The Mother is mysterious indescribable
power of Supreme Being. She is the dynamic aspect of the Supreme, Transcendent
Being which is infinity, eternity and ineffable peace, beyond the cognizance of
the senses and the mind. The upasana
or worship of the universal Mother leads to attainment of knowledge of the Self
(Atman) as supported by the Yaksha Prasna
in Kenopanishada. Navaratri is the
most suitable occasion for doing intense sadhana and worshipping Her
The Navratri worship of the Devi is
eminently a shakta worship, one of
the five divisions of Hindu – others being Saivites, Vaishnavas, Ganpatyas, and
Sauryas (Worshipers of five principal deities – Shakti , Siva, Vishnu, Ganpati
and Surya). Devi Mahatmya or Durga Saptashati also referred to as Chandi patha describes the glory of
Supreme Mother in form of 700 verses by Rishi Medha to King Suratha and
merchant named Samadhi who were deeply intrigued and puzzled by the fact that
their mind was seized of the very people who deprived and ousted them and were
in fact the cause of their sorrow and grief. This is analogous to attraction of
common man for illusive worldly pleasures. The exposition of Devi Tattva explains
that whatever we see or perceive as phenomenal world is the outcome of supreme
power of Para Brahman viz primal force called Adi Shakti, also known as transcendental power- Para Shakti and superlative power- Maha Shakti. The sages say that Para Brahman and His supreme
mysterious power of world illusion whom we called Maya or Devi are one and the
same, distinction without a difference like heat and fire, milk and its
whiteness, snake and its zigzag motion.
Devout Hindu worships Her in two fold
form, Avidya Maya and Vidya Maya, cause of cosmic delusion as
well as cosmic deliverance! As avidya
maya She binds down all to this illusory appearance, world play and as vidya maya She releases them from
bondage and hence artists have visualized Her in form of radiant Goddess with a
noose in one hand that binds and a sharp knife in other hand that snaps the
bondage. Being a mysterious combination of Avidya
Maya and Vidya Maya, She is
called imponderable and indescribable.
As Durga or Mahakali, She destroys but to
save. Mahakali is not fearful or
terrible but all loving and all compassionate as She destroys all terrible
evils just as a broad spectrum antibiotic kills all pathogenic microbes. This
concept is also found in other religions of the world in terms of God and Satan
in Christian theology, Ahura Mazda and Ahriman in Zoroastrian religion. Like
Mara in Buddhism we call it ignorance, asuric
forces or avidya maya in Hinduism. It
is called as Anatman (nonself) in Vedantic parlance that can be overcome by knowledge
of Atman (Self).
In Saptashati we find victory over
three demons – one, Madhu Kaitabha representing gross form of lower nature of
man, two, Mahishasura representing Rajo
guna aspect and three, Shumba
& Nishumbha representing vikshepa and avarana shakti equipped with host of warriors including Raktabija symbolizing human egoism.
Worship of the Mother in three aspects
in a particular order of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati has a significant truth.
As a play of Avidya Maya there is an involution of Spirit into Matter, absolute
into relative, one into many. Here
creative power of Brahma in form of Maha Saraswati comes first, followed by
protective aspect of Vishnu in form of Maha Lakshmi and to conclude, dissolving
power of Rudra in form of Maha Kali or Durga. When the seeker strives to rise
back to original state of transcendence, as a play of Vidya Maya, there is
evolution of Man to God- head, and here the divine power operates exactly in
the reverse way. Devotee seeks the
Mother first in form of Maha Kali for destroying grossness and nescience, then
as Maha Lakshmi for sustaining and prospering in yogic and spiritual life and
finally as Maha Saraswati, the first emanation and bestower of knowledge for
uniting individual Jiva with Parmatma or Para Brahman and attain
universal cosmic consciousness.
Jayant B Dave
Vadodara
The write up was published with some modification in Speaking Tree Column of The Times of India on 12.10.13
(The write up is a quintessential
essence of few selected chapters of the book God As Mother by Br. (Late) Swami
Chidananda Saraswati , President of The Divine Life Society, Sivanandanagar
Hqs, Uttarakhand, India from 1963 to 2008 )
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