Durga Saptashati Chapter 13 (Trayodasha Adhyay): Suratha Vaishya Varapradana, the Boons, with Meaning
Durga Saptashati Chapter 13, the Trayodasha Adhyay, is the last chapter, and it closes the circle that Chapter 1 opened. The sage Medha has finished the Devi Mahatmya; now King Suratha and the merchant Samadhi, whose question began it all, act on what they have heard. It belongs to the Uttara Charitra, presided over by Mahasaraswati, and has 29 verses in the standard numbering, most of them short. The chapter is given here in full, with the dhyana and every verse in Sanskrit followed by its meaning.
The two men go to a river bank, shape an image of the Goddess from clay, and worship it for three years with flowers, incense, fire, fasting and offerings of their own blood, while the merchant recites the Devi Sukta. Chandika appears and grants each what he asks: the king his kingdom now and an unfalling kingdom in the next life, which makes him Savarni, the eighth Manu; the merchant the knowledge that cuts the roots of "I" and "mine". With this the 700 verses end, and the colophon counts them: fifty-seven uvacha lines, forty-two half-verses, five hundred and thirty-five verses and sixty-six avadanas.
संक्षेप में: दुर्गा सप्तशती का तेरहवाँ और अन्तिम अध्याय यहाँ पूरा दिया गया है: ध्यान और सभी 29 श्लोक संस्कृत में, हर श्लोक के हिंदी अर्थ के साथ। राजा सुरथ और वैश्य समाधि नदी के तट पर मिट्टी की देवी-मूर्ति की तीन वर्ष आराधना करते हैं; देवी प्रकट होकर राजा को राज्य और आठवें मनु सावर्णि का जन्म देती हैं, और वैश्य को 'मैं' और 'मेरा' से मुक्त करने वाला ज्ञान। इसी से 700 श्लोक समाप्त होते हैं। परंपरा में यह अध्याय देवी में भक्ति के लिए पढ़ा जाता है। पूरा लेख हिंदी में पढ़ें →
This chapter is part of the complete Durga Saptashati path, with all 13 chapters and the angas in reading order.
Chapter 13 at a glance
- Chapter: Thirteenth of 13, "Suratha Vaishya Varapradana" (सुरथ-वैश्य वरप्रदान)
- Charitra: Uttara Charitra (the last episode)
- Presiding deity: Mahasaraswati
- Rishi: Rudra
- Chhanda: Anushtup
- Shakti · Bija · Tattva · Veda: Bhima · Bhramari · Surya (the sun) · Samaveda
- Verses: 29 in the standard numbering (uvacha lines counted)
- Traditional fruit of reading: Tradition reads the thirteenth chapter for devotion to the Goddess and for the attainment of what one has set one's heart on; it closes every complete paath.
The story of Chapter 13 in brief
The sage tells King Suratha that he has now heard the whole Mahatmya; that the Goddess, Vishnu's Maya, is the one who deludes him, the merchant and every discerning person, and the one who gives knowledge; and that he should take refuge in her, since worshipped she grants enjoyment, heaven and liberation. The king bows to the sage and, weary of his attachments and the loss of his kingdom, goes at once to practise austerity; the merchant Samadhi goes with him. On a river bank they make a clay image of the Goddess, worship it with flowers, incense, fire and libations, fast, keep their minds fixed on her, and offer bali sprinkled with their own blood, the merchant reciting the Devi Sukta. After three years Chandika appears and offers each a boon. Suratha asks for his own kingdom in this life, with his enemies destroyed, and a kingdom in the next birth that cannot fall. Samadhi, his mind turned from the world, asks for the knowledge that cuts the bonds of "mine" and "I". The Goddess grants both: in a few days the king will regain his kingdom and hold it unshaken, and after death, born from the Sun, he will be Savarni, the eighth Manu; the merchant will have knowledge and fulfilment. Praised by the two, she vanishes. Markandeya closes: thus Suratha, best of kshatriyas, will be born from the Sun as the Manu Savarni, whose story he promised to tell in the first verses of Chapter 1.
Durga Saptashati Chapter 13: Sanskrit text with meaning
The Sanskrit follows the standard text of the Devi Mahatmya; the numbering is the common 700-verse numbering, in which the uvacha lines are counted. Each verse is followed by its meaning in plain English.
Dhyanam
ॐ बालार्कमण्डलाभासां चतुर्बाहुं त्रिलोचनाम् ।
पाशाङ्कुशवराभीतिर्धारयन्तीं शिवां भजे ॥
Meaning: Om. I worship the auspicious Goddess, radiant as the orb of the rising sun, four-armed and three-eyed, holding the noose and the goad and showing the gestures of boon-giving and fearlessness.
Verses 1 to 29
ॐ ऋषिरुवाच ॥१॥
Meaning: Om. The sage said:
एतत्ते कथितं भूप देवीमाहात्म्यमुत्तमम् ।
एवं प्रभावा सा देवी ययेदं धार्यते जगत् ॥२॥
Meaning: "Thus, O king, I have told you the supreme Mahatmya of the Goddess. Such is the power of that Goddess by whom this world is upheld."
विद्या तथैव क्रियते भगवद्विष्णुमायया ।
तया त्वमेष वैश्यश्च तथैवान्ये विवेकिनः ॥३॥
Meaning: "Knowledge too is given by her, the Maya of the blessed Vishnu. By her you, this merchant, and other discerning people too..."
मोह्यन्ते मोहिताश्चैव मोहमेष्यन्ति चापरे ।
तामुपैहि महाराज शरणं परमेश्वरीम् ॥४॥
Meaning: "...are deluded, have been deluded, and will be deluded. Go to her for refuge, O great king, to the supreme sovereign."
आराधिता सैव नृणां भोगस्वर्गापवर्गदा ॥५॥
Meaning: "She alone, when worshipped, grants human beings enjoyment, heaven and liberation."
मार्कण्डेय उवाच ॥६॥
Meaning: Markandeya said:
इति तस्य वचः श्रुत्वा सुरथः स नराधिपः ॥७॥
Meaning: Hearing these words of his, King Suratha...
प्रणिपत्य महाभागं तमृषिं संशितव्रतम् ।
निर्विण्णोऽतिममत्वेन राज्यापहरणेन च ॥८॥
Meaning: ...bowed to that illustrious sage of rigorous vows. Weary of his excessive attachment and of the loss of his kingdom...
जगाम सद्यस्तपसे स च वैश्यो महामुने ।
सन्दर्शनार्थमम्बाया नदीपुलिनमास्थितः ॥९॥
Meaning: ...he went at once to practise austerity, and so did the merchant, O great sage, settling on the sandy bank of a river to obtain a vision of the Mother.
स च वैश्यस्तपस्तेपे देवीसूक्तं परं जपन् ।
तौ तस्मिन् पुलिने देव्याः कृत्वा मूर्तिं महीमयीम् ॥१०॥
Meaning: The merchant too practised austerity, reciting the supreme Devi Sukta. On that bank the two made an image of the Goddess out of earth...
अर्हणां चक्रतुस्तस्याः पुष्पधूपाग्नितर्पणैः ।
निराहारौ यतात्मानौ तन्मनस्कौ समाहितौ ॥११॥
Meaning: ...and offered her worship with flowers, incense, fire and libations. Fasting, self-controlled, their minds fixed on her, concentrated...
ददतुस्तौ बलिं चैव निजगात्रासृगुक्षितम् ।
एवं समाराधयतोस्त्रिभिर्वर्षैर्यतात्मनोः ॥१२॥
Meaning: ...they offered bali too, sprinkled with blood from their own bodies. As the two of them, self-controlled, worshipped her thus for three years...
परितुष्टा जगद्धात्री प्रत्यक्षं प्राह चण्डिका ॥१३॥
Meaning: ...Chandika, the sustainer of the world, well pleased, appeared before them and spoke.
देव्युवाच ॥१४॥
Meaning: The Goddess said:
यत्प्रार्थ्यते त्वया भूप त्वया च कुलनन्दन ।
मत्तस्तत्प्राप्यतां सर्वं परितुष्टा ददामिते ॥१५॥
Meaning: "Whatever is sought by you, O king, and by you, O joy of your family, receive it all from me; well pleased, I grant it to you."
मार्कण्डेय उवाच ॥१६॥
Meaning: Markandeya said:
ततो वव्रे नृपो राज्यमविभ्रंश्यन्यजन्मनि ।
अत्रैव च निजं राज्यं हतशत्रुबलं बलात् ॥१७॥
Meaning: Then the king chose a kingdom that would not fall away in another birth, and in this very life his own kingdom, with the forces of his enemies destroyed by might.
सोऽपि वैश्यस्ततो ज्ञानं वव्रे निर्विण्णमानसः ।
ममेत्यहमिति प्राज्ञः सङ्गविच्युतिकारकम् ॥१८॥
Meaning: And the merchant, whose mind had turned away from the world, being wise, chose knowledge, the knowledge that breaks the bondage of "mine" and "I".
देव्युवाच ॥१९॥
Meaning: The Goddess said:
स्वल्पैरहोभिर्नृपते स्वं राज्यं प्राप्स्यते भवान् ॥२०॥
Meaning: "O king, in a few days you will regain your own kingdom..."
हत्वा रिपूनस्खलितं तव तत्र भविष्यति ॥२१॥
Meaning: "...having slain your enemies, and there it will be yours, unshaken."
मृतश्च भूयः सम्प्राप्य जन्म देवाद्विवस्वतः ॥२२॥
Meaning: "And when you die, obtaining a new birth from the god Vivasvan (the Sun)..."
सावर्णिको मनुर्नाम भवान्भुवि भविष्यति ॥२३॥
Meaning: "...you will become the Manu named Savarni on the earth."
वैश्यवर्य त्वया यश्च वरोऽस्मत्तोऽभिवाञ्छितः ॥२४॥
Meaning: "And, O best of merchants, the boon that you have desired from me..."
तं प्रयच्छामि संसिद्ध्यै तव ज्ञानं भविष्यति ॥२५॥
Meaning: "...I grant it: for your fulfilment, knowledge shall be yours."
मार्कण्डेय उवाच ॥२६॥
Meaning: Markandeya said:
इति दत्त्वा तयोर्देवी यथाभिलषितं वरम् ॥२७॥
Meaning: Having thus given the two of them the boons they desired, the Goddess...
बभूवान्तर्हिता सद्यो भक्त्या ताभ्यामभिष्टुता ।
एवं देव्या वरं लब्ध्वा सुरथः क्षत्रियर्षभः ॥२८॥
Meaning: ...praised by them with devotion, vanished at once. Having thus obtained his boon from the Goddess, Suratha, bull among kshatriyas...
सूर्याज्जन्म समासाद्य सावर्णिर्भविता मनुः ॥२९॥
Meaning: ...will take birth from the Sun and become the Manu Savarni.
एवं देव्या वरं लब्ध्वा सुरथः क्षत्रियर्षभः ।
सूर्याज्जन्म समासाद्य सावर्णिर्भविता मनुः ॥ क्लीं ॐ ॥
॥ स्वस्ति श्रीमार्कण्डेयपुराणे सावर्णिके मन्वन्तरे देवीमाहात्म्ये
सुरथवैश्ययोर्वरप्रदानं नाम त्रयोदशोऽध्यायः ॥ १३॥
उवाच ६, अर्धश्लोकाः ११, श्लोकाः १२, एवमादितः ॥ ७००॥
समस्ता उवाचमन्त्राः ५७, अर्धश्लोकाः ४२, श्लोकाः ५३५, अवदानानि ६६ ॥
Meaning: Having thus obtained his boon from the Goddess, Suratha, bull among kshatriyas, will take birth from the Sun and become the Manu Savarni. Kleem Om. Thus ends the thirteenth chapter, named Suratha Vaishya Varapradana, of the Devi Mahatmya in the Markandeya Purana, in the Savarnika manvantara. Six uvacha lines, eleven half-verses and twelve verses: seven hundred from the beginning. In the whole text: fifty-seven uvacha mantras, forty-two half-verses, five hundred and thirty-five verses and sixty-six avadanas.
Significance and benefits of reading Chapter 13
Tradition assigns a fruit to each chapter, and the thirteenth is read for devotion to the Goddess and for obtaining what one has resolved upon. As the last chapter it closes every complete paath, and its two boons are read as the two legitimate aims of worship: the king's, which is bhoga, a kingdom and a high birth, and the merchant's, which is moksha, the knowledge that ends "I" and "mine". The Saptashati grants both without ranking them.
The chapter is also the scriptural model for the simplest Devi puja: a clay image, flowers, incense, a lamp, fasting and steady attention (verses 10 to 12). The Devi Sukta the merchant recites is the Rigvedic hymn read at the end of the paath. And the final line, which names Suratha as the future Manu Savarni, fulfils the promise of the very first verses of Chapter 1, so that the whole Saptashati is one story told in a single sitting.
How to read Chapter 13 (vidhi)
In a complete Saptashati path the chapters are read in order after the three angas, Devi Kavach, Argala Stotram and Keelak Stotram, and the Ratri Suktam. Many traditions also do the Navarna mantra japa with nyasa before and after. If you are reading this chapter on its own, begin with its dhyana as given above, read the verses without hurry, and close with the Kshamapana or the Siddha Kunjika Stotram.
Sit facing east or north on a clean asana, light a ghee lamp, keep water in a kalash, and read from a printed or clearly displayed text rather than from memory. Do not break a chapter in the middle; if you must stop, finish the chapter first. A samput mantra can be added before and after each verse for a specific purpose, but a plain reading with attention is the foundation.
Astrological relevance
In the Jyotish tradition the Devi Mahatmya is read as a remedy of the widest kind: the Prathama Charitra is associated with Mahakali and with the pacification of Rahu, Ketu and Shani, the Madhyama Charitra with Mahalakshmi and the Sun and Jupiter, and the Uttara Charitra with Mahasaraswati and Mercury and Venus. Chapter 13 belongs to the Uttara Charitra, so it is read with the rest of that episode when those grahas are difficult in a chart, and during their dashas. Nothing here replaces reading your own chart; it is the devotional side of the same picture. Start with a free kundli or talk to an astrologer to see which dasha is running.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Durga Saptashati end?
With Chapter 13. King Suratha and the merchant Samadhi worship a clay image of the Goddess on a river bank for three years. She appears and grants the king his kingdom and a future birth as Savarni, the eighth Manu, and the merchant the knowledge that frees from "I" and "mine". She vanishes, and the 700 verses close with their tally.
Who was Savarni Manu?
The eighth Manu, the ruler of the eighth manvantara. Chapter 1 opens by promising to tell how Savarni, son of the Sun, reached that rank by the grace of Mahamaya; Chapter 13 answers it: he was King Suratha, who after worshipping the Goddess was reborn from the Sun as Savarni.
What did Suratha and Samadhi ask for?
Verses 17 and 18: Suratha asked for his own kingdom in this life, his enemies destroyed, and a kingdom in the next birth that could not fall away. Samadhi, whose mind had turned from the world, asked for the knowledge that breaks the bondage of "mine" and "I". Both boons were granted.
How did they worship the Goddess?
Verses 10 to 12: they made an image of the Goddess from earth on a river bank, worshipped it with flowers, incense, fire and libations, fasted, kept their minds fixed on her, and offered bali sprinkled with blood from their own bodies, for three years, while the merchant recited the Devi Sukta.
What is Chapter 13 read for?
Tradition reads it for devotion to the Goddess and for achieving what one has set one's heart on. It closes every complete Saptashati path and is followed in the usual order by the Devi Sukta, the Rahasya trayam and the Kshama Prarthana.
