(In photo: Goddess Tulzabhavani from Tulzapur in district Solapur, Maharastra, India)
Durga, the Goddess of Inner Strength.
Shree Ganeshayan Namah ! Om Aim Rhim Saraswatai Namah !
Durga
in the inner world
Goddess Durga is the popular Goddess of
Indian pantheon. She is the power that empowers and guides us through conflict
ridden situations. When in trouble, tuning in to Durga energies will move one
out of crisis. She has the power to move mountains, give strength and change wrong
to right.
An archetypal Durga personality displays
leadership skills, is a multitasker, can suggest solutions to problem, does not
give up easily, has bigger visions and most importantly has a capacity to
actualise that vision.
Gods
and Demons war
In
India, myths have been a powerful medium of instruction. It ensured that
esoteric knowledge was accessible to common man and did not remain a domain of
intellectuals.
Devi Mahatmya or Devi Saptashati is one
such esoteric text. It revolves around major encounters between Gods and Demons.
This battle is an allegory of ongoing conflict which goes around in our consciousness
between the latent godly and demonic tendencies. The text mentions the battle
goes on for 100 years which also rough human life span accentuating the fact that
our mind is an eternal battleground of good and evil forces as long as we live.
It is believed we are born with past
life impressions (sanskaras) which means we always carry a baggage from the
birth. Our good or bad actions (karmas) are carried forward in life’s balance sheet
till we reach nirvana state and dissolve in the divine consciousness.
Our behaviour although influenced by our
social setting, education, financial status as an outward factor but inwardly (Hindu
philosophy emphasis is on moving inwards not outwards) the qualities of higher
consciousness such as contentment, humility, generosity, vigour, patience etc
are godly tendencies. As opposing to this, demonic qualities of consciousness
can be enumerated as excessive desire, inflated ego, arrogance, selfishness,
lustful love, and compulsive- obsessive behaviour, hard heartedness and many
more evils.
In contemporary society, the demonic
qualities are displayed by power monger politicians, ruthless bureaucrats,
manipulators of all sorts, control freak corporate bosses, backstabbers.
A little success in life inflates
egocentric behaviour to such an extent that the demonic predispositions of
ambition, cut throat competition, greed, uncontrollable anger, hatred, cold
bloodedness overpower the higher qualities of consciousness.
The resultant effect is the
manifestation of demons:
Shumbha-Nishumba: in
the myth yogic austerities give them invincible powers, In our times with hard
work people reach pinnacle of success but inherent demonic tendencies invade
their intellect making them think they have right to rule the world. These
demons threaten the sense of justice and higher consciousness.
Raktbij: in
the myth every drop of this demon's blood is able to clone another demon. This Raktbij
today is our unhappy mind always craving for more like cancer cells. There is no limit how much
one can accumulate; the appetite is ravenous and uncontrollable till every
moral limit is transgressed.
Mahishasur: in the myth tricks the Goddess.
He has buffalo head but metamorphoses into different beastly creatures. This
Mahishasur is none other but our compulsive-obsessive mind enslaving the body
to desires.
Durdhara
and Durmukha: are tendencies of anger, bad mouth or
abusive behaviour. Durmukha actually means ugly face; anger makes the most
beautiful face ugly.
Chanda-Munda: our
demonic tendencies which serves the false egocentric self with material
riches, pride in spiritual success, attachments and infatuations
Durga
is as a transformative force.
Surrendering to her energies allows us
to bring this inner conflict of good and evil into conscious awareness. In Devi Saptashati, the Gods bow down before the
higher consciousness which replenishes them with Shakti to destroy the lower
energies of human consciousness. When the lower tendencies are dissolved, the
demonic soul or the lost soul comes home to the higher consciousness.
On universal level, Durga energy can
give political and social consciousness. These energies are visible in a person
who works for greater good of the society either uplifting the marginal or
championing a cause. Durga energies give fuel to fight injustice often seen in
outbreaks of a rebellion or uprisings.
On personal level, when we realise from
the deepest inside something is wrong and needs to be changed, at that time
Durga energies are working in us. Durga Shakti gives us strength and a sense of
direction. The intense will that comes from within in people who want to change
addictions or self-destructive habits is Durga Shakti. In more inward search of
Durga energy, she brings the radical spiritual awakening known as Kundalini or
Shaktipath. This is the most evolutionary inner transformation which opens
gates of creativity, love, highly intellectual capacities. This awakened Durga
Shakti is a liberating force.
Tuning in to Durga energies through
meditation will help to understand the fluctuation of our consciousness. The moments when we feel great love, humility, happiness, at that time Goddess energies are moving around. On the other hand when
we feel threatened, helpless, without directions, these are the hints to invoke
the Durga energies to overpower the weak vibrations. The path of Goddess is all
about expansion and contraction of our inner consciousness in our inwards
journey to attend liberation from the demonic tendencies of human mind.
References:
1. Devi
Saptashati
2. Satya
Prakash Chaudhary, ‘The Glory of Goddess’
3. Works
of Sally Kempton.
