GLOSSARY

adharma—unrighteousness; absence of virtue; that which reverses or is contrary to the divinely established order; the opposite of → dharma.*

Aditi—one of the most ancient goddesses of the → Ṛgveda. Her name, meaning “boundless” or “undivided,” characterizes her as infinite consciousness and freedom and the inexhaustible source of the universe.

advaita—nondualism; the philosophical view that ultimate reality is an infinite and undifferentiated unity, that God, soul, and the universe are one.

Advaita Vedānta—the school of → Vedānta developed by → Śaṁkarācārya, who taught that → Brahman alone is real, and that the world, although experienced as real because of → māyā, is only an appearance. Advaita Vedānta views → ātman (the Self) and Brahman (the unity underlying all manifold appearance) as one.

Ādyā Śakti—the supreme reality according to → Śākta doctrine, corresponding to → Brahman; divine consciousness seen as the primal power.

Agni—the Vedic god of fire, who acts as the mediator between humans and the gods by conveying sacrifices through his sacred fire.

ahaṁkāra—literally “I-maker”; the ego, the consciousness of being a unique and separate entity which claims perceptions, emotions, and acts of will as its own.

Aindrī—the → śakti of → Indra; one of the → Saptamātṛkās. The Devīmāhātmya employs this name for Indra’s feminine counterpart instead of the usual name, Indrāni, to emphasize the → Śākta understanding of goddess-as-power rather than goddess-as-consort.

Alakṣmī—misfortune personified as a goddess; the mirror-image of → Lakṣmī.

Ambikā—an affectionate name for the → Devī, frequently employed in the Devīmāhātmya and meaning “Mother.”

Āmbhṛṇī—the female seer of the → Ṛgveda through whom the Devī → Vāk proclaims her own glory in the → Devīsūkta.

aṅga—“limb”; one of six texts (→ Kavaca, Argalāstotra, Kīlakastotra, Prādhānika Rahasya, Vaikṛtika Rahasya, Mūrtirahasya) appended to the Devīmāhātmya around the 14th century for ritual and exegetic purposes.

anuṣṭubh—the classic meter of Sanskrit epic and narrative poetry; the primary meter of the Devīmāhātmya. A verse (→ śloka) consists of four quarter-verses (→ pāda) of eight syllables each.

Aparājitāstuti—(“Hymn to the Invincible Devī”); the third hymn of the Devīmāhātmya (5.9–82), which praises the Devī’s immanence as consciousness abiding in various forms in all beings.

Argalāstotra—(“Hymn of the Bolt”); the Devīmāhātmya’s second → aṅga, consisting of a series of invocations requesting the Devī’s assurance that ritual recitation will bring success.

Ārya—noble; the name applied to groups of Indo-European-speaking tribes who began entering India around 4500 bce. Their dialects evolved into the Vedic, later Sanskrit, language. Some current scholars, especially in India, reject this ethnic definition and propose instead that the term designates the moral nobility of people whose lives exemplified the teachings of the → Vedas.

asura—a demon. In Hindu mythology, the battle between good and evil is often expressed as an allegorical war between gods and demons, who symbolize the divine and evil tendencies within human consciousness.

ātman—the true Self, identical with → Brahman, as distinct from the finite self or ego (→ ahaṁkāra).

avatāra—“descent”; the earthly manifestation or incarnation of a deity.

āvaraṇa—concealment; the veiling power of ignorance (→ avidyā) to conceal the boundless unity of the Absolute.

avidyā—ignorance, nescience. Avidyā is individual or cosmic ignorance, the non-knowing of → Brahman, or the inability to distinguish between the real and the unreal. Cosmic ignorance is also called → māyā.

avidyāmāyā—the aspect of → māyā that binds one to worldly existence. It produces entangling passions such as anger and greed. Māyā’s other aspect, → vidyāmāyā, produces qualities such as kindness, purity, and selflessness, which lead to liberation. Both forms of māyā belong to the relative, phenomenal world.

Bhadrakālī—“the propitious Kālī”; an aspect of the Divine Mother associated with the blessing of the household.

Bhagavadgītā—(“The Song of God”); a sacred text forming eighteen chapters (700 verses) of the sixth book of the → Mahābhārata and containing the teachings of Śrī → Kṛṣṇa to his disciple Arjuna on Self-realization through the paths of knowledge (→ jñāna), devotion (→ bhakti), selfless action, and meditation.

Bhagavatī—“the blessed one”; a name of the Divine Mother.

bhakti—devotion; love for one’s chosen ideal of the divine, usually in the personalized form of a particular god or goddess.

Bhāskararāya—author of the → Guptavatī, the most important commentary on the Devīmāhātmya. Writing from the → Śākta perspective, Bhāskararāya (fl. late 17th to mid-18th century) understood the Devī as the supreme, nondual reality (→ advaita) and the manifest universe as her actual transformation (→ pariṇāma).

Bhīmadevī—a particularly terrible, but protective, form of the Devī, described in DM 11.51–52 and MR 18–19.

Bhrāmarī—the Devī in her bee-like form, described in DM 11.53–54 and MR 20–21.

bhukti—worldly enjoyment or, more broadly, worldly experience.

bīja—seed”; a nonlexical, mystical symbol vibrating with the concentrated power of a particular deity or divine energy. In Tantric Hinduism, the bīja is the essential component of any → mantra.

bindu—concentrated → Śakti as the point of potentiality from which the material universe emanates at the time of creation and into which it collapses at the time of cosmic dissolution.

Brahmā—the creator god. He is the first in a triad (→ Trimūrti) with → Viṣṇu, the preserver, and → Śiva, the destroyer.

Brahman—the Absolute beyond all attributes, which is the immutable substratum of phenomenal existence; the impersonal ultimate reality transcending time and space.

brāhmaṇa—a member of the highest Hindu caste, which comprises priests and custodians of sacred knowledge. In the Devīmāhātmya, the seer → Medhas represents this caste.

Brāhmaṇa—a sacred text forming part of the → Vedas and primarily concerned with ritual practices and rules of conduct.

Brahmāṇī—the divine consort or → śakti of → Brahmā; in the Devīmāhātmya, she is one of the → Saptamātṛkās.

Brahmāstuti—(“Brahmā’s Hymn”); the first hymn of the Devīmāhātmya (1.73–87), addressed to the Devī’s tamasic aspect, → Mahākālī, and concerned primarily with cosmogony.

buddhi—intellect, intelligence; the determinative faculty that categorizes and interprets sensory data and is responsible for reason and will. According to → Advaita Vedānta, buddhi is not conscious but merely reflects the consciousness of the ātman; in distinction, the Śākta philosophy considers buddhi a finite form of the infinite consciousness, veiled and limited by → māyā.

Cāmuṇḍā—a particularly terrible form of → Kālī, who slew the demons Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa (DM 7.6–27) and Raktabīja (DM 8.40–62). She represents the power of concentrated awareness and the awakening of spiritual consciousness.

Caṇḍa—together with Muṇḍa, one of Śumbha’s flattering, scheming servants in the Devīmāhātmya’s fifth through seventh chapters.

Caṇḍī—1. an alternate title of the Devīmāhātmya, common in Bengal. 2. a name of the Divine Mother, also → Caṇḍikā.

Caṇḍikā—“the violent, impetuous one”; after the name Devī itself, the Devīmāhātmya’s most frequently employed name for the Divine Mother.

Candra—the Vedic god of the moon.

carita—one of the three divisions or episodes of the Devīmāhātmya, consisting of Chapter 1, Chapters 2–4, and Chapters 5–13. Literally, the term means “acts, deeds, behavior.”

daitya—a demon, said to be the son of → Diti. In the Devīmāhātmya, the term is used interchangeably with → asura and → dānava.

dānava—a demon (→ asura, daitya).

deva—a god.

Devī—the supreme Goddess, who manifests in many forms and is known by many names. Among her principal forms are → Durgā, → Pārvatī and → Kālī.

Devīsūkta—an important hymn of the → Ṛgveda (ṚV 10.125) in which the Devī extols her own greatness. This hymn of eight verses is regarded by many Indian scholars as the source from which the entire Devīmāhātmya developed.

dharma—righteousness, virtue, morality; religious duty; truth; the order by which the universe is upheld.

Dhūmralocana—the thuggish demon chieftain sent by Śumbha to abduct the Devī, who instead is slain by her (DM 6.1–13).

dhyāna—1. meditation, the state in which the mind is fixed on its object, like the unbroken flow of oil from one vessel into another. 2. one of three texts that introduce each of the Devīmāhātmya’s three → caritas, immediately preceding Chapters 1, 2, and 5.

Diti—the ancient earth goddess and mother of the → daityas. She represents the opposite of → Aditi.

Durgā—the primary deity of the Devīmāhātmya. Usually represented as ten-armed and riding upon a lion, Durgā is at once the warrior goddess who destroys evil, the fiercely protective yet infinitely compassionate mother, and the bestower of unconditional, all-redeeming grace.

Durgāstava—an early hymn to Durgā, found in MBh 4.5, important for containing numerous divine epithets and themes found later in the Devīmāhātmya.

Durgāstotra—a second hymn to Durgā, found in MBh 6.22 immediately before the → Bhagavadgītā. Recited by Arjuna on Kṛṣṇa’s instruction for the sake of assuring victory in battle, the hymn contains themes and traditions that reappear throughout the Devīmāhātmya.

Garuḍa—the mythical half-man, half-bird that is the → vāhana of → Viṣṇu.

Gaurī—“the shining one, the white one”; a name of the Divine Mother.

guṇa—one of the three basic forces operative in the universe (→ sattva, rajas, tamas).

Guptavatī—(“Confirming What Is Hidden”); the title of one of the most important commentaries on the Devīmāhātmya, written around 1741 by the great Tantric authority → Bhāskararāya.

Harivaṁśa—a later supplement to the → Mahābhārata, datable in part to as early as the second century BCE.

Himālaya—“abode of snow”; the Himālaya mountain range personified as the father of the goddesses → Pārvatī and Gaṇgā (the river Ganges).

icchā—the initial divine will to create, cooperative with → jñāna, the knowledge, and → kriyā, the action for doing so.

Indra—the supreme Vedic god; the lord of the atmosphere, revered as the giver of life-sustaining rain and feared as the all-powerful god of storms.

Īśvara—“Lord, Ruler, Sovereign”; the personal but formless God (→ sāguṇa Brahman) that is the human mind’s highest possible understanding of the impersonal Absolute. According to → Vedānta, Īśvara is → Brahman united with → māyā and acts as the creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe.

Īśvarī—(female) Sovereign. The term is often compounded, as in Parameśvarī (“Supreme Sovereign”), Māheśvarī (“Great Sovereign,” the śakti of Śiva), Viśveśvarī (“Ruler of the Universe”)—frequently employed epithets of the Devī.

jagat—“that which moves”; the world.

japa—repetition of a divine name or → mantra.

jñāna—knowledge; the direct experience of the transcendental Absolute.

Kaiṭabha—together with → Madhu, one of the two stupid, brutish demons of the Devīmāhātmya’s first chapter.

Kāla—the Vedic god of time; time personified as the universal destroyer.

Kālarātri—“dark night”; in Purāṇic cosmology, a period of cosmic nonmanifestation, lasting 4,320,000,000 human years, during which the universe remains in a state of potentiality. It alternates with an equally long period of cosmic manifestation, known as a day of Brahmā.

Kālarātri—the Divine Mother characterized as a solitary warrior and fulfiller of desires (MR 19).

Kālī—one of the most powerful and complex aspects of the Devī, representing primal energy or the dynamic aspect of ultimate reality. Often associated with the terrifying power of death and the relentlessness of all-devouring time, Kālī is also adored by her devotees as a loving mother.

Kālikā—another name of → Kālī.

Kalyānī—an aspect of the Devī signifying auspiciousness and beauty.

karma—any mental or physical act or the collective consequences of one’s actions in the present and previous lives. Determining an individual’s character and experience of joy and sorrow, karma operates as the law of cause and effect in the continuing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Kātyāyanī—a name of the Divine Mother, associating her with the Kātyas, a venerated clan of Vedic sages.

Kaumārī—the śakti of the war god Kumāra (→ Skanda); one of the → Saptamātṛkās.

Kauśikī—an aspect of the Divine Mother, so named because she emerged from the body (kośa) of → Pārvatī (DM 5.85–87).

Kavaca—the first → aṅga associated with the Devīmāhātmya, more correctly called the Devyāḥ Kavacam (“Armor of the Devī ”). It serves to invoke her protective energy throughout the body in preparation for the ritual recitation of the Devīmāhātmya.

Kīlakastotra—(“Hymn of the Pin”); the Devīmāhātmya’s third → aṅga, intended to remove the restraint put upon the text by Śiva and to grant access to its full power.

kriyā—the divine action by which the universe is created, following upon → icchā (divine will) and → jñāna (divine knowledge).

Kṛṣṇa—an → avatāra of → Viṣṇu and one of the most widely worshiped aspects of God in Hinduism. The → Bhagavadgītā contains his teachings to his disciple Arjuna.

kṣatriya—a member of the royal or warrior caste, represented in the Devīmāhātmya by → Suratha.

Kubera—the Vedic god of wealth.

lakṣmī—good fortune, prosperity, happiness, wealth, success, beauty, splendor.

Lakṣmī—an auspicious aspect of the Divine Mother as the goddess of prosperity and good fortune; the consort of → Viṣṇu.

līlā—the divine play by which the supreme deity creates the universe. The concept of līlā implies the freedom, joy, and inexhaustible creativity that pervade and direct the cosmic drama of the universe, which for the deity is pure sport.

Madhu—together with → Kaiṭabha, one of the two foolish demons of the Devīmāhātmya’s first chapter.

Mahābhārata—the immense Hindu epic (and world’s longest epic poem), comprising well over 100,000 verses and containing the → Bhagavadgītā. Ascribed to the sage Vyāsa, the Mahābhārata in fact took shape between the fifth century BCEand the second century CE. Divided into eighteen books, it is a vast and well-loved repository of spiritual knowledge, moral instruction, and cultural tradition.

Mahākālī—a powerful, cosmic aspect of the Divine Mother (→ vyaṣṭi) as the pure energy of → tamas; the presiding deity of the Devīmāhātmya’s first → carita.

Mahālakṣmī—1. a powerful, cosmic aspect of the Divine Mother (→ vyaṣṭi) as the pure energy of → rajas; the presiding deity of the Devīmāhātmya’s second → carita. 2. According to → Vaiṣṇava Tantric usage, the supreme (→ samaṣṭi, triguṇa) form of the Devī.

Mahāmāyā—the Divine Mother’s deluding power, which causes the unitary, infinite consciousness to appear as the seemingly real, phenomenal universe.

Mahāsarasvatī—a powerful, cosmic aspect of the Divine Mother (→ vyaṣṭi) as the pure energy of → sattva; the presiding deity of the Devīmāhātmya’s third → carita.

Māhātmya—a literary composition extolling the majesty or exalted state of a deity, holy place, or object worthy of veneration.

Māheśvarī—the → śakti of Maheśvara (Siva); one of the → Saptamātṛkās.

Mahisāsura—the primary demon of the Devīmāhātmya’s second → carita; depicted as a buffalo that creates chaos on a cosmic scale, he is slain by → Durgā.

Mahisāsuramardinī—“the crusher of the buffalo demon”; a name of → Durgā.

mamatā, mamatva—“I-ness”; the sense of attachment that attends upon the ego.

manas—“mind,” specifically, the mental organ that acts as a receptor of sensory data. According to → Sāṃkhya philosophy, manas, → ahaṁkāra, and → buddhi constitute the antahkāraṇa (“inner instrument”).

mantra—a syllable, series of syllables, or a verse that embodies divine power, used in ritual and meditation; a name of a god or goddess, repeated as a form of spiritual practice designed to merge the individual’s consciousness with the chosen deity.

manu—in mythology, a semi-divine progenitor of humanity and ruler over the earth for a period known as a → manvantara.

Manusmṛti—the Laws of Manu, a Sanskrit legal text dealing with the nature of good and evil, a woman’s role in society, dietary regulations, political conduct, caste, → karma, and aspects of criminal, civil, and domestic law.

manvantara—in Purāṇic cosmology, a world-age. Fourteen manvantaras constitute a day of Brahmā (4,320,000,000 human years) or period of cosmic manifestation. Each manvantara is ruled by a particular → manu: the framing story of the Devīmāhātmya is set in the second manvantara (that of Svarocisa), the present age is the seventh manvantara (that of Vaivasvata) and the eighth will be ruled by King → Suratha, reborn as the manu Sāvarṇi (13.22–23, 28–29).

Mārkaṇdeyapurāṇa—an early → Purāṇa containing the teachings of the sage Mārkaṇḍeya on the history of the world during past and future → manvantaras. Chapters 81–93 constitute the Devīmāhātmya.

mātrgaṇa—“band of mothers”; another name for → the Saptamātṛkās.

māyā—the veiling or deluding power of the Absolute, responsible for the appearance of the relative, phenomenal universe. The → Vedānta philosophy pairs the terms → Brahman and māyā to denote the Absolute and its inseparable power; with shades of philosophical difference, Sāṃkhya calls these puruṣa and → prakṛti, and Śākta doctrine calls them → Śiva and → Śakti.

Medhas—the sage in the Devīmāhātmya, who as the teacher to → Suratha and → Samādhi, relates the three tales of the Devī’s battles with the demons.

moha—delusion; the finitization of consciousness that causes one to take appearance for reality.

mukti—release; final liberation from the limitations of body, mind, and worldly bondage through knowledge of the ultimate reality, or union with the Divine.

Muṇḍa—one of Śumbha’s two demon servants (→ Caṇḍa) in the Devīmāhātmya’s fifth through seventh chapters.

Mürtirahasya—(“The Secret Relating to Forms”); the sixth of the Devīmāhātmya’s → aṅgas, which elaborates upon the Devī’s predicted manifestations in DM 11.40–55.

Nanda—the cowherd into whose family the Devī was bom as → Vindhyavāsinī, and who became the foster father of → Kṛṣṇa.

Nārasimhī—the śakti of Narasimha, the man-lion incarnation of → Viṣṇu; one of the → Saptamātṛkās.

Nārāyanī—the śakti of → Viṣṇu, who is also known as Nārāyaṇa.

Nārāyaṇīstuti—(“Hymn to Nārāyani”); the fourth hymn of the Devīmāhātmya (11.3–35), which presents a comprehensive summation of → Śākta theology. Emphasizing the Devī’s motherhood, sovereignty, and protective intervention in human affairs, the hymn praises her various aspects, including the → Saptamātṛkās.

Navarātri—the great autumn festival in honor of → Durgā and her victory over evil. (A spring Navarātri similarly commemorates Rāma’s defeat of the demon Rāvaṇa.)

Navārṇamantra—a Tantric mantra of great importance in the worship of the Devī. According to the commentator → Bhāskararāya, it is an appeal for her to undo the knot of ignorance that precludes the individual’s knowledge of oneness with the Absolute.

nirguṇa—without qualities, in distinction to → saguṇa, with qualities.

nirguṇa Brahman—the impersonal Absolute, which transcends time and space and is beyond all thought; the supreme reality.

Nirṛti—an abstract, but nevertheless dreaded, Vedic goddess whose name means “decay” and who personifies adversity, calamity, disease, and death.

Nirvāṇa—extinction of the individual self; enlightenment; transcendental bliss.

Niśumbha—the younger brother of → Śumbha and one of the two main demons of the Devīmāhātmya’s third → carita. He represents the ego’s sense of attachment.

nitya—eternal. The term carries the connotation of permanence and immutability.

OṀ—the → bīja or sound-symbol of → Brahman. Representing both the impersonal Absolute (→ nirguṇa Brahman) and the personal divinity (→ Īśvara, saguṇa Brahman), OṀ is the creative Word which produces all manifestation.

pāda—in Sanskrit prosody, a quarter-verse or half-line of poetry.

pāramārthika—according to → Advaita Vedānta, the category of the absolutely real, which is the changeless → Brahman.

pariṇāma—transformation, change. Pariṇāmavāda is the doctrine, accepted by the adherents of → Śākta philosophy, that the phenomenal universe is an actual transformation of divinity and not a mere appearance (→ vivarta). It teaches that the effect exists potentially within the cause and that creation is a transformation from potentiality to actuality.

Pārvatī—the Divine Mother as → Śiva’s auspicious consort.

Paśupati—“Lord of Beasts”; a name usually applied to → Śiva.

Patañjali—the philosopher who systematized a science of meditation in his → Yogasūtra in the second or third century BCE.

phalaśruti—a literary composition that details the benefits of reciting or hearing a sacred text; the form of the Devīmāhātmya’s twelfth chapter.

Prādhānika Rahasya—(“The Secret Relating to Primary Matter”); the Devīmāhātmya’s fourth → aṅga, concerned with the philosophical question of how the One manifests as the many.

Prajāpati—“Lord of Creatures”; a name applied to various deities. In the Devīmāhātmya, it refers to Brahmā.

Prakṛti—the primal “nature” or “matter” of the universe. Prakṛti should be thought of as a dynamic process, which manifests all the names and forms within creation. Technically, the term belongs to the → Sāṃkhya system of philosophy, but it is used more or less synonymously with → māyā and → śakti.

prātibhāsika—according to → Advaita Vedānta, the category of appearance or unreality.

Pṛthivī—the earth, personified as a goddess in the → Vedas and often evoked in connection with Dyaus (heaven).

pūjā—ritual worship, designed to connect the worshiper with the Divine.

Purāṇa—a class of Hindu scriptures with a strongly devotional outlook. Containing myths and legends of gods and goddesses, kings, sages, and devotees, the Purāṇas are a vast repository of popular Hindu religion and cultural tradition.

rajas—one of the three → guṇas or basic energies of the universe. Rajas is activity, manifesting as restlessness, impurity, urgency, and passion. It is symbolized by the color red.

Raktabīja—one of the major demons of the Devīmāhātmya, appearing in the eighth chapter (8.40–63). His name, “he whose seed is blood,” denotes an amazing replicative ability that symbolizes the insatiability of desire or, on a deeper level, the untamed thought-waves (→ vṛtti) within the mind.

Raktadantikā—a completely red manifestation of the Devī, predicted in the Devīmāhātmya (11.43–45) as the destroyer of evil and further defined in the Mürtirahasya (MR 4–11) as beneficent and protective.

Rāmakṛṣṇa, Śrī—an Indian holy man (1836–1886) and priest of Kālī at the Dakśineśvar temple. The Ramakrishna Math and Mission, a monastic order founded by his disciples in 1887, presents a revitalized vision of → Vedānta to the modem world, teaches the inherent divinity of humankind and the harmony of all religions, and carries out extensive social work as worship of God through service to one’s fellow human beings.

Rātrisūkta—(“Hymn to Night”); an ancient hymn of the → Ṛgveda (ṚV 10.127), praising the deified night as the goddess Rātri. Underlying its exquisite natural imagery is the implication that she is the substratum and mother of creation.

Ṛgveda—the oldest and largest of the four → Vedas, its → saṁhitā portion containing 1,028 hymns in ten books (maṇḍatas). Composed in archaic Sanskrit, probably over hundreds of years, most of the hymns address deities who are personifications of natural forces, but the texts can be interpreted as allegories conveying deeper knowledge. Some of the later hymns rise to rarefied heights of metaphysical inquiry. Customarily, Western scholars date the Ṛgveda Saṁhitā to 1500–1200 BCE, but recent research, combined with internal evidence from the texts, supports the traditional Hindu claim of far greater antiquity.

ṛta—truth, law, order; the eternal principle of cosmic and moral order at work in the universe, also linked in the → Vedas with natural order, such as the passage of the seasons (ṛtu). Rta anticipates the doctrine of → karma and generally is replaced by → dharma in later Sanskrit texts.

Rudra—a Vedic storm god, associated with agricultural fertility but more often with destruction. In post-Vedic times he became identified with → Śiva.

saccidānanda—being-consciousness-bliss (sat-cit-ānanda); a threefold epithet attempting to describe the unitary, indescribable → Brahman.

sādhana—spiritual practice; in Tantra, a prescribed path leading to liberation (→ mukti) through worship (→ pūjā), → mantra repetition (→ japa), and meditation (→ dhyāna).

saguṇa—with qualities, the opposite of → nirguṇa.

saguṇa Brahman—the Absolute associated with → māyā and personified as → Īśvara.

Śaiva—referring to the theistic tradition that regards → Śiva as the supreme being. The Śaiva tradition may be non-Vedic in origin, and it tends to be more ascetic and oriented toward → jñāna than the → Vaiṣṇava.

Sākambharī—a nurturing manifestation of the Devī as the earth itself, described in the Devīmāhātmya (11.46–50) and Mürtirahasya (MR 12–17).

Śakrādistuti—(“Praise by Indra and the Other Gods”); the second hymn of the Devīmāhātmya (4.3–27). Eloquent and philosophically profound, it views the Devī as the ultimate reality, the creator, the fierce defender of → dharma, and the Divine Mother who grants universal redemption through her unconditional love.

Śākta—1. referring to the tradition that centers on the worship of → Śakti, the supreme power and ultimate reality, conceptualized as the Divine Mother who creates, sustains, and dissolves the universe. Śākta religion originated in pre- and non-Vedic goddess cults and eventually became assimilated to the Vedic tradition. 2. an adherent of the Śākta religion.

śakti—1. power, energy, ability. 2. the individual power of a god, usually represented as his female counterpart. 3. a spear.

Śakti—the supreme being according to the → Śākta tradition; consciousness in its dynamic, creative aspect, in distinction to → Śiva, its static aspect as the ground of existence. The two, seemingly different, are ultimately nondifferent aspects of the indivisible ultimate unity, the transcendent → Ādyā Śakti. Śakti assumes all the forms in the universe and is worshiped devotionally as the Divine Mother in many manifestations, among them → Kālī and → Durgā.

samādhi—total absorption in the object of meditation. The highest samādhi, called nirvikalpa samādhi, is the transcendental consciousness or identity with the impersonal Absolute.

Samādhi—the dispossessed merchant in the Devīmāhātmya, so named because his dispassion to the world leads him, through the Divine Mother’s grace, to → samādhi and liberation.

samaṣṭi—aggregate; the samaṣṭi form of the Devī is her supreme aspect from which the three → vyaṣṭi or → guṇa forms proceed.

Saṁhitā—“collection”; the initial portion of each of the four → Vedas, consisting of hymns to the deities.

Śamkarācārya—one of India’s greatest philosophers and saints and the primary exponent of → Advaita Vedānta. In addition to important devotional hymns, Śamkarācārya (788–820), or simply Śamkara, composed numerous philosophical works and commentaries representing the pinnacle of nondualistic thought.

Sāṃkhya—one of six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, attributed to the sage Kapila and dating to before 500 BCE. Sāṃkhya is dualistic, teaching that the universe comes into being through the union of purusa (conscious spirit) and Prakṛti (unconscious, primordial matter), which are two eternal principles.

saṁsāra—the ever-repeating cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, perpetuated by → karma.

saṁskāra—an impression created in an individual’s consciousness by a thought or action in the present or a previous life, collectively forming one’s character

Saptamātṛkās—“Seven Little Mothers”; individualized, generally fierce manifestations of the Devī’s power (→ śakti), whom the Devīmāhātmya identifies as → Brahmāṇī, → Māheśvarī, → Kaumārī, → Vaiṣṇavī, → Vārāhī, → Nārasiṁhī, and → Aindrī.

Sarasvatī—an auspicious form of the Divine Mother as the goddess of knowledge and creativity and the consort of → Brahmā. Originally a deified river, Sarasvatī is one of the most ancient Hindu goddesses, understood on a deeper level as the flow of consciousness itself. In early times she became identified with → Vāk.

Śarvāṇī—the Devī as → Śiva’s consort in her destructive aspect, presiding over cosmic dissolution.

Śatākṣī—“hundred-eyed”; a manifestation of the Devī also called → Śākambhari (DM 11.46–50 and MR 12–17).

sattva—one of the three → guṇas or basic energies of the universe; the Devī’s revealing power. Sattva is repose, manifesting as light, calmness, purity, goodness, and wisdom. It is symbolized by the color white.

Sāvitrī—the wife of Brahmā, considered the mother of the Vedas.

Śeṣa—the seven-headed serpent upon whom → Viṣṇu rests on the primordial ocean during periods of cosmic nonmanifestation.

Śiva—God in his aspect as destroyer, the third member of the → Trimūrti. For the → Śaivas, he is the supreme reality, the Great God (Mahādeva) who embodies compassion and renunciation and grants the liberating knowledge of the individual’s identity with the Absolute. For the → Śāktas, Śiva is the static ground of all being, inseparable and ultimately nondifferent from → Śakti, the dynamic creative energy.

Śivadūtī—“she whose messenger is Śiva”; the Devī’s own fierce → śakti, so named because she sent → Śiva as her messenger to → Śumbha and → Niśumbha (DM 8.22–28).

Skanda—the son of → Śiva and god of war, also known as Kārttikeya and Kumāra, the latter characterized as a chaste youth.

śloka—a stanza of Sanskrit poetry; the name of the epic meter, also called → anuṣṭubh.

śraddhā—faith. In the Hindu understanding, śraddhā does not mean unquestioning acceptance but implies trust, expectation, and a reciprocity between the human and the Divine.

Śraddhā—faith (→ śraddhā) personified as a goddess.

śrī—1. light, luster, radiance, splendor, glory, beauty, prosperity, good fortune, auspiciousness. 2. a quality of inner radiance or splendor attributed to a god or goddess in the → Ṛgveda.

Śrī—the quality of → śrī personified as a goddess, later identified with → Lakṣmī.

Śrī Durgāsaptaśati—(“Seven Hundred Verses to Śrī Durgā”); an alternate title of the Devīmāhātmya.

Śrīsūkta—an important hymn appended to the → Ṛgveda in late Vedic times and the earliest known text to celebrate Vedic → Śrī and non-Vedic → Lakṣmī as one and the same goddess.

Sugrīva—Śumbha’s messenger, who delivered a proposal of marriage to the Devī (DM 5.102–129).

Śumbha—the central demon of the Devīmāhātmya’s third → carita, symbolizing the human ego; the older brother of → Niśumbha, who represents attachment.

Suratha—the deposed king who, together with the merchant → Samādhi, becomes a disciple of the seer → Medhas and receives his teachings.

Sūrya—the Vedic sun god, who is extremely brilliant and rides across the sky in a chariot drawn by seven horses. His light, shining like a jewel in the sky, produces the day and energizes all living beings.

sūtra—“thread”; an aphorism or set of aphorisms that contains philosophical teaching in compressed form and requires elaboration to make it comprehensible. The six schools of Hindu philosophy originally transmitted their teachings in sūtra form, an example being the → Yogasūtra of → Patañjali.

svadhā—a → mantra uttered when an oblation to departed ancestors is poured into the sacrificial fire, sometimes personified as the goddess Svadhā.

svāhā—a → mantra uttered when an oblation to the gods is poured into the sacrificial fire, sometimes personified as the goddess Svāhā.

tamas—one of the three → guṇas or basic energies of the universe; the Devī’s concealing power. Tamas is inertia, manifesting as darkness, heaviness, dullness, ignorance, error, and negativity. It is symbolized by the color black.

Tantra—1. the non-Vedic, often esoteric, element of Hindu tradition, which centers on divine power, usually seen as feminine (→ Śakti, Śākta), and prescribes spiritual practices (→ sādhana) and ritual as the means to liberation. 2. any of a group of sacred texts that transmit such teaching, cast in the form of a dialogue between → Śiva and the → Devī.

tejas—fiery brilliance; in the Devīmāhātmya, the Divine Mother’s own radiance that emerged from the bodies of the gods and united in the form of Durgā (2.9–19).

triguṇa—characterized by the three → guṇas: → sattva, → rajas and → tamas.

Trimūrti—the representation of → Īśvara as three gods in one, → Brahmā symbolizing → rajas or creative passion, → Viṣṇu symbolizing → sattva or sustaining goodness, and → Śiva symbolizing → tamas or the energy of cosmic dissolution. With Brahmā’s diminished importance in post-Vedic theism, the threefold activity was ascribed entirely to → Viṣṇu, → Śiva or the → Devī by their respective devotees.

upādhi—limiting adjunct, association, attribute; a term employed by → Vedānta to denote any object, quality, or circumstance from which the ego forms a sense of personal identity.

Upaniṣad—a text belonging to the final, philosophical portion of the → Vedas. Recording the spiritual truths revealed to sages in ancient times through the direct experience of transcendental consciousness, the Upaniṣads proclaim the identity of → ātman (the Self) and → Brahman (ultimate reality). The principal Upaniṣads are the Īśa, Kena, Kaṭha, Praśna, Muṇḍaka, Māṇḍūkya, Chāndogya, Brhadāranyaka, Aitareya, Taittirlya, Kauṣītaki, and Śvetāśvatara. They date to before 400 BCE, and the earliest are of great antiquity.

vāk—speech, voice, language; the primal creative force or Word, roughly analogous to the ancient Greek and early Christian Logos.

Vāk—the Vedic goddess of creative speech, later identified with → Sarasvatī and → Durgā. In the Ṛgveda, she lauds herself in a first-person hymn, the → Devīsūkta.

vāhana—the mount or vehicle of a deity, revealing an aspect of that god or goddess’s power. For example, → Durgā rides upon a lion, symbolizing → dharma.

Vaikṛtika Rahasya—(“The Secret Relating to Transformation”), the Devīmāhātmya’s fifth → aṅga, concerned with the subsequent modifications of divine consciousness after initial differentiation.

Vaiṣṇava—referring to the theistic tradition that regards → Viṣṇu as the supreme being and centers its worship primarily on his incarnations as Rāma and → Kṛṣṇa.

Vaiṣṇavī—the → śakti of → Viṣṇu; one of the → Saptamātṛkās.

vaiṣya—a member of the mercantile and agricultural caste, represented in the Devīmāhātmya by the merchant → Samādhi.

Vārāhī—the → śakti of Varāha or → Viṣṇu in his boar incarnation; one of the Saptamātṛkās.

Varuṇa—one of the oldest Vedic gods, personifying the all-encompassing firmament. Often associated with clouds, water, and the ocean, Varuṇa presides over the starry night, watching humanity with a thousand eyes. His function as the lord of → ṛta is to preserve cosmic and moral order.

Vasus—a group of eight Vedic gods who serve → Indra and personify the waters, the Pole Star, the moon, the earth, wind, fire, light, and dawn.

Vāyu—the Vedic god of the wind, who rides in a chariot driven by → Indra.

Vedas—the most ancient and authoritative Hindu texts and probably the world’s oldest sacred literature. There are four Vedas: Ṛk (→ Ṛgveda), Sāma, Yajus and Atharva. Each consists of four divisions: → Saṁhitā (collected hymns), Brāhmaṇas (texts concerned primarily with ritual), Āraṇyakas (reinterpretations of external ritual as internal spiritual practice), and → Upaniṣads (the philosophical essence of the Vedas).

Vedānta—one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, systematized from the teachings of the → Upaniṣads and codified in the Vedāntasūtra (Brahmasūtra) of Bādarāyaṇa, dated to between the fifth and first centuries BCE. Subsequently, distinct branches of Vedānta developed, including the strictly nondual → Advaita Vedānta of → Śaṁkarācārya.

vidyā—knowledge; a term often used interchangeably with → jñāna.

vidyāmāyā—that aspect of → māyā that leads toward knowledge and liberation, as opposed to → avidyāmāyā, which produces the bondage of ego-consciousness.

Vikṛti—change, alteration, modification; the transformation by which the formless, unitary consciousness manifests as the multiple forms of the phenomenal universe.

Vikṣepa—the power by which → māyā or → avidyā projects the manifold experience of the universe, often mentioned in connection with → āvaraṇa.

Vindhyavāsinī—“dweller in the Vindhya [Mountains]”; an aspect of the Devī, identified with → Mahāmāyā, who figures in the birth narrative of Śrī → Kṛṣṇa, in the Devīmāhātmya (11.41—42) and in the Mūrtirahasya (MR 1–3).

Viṣṇu—God in his aspect as preserver, the second member of the → Trimūrti. For members of the → Vaiṣṇava devotional sect, he is the supreme god, who incarnates in every age as the guardian of → dharma to deliver humanity from ignorance and evil.

Viṣṇumāyā—an epithet of the Devī expressing her nature as the supreme being’s inscrutable power.

viśva—“all”; a word used to signify the universe.

Viśvakarman—a Vedic god and aspect of Brahmā as architect of the world. His name means “maker of all [this universe],” and he is represented as four-headed, holding prayer beads, book, the sacred kusa grass, and ascetic’s waterpot in his four hands, and riding upon a swan.

vivarta—appearance, apparent change. Vivartavāda is the doctrine, advanced by Śaṁkarācārya, that the phenomenal universe is only an apparant superimposition (adhyāsa) on the changeless reality of → Brahman. This view contrasts with the doctrine of → pariṇāma, favored by → Śākta philosophy, which regards the universe as an actual transformation of divine consciousness and therefore another aspect of reality.

Vṛtra—a demon in the → Ṛgveda who withheld life-giving water from the earth until his strongholds, the clouds, were breached by → Indra, whose thunderbolt released the rain. The Devīmahatmya attributes Vṛtra’s defeat to Indra’s → śakti, → Aindrī (11.19).

vṛtti—activity, movement; more specifically, a modification or wave in the mind through which knowledge of the objective world becomes possible. Vṛttis can be positive thoughts that lead toward truth, or restless, distracting, and negative thoughts that deepen ignorance and bondage. According to → Patañjali, one should strive consciously to replace negative vrttis with positive ones and then go beyond either to the attainment of unmodified, transcendental consciousness.

vyaṣṭi—the specific individuality of the Devī’s three cosmic → guṇa aspects, personified as → Mahākālī, → Mahālakṣmī and → Mahāsarasvatī. The vyaṣṭis proceed from the supreme Devī’s undifferentiated → samaṣṭi form.

vyāvahārika—empirical; the term used by → Śaṁkarācārya to denote the world of our experience, which is neither absolutely real (→ pāramārthika) nor wholly illusory (→ prātibhāsika).

Yama—the Vedic god of death, whose name literally means “restraint.”

Yaśdā—the wife of the cowherd → Nanda, → Kṛṣṇa’s foster mother, and the earthly mother of → Vindhyavāsinī.

Yoganidrā—the Devī personified as the mystic sleep of → Viṣṇu during periods of universal dissolution.

Yogasūra—the classic text on the science of meditation, attributed to → Patañjali.

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* An arrow (→) indicates a cross-reference within the glossary.