Durga is, perhaps, the most widely worshipped aspect of Sakti. An entire PuraQa, the Devibhagavatam, has been dedicated to her. Another work, more wellknown than the Devlbhagavatam, but containing practically the same mate¬rial in a concise form, is the Devlmahatmyam. It is also
known as the Durgasaptasatl or Cwyfl, and forms a part of another wellknown PuraQa, the Markal}(ieyapurana. This work is so highly venerated that every verse of it is consid¬ered to be a Mantra (sacred formula) of the DevI and its repetition is believed to confer whatever boons the votary prays for.
Literally 'Durga' means one who is difficult to approach, or, difficult to know. Being the personification of the totality of the powers of the gods, she is naturally diffi¬cult to approach or to know. However, being the Mother of
the universe, she is the personification of tender love, when supplicated.
Out of the several aspects of the Sakti put forward by this work, Y oganidra ('meditation-sleep') comes first. She is the power of sleep, taking recourse to which, Lord Vi~l)u rests between two cycles of creation. She is praised as
responsible for the creation, sustenance and withdrawal of
the universe. She is the mysterious power, the very personi¬fication of knowledge, wisdom and memory. She is plea¬sant and beautiful. At the same time she is terrible also. This combination of the opposite qualities is possible only for her. She is described as wielding several weapons like the bow, arrow, sword, discus and trident.
The next is Mahi~asuramardinI, the deity who took shape as a result of the pooling together of the powers of all the gods, who had been oppressed by the demon Mahi~asura. Vi~l)u, Siva and Brahma were incensed by hearing the accounts of the misdeeds of Mahi~asura and the
DevI was born out of their wrath, followed by the wrath of the lesser divinities. The powers of these gods formed her limbs and the exact duplicates of their weapons formed her
arsenal. Armed with these formidable weapons and riding on a fierce lion, she challenged Mahi~asura and destroyed him along with his army.
This story is followed by an exquisite hymn which combines in itself both poetic excellence and devotional fervour and insight.
She is the power inscrutable, by which the whole universe is permeated and energised. She is the personifica¬tion of all wealth, power, beauty, as also virtues. She is the
embodiment of Yajiia (sacrifice), Paravidya (the highest knowledge concerning t):1e spirit) as well as Aparavidya (knowledge of the secular sciences). It is she who bestows wealth-both material and spiritual-dispels difficulties, and annihilates the evil ones. Her beauty as well as her valour, is incomparable.
The gods could not enjoy their freedom for long. Very soon, they were overpowered by the demons Sumbha and Nisumbha. So they had to run to the Himalayas and supplicate the DevI again. This hymn, well known as the 'Aparajitastotra,' praises her as the 'unconquered.' Her immanence in all the living beings is the main theme of this hymn. The powers and activities of all beings are manifestations of only her power.
In response to this prayer, she manifested herself as KausikI Durga, emanating from the body of ParvatI, who herself became KalI the dark one, after this manifestation.
The world-bewitching beauty of Durga attracted the attention of Sumbha and Nisumbha who sent proposals of marriage through a serf. Unfortunately for them, in a moment of 'weakness and foolishness' she had vowed to marry only him who would vanquish her in battle. All attempts at forcibly dragging her away ended in disaster for the demons. Heads rolled, the intervention of giants like DhUmralocana, Cal)qa, MUl)qa and RajktabIja not with¬standing. KaII, the fierce black goddess who emerged from the DevI's forehead, beheaded Cal)qa and MUl)qa and thus won the name Camul)qa for herself. Only the battle with RaktabIja was longdrawn needing some special efforts by the DevI since he had the mysterious power to multiply
himself through the .drops of blood spilled in the battle. Even the Saptamaq-kas who came out of her body to battle, seemed helpless. It was KalI who managed to spread her extensive tongue and drink away all the blood gushing out of RaktabIja, thus preventing the emergence of more demons and enabling Durga to exterminate him. The rest was easy. Nisumbha was easily put to death after a mock¬ery of fight. Sumbha being exasperated by now, accused her of taking the help of 'others'! Laughing derisively, the DevI withdrew all her emanations and manifestations into herself, showing that she was always the One without a second. In the ensuing battle, Sumbha the lord of the demons, was easily killed, thus ridding the worlds of a great terror.
This is followed by another piece of prayer, an enchanting poetical hymn, which is as simple as it it elegant. Known as the 'NarayaIfIstuti' it starts with fervent appeal to the Mother by the grateful gods to be benign and gracious. The hymn describes her as the .mistress and the mother of the whole creation. She is the physical universe. She is the mysterious power of Vi~IfU (Vai~IfavIsakti), the original cause, as also the power that deludes beings. It is only by pleasing her that one can hope to get spiritual emancipation. All arts and sciences as also womankind, are her manifestations. She is residing as the intellect in the hearts of human beings. She is the all-devouring time. She is the very personification of all that is good and auspi¬cious. She is ever engaged in protecting her children. The Saptamatfkas are really her aspects. KaII, the terrible, with a garland of human skulls round her neck, is also another
of her aspects. When pleased, she can remedy all diseases. If displeased, she can destroy all that we love and like to possess. Her votaries are always free from troubles. She is the Supreme Truth described in all the scriptural works.
The work also describes her other manifestations like VindhyavasinI (one who lives in the Vindhyas), Raktadanta (of red teeth), Satak~I (of hundred eyes), SakambharI (sus¬tainer of vegetables), Durga (slayer of demon Durgama) BhIma (the terrible) and BhramarI or Bhramaramba (having the form of bees).
The DevI as depicted in this work has three major manifestations: MahakalI, Mahalak~mi and MahasarasvatL These aspects should not be confused with the PauraIfic deities, ParvatI, Lak~mI and SarasvatL They are actually the three major manifestations of the One Supreme Power MahesvarI, according to the three GUIfas (Tamas, Rajas and Sattva).
The first, MahakalI, has ten faces and ten feet. She is deep blue in colour, like the gem NIlamaIfi. She is bedecked with ornaments and wields in her ten hands, the following weapons and objects: sword, discus, mace, arrow, bow, iron club, lance, sling, human head and conch. Being the personification of the Tamasic aspect of the DevI, she is also the Y oganidra, who has put Lord Vi~Ifu to sleep. It is to her that Brahma prayed, requesting her to leave Vi~IfU so that the latter could destroy the demons Madhu and Kai!abha.
She is the personification of Maya, the mysterious power of Lord Vi~Ifu. Unless she is pleased and voluntarily withdraws, the Lord in us will not awake and destroy the
powers of evil which are trying to destroy us. This seems to be the import of the story of Brahma, Madhu and Kai!abha.
Mahalak~mI, the second, the Raj'asic aspect of the DevI is described as red in colour like the coral. She holds in her eighteen hands the rosary, battle-pot, cudgel, lance, sword, shield, conch, bell, wine-cup, trident, noose and the discus Sudarsana. Being 'born' out of the combined wraths and powers of all the gods, she is the personification not only of the powers but also of the will to fight the evil
forces. That is why she is shown as red in colour, the
colour of blood, the colour of war. It is she who destroyed Mahisasura.
The story of Mahi~asura has several implications. Mahi~asura, the he-buffalo, represents the jungle law that might is right. He is the ruthless brute force that does not brook any opposition where selfish ends are concerned. And he succeeded even against the gods; but only when
they were divided. But he fell before their combined powers and the will to fight, which is exactly what the
DevI, Mahi~asuramardinI, represents. The lesson of this story at the social level is too obvious to need an explana¬tibn. Nor can we ignore its social implications. At the
subjective level, Mahi~asura stands for ignorance and stub¬
born egoism. Its subjugation and conquest are possible only when the Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) pools all his energies
together and fights it with a tenacious will. Since God helps
him who helps himself, the intervention of the divine power in his favour is always there.
MahasarasvatI is the third deity representing the Sattvic aspect of the DevL She is bright like the autumn
moon and has eight hands in which she holds the bell, trident, ploughshare, conch, pestle, discus, bow and arrow. It is she \\Tho manifests out of the physical sheath of ParvatI and hence known as KausikI Durga. She is the very personification of physical perfection and beauty. She is the power of work, order and organization.
The section dealing with her exploits is the longest. DhUmralocana, Cal).Qa, MUl).Qa, Raktablja, Nisumbha and Sumbha are the chief demons destroyed by her; All these demons known as Asuras, are archetypes of highly egoistic people who revel in a life of the pleasures of the body and the sense-organs. Symbolically they represent various stages and states of egoism. If Dhumralocana ('the smoky¬eyed') stands for the grossest state of ignorance and egoism, Raktablja represents -a more subtle state which multiplies itself and our troubles! While MUl).Qa is the low profile of our egoism (mul).qa=the low), Cal).qa is the more horrible side of it (cal).qa=fierce). Sumbha and Nisumbha signify more englightened aspects of egoism (Sumbh= to shine).
DhUmralocana was destroyed by a Huilkara, by a mere frown! Cal).qa and MUl).qa were too mean to be handled by the DevI directly. Hence KalI, the horrible, finished them at her behest. RaktabIja required more skilful handling. The source of his strength was destroyed first before destroying him. As for Nisumbha and Sumbha, the DevI was obliged to give them a straight fight.
Lower states of ignorance and egoism as typified by
DhUmralocana, Cal).qa and MUl).qa, should be destroyed by
. sudden bursts of energy and rough handling. More cr:afty
states which result in endless multiplication of desires¬that is what Raktabija signifies-should be tactfully handled by going to the root, by suppressing them as soon as they arise. 'Enlightened egoi~m,' if one can use such an expression, which is egoism all the same, needs a straight fight. It may be a long drawn fight and Devi's grace is absolutely necessary for success.
Aspects of Durga mentioned in the PuraIfas and Agamas are legion. For instance: Sailaputri, Ku~maIfqa, Katyayani, K~emailkari, HarasidhiQ, Vanadurga, Vindhya¬vasini, Jayadurga and so on. They are of greater interest in iconography and to the supplicants who can get different types of desires fulfilled by worshipping the different aspects.
Images of Durga can have four or eight or ten or eighteen or even twenty hands. The eyes are usually three. The hair is dressed up as a crown (called Kara:t:lqamuku!a). She is gorgeously dressed with red cloth and several. orna¬ments. Among the objects held in hand, the more common ones are-conch, discus, trident, bow, arrow, sword, dagger, shield, rosary, winecup and bell. She may be shown as standing on a lotus or on a buffalo's head or as riding a lion.
Lion, the royal beast, her mount, represents the best in animal creation. It can also represent the greed for food, and hence the greed for other objects of enjoyment which inevitably leads to lust. To become divine (Devatva) one should keep one's animal instincts under complete control. This seems to be the lesson we can draw from the picture of the Sirhhavahini (the rider oflion).