devotees.

18. Does the birth in the house of Nandagopa refer to the birth of Krishna?

No. It refers to the birth of Mahamaya. She tells Kamsa that you stop your oppression or you will meet your demise.

19. Will meaning of Goddesses become clear as we chant more?

Absolutely. More we refine our desire to sit still, pronounce correctly, invite Goddess into our lives. More sincere our worship the less likely asuras can come through the city of nine gates.

20. Is it impossible to be in equilibrium when doing Karma?

No. But very difficult. Our mind strays from our objective of being with Goddess to the oopbjective of doing karma.
Thinking of how to perform, for whom, what are the results, am I doing the best, what will happen if I don't perform, etc.

21. How do we nourish our family with vegetables from our body?

Its all about love. Love my family, love life. Reinforce these attitudes and you will nourish everyone around you.

In Chapter 10 Goddess is fighting Self-Conceit on behalf of the Gods.

Q&A

1. What is the difference between Mahishasura from the second episode and Self-conceit in the third episode?

Mahisasura is the Great Ruler of Duality, of all dualities. He is the controller of the 6 ripus (limitations): desire, anger, greed, ignorance, avarice, and jealousy.
Self-conceit says, “Boy, did I do a good job. Look at my success. Even I admire me. I am sure everyone else does.”
Self-deprecation says, “Poor me. I blew it again. I am not good enough.”
They are similar. All three episodes are going on concurrently. It is not a linear progression. It all happens at once. All the asuras are acting simultaneously. What can we do? We can cry, “Maa please help us.”

2. What is the significance of the half-moon on the Goddess’ head in the Dhyanam of this chapter?

The moon is the emblem of devotion. The Goddess wears devotion as an ornament.

3. Does Swamiji recommend that we introspect on our negative thoughts in addition to chanting the Chandi to cut down asuras?

No. Instead of dwelling on negative thoughts, dwell on presence of Mother – “She is within me, She is in my heart.”
Dwelling on negative thoughts increases the strength of self-conceit and self-deprecation. Fill yourself with full, pure, loving, positive, joyous devotion.

4. If the goal of sadhana is to transcend the ego, how do we understand the ego’s desire to chant the Chandi?

God within us is inspiring ego to become Divine Ego. Purpose is not to destroy ego but to expand the ego become the greatest egoist. I am Shiva. Aham Brahmasmi. No negative small ego left.

5. Sumbha wanted to fight only one Mother and not her manifestations. What is the significance of this?

He was conceited that he thought that if She withdrew Her manifestations, he would be able to defeat her.

6. Can you please talk more about Verse 8?

When there is manifested existence, everywhere we look we see a different form. When Mother withdraws forms we are moving to non-duality, there is only Self-conceit and Mother: savikalpa Samadhi. Now, he is trying overcome and bring her to duality. She is saying, “no, you have to leave your self-conceit and see all the energy of the Universe within me: Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

7. What is the significance of the self-conceit bringing his fist down on Devi’s heart?

Heart is love center. He is striking at the devotion of the devotees, disrupting the love in Her heart.

8. In Chapter 8, Maa is the Shakti of Shiva and Shiva resides in the sahsrarara, what is the significance of Shiva being sent as messenger of Mother>

Consciousness is going to self-conceit and gives an order. Consciousness comes down from Sahsrarara and illuminates the chakras.

9. What is the significance of the Goddess striking self-conceit with the palm of Her hand?

He struck Her with her fist, She just gently strikes him with a palm. That’s enough to knock him down.

10. Maa Kali cuts off the heads of Her devotees during their sadhana. How does one visualize the ishta when one has no head?

It takes a lot of prayer to lose your head. And once you lose your head, no prayer is required, until it grows back.

11. Is there a correlation between the Goddesses that we meditate in each chapter and the negative forces She vanquishes in each chapter?

Yes. In this chapter when you have surrendered to Kameswari, you have only one desire left, to be with Her. If you contemplate her form, you will lose all your self-conceit, you have no more desires.

12. If Mother wants us to take us Samadhi, why do we hold on to worldly objects?

Ego rebels, when we say we going to kill it. There is a sense within that if I don’t survive how can I enjoy Samadhi? It wants to enjoy Samadhi and be there and then come back and tell everyone about it. And so I can tell everyone about it. Ego is devious when he comes out.

13. If we go back to original desire, will Devi destroy that too?

When we enter into the one desire to be with Mother, we lose all other desires. That is pralaya, dissolution of manifested existence. Then there is another creation. If we are fortunate we remember what it is like to be in samadhi and we quickly learn how we can unite with God and what good karmas I can do to inspire others to attain the same.

14. In verse 8, Chapter 4, Divine Mother is Svaha. Why do Gods become content upon hearing the word?

Svaha is the wife of Agni. When we make an offering, Svaha takes it away from Agni and gives it to Gods. So Gods become contented.

15. In Chapter 1, can the forest also be seen as symbolic of consciousness mind?

Yes. Absolutely. We are moving to forest of purity, tapasya, and non-attachment where we can contemplate purity and clarity and how we can unite with God without selfish desire.

16. When Mother fights self-conceit, why did all Gods just look on without participating?

They knew that only Mother can slay self-conceit. We (the Gods) become witness of Mother slaying self-conceit.

17. In Chapter 8, there were many energies of Goddess that could not defeat Raktabija. Why?

They could not because the seed of desire had won the boon that each time a drop of blood fell from his desire a new desire would be created. All energies wounded him and his blood poured profusely. And there was a new desire. Only Mother Kali could drink up all the blood.

18. Is it better to pray to Mother to take away desire than to pray to fulfill it?

Better to pray to be with Divine Mother. Then all the other desires go away of its own accord. They pale in significance to the desire for Mother. That’s why chanting the Chandi is such an important tool because singing the Chandi is a desire to be with You.