Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.2.11-12

nāmadheyāni kurvanti

sthānāni ca narā bhuvi

durgeti bhadrakālīti

vijayā vaishnavīti ca

kumudā candikā krishnā

mādhavī kanyaketi ca

māyā nārāyanīśānī

śāradety ambiketi ca

SYNONYMS

nāmadheyāni — different names; kurvanti — will give; sthānāni — in different places; ca — also; narāh — persons interested in material enjoyment; bhuvi — on the surface of the globe; durgā iti — the name Durgā; bhadrakālī iti — the name Bhadrakālī; vijayā — the name Vijayā; vaishnavī iti — the name Vaishnavī; ca — also; kumudā — the name Kumudā; candikā — the name Candikā; krishnā — the name Krishnā; mādhavī — the name Mādhavī; kanyakā iti — the name Kanyakā or Kanyā-kumārī; ca — also; māyā — the name Māyā; nārāyanī — the name Nārāyanī; īśānī — the name Īśānī; śāradā — the name Śāradā; iti — thus; ambikā — the name Ambikā; iti — also; ca — and.

TRANSLATION

Lord Krishna blessed Māyādevī by saying: In different places on the surface of the earth, people will give you different names, such as Durgā, Bhadrakālī, Vijayā, Vaishnavī, Kumudā, Candikā, Krishnā, Mādhavī, Kanyakā, Māyā, Nārāyanī, Īśānī, Śāradā and Ambikā.

PURPORT

Because Krishna and His energy appeared simultaneously, people have generally formed two groups — the śāktas and the Vaishnavas — and sometimes there is rivalry between them. Essentially, those who are interested in material enjoyment are śāktas, and those interested in spiritual salvation and attaining the spiritual kingdom are Vaishnavas. Because people are generally interested in material enjoyment, they are interested in worshiping Māyādevī, the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vaishnavas, however, are śuddha-śāktas, or pure bhaktas, because the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra indicates worship of the Supreme Lord's energy, Harā. A Vaishnava prays to the energy of the Lord for the opportunity to serve the Lord along with His spiritual energy. Thus Vaishnavas all worship such Deities as Rādhā-Krishna, Sītā-Rāma, Lakshmī-Nārāyana and Rukminī-Dvārakādhīśa, whereas durgā-śāktas worship the material energy under different names.

The names by which Māyādevī is known in different places have been listed by Vallabhācārya as follows. In Vārānasī she is known as Durgā, in Avantī she is known as Bhadrakālī, in Orissa she is known as Vijayā, and in Kulahāpura she is known as Vaishnavī or Mahālakshmī. (The representatives of Mahālakshmī and Ambikā are present in Bombay.) In the country known as Kāmarūpa she is known as Candikā, in Northern India as Śāradā, and in Cape Comorin as Kanyakā. Thus she is distributed according to various names in various places.

Śrīla Vijayadhvaja Tīrthapāda, in his pada-ratnāvalī-tīkā, has explained the meanings of the different representations. Māyā is known as Durgā because she is approached with great difficulty, as Bhadrā because she is auspicious, and as Kālī because she is deep blue. Because she is the most powerful energy, she is known as Vijayā; because she is one of the different energies of Vishnu, she is known as Vaishnavī; and because she enjoys in this material world and gives facilities for material enjoyment, she is known as Kumudā. Because she is very severe to her enemies, the asuras, she is known as Candikā, and because she gives all sorts of material facilities, she is called Krishnā. In this way the material energy is differently named and situated in different places on the surface of the globe.

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