To call on God as Mother is a characteristic featuer of Hinduism. Devi-Mahatmyam or Durga-Saptasati, also popularly known as Chandi, is one of the sacred texts chanted during the worship of The Divine Mother. This book presents to the readers the English edition of Chandi. This will make the chanting possible for those who have no access to Sanskrit. The original text has been transliterated in English accopanied by a lucid English translation. Footnotes have been added wherever necessary. Chandi is divided into 13 chapters and consists of 700 mantras and hence it is called the Saptasati. Three aspects of the Divine Mother have been depicted in the book and they are (1) Mahakali (Chapter I), (2) Mahalaksmi (Chapters II to IV) and (3)Mahasarasvati (Chapters V to XIII) and meditation on each of them has been added with English translation. The whole of Devi-Mahatmyam is chanted on sacred occasions, especially during the Durga-Puja (Navaratri).
Tremendous purity, tremendous renunciation, is the one secret of spirituality. Neither through wealth, nor through progeny, but through renunciation alone is immortality to be reached, say the Vedas. Sell all that thou hast and give to poor, and follow me, says the Christ. So all great saints and prophets have expressed it, and have carried it out in their lives. How can great spirituality come without renunciation? - Swami Vivekananda