ଶ୍ରୀଚାମୁଣ୍ଡାସ୍ତୋତ୍ରମ୍ (ଗରୁଡ କୃତ)

A hymn to Chamunda with a frame that nothing else in the corpus shares, from the Reva Khanda of the Skanda Purana. Garuda performs a hundred divine years of austerity at Kanakhala and Shiva, pleased, asks what he wants; he asks to be Vishnu's mount and lord among the twice-born; Shiva says both are very hard to get and grants them anyway, making him Indra among birds. And then, with the boon in hand, Garuda goes and worships Chamunda — the goddess of the burning ground, surrounded by spirits, fond of fat and flesh. The verses he speaks are in a long metre with the refrain, may Charmamunda protect you, and they do not soften her: throat thin with hunger, mouth wet with fresh blood, seated on a corpse, dancing to her own damaru while the drums of the world's ending sound.