Shrimad Devi Bhagwat Katha – Devi VaibhavishrijiEmphasizing the Holiest Name of Maha Devi Bhagavati, Suta Maha Muni addressed a congregation of Sages headed by Saunaka Muni at Naimisaranya, the Forest of Naimisa as the Kali Yuga had no access to that Sacred Place since the Manomaya Chakra ( The Wheel of Mental Illusion) created by Brahma occupied the entire World excepting the Naimisa Forest. The outer rim of the Wheel became thin and would stop rolling further and hence the Forest was chosen as the Sanctified one.Devi Bhagavatam Purana consists of 12 skandhas(books), 318 adhyayas (chapters), and 18,000 verses and it is ascribed to the mythical sage Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa, who is also regarded as the author of the Mahabharata and who is credited with dividing the Vedas into four parts.The first skandha consists of 20 chapters. The first three chapters of the first skandha deal with the praise of Suta by Shaunaka for studying the eighteen Puranas from Veda Vyasa and on the request of Shaunaka, Suta’s beginning of the narration. Chapters 4-19 describe the narrative of Śuka. The last chapter narrates the story of the Mahabharata from the marriage of Shantanu with Satyavati to the birth of Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura.The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh skandhas consist of 12, 30, 25, 35, 31, and 40 chapters respectively. The last nine chapters (31-40) of the seventh skandha is known as the Devi Gita. It is a dialogue between Parvati and her father Himavat. It deals with the universal form of the Devi, meditations on the major texts of Upanishads, ashtanga-yoga, the yogas of jnana, karma, and bhakti, locations of the temples dedicated to the Devi and the rituals pertaining to her worship. The eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth skandhas have 24, 50, 13, 24, and 14 chapters respectively.
