---
type: Reference
bundle: cosmology-creation
bundle_version: "0.7.2"
id: devi-mahatmya
title: "Devī Māhātmya (Durgā Saptaśatī)"
description: "Markandeya Purana chapters 81-93; the Goddess as ultimate power, root text of Shakta theology."
timestamp: "2026-07-01T00:00:00Z"
iast: "Devī Māhātmya"
devanagari: "देवी माहात्म्य"
text: "Devī Māhātmya (within Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, chapters 81-93)"
text_division: "13 Chapters, 700 verses (Saptaśatī)"
language: "Classical Sanskrit"
approximate_date: "c. 400-600 CE"
tags: [shakta, devi, goddess, cosmology, mahAmaya, srishti, sthiti, samhara, durga]
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Devī Māhātmya (Durgā Saptaśatī)

## Text Overview

The Devī Māhātmya ("Glorification of the Goddess") forms chapters 81-93 of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa and is the foundational text of Śākta cosmology and devotion. Comprising 700 verses (hence also called Durgā Saptaśatī or Caṇḍī Pāṭha), it narrates three mythological battles in which the Goddess defeats cosmic demons, each narrative encoding a layer of cosmological and philosophical teaching. It is one of the most recited texts in the Hindu tradition, with daily recitation in many temples and households.

## Structure and Three Charitas

**Prathama Carita (Chapters 1-2): Mahiṣāsura Background and Mahāmāyā Hymn**
- Meditation on the nature of the Goddess begins: the sage Mārkaṇḍeya explains to the king Suratha and the merchant Samādhi why the Goddess is the source of all cosmic power
- Chapter 1.55-78: The hymn of Mahāmāyā -- the supreme Goddess identified as the cosmic creative power that creates, maintains, and withdraws the universe
- *"She is eternal; she is the world; she projects it and she withdraws it. By her the world is pervaded."*
- *"She who is eternal creates the world at the time of creation; she maintains it at the time of maintenance; she withdraws it at dissolution -- she is the great Māyā."* (1.74-78)

**Madhyama Carita (Chapters 3-4): Mahiṣāsura-Mardana**
- The demon Mahiṣāsura has driven the gods from heaven; the combined energy (tejas) of all the gods generates the Goddess
- Critical reading: the text presents this as a revelation (the Goddess IS the primordial Śakti; the gods' energies return to their source) not a creation of a new being from component parts
- The Goddess slays Mahiṣāsura: cosmologically, Mahiṣāsura represents the Tamasic principle of brute power mistaking itself for the ultimate reality

**Uttama Carita (Chapters 5-13): Śumbha-Niśumbha and Final Hymns**
- Final battle and victory; the Goddess absorbs Kālī (her own fierce form) back into herself
- The closing hymns (Aparājitā Stuti, etc.) present the Goddess as the comprehensive cosmological reality encompassing all roles: protector, creator, liberator, destroyer of ignorance

## Cosmological Significance

The Devī Māhātmya presents a complete **Śākta alternative to the Trimūrti cosmological schema**:
- Not three male deities (Brahmā/Viṣṇu/Śiva) distributed across Sṛṣṭi/Sthiti/Saṃhāra
- But one Goddess in three aspects -- Mahāsarasvatī (Sṛṣṭi), Mahālakṣmī (Sthiti), Mahākālī (Saṃhāra) -- governing all three cosmic functions

This is not a contradiction of the Trimūrti but its Śākta re-reading: the three deities are the Goddess's instruments, not her superiors.

The text also establishes **Mahāmāyā** as the cosmological Māyā (Brahman's creative power) -- distinct from individual avidyā. The goddess is described as operating the Mahāmāyā that veils Brahman from ordinary perception while simultaneously manifesting the cosmos.

## Liturgical Role

The Devī Māhātmya is one of the few Sanskrit texts where the words themselves are considered to have cosmological power (mantra): recitation is believed to invoke the Goddess's cosmic functions, not merely describe them. This is consistent with the Śākta-Tāntric view that language (vāk) is itself Śakti and that sacred recitation participates in the cosmic creative process.

## Primary Concepts Using This Reference

- maya-cosmological.md (primary -- Mahāmāyā; 1.55-78)
- shakti-cosmological.md (primary -- Devī Māhātmya as central Śākta cosmological text)
- srishti.md (Mahāsarasvatī aspect)
- sthiti.md (Mahālakṣmī aspect)
- samhara.md (Mahākālī aspect)
- trimurti.md (Śākta alternative reading)
- markandeya-purana.md (parent text)
