Invoking the Universal Mother

By M N CHATTERJEE

Adi Shankara exalted the Mother Goddess: "Immersed in dangers, O Durga, i turn my mind to you, O ocean of Mercy and spouse of Shiva; please don't consider this as anything less than heartfelt, since children remember their mother when they suffer from hunger and thirst."

During Navratri, the nine-day festival that celebrates the feminine principle, the 'Chandi' or Devi Mahatmyam of the Markandeya Purana is recited before daybreak. The word 'Durga' means a fort - something that is difficult to access. It is a pointer to the fact that her origin is traced to the determined efforts of all the harassed gods who had to share their power and weapons with her to make her powerful enough to successfully challenge the rampaging demons that were terrorising the earth, hea-vens and the nether world. The word also implies 'Durgatinashini' - that is, one who removes sufferings.

Her iconographic representation during Durga Puja follows her portrayal in Devi Mahatmyam as Mahi-shasuramardini, the destroyer of the buffalo-demon. Astride a lion, she is shown thrusting her trident into the chest of the buffalo-demon, half-emerged from the carcass of a slain buffalo. It is the climactic scene of the narrative when, after a series of fierce and protracted battles with the tricky demon changing his form and shape, the Devi ultimately traps him in the deadly combat and restores cosmic order to the great relief of the helpless gods. The supreme deity is flanked by goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati and gods Kartikeya and Ganesha, representing pros-perity, erudition, prowess and auspiciousness.

Her 10 hands carry weapons and articles that bear symbolic significance. The conch suggests sound and the mystic Aum. The sudarshan chakra or divine discus is an unfailing weapon which shows her to be invincible in her battle to uphold righteousness. The thunderbolt enables her to destroy the target without being hit back. Through the grimacing lion she conveys her firmness, strength and determination, the qualities she wants her devotees to imbibe.

She is hailed as 'Bhuktimuktipradayini' suggesting that she can grant freedom from material bondage to achieve ultimate liberation.

Since the Devi's advent is around harvest time she is closely associated with vegetation and nourishment. An epithet of Durga is Shakambhari or the herb-nourishing goddess. She is also worshipped as Annapurna or Annada the goddess of food and as Navapatrika, consisting of a plantain tree and eight other plants and herbs, representing all that is necessary for sustenance of life and well-being. Hence, Durga is also a harvest goddess and the goddess of fertility. In the spring she is invoked as Vasanti Devi. She is also venerated as Jagaddhatri, fosterer of the earth.

The annual enactment of the gory battles is of allegorical significance. The seemingly irrepressible demon representing the chaotic and dark underworld is face to face with the Supreme Deity representing light and all that is good in life. The anthropomorphic villain is a repository of some of the heinous traits found in us. But Mahisha had once done severe penance which impressed Brahma so much that he gave him a boon that no god could kill him. Hence the emergence of a mighty goddess to subjugate him.

The cyclical presentation of the protracted battles every year also shows that it is not easy to rid oneself of the pernicious instincts entrenched within. But hope burns bright in the belief that everyone has a divine spark that could light the fire of self-purification.

Source: The Times of India