“Sarva Mangala Mangalye Sive Sarvartha Sadhike Saranye Trayambike Gauri Narayani Namostute” Initiate the article with the ma...
“Sarva
Mangala Mangalye Sive Sarvartha Sadhike
Saranye Trayambike Gauri Narayani Namostute”
Saranye Trayambike Gauri Narayani Namostute”
Initiate the article with the mantra of
goddess Durga……….Just the day after Mahalaya (Mahalaya marks the end of Pitri
Paksha and also the beginning of Devi Paksha as per Hinduism), we
specially Bangalis standing on the verge of our most auspicious occasion
Durga Puja. It is the time to smell the Puja in air, hear the
blowing sound of Conch, and enjoy the festival of omnipotent goddess. The color and aroma of preparation to worship Devi
Durga are on the ultimate stage all over. The air and sky also finished their
make up to welcome the beloved Mother.At the edge of this auspicious
occasion, I am trying with my negligible capacity to inscribe about
Goddess of power and strength and destroyer of evil- Maa Durga.
Durga is also known as Mahishasuramardini
or the demolisher of Mahishasura, the buffalo demon. Once upon a time,
thousands of years ago, there was a tyrant called Mahishasura. Mahishasura was
the son of Ramba was an Asura the king of demons. Ramba married a Mahishi, a female water buffalo who was
cursed Princess Shyamala, due to a curse she was compel to be a buffalo. Their
son’s name was Mahishasura. As Mahisha's mother was a buffalo, he was able to
change into human and a buffalo form and could even change into the form of
other animals.
Mahishasura performed severe penance to please Lord Brahma, for the boon of immortality. Instead of giving
that boon, Brahma gave the boon such that he would not killed by
any man or God or animal only at the hands of
a woman. Mahishasura anticipated that this was alike of immortality as he
believed it was not possible for a woman to slay an Asura like him.
After became a king with emboldened by this
belief Mahishasura ruled all over the earth. However Mahishasura
not only conquer kingdoms but also destroyed the kingdoms, and terrified the
people. People feared him but did not know what to do to escape from him.
Anyone who stood up against Mahishasura was ruthlessly killed by the demon.
Mahishasura was not pleased after conquering
the earth. He invaded the heaven and defeated Indra, the king of the Heaven.
Indra’s army was defeated and the Devas were all expelled from Heaven.In this
decisive situation, Devas approach the trinity
of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu to
seek help. All God use their divine power to create a Supreme
power. The entire divine power merged together and forms
a blinding light and from this light emerged a woman with 10 hands.
The Goddess looked ferocious and beautiful at the same time. The Goddess is
Devi Durga.
Lord Brahma then offered his Kamandalam, Lord
Shiva gave his trident ( Trishul) to Durga, Lord Vishnu offered his
Sudarshana Chakra. The God of the Mountains gave her a lion, Indra offered the
Goddess his thunderbolt [Vajrayudham], Vishwakarma –gave his axe, Varuna gave
Durga a conch, Agni gave her a missile, Vayu gave her bows and arrows.
Fortified with the weapons, Goddess Durga sat
on the lion majestically and made a thunderous unnerving roar which shaken
three worlds. Waves of ocean waves crashed up the skies and the earth shook.
She called Mahishasura to fight with her.
As Mahishasura emerged and attacked the
Devi. Then the war which symbolizes as good versus evil begins.
Seconds/minutes/hours gone by, Mahishasura were not able to defeat Devi Durga.
He became tired and tried to escape and started changing his
forms. Mahishasura had half emerged from the form of the buffalo, when the
Devi let out another growl and l pined Mahisha down. Mahisha was unable to move
or even use his power of changing form. The Devi then looked at him and with a
flash, brought out her Trisul and injected it to Mahishasura’s chest. At last
the devil and his terror came to an end, Mahishasura was no more. The
Goddess vanished and the Gods gave Goddess Durga another name
Mahishasuramardini.
Maa Durga’s weapons symbolize the various
qualities of human nature and can also be used to destroy evil. Besides these,
the conch and the lotus flower in her hands symbolize the dominance of the
sound of God (Om) in life and the ability to achieve spiritual heights amidst
all sins and evils in the surrounding, respectively. Goddess Durga is
carrying weapons (assuming mudras) with symbolic hand gestures that symbolize
vital component of human life.
Chakra in
her 1st upper right hand signifies Dharma Duty/Righteousness: We must perform our duty/responsibilities in
our life. Conch in her 1st upper left hand signifies the Happiness:
We must perform our duty happily and cheerfully and not with resentment. Sword in her 2nd right lower hand signifies eradication of vices
with discrimination: We must learn to discriminate and eradicate our
vice (evil qualities). Bow and arrow in her 2nd left lower hand signifies that whatever
difficulties we face in our life we should not lose our character (values). Lotus Flower in her 3rd lower left hand signifies Detachment: We
must live in the world without attachment to the external world as a lotus
flower stays in dirty water yet remains disconnected, smiles and gives its
beauty to others. Club in her 3rd right lower hand is the sign of Devotion and
Surrender: Whatever we do in our life we should put love and devotion to it
and leave the result as almighty have will. Trident/Trishul in her 4th left lower hand signifies Courage: We
must have courage to face the challenges in our life. 4th lower right hand symbolizes Forgiveness and Her
Blessings
Goddess Durga sits on lion that symbolizes unlimited power.
It indicates that she acquires unlimited power and uses it to defend virtue and
destroy evil. The Lion is a symbol of unrestrained animalistic tendencies
in human like greed, jealousy, anger, arrogance, selfishness, desire to harm
others etc. Her sitting on Lion indicates that we have to power over these
traits, if not we could be controlled by them.
As we stand on the edge to celebrate
Durga Puja we should promise to stop turning a blind eye to demons of society
with whom we live with. We have to a change in outlook of looking at our girls.
Let the girl child live and let them to breath in the free air and help them to
accomplish their dreams. Need to make them empower in each and every way. Most
importantly let them to learn and train to protect physically, mentally,
professionally and personally from all kind of abuse by their own. You never
know where your mother or sister or wife or friend faces Mahishasura, so
prevention is always better.
Time has come that we all should unite to win
over the evil within and all around us provide our girls all the reasons to
celebrate the festival of power of women that is about to begin. Finishing my
article with Durga Stuti (Worshipping Mantra)
“Ya
devi sarva bhuteshu, shanti rupena sangsthita
Ya devi sarva bhuteshu, shakti rupena sangsthita
Ya devi sarva bhuteshu, matri rupena sangsthita
Yaa devi sarva bhuteshu, buddhi rupena sangsthita
Namastasyai, namastasyai, namastasyai, namo namaha
Ya devi sarva bhuteshu, shakti rupena sangsthita
Ya devi sarva bhuteshu, matri rupena sangsthita
Yaa devi sarva bhuteshu, buddhi rupena sangsthita
Namastasyai, namastasyai, namastasyai, namo namaha
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