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The Great Goddess Durga
“One of
the most invoked forms of the Great Goddess is her
manifestation as the youthful, multi-armed deity who
successfully battles the mighty buffalo demon that
symbolizes among other things, the elemental powers of
brutish ignorance. In her this incarnation she is
referred to as Durga, the 'unattainable'.
The Great Goddess Durga was born from the energies of
the male divinities when the gods lost the long
drawn-out battle with the asuras (demons). All the
energies of the gods united and became supernova,
throwing out flames in all directions. Then that
unique light, pervading the Three Worlds with its
luster, combined into one, and became a female form.
The Devi projected an overwhelming omnipotence. The
awesome three-eyed Goddess was adorned with the
crescent moon. Her multiple arms held auspicious
weapons and emblems, jewels and ornaments, garments
and utensils, garlands and rosaries of beads, all
offered by the gods. With her golden body blazing with
the splendor of a thousand suns, seated on her lion or
tiger vehicle, Durga is one of the most spectacular of
all personifications of Cosmic Energy.
The tremendous power of the Goddess was poised ready
for the grim battle to wipe out demonic forces, the
asuras whose exaggerated ego-sense was destroying the
balance of the universe, and whose sole purpose was to
dominate and control. It was the universal war between
knowledge and ignorance, truth and falsehood, the
oppressor and the oppressed. . . .
Durga's name literally means "Beyond Reach". This is
an echo of the woman warrior's fierce, virginal
autonomy. In fact many of the figures associated with
her are officially virgin. This is not meant in the
limiting sense understood by the patriarchal order,
but rather in Esther Harding's sense: she is
"one-in-herself", or as Nor Hall puts it,
"Belonging-to-no-man". As Harding further observed of
'The Virgin Goddess': 'Her divine power does not
depend on her relation to a husband-god, and thus her
actions are not dependent on the need to conciliate
such a one or to accord with his qualities and
attitudes. For she bears her identity through her own
right.'
The disappearance of Durga from the battlefield after
the victory over aggression expressed one of the
deepest truths of the episode, for the feminine action
in the cosmic drama is without retentive, ego-seeking
ambition.
Durga is linked also with some of the oldest known
prayers for humankind's protection. In the Ramayana,
Rama went to Lanka to rescue his abducted wife, Sita,
from the grip of Ravana, the Emperor of Lanka. Before
starting for his battle, Rama aspired for the
blessings of Goddess Durga . He came to know that the
Goddess would be pleased if offered one hundred blue
lotuses. But after traversing the whole world, he
could gather only ninety-nine. Rama finally decided to
offer one of his own eyes, which resembled blue
lotuses. Durga, being pleased with the devotion of
Rama, appeared before him, stopped him from committing
this act and blessed him. In the fierce battle that
followed, Rama was able to annihilate Ravana, thus
again triumphed good over evil. To this day, this day
is celebrated as Vijaydashmi (Day of Victory), and
Goddess Durga worshipped all over India.
Indeed the Mother Goddess, it is believed, controls
the fate of all. But even though she makes her
appearance when the male deities conglomerate their
respective energies, she is, in fact, not 'created' by
them. All her incarnations are the result of her will
to be in the world for the benefit of mankind; she
chooses when and how to effect her lilas (play of the
Goddess in the world). In this situation her sudden
arrival spells doom for Mahisa, but only after a
protracted interaction during which the confrontations
between animal/demon and Goddess, male and female, son
and mother, lover and beloved, equal combatants,
victim and sacrificer, hero and deliverer, are given
due attention as an exploratory venture into the
dynamics of the laws of opposites. Their combat is, in
the final analysis, an enactment of a many-aspected
reality, reflecting a mode of thought which perceives
seeming opposites as mere stages in a graduated
spectrum of reality which has a minimum of definite
boundaries.”
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