DURGA: THE SHAKTI

The word ‘Durga’ has immense meaning. The syllable ‘Du’ represents the four evils- poverty, famine, bad habits, and sufferings namely. The syllable ‘r’ signifies diseases, and ‘ga’ is the destroyer of sins, cruelty, and injustice.

The word ‘Durga’ also means invincible. She is considered as a combined form of Goddess Kali, Saraswati, and Lakshmi. Maa Durga is the most worshipped Goddess among Hindus. She is the epitome of power and strength.

Goddess Durga is worshipped by thousands of devotees as a symbol of divinity, care, and destruction. She is said to be the incarnation of strength and beauty that celebrates womanhood in every aspect.

The term Durga comes from the Sanskrit language and translates into English as invincible." Her powers make her the root cause of creation as well as the destroyer of all evils. She is also known as Durgati Nashiní that means the one who puts an end to all hardships. She is worshipped as the Mother Goddess who can be kind and caring towards her followers and annihilate those who sin against her worshippers.

It is said that when the demonic forces became a threat to the very existence of Gods then emerged a divine force in the form of Goddess Durga with just one alm the destruction of evil. The Gods offered to form the different parts of her body and thus, she became a unified symbol of the powers of all the Gods. Even Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva offered her the powerful weapons the Chakra and the Trishul respectively.

Durga presents herself as the Mother of all the worlds taking care of the welfare of all the beings and accounting for their prosperity. To awaken the Goddess, the personification of the active side of the divine “shakti” energy of Lord Shiva, several Mantras are chanted throughout the year and especially during the Navaratri.

 The entire Durga Suktam is found in the MahanArAyana Upanishad, section 2, and not in the Vedas. It has seven mantras in all.

And, of the seven mantras, only five are found in the Rig Veda, the remaining two are not.

The mantras that are from Rig Veda are:

“OM JATAA JUT SAMAAYUKTAMARDHENDU KRIT LAKSHNAM

LOCHANYATRA SANYUKTAM PADMENDU SADYA SHAN NAAM”

In Sanskrit:

ॐ जटा जूट समायुक्तमर्धेंन्दु कृत लक्षणाम |

लोचनत्रय संयुक्तां पद्मेन्दुसद्यशाननाम ||

To the one who knows all births, we prepare and offer the Soma; may he burn up completely the wealth and knowledge of our foes. May he lead us to happiness overcoming all states of grief; May Agni carries us as in a boart across a river preventing any wrong-doing or stumbling (durita). (Rig Veda 1.99.1).

Agne tvam paraya navyo asman..... tokaya tanayaya sham yoh ||

O Agni, worthy of praise (navya), lead us beyond (ati) all difficulties (Durga) by happy means (svast); be awide and broad dwelling with many felicities for us. Grant peace and well-doing to our disciples and successors. (Rig Veda 1.189.2)

Among the mantras that are found in the aforementioned Upanishad:

Tam agni varnAm tapasa jvalantim, vairochanim karma-phalesu jushtam, durgam devim sharnam aham prapadye, sutari tarase namaha ||

I take refuge in Her, Goddess Durga, who is with the luster of Agni and is radiant from askesis. She is the power belonging to the supreme (virochana) who manifests Himself manifoldly. She is the power in actions rendering their results efficacious. You are skilled in saving; you take across the difficulties well. Salutations to you.

 Devi Stuti

“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’‘

In Sanskrit:

या देवी सर्वभुतेषु क्षान्तिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

या देवी सर्वभुतेषु शक्तिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

या देवी सर्वभुतेषु मातृरूपेण संस्थिता ।

या देवी सर्वभुतेषु बुद्धिरूपेण संस्थिता ।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः ॥

Meaning:

‘The goddess who is omnipresent as the personification of the universal mother

The goddess who is omnipresent as the embodiment of power

The goddess who is omnipresent as the symbol of peace

Oh Goddess (Devi) who resides everywhere in all living beings as intelligence and beauty,

I bow to her, I bow to her, I bow to her again & again.’

“Sarva Mangala Mangalye Sive Sarvatha Sadhike,

Saranye Trayambike Gauri Narayani Namostute.”

The meaning of this mantra is that Maa Durga is the most powerful and auspicious one upon all gods or beings. She protects and nurtures those who surrender themselves entirely to her. She is Gauri, the daughter of the mountain king and the Mother of all the three worlds. We bow down to her and worship her.

Om Dum Durgayei Namaha (Sanskrit: ॐ दुं दुर्गायै नमः) is a Sanskrit mantra, honoring the powerful Hindu goddess, Durga. Since Durga is believed to remove suffering and protect Hindus from harm, this mantra is recited as a form of divine protection.

Recitation of Om Dum Durgayei Namaha with devotion, humility, and a sense of surrender to divine powers are a means of receiving Durga’s blessings. This can help to clear obstacles in relation to health, finance, and success, bestowing devotees with wisdom, well-being, and prosperity.

Mantras are used across religious and spiritual traditions as a meditative “tool of thought,” helping to prepare the practitioner for deeper states of meditation and higher levels of consciousness.

Om Dum Durgayei Namaha may be repeated silently as a form of meditation or chanted aloud in order to harness the energy of the sound vibrations.

Om is the universal sound vibration of all creation.

Dum is the seed sound of Durga energy.

Durgayei is the formal name for the goddess.

Namaha is a humble salutation, typically translated as “I bow to you."

Om Dum Durgayei Namaha is often translated as: “Salutations to the one who bestows compassion, fearlessness, and patience. Bless me with your protection and love.” Another common translation is: “Salutations to the feminine energy that protects from all negative influences.”

Om Dum Durgayei Namaha is believed to be a powerful mantra, offering protection and strength from the Divine Mother. It can be used to call upon the divine feminine energy of Shakti, to deter external threats, and to destroy internal evil forces such as anger, jealousy, and hatred.

Goddess Durga is the epitome of strength and courage. She has a divine aura that can nurture like a mother and at the same time destroy evil like an Annihilator.

The worship of the feminine has been the most ancient form of worship on the planet, widespread not just in India, but in Europe, Arabia, and large parts of Africa.

India, however, is one culture in which the worship of the feminine has endured. This is also a culture that gave us the freedom to create our own goddesses according to our needs. The science of consecration enabled each village to make its own temple according to its specific local requirements. In every village in southern India, you can find an Amman or goddess temple even today.

The Indian festival of Navratri is dedicated to the feminine nature of the Divine. Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati are seen as three dimensions of the feminine, symbolic of the earth, the sun, and the moon, or of tamas (inertia), rajas (activity, passion), and sattva (transcendence, knowledge, purity) respectively. Those who aspire for strength or power, worship forms of the feminine like Mother Earth or Durga or Kali. Those who aspire for wealth, passion, or material gifts worship Lakshmi or the sun. Those who aspire for knowledge, dissolution, or the transcendence of the limitations of the mortal body worship Saraswati or the moon.

The nine days of Navratri are classified according to these basic qualities. The first three days are dedicated to Durga, the next three to Lakshmi, and the last three to Saraswati. On the tenth day, Vijayadashami signifies the triumph over all these three aspects of life.

This is not merely symbolic, but true on an energy level as well. As human beings, we arise from the earth and are active. After a while, we fall back into inertia once again. This happens not just to us as individuals, but also to the galaxy, and the entire universe. The cosmos emerges from a state of inertia, becomes dynamic, and subsides into inertia once more. We do have the capability, however, to break the cycle. The first two dimensions of the Devi are needed for human survival and wellbeing. The third is an aspiration to transcend, to go beyond. 

 

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