VAĪKṚTIKA RAHASYA

	The seer said:
1.	OṀ. The Devī, who appears manifest in three ways—as containing the three guṇas, as dark, and as brilliantly pure—is called Śarvā, Caṇḍikā, Durgā, Bhadrā, and Bhagavatī.
2.	She is said to be Viṣṇu’s mystic sleep, Mahākālī, whose energy is tamas, whom Brahmā, seated on the lotus, praised that she might destroy Madhu and Kaiṭabha.
3.	She has ten faces, ten arms, and ten feet. She is lustrous as collyrium; she shines radiantly, as if garlanded with her thirty eyes.
4.	O king, even though she is of frightful appearance with glistening teeth and fangs, she is the beauty in form, the foundation of all loveliness and great splendor.
5.	She bears the sword, arrow, mace, spear, discus, conch, and sling; she carries the iron club and bow and a head dripping with blood.
6.	She is Viṣṇu’s deluding power, the inscrutable Mahākālī. When pleased, she brings all that is moving and unmoving under her worshiper’s control.
7.	She who emerged from the bodies of all the gods as boundless light is Mahālakṣmī, who contains the three energies, and who became embodied as Mahisa’s slayer.
8.	White is her face, deep blue her arms, brilliant white the orbs of her breasts, red her waist, red her feet, deep blue her arousing shanks and thighs.
9.	Many-colored is her lap. Bedecked with multihued garlands and raiment, she is variously anointed and abounds in a beauty that is pure loveliness.
10.	Although she has a thousand arms, she should be worshiped in eighteen-armed form. The weapons here described proceed in order from her lower right hand:
11.	prayer beads, lotus, arrow, sword, thunderbolt, mace, discus, trident, ax, conch, bell, and noose,
12.	spear, staff, shield, bow, drinking-vessel, and waterpot. She whose arms are adorned with these weapons, she who is seated on the lotus,
13.	the sovereign who encompasses all the gods, this Mahālakṣmī is to be worshiped, O king. Doing so, one becomes the master of all the worlds and of the gods.
14.	She who was born from the body of Gaurl and who embodies the sole energy of sattva is proclaimed to be [Mahā] sarasvati, the destroyer of the demon Śumbha.
15.	In her eight arms she carries the arrow, pestle, spear, discus, conch, bell, ploughshare, and bow, O king.
16.	When worshiped with devotion, she grants omniscience. She is the goddess who crushed Niśumbha and destroyed the demon Śumbha.
17.	Thus, O king, the true nature of the Devī’s embodied forms has been told to you. Hear how the mother of the world is worshiped in her individual forms.
18.	When Mahālakṣmī is worshiped, Mahākālī and [Mahā] sarasvatī are to be worshiped on her right and left. At the back are the three couples:
19.	Brahmā and Sarasvatī in the middle, Rudra and Gaurī on their right, and Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī on their left, with the three goddesses standing forward.
20.	The eighteen-armed [Mahālakṣmī] is in the middle, the ten-faced [Mahākālī] on the left, and the eight-armed [Mahāsarasvatī] on the right. [Mahā] lakṣmī is to be worshiped as the primary deity.
21.	When this eighteen-armed form is worshiped, O king, along with the ten-faced and eight-armed forms, then on the right and left,
22.	time and death should be worshiped to allay all misfortune. When the eight-armed slayer of the demon Śumbha is worshiped,
23.	her nine śaktis should be worshiped and also Rudra and Vināyaka. With the hymn that begins “Salutation to the Devī” [the Aparājitāstuti] one should honor Mahālakṣmī.
24.	In the worship of the three manifestations, the verses of their respective hymns should be uttered. The eighteen-armed slayer of Mahiṣa is to be worshiped [as foremost, for]
25.	she herself is proclaimed as Mahālakṣmī, Mahākālī, and [Mahā]sarasvatī, the great ruler of all worlds, reigning over the virtuous and the wicked.
26.	One who worships Mahisa’s slayer becomes master of the world. To Caṇḍikā, the upholder of the worlds, who is tender toward her devotees, one should offer worship
27.	with oblations and the like, with adornments, with flowers perfumed with sandal paste, with whole blossoms, incense and lights, and with all manner of food offerings,
28.	with blood sacrifice, flesh, and wine, O king, and with prostrations, the ritual sipping of water, and sweetly fragrant sandalwood,
29.	with offerings of camphor and betel nut, all made with complete devotion. On the left side in front of the Devī, the great decapitated demon,
30.	Mahiṣa, should be honored, having attained union with her who is supreme. On the right side in front, the lion, who is the whole and mighty dharma,
31.	the Devī’s mount, should be worshiped, for he sustains all that is moving and unmoving. With one-pointed mind the wise one should sing her praises,
32.	then, with folded hands, should praise her with these episodes [of the Devīmāhātmya] or by the middle one alone, but not by one only of the other two
33.	or by chanting half an episode, for that would create a weak point in the recitation. Circumambulating the deity reverently with hands folded on the head,
34.	one should vigorously ask for forgiveness again and again from the sustainer of the world. With each verse should one make an oblation of milk, sesame, and ghee.
35.	Or, one can make an auspicious offering to Caṇḍikā with the verses of the [Devīmāhātmya’s] hymns. With the mind turned inward and fully concentrated, one should worship the Devī with the “salutation verses” [the Aparājitāstuti].
36.	Intent on devotion, with hands folded and head bowed in reverence, deeply collected in oneself, one should meditate on the supreme Caṇḍikā for a long while and become filled with her.
37.	One who daily worships the supreme sovereign in this way, having accordingly experienced all enjoyment with dispassion, attains union with the Devī.
38.	If one does not always worship Caṇḍikā, who is tender toward her devotees, his merits will the supreme sovereign bum to ashes.
39.	Therefore, O king, worship Caṇḍikā, the great ruler of all the worlds, in the prescribed manner, and you will attain happiness.

Vaikrtika Rahasya Commentary

The Vaikrtika Rahasya (“The Secret Relating to Transformation”) concentrates on the supreme Devī’s modification (vikrti) from formlessness to perceptible form. The opening verse asserts that she who is known by such names as Durgā and Caṇḍikā, assumes three aspects: one containing all three guṇas, one expressing pure tamas, and one expressing pure sattva. This cosmogony reflects the text’s Vaiṣṇava Tantric stance; instead of characterizing Mahālakṣmī as the purely rajasic emanation of the Absolute, comparable to the tamasic Mahākālī and the sattvic Mahāsarasvatī, it presents her as triguṇā and therefore foremost of the three.

The description of the dark, ten-armed Mahākālī (verses 2 through 6), slayer of Madhu and Kaiṭabha, corresponds to that of the dhyāna that precedes the Devīmāhātmya’s first chapter. Likewise, verses 7 through 13 agree with the description of the eighteen-armed Mahālakṣmī in the dhyāna preceding the second chapter, portraying her as the goddess of boundless light, who took form in order to slay Mahiṣāsura. Note that her white, dark blue (or black), and red features symbolize the three guṇas (verse 8), and that she is variously hued (citrā), her full range of colors proceeding from the subsequent combining and recombining of the primary guṇas (verse 9). The description of the sattvic, eight-armed Mahāsarasvatī, the slayer of Śumbha, likewise corresponds to the dhyāna that introduces the Devīmāhātmya’s third carita at Chapter 5.

The remainder of the Vaikṛtika Rahasya is concerned with formal worship through visualization, meditation, ritual offerings, and the chanting of the Devīmāhātmya, with emphasis on the special importance of the Aparājitāstuti.