श्रुत्वा धर्मान् बहुविधान् भवानी भवमोचनी । हिताय जगतां माता भूयः शङ्करमब्रवीत् ॥ १ ॥
śrutvā dharmān bahuvidhān bhavānī bhavamōcanī | hitāya jagatāṁ mātā bhūyaḥ śaṅkaramabravīt || 1 ||
Translation
Having heard the many kinds of dharma, Bhavānī, who frees from the round of birth, the mother, spoke again to Śaṅkara for the good of the worlds.
Word by word
- śrutvā
- having heard
- dharmān
- the dharmas
- bahuvidhān
- of many kinds
- bhavānī
- Bhavānī
- bhava
- from the round of birth
- mōcanī
- who frees
- hitāya
- for the good
- jagatāṁ
- of the worlds
- mātā
- the mother
- bhūyaḥ
- again
- śaṅkaram
- (śaṅkaram) to Śaṅkara
- abravīt
- spoke
Meaning
The eighth chapter opens with the narrator's frame. In the chapters before, Śiva has taught the mantra of Ādyā Kālī, her daily worship, the rite of the circle, the hymn and armour and the marks of the five tattvas. Pārvatī is called Bhavānī, the consort of Bhava (Śiva), and at once "bhavamocanī", she who frees from bhava, the round of becoming: the commentary explains, she whose nature is to break the worldly bondage of her devotees. The commentary also notes that "jagatām", "of the worlds", serves both sides of the line, like the crow's single eye that was said to move between its two sockets: she speaks for the good of the worlds, and she is the mother of the worlds. Her questions are never for herself; in the Tantras the Goddess asks so that the teaching may reach beings of the Kali age.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
Om, salutation to Brahman. "Śrutvā…" and the rest. Bhavamocanī: she whose nature is to break the worldly bondage (bhava) of her devotees. Jagatām: by the maxim of the crow's eyeball (which serves both sides), this word is joined with both the word before and the word after it: "for the good of the worlds", and "the mother of the worlds".