एषात्मशक्तिः । एषा विश्वमोहिनी पाशाङ्कुशधनुर्बाणधरा । एषा श्रीमहाविद्या । य एवं वेद स शोकं तरति । नमस्ते अस्तु भगवति भवति मातरस्मान्पातु सर्वतः । सैषाष्टौ वसवः । सैषैकादश रुद्राः । सैषा द्वादशादित्याः । सैषा विश्वेदेवाः सोमपा असोमपाश्च । सैषा यातुधानु असुरा रक्षांसि पिशाचयक्षाः सिद्धाः । सैषा सत्त्वरजस्तमांसि । सैषा प्रजापतीन्द्रमनवः । सैषा ग्रहा नक्षत्रज्योतींषि कलाकाष्ठादिकालरूपिणी । तामहं प्रणौमि नित्यम् । तापापहारिणीं देवीं भुक्तिमुक्तिप्रदायिनीम् । अनन्तां विजयां शुद्धां शरण्यां शिवदां शिवाम्
eṣātmaśaktiḥ | eṣā viśvamohinī pāśāṅkuśadhanurbāṇadharā | eṣā śrīmahāvidyā | ya evaṃ veda sa śokaṃ tarati | namaste astu bhagavati bhavati mātarasmānpātu sarvataḥ | saiṣāṣṭau vasavaḥ | saiṣaikādaśa rudrāḥ | saiṣā dvādaśādityāḥ | saiṣā viśvedevāḥ somapā asomapāśca | saiṣā yātudhānu asurā rakṣāṃsi piśācayakṣāḥ siddhāḥ | saiṣā sattvarajastamāṃsi | saiṣā prajāpatīndramanavaḥ | saiṣā grahā nakṣatrajyotīṃṣi kalākāṣṭhādikālarūpiṇī | tāmahaṃ praṇaumi nityam | tāpāpahāriṇīṃ devīṃ bhuktimuktipradāyinīm | anantāṃ vijayāṃ śuddhāṃ śaraṇyāṃ śivadāṃ śivām
«She is the power of selfhood; she is the deluder of the world, holding the noose, the goad, the bow and the arrow; she is Śrī-Mahāvidyā. Whoever knows thus crosses over sorrow... She too is the eight Vasus; she too is the eleven Rudras; she too is the twelve Ādityas; she too is the All-gods, the soma-drinkers and the non-drinkers; she too is sorcerers, asuras, rākṣasas, piśācas, yakṣas, siddhas; she too is sattva, rajas, and tamas; she too is Prajāpati, Indra, Manu; she too is the planets, the constellations, and the stars... Her I ever praise: the Goddess who carries away sorrow, granting both enjoyment and freedom, infinite, victorious, pure, granting refuge, gracious, auspicious».
423d5ebad0f5 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The list runs on at length, and in its midst stands a passage that cannot be passed over: saiṣā yātudhānāḥ asurāḥ rakṣāṃsi, “she too is sorcerers, asuras, rākṣasas.”
That is, she is not only the gods, but also those who stand against them; not only sattva, but also tamas; not only the stars, but also the piśācas.
I will say plainly that this is the most difficult passage in this whole theology, and its difficulty is not invented by disputants. If the Highest is literally everything, then it is both tormentor and tormented, both the butcher and the knife; and then evil can neither be said to exist nor be condemned, for condemning it would mean condemning that same Highest.
Let us compare how the Gītā speaks of the same thing, for the comparison is striking. There Kṛṣṇa lists His manifestations for a whole chapter — and each time names the best of the category: “of the Ādityas I am Viṣṇu, of luminaries the sun, of Rudras Śaṅkara”; and, reaching the demons, He says: “of the daityas I am Prahlāda” (10.30). That is, out of the whole category of enemies, the one named is precisely the one who was devoted to God.
The difference between these two ways of speaking is enormous. One says: everything is I, including the villain; the other: in every category, I am that which is best in it. The first leaves no room for choice or discernment; the second points to where, in every situation, one should look.
It is worth noting, however, that this very line ends with the words tāpāpahāriṇī, “carrying away the heat of suffering,” and śaraṇyā, “granting refuge.” The list is abstract and all-embracing, and yet the address is still to the one who helps; and by this address one sees what the book actually lives by.