Post by Kriyaban on Aug 4, 2023 19:39:03 GMT
In the spirit of Chaitra Navaratri starting 13 April 2021, please, enjoy drinking the perennial wisdom from Satsang of a Yoga Master HH Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh.
“Prayer to Mother
Salutations to the Divine Mother, who exists in all beings in the form of intelligence, mercy and beauty. Salutations, O Sweet Mother, the consort of Lord Shiva. O Mother Parvati! You are Lakshmi. You are Saraswati. You are Kali, Durga and Kundalini. You are the embodiment of all power. You are Para Shakti. You are in the form of all objects. You are the sole refuge of all. The whole universe is the play of Your three gunas. How can I praise you? Your glory and splendour are indescribable. Protect me. Guide me. O Loving Mother!
O Compassionate Mother! I bow to You. You are my saviour. You are my goal. You are my sole support. You are my guide and the remover of all afflictions, troubles and miseries. You are the embodiment of auspiciousness. You pervade the whole universe. The whole universe is filled with You. You are the storehouse of all qualities. Protect me. Again and again I salute You.
O Glorious Mother! Salutations to You. All women are Your parts. Mind, egoism, intellect, body, prana and senses are Your forms. You are Para Shakti and Apara Prakriti. You are electricity, magnetism, force, energy, power and will. All forms are Your forms only. Reveal to me the mystery of creation. Bestow on me the divine knowledge.
O Loving Mother! You are the primal energy. You have two aspects, the terrible and the peaceful. You are modesty, gentleness, shyness, generosity, courage, forbearance and patience. You are faith in the heart of devotees and generosity in noble people, chivalry in warriors and ferocity in tigers. Give me strength to control the mind and the senses. Make me worthy to dwell in You. Salutations unto You!
O Mother Supreme! When shall I have equal vision and a placid state of mind? When shall I be established in ahimsa, satya and bramacharya? When shall I have Your cosmic vision? When shall I attain deep abiding peace and perennial joy? When shall I enter into deep meditation and Samadhi?
O Radiant Mother! I have not done any spiritual sadhana or service, any charity, japa and meditation or worship. I have not studied religious scriptures. I have neither discrimination nor dispassion. I have neither purity nor a burning desire for liberation. You are my sole refuge. You are my only support. My silent adorations unto You. Remove the veil of ignorance.
O Gracious Mother! I bow to You. Where are You? Do not forsake me. I am Your child. Take me to the other shore of fearlessness and joy. When shall I behold Your lotus feet with my own eyes? You are the boundless ocean of mercy. When the philosopher’s stone turns iron into gold by contact, when the Ganga turns impure water into pure, can You not turn me, O Divinne Mother, into a pure soul? May my tongue repeat Your name always!
***
Devi is the Supreme Shakti, or power of the Supreme Being. She is the creatrix of the universe. She is the Universal Mother. Durga, Kali, Bhagavati, Bhavani, Amba, Ambika, Jagadamba, Kameshvari, Ganga, Uma, Chandi, Chamunda, Lalita, Gauri, Kundalini, Tara, Rajeshvari, Tripura Sundari, etc. are all her forms. She is worshipped during Navaratri as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.
Devi or Shakti is the mother of all. The pious and the wicked, the rich and the poor, the saint and the sinner, are all her children. She is the mother of Nature. She is Nature itself. The whole world is her body. Mountains are her bones. Rivers are her veins. The ocean is her bladder. The sun and moon are her eyes. The wind is her breath. Agni is her mouth. She runs this world show.
Shakti is symbolically female, but is, in reality, neither male nor female, being only a force which manifests itself in various forms. Mother is the creative aspect. She is symbolized as cosmic energy. Energy is the physical ultimate of all forms of matter and the sustaining force of the spirit. Energy and spirit are inseparable and essentially one. The five elements and their combinations are the external manifestations of the Mother. Intelligence, discrimination, psychic power and will are her internal manifestations. Humanity is her visible form.
She lies dormant in mooladhara chakra in the form of kundalini shakti. She is at the centre of the life of the universe. She is the primal force of life that underlies all existence. She vitalizes the body through sushumna nadi and the nerves. She nourishes the body with blood. She vitalizes the universe through her energy. She is the energy in the sun, the fragrance in flowers, the beauty in the landscape, the Gayatri or the Blessed Mother in the Vedas, colour in the rainbow, intelligence in the mind, potency in homeopathic pills, will and thinking power in sages, devotion in bhaktas, sanyam and samadhi in yogis. Wisdom, peace, lust, anger, greed, egoism and pride are all her forms. Her manifestations are countless.
The Supreme Lord is represented as Shiva, and his power is represented as his wife - Shakti, Durga or Kali. Mother Durga is the energy aspect of Shiva. Without Durga, Shiva has no expression and without Shiva, Durga has no existence. Shiva is the soul of Durga. Durga is identical with Shiva. Shiva is only a silent witness. He is motionless, impersonal, inactive. He is not affected by the cosmic play. Durga does everything. Shiva is omnipotent. He is pure consciousness. Shakti is dynamic. The power or active aspect of the immanent God is Shakti. Shakti is the embodiment of power. Shakti is the power that is latent in the pure consciousness.
Shakti is inherent in God. Just as you cannot separate heat from fire, so also you cannot separate Shakti from God. Shiva and Shakti are one. Shiva is always with Shakti. They are inseparable. Worship of Durga or Parvati or Kali is worship of Lord Shiva.
From the dawn of civilization the symbol of eternal consciousness was conceived of as the Mother Divine. Worship of the Divine Mother was practised in the earliest times, when primitive man lived in a matriarchal society. Later, as civilization progressed, the matriarchal pattern gradually faded out and the father became the head of the family unit. He was treated as the one in authority to whom everyone looked for guidance and approval.
Consequently there was a change in the concept of the Divine; the supremacy of God, the Father, was established. But Mother worship persisted simultaneously, since this concept was more comprehensible, intimate, emotionally and domestically appealing than that of a vague, formless, ethereal ideal. Subsequently, a sympathetic harmony between the motherhood and fatherhood of God was developed; Sita and Rama, or Radha and Krishna, were worshipped together.
O Adorable Mother! I bow to You. Without Your grace no one can have success in spiritual sadhana and salvation. O Compassionate Mother! You are an ocean of mercy. Bless me. If I get a drop from that ocean will it dry up? O my sweet Mother! Guide me. Protect me. Save me. I am Your child.
Devi does not belong to any religion, sect or cult. Devi is the conscious power of the Deva. Let this never be forgotten. The words Devi, Shakti etc. and the ideas of the different forms connected with these names are concessions given to the limitations of human knowledge and comprehension.
Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "This is only my lower nature Shakti. Beyond this is my higher nature, the original Shakti, the life principle which sustains this entire universe." The Upanishad says, "The Para Shakti, the supreme power of God, is the nature of God manifesting as knowledge, strength and activity."
Truly speaking, all beings of the universe are Shakti worshippers, for there is no one who does not love and long for power in some form or other. Physicists and scientists have proved that everything is pure imperishable energy. This energy is only a form of the Divine Shakti which exists in every form of existence.
Shakti is that by which we live and have our being in this universe. In this world, all the wants of the child are provided by the mother. The child's growth, development and sustenance are looked after by the mother. In the same way, all the necessities of life and its activities in this world, and the energy needed for it, depend upon Shakti or the Universal Mother. The human mother is a manifestation of the Universal Mother. All women are forms of the Divine Mother.
You are more free with your mother than with anybody else. You open your heart more freely to your mother than than to your father. There is no God greater than Mother. It is the mother who protects, nourishes, consoles, cheers and nurses you. She is your first guru. The first syllable that almost every human being utters is the beloved name of the mother, Ma. She sacrifices her all for the sake of her children.
A child is more familiar with the mother than with the father because the former is very kind, loving, tender and affectionate, and looks after the wants of the child. Mother is the personality that appeals most to the human heart. Whenever the child wants anything, it runs with outstretched hands to the mother, rather than to the father. If the mother hears the cry of the child, she leaves her domestic work and runs immediately to attend to the child.
In the spiritual field also, the aspirant - the spiritual child - has a more intimate relationship with Mother Durga than with Father Shiva. Shiva is quite indifferent to the external world. He is absorbed in contemplation of the Self. He has handed over power of attorney to his consort, Durga. It is Mother Durga only who looks after the affairs of the world. Lord Shiva gazes at Durga, his Shakti. She engages herself in creation, preservation and destruction.
Durga is Shakti manifested as the creative, preserving and protecting principle in the created world. This great principle is adored as the Divine Mother, as Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati, representing the aspects of tamas, rajas and sattwa, the three modes of prakriti.
It is one's duty to propitiate the Divine Mother, for she rules supreme over the health and wealth of the universe. You are filled with Shakti. You cannot exist independently of Shakti. The whole universe is energy, and energy is Shakti. In revealed form God is Shakti or power. In the unmanifested aspect God is chit shakti, the consciousness force that is working everywhere as the material cause of everything.
Love is the only transforming power, and Devi is the inexhaustible fountain of divine love. The mother's love for her young ones is unparalleled. It is the prerequisite for all growth, progress, evolution and transformation. Fear (another form of hate) stunts growth and arrests progress; love promotes growth and accelerates progress. Love sustains creation. Divine love is the true manifestation of the Divine Mother.
Let there be nothing but love in your heart. It will remove obstacles and speed up your spiritual progress. It will transform your enemies into friends. It will shower the Devi's richest blessings on you in the form of peace, plenty and prosperity. It will confer upon you the highest award - moksha. Cultivate dispassionate love towards all beings, then you will have truly enthroned the Para Shakti in your heart. Then there will be peace, happiness, prosperity and harmony on earth. May the blessings of the Mother be upon you all!
The Divine Mother is everywhere triple. She is endowed with the three gunas, sattwa, rajas and tamas. She manifests as will, iccha shakti, action, kriya shakti, and knowledge, jnana shakti, the three forms of power by which the world is ruled. She is Brahma Shakti (Saraswati) in conjunction with Lord Brahma, Vishnu Shakti (Lakshmi) in conjunction with Lord Vishnu, Shiva Shakti (Maha Kali or Durga) in conjunction with Lord Shiva.
Saraswati is cosmic intelligence, cosmic consciousness, cosmic knowledge. Lakshmi does not mean mere material wealth, like gold, cattle etc. All kinds of prosperity, glory, magnificence and joy, exaltation or greatness come under Lakshmi. Kali is the transformative power of divinity, the power that dissolves multiplicity in unity.
The Devi assumes many aspects according to the tasks to be performed by her, sometimes sweet and tender, and at others, terrible and devouring; but she is always kind and gracious to her devotees. Arjuna, the Pandava hero, worshipped the Goddess before starting the fight against the evil-minded Kauravas. Sri Rama worshipped Durga at the time of the fight with Ravana to invoke her aid in the war. He fought and won through her grace.
The Divine Mother is the symbolic power behind creation, preservation and dissolution. The whole universe is the manifestation of this power. Devi is synonymous with Shakti or the Divine power that manifests, sustains and transforms the universe as the one unifying force of existence. Since Shakti cannot be worshipped in its essential nature, it is worshipped as we conceive of it. In relation to the three functions of creation, preservation and destruction, Shakti is Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali. These are not three distinct Devis, but the one formless Devi worshipped in three forms. The Devas corresponding to these are Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara, who in the same way are not three Devas, but the forms of the one Supreme Deva who is formless. May the Divine Devi, the Mother, bless you all!
Navaratri or the nine nights symbolizes the victory of the higher divine forces over the lower, negative qualities which find their expression in injustice, oppression, greed, selfishness, hatred and a host of other un-divine forces that add to the suffering of man.
Outwardly, Navaratri is in the nature of a victory festival offered to the Mother for her successful struggle with the formidable demons. But to the spiritual aspirant, the division of Navaratri into three sets of three days to adore different aspects of the Supreme Goddess - Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati - teaches a very sublime yet thoroughly practical truth. In its cosmic aspect it epitomizes the stages of the evolution into God, from jivahood to Shivahood. In its individual aspect it shows the course that one's spiritual sadhana should take.
The central purpose of existence is to recognize your eternal identity with the Supreme Spirit, to grow into the image of the Divine. First you have to get rid of the countless impurities and undivine elements that have come to cling to you in your embodied state. Then you have to acquire auspicious divine qualities. Thus purified and rendered full of sattwa, knowledge flashes upon you like the brilliant rays of the sun upon the crystal waters of a perfectly calm lake.
This process of sadhana implies resolute will, determined effort and arduous struggle. Strength, infinite shakti, is the prime necessity. The Divine Mother, the Supreme Shakti, has to operate through you.
On the first three nights of Navaratri, Durga or the destructive aspect of the Mother is worshipped. On the succeeding three nights, the creative aspect or Lakshmi is adored. On the last three nights, the knowledge aspect or Saraswati is invoked. The tenth is Vijaya Dashami or the day of victory.
There is a special significance to worshipping Devi in this order. On the first three days Devi is adored as power, force. You pray to Durga to destroy all your old habits, impurities and defects. She is the power that protects your sadhana from its many dangers and pitfalls. In the process of sadhana, tamas is conquered and transformed first. As Durga, she first destroys the negative, evil tendencies that lurk in the mind.
During the second set of three days, worship of Lakshmi is performed. The force of rajas is to be subdued. As Lakshmi, she implants the divine qualities conducive to spiritual unfoldment. The aim is to build up a sublime spiritual personality, to cultivate and develop all the auspicious, positive qualities. If the development of opposite qualities (pratipaksha bhauana) is not undertaken in earnest, the old demonic nature will raise its head again and again. This stage is as important in an aspirant's career as the previous one. Whereas the former is a ruthless, determined annihilation of the egoistic lower self, the latter is an orderly, steady, calm and serene effort to develop pure sattwic qualities. This pleasanter side of the aspirant's sadhana is depicted by the worship of Mother Lakshmi. She bestows inexhaustible wealth on her devotees. She is purity itself.
The third stage comes when the aspirant is ready to obtain divine knowledge. This is devout worship of Sri Saraswati, who is divine knowledge personified. Sattwa guna is to be transcended and Saraswati is the Mother in her sattwic form. As Saraswati, she bestows true knowledge. The sound if her celestial veena awakens the notes of the sublime Mahavakyas or great sayings and the Pranava or Om. She bestows knowledge of the Supreme Nada and then gives full Atmajnana, spiritual knowledge, as represented by her pure dazzling snow-white apparel.
The tenth day, Vijaya Dashami, celebrates the achievement of the victory of knowledge over ignorance, of goodness over evil. On this day children start school, aspirants are initiated, workers worship their implements and all recognize the shakti or power behind these instruments, and worship the Devi for their success prosperity and peace.
No other path is known for salvation. This arrangement marks the stages of evolution through which everyone should pass. One naturally leads to the other and to short-circuit this would inevitably result in failure. Knowledge will not descend till the impurities are washed out and purity is developed.
Destroy one evil quality, develop the opposite virtue. By this process you will soon bring yourself up to that perfection which will culminate in identity with Brahman, which is your goal. Then all knowledge will be yours. You will see yourself in all. You will have achieved eternal victory over the wheel of birth and death.
Glory unto the Divine Mother! Let her take you step by step to the top of the spiritual ladder and unite you with the Lord!
Shakti is all. You can worship her in any form. The very creation of this universe is solely due to her. We are all puppets in her hand. Kriya, iccha and jnana shakti are the three forms of power by which this world is ruled. Worship of Shakti gives not only prosperity but liberation from all bondage. May the choicest blessings of Goddess Shakti be upon you all!
Worship of Devi or the Universal Mother gives not only prosperity but liberation from all bondage. Shakti can do anything. She can make or mar. She can mend or end. As Vidya Maya, she has veiled the Truth from you and bound you to this samsara. When she is propitiated through sincere devotion and unconditional self-surrender, she removes the veil and enables you to perceive the Truth.
You cannot free yourself from the thraldom of mind and matter without the Mother's grace. The fetters of maya are too hard to break. If you worship her as the Great Mother, you can very easily go beyond prakriti through her benign grace and blessings. She will remove all obstacles in the path and lead you safely into the illimitable domain of eternal bliss and make you absolutely free. May Parashakti or Devi - the Universal Mother Jagadamba - bless you with wisdom, peace and immortal bliss.
Devi, the Mother Divine, represents the triumph of the divine power over the myriad dark forces of negativity - too well known in all human lives - in the struggle between the dual factors of good and evil, truth and untruth, virtue and vice, freedom and involution, light and darkness. The great cosmic law is that ultimately the divine will always prevail over the undivine.
Worship of the Universal Mother leads to the attainment of Self-knowledge. Approach her with an open heart. Lay bare your mind with frankness and humility. Let your thoughts be pure and sublime. Become as simple as a child. Destroy selfishness and crookedness. Experience total unreserved, ungrudging self-surrender to her. Chant her mantras. Sing her praise. Repeat her Name. Worship her with faith and unflinching devotion.
Feel that the Mother sees through your eyes, hears through your ears and works through your hands. Feel that the body, mind, prana, intellect and all their functions are her manifestations. The one universal life throbs in the heart of all. How can there be any room for hatred and selfishness, when by hating another you are but denying your own self? Drive this consciousness deep within your heart. Always meditate and practise this ideal of divine oneness.
Mother's grace is boundless. Her mercy is illimitable. Her knowledge is infinite. Her power is immeasurable. Her glory is ineffable. Her splendour is indescribable. She gives material prosperity and liberation also. She is pleased with a little purity of heart. Make a definite and sincere attempt to obtain the grace of the Mother. She will transform your entire life and bless you with the milk of divine wisdom, spiritual insight and liberation.
Nothing is possible without the Mother. Humanity's material and spiritual progress is bound up inextricably with the mother - human and divine. The human part of an individual is moulded almost entirely by the human mother. One's character, mental make-up, intellectual faculties - one's very being is shaped by the mother. That is why the scriptures enjoin one to treat the mother as God. This is even more so in the spiritual field. Without the help of the Divine Mother no spiritual progress is possible.
Pray to her fervently. She will be easily pleased. She is ever ready to rush to you. You only you have to accept her! Clear your mind of all the dross and install the Mother on a golden throne. Give up your little ego at her feet. Pray "Your will be done Mother! I want nothing!" She will take you by the hand and lead you to moksha!
Worship the Mother of the universe, the Shakti or Brahman, in her supreme form or in her manifested form according to your capacity. If worship is to result in spiritual illumination, observance of the yamas and niyamas is absolutely necessary. Offer to Devi Durga your inner evil traits of passion, anger and greed. You have no right to hurt any living creature for whatever reason. No worship, no prayer, no act whatsoever in life can justify injury or harm done to living beings. Stick to the rule of universal love to the best of your ability. Worship with atma bhava, with sarvatma bhava. This is the greatest and most glorious thing that can ever be done by anyone at any time.
May the Devi Durga shower her blessings upon you all!”
“Prayer to Mother
Salutations to the Divine Mother, who exists in all beings in the form of intelligence, mercy and beauty. Salutations, O Sweet Mother, the consort of Lord Shiva. O Mother Parvati! You are Lakshmi. You are Saraswati. You are Kali, Durga and Kundalini. You are the embodiment of all power. You are Para Shakti. You are in the form of all objects. You are the sole refuge of all. The whole universe is the play of Your three gunas. How can I praise you? Your glory and splendour are indescribable. Protect me. Guide me. O Loving Mother!
O Compassionate Mother! I bow to You. You are my saviour. You are my goal. You are my sole support. You are my guide and the remover of all afflictions, troubles and miseries. You are the embodiment of auspiciousness. You pervade the whole universe. The whole universe is filled with You. You are the storehouse of all qualities. Protect me. Again and again I salute You.
O Glorious Mother! Salutations to You. All women are Your parts. Mind, egoism, intellect, body, prana and senses are Your forms. You are Para Shakti and Apara Prakriti. You are electricity, magnetism, force, energy, power and will. All forms are Your forms only. Reveal to me the mystery of creation. Bestow on me the divine knowledge.
O Loving Mother! You are the primal energy. You have two aspects, the terrible and the peaceful. You are modesty, gentleness, shyness, generosity, courage, forbearance and patience. You are faith in the heart of devotees and generosity in noble people, chivalry in warriors and ferocity in tigers. Give me strength to control the mind and the senses. Make me worthy to dwell in You. Salutations unto You!
O Mother Supreme! When shall I have equal vision and a placid state of mind? When shall I be established in ahimsa, satya and bramacharya? When shall I have Your cosmic vision? When shall I attain deep abiding peace and perennial joy? When shall I enter into deep meditation and Samadhi?
O Radiant Mother! I have not done any spiritual sadhana or service, any charity, japa and meditation or worship. I have not studied religious scriptures. I have neither discrimination nor dispassion. I have neither purity nor a burning desire for liberation. You are my sole refuge. You are my only support. My silent adorations unto You. Remove the veil of ignorance.
O Gracious Mother! I bow to You. Where are You? Do not forsake me. I am Your child. Take me to the other shore of fearlessness and joy. When shall I behold Your lotus feet with my own eyes? You are the boundless ocean of mercy. When the philosopher’s stone turns iron into gold by contact, when the Ganga turns impure water into pure, can You not turn me, O Divinne Mother, into a pure soul? May my tongue repeat Your name always!
***
Devi is the Supreme Shakti, or power of the Supreme Being. She is the creatrix of the universe. She is the Universal Mother. Durga, Kali, Bhagavati, Bhavani, Amba, Ambika, Jagadamba, Kameshvari, Ganga, Uma, Chandi, Chamunda, Lalita, Gauri, Kundalini, Tara, Rajeshvari, Tripura Sundari, etc. are all her forms. She is worshipped during Navaratri as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.
Devi or Shakti is the mother of all. The pious and the wicked, the rich and the poor, the saint and the sinner, are all her children. She is the mother of Nature. She is Nature itself. The whole world is her body. Mountains are her bones. Rivers are her veins. The ocean is her bladder. The sun and moon are her eyes. The wind is her breath. Agni is her mouth. She runs this world show.
Shakti is symbolically female, but is, in reality, neither male nor female, being only a force which manifests itself in various forms. Mother is the creative aspect. She is symbolized as cosmic energy. Energy is the physical ultimate of all forms of matter and the sustaining force of the spirit. Energy and spirit are inseparable and essentially one. The five elements and their combinations are the external manifestations of the Mother. Intelligence, discrimination, psychic power and will are her internal manifestations. Humanity is her visible form.
She lies dormant in mooladhara chakra in the form of kundalini shakti. She is at the centre of the life of the universe. She is the primal force of life that underlies all existence. She vitalizes the body through sushumna nadi and the nerves. She nourishes the body with blood. She vitalizes the universe through her energy. She is the energy in the sun, the fragrance in flowers, the beauty in the landscape, the Gayatri or the Blessed Mother in the Vedas, colour in the rainbow, intelligence in the mind, potency in homeopathic pills, will and thinking power in sages, devotion in bhaktas, sanyam and samadhi in yogis. Wisdom, peace, lust, anger, greed, egoism and pride are all her forms. Her manifestations are countless.
The Supreme Lord is represented as Shiva, and his power is represented as his wife - Shakti, Durga or Kali. Mother Durga is the energy aspect of Shiva. Without Durga, Shiva has no expression and without Shiva, Durga has no existence. Shiva is the soul of Durga. Durga is identical with Shiva. Shiva is only a silent witness. He is motionless, impersonal, inactive. He is not affected by the cosmic play. Durga does everything. Shiva is omnipotent. He is pure consciousness. Shakti is dynamic. The power or active aspect of the immanent God is Shakti. Shakti is the embodiment of power. Shakti is the power that is latent in the pure consciousness.
Shakti is inherent in God. Just as you cannot separate heat from fire, so also you cannot separate Shakti from God. Shiva and Shakti are one. Shiva is always with Shakti. They are inseparable. Worship of Durga or Parvati or Kali is worship of Lord Shiva.
From the dawn of civilization the symbol of eternal consciousness was conceived of as the Mother Divine. Worship of the Divine Mother was practised in the earliest times, when primitive man lived in a matriarchal society. Later, as civilization progressed, the matriarchal pattern gradually faded out and the father became the head of the family unit. He was treated as the one in authority to whom everyone looked for guidance and approval.
Consequently there was a change in the concept of the Divine; the supremacy of God, the Father, was established. But Mother worship persisted simultaneously, since this concept was more comprehensible, intimate, emotionally and domestically appealing than that of a vague, formless, ethereal ideal. Subsequently, a sympathetic harmony between the motherhood and fatherhood of God was developed; Sita and Rama, or Radha and Krishna, were worshipped together.
O Adorable Mother! I bow to You. Without Your grace no one can have success in spiritual sadhana and salvation. O Compassionate Mother! You are an ocean of mercy. Bless me. If I get a drop from that ocean will it dry up? O my sweet Mother! Guide me. Protect me. Save me. I am Your child.
Devi does not belong to any religion, sect or cult. Devi is the conscious power of the Deva. Let this never be forgotten. The words Devi, Shakti etc. and the ideas of the different forms connected with these names are concessions given to the limitations of human knowledge and comprehension.
Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "This is only my lower nature Shakti. Beyond this is my higher nature, the original Shakti, the life principle which sustains this entire universe." The Upanishad says, "The Para Shakti, the supreme power of God, is the nature of God manifesting as knowledge, strength and activity."
Truly speaking, all beings of the universe are Shakti worshippers, for there is no one who does not love and long for power in some form or other. Physicists and scientists have proved that everything is pure imperishable energy. This energy is only a form of the Divine Shakti which exists in every form of existence.
Shakti is that by which we live and have our being in this universe. In this world, all the wants of the child are provided by the mother. The child's growth, development and sustenance are looked after by the mother. In the same way, all the necessities of life and its activities in this world, and the energy needed for it, depend upon Shakti or the Universal Mother. The human mother is a manifestation of the Universal Mother. All women are forms of the Divine Mother.
You are more free with your mother than with anybody else. You open your heart more freely to your mother than than to your father. There is no God greater than Mother. It is the mother who protects, nourishes, consoles, cheers and nurses you. She is your first guru. The first syllable that almost every human being utters is the beloved name of the mother, Ma. She sacrifices her all for the sake of her children.
A child is more familiar with the mother than with the father because the former is very kind, loving, tender and affectionate, and looks after the wants of the child. Mother is the personality that appeals most to the human heart. Whenever the child wants anything, it runs with outstretched hands to the mother, rather than to the father. If the mother hears the cry of the child, she leaves her domestic work and runs immediately to attend to the child.
In the spiritual field also, the aspirant - the spiritual child - has a more intimate relationship with Mother Durga than with Father Shiva. Shiva is quite indifferent to the external world. He is absorbed in contemplation of the Self. He has handed over power of attorney to his consort, Durga. It is Mother Durga only who looks after the affairs of the world. Lord Shiva gazes at Durga, his Shakti. She engages herself in creation, preservation and destruction.
Durga is Shakti manifested as the creative, preserving and protecting principle in the created world. This great principle is adored as the Divine Mother, as Maha Kali, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati, representing the aspects of tamas, rajas and sattwa, the three modes of prakriti.
It is one's duty to propitiate the Divine Mother, for she rules supreme over the health and wealth of the universe. You are filled with Shakti. You cannot exist independently of Shakti. The whole universe is energy, and energy is Shakti. In revealed form God is Shakti or power. In the unmanifested aspect God is chit shakti, the consciousness force that is working everywhere as the material cause of everything.
Love is the only transforming power, and Devi is the inexhaustible fountain of divine love. The mother's love for her young ones is unparalleled. It is the prerequisite for all growth, progress, evolution and transformation. Fear (another form of hate) stunts growth and arrests progress; love promotes growth and accelerates progress. Love sustains creation. Divine love is the true manifestation of the Divine Mother.
Let there be nothing but love in your heart. It will remove obstacles and speed up your spiritual progress. It will transform your enemies into friends. It will shower the Devi's richest blessings on you in the form of peace, plenty and prosperity. It will confer upon you the highest award - moksha. Cultivate dispassionate love towards all beings, then you will have truly enthroned the Para Shakti in your heart. Then there will be peace, happiness, prosperity and harmony on earth. May the blessings of the Mother be upon you all!
The Divine Mother is everywhere triple. She is endowed with the three gunas, sattwa, rajas and tamas. She manifests as will, iccha shakti, action, kriya shakti, and knowledge, jnana shakti, the three forms of power by which the world is ruled. She is Brahma Shakti (Saraswati) in conjunction with Lord Brahma, Vishnu Shakti (Lakshmi) in conjunction with Lord Vishnu, Shiva Shakti (Maha Kali or Durga) in conjunction with Lord Shiva.
Saraswati is cosmic intelligence, cosmic consciousness, cosmic knowledge. Lakshmi does not mean mere material wealth, like gold, cattle etc. All kinds of prosperity, glory, magnificence and joy, exaltation or greatness come under Lakshmi. Kali is the transformative power of divinity, the power that dissolves multiplicity in unity.
The Devi assumes many aspects according to the tasks to be performed by her, sometimes sweet and tender, and at others, terrible and devouring; but she is always kind and gracious to her devotees. Arjuna, the Pandava hero, worshipped the Goddess before starting the fight against the evil-minded Kauravas. Sri Rama worshipped Durga at the time of the fight with Ravana to invoke her aid in the war. He fought and won through her grace.
The Divine Mother is the symbolic power behind creation, preservation and dissolution. The whole universe is the manifestation of this power. Devi is synonymous with Shakti or the Divine power that manifests, sustains and transforms the universe as the one unifying force of existence. Since Shakti cannot be worshipped in its essential nature, it is worshipped as we conceive of it. In relation to the three functions of creation, preservation and destruction, Shakti is Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kali. These are not three distinct Devis, but the one formless Devi worshipped in three forms. The Devas corresponding to these are Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara, who in the same way are not three Devas, but the forms of the one Supreme Deva who is formless. May the Divine Devi, the Mother, bless you all!
Navaratri or the nine nights symbolizes the victory of the higher divine forces over the lower, negative qualities which find their expression in injustice, oppression, greed, selfishness, hatred and a host of other un-divine forces that add to the suffering of man.
Outwardly, Navaratri is in the nature of a victory festival offered to the Mother for her successful struggle with the formidable demons. But to the spiritual aspirant, the division of Navaratri into three sets of three days to adore different aspects of the Supreme Goddess - Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati - teaches a very sublime yet thoroughly practical truth. In its cosmic aspect it epitomizes the stages of the evolution into God, from jivahood to Shivahood. In its individual aspect it shows the course that one's spiritual sadhana should take.
The central purpose of existence is to recognize your eternal identity with the Supreme Spirit, to grow into the image of the Divine. First you have to get rid of the countless impurities and undivine elements that have come to cling to you in your embodied state. Then you have to acquire auspicious divine qualities. Thus purified and rendered full of sattwa, knowledge flashes upon you like the brilliant rays of the sun upon the crystal waters of a perfectly calm lake.
This process of sadhana implies resolute will, determined effort and arduous struggle. Strength, infinite shakti, is the prime necessity. The Divine Mother, the Supreme Shakti, has to operate through you.
On the first three nights of Navaratri, Durga or the destructive aspect of the Mother is worshipped. On the succeeding three nights, the creative aspect or Lakshmi is adored. On the last three nights, the knowledge aspect or Saraswati is invoked. The tenth is Vijaya Dashami or the day of victory.
There is a special significance to worshipping Devi in this order. On the first three days Devi is adored as power, force. You pray to Durga to destroy all your old habits, impurities and defects. She is the power that protects your sadhana from its many dangers and pitfalls. In the process of sadhana, tamas is conquered and transformed first. As Durga, she first destroys the negative, evil tendencies that lurk in the mind.
During the second set of three days, worship of Lakshmi is performed. The force of rajas is to be subdued. As Lakshmi, she implants the divine qualities conducive to spiritual unfoldment. The aim is to build up a sublime spiritual personality, to cultivate and develop all the auspicious, positive qualities. If the development of opposite qualities (pratipaksha bhauana) is not undertaken in earnest, the old demonic nature will raise its head again and again. This stage is as important in an aspirant's career as the previous one. Whereas the former is a ruthless, determined annihilation of the egoistic lower self, the latter is an orderly, steady, calm and serene effort to develop pure sattwic qualities. This pleasanter side of the aspirant's sadhana is depicted by the worship of Mother Lakshmi. She bestows inexhaustible wealth on her devotees. She is purity itself.
The third stage comes when the aspirant is ready to obtain divine knowledge. This is devout worship of Sri Saraswati, who is divine knowledge personified. Sattwa guna is to be transcended and Saraswati is the Mother in her sattwic form. As Saraswati, she bestows true knowledge. The sound if her celestial veena awakens the notes of the sublime Mahavakyas or great sayings and the Pranava or Om. She bestows knowledge of the Supreme Nada and then gives full Atmajnana, spiritual knowledge, as represented by her pure dazzling snow-white apparel.
The tenth day, Vijaya Dashami, celebrates the achievement of the victory of knowledge over ignorance, of goodness over evil. On this day children start school, aspirants are initiated, workers worship their implements and all recognize the shakti or power behind these instruments, and worship the Devi for their success prosperity and peace.
No other path is known for salvation. This arrangement marks the stages of evolution through which everyone should pass. One naturally leads to the other and to short-circuit this would inevitably result in failure. Knowledge will not descend till the impurities are washed out and purity is developed.
Destroy one evil quality, develop the opposite virtue. By this process you will soon bring yourself up to that perfection which will culminate in identity with Brahman, which is your goal. Then all knowledge will be yours. You will see yourself in all. You will have achieved eternal victory over the wheel of birth and death.
Glory unto the Divine Mother! Let her take you step by step to the top of the spiritual ladder and unite you with the Lord!
Shakti is all. You can worship her in any form. The very creation of this universe is solely due to her. We are all puppets in her hand. Kriya, iccha and jnana shakti are the three forms of power by which this world is ruled. Worship of Shakti gives not only prosperity but liberation from all bondage. May the choicest blessings of Goddess Shakti be upon you all!
Worship of Devi or the Universal Mother gives not only prosperity but liberation from all bondage. Shakti can do anything. She can make or mar. She can mend or end. As Vidya Maya, she has veiled the Truth from you and bound you to this samsara. When she is propitiated through sincere devotion and unconditional self-surrender, she removes the veil and enables you to perceive the Truth.
You cannot free yourself from the thraldom of mind and matter without the Mother's grace. The fetters of maya are too hard to break. If you worship her as the Great Mother, you can very easily go beyond prakriti through her benign grace and blessings. She will remove all obstacles in the path and lead you safely into the illimitable domain of eternal bliss and make you absolutely free. May Parashakti or Devi - the Universal Mother Jagadamba - bless you with wisdom, peace and immortal bliss.
Devi, the Mother Divine, represents the triumph of the divine power over the myriad dark forces of negativity - too well known in all human lives - in the struggle between the dual factors of good and evil, truth and untruth, virtue and vice, freedom and involution, light and darkness. The great cosmic law is that ultimately the divine will always prevail over the undivine.
Worship of the Universal Mother leads to the attainment of Self-knowledge. Approach her with an open heart. Lay bare your mind with frankness and humility. Let your thoughts be pure and sublime. Become as simple as a child. Destroy selfishness and crookedness. Experience total unreserved, ungrudging self-surrender to her. Chant her mantras. Sing her praise. Repeat her Name. Worship her with faith and unflinching devotion.
Feel that the Mother sees through your eyes, hears through your ears and works through your hands. Feel that the body, mind, prana, intellect and all their functions are her manifestations. The one universal life throbs in the heart of all. How can there be any room for hatred and selfishness, when by hating another you are but denying your own self? Drive this consciousness deep within your heart. Always meditate and practise this ideal of divine oneness.
Mother's grace is boundless. Her mercy is illimitable. Her knowledge is infinite. Her power is immeasurable. Her glory is ineffable. Her splendour is indescribable. She gives material prosperity and liberation also. She is pleased with a little purity of heart. Make a definite and sincere attempt to obtain the grace of the Mother. She will transform your entire life and bless you with the milk of divine wisdom, spiritual insight and liberation.
Nothing is possible without the Mother. Humanity's material and spiritual progress is bound up inextricably with the mother - human and divine. The human part of an individual is moulded almost entirely by the human mother. One's character, mental make-up, intellectual faculties - one's very being is shaped by the mother. That is why the scriptures enjoin one to treat the mother as God. This is even more so in the spiritual field. Without the help of the Divine Mother no spiritual progress is possible.
Pray to her fervently. She will be easily pleased. She is ever ready to rush to you. You only you have to accept her! Clear your mind of all the dross and install the Mother on a golden throne. Give up your little ego at her feet. Pray "Your will be done Mother! I want nothing!" She will take you by the hand and lead you to moksha!
Worship the Mother of the universe, the Shakti or Brahman, in her supreme form or in her manifested form according to your capacity. If worship is to result in spiritual illumination, observance of the yamas and niyamas is absolutely necessary. Offer to Devi Durga your inner evil traits of passion, anger and greed. You have no right to hurt any living creature for whatever reason. No worship, no prayer, no act whatsoever in life can justify injury or harm done to living beings. Stick to the rule of universal love to the best of your ability. Worship with atma bhava, with sarvatma bhava. This is the greatest and most glorious thing that can ever be done by anyone at any time.
May the Devi Durga shower her blessings upon you all!”