The Devi Gita & Tantra:- The term tantra has a wide variety of meanings but most fundamentally refers to a “loom,” “thread,” or “warp,” thereby evoking the notions of weaving & synthesizing. Hindu etymologies emphasize the root tan, “to stretch weave,” conjoined to another root, tra, “to protect or save.” Metaphorically, Tantra thus weaves together & expands various strands or traditions of spiritual practice designed to rescue humankind from the sufferings of samsara. The term is commonly applied to a group of works know as Tantras, which expound the Trantric ideals & practices. It is impossible to define precisely what constitutes such ideals & practices. It is rather a general configuration of multifarious notions, symbol systems, & ritualized spiritual exercise, many of which have their roots or counterparts in non-Tantric Hindu circles & sects. The Devi Gita & Sakta Tantrism:- As we have seen, Tantrism may best be described as a genersl configuration of certain ideals & practices that assume the interpenetration & interidentification of the macrocosmic & microcosmic, the physical & the spiritual. These ideals & practices have been incorporated into various sectarian perspectives, Saiva, Vaisnava, as well as Sakta. Saiva & Vaisnava Tantric works, however, usually refer to themselves as Agamas & Samhitas, respectively, while most works called Tantras are Sakta. There is a strong affinity between the Goddess & the Tantric world view, so much so that one scholar refers to the “Sahta forms of Tantrism. . . [as] Hindu Tabtrism par excellence.” Surely the Sakta identification of the Dive with Maya & Prakrti (representing the realm of spiritualized matter), on the one hand, & Tantra’s emphasis on the active nature of an inner, salvific agent (manifesting in the role of Sakti as the Kundalini), on the other, help to create bond between Saktism & Tantrism Navasloki Devi Gita: The Essential Devi Gita in Nine Verses:- The nine verses below, appearing at the beginning of a recent printed edition of the Devi Gita, purport to represent the essential teaching of the text & its most powerful mantric verses. These verses, known as the “Navasloki Devi Gita,” are regarded in their mantric aspect as concentrated sonic manifestations both of the Goddess & her Song. The daily recitation of these nine, for those without time to recite the whole of the Devi Gita, is viewed as a quick & potent means to bring the presence of the Goddess directly into one’s own life, providing the same worldly & spiritual benefits as other more complex forms of worshiping & meditating upon the Devi. The nine also serve as a brief introduction & summary of many of the major themes of the Sons. These themes are discussed below in the Comment following the Navasloki. The reader may refer to the main text for additional commentary & notes on these verses. The numbers in brachets at the end of each verse indicate the chapter & verse in the Devi Gita from which the Navasloki are taken. The Afterword further considers how the attachment of the Navasloki to the Devi Gita may reflect significant changes in the ways the text has been understood & utilized.