Getting Inspired By Shakti

Both Maya, the female form and Mayapati, the male form need to be invoked with equal devotion. Durga is the energy aspect of God. With Krishna, she is Radha, with Vishnu, she is Lakshmi, with Rama, she is Sita and with Shiva, she is Parbati.

Reading verses from the Devi Mahatmya is the customary practice during the Navaratri season. The usual understanding is that it is all about Mother Durga slaying the demons so that we can live peacefully. Lakshmi gives us lots of wealth so we can be rich and Saraswati enriches our knowledge and students propitiate her to clear examinations. Devi Mahatmya is narrated by Rishi Markandeya.

The disturbing factor in every individual’s life is broken down in epa or commotion and aavran or veil. Mala is like dirt on a mirror. Dirt has to be rubbed off with great efforts. Vikshepa is like clouds covering the sun. These clouds could gather forces, and destroy everything. A single desire can destroy many families and generations. Uncontrollable desires which enter the mind can lead to disastrous consequences.

In the first section of the Devi Mahatmya, two demons fight Shakti; they are Madhu and Kaitabha, who come out of the dirt of Vishnu’s ear. They personify lust and anger, spite and praise – they come in pairs. Lust and anger are companions and so are spite and praise. One gives rise to another.

The next category is Vikshepa, symbolized by Mahishasura and Raktabija, Vikshepa is pramaad or sloth and ichcha or desire. The mind is sluggish like a buffalo which can lie in water for hours on end. Desires are similarly endless. Mahishasura is the slothful buffalo and Raktabija is the mind with endless desires. Drops of blood from Raktabija get transformed into thousands of demons. When one is killed another croups up just like desires that gives rise to millions of desires. If you cut off one or two desires, others come up because the root is still there. Kali elongated her tongue and enveloped the earth with it so that million demons walked over it and she then sucked in all of them.

Desires come from within, even if a person is looking idle or is sleeping. That is why the lazy buffalo and active desires are a pair: Desire is a hidden enemy which tosses the mind and opposes our spiritual progress.

Aavran is to be unconscious of one’s own Self. To forget one’s real goal in life. This is ajnana or ignorance. The first two stages are of an enemy that can be seen or felt. We get lustful, greedy and angry because we are ignorant of our real self. We get lazy and desirous because we are unaware of Truth. Behind all of these is ignorance.

The 18 chapter of the Bhagavad Gita are divided into three sections, and each section is of six chapters. The first six chapters talk of karma yoga because selfless service destroys lust, anger and greed. The next six chapters deal with bhakti yoga because devotion to God and guru helps us overcome sloth and desire. The last section, gnana yoga, leads to knowledge of self.

Hence invoking the Mother Goddess Durga, especially during the Navaratri season, is an opportunity to recognize the need to overcome ignorance with the help of energy or Shakti.