Sacred Texts

Śrī Durgā Saptaśatī

Ṛṣi Mārkaṇḍēya

Chapter 1 · Verse 88–89

Chapter 1 · Prathamo’dhyāyaḥ (First Chapter)

Verse 88–89

ऋषिरुवाच ॥ ८८ ॥ एवं स्तुता तदा देवी तामसी तत्र वेधसा ॥ ८९ ॥

ṛṣiruvāca || 88 || ēvaṁ stutā tadā dēvī tāmasī tatra vēdhasā || 89 ||

Translation

The sage said: 'Thus praised by Brahmā there, the Goddess, who is (the power of) Tamas...'

Word by word

evam
thus
stutā
praised
tadā
then
dēvī
the Goddess
tāmasī
the one of Tamas (the deluding power)
tatra
there
vēdhasā
by Brahmā (the creator)

Meaning

Sage Medhas, narrating to the king and merchant, confirms that Brahmā's prayer was successful. He specifically refers to the Goddess here as Tāmasī, the aspect of her that embodies Tamas—the quality of inertia, darkness, and delusion. This is the aspect that had enveloped Vishnu in sleep and that would now be used to delude the demons.