And Now the Continuation
of the Audio of Sri Kalika Puranam:
Ch
37: 60 Verses: 11 minutes 9 seconds: Size: 10 MB
Brief:
This is the story of the birth of Naraka. King Janaka hears from Narada that by
the performance of a sacrifice, the childless King Dasratha begot 4 virtuous
sons. So Janaka also decided to perform a yagna conducted by Gautama Maharishi.
Then two sons were born and there arose a beautiful girl at the place of the
yagna. No sooner did he find the girl that Prthvi spoke saying that this girl is
being given to Janaka; because of whom demons Ravana and Kumbhakarna will get
killed; but that when they get killed, I (Prthvi) will give birth to a son at
the yagna location, who will have to be brought up by you ( Janaka ) until he
becomes an adult. Janaka agrees. Eventually Ravana gets killed; Prthvi delivers
a son; Vishnu states to Prthvi that as long as the son maintains his human
nature he will be wise; but the moment he gives up his good nature, he will get
killed. The King Janaka finds the boy and brings him to his queen who is happy
to raise him; thus Naraka was born.
Ch 38: 167 Verses: 26 minutes 11 seconds: Size: 24 MB
Brief: The growing up of Naraka. Prthvi disguised as a nurse
and entered the palace of Janaka to see Her son Naraka being brought up daily.
Naraka was actually better than Janaka’s own sons and this made him act
partially against Naraka. When his queen questions him about his partial
behavior, Janaka says he has vowed to keep silence until the boy reaches 16,
after which he will reveal the details. Prthvi hears this conversation between
the two and asks the King to allow Her to take Naraka away with Her since he
had reached 16. The King agrees and after a lot of argument, Naraka is taken by
Prthvi to see his real father, Who is Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu makes Naraka the
King of Pragjyotisha, giving him the region between Karatoya river and the
eastern portion of Ganga where Goddess LalitaKaantha lives. Naraka ruled very
well with the observance of Vedas and yagnas by the rishis in his kingdom and
was married to the daughter of the King of Vidarba. Vishnu tells Naraka that he
should not be hostile to sages, brahmanas and kings; acting otherwise he will
die. Thus Naraka actually led a good life with virtue.
Ch
39: 102 Verses: 17 minutes 25 seconds: Size: 16 MB
Brief:
Naraka develops friendship with Bana, the son of Bali, who exhibited a
demonical character. Naraka prevents Vasishta from entering Pragjyotisha to
worship Neelakoota Devi. Vasishta then curses Naraka saying he will get killed
by the One who gave him birth. Once Vasishta left, the city looses its
splendor; the Gods left; there were no more Vedas chanted. Dejected, Naraka
goes to seek Bana’s counsel. Bana advises him to propitiate Brahma or Shiva.
Naraka propitiates Brahma for one hundred years consuming only water. Brahma
gets pleased and asks Naraka to request any boons. Naraka asks that he should
not be murdered by Gods, Raakshasas or other Divine beings; that his progeny
should continue forever and that all the sixteen thousand Divine damsels should
become his wives; that prosperity should always be on his side and he should be
undefeated by enemies. Naraka while asking for boons, being overcome by Maya,
forgets about relief from the curse of Vasishta. Brahma grants the boons with
the condition that only after Narada visits his city can he have amorous
relationships with the damsels. Naraka’s kingdom starts flourishing again; Bana
visits Naraka, and points out that he forgot to get from Brahma relief from the
curse of Vasishta and that could spell disaster for him and so to immediately
appoint asuras as ministers and immediately produce sons since he had none.
Ch 40: 143 Verses: 21 minutes 27 seconds: Size: 20 MB
Brief: Naraka takes Bana’s advice and immediately produces
four sons, Bhagadatta, Mahasheersha, Madavan and Sumaalin. He then appointed
the asuras Muru, Hayagreeva, Sunda, Nisunda and Virupaksha as his generals and
started oppressing the Gods and Prthvi. Prthvi prays to Brahma, Vishnu and
Maheshvara to lighten Her burden. The Gods made the sixteen thousand Divine
damsels to be born on earth and Vishnu incarnated in the womb of Devaki as
Krshna. Naraka abducts all the damsels who ask Naraka to refrain from
relationships until Narada visits the city which Naraka agrees to. Meanwhile
Indra prays to Vishnu to alleviate the oppression of Naraka. Narada visits
Naraka and tells him that he is bound to face great danger on the ninth day and
that if he survives that, he will be fine otherwise he will be dead. Krshna
kills Naraka; Prthvi, Naraka’s mother, prays to Krshna to protect Naraka’s
progeny. Krshna agrees and anoints Naraka’s son Bhagadatta to the throne of
Pragjyotisha and releases all the sixteen thousand Divine damsels who had been
held captive. Verses 139 to 141 state that “thus Kali, also called Kalika, the
embodiment of the world enchants Vishnu to favor friends and destroy enemies;
the fools find enjoyment in women and feel pleasure when enjoined”.
Ch
41: 86 Verses: 14 minutes 46 seconds: Size: 14 MB
NOTE:
If possible keep Chapters 41 to 44 together. This is not imperative; but
suggested.
Brief:
The Rishis ask Sage Markandeya about Kali’s story as to how She was born as the
daughter of Himalaya and ended up with Shiva as Her consort. Sage Markandeya
answers them stating after Sati gave up Her body, She decided to be born to
Menaka, the wife of Himavan. Just then, Menaka propitiated Mahamaya for 27
years with a view to having children. The stuthi of Menaka is superb from
verses 15 to 28. Kali then appears to Menaka and grants the boon that Menaka would
have a hundred sons, the first one being very powerful and for the welfare of
Gods, men and raakshasaas, She (Kali) Herself would be born as a daughter.
Kali’s beauty is described. Narada visits Menaka, Himavan and Kali and states
to Menaka that this daughter, Kali, will end up becoming Shiva’s wife.
Ch 42: 191 Verses: 28
minutes 5 seconds: Size: 26 MB
NOTE: If possible keep Chapters 41 to 44 together.
This is not imperative; but suggested.
Brief: Story of the burning of Kama by Shiva. Shiva goes to
Himavan, praises Him and says He has come to do penance there and to make sure
no one bothers Him; Himavan welcomes Shiva. Himavan then introduces Kali to
Shiva and asks for permission to have Her serve Him to which Shiva agrees. Kali
serves Shiva with utmost reverence. In the meantime, the demon Tarakaasura was
oppressing the world and the Gods who therefore seek the help of Brahma. Brahma
tells Them that the boon given to Taraka was that neither Brahma, Vishnu or
Shiva would kill him; hence they ( the Gods ) should approach Shiva immediately
and have Him marry Kali and the son produced would kill Tarakasura. Indra then
approaches Kama and asks Him to entice Shiva into marrying Kali. Kama agrees
but is scared to approach Shiva who in meditation was blazing like a thousand
suns. When Kama finds a weak point in Shiva, he pierces his arrow of
infatuation; Shiva feels enamored with Kali and the thought comes in His mind
that Kali is born from a human body and is hence impure and has to perform
penance to purify Herself before I can take Her; then how is it that I felt attracted
in a lustful way – it must be that someone is trying to sway my mind. He looks
and finds Kama and burns Him to ashes with the fiery flame from His eyes;
Brahma takes the flame and to prevent everything from being burnt down, turns
it into a mare and puts in the ocean and asks the ocean to take care of Shiva’s
flame in the form of a mare and to return it to Him when He comes back asking
for it. The incident of the burning of Kama was so intense that Kali and her
friends decided to run back home to Himavan.
Ch
43: 117 Verses: 19 minutes 28 seconds: Size: 18 MB
NOTE:
If possible keep Chapters 41 to 44 together. This is not imperative; but
suggested.
Brief:
Sage Narada goes to the house of Himavan and meeting Kali secretly says to Her
that Shiva did not accept Her as She was because having born in a human body,
She had to purify Herself by penance using the mantra “Om Nama Shivaaya”; and
that once that is done, Shiva will accept Her as His Wife. Kali accepts the
request and proceeds to get permission to perform penance from Menaka, Her
Mother. Menaka becomes worried and tells Kali that penance is meant for Rishis
and that Her tender body may not be able to withstand the rigors of austerity.
Kali is insistent upon the penance to which Menaka and Himavan reluctantly
agree finally. The heart melting austerity practice of Kali that went on for 3,000
years is described in detail. Kali was beginning to get dejected because She
had not encountered MahaDeva yet. As She was lamenting to Herself, a Brahmana
appeared in the hermitage and enquired about Herself and why She had been
practicing austerity. Kali asked Her colleague Vijaya to answer to the
Brahmana. The Brahmana says that He could bring MahaDeva there without doubt,
but to listen to what He has to say. And then the Brahmana belittles and speaks
low of Shiva, advising Kali that She should give up the idea of marrying Shiva
and marry someone else of high class and quality. After hearing what the
Brahmana said, Kali becomes angry and tells the Brahmana that He doesn’t know
what He is saying and that She does not need any boons from Him, nor a Husband;
Kali tells Her colleague that both he who condemns a great soul as well the one
who hears the condemnation are both equally responsible in sharing the sin. She
then continues to pray to Shiva. At that point, the Brahmana removes His disguise
and says to Kali: “ I am Shiva, the One You have been worshipping. Let me join with You.” Kali becomes
wonderstruck.
Ch 44: 61 Verses: 10 minutes 33 seconds: Size:10 MB
NOTE: If possible keep Chapters 41 to 44 together.
This is not imperative; but suggested.
Brief: This is a very auspicious
chapter. Kali, Who became bashful, told Shiva that the custom was that He needs
to get the approval of Her father Himavan and ask for Her in marriage; only
then can the marriage proceed. Shiva summons the seven sages, who after their
shlokams of praise, ask why they were invited. Shiva tells them to go to
Himavan for His sake and ask the Lord of the Mountains to give His daughter in
marriage to Him (Shiva). The sages do so; Himavan accepts; the wedding of Kali
and Shiva takes place. Verse 54, one of the most beautiful verses of this
Purana occurs in this chapter and is reproduced here:
“Evam Kali Mahamaya Yoganidra Jagatprasu
Poorvam Daakshaayani Boothvaa Paschaath Girisutha Bhavath”.
Merits: A. Whoever
meditates on Shiva in union with Kali in his heart, everything will turn
auspicious for him and all his wishes fulfilled. B. Whoever recites or
appreciates this auspicious story becomes free of diseases and lives long. C.
Whoever listens to this purest description is provided welfare and reaches
Shiva Lokaa. D. Whoever causes brahmanas to listen to this story during
ancestral offerings, causes his ancestors to attain salvation. E. Whoever
causes the recitation in the assembly of brahmanas, Hara Himself comes with
Maya to listen to this. F. This story removes sins.
Ch
45: 189 Verses: 29 minutes 52 seconds: Size: 27 MB
Brief:
This is a merit giving story. The rishis ask regarding how Kali of black
complexion turned into Gauri of white complexion. Markandeya states the same
question was posed by King Sagara to Sage Aurva in the past and he is repeating
it here. King Sagara who was wealthy and virtuous was once visited by the great
sage Aurva, who advised the King to make his wife pure and auspicious first,
just as Kali had taken half of Shambu’s body in the past and then do the same
to your son. Sagara asks Aurva how did Girija acquire half of Shankara’s body
and later to explain what is the code of good conduct. Aurva first describes
the romantic sports of Shiva and Kali after They were wed. Then once Shiva
beheld a host of good looking Apsaras, including the fair skinned beauty Urvasi.
At that point, Shiva tells Kali (Girija) that She is black and that She should
converse with Urvasi. Kali got angry at Shiva for calling her black in front of
the Apsaras and stopped speaking to Him, maintaining a distance; later She says
that until She turns fair complexioned, She would not indulge with Him. Saying
so, She proceeds to perform penance for a hundred years. During this time,
Shiva appeared to Her in various forms such as Brahma and Vishnu and started
giving Her Divine knowledge. Girija then praises Shiva (verses 85 – 99) and
asks that She become fair complexioned and in an instant She became Gauri. And
Shiva said that She(Kali) had misunderstood Him and that He would not take
anyone else as His Wife. Once when Gauri and Shiva are together, Gauri beholds
Her own image in the chest of Shiva, which She construes as the image of some
other beautiful lady. When She interrogates Shiva with this doubt, Shiva says
that it is not any other person other than Gauri Herself and shows that when
She is not in front of Him, the image disappears. Gauri then turns bashful and
both Shiva and Gauri take half of each other’s body, Shiva becoming half male,
half female; this is the form of Ardhanareeshwara.
Merits: This is a merit giving story. He who
listens to this story of Shiva and Parvati gets blessed, does not face
obstacles, lives a long life and reaches Shivaloka.
Ch 46: 93 Verses: 16 minutes 35 seconds: Size:15 MB
Brief: Story of the birth of Skanda. Impressed, King Sagara
asks Sage Aurva as to Who is Bhairava, Bhrngin, Mahakala and is Mahabhairava
the same as Bhairava or different. Aurva replies that Mahabhairava is the
middle portion of Hara from His Sharaba body. Bhrngin and Mahakala are Shiva’s
sons who get re-born due to a curse of Gauri as Vetala and Bhairava. Aurva
first starts with the birth of Bhrngin and Mahakala. The Gods requested Shiva
to beget a son to kill Tarakasura. When Hara and Uma were in divine embrace,
the entire universe shakes and gets in a tumultuous state. The Gods feel that
if a son be born out of this extended violent affair, he may end up being worse
than Tarakasura and so the Gods decide to take steps that no son be born out of
this and yet Tarakasura be killed by the Tejas (semen) of Hara. The Gods then
pray to MahaDeva (verses 29-41). At that instance, MahaDeva stops the
lovemaking and asks the Gods why they came there; to which They request Him to
stop all activity since the Universe was getting violently agitated. MahaDeva
says that if He stops, no son would be born out of Uma and Tarakasura would not
be killed. Upon the Gods insisting that He stop, MahaDeva asks Them to get
someone who can contain His Tejas (semen); the Gods respond by sending Sun, the
Fire God; but as the Tejas ends up in the Sun, two small particles fall on the
slope of the mountain, from whom emanate Bhrngin and Mahakala, who were brought
up by Uma. King Sagara asks Sage Aurva as to what happened to the semen that
ended up in the Sun God. Aurva says MahaDeva told the Gods that the only Woman that
can handle His semen is Uma, the daughter of the Mountain. The heavenly Ganga is
another Daughter of the Mountain and the Sun God will cause a son to be born to
Her out of His semen who will kill Tarakasura. Saying this MahaDeva leaves. Uma
in the meantime, gets angry with the Gods for having interrupted Her activity
and since She would not conceive now because of the interruption, curses the
Gods that they wont conceive any children. To this day, the Gods in the heavens
do not bear children due to this curse. In the meantime, two children Skanda
and Vishaka are born to Ganga from the golden semen from Sun, who join up and
become one body, whom Ganga throws into
the woods. This child is picked up by Bahula who then hands over this baby to
Uma and Shankara who bring Him up as Skanda.
Ch
47: 96 Verses: 15 minutes 39 seconds: Size: 14 MB
Brief:
Story of the birth of Chandrashekara. Sage Aurva continues explaining to King
Sagara that once when Shiva and Uma were in embrace, They had engaged their
sons Bhrngin and Mahakala to guard the door. When Gauri came out of the house
with hair disheveled, and saw Her two sons seeing Her in this state, She became
angry and cursed Them that since They had crossed the limit of impropriety,
They would have to take birth as human beings with an animal face for beholding
Her improperly. The two sons pleaded with their Mother regarding their
innocence and were guarding the door as They were asked to. Since Gauri would
not budge, Bhrngin and Mahakala in turn cursed Their Mother saying, You and
Hara in turn will have to take human births also. Later King Paushya, a
virtuous King with three wives had no children and hence upon propitiating
Brahma, Brahma gives him a fruit and asks him to propitiate MahaDeva and then
do whatever MahaDeva asks to do with the fruit. Paushya does exactly that and
MahaDeva being pleased appears and advises Paushya to cut the fruit into three
parts and give to each of his wives, who will all conceive at the same time;
the top portion of the baby will be conceived by one, the middle portion by the
second and the bottom portion by the third; when put together, the baby with
the crescent moon on the forehead will be born who will be called
Chandrashekara. MahaDeva then purifies the three wives by sprinkling Ganga
water and He Himself enters the fruit. Chandrashekara was subsequently born and
grew up with all auspicious signs .
Ch 48: 80 Verses: 13 minutes 23 seconds: Size: 12 MB
Brief: Aurva explains to King Sagara about Gauri taking a
human birth. Once Manonmathini who was the wife of King Kakutstha who had a
hundred sons longed for a daughter and worshipped Chandika Devi, who Herself
entered Manonmathini’s womb and was born as Taravati. When Taravati entered the
prime of Her youth, King Kakutstha arranged for Her swayamvara which the son of
King Paushya attended. Taravati, who knew She was the human form of Kalika,
worshipped Kalika (Self by the Self) for a good Husband. The svayamvara is
described. Chandrashekara and Taravati are married.
Ch
49: 79 Verses: 12 minutes 24 seconds: Size:11 MB
Brief:
Once when Taravati had come out of bath, Sage Kapotha beheld Her with carnal
desires and enquired Her identity and sought Her for amorous experiences. While
Taravati refused, saying She is married to Chandrashekara, Kapotha kept
insisting and Taravati did not know how to prevent the sage from inflicting a
curse. When She consulted with sister Chitraangadaa, the latter suggested to
give Her (Taravati’s) clothes to one of the maids and send to the sage, since
He wont notice the difference, being burnt by passion. Taravati asked
Chitraangadaa herself to take up the switch and go rather than some other maid,
to which Chitraangadaa agrees. From the affairs of Chitraangadaa and Kapotha,
two children were born. As one can imagine, King Sagara wanted to know how Chitraangadaa
had become the daughter of King Kakutstha. ( Since Taravati was the only
Daughter born to Kakutstha and Manonmathini ). Aurva replied that once when King Kakutstha had gone
hunting, he had a lustful relationship with the Apsara Urvasi, through which
the beautiful daughter Chitraangadaa was born, whom the King brought to
Manonmathini to bring up. Once Chitraangadaa ridiculed Sage Ashtaavakra, who
cursed her saying “You will become a slave of your own relatives; after being a
slave, you will give birth to two sons while not married.” Thus Chitraangadaa
was sent by the King to wait upon Taravati and she bore two sons by Kapotha.
Ch 50: 157 Verses: 25 minutes 11 seconds: Size: 23 MB
Brief: Story of the birth of Vetala and Bhairava. After a
long time, when Taravati went back to the river Dhradvati to take a bath, She
encountered Kapotha Rishi again with Chitraangadaa. Kapotha asked Chitraangadaa
as to Who this lady extremely beautiful was; to which Chitraangadaa replied
saying that he (Kapotha) had amorously desired Her in the past and that She
(Taravati) had given Her ornaments to her (Chitraangadaa) to go instead to the
Rishi and begged him not to bother Taravati who happened to be her Sister.
Realizing he had been deceived, Kapota got angry and cursed Taravati that a
Kapaali, ugly and poor will rape Her and within a year two sons with the face
of monkeys will be born unto Her. To that curse, Taravati said to Kapota that
if Truth is all-powerful then No One other than Her Husband will cast amorous
glances at Her. King Chandrashekara built a tall building studded with gems and
used to take Taravati to its top every day for romantic sports. One day when
Taravati went there without Her Husband and was meditating upon Shiva and
Chandrashekara, not knowing They were the Same, Shiva and Uma were travelling
in the sky and Shiva told Uma to enter the body of Taravati, so She could
produce the re-birth of Bhringin and Mahakala and also satisfy the curse of
Kapotha. Uma agreed and when Shiva approached Taravati, He had transformed into
a Kapaali and thus Vetala and Bhairava with the face of monkey were born. Their
elder brothers were Uparichaara, Damanaa and Alaarkaa.
Ch
51: 214 Verses: 38 minutes 8 seconds: Size: 35 MB
Brief:
King Chandrashekara was always partial to the elder brothers of Vetala and
Bhairava, since the latter seemed to Him to have been born without His
involvement. He gave a lot of wealth to Their Brothers but hardly anything to
Vetala and Bhairava which turned them angry. In the meantime, Kapotha wanted to
leave Chitraangadaa and go for penance; so he went to Kubera, got plenty of
gold and other wealth and thence went to King Chandrashekara offering Him the wealth,
asked Him to take care of Chitraangadaa and his two sons Tumburu and Suvarchas.
On his way from the palace, Kapotha saw a dejected Vetala and Bhairava, who
upon questioning stated They were going for penance because of the partiality
extended by Their father King Chandrashekara. Kapotha told Them that They were
in fact sons of Lord Mahadeva Himself and so they should propitiate Him and he
(Kapotha) would show them the procedure. Kapotha then instructed them to
proceed to Kamaroopa, where Kama was re-given life by Shankaraa after being
burnt to ashes. The two reach Kamaroopa
and meet Vasishta who gives them the instructions as to mantra, method of
worship etc of Shiva, whose five forms, namely, Sadyojaata, Vaamadeva, Aghora,
Tatpurusha and Ishaana had to be meditated upon. Great stuthi by Vetala and
Bhairava for Shiva is in verses 179-198. Shiva pleased asked Them for any boons
desired, to which They said all they wanted was to get enlightened to realize
Him (Shiva) and be devoted to Him for thousands of ages. Shiva granted the
Godhood and told Them that in order to keep Him pleased, They should also
propitiate Parvati, His consort.
Ch 52: 30 Verses: 5 minutes 58 seconds: Size: 5 MB
Brief: Shiva proceeded to instruct how to propitiate Parvati,
by giving mantras and procedural steps.
Ch
53: 40 Verses: 7 minutes 9 seconds: Size: 7 MB
Brief:
Shiva continues explanation to Vetala and Bhairava the ritualistic worship of
Mahamaya and method of meditation.
Ch 54: 46 Verses: 8 minutes 15 seconds: Size: 8 MB
Brief: Instructions on the ritualistic worship of Mahamaya
is continued with mantras for invocation and the upacharas (services) for the
Goddess.
Please proceed to Part 4.
Om Sri Kalika Devi Namo Namaha !
