Durga, Shatakshi, Shakumbhari

Powerful incarnations of Adhya Shakti
She who killed giant demon Durgamasur

advertisement

 

Goddess Durga

Trigunatmak Mahamaya Mahashakti Adya Shakti

Mahamaya, one who can mesmerize the entire universe, Yogmaya, the destructive passionate power who was created as a consequence of the yogic sleep of Lord Vishnu, Durga, the female power created in order to diminish the tyranny of the demon named Durgam, Kaali, the power having the capability of devouring even the existence of Kaal or time, Taara, the power who helps attain salvation from the cycle of birth and death, Parvati or Sati, the spouse of Lord Shiva - these are the different names which are used to refer to the divine goddess Adhya Shakti Kali. This great power has always resolved all sorts of problems and critical situations of gods as well as human beings. She is the spouse of Lord Shiva, and simultaneously, the inner power of Lord Vishnu. She has made appearance and has achieved fame in several different forms of incarnation, which include Tri-devi’s (the three goddesses) or the great goddesses, the Mahavidyas, Navadurgas, Siddha Vidyas, Yoginis and many more.

Usually, Goddess Durga has been viewed in two different forms in ancient Hindu religion- in one form, she bears ten hands while in the other, she has eight hands. She sits on her carrier, which is a lion or a tiger, and kills the Asuras or demons. She looks graceful as well as gorgeous in priceless ornaments, beautiful saree, gold crown and a crescent moon. But in reality, she reflects an image of anger or fearfulness. In her ten hands, she bears various types of weapons, and she is known to rescue us from grave danger when her devotees face any trouble.

The tale narrating the advent of Goddess Durga and the rigorous meditation of the demon Durgam

Durgamasur, son of demon Ruru, was born in the family of Hiranyaksha. Since the ancient times, the Vedas have been considered to be the chief source of power of all the gods. So, in order to curtail the power of the gods, Durgamasur aimed at satisfying lord Brahma, and with this purpose in his view, the demon went to the Himalayas to engage himself in meditation. He meditated there for 1000 long years, and as a consequence, all living beings in all the three Lokas were deeply afflicted. Afterwards, Lord Brahma rode on the back of his carrier Swan and went to the place where the demon was busy meditating. He told the demon to ask for any special boon. Durgamasur wanted to defeat all the gods. With this purpose in mind, the demon asked Brahma to provide him with all the Vedas and Mantras (holy chants). Brahma agreed his wish and returned back to his Satya Lok. As soon as his wish was granted, the Brahmins and the gods lost their power over the Vedas and the Mantras. Simultaneously, all the holy practices performed by them, such as, Snana (holy bathing), Hom (offering to god), worship, chanting etc. lost their significance. In this way, the entire universe faced a disastrous situation, even the gods started getting aged and powerless, and because of they don't get out anything. Seeing such poor condition of the gods, Durgamasur began to attack the Amaravati, where the gods used to live. The gods lost all their power, and hence decided it best to escape from Heaven. They started taking shelter in the various caverns of mountains and began to worship Adhya Shakti to seek her blessings to be rescued from such critical condition.

The tale narrating the reason behind Goddess Bhuvaneshwari being famed as Shatakshi (one who has a hundred eyes) and also as Shakumbhari for providing fruits, roots and leafy vegetables to gods.

Since the practice of all the ancient rituals had come to an abrupt end, there was absolute scarcity of rain all over the world, and consequently, the lands became excessively dry and there was hardly any presence of water. Such a desert-like condition prevailed for a very long time. Such a shortage of water caused the death of thousands of living beings, and the death toll kept on rising. In order to control the situation, the rest of the human beings as well as brahmins went to the Himalayas and started worshiping the origin of all powers, goddess Jagadamba, through meditations, worships, trances etc. Goddess Jagadamba was the chief controller of the entire universe. She is the creator of this motile as well as immobile world, her contribution in this creation can be felt both directly and indirectly. Afterwards, pleased by the united prayers of the brahmins and other human beings, goddess Bhuvaneshwari, who rules over the whole world (bhuvan), appeared with her deep-set blue eyes, broad as the lotus petals. Her idol could be compared to black colored kajal (soot), her eyes were broad, she looked very strict, and she had shapely round breasts. She was carrying in her hands a handful of arrows, a huge bow, lotus flower, flower petals, roots, fruits, and green leafy vegetables necessary to renew aging process. Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, who was the ultimate word in the world of beauty, who appeared as bright as a thousand sun, started raining in all the three Lokas through her deep-set eyes. Such heavy rain continued for nine long days. She was so upset seeing the poor condition of the living things that she continued to shed her tears for the nine days, and thus, all the plants and animals were relieved after a long time; all the seas and rivers and other water bodies were overflowing with water. Henceforth, this incarnation of the goddess came to be known as Shatakshi. Following this event, that brought back peace in everybody's life, all the gods hiding in the caverns had reappeared. They also joined hands with the brahmins to offer their prayers to the goddess in order to regain their control over the Vedas. All these worshipers were very much down with hunger and thirst. Hence, goddess Shatakshi offered them the fruits and vegetables to eat. It also included food for animal beings. From her this kindly gesture, she came to be known as Shakumbhari.

The tale narrating the killing of Durgamasur and retrieving the Vedas which caused her to be famed as Durga.

The messenger of Durgamasur informed him about all such happenings, following which he prepared himself with all his weapons and led all his soldiers to fight against the goddess. He made use of such an arm as a result of which the gods and the brahmins surrounding the goddess became trapped and immovable. In such a situation, they started shouting for help, and at once, the goddess came out to rescue them. She created a ring of fire around them so that they could not be harmed. A dangerous and fierce battle took place between the demon and the goddess. Afterwards, the great female powers residing within the body of the goddess started coming out. They were Kaali, Tarini or Tara, Bala, Tripura, Bhairavi, Rama, Bagala, Matangi, Kamakshi, Tulajadevi, Jamvini, Mohini, Chhinnamasta, Guhyakali, Tripur sundari and the goddess herself with her ten thousand hands. In the beginning, the above mentioned sixteen goddesses, followed by thirty two more, then sixty four more and finally infinite number of formations of the goddess appeared with their weapons and fought with the demon. Within ten days, all the soldiers of the demon were killed and then on the eleventh day, the final phase of the battle took place between the goddess and the demon. The demon was severely injured by the attack of the goddess and began to vomit blood. In a short time, he breathed his last in front of the goddess. After his death, the power entrapped within his body was seen to enter the body of the goddess. Thus, the demon found refuge within the goddess after his death.

Followed by this victory of the goddess, Lord Brahma and all the other gods, led by Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu, started worshiping the goddess wholeheartedly. The goddess was very impressed with the united effort of the gods, who were offering their prayers using different holy materials. Henceforth, she came to be known as Durga.

She also returned back the Vedas to the brahmins. This narration describes the sixteen hidden powers residing within the goddess. They are also termed as the Mahavidyas. In the ancient scripture named Devi Bhagwat Purana, there is the mention of sixteen Mahavidyas instead of ten. Usually, the goddess Adi Shakti is well known by the name of Durga among her devotees. There is hardly any soul who is not familiar with the name of Durga, the goddess who rescues from the gravest of dangers.

advertisement

The prominence of Mahishasura Mardini Durga from the united power of all the gods.

The notorious demon Mahishasura, who was born in the womb of a buffalo, was terribly powerful and indomitable. He had defeated all the gods and had declared himself to be the ruler of all the three Lokas. He had seized the rights of the gods and had resisted them from staying in the heaven. He began to enjoy all sorts of facilities, depriving the gods. Under such a pitiful condition, the gods, led by Lord Brahma, went to Lord Shiva and Vishnu to find a solution. Listening to their grievances, the Lords grew terribly angry. Lord Vishnu produced a power as bright as a thousand splendid suns. Followed by this, bright power also began to emerge from the body of other gods to form a new super-power. The god Indra and others gave out power to satiate the chief of the gods, the power emitted from Lord Shiva formed the face, the power of Yamraj (the god of death) helped to form hair, Lord Vishnu gave his power to form the arms, the power of the Moon god formed the breasts, the power emitted by Indra created the waist, the power of Varuna formed the thigh, the buttocks were formed by the power of the Earth, the two feet by the power of Lord Brahma, the toes by the power of the Sun god, and the fingers were formed by the power of the eight Vasus. The god of wealth Kuber emitted his power to form the nose, the teeth were formed by the Prajapati, the three eyes by the power of the Fire god, the eyebrows by Sandhya, the wind god helped to form the ears. In this way, the united power of all the gods gave birth to a super-power, who in turn, was famed as Mahishasura Mardini after killing the demon Mahishasura.

Mahisasur Mardini Durga