Long ago there was a king named Surath who governed the subjects like his sons. At one time, the Surat king became hostile to the Kshatriyas called Kola vidhwansis. Despite the large number of army in the war, King Surath lost to kola vidhwansis and only became the king of his capital which was very safe. There too, his evil ministers joined hands with the enemy and seized the capital from him. This made King Surath very unhappy and he left his wife and sons in the city and went to the dense forest on the pretext of hunting by sitting on a horse. After Going into the forest, he stopped at Medha Muni’s ashram where the sage respectfully welcomed him and also gave him a hut to stay.
There was a Vaishya of a very rich family named Samadhi, he had great faith in religion. He always used to help the unhappy people, tried to remove their sorrows. It was his nature to always speak the truth. His wife and son were extremely greedy. Coming to the greed of money, Samadhi’s wife and son kicked him out of the house. For this reason, the Vaishya named Samadhi had left his home and came to the dense forest and he too had stayed at the same ashram of Medha Rishi where the king named Surath was residing and renouncing his kingdom. While living at the ashram of sage, the Vaishya named Samadhi always used to worry about how his wife and son might be and hope they may not have any problem. Those people must be enjoying their life or not.
While staying at the ashram of Medha Rishi, King Surath was sitting below a tree one day, he was very worried, he always worried about how my kingdom might be. I do not know how the kings there are spending my hard-earned money now. It may be that those people were wasting my money in useless works, the money which I used to donate in religion, now may be they are spending that money in drinking liquor and gambling, because those men have no faith in religion.Those people who used to follow me, may be now they are following those kings and ministers today. At that time the vaishya named samadhi also came there and met the king and the king asked him to introduce him and the reason for coming to this ashram.
That Vaishya said Rajan my name is Samadhi. My wife and sons have thrown me out of the house due to the greed for money, yet my mind is worried about them. I keep thinking that whether those people are happy or not, my heart is not tough towards my wife and sons, I know very well that there is a flaw in their qualities, yet my mind is worried about them. Because of this my mind is not at all relaxed and I have become very distracted. Even the vicious and sly people are not able to leave their families, I am worried and sad to fall in love with my family.
Seeing such concern about his family of a Vaishya named Samadhi, King Surath says, it is a matter of great surprise that you have so much affection for the people who have thrown you out of the house due to greed for money. I also have the same situation, I know that the kingdom is now not mine, but my mind also always keeps thinking about it. I always remain immersed in the thought of, how the new kings, might be spending the money , I have earned by hard work and those who roamed behind me today might be following those kings. The elephant that I kept very fondly, I do not know whether it will be taken care of or not. After talking to so, both of them decided that they would ask Sumedha Muni the reason for their fascination and remedies for grief.
The next day the king named surat and samadhi go to the sage Medha and ask him the reason for their fascination and sorrow. Then the sage tells them that all beings in the world are fascinated by the Maya of Bhagwati Mahamaya. Due to her desire, all living beings remain in fascination and narrates to them the story of Goddess Adishaktis various deeds and the demons killed by their hands. Medha tells the king and Vaishya in stories of the slaughter of Madhu Catabh, the slaughter of Mahishasura, the slaughter of Dhumalochan, the slaughter of Chand Mund and the slaughter of Shumbha Nishumbha. Hearing all these stories of the goddess, in the hearts of king and the Vaishya awakens devotion towards the goddess and they both go to the forest and start worshiping Bhagwati by taking the permission from the Medha Rishi after knowing the method of goddess’s worship and Navarna mantra.
For a month, they both recite the stories related to the demons killed by the goddess’s hand, which awakens unwavering reverence in their mind. Now both of them had no work other than to worship the Goddess. For a year, they chanted the mantra of the Goddess and lived only by eating fruits. In the second year, they only eat dried leaves and worship the goddess and chanted mantras. Then both of them see goddess in a dream. Now they worship Goddess in the third year only by surviving the air, with a desire to get a glimpse of the Goddess.
Thus, for three years, both the king and the Vaishya worship Bhagwati Mahamaya with devotion. Due to which the Goddess appears in front of both of them and as per the wish of the king gives him the gift of getting back his kingdom and says , king you will rule with this body for ten thousand years, after that you will become a son of the sun, and will be known in the world by Manu named Savarni. goddess gives the Vaishya, salvation according to his will. King and Vaishya were blessed by goddess with such boons.
When the king was going to his city after getting a boon from the goddess, with the permission of the sage, his ministers who had previously joined hands with the enemy come and fall at the feet of the king. They say that Maharaj your enemies were killed in the war, their destruction has happened , you please forgive us. Thus, the king gets his kingdom by the grace of the goddess and he has the same bond with the ministers as before. The Vaishya too now leaves his family and goes to the pilgrimage. In those pilgrimages, he would always tell the story of the Goddess to the people.
In the world, the Vaishya and the King Surath were the first to worship the Goddess. The story of the goddess told by Medha Rishi to Samadhi and Surat is famous in the world as Durga Saptashati. This story of the appearance of Durga Saptashati is extremely sacred and devotional. The person who is saddened, by the hearing of this legend becomes happy and becomes eligible of salvation.
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Categories: Devi Bhagwat Puran, Stories of Goddess Durga
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