इति ध्यात्वा च तां देवीं मूलेनैव प्रपूजयेत् । नैवेद्यैर्विविधैर्धूपैः पुष्पगन्धानुलेपनैः
Having thus meditated upon that goddess, one should worship her with the root mantra, offering various foods, incense, flowers, fragrant ointments—
मूलमन्त्रैश्च वेदोक्तैर्भक्तानां वाच्छितप्रदः । मुने कल्पतरुर्नाम सुसिद्धो द्वादशाक्षरः
—and with root mantras prescribed in the Vedas, she grants the desires of devotees; O sage, the well-accomplished twelve-syllable mantra is called Kalpataru.
ॐ ह्रीं श्रीं क्लीं ऐं मनसादेव्यै स्वाहेति कीर्तितः । पञ्चलक्षजपेनैव मन्त्रसिद्धिर्भवेन्नृणाम्
It is said to be: 'Om hrim shrim klim aim manasadevyai svaha'; by reciting it five hundred thousand times, the mantra's power is attained by people.
मन्त्रसिद्धिर्भवेद्यस्य स सिद्धो जगतीतले । सुधासमं विषं तस्य धन्वन्तरिसमो भवेत्
For one who attains the power of the mantra, he becomes accomplished on earth; for him, poison is like nectar, and he becomes equal to Dhanvantari.
ब्रह्मन्स्नात्वा तु सङ्क्रान्त्यां गूढशालासु यत्नतः । आवाह्य देवीमीशानां पूजयेद्योऽतिभक्तितः
Whoever, having bathed at the time of the solstice, with care in a hidden place, invokes the Goddess, the Lady of all, and worships her with great devotion—
पञ्चम्यां मनसा ध्यायन् देव्यै दद्याच्च यो बलिम् । धनवान्पुत्रवांश्चैव कीर्तिमान्स भवेद् ध्रुवम्
—and on the fifth day, while meditating in his mind, offers a bali to the Goddess, he surely becomes wealthy, blessed with sons, and renowned.
पूजाविधानं कथितं तदाख्यानं निशामय । कथयामि महाभाग यच्छ्रुतं धर्मवक्त्रतः
The procedure for worship has been described; now listen to this story, O most fortunate one, which I will tell as I heard it from the mouth of Dharma.
पुरा नागभयाक्रान्ता बभूवुर्मानवा भुवि । गतास्ते शरणं सर्वे कश्यपं मुनिपुङ्गवम्
Long ago, when mankind on earth was afflicted by the fear of serpents, all of them sought refuge with the eminent sage Kashyapa.
मन्त्रांश्च ससृजे भीतः कश्यपो ब्रह्मणान्वितः । वेदबीजानुसारेण चोपदेशेन ब्रह्मणः
Kashyapa, filled with fear and endowed with the power of Brahma, created mantras in accordance with the seeds of the Vedas and the instruction of Brahma.
मन्त्राधिष्ठातृदेवीं तां मनसा ससृजे तथा । तपसा मनसा तेन बभूव मनसा च सा
He then mentally created the presiding Goddess of the mantras; by his austerity and mind she came into being through his thought.
कुमारी सा च सम्भूता जगाम शङ्करालयम् । भक्त्या सम्पूज्य कैलासे तुष्टाव चन्द्रशेखरम्
That maiden, having arisen, went to the abode of Shankara; with devotion she worshipped him on Kailasa and praised Chandrashekhara.
दिव्यवर्षसहस्रं तं सिषेवे च मुनेः सुता । आशुतोषो महेशश्च तां च तुष्टो बभूव ह
For a thousand divine years, the sage's daughter served him; Mahesha, easily pleased, became satisfied with her.
महाज्ञानं ददौ तस्यै पाठयामास साम च । कृष्णमन्त्रं कल्पतरुं ददावष्टाक्षरं मुने
He granted her supreme knowledge, taught her the Sama Veda, and gave her the eight-syllabled Krishna mantra, the wish-fulfilling tree, O sage.
लक्ष्मीमायाकामबीजं ङेऽन्तं कृष्णपदं ततः । त्रैलोक्यमङ्गलं नाम कवचं पूजनक्रमम्
He gave her the Lakshmi, Maya, and Kama bija, the syllable 'ṅe', the Krishna mantra, the protective armor named 'Auspiciousness of the Three Worlds', and the sequence of worship.
पुरश्चर्याक्रमं चापि वेदोक्तं सर्वसम्मतम् । प्राप्य मृत्युञ्जयान्मन्त्रं सा सती च मुनेः सुता
He also gave her the procedure for purashcharana, as taught in the Vedas and accepted by all; and the sage's daughter obtained the Mrityunjaya mantra.
जगाम तपसे साध्वी पुष्करं शङ्कराज्ञया । त्रियुगं च तपस्तप्त्वा कृष्णस्य परमात्मनः
By Shankara's command, that virtuous woman went to Pushkara for austerity; having performed penance for three yugas for Krishna, the Supreme Self—
सिद्धा बभूव सा देवी ददर्श पुरतः प्रभुम् । दृष्ट्वा कृशाङ्गीं बालां च कृपया च कृपानिधिः
—that Goddess attained perfection and saw the Lord before her; seeing her emaciated and young, the ocean of compassion was moved to pity.
पूजां च कारयामास चकार च स्वयं हरिः । वरं च प्रददौ तस्यै पूजिता त्वं भवे भव
Hari himself arranged for her worship and performed it; having been worshipped, he granted her a boon: 'May you always be worshipped.'
वरं दत्त्वा तु कल्याण्यै ततश्चान्तर्दधे हरिः । प्रथमे पूजिता सा च कृष्णेन परमात्मना
Having granted the boon to the blessed one, Hari then disappeared; she was first worshipped by Krishna, the Supreme Self.
द्वितीये शङ्करेणैव कश्यपेन सुरेण च । मुनिना मनुना चैव नागेन मानवादिभिः
In the second instance, she was worshipped by Shankara, by Kashyapa the god, by the sage Manu, and by the serpent and other men.
बभूव पूजिता सा च त्रिषु लोकेषु सुव्रता । जरत्कारुमुनीन्द्राय कश्यपस्तां ददौ पुरा
That virtuous one was worshipped in all three worlds; long ago, Kashyapa gave her to the sage Jaratkaru.
अयाचितो मुनिश्रेष्ठो जग्राह ब्राह्मणाज्ञया । कृत्वोद्वाहं महायोगी विश्रान्तस्तपसा चिरम्
The best of sages, though unasked, accepted her by the command of Brahma; having married her, the great yogi rested from his long austerities.
सुष्वाप देव्या जघने वटमूले च पुष्करे । निद्रां जगाम स मुनिः स्मृत्वा निद्रेशमीश्वरम्
He slept at the base of the banyan tree, upon the lotus, with his head on the goddess's lap; the sage entered sleep, remembering the Lord of Sleep.
जगामास्तं दिनकरः सायङ्काल उपस्थिते । सञ्चिन्त्य मनसा साध्वी मनसा सा पतिव्रता
When evening arrived and the sun had set, the virtuous wife, steadfast in her devotion, contemplated inwardly.
धर्मलोपभयेनैव चकारालोचनं सती । अकृत्वा पश्चिमां सन्ध्यां नित्यां चैव द्विजन्मनाम्
Out of fear of violating righteousness, the faithful woman looked about; she did not perform the evening twilight worship, nor the daily rites of the twice-born.
ब्रह्महत्यादिकं पापं लभिष्यति पतिर्मम । नोपतिष्ठति यः पूर्वां नोपास्ते यस्तु पश्चिमाम्
My husband will incur sins such as killing a Brahmin, if he does not perform the earlier or the later twilight worship.
स सर्वत्राशुचिर्नित्यं ब्रह्महत्यादिकं लभेत् । वेदोक्तमिति सञ्चिन्त्य बोधयामास सुन्दरी
He will always be impure everywhere and will obtain sins like Brahmin-slaying; thinking thus, as stated in the Vedas, the beautiful woman sought to awaken him.
स च बुद्धो मुनिश्रेष्ठस्तां चुकोप भृशं मुने । मुनिरुवाच कथं मे सुखिनः साध्वि निद्राभङ्गः कृतस्त्वया
The best of sages, now awakened, became greatly angry with her and said: 'How have you, O virtuous one, disturbed my sleep when I was resting happily?'
व्यर्थं व्रतादिकं तस्या या भर्तुश्चापकारिणी । तपश्चानशनं चैव व्रतं दानादिकं च यत्
All her vows and austerities are in vain if she acts against her husband; fasting, penance, vows, charity, and the like—
भर्तुरप्रियकारिण्याः सर्वं भवति निष्कलम् । यया प्रियः पूजितश्च श्रीकृष्णः पूजितस्तया
For one who acts contrary to her husband's wishes, all these become fruitless; but she who pleases her husband, and worships him as Shri Krishna, is truly devoted.