Durga Saptashati Chapter 13: The Boons to King Suratha and the Merchant

Chapter 13 concludes the Saptashati. The story returns to where it began: King Suratha and the merchant Samadhi. Both worshipped the same Goddess in the same way but asked for different boons, and each received exactly what he asked.

The sage Medha's counsel

The sage Medha said: "O King, thus I have told you the supreme glory of the Goddess. She by whom this world is upheld, the Bhagavati Vishnumaya, also gives rise to knowledge. That same Mahamaya has deluded you, this merchant and other wise people, and will do so again. O King, take refuge in that supreme Goddess. Worshipped, she grants people enjoyment, heaven and liberation."

The penance of Suratha and the merchant

Hearing the sage, King Suratha bowed to him. Troubled by their excessive pride and attachment, the king and the merchant both went to perform penance. Living on a river bank, they worshipped for a vision of the Goddess, chanting the Devi Suktam.

On the river bank they made a clay image of the Goddess and worshipped it with flowers, incense, fire and water. Sometimes they fasted, sometimes they ate little, keeping their minds fixed on her alone. They even offered a gift sprinkled with blood from their own bodies, to show complete surrender. After three years of disciplined worship Chandika, upholder of the world, was pleased and appeared before them.

The Goddess's offer

The Goddess said: "O King, and you, merchant, joy of your family, ask of me whatever you wish. I am pleased and will grant it all."

King Suratha's boon

The king asked for a kingdom that would not perish even in another life, and in this life the strength to destroy his enemies' army and regain his own kingdom.

The Goddess said: "O King, in a few days you will slay your enemies and regain your kingdom, and it will remain yours. After death you will be born of the sun god and become Manu on this earth under the name Savarni (the eighth Manu)."

The merchant's boon

The merchant's mind had turned away from the world. He asked for the knowledge that destroys the bond of "this is mine, I am theirs", the bond of attachment.

The Goddess said: "Best of merchants, I grant what you ask; you will gain the knowledge that leads to liberation."

The close

Having given both their boons as they wished, the Goddess vanished at once as they praised her with devotion. Having received her boon, Suratha, best of Kshatriyas, will be born of the sun and become Savarni Manu.

By tradition, after the thirteenth chapter the Devi Suktam (the Vak Sukta of the Rig Veda, "Aham rudrebhir vasubhish charami...") and the three Rahasyas are read, and finally the prayer for forgiveness: "Aparadha sahasrani kriyante 'har nisham maya, daso 'yam iti mam matva kshamasva parameshvari": "O supreme Goddess, I commit thousands of faults day and night; regarding me as your servant, forgive me."

What this chapter teaches

• God gives what we sincerely ask: the king his kingdom, the merchant liberation. So ask wisely.
• The same sorrow, betrayal by family and court, led two people in different directions: one back to the world, the other to freedom.
• A clay image, a river bank and three years of faith: devotion needs not grandeur but steadfastness.
• The prayer for forgiveness at the end of worship teaches humility: we err, and the Mother forgives.