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The Concept of Mother Durga and Her Retinue

by Dr Mahanambrata Brahamachari
EIGHT figures are there in the setup of Mother Durga. as she is worshipped.
The mother remains in the middle as the presiding deity. Lakshmi and Ganesh are on her right; Saraswati and Kartick, on the left. A lion is beneath her feet and the demon Mahisasur (in the form of a buffalo) in front somewhat on her left and Kalabou. on her extreme right. Let me now try to explain the philosophical significance underlying these figures, separately.
Mother Durga
The Mother attained the name 'Durga' on killing a de- . mon named 'Durgam' mention of which can be found in the sacred book 'Sri Sri Chandik The demon Durgam inflicts sorrows and sufferings upon living beings; The Mother kills the demon and relieves them of afflictions.
Though symbolic, in reality it is people's blind selfishness and ignorance, in the matter of spiritual attainment, that cause them to suffer enormously, being under the spell of Maya (delusion). Mother Durga destroys the ignorance by her sword of knowledge and arouses good intention among people.
The term 'Durga' also signi-
same time graceful. The profound grace In her Is the source of her universal motherhood.
Lakshmi
Sri Lakshmi emerged out of the cosmic ocean when the gods and demons churned it using Vasuki Nag (serpent) as the rope and Mandar hili as the axis. Ocean Is called the mine of gems. Nature is also an ocean. The cultivation of land of nature yields us crops. Forest gives us wealth and the mines underneath give us gold. Commerce and business are also a form of churning ocean.
Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Devoid of riches makes one unfortunate and that of character makes one wretched. To the Sadhak (worshipper) spiritual attainment is his wealth. So he worships Lakshmi and Narayan'.
Lakshmi is the means of our livelihood. River is another form of Lakshmi. It is said that on being cursed. Lakshmi turned into river which has made the land rich with sufficient water, sweet fruits and bumper crops.
Lakshmi's vehicle is owl. which is blind at day time. •Riches usually make people blind and, unconcerned of
the endless sky. symbolising Infiniteness. The infinite Lord Vishnu coming to this finite world lost head. An elephants head was cut and Joined to the truncated neck of Ganesh
Ganesh literally means god of gana' or masses. He is wor shipped particularly by businessmen and workers for suc cess in trade. He Is also the leader of the masses and Is called Ganapatl. Masses have appetite but no brain which ;s signified by his big belly and head of a beast.
Though Ganesh has the head of an elephant, his vehi cle Is rat. a small creature which is symbolic of unity be tween big and small, rich and poor, high and low. which alone can ensure peace and prosperity in our individual social stance and salvation to his devotees and frees them from the bondage of Maya. The rat possesses sharp teeth to cut those bondages.
Saraswati
Devi Saraswati represents the Mother's Jnana-Sakti or power of knowledge and wis dom. As the goddess of learn ing. she holds in her two hands a book and a Bina (stringed musical instrument; The book symbolises Sabda Brahma and the Bina, sweet
fies incomprehensible', that Is, the spiritual truth about her is very difficult to be comprehended. Only her celestial grace enables one to know her.
Mother Durga wages war against the demons out of compassion for her offsprings, the living beings. The Mother has ten hands, signifying innumerable ones, holding various weapons to protect her countless offsprings.
Five right hands the right holding a trident, a sword, a discus, a sharp pointed arrow and shaku each and five left hands holding a shield, a bow, a fetter, a hook and an axe each. And each weapon has its own significance. The Mother destroys our material, ethereal and subtle bodies with her three-pronged trident and gives us saintly bodies. The sword is symbolic of knowledge that destroys our ignorance. Mother has placed her ' right leg on the back of the [ lion and the toes of her left leg on the shoulder (or chest) of the demon. She is the Mother of the universe she creates as Brahman! preserves as Valsnabi Saktl and dissolves as Shlvanf
Shiva rests In her face. Vishnu In her hands and Brahma In her legs. Moon on her chest, the Regent of Death (Yamal in her hair. Indra (king of gods) in her waist. The energy of Varuna la on her thighs. that of earth on her |x>sterlor that of Kuver in her nose, that of Sun in her toes and that of Basus In her fin gers and of Agni (god of fire) in her three eyes. The Mother is the embodiment of energies of all the gods The various gods are limbs of her celestial body
Although the Mother Is all powerful, she is affectionate too She is fierce and at the
others. All good intentions to render help and services to helpless and needy, relatives and neighbours vanish as soon as one gets wealth. He turns blind like an owl.
But there are people who do not lose their sight on getting riches. To them the owl gives advice, saying "oh, be blind, don't look at those people who have amassed riches out of falsehood theft and other vile means. Look. 1 am a messenger of Yama. If you make money by unfair means. Yama, the Regent of Death will punish you. Think of death; nothing will go ultimately with you. So. don’t adopt unfair means to earn money."
Those who are striving after spiritual attainment are being reminded by the owl of the message of the Geeta wherein lord Kirshna tells Arjuna that a yogi remains awake in the sphere of realisation of God. over which all others sleep and that he sleeps over the sphere of worldly pleasures and pur suits in which all others remain awake
Ganesh
Sri Ganesh holds In his four hands a conch, a wheel, a club and a lotus which are also found In the hands of Lord Vishnu In fact. Ganesh is a part incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Parbatt, the Mother worshipped lx>rd Vishnu to get him as tier son at the Instance of Shiva Vishnu also cherished a desire to tie the son of the Universal Mother This has been narrated In Brahma Balbarta Purana
Ganesh, immediately after birth, lost his head at the evil glance of Soni (Saturn) In an cient days. Soni was consid ered as the last of nine planets. As It was the remotest from the sun. it had. as If. encircled
music and rhythm or Nad.i Brahma. As an embodiment ot goodness and purity she has white complexion and clothes White is indicative of spiritual revelation. Anybody in pin suit of supreme knowledge must have to be pure in body, mind and soul
The vehicle of Saraswati is a white swan which takes the milk only if mixed with wit r The wise and conscientious accept only the real object re jecting all that are unreal and transitory. Swan or hangsha or Sho hong' means literally I am one with God which Is be ing pronounced always in the process of breathing In and
Brahman, the ultimate Being is boundless and limit less while living beings are very much limited within small bounds. Brahman Is vast like an ocean while a living being is a tiny drop of water
The swan reminds us always this principle of difference and non-difference between god and living beings A Sadhaka or worshipper with the realisa tton of this principle becomes a f’arania-hansa. who like a swan living tn water lives in this world without being con laminated with worldly mat ters
Kartick
Rarlick of Kartickeya is the gnd of powers and chivalry He Is the offspring of Shtva aud Mother Saktl. Hara and Parbati. born out ot deepest meditation When Mother Sati sacrificed herself tn the Yajna of Prajapatl Dakaha. Siva be come mad and began to dance with her dead body on his shoulder Vishnu cut the dead body of Sati into pieces with his chakra (wheel) When Shiva became aware of this, he ab
sorbed himself in deep meditation. Mother Sati took rebirth as Uma in the Himalayas and was also meditating Shiva. At that time Tarakasur, a fiery demon had been ravaging the heaven and the gods could not withstand him and fled away. The gods were in need of a powerful general whom they found in Kartlck. the offspring of Shiva and Sakti.
Peacock is the vehicle of Kartlck. Peacock cannot endure envy or Jealousy. The serpent symbolises envy and Jealousy. Peacock kills and devours the serpent. All that Is youthful, beautiful, chivalrous, energetic and full of fortitude are symbolised in Kartlck and his peacock.
The Lion
The lion symbolises Raja-guna', the energy element in all beings and things and represents the most fierce and terrific animal force. Animality
in varied degree is there in very person.
Mother Durga is full of 'Suddha Sattwa Guna' having purity and goodness in their entirety. Asura or the demon is the embodiment of Tama-guna'. The battle between Mother and Asura is the battle between twp gunas. sattwa and tama. in which one who has had the assistance of Raja-guna will be the winner. Mother has held the lion under her feet, ie at her command. So victory Is ensured on her side. The brutal force has always to be kept under rigid control and subservient to Sattwa-guna.
The Demon
As per earlier interpretation the term Asura' or demon is meant to be profusion of vital energy. The later meaning of Asura is anti-sura, that does not recognise any god or god dess but possesses abundant vitality. In these days there Is; no doubt, plenty of vital forces
but those are unfortunately misdirected and applied to evil designs causing grave harm and distress in our social and national life. The Mother, bent on welfare of all beings, strikes the demonical forces ruthlessly in order to bring them to right path, because Asuras are also her offsprings.
Kala Bou
The spiritual name of Kala Bou is Nava Patrika which means a collection' of nine saplings. These are of plantain, paddy, bilwa (wood apple), turmeric and five others.
These nine plants are fastened together with white Aparajlla creeper to transform it into Kala Bou.
Collectively Kala Bou represents the entire vegetation of the world and is the symbol of Mother Durga. Through the medium of Kala Bou we offer our salutation to Mother Durga who exists in the vegetation all over the world to maintain her countless children. We pray to her to make our life’s Journey smooth and peaceful and Immune fropi evils and dangers, sorrows and sufferings.