The Murti Rahasya (the Rahasya of the murtis, the forms) is the third of the three Rahasyas of the Saptashati. Its subject is the set of forms the goddess is said to take in later ages, which the eleventh chapter of the Devi Mahatmya foretells. It follows the Pradhanika Rahasya and the Vaikritika Rahasya. This page gives all 22 verses as the Nirnaya Sagar print of 1958 has them, with a transliteration and a meaning for every verse.
What the Murti Rahasya says
The text is spoken by the sage to the king, and each section names a form, describes how she looks, and says what a devotee gains from praising her.
| Verses | The form |
|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Nanda, born as Nanda's daughter, golden and four-armed |
| 4 to 11 | Raktadantika, red in every part, also called Rakta Chamunda and Yogeshvari |
| 12 to 16 | Shakambhari, blue, carrying fresh vegetables and shoots, also called Shatakshi and Durga |
| 17 and 18 | Bhima, the terrible, with Ekavira and Kalaratri as other names |
| 19 | Bhramari, bee-like, also called Mahamari |
| 20 to 22 | Closing: these are the forms, the teaching is a secret, and it is to be kept carefully |
The forms in the eleventh chapter
In the eleventh chapter the goddess promises the gods that she will take birth again when the world needs her. She says she will be born as the daughter of Nanda, will appear as Raktadantika, as Shakambhari who feeds the world during a long drought, as Bhima Devi, and as Bhramari. The Murti Rahasya takes those promises and gives the look of each form. You can read the chapter on the site and compare the two texts.
The text calls the forms wish-granting cows, and says that a devotee who reads the praise of Raktadantika or praises Shakambhari gains care, food and the end of want. We report these as the text’s own claims. They are devotional statements, and this site makes no promise about results.
The verses on Raktadantika and Shakambhari use frank images of the goddess’s body, as many Puranic descriptions of the mother goddess do. In the tradition these express nourishment and abundance, the mother who feeds her children and the earth that gives food.
The text, transliteration and meaning
नन्दा भगवती नाम या भविष्यति नन्दजा
सा स्तुता पूजिता ध्याता वशीकुर्याज्जगत्त्रयम् ॥ १ ॥
Nanda bhagavati nama ya bhavishyati nandaja
Sa stuta pujita dhyata vashikuryajjagattrayam
MeaningThe sage says: The goddess called Nanda, who is to be born as Nanda's daughter, when praised, worshipped and meditated on, brings the three worlds under her care.
कनकोत्तमकान्तिः सा सुकान्तिकनकाम्बरा
देवी कनकवर्णाभा कनकोत्तमभूषणा ॥ २ ॥
Kanakottamakantih sa sukantikanakambara
Devi kanakavarnabha kanakottamabhushana
MeaningHer radiance is the best of gold. Her beauty is fine and her garment golden. She is the goddess of golden colour, adorned with the finest gold.
कमलाङ्कुशपाशाब्जैरलङ्कृतचतुर्भुजा
इन्दिरा कमला लक्ष्मीः सा श्री रुक्माम्बुजासना ॥ ३ ॥
Kamalankushapashabjairalankritachaturbhuja
Indira kamala lakshmih sa shri rukmambujasana
MeaningHer four arms are adorned with a lotus, a goad, a noose and another lotus. She is Indira, Kamala, Lakshmi and Shri, seated on a golden lotus.
या रक्तदन्तिका नाम देवी प्रोक्ता मयानघ
तस्याः स्वरूपं वक्ष्यामि शृणु सर्वभयापहम् ॥ ४ ॥
Ya raktadantika nama devi prokta mayanagha
Tasyah svarupam vakshyami shrinu sarvabhayapaham
MeaningThe goddess called Raktadantika, O sinless one, is the next I will describe. Hear her form, which takes away every fear.
रक्ताम्बरा रक्तवर्णा रक्तसर्वाङ्गभूषणा
रक्तायुधा रक्तनेत्रा रक्तकेशातिभीषणा ॥ ५ ॥
Raktambara raktavarna raktasarvangabhushana
Raktayudha raktanetra raktakeshatibhishana
MeaningShe wears red, is red in colour and is adorned in red on every limb. Her weapons and eyes are red, and her hair is red and frightening.
रक्ततीक्ष्णनखा रक्तदशना रक्तदंष्ट्रिका
पतिं नारीवानुरक्ता देवी भक्तं भजेज्जनम् ॥ ६ ॥
Raktatikshnanakha raktadashana raktadamshtrika
Patim narivanurakta devi bhaktam bhajejjanam
MeaningHer sharp nails, teeth and fangs are red. Like a wife devoted to her husband, the goddess cherishes the devotee who turns to her.
वसुधेव विशाला सा सुमेरुयुगलस्तनी
दीर्घौ लम्बावतिस्थूलौ तावतीव मनोहरौ ॥ ७ ॥
Vasudheva vishala sa sumeruyugalastani
Dirghau lambavatisthulau tavativa manoharau
MeaningShe is wide like the earth, with breasts like two Mount Merus, long, hanging, very full and very lovely.
कर्कशावतिकान्तौ तौ सर्वानन्दपयोनिधी
भक्तान् सम्पाययेद्देवी सर्वकामदुघौ स्तनौ ॥ ८ ॥
Karkashavatikantau tau sarvanandapayonidhi
Bhaktan sampayayeddevi sarvakamadughau stanau
MeaningThey are firm and beautiful, oceans of every joy. The goddess feeds her devotees from these breasts, which grant every wish.
खड्गपात्रं च मुसलं लाङ्गलं च बिभर्ति सा
आख्याता रक्तचामुण्डा देवी योगेश्वरीति च ॥ ९ ॥
Khadgapatram cha musalam langalam cha bibharti sa
Akhyata raktachamunda devi yogeshvariti cha
MeaningShe carries a sword, a vessel, a pestle and a plough. She is called Rakta Chamunda and Yogeshvari.
अनया व्याप्तमखिलं जगत्स्थावरजङ्गमम्
इमां यः पूजयेद्भक्त्या स व्याप्नोति चराचरम् ॥ १० ॥
Anaya vyaptamakhilam jagatsthavarajangamam
Imam yah pujayedbhaktya sa vyapnoti characharam
MeaningBy her the whole moving and unmoving world is pervaded. One who worships her with devotion pervades the whole world.
अधीते य इमं नित्यं रक्तदन्त्या वपुःस्तवम्
तं सा परिचरेद्देवी पतिं प्रियमिवाङ्गना ॥ ११ ॥
Adhite ya imam nityam raktadantya vapuhstavam
Tam sa parichareddevi patim priyamivangana
MeaningThe goddess serves the one who reads this praise of the form of Raktadantika every day, as a wife serves a dear husband.
शाकम्भरी नीलवर्णा नीलोत्पलविलोचना
गम्भीरनाभिस्त्रिवलीविभूषिततनूदरी ॥ १२ ॥
Shakambhari nilavarna nilotpalavilochana
Gambhiranabhistrivalivibhushitatanudari
MeaningShakambhari is blue in colour, with eyes like blue lotuses. She has a deep navel, three folds at the waist and a slender body.
सुकर्कशसमोत्तुङ्गवृत्तपीनघनस्तनी
मुष्टिं शिलीमुखैः पूर्णं कमलं कमलालया ॥ १३ ॥
Sukarkashasamottungavrittapinaghanastani
Mushtim shilimukhaih purnam kamalam kamalalaya
MeaningHer breasts are firm, high, round and full. She holds a handful of arrows and a lotus, and she dwells in the lotus.
पुष्पपल्लवमूलादिफलाढ्यं शाकसञ्चयम्
काम्यानन्तरसैर्युक्तं क्षुत्तृण्मृत्युजरापहम् ॥ १४ ॥
Pushpapallavamuladiphaladhyam shakasanchayam
Kamyanantarasairyuktam kshuttrinmrityujarapaham
MeaningShe also holds a heap of vegetables rich in flowers, leaves, roots and fruits, full of endless desirable flavours, which ends hunger, thirst, death and old age.
कार्मुकं च स्फुरत्कान्ति बिभर्ति परमेश्वरी
शाकम्भरी शताक्षी स्यात् सैव दुर्गा प्रकीर्तिता ॥ १५ ॥
Karmukam cha sphuratkanti bibharti parameshvari
Shakambhari shatakshi syat saiva durga prakirtita
MeaningShe holds a bow of bright splendour. She is Shakambhari, and she is also Shatakshi, and she is celebrated as Durga herself.
शाकम्भरीं स्तुवन् ध्यायन् जपन् सम्पूजयन्नमन्
अक्षय्यमश्नुते शीघ्रमन्नपानादि सर्वशः ॥ १६ ॥
Shakambharim stuvan dhyayan japan sampujayannaman
Akshayyamashnute shighramannapanadi sarvashah
MeaningOne who praises Shakambhari, meditates on her, recites her name, worships and bows to her quickly gains lasting food, drink and everything of that kind.
भीमापि नीलवर्णा सा दंष्ट्रादशनभासुरा
विशाललोचना नारी वृत्तपीनघनस्तनी ॥ १७ ॥
Bhimapi nilavarna sa damshtradashanabhasura
Vishalalochana nari vrittapinaghanastani
MeaningBhima, the Terrible, is also blue. Her fangs and teeth shine, and her eyes are large. She is a woman with round, full breasts.
चन्द्रहासं च डमरुं शिरःपात्रं च बिभ्रती
एकवीरा कालरात्रिः सैवोक्ता कामदा स्तुता ॥ १८ ॥
Chandrahasam cha damarum shirahpatram cha bibhrati
Ekavira kalaratrih saivokta kamada stuta
MeaningShe holds a scimitar, a small drum and a skull bowl. She is Ekavira and Kalaratri, and when praised she grants wishes.
तेजोमण्डलदुर्धर्षा भ्रामरी चित्रकान्तिभृत्
चित्रभ्रमरसङ्काशा महामारीति गीयते ॥ १९ ॥
Tejomandaladurdharsha bhramari chitrakantibhrit
Chitrabhramarasankasha mahamariti giyate
MeaningBhramari is hard to look at, a circle of radiance, bearing many colours like a bright bee. She is called Mahamari.
इत्येता मूर्तयो देव्या व्याख्याता वसुधाधिप
जगन्मातुश्चण्डिकायाः कीर्तिताः कामधेनवः ॥ २० ॥
Ityeta murtayo devya vyakhyata vasudhadhipa
Jaganmatushchandikayah kirtitah kamadhenavah
MeaningThese, O lord of the earth, are the forms of the goddess that have been explained. They are described as wish-granting cows for the devotees of Chandika, the mother of the world.
इदं रहस्यं परमं न वाच्यं यस्य कस्यचित्
व्याख्यानं दिव्यमूर्तीनामधीष्वावहितः स्वयम् ॥ २१ ॥
Idam rahasyam paramam na vachyam yasya kasyachit
Vyakhyanam divyamurtinamadhishvavahitah svayam
MeaningThis is a great secret and is not to be told to just anyone. Study this account of the divine forms yourself, with attention.
देव्या ध्यानं तवाख्यातं गुह्याद्गुह्यतरं महत्
तस्मात्सर्वप्रयत्नेन सर्वकामफलप्रदम् ॥ २२ ॥
Devya dhyanam tavakhyatam guhyadguhyataram mahat
Tasmatsarvaprayatnena sarvakamaphalapradam
MeaningI have told you the meditation on the goddess, more secret than any secret. It is to be kept with every effort, for it gives the fruit of every wish.
मार्कण्डेयपुराणेऽखिलांशे मूर्तिरहस्यम्
Markandeyapurane'khilamshe murtirahasyam
MeaningColophon: the Murti Rahasya, in the Markandeya Purana, in the part the print calls the whole (akhila) section.
Summary
The Murti Rahasya describes five forms of the goddess that are promised in the eleventh chapter: Nanda, Raktadantika, Shakambhari, Bhima and Bhramari. For each it gives colour, weapons and a way of seeing her, and says what the devotee asks of her. It closes by calling the teaching a great secret and asking the king to keep it.
Where the print needs a note
The print’s verse numbers run from 1 to 22, and we keep them. The colophon has no number in the print.
Verse 15. The print reads shakambhari shatakshi syat saiva durga prakirtita (“she may be called Shatakshi, and she is celebrated as Durga”), checked on an enlarged image. The machine-read Naval Kishore print of 1948 appears to read sa where the 1958 print has syat (“she is Shatakshi”). The meaning is almost the same, and we follow the 1958 print.
Colophon. The print adds the word akhilamshe (“in the whole part”) after the name of the Markandeya Purana. We have translated it that way and cannot explain what part of the Purana it means.
Other witnesses. The 1948 machine-read text is too noisy to settle a word, and apart from verse 15 we found no verse where it clearly reads a different word. We do not claim a word-by-word collation against it.
Source of the text on this page. The Sanskrit is the text of the Saptashati printed by the Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay (Shaka 1879, which is 1958 CE; printer and publisher Lakshmibai Narayan Chaudhari), read from the page images of the scan on archive.org (identifier durga-saptashathi-nirnayasagar-1958). That print was made before 1960 and we follow its readings. We put spaces between words and write the nasals in the usual style of this site, and we do not count that as a difference. The Murti Rahasya begins on printed page 255 (scan image 134, lower page) and ends on printed page 259 (scan image 136, lower page). Printed pages 255 to 259 fall on scan images 134 to 136; each scan image holds two printed pages. The three Rahasyas are called part of the Markandeya Purana in the print's colophons, but they are not among the thirteen chapters, and we cannot say who composed them or when. The transliteration is a simple guide to sound and the meanings are our own wording. See the Devi Mahatmya hub for the note on the prints used on this site.
Related pages
- The Devi Mahatmya (Durga Saptashati): the thirteen chapters and the traditional order of recitation
- Pradhanika Rahasya: the first Rahasya, on the primary form of the goddess
- Vaikritika Rahasya: the second Rahasya, on the changed forms and how to worship them
- Devi Kavacha: the armour said before the chapters
- Ratri Suktam: the hymns to Night
- Sharad Navratri: the nine nights
- All mantras, stotras and sacred texts: the full list