अन्येषु धर्मशास्त्रेषु वेदाङ्गेषु च सुव्रते । सर्वेष्टं सारभूतं च पञ्चदेवानुसेवनम्
And in other dharma treatises, in the Vedāṅgas, O virtuous one, the essence of all is the worship of the five deities.
जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिशोकसन्तापनाशनम् । सर्वमङ्गलरूपं च परमानन्दकारणम्
It destroys birth, death, old age, disease, sorrow, and suffering; it is wholly auspicious and the cause of supreme bliss.
कारणं सर्वसिद्धीनां नरकार्णवतारणम् । भक्तिवृक्षाङ्कुरकरं कर्मवृक्षनिकृन्तनम्
It is the cause of all attainments, the ferry across the river of hell, the sprouting of the tree of devotion, and the cutting down of the tree of karma.
विमोक्षसोपानमिदमविनाशपदं स्मृतम् । सालोक्यसार्ष्टिसारूप्यसामीप्यादिप्रदं शुभम्
This is the stairway to liberation, remembered as the imperishable state; it bestows sālokya, sārṣṭi, sārūpya, sāmīpya, and other auspicious attainments.
कुण्डानि यमदूतैश्च रक्षितानि सदा शुभे । न हि पश्यन्ति स्वप्ने च पञ्चदेवार्चका नराः
The pits guarded by the messengers of Yama are always protected, O auspicious one; but men who worship the five deities do not see them, even in dreams.
देवीभक्तिविहीना ये ते पश्यन्ति ममालयम् । यान्ति ये हरितीर्थं वा श्रयन्ति हरिवासरम्
Those who lack devotion to the Goddess see my abode; but those who go to Hari’s holy places or observe Hari’s sacred days,
प्रणमन्ति हरिं नित्यं हर्यर्चां कल्पयन्ति च । न यान्ति तेऽपि घोरां च मम संयमिनीं पुरीम्
Those who bow to Hari daily and arrange worship for Hari, they too do not go to my dreadful city of restraint.
त्रिसन्धिपूता विप्राश्च शुद्धाचारसमन्विताः । निवृत्तिं नैव लप्स्यन्ति देवीसेवां विना नराः
Even purified brāhmaṇas, cleansed at the three junctions of the day and endowed with pure conduct, do not attain cessation without service to the Goddess.
स्वधर्मनिरताचाराः स्वधर्मनिरतास्तथा । गच्छन्तो मृत्युलोकं च दुर्दृशा मम किङ्कराः
Those who are devoted to their own dharma and those who act according to their own dharma, going to the world of death, are seen by my fierce attendants.
भीताः शिवोपासकेभ्यो वैनतेयादिवोरगाः । स्वदूतं पाशहस्तं च गच्छन्तं वारयाम्यहम्
The serpents, like Garuḍa and others, are afraid of the worshippers of Śiva; I restrain my own messenger, holding a noose, from approaching them.
यास्यन्ति ते च सर्वत्र हरिदासाश्रमं विना । कृष्णमन्त्रोपासकाच्च वैनतेयादिवोरगाः
They will go everywhere except to the āśrama of Hari’s servants; and the worshippers of Kṛṣṇa’s mantra, like Garuḍa and others, are also avoided by the serpents.
देवीमन्त्रोपासकानां नाम्नाञ्चैव निकृन्तनम् । करोति नखलेखन्या चित्रगुप्तश्च भीतवत्
For those who worship the Goddess’s mantra, even their names are erased by Citragupta, trembling, with the scratch of his nail.
मधुपर्कादिकं तेषां कुरुते च पुनः पुनः । विलङ्घ्य ब्रह्मलोकं च लोकं गच्छन्ति ते सति
For them, madhuparka and other offerings are made again and again; surpassing Brahmaloka, they go to that world when they depart.
दुरितानि च नश्यन्ति येषां संस्पर्शमात्रतः । ते महाभाग्यवन्तो हि सहस्रकुलपावनाः
Their sins are destroyed merely by contact; they are indeed greatly fortunate, purifying a thousand families.
यथा च प्रज्वलद्वह्नौ शुष्कानि च तृणानि च । प्राप्नोति मोहः सम्मोहं तांश्च दृष्ट्वा च भीतवत्
Just as, upon seeing dry grass and sticks in a blazing fire, one is struck with confusion and great bewilderment, and becomes fearful.
कामश्च कामिनं याति लोभक्रोधौ ततः सति । मृत्युः प्रलीयते रोगो जरा शोको भयं तथा
Desire goes to the one who desires, then greed and anger follow; death is dissolved, as are disease, old age, sorrow, and fear.
कालः शुभाशुभं कर्म हर्षो भोगस्तथैव च । ये ये न यान्ति तां पीडां कथितास्ते मया सति
Time, good and bad actions, joy, and enjoyment—whatever does not reach that suffering, all these I have described to you.
शृणु देहविवरणं कथयामि यथागमम् । पृथिवी वायुराकाशस्तेजस्तोयमिति स्फुटम्
Listen, I will explain the nature of the body according to scripture: earth, air, space, fire, and water—these five, clearly.
देहिनां देहबीजं च स्रष्टृसृष्टिविधौ परम् । पृथिव्यादिपञ्जभूतैर्यो देहो निर्मितो भवेत्
The seed of the body for embodied beings, in the supreme process of creation by the Creator, is formed from the five elements beginning with earth.
स कृत्रिमो नश्वरश्च भस्मसाच्च भवेदिह । बद्धोऽङ्गुष्ठप्रमाणश्च यो जीवः पुरुषः कृतः
That body is artificial and perishable, and here becomes ashes; the bound soul, the size of a thumb, is called the person.
बिभर्ति सूक्ष्मं देहं तं तद्रूपं भोगहेतवे । स देहो न भवेद्भस्म ज्वलदग्नौ ममालये
He bears a subtle body, of that same form, for the sake of experience; that body does not become ashes in my blazing abode.
जलेन नष्टो देही वा प्रहारे सुचिरं कृते । न शस्त्रेण न वास्त्रेण सुतीक्ष्णकण्टके तथा
The embodied one is not destroyed by water, nor by a long-lasting blow; not by a weapon, nor by cloth, nor by a sharp thorn.
तप्तद्रवे तप्तलोहे तप्तपाषाण एव च । प्रतप्तप्रतिमाश्लेषे यत्पूर्वपतनेऽपि च
Not in molten liquid, not in heated iron, not in heated stone, nor in the embrace of a heated image, nor even in a previous fall.
न दग्धो न च भग्नः स भुङ्क्ते सन्तापमेव च । कथितो देहवृत्तान्तः कारणं च यथागमम् । कुण्डानां लक्षणं सर्वं बोधाय कथयामि ते
He is not burned nor broken, but only experiences torment; thus the account of the body and its cause has been told according to scripture. Now I will explain to you all the characteristics of the pits for your understanding.
इति श्रीमद्देवीभागवते महापुराणेऽष्टादशसाहस्र्यां संहितायां नवमस्कन्धे नारायणनारदसंवादे देवपूजनात् सर्वारिष्टनिवृत्तिवर्णनं नाम षट्त्रिंशोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the thirty-sixth chapter, entitled 'The Removal of All Inauspiciousness through Worship of the Gods,' in the dialogue between Nārāyaṇa and Nārada, in the ninth book of the glorious Devī Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa of eighteen thousand verses.
नानानरककुण्डवर्णनम् सावित्र्युवाच धर्मराज उवाच पूर्णेन्दुमण्डलाकारं सर्वं कुण्डं च वर्तुलम् । निम्नं पाषाणभेदैश्च पाचितं बहुभिः सति
Description of the various pits of hell. Sāvitrī said— Dharma-rāja said: The entire pit is circular, shaped like a full moon, deep, and filled with many broken stones.
न नश्वरं चाप्रलयं निर्मितं चेश्वरेच्छया । क्लेशदं पातकानां च नानारूपं तदालयम्
It is not perishable nor subject to dissolution, constructed by the will of the Lord; it is the abode of various forms, giving suffering to sinners.
ज्वलदङ्गाररूपं च शतहस्तशिखान्वितम् । परितः क्रोशमानं च वह्निकुण्डं प्रकीर्तितम्
It is filled with blazing coals, with flames a hundred hands high, and all around, for a krośa, is known as the fire-pit.
महाशब्दं प्रकुर्वद्भिः पापिभिः परिपूरितम् । रक्षितं मम दूतैश्च ताडितैश्चापि सन्ततम्
It is filled with a great noise made by sinners, and is constantly guarded and beaten by my messengers.
प्रतप्तोदकपूर्णं च हिंस्रजन्तुसमन्वितम् । महाघोरं काकुशब्दं प्रहारेण दृढेन च
It is filled with boiling water and violent creatures, extremely terrifying with dreadful cries and harsh blows.