The Avatara of Mahakalika

The sages said

We have heard many wonderful narrations and accounts of Shambhu, about many avataras, which give men enjoyment and liberation. Supreme knower of brahman, we now wish to hear from you the lovely account of Bhagavati Jagadamba, the original, eternal Shakti of Mahesha, the supreme brahman, the supreme mother of the three worlds, also called Uma. We have heard that Sati and Haimavati are two of her avataras. Wise Suta, please tell us of her other avataras too. What intelligent person would not wish to hear of her dazzling qualities? The illustrious mother never abandons those who have knowledge.

Suta replied

You great-souled ones are always successful and blessed, since you have asked about the great deeds of supreme Amba. Sages know that the dust on the lotus feet of those who hear, ask and tell this is like a tirtha. Those whose minds are absorbed in the illustrious Devi, who is supreme knowledge, are successful and accomplish their aims; blessed are those born in their lines. Those who do not praise Deveshi, the cause behind all causes, are deluded by maya's qualities and their fortune will surely be destroyed. Those who do not worship Mahadevi, the ocean of compassion, fall into the terrible pit of blindness that is samsara. For those who abandon Devi and take refuge in another god it is as if they leave the Ganga and seek satisfaction in desert water. As soon as one remembers her the four aims of human life are easily gained, so which excellent man would abandon her? Great-souled Suratha once asked Medha this, and I will tell what Medha said.

In the former Svarochisha manvantara there was a king named Viratha, whose very strong, valiant son was Suratha, great, generous and truthful, successful in keeping his own dharma, an ocean of compassion and devoted to Devi. He protected the subjects and ruled the earth with the energy of the chastiser of Paka. But nine other kings, called Kolas, eager to seize the earth, besieged his capital. A tumultuous, terrible battle followed in which the king was beaten by a host of powerful enemies. The Kolas took his kingdom and exiled him. With his ministers the king left his city, but was again beaten by the enemy's large forces. By destiny, many of his best counsellors became his enemies and appropriated all the wealth in the treasury. Pretending to go hunting, the king left the city alone on a horse and went to a lonely forest. Roaming here and there he saw the hermitage of a supreme sage, bright on every side with flowering groves. By the noble brahmana's power, in that hermitage tigers and other strong animals did not harass weaker ones. The sage honoured the learned, very compassionate king with words of welcome, food and a seat, and he stayed there.

Once the great king fell to worrying thoughts: alas, I am unfortunate, evil-minded and weak in energy; my whole kingdom has been taken by a host of insolent enemies; what will I do, where go, how recover my kingdom? My longtime advisers and ministers have left me, and who knows which king they serve now. Has my kingdom been destroyed, and what is its state? My soldiers were very brave and showed great enterprise in battle and cut down many enemies; they serve some other king now. My elephants were like mountains and my horses swift as the wind, and they have gone. Who protects the treasury gathered by generations of ancestors? The king, very devoted to dharma, was thus lost in delusion. A vaishya then came. The king asked who he was, why he had come and what had happened, since he evidently was distressed. Hearing the lord of men's kind words, the bull among vaishyas, Samadhi, shed tears and answered humbly: great king, I am a vaishya named Samadhi, born in a wealthy family. My wicked wife and sons, greedy for my riches, have abandoned me, and, wretched over my own karma, I have come to the forest. Ocean of compassion, I do not know truly whether my sons, grandsons, wives, brothers, their sons and other well-wishers are well. The king asked: you were driven out by sons and others, evil in conduct and greedy for your wealth; how do you still have affection for them, like a foolish beast? The vaishya answered: king, that is right, and your words are deeply meaningful, yet my mind is deluded and tied by bonds of love. So the vaishya and the king were deluded.

They went to the noble sage Medha. With the lord of vaishyas the powerful lord of men bowed his head to the patient supreme yogi, folded his hands and said: illustrious one, please cut our delusion now. Royal prosperity has left me and I have taken refuge in this lonely forest, yet since my kingdom was taken I find no satisfaction. This vaishya was thrown out of his house by his own relatives, his wives and others, yet he too still suffers from this sense of "mine." Please tell us why. Though our minds know knowledge, there is delusion and this great folly. The rishi replied: Mahamaya nurtures the universe. As Shakti she is eternal and draws and deludes everyone's mind. Lord, Brahma and the other gods too are deluded by her maya and do not know the supreme truth, to say nothing of humans. She creates the whole universe, preserves it and in time destroys it. Parameshvari has the three gunas, excellent king; she can take whatever form she wants and grants boons. One can overcome delusion only if she is pleased, not otherwise. The king asked who Devi Mahamaya, who deludes everyone, was and how she arose, and asked the sage to be kind and say. The rishi answered: the universe was reduced to the form of an ocean. Keshava, lord of yoga, lay on Shesha immersed in yoga's sleep. Then two asuras appeared from the wax in Vishnu's ears, famous on earth as Madhu and Kaitabha, terrible, like the sun at dissolution, gigantic, with large jaws and cruel fangs, about to devour the universe. They saw Bhagavan, born from the lotus in the navel and seated on a lotus, asked who he was and prepared to kill him.

The senior god saw the two daityas and saw that Janardana was asleep in the flood. He praised Parameshvari: save me, Mahamaya, kind to those who take refuge; Jagadamba, these two daityas are terrible in form. I bow to Mahamaya, Yoganidra, Uma, Sati. You are Kalaratri, Maharatri, terrible Moharatri, greater than the greatest, the mother of the three divinities, who always gives devotees the fruits they want, an ocean of compassion who protects all the gods. By your powers I, Brahma, create, Madhava preserves the world and Girija's consort destroys as Kala. You are Svaha, Svadha, modesty, held to be bright intelligence, nourishment, contentment, tranquillity, patience, hunger, compassion, Vishnu's maya, called consciousness, the supreme Shakti, bashfulness, thirst, illusion; you take the form of memory and are established as mother. In the homes of men doing good you are Lakshmi. You are called birth, livelihood, pervasive in form, established and pervading everything as consciousness. Ambika, please delude these two unassailable asuras and wake Lord Narayana, who has no origin and is the origin of the universe. For the destruction of Madhu and Kaitabha Brahma prayed to her, Jagaddhatri, the divinity who presides over all learning, the great learning. King, the Shakti who deludes the three worlds appeared in a form called Mahakali, on the bright dvadashi of the month of Phalguna. A voice spoke from the sky: lotus-seated one, do not fear; I will now destroy the thorn that has arisen as Madhu and Kaitabha. Saying this Mahamaya came from Hari's eyes and mouth and showed herself to Brahma, whose birth is unmanifest. Hrishikesha Janardana, lord of the gods, woke and saw the two daityas Madhu and Kaitabha before him. A battle followed between them and Vishnu of unmatched energy, lasting five thousand years, and then a wrestling match. Mahamaya's powers deluded the excellent danavas, so they told Rama's consort to ask a boon of them. Narayana replied that if they were satisfied and he was to be given a boon, let it be that they be killed by him; he wanted no other. They looked at the earth, and since all was a single ocean of water they said to Keshava: kill us where the earth is not flooded. Bhagavan agreed, raised his very bright discus, set them on his thighs and cut off their heads. King, Medha said he had thus told of Kalika's origin and now would tell of Mahalakshmi's. Devi Uma is without transformation, formless and also with forms. To soothe the gods' torments she appears from one yuga to another. Shivaa is said to take forms to save everyone, doing so in her own play so her devotees can describe her qualities.