Taking off from the previous issue, it comes out that even if you are placed on a high pedestal, ego will prove self-defeating. And the worse would happen if you ever ignore the callings of collective obligations. No wonder, when the Devatas pooled in their individual energies, all put together turned into a mighty force. That very force is personified as Durga, which tamed the demons. The obvious implication is that we could be at our best only when we put in all acts together. Second, life does not move to one’s asking. We need to be on full alert and geared up to meet impending challenges.
Even otherwise, we are often confronted by disparate people all around. In fact, our plane of living remains a fertile ground for arousal of conflicting interests. That makes it incumbent upon us to be prepared to take on danger inherent in the existential order itself. So, no matter how virtuous a person individually is, unless he remains live to existential needs, life may turn into a nightmare, both individually and collectively. The Devatas would have been definitely caught unawares during one of their unguarded moments, which led to their humiliating defeat at the hands of the evil-forces.
The story line relating to the making of the Mother does also hint on evolution and devolution of nature driven energies – from a singularity to multiple chains, and then back to the primal-source. In a related sense, it may be fair to reason that the Mother contains in Her, the essence of all forces in operation in the universe, which is why when they all joined, She could make her appearance. She, therefore, symbolises convergence of all nature driven energies, vital to our existence. It is in this spirit that She is named “Durga”, which in linguistic terms means something ordinarily unassailable. Out of that primal source has evolved a complex chain of forces, each personified as a Devata specific. And, which following an intelligent design laid down by nature, creates, sustains, and recycles the manifest dynamic world. And, over a period of time, after having exhausted their sustainable limit, these forces, and thereby the world, may revert back to the primal source. Out of the seeds of life that these forces carry back, a fresh creation chain may get excited. Thus, goes on a continued chain of evolution and devolution with no beginning or end in final sense, what in modern scientific parlance is termed as a “boundary-less singularity”.
Now, why the form of a Mother, and not a male or just a feminine presence? Ancient India’s learned masters, seeing truths from human perspective, had well understood double propensity inherent in all empowerment tools, be they physical, material, or intellectual. Accordingly, they felt the need to educate all and sundry on how to judiciously use Shakti, in the larger interest of the individual self, humanity as a whole, and overall existential needs. As we are aware, a mother uses her Shakti and all resources available, to bear, produce, and nurse her child, till they qualify to manage on their own. She pools in all resources available, bears with all the pains in the process, yet she rejoices for what she has brought up. And, in her true motherly spirit, it remains a selfless exercise on her part, as she does not expect anything in return thereof at least in immediate terms. There can be, therefore, no better simile than that of a mother, which may be suggestive of judicious and selfless application of Shakti.
Let us now look at wholesome form in which the Mother Goddess is popularly visualised. Mounted on a Lion, She is usually perceived having 10 hands. In 8 She is shown holding different weapons, each offered by one or the other Devata. In remaining two, She is shown with a conch shell (Blowing instrument) in one and Lotus flower in the other.
Now why is Mother visualised with 10 arms holding different weapons and accessories as described above? We are aware that there are ten directions – North, East, South, West, the four corners, one above and another below, implying 10 dimensions of energy flow in nature. She attends to the energies flowing through different directions with Her ten hands holding specific arm. And, we are all aware that both creation and destruction are the prerogative of Shakti alone. It will naturally be desirable to access and make the most out of creative energies and simultaneously checkmate the implications of negative forces.
The issue continues …….