Durga:
The Goddesses of Power
Dr. Biswajit Satpathy, Ph.D. D.Sc
Professor, Dept. of Business Administration
Sambalpur University, Jyoti Vihar, Burla
SAMBALPUR, ODISHA, INDIA- 768019
“Hindu worship of the divine Mother can be traced back
to pre-vedic, prehistoric India. Ramprasad Chanda writes the following about the development of Durga
from primitive goddess to her current form:
....it is possible to distinguish two different
strata – one primitive and the other advanced. The primitive form of Durga (Parvati)
is the result of syncretism of a
mountain-goddess worshiped by the dwellers of the Himalaya and the Vindhyas,
a goddess worshiped by the nomadic Abhirashepherd,
the vegetation
spirit conceived as a female, and a war-goddess. As her votaries
advanced in civilization the primitive war-goddess was transformed into the
personification of the all-destroying time (Kali), the vegetation
spirit into the primordial energy (Adya Sakti)
and the saviouress from “samsara” (cycle of rebirths) , and gradually brought into line
with the Brahmanic mythology and philosophy.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga)
“Durga represents the empowering and protective nature of
motherhood. From her forehead sprang Kali, who defeated Durga's enemy, Mahishasura. Kali (the feminine form of Kaal" i.e. "time") is the
primordial energy as power of Time, literally, the "creator or doer of
time"—her first manifestation. After time, she manifests as
"space", as Tara,
from which point further creation of the material universe progresses. The
divine Mother, Devi Adi parashakti, manifests herself in various forms, representing the
universal creative force. She
becomes Mother Nature (Mula Prakriti), who gives birth to all life forms as
plants, animals, and such from Herself, and she sustains and nourishes them
through her body, that is the earth with its animal life, vegetation, and
minerals. Ultimately she re-absorbs all life forms back into herself, or
"devours" them to sustain herself as the power of death feeding on
life to produce new life. She also gives rise to Maya (the illusory world) and to prakriti, the force that galvanizes the divine ground of existence into
self-projection as the cosmos. The Earth itself is manifested by Adi parashakti. The primordial feminine
creative-preservative-destructive energy, Shakti, is considered to be the motive force behind all action and
existence in the phenomenal cosmos. The cosmos itself is purusha, the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and
transcendent reality that is the Divine Ground of all being, the "world
soul". This masculine potential is actualized by feminine dynamism,
embodied in multitudinous goddesses who are ultimately all manifestations of
the One Great Mother. Mother Maya or Shakti, herself, can free the individual
from demons of ego, ignorance, and desire that bind the soul in maya (illusion). Practitioners of the Tantric tradition focus on Shakti to free themselves from the cycle of karma.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_goddess)
“The supreme soul is otherwise called Shakti (power). From
this power, generates all forms of knowledge of the world and it is accepted as
vital cause of creation, existence and destruction. According to 'Shree Durga
Shaptshati- Rahasyam', the original power is Mahalaxmi that created three pairs
of Supreme Powers. They are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva as male and Saraswati,
Laxmi and Parvati as female, and they married respectively. Maha Saraswati is
well known as Brahmani, Mahalaxmi as Vaishnavi and Mahakali as Maheswari. Durga
Shakti is the original cause of all the present or past worldly occurrences.
Durga Shakti is called as Adhyashakti, Paramatma Shakti or Ati Prakrutika
Shakti. She is creating and controlling other two powers: Natural and General.
Natural Power is called as Atma Shakti, Prakrutika Shakti, Pancha Mahabhuta
Shakti etc. This Shakti creates and controls the General Energy. General
Energies are called Jada Shakti or Tamashakti. By the blessings of Durga
Shakti, the mother of the Universe, man is able to get his emancipation or
salvation and indulge in enjoyments in performance of his daily activities. So
Vyasadev, the eminent poet of "Devi Bhagwat", has aptly described
"Rudrahinam Vishnuhinam na vadanti janastatha Shaktihinam Yathasarbe
probodhanti Naradhamam". The powerless persons are despised as mean
persons. So, by being devoted to the Supreme, we should be strong and powerful
by her grace.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durga)
Kant defines power (Macht) as “a capacity that is superior
to great obstacles” (KU 5:260). The will
to power (German: der Wille zur Macht) is a prominent concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to power describes what Nietzsche believed to be the main driving force in humans – namely, achievement, ambition, and the striving to
reach the highest possible position in life. These are all manifestations of
the will to power. There are some
misconceptions of the will to power, even by Nazis.
Nietzsche's philosophy distinguish between kraft (force) and macht(power). Kraft is primordial strength that may be
exercised by anything possessing it, while Macht is, within Nietzsche's philosophy,
closely tied to sublimation and "self-overcoming", the conscious
channeling of Kraft for creative purposes. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_to_power)
“Martin Heidegger suggested that raw physical or
political power was not what Nietzsche had in his mind. This is reflected in
the following passage from Nietzsche's notebooks:
“I have found strength where one does not look for it: in simple, mild,
and pleasant people, without the least desire to rule—and, conversely, the
desire to rule has often appeared to me a sign of inward weakness: they fear
their own slave soul and shroud it in a royal cloak (in the end, they still
become the slaves of their followers, their fame, etc.) The powerful natures
dominate, it is a necessity, they need not lift one finger. Even if, during
their lifetime, they bury themselves in a garden house!”
Opposed to a biological
and voluntary conception of the Wille
zur Macht,
Heidegger also argued that the will to power must be considered in relation to
the Übermensch and the thought of eternal recurrence—although this reading
itself has been criticized by Mazzino Montinari as a "macroscopic Nietzsche". Gilles Deleuze also emphasized the connection between the
will to power and eternal return. Both Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze were
careful to point out that the primary nature of will to power is unconscious.
This means that the drive to power is always already at work unconsciously,
perpetually advancing the will of the one over the other. This thus creates the
state of things in the observable or conscious world still operating through
the same tension. Derrida is careful not to confine the will to power to human
behavior, the mind, metaphysics, nor physical reality individually. It is the
underlying life principle inaugurating all aspects of life and behavior, a
self-preserving force. A sense of entropy and the eternal return, which are
related, is always in-dissociable from the will to power. The eternal return of
all memory initiated by the will to power is an entropic force again inherent
to all life.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_to_power)
Since
the will to power works in our unconscious state of mind and drives our life and behavior and
is the self preserving force, men have always tried to expand and enrich this
force. People often prefer to worship gods who have a
great deal of power, even if that power is viewed as dangerous. The purpose of
worship is to glorify, honor, praise, exalt, and please God. Worship not only
honors and magnifies God, but it is also for own edification and strength.
Worship helps to develop a God-like character. Worshiping God develops such
traits as forgiveness, tenderness, justice, righteousness, purity, kindness,
love and mental strength. Men believe that worshiping God would enable him with
infinite power.
“Vedas attribute the idea of infinity to Gods.
The Devas like Indra, Varuna, Vayu, are first worshipped as gods and have the
status of the Supreme Being, who is the ruler of the universe. On committing
evil deeds people become afraid and ask Varuna for pardon. In Rig Vededic hymns
we have record of the worshiping of the half-personified forces of nature like
fire, wind, and rain to the realization of the Absolute Spirit. Vedas are the
early form of monotheism. But this monotheistic idea did not satisfy men. There
was an attempt to get behind these powerful gods and grasp the ‘power; of which
they were the manifestations. A well known hymn says: ‘that Being is one which
the wise call by various names as Agni, Yama, and Matarishvan’. Rig vedic hymns
manifest these powers as ‘Pita mata
sadaminmanusanam; Agni is always father and mother to humans’ (Rig Veda
6.I.5 ); ‘mateva yadbharase paprathano
janam janam; (Agni) sustains all beings like a mother’ (5.15.4) and ‘vayam syama maturna sunavah; (O Usha!)
let us be dear to you like sons to a mother (7.8i.4). Heaven and earth were
worshiped as Father and Mother and prayed for protection from sin and guidance
in the moral order. The ‘Durga Sukta of the Taittiriya
Aranyaka is one of the most beautiful hymns in the Vedas. Therein Agni is
conceived of as the Divine Mother Durga, the resplendent goddess, blazing in
her power:
Tamagnivarnam tapasa jvalantim vairocanim karmaphalesu
justam
Durgam devim saranamaham prapadye sutarasi tarase
namah
I take refuge in the Goddess Durga, fiery in
her luster and radiant with ardency, who is the power of the Supreme manifest
in diverse forms, residing in actions and their results. O thou skilled in
deliverance us, you steer us expertly across difficulties; salutations to thee.
In the Durga Saptashati Mother Durga is given
many epithets ending with the word ratri
or night----kalaratri, maharatri, and
so on. Rishi Kushika invokes Night as Mother. The concept of the Divine as
Shakti in the Vedas is found in the ‘Devi Sukta’. The whole hymn is an ecstatic
outpouring of the realization of Brahman by Vak, the daughter of the sage
Ambhrina. Realizing her all pervasive identity she exclaims:
It is I (as identical with Brahman) who move
in the form of the Rudras, the Vasus, the Adityas and all other gods… I am the
sovereign power (over all the worlds ) bestower of all wealth, cognizant (of
the Supreme Being) and the first among those to whom sacrificial homage is to
be offered; the gods in all places worship but me, who am diverse in form and
permeate everything… I give birth to the infinite expanse overspreading the
earth my birthplace is in waters deep in the sea; there from do I permeate
variously all the worlds, and touch the heaven above with my body. It is I who
blow like the wind creating all the worlds; I transcend the heaven above, I
transcend the earth below this is the greatness I have attained.
The Mundaka Upanishad also speaks of seven
female powers----kali, karali, and so on---personifications of the flames of the
sacrificial fire. The Shvetashvatara, a later theistic Upanishad, refers to the
‘innate power of the Supreme, concealed by its own nature. The sages realized
that this power, maya, is none other than Prakriti or primordial nature of
infinite variety, with knowledge and action as its natural forms’ (4.10;6.8)
The Devi Bhagavata dwells elaborately on the legend of Indra’s adoration of the
Supreme Mother through various hymns. According to Shankaracharya and
Sayanacharya, Uma, who imparts the knowledge of Brahman, is Vidya or ‘Spiritual
Knowledge’ personified.
In the ‘Balakanda’ of the Ramayana the story
of goddess Uma, the youngest daughter of Mount Himavan, who was married to
Rudra and was 'highly respected by all gods, including Brahma has been written.
The Mahabharata also mentions Pradyumna’s worship of Goddess Katyayani and
Aniruddha’s hymn to Goddess Chandi. Of particular importance is King
Yudhishthira’s hymn to Goddess Durga. This hymn contains some descriptions of
the Goddess familiar from the Puranic times. In some text we find another hymn
to Durga chanted by Arjuna at the instance of Sri Krishna.
It is observed that all existent objects were
associated with intrinsic powers. So the Supreme Being, who is responsible for
the creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe, must posses
infinite powers to carry out these functions. The very fact of its existence
presupposes infinite powers. The belief in the powers of the Divine is
universal. Thus Shakti came to occupy an important place in the religious
consciousness. In the Chandi the goddess has been named as Devi but she became
well-known in later times as Durga. In Tanta the Mother Goddess saves us from
every misery and affliction, from all danger and difficulty. She is also called
Chandi, the fierce goddess, in which form she incarnates herself for the
purpose of destroying the Asuras whenever they threaten the mental peace and
heavenly dominion of the Devas. Durga is also worshipped as Annapurna or
Annada, the giver of food, and as Jagaddhatri, one who upholds the world. In
spring she is worshipped as Vasanti, the spring goddess. In the ‘Devi Kavacha’
an auxiliary of the Chandi, the Devi is conceived of in nine forms, Nava-Durga.
The Devi is also conceived of in three forms according to the preponderance of
each of the three gunas: of sattva, Maha-saraswati; of rajas, Maha-lakshmi,and
of tamas, Maha-Kali. The ten Mahavidyas i.e Kali, Tara, Shodashi,
Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Matangi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagala, and Kamala
are another set of representations of the Devi. Their origin is narrated in
connection with the legend of Shiva and His consort Sati.
The Durga Saptashati gives us a glimpse into
the nature of the Divine mother in the hymns addressed to her by Brahma, the
Creator:
You are verily that which cannot be uttered
specifically. You are Savitri (the liberating mantra) and the Supreme mother of
the gods.
By you this universe is borne, by you this
world is created, by you it is protected, O Mother Divine and you always
consume it at the end. O you who are ( always ) of the form of the whole world,
at the time of creation you are of the form of the creative force, at the time
if sustentation you are of the form of protective power, and at the time of
dissolution of the world, you are of the form of destructive power. You are the
supreme knowledge as well as the great nescience, the great intellect and
contemplation and also the great delusion. The power of good is yours; the
power of evil too is yours.
You are the primordial cause of everything,
bringing into force the three gunas---sattva, rajas and tamas---You are the
dark night of periodic dissolution. You are the great night of final
dissolution and the terrible night of delusion. You are the goddess of good
fortune, the ruler, and modesty, intelligence characterized by knowledge
bashfulness, nourishment, contentment, tranquility and forbearance. Armed with
various weapons you are terrible. Again you are pleasing, yea, more pleasing
than all the pleasing things and exceedingly beautiful. You are indeed the
Supreme Empress, beyond the high and low. And whatever, or wherever a thing
exists, conscient or non-conscient, whatever power all that possess is you.” (Worship
of god as Mother in the Indian Tradition,
Swami Satyasthananda, 2009, www.esamskriti.com
› Essays)
In the Chandi the Devi is referred to be
present in all living and non-living i.e Matter ( Bhuta) as the Nature,
Blessings, the Ruler, Power of Consciousness, Wisdom, Sleep, Hunger. Shadow of
Absolute, Power, Thirst, Forbearance, Form of all genus, Modesty, Peace, Faith,
Beauty, Fortune, Activity, Memory, Kindness, Mother, Delusion, Senses,
Contentment and Consciousness.
So we can conclude that Shakti is the Absolute
personified, Consciousness that becomes a subject and the object. Shakti is
worshiped in Indian culture for all-round happiness and power and thought to be
present in all spheres both in material world and non-material world.
References:
Brihaddevata,
2.74-9
Golomb, Jacob (2002). Nietzsche, Godfather of
Fascism? On the Uses and Abuses of a Philosophy.
Great
women of India, ed. Swami Madhavananda and Rameshchandra Majumdar ( Calcutta:
Advaita Ashrama,
Mahabharata,
‘Virata Parva, chap.6
Mahabharata,
Bhishma Parva, chap. 23
Rig Veda ,
Shvetashvatara
Upanishad
Swami Budhananda,
‘Worship of God as Mother, Vedanta Kesari,
Taittiriya
Aranyaka
The
complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9 vols (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, i-8,
i989, 9, I997)
Worship
of god as Mother in the Indian Tradition,
Swami Satyasthananda, 2009 www.esamskriti.com
› Essays
