Durga: The Goddess of Inner Strength

                                                
                       (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.