श्रुत्वाऽऽद्याकालिकादेव्या मन्त्रोद्धारं महाफलम् । सौभाग्यमोक्षजननं ब्रह्मज्ञानैकसाधनम् ॥ १ ॥
śrutvā’’dyākālikādēvyā mantrōddhāraṁ mahāphalam | saubhāgyamōkṣajananaṁ brahmajñānaikasādhanam || 1 ||
Translation
Having heard the drawing-out of the mantra of the Goddess Ādyā Kālikā, of great fruit, which gives good fortune and liberation and is the one means to the knowledge of Brahman,
Word by word
- śrutvā
- having heard
- ādyā
- Ādyā, the Primordial
- kālikā
- Kālikā
- dēvyā
- of the Goddess
- mantra
- of the mantra
- uddhāraṁ
- the drawing-out
- mahā
- great
- phalam
- of fruit
- saubhāgya
- good fortune
- mōkṣa
- and liberation
- jananaṁ
- which gives
- brahma
- of Brahman
- jñāna
- to the knowledge
- ēka
- the one
- sādhanam
- means
Meaning
The chapter opens by looking back. In ullāsas 5 and 6 Śiva taught the "drawing-out" (uddhāra) of Ādyā Kālī's mantra, that is, how its syllables are assembled from coded names, and then the whole worship built on it. The verse calls that mantra "of great fruit" (mahāphala), says it gives both worldly good fortune (saubhāgya) and liberation (mokṣa), and, most strikingly, calls it "the one means to the knowledge of Brahman". For this Tantra the worship of the Goddess is not a lesser path beside Vedānta; it is presented as a road to the same knowledge of the one reality. Verses 1 to 3 form a single sentence, completed in verse 3: Pārvatī, glad at heart, now speaks.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
Om, salutation to Brahman. "Śrutvā…" and the rest. Mahāphalam: that whose fruit (phala) is great (mahat). (This explanation covers verses 1 to 3.)