DURGA DEVI and her sword of Truth....

[Guest guest]

Akshasrak parashum gadeshu kulisham

padmam dhanuh kundikaam

dandam shaktim asim cha charma

jalajam ghantam surabhajanam

shulam paasha sudarshane cha

dadhaatim hastaih prasannaananaam

seve sairibha mardinimiha

mahalakshmim sarojasthitam

 

She with the gloriously

resplendent countenance

the destroyer of the great ego,

is seated upon the lotus of peace.

In her hands, She holds

the rosary of alphabets,

the battle axe of intellectual discretion,

the club of perfect articulation,

the arrow of logical speech

the thunderbolt of lustrous illumination,

the lotus of universal peace,

the bow of unwavering determination,

the water of ultimate purification,

the staff of resolute discipline and energy,

the sword of devoted worship,

the shield of unshakable faith,

the conch of harmonious music,

the bell of continuous tone,

the nectar of joy,

the pointed spear of concentration,

the manifestation of universal oneness,

the discuss of infinite revolving time.

I worship that great Goddess

of true spiritual wealth

 

courtesy- Sword of Truth

 

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The divine mother is sometimes depicted with four hands, eight hands,

ten hands and sometimes 18 hands and sometimes with innumerable

hands.

 

in each hand, she holds a weapon.

 

this is not a 'weapon' in the traditional sense; these weapons stand

for something more 'esoteric' just like the demons are not really

the 'demons' we imagine them to be.

 

who are madhu and kaitabha?

who is raktabija?

who is dhumralochana?

who are shumbha and nishumbha ?

who is mahisasur?

 

these are all the 'demons' residing in the human body- they are not

some 'external' demons!

 

lust, greed, anger, pride, arrogance, desires, ego all represent the

demons within us - these are the madhu and kaitabha, raktabija,

dhumralochan, shumbha and nishumbha and the worst of all the

DEMON 'EGO' - MAHISASURA !

 

with the sword, our diovine mother cuts our 'ego'

with the axe, she destroys our arrogance.

with the spear she slays our lowly passions of lust and desires.

the arrows are aimed at controlling our anger.

with the thunderbolt she opens our third eye

 

so on and so forth!!

 

so our divine mother is both a 'disciplinerian' and a proteress -

as 'durga' she protects us from 'evil' and as Jaganmata , she makes

sure 'peace' prevails and the demonic tendencies are eradicated .

 

anyone who is well versed with sree lalita sahasaranama or devi

bhagvatam knows that all these demons are not something 'external' (

bhanda in lalita sahasaranama and mahisasura in devi mahatmiyam ) --

these are all 'internal' demons. The Ego!!!

 

this is the reason why as bodhiavasa and ompremji have pointed out we

have to look beyond the Name and The FORM!! These are at best 'tools'

designed to help the 'bhakta' on his/her spiritual journey to Higher

Truth! The divine nectar of Brahma-jnana.

 

The devi is 'worshippable' in all her multiple forms and multiple

names.

 

but HER best description is as SREE MATA.

 

OM SRI-MATRE NAMAHA

SALUTATIONS TO THE DIVINE MOTHER, WHO IS THE *MOTHER* OF ALL.

 

LOVE