The Goddess's Promises in "Devi Mahatmyam"

[Guest guest]

An interesting off-board question from a member:

 

*** Q: As I read the "Devi Mahatmyam," I am beyond

myself in the promises she makes to her devotees. Do

you take these promises as literal help or in a

figurative type meaning? ... I am cautious here since

the imagery is so powerful of an all-encompassing

help. I guess as a person from the West would ask,

"What is the catch?" ***

 

Well, there are no end-all, be-all answers to your

question, of course. We all must put in our time,

contemplate or meditate upon the passages and arrive

at our own understanding.

 

As for me, I would say these promises work on

different levels for different people. On the most

non-religious level, they are simply a literary

convention in the "mahatmyam" (glorification) genre,

which exists for many forms of the Divine. They are

sectarian documents -- they are attempts to spread the

"good news" about whatever deity the composers wish to

promote.

 

So in "Sanskritizing" India's indigenous Goddess

tradition, the Devi Mahatmyam's composers didn't just

adopt the Sanskrit language but also a revered

Sanskrit form. To put it rather crudely, the thought

pattern was essentially, "If Shiva and Vishnu are

offering these sorts of things to their devotees, then

Devi's going to have a hard time competing if She

doesn't do the same!" So here you simply have Devi

offering no less than what the Supreme Diety of any

religion would offer -- it's just another way for the

Shaktas who composed DM to say, "She's the One."

 

But it's more than just that. Devi's promises to Her

devotees illustrate that She works on all levels,

depending on the needs of Her supplicants -- She

provides simple daily needs for simple folk who wish

for no more; material comforts for those living in the

mundane world, victory and power for rulers, and

Supreme Realization for spiritual aspirants. Whatever

it is you seek, She's the one to seek it from, the

Devi Mahatmyam seems to be saying.

 

Notice the two devotees in the DM's frame story -- the

king and the merchant (showing that She's equally

concerned with people in all walks of life). The

dispossessed king seeks to regain his kingdom -- and

so Devi restores it, and then some; she makes him a

Manu (showing that she often gives Her devotees even

more than they ask for). But the dispossessed merchant

is totally disillusioned with the world, and wants

only moksha -- to escape the cycle of birth and death,

and merge forever with the Divine. And Devi grants his

wish as well. The message? Whatever point you may be

at in your spiritual evolution, Devi will provide what

you seek.

 

Remember this: She is both Maha-Vidya, the Supreme

Knowledge, and Maha-Maya, the Supreme Illusion. And so

it's no problem for Her to deliver whatever her

devotees wish, in either sphere. ;-)

 

*** Q: Shaktism seems to be ready for everyday life

interactions - far beyond the needs of those secluded

in an ashram I would think! ***

 

You're right. Shaktism is especially well-suited to

those of us immersed in the workaday world. It goes

back to Devi's identity with Maya, the Visible World.

Many Hindu traditions deny the world as something

false, a trap or snare for those illusioned by

transient material attractions. Some even seem to

share the Judeo-Christian proclivity and blame women

for this: They attract men with fleeting charms, then

"trap" them in family responsibilities and financial

cares. Thus human women, in thuis view, symbolize Maya

-- think of the tales about how Shiva is the Ascetic

God, reluctantly lured into family life by Parvati's

power. That's a Shaivite allegory for spiritual

aspiration compromised by the mundane world.

 

But here's where Shaktism and Tantra come in and say,

No. The world is real. It is Maya, the Goddess

Herself.

Maya is not Illusion, but Veiled Reality. She makes it

possible for us to live in this world and partake of

its pleasures. But She is also the Knowledge that can

transcend Maya. She is Everything, both in and beyond

the manifest Universe.

 

Which is why Shaktas and Tantrics tend to be

householders, not monks or nuns or swamis. They are

people living in the world, dealing with "real life",

its joys and frustrations and limitations. To them,

Devi says Reality is not an obstacle to Spirituality

-- on the contrary, it is (when understood correctly)

perhaps the most powerful vehicle for reaching

spiritual goals. Shaktism is the art and science of

making this happen. Does that work for you? ;-)

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

thanks devi_bhakta for a great explanation to questions posed by one

of the members. .

 

yes, Devi is concerned withe people from all walks of life be it a

king or a merchant or a man in the street... this is why king rama

prayed to giddess durga for victory before undertaking the great

battle with demon king ravana; warrior arjuna also offered prayers to

mother durga on sree krishna's advice before the kurukshetra war! as

you know millions of common men and women worship the devi everyday

ffor health, wealth and happiness- in fact, in the atreets of

chennai, there is a 'amman' kovil (a small shrine for devi) and

a 'pillaiyar' kovil (gamesha shrine) at every nook and corner... i

have seen rickshawals, flower vendors, friut merchants and other

laborers stopping on the way to work and offering flowers and

coconuts to the 'amman' and' 'pillaiyar'!

 

here is a verse from the devi mahatmiyam..

 

"O Goddess, who removes the suffering of Your supplicants, be

gracious!

Be gracious, O Mother of the whole world!

Be gracious, O Queen of the universe; Safeguard the universe!

You, O Goddess, are Queen of all that is movable and unmovable!

 

You alone has become the support of the world,

Because You do subsist in the form of Earth!

 

By You, who exists in the form of water, all this universe is filled,

 

O You inviolable in Your valor; You are the Gem of the universe,

You are Illusion sublime! All this world has been bewitched, O

Goddess;

 

You indeed when attained,

Are the cause of the final emancipation from existence on Earth! . . .

O Goddess, be gracious!

Protect us wholly from fear of our foes perpetually,

As You have at this very time saved us promptly by the slaughter of

the demons!

 

And You bring quickly to rest the sins of all the worlds,

And the great calamities which have sprung, from the maturing of

portents!

 

To us who are prostrate be You gracious,

O Goddess, who takes away affliction from the universe!

 

O You worthy of praise from the dwellers of the three worlds,

Bestow Your boons on this world!

 

 

Markendeya Purana,

 

om shree jaganmatrayaii namaha!

[Guest guest]

Namaste Devi bhakta and list members.

 

On Mar 3, Devi bhakta wrote:

>An interesting off-board question from a member:

>

>*** Q: As I read the "Devi Mahatmyam," I am beyond

>myself in the promises she makes to her devotees. Do

>you take these promises as literal help or in a

>figurative type meaning? ... I am cautious here since

>the imagery is so powerful of an all-encompassing

>help. I guess as a person from the West would ask,

>"What is the catch?" ***

 

I think I know what this member is referring to. For instance, Devi

Mahatmya chapter 12 verses 12 to 13 --

 

"During autumnal season, when the great annual worship is performed, the

man hearing this glorification of mine with devotion shall certainly

through my grace, be delivered without doubt from all troubles and be

blessed with riches, grains and children."

 

(from Swami Jagadiswarananda's translation, published by Sri Ramakrishna

Math, Madras, 1953.)

>As for me, I would say these promises work on

>different levels for different people. On the most

>non-religious level, they are simply a literary

>convention in the "mahatmyam" (glorification) genre,

>which exists for many forms of the Divine.

 

Yes, but this raises the further question of why such a literary convention

exists for any forms of the Divine. I'd suggest that it exists because

worship really can help people to overcome their problems and attain their

objectives. However, the way it does this may be less sudden and dramatic

than some of the literature implies.

 

In West Bengal, millions of people hear the glorification of the Devi in

the autumn season every year, without being instantly blessed with riches

and grains. And yet, I don't think verses like the one I've quoted would

keep getting read out unless they resonated with _something_ in the

experience of the people who hear them.

 

Several months ago, I read a short article called "A Mother's Faith in

Kali" (in _Emerald Egg of Oz__, publication of the Church of All Worlds,

Australia.) The author, who signed herself 'Sister Usha', described her

mother's life as a Calcutta prostitute.

 

She wrote: "Being a prostitute is an extremely difficult job. Most of your

customers are reasonably nice men, but some are not...This type of life is

enough to break the spirit of most women. Yet my mother was a woman of

remarkable strength and courage. She devoted her life to finding a better

life for her daughter (me) than what she had for herself. She worked hard

for many years trying to prevent me from following her in poverty. Where

did she find the strength? Answer: by worshipping Kali..."

 

The mother's own life didn't have a fairy tale ending, yet she accomplished

her goal of putting her child on the road to an easier and happier life. An

instance of the power of the Goddess, or of the power of the human spirit?

Is there any difference?

 

Om Shantih,

Colin

[Guest guest]

Devi Mahatmaya is an estoric Epic, a greap spiritual text and also a

Mantra-sastra. It signifies the march of the human soul to its

destination.

 

The Devi Mahatmaya can be our guide to avert calamities in life

catastrophies, tensions. When there are "wars" or "pestilence" or

"eidermic" threatening us, it can be a potent remedy not only for the

temporal terrestrial proserity, but also for the glory of the

hereafter, for illumination, for the destruction of ignorance and to

be a fit recipient of the grace of the Devi.

 

Thanks you Colin for reciting this verse. I have been thinking about

it, and have tried to find the meanings beyond the message that Devi

is trying to tell me.

 

" During autumnal season, when the great annual worship is performed,

the man hearing this glorification of mine with devotion shall

certainly through my grace, be delivered without doubt from all

troubles and be blessed with riches, grains and children "

 

Children : Lets try to look beyond this aspect of Children. Lets try

to feel what it is like to be a child again :- not to have worries,

to feel the innocence in everything. As we grow older, we tend to

forget that we were once a child. Some of us, The Child is still in

us. We suppress it, deny its presence but we are times still a child

at heart. For some they are being rob of their childhood. They were

being force to grow up against their will. Can we bring that child

back ? or rekindle the Child in us ?

 

Is this what the Devi promises ?

 

She promises to bring back, return or give that "child" to us and

therefore free ourselves. Isnt this is what the whole thing is all

about. Freedom !!!!!

 

Riches/Wealth : can mean anything. From material to non material.

Wealth too can mean happiness, freedom, healthy etc.

 

Grains : Food.

Lets see what happen when food we eat enters our body. It goes

through the process of Digestion ( the breakdown of food by chemical

and mechanical means ). During digestion the food that we have eaten

are being broken down and converted to energy. Some of these energy

are being stored for future use, and the rest being use by the body

for its daily requirements.

 

So can I then literally interprete it that Devi promises us that She

will give us Her energy and Her strength, so that we can go on

living. Life can be very hard for some people especially those who

are constantly being hit by natural calamities like earth quake,

flood, drought etc. Devi gives them the strength and the courage to

go on despite all the hardships.

 

Om ParaShaktiye Namaha