The Assertion of Femininity in Indian Thought (5)

[Guest guest]

thank you devi_bhakta for posting all this wealth of information on

the 10 mahavidyas! i am sure many of our members would find this

information very useful.. in afct, exotic inia and kamat pot-pourri

are two of my favorite web sites ! they have great art work as well!!

 

here is something i found on the ten mahavidyas which may also be

useful...

 

The Indian religious tradition conceives of the divine feminine. In

the uproar over the patriarchal prejudice that is said to infest

Indian scriptures, a basic fact is lost sight of. No other living

religious tradition in the world presents such a continuos and richly

diverse record from the prehistoric times of worshipping the Divine

as Feminine.

 

A lot of writers who were inspired by the Hindu goddesses and who

carried out investigation in this area were seeking answers as to how

to make sense of a tradition that worships a goddess who chops off

her own head, yet another who straddles her consort on a funeral pyre

and another who is happy when she is given polluted offerings.

 

Being intensely individualistic, this form of worship is very

different from the Vedic and Puranic sacrificial ceremonies. This

group of goddesses presents a veritable "anti-model" for women, quite

the opposite of a devoted housewife. In them the predominant theme is

the oxymoronic coupling of death and mating, with the goddess almost

invariably naked and in the dominant position. It is also said that

the sacrifices these goddesses demand are invariably male victims.

None of the Western scholars who have done research on these grounds

have noted that the earliest hymn devoted to a goddess occurring in

the Rigveda is the only one composed by a woman: the seer Vak

daughter of rishi Ambhrin. This oldest mantra is also the most

sublime of all invocations to the Divine Feminine.

 

Vak, experiencing the Supreme Goddess, Adi Shakti, as her Self

declaims, "It is I who, creating the universe and all worlds, wholly

pervade them like the wind. Though I transcend the heavens and this

earth, yet by my glory have I manifested creation." It is perhaps

this sublimity that one seeks for in the Tantric vision and is left

baffled and bewildered.

 

Actually, this group spans the spectrum from the gradual

horripilatingly dreadful to the sublime with its celebration of

Chinnamasta at one end and Kamala at the other. The concept of Kamala

comes after Tripura Sundari, the beauty of the three worlds

celebrated in the Lalitha Sahasranamam, whose symbol is the

ShriChakra. Bhuvaneshwari, whose body is the world, symbolised by the

Inverted Triangle and Matangi, who insists upon being worshipped with

offerings of leftover food. These three are represented as lovely

maidens, the latter two appearing without any consort while Lalitha

appears seated upon a reclining Shiva.

 

 

 

In the Lalitha Sahasranamam the Divine Mother's name is chanted a

thousand times and each time the name given to her is a different

name. She is said to be pleased when she is called a "Mother".

 

The chanting of "OM" is said to create such vibrations in air that

slowly and gradually reaches GOD.

 

The Lalitha Sahasranamam starts with:

 

"OM...Shri Mata Shri Maharagi Srimad Simhasaneshwari

 

Chitagni Kunda Sambootam Deva Karya Samoodyadatam."

 

The other Mahavidyas are quite independent of Lord Shiva and their

very manifestation is in defiance of him. Dhumvanti appears as a

widow, consort-less, originating, like Bagalamukhi, in Sati

swallowing Shiva when he would not assuage her hunger. Despite being

a widow, the hymn invoking her makes her the creatrix of dance and

enjoyer of erotic activity and liquor.

Each Mahavidya is a facet of the multi faceted Great Goddess, each

containing all the others. This is revealed in the invocatory verses

addressed to any of them, which usually ascribe to her the names of

the many of the other nine. In Devi Purana Shiva invokes the Supreme

Shakti of the eight Vidyas to destroy Subal and Dundubhui at the

request of Vishnu and the other gods.

 

Knowing very well that weapons would be ineffectual, she discards her

youthful form and becomes aged over hundred, withered, networked with

veins, sunken eyes, pale lips, snake on the head, left hand on the

left thigh, right hand on her back, gaping mouth cavern, limbs a

tremble , encircled by the eight Vidyas astride ox, lion, elephant,

peacock, garuda, bear, black-spotted deer.

 

 

 

The Vidyas dwell specially with women as clan-deities. They are

established with gopis and tribals and in Hastinapur, Ujjaini,

Kamakshya, Kishkindaya, Bhot, Koshala, Raadh, Mahodaya, Vidisha and

Jalandhar. This crone obstructs Sharabh danav's way, telling him to

lie with her and not discard her as old. The moment he holds her hand

to lift her, he falls dead.

 

Another version in this Purana narrates that after Parashurama

brought Kalika from Yashoda beside the northern sea and established

her in Ayodhya, from her nine Durgas emerged and were established in

Mahodaya. Devi Purana speaks of her form as Vaivasvati, riding a

buffalo, with boar-like face, drinking from a skull and holding a

staff. As Aghora she has a terrifying face wearing a lion skin and

deerskin, necklace of heads and a skull in hand. As Vikata she rides

a camel, has huge hands holding noose and staff, a terrifying mane,

black sandal on body and fish for her food. Thus, the ten Mahavidyas

are by no means unique. Their multiform exist in the nine Durgas, the

eight vidyas, and the seven martikas (sometimes sixteen and even

ninety-two in the Vana Parva of Mahabharata)

 

 

 

.. The Yogic Vision of Tantra, is to see the adorable mother behind

all the passions of the lower nature. The terrible repulsive forms of

the Mahavidyas are worshipped precisely in order to train the tantric

yogi systematically to envision the divine mother even in what

appears to be dark and disgusting in life. Thereby he grasps the key

to sublimate and master the forces of his own lower nature, rising

spiritually by those very things which causes man's downfall. However

distorted by ego, every desire is in essence of some power of the

immanent Divine.

 

Sri Aurobindo put it so well in Savitri, none can gain heaven who has

not passed through hell. Removing the distortion leads to each taking

its proper place to perform its right function according to the

Supreme Law of bliss infusing all creation.

 

the author is uma m. !

 

 

enjoy!

 

love

[Guest guest]

Devi Bhakta,

 

Thank you for this marvelous and detailed post. This is quite

fascinating.

 

Do you have any information on why there is considered to be 10

directions? Do they have specific names (not the Goddesses, the

directions)?

 

I'm glad that this grouping of ten is to comprise our Goddesses of

the week for a while. There's a lot of intrigue to them.

 

Bright Blessings,

 

prainbow

[Guest guest]

Dear Prainbrow, do allow me to reply this message on behalf of DB.

 

"Do you have any information on why there is considered to be 10

directions? Do they have specific names (not the Goddesses, the

directions)?"

 

No I don't have any information on why there is 10 directions.

But if

you look at message 193 on Dasa Maha Vidyas, I have written about all

the different directions and its association with the ten Goddess.

Chinnamasta is said to be in the eastern direction. In Hinduism, the

eastern direction is an auspicious one in contrast to the southeast

direction which is inauspicious because of its connection with the

realm of the dead. The eastern direction symbolizes regeneration or a

renewal such as a new day beginning in the direction. Goddess

Chinnamasta has similar connotations of renewal and being beyond

death. Just as Usas, the Vedic Goddess of dawn ` is young, being

born

again and again " and "as she has shone in former days, so

she shines

now and will shine in the future, never ageing, immortals "

[Rg-Veda ]

 

I hope this will give you some idea. I dont have the full

information, but your questions have intrigue me to search further.

Thank you.

 

Om ParaShaktiye Namaha

[Guest guest]

Hi Paulie:

 

I know of two sources giving the directions of the Mahavidyas. Nora's

reply offers a few suggestions as to why they are where they are; the

devotee must intuit the rest, I suppose. In any case, the directions

are variable, as is the inclusion of goddesses:

 

Brihaddharma Purana (Madhya Khanda, 6.128-31) posits ten Mahavidyas,

but names and locates only nine of them, leaving out Kamala and

Bhairavi, and separating Tripurasundari and Shodasi into two distinct

goddess forms (although they are more commonly considered one):

 

KALI (S) (facing N, face-to-face with Shiva)

DHUMAVATI (SE)

TRIPURASUNDARI (SW)

BHUVANESVARI (E)

CHINNAMASTA (W)

TARA (above Shiva)

SHODASHI (NE)

MATANGI (NW)

BAGALAMUKHI (N)

 

Mahabhagavata Purana (77.31-34) lists ten Mahavidyas, but again splits

Shodashi and Tripurasundari, and leaves out Kamala. When Shiva,

surrounded by the Ten Mahavidyas, asks who they are, Kali steps

forward and says "Do you not see Sati standing before you?" Elsewhere

the Mahavidyas are referred to as Sati's "friends." Shiva is again

facing South, and the Mahavidyas stand as follows:

 

DHUMAVATI (S)

SHODASHI (SE)

BHAIRAVI (SW)

TARA (E)

BHUVANESVARI (W)

MATANGI (above Shiva)

KALI (present in all directions)

TRIPURASUNDARI (NE)

CHINNAMASTA (NW)

BAGALAMUKHI (N)

 

In a different passage, the Mahabhagavata (at 77.4-11) offers the same

configuration, but this time in relation to Kali (who is identified

with Kamakhya. Interestingly, Kali is sitting upon a throne, which the

text says is composed of the three great male deities of the Hindu

pantheon: A corpse (Shiva) lying upon a Lotus (Brahma) which is

resting upon a lion (Vishnu).

 

Well, I hope that helps; I'd be interested to hear your take on what

it all may mean from your tradition's point of view. Can anyone else

offer any further information or throw additional light on the meaning

of all this?

 

Aum Maatangi Namahe