The Birth of Shakti

Verse 1 (skanda.8.16.1)

वरान् स लब्ध्वा भगवान् वसिष्ठोऽस्मत्पितामहः । कं पुत्रं जनयामास आत्मनः सदृशद्युतिम्

varān sa labdhvā bhagavān vasiṣṭho'smatpitāmahaḥ | kaṁ putraṁ janayāmāsa ātmanaḥ sadṛśadyutim

Vyasa asked: Having obtained those boons, what son of splendour equal to his own did the illustrious Vasishtha, our forefather, beget?

Verse 2 (skanda.8.16.2)

सनत्कुमार उवाच। तेनासौ वरदानेन देवदेवस्य शूलिनः । अरुन्धत्यामजनयत्तपोयोगबलान्वितम्

sanatkumāra uvāca| tenāsau varadānena devadevasya śūlinaḥ | arundhatyāmajanayattapoyogabalānvitam

Sanatkumara said: By that boon granted by the trident-bearing God of gods, he begot in Arundhati a son endowed with the power of austerity and yoga.

Verse 3 (skanda.8.16.3)

ब्रह्मिष्ठं शक्तिनामानं पुत्रं पुत्रशताग्रजम् । तस्य बाल्यात्प्रभृत्येव वासिष्ठस्य महात्मनः

brahmiṣṭhaṁ śaktināmānaṁ putraṁ putraśatāgrajam | tasya bālyātprabhṛtyeva vāsiṣṭhasya mahātmanaḥ

That son, most devoted to the Absolute, was named Shakti, the eldest of a hundred sons. From childhood itself, in that great-souled son of Vasishtha —

Verse 4 (skanda.8.16.4)

रभसोपगता भक्तिरभवद् गोवृषध्वजे । स कदाचिदपत्यार्थमाराधयदुमापतिम्

rabhasopagatā bhaktirabhavad govṛṣadhvaje | sa kadācidapatyārthamārādhayadumāpatim

— an intense devotion had arisen toward the Bull-bannered Lord. Once, for the sake of obtaining a son of his own, he worshipped the husband of Uma.

Verse 5 (skanda.8.16.5)

तस्य तुष्टो महादेवो वरदोऽस्मीत्यभाषत । अथ दृष्ट्वा तमीशानमिदमाहानताननः

tasya tuṣṭo mahādevo varado'smītyabhāṣata | atha dṛṣṭvā tamīśānamidamāhānatānanaḥ

Mahadeva, pleased with him, said, 'I am the giver of boons.' Then, on seeing that Lord, he, with bowed head, said this —

Verse 6 (skanda.8.16.6)

केन स्तोष्यामि ते देव यस्त्वं सर्वजगत्पतिः । सर्वान् धारयसे लोकानात्मना समयाद्विभो

kena stoṣyāmi te deva yastvaṁ sarvajagatpatiḥ | sarvān dhārayase lokānātmanā samayādvibho

'With what shall I praise you, O God, who are the lord of the entire universe? By your own self and by your own law, O mighty one, you sustain all the worlds.'

Verse 7 (skanda.8.16.7)

त्वमेव भोक्ता भोज्यञ्च कर्ता कार्यं तथा क्रिया । उत्पादकस्तथोत्पाद्य उत्पत्तिश्चैव सर्वशः

tvameva bhoktā bhojyañca kartā kāryaṁ tathā kriyā | utpādakastathotpādya utpattiścaiva sarvaśaḥ

'You alone are the enjoyer and the enjoyed, the doer and the deed and the action itself. You are the producer and the thing produced, and creation itself in every respect.'

Verse 8 (skanda.8.16.8)

आत्मानं पुत्रनामानं मम तुल्यं गुणैर्विभो । इच्छामि दत्तं देवेश एष मे दीयतां वरः

ātmānaṁ putranāmānaṁ mama tulyaṁ guṇairvibho | icchāmi dattaṁ deveśa eṣa me dīyatāṁ varaḥ

'I desire a son who is, as it were, my own self, equal to me in qualities, O mighty one. O Lord of gods, may this boon be granted to me.'

Verse 9 (skanda.8.16.9)

सनत्कुमार उवाच। तमेवंवादिनं देवः प्रहस्य वदतां वरः । उवाच वचसा व्यास दिशः सर्वा विनादयन्

sanatkumāra uvāca| tamevaṁvādinaṁ devaḥ prahasya vadatāṁ varaḥ | uvāca vacasā vyāsa diśaḥ sarvā vinādayan

Sanatkumara said: To him who spoke thus, the God, foremost among speakers, laughing, O Vyasa, spoke with a voice that made every quarter resound —

Verse 10 (skanda.8.16.10)

त्वयाहं याचितः शक्ते स च ते संभविष्यति । त्वत्समः सर्ववेदज्ञस्त्वदीयो मुनिपुङ्गव

tvayāhaṁ yācitaḥ śakte sa ca te saṁbhaviṣyati | tvatsamaḥ sarvavedajñastvadīyo munipuṅgava

'O Shakti, you have entreated me — that son shall indeed be born to you: equal to yourself, a knower of all the Vedas, and truly your own, O bull among sages.'

Verse 11 (skanda.8.16.11)

बीजात्मा च तथोद्भूतः स्वयमेवान्तरात्मना । बीजात्मना न भवति परिणामान्तरङ्गतः

bījātmā ca tathodbhūtaḥ svayamevāntarātmanā | bījātmanā na bhavati pariṇāmāntaraṅgataḥ

'Though arising in the very form of a seed, he shall come forth by his own inner self; he shall not exist by seed-nature alone, but through an inward transformation.'

Verse 12 (skanda.8.16.12)

एवं स आत्मनात्मा नः संभूतोऽपत्यसंज्ञितः । स्वेनात्मना न भविता परिणामान्तरं गतः

evaṁ sa ātmanātmā naḥ saṁbhūto'patyasaṁjñitaḥ | svenātmanā na bhavitā pariṇāmāntaraṁ gataḥ

'Thus he, self born of self, shall be known as offspring to us; he shall come to be not by his own self alone, but having undergone an inward transformation.'

Verse 13 (skanda.8.16.13)

सनत्कुमार उवाच। एवमुक्त्वा तु तं देवः प्रहस्य च निरीक्ष्य । जगाम सहसा योगी अदृश्यत्वमतिद्युतिः

sanatkumāra uvāca| evamuktvā tu taṁ devaḥ prahasya ca nirīkṣya | jagāma sahasā yogī adṛśyatvamatidyutiḥ

Sanatkumara said: Having spoken thus, and having laughed and looked upon him, that supremely radiant god, the yogin, suddenly vanished from sight.

Verse 14 (skanda.8.16.14)

तस्मिन् गते महादेवे शक्तिस्तव पितामहः । वचस्तत् परिनिश्चित्य एवमेवेत्यमन्यत

tasmin gate mahādeve śaktistava pitāmahaḥ | vacastat pariniścitya evamevetyamanyata

When Mahadeva had departed, Shakti, your forefather, having fully reflected upon that utterance, concluded, 'So indeed it shall be.'

Verse 15 (skanda.8.16.15)

अथ काले ऽतिमहति समतीते शुभप्रदे । तपसा भावितश्चापि महताग्निसमप्रभः

atha kāle 'timahati samatīte śubhaprade | tapasā bhāvitaścāpi mahatāgnisamaprabhaḥ

Then, after a very long and auspicious span of time had passed, he, purified by austerity and blazing like a great fire —

Verse 16 (skanda.8.16.16)

अदृश्यन्त्यां महाप्रज्ञ आदधे गर्भमुत्तमम् । तस्यामापन्नसत्वायां राजा कल्माषपादऋषिम् भक्षयामास संरब्धो रक्षसा हृतचेतनः

adṛśyantyāṁ mahāprajña ādadhe garbhamuttamam | tasyāmāpannasatvāyāṁ rājā kalmāṣapādaṛṣim bhakṣayāmāsa saṁrabdho rakṣasā hṛtacetanaḥ

— that man of great wisdom placed an excellent embryo in Adrishyanti. While she was thus with child, King Kalmashapada, his mind seized by a rakshasa, in a fury devoured that sage.