Toh 1090, Toh 1777 — Praising the Lady Who Rules Disease

Śrīmahākālīdevīstotrāṣṭaka

Translated by Catherine Dalton and Andreas Doctor under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

Praising the Lady Who Rules Disease

Eight Verses Praising Śrīdevī Mahākālī

F.271.b Homage to Glorious Vajrapāṇi.^[1]

F.255.a^[2]O Devī, you wander in this world, naked,^[3] riding a donkey;

O Devī, you wander in this world, naked,^[4] riding a donkey;

Anointed with sesame oil, your hair a single plait, and with lead earrings, you are seductive and fully adorned,

While iron shackles grace your feet as anklets.

We know your^[5] nature is beautiful,^[6] and yet^[7] who can know the matter of your great ocean of activity for others? |1|

In saṃsāra, at the time of destruction, when from human bodies^[8] blood and fat ooze forth, and smoke rises,

O Devī, in a single instant you will toss all beings into your terrifying, fanged mouth.

O Kālī, you who hold a human skull, as the domain of yogic practice^[9] you take delight in cremation grounds,

And the terrifying ringing of your bell subdues the wicked ones^[10] and dispels and quells^[11] all ills and mortal perils.^[12] |2|

Adorned with a crown of warriors’ heads, you bear a garland of heads severed on the battlefield.

You dance with your supple arms opened wide, wearing a nāga lord^[13] as a belt across your broad hips. F.272.a

Intoxicated by the liquor of blood, in your hands you brandish a spear and sword.

Your eyes bloodshot, you are seen by the host of bhūtas who wander cremation grounds at night. |3|

You wear a great^[14] torn^[15] hide and a half-open shawl, bound with a belt of braided straw.^[16]

With your moon-like face adorned with strings of fresh human entrails, you ring^[17] a bell at your cheek.

Your body freshly oiled and painted in patches with drops of blood, fat, and the like,^[18]F.255.b

You tear at human flesh^[19] with your glistening teeth. O Kāpālikā, protect me! |4|

Fiercest among fierce ladies, terrifying, with human flesh in your mouth, the first time they saw you

Even the mātṛkās were frightened and terrified as you flew into a rage, your bloodshot eyes flickering about‍—I bow to you!

Beautiful Kālī, your black body is so overwhelming that even Śakra and the rest are compelled

To praise you daily, and even I, Yama,^[20] will always bow trembling before you. |5|

You who bring an end^[21] to humans and all living beings,^[22]

On one side, by your ear, is an uraga, whose thousand-headed hood is spread and adorns you.^[23]

At the other ear you keep a supreme lion, as you trample the entire^[24] ocean-encircled earth.

The sun that crosses the sky, brilliant with a thousand rays, rests directly at your navel.^[25] |6|

You are the fire that blazes forth from the expanse of the ocean,^[26]

Able to dry up the whole of the sea.

Because all women are pacified,^[27]

You are present^[28] as half of Mahādeva’s body.^[29] |7|

Durgā, Umā, Mahākālī,

To whom gods and asuras pay homage—

You who know all plagues,

Render them harmless!^[30]

Yama’s Sister, Wife of the Demon,

Sovereign Goddess of the Desire Realm‍—I praise you!^[31] |8|

This concludes “Eight Verses Praising Śrīdevī Mahākālī, the Lady Who Rules All Disease,” composed by the brahmin Vararuci.^[32]

Notes

This homage line is found only in the Tengyur recension of the text (Toh 1777). It is absent in the Kangyur recension (Toh 1090).
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The Tengyur recension of the text (Toh 1777) contains the homage “Homage to Glorious Vajrapāṇi,” which is absent in the Kangyur recension (Toh 1090).
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Toh 671: mtshan mo (“at night”).
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Toh 671: mtshan mo (“at night”).
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We have emended lha mo khyod nyid kyis to lha mo khyod nyid kyi.
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Toh 671: khyod nyid yin par shes/ ral pas bdag nyid mdzas par brgyan te (“We know it is you, beautifully adorned with matted locks”).
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Following Toh 1090: kyi. Toh 1777: kyis.
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Following Toh 1777: mi lus. Toh 1090: mi rus (“human bones”).
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Following Toh 1090: rnal ’byor grub pa’i spyod yul can. Toh 1777: rnal ’byor grub pa’i rnal ’byor can.
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Following Toh 1090: g.yo can. Toh 1777: g.yo byed (“what moves”). Toh 671 reads g.yog bcas (“together with your servant”). This seems to be a more plausible reading, since it refers to the relationship between Śrīdevī Mahākālī as “the Lady” and Rematī as “the Servant.” This whole sentence in Toh 671 reads khyod ni g.yog bcas mya ngan med cing ’chi ba’i ’jigs pa med par dril bu’i sgra yang sgrogs (“You, together with your servant, are free from anguish and have no fear of death, as the sound of your bell rings out”).
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Following Toh 1090: ’jigs sel zhi la. In support of this are the Peking and Narthang recensions of Toh 1777: ’jigs pa gsal zhing zhi la. Degé recension of Toh 1777: ’jigs pa bsal zhing (“clear fears and”).
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Following Toh 1090: nad dang ’chi ba. Toh 1777: nad chen ’chi ba (“the great illness that is death”).
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Here “nāga lord” could also be plural. In some manifestations of Śrīdevī her belt consists of several snakes.
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Following Toh 1777: chen po. Toh 1090: sar pas (“fresh”).
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Following Toh 1777: dral. Toh 1090: dril (“wrapped”).
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The translation of this sentence follows Toh 1777. An alternative translation, based on Toh 1090, would be as follows: “You are wrapped in a fresh hide, and a wide garment is your shawl—half-open and bound with a belt of braided straw.”
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Following Toh 1777: ’khrol. Toh 1090: ’dril (“wield”).
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Following Toh 1777: khrag dang zhag la sogs pa’i thig les. Toh 1090: khrag dang zhag mang ’dzag pa’i thig les (“many drops of blood and fat that have dropped down”).
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Following Toh 1777: mi yi sha. Toh 1090: mi ro’i sha (“human corpse flesh”).
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In Toh 671 it is clear that this praise is spoken by Yama. We therefore read rshin rje nyid as “I, Yama.”
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Following Toh 1777: mjug brtul ba. Toh 1090: mjug brtul bas (“because you bring to an end”).
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In Toh 1090, the first line in this verse has nineteen syllables, whereas the other three lines in the verse only have seventeen syllables. However, in Toh 1777 all four lines have nineteen syllables, suggesting that Toh 1090 may have lost two syllables in the last three verse lines over the course of the text’s transmission.
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Following Toh 1090. Toh 1777: rna ba ya gcig la/ brang gis ’gro ba ’go bo’i gdengs ka stong dang ldan pa rgyab nas rgyan du byas nas gnas, yet reading ’go bo’i as mgo bo’i (following Toh 1090) (“At one ear is an uraga whose thousand-headed hood adorns you from behind”).
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Following Toh 1777: ma lus. Toh 1090 omits this.
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Following Toh 1777: khyod kyi lte ba’i thad ka’i phyogs su gzhags. Toh 1090: khyod kyis lte ba’i phyogs so bzhag (“you have placed at the position of your navel”).
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“Expanse of the ocean” translates the Tibetan rgya mtsho’i klong, which in turn is attested as a translation of the Sanskrit vaḍabāmukha. Vaḍabāmukha, which means “the mare’s mouth,” is the name for a mythological underwater cavity at the bottom of the sea that contains a fire known as vaḍabāgni (“the mare’s fire”). At some point this fire will erupt and consume the entire world. Some texts, such as The Sovereign Ritual of Amoghapāśa (Amoghapāśakalparāja, Toh 686, 2.128), personify “the mare’s mouth” as the deity Vaḍabāmukha, who is sometimes identified with Śiva, possibly in his role as the final destroyer of the universe.
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Following Toh 1090: zhi mdzad phyir. Toh 1777: zhi bya’i phyir (“in order to pacify”).
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Following Toh 1090: bzhugs. Toh 1777: bzhag (“placed”).
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Our translation of this line is tentative. In Toh 671 this phrase reads lha chen sku dang ’tsham par bzhugs (“You appear similar to Mahādeva’s form”).
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Following Toh 1777: de ni ’jigs pa med par mdzod. Toh 1090: de la ’jigs pa med par ’gyur (“you cause any fear of these to disappear”).
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Following Toh 1777: ’dod khams dbang phyug ma la bstod. Toh 1090: ’dod pa’i khams kyi dbang phyug ma. Toh 1777 includes these two final lines as part of the praise, whereas in Toh 1090 these same two lines—although matching the meter of the preceding lines—instead seem to form part of the text’s colophon.
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The translation of this colophon follows Toh 1777. As mentioned in the previous note, the structure of the final lines in Toh 1090 is rather different and the colophon there includes the two preceding lines. The translation of the colophon in Toh 1090 reads: “Yama’s Sister, the Wife of the Demon, the Sovereign Goddess of the Desire Realm‍, the Lady Who Rules All Disease—she is the Great Goddess who is praised in eight verses composed by the brahmin Vararuci.”
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