Goddess of the week : Dhumavati ( A repost )

[Guest guest]

MAA DHUMAVATI : The Widow Goddess

 

Sankarrukku

This is the seventh of the Maha Vidyas. According to Thodala Tantara

Maa DHUMAVATHI is the equivalent of Varaha Avatara.

 

"Dhumavathi is ugly, unsteady and angry. She is tall and wears

dirty

cloths. Her ears are ugly and rough, she has long teeth, and her

breasts hang down. She has along noose. She has the form of a widow.

She rides in a chariot that has a banner on top decorated with a crow

emblem. Her eyes are fearsome, and her hands tremble. In one hand she

holds a winnowing basket, and with the other hand she makes the

gesture of conferring boons. Her nature is rude. She is always hungry

and thirsty and looks unsatisfied. She likes to create strife, and

she is always frightful in appearance"

 

David Kinsley – Tantric visions of the Divine Feminine.

 

The above translation of one of the Dhyana Slokas of MAA DHUMAVATI

depicts her as Ugly to say the least. David Kinsley compares her to

the Goddesses Jyeshta and Alakshmi. But there is a major difference

in the MAA DHUMAVATI gives boons to the Upasakas.

 

To understand the concept of MAA DHUMAVATI, we should look at the

entire Dasa Maha Vidyas. The Dasa Maha Vidyas could be classified as

under

 

Fearsome Goddesss representing pure power

MAA KALI

MAA TARA

MAA TRIPURA BHIRAVI

 

Beautiful Goddess with power

MAA LALITHA TRIPURASUNDARI

MAA BHUBANESHWARI

 

Goddess representing specific Siddhis

MAA BAGALAMUKHI

MAA CHINNAMASTHA

MAA MATHANGI

 

Goddess who is pure beauty and kindness

MAA KAMALATHMIKA

 

Goddess who represents Ugliness

MAA DHUMAVATHI

 

The above classification is my own. Now why do we need an ugly

goddess and what is the message behind her ugliness? I believe that

the relationship between MAA and her Bhaktha is like the one between

a six month old child and its mother. The child does not care whether

the mother is beautiful, ugly, rich or poor. To enable an Upasaka to

develop this attitude we have Goddesses who are beautiful and

fearsome. But an Ugly goddess was also required to drive home the

point that MAA haas no physical appearance and she is MAA whether the

depiction if Beautiful, Fearsome or Ugly. If I can perceived SMASANA

KAALI with disheveled hair, garland of skull etc. dancing in the

burning ghat as beautiful what is the problem in imagining and

accepting MAA DHUMAVATHI. It is only a conditioning of the mind,

which is able to perceive the truth behind mere appearance. In actual

live don't the people who have ugly mother love them ?

 

There are many ugly people in the world. Don't they make good

mothers, good lovers, good husbands, and good wives? We have a

general opinion that good-looking people are good and ugly looking

people are bad. This is not true. I feel that MAA DHUMAVATHI was

conceived to drive home the point that physical appearance is not the

end all.

 

The Gayatri for MAA DHUMAVATHI is

 

Om Dhumavawatyai vidmahe, Samharinyai deemahi.

Thanno Dhuma Praochadhayat

 

Here it is seen that she is called destroyer of enemies (

samharinyai). Her Mantry is a very powerful mantra, which is used to

destroy enemies. Her Mantra is

 

Om. Dhoom, Dhoom, Dhumavathi Swaha !!

 

There are many more restrictions on this mantra than any other

mantra. MAA DHUMAVATHI mantra is associated with Tantrics who perform

Prayoga. One of the religious magazines in Tamil had given this

mantra for general worship of the public.

 

Kinsley mentions a temple of MAA DHUMAVATHI in Varanasi. I have

visited a temple of MAA DHUMAVATHI at Kamakhya ( Gowhati, Assam )

There is no image in the temple. All Dasa Maha Vidyas have separate

temples at Kamakhya, which is considered to be the most holy place

for all Sakthas.

 

Jai MAA

 

DkSesh

Completely true, I agree.

Physical appearance has nothing to do with divine mother. Eshwara

once came as a person supposed to be of a lower caste, in a drunken

state and with dogs and completely unclean to Shankaracharya to

teach him that clean/unclean, high/low, good/etc are attributes that

are part of the discrimination. To perceive Brahman, one has to go

beyond it.

 

Soo too a goodess can be old, so what? She is still a mother who

cares just as other form would. Because at the end of the day, she is

the same mother in that form.

 

This is what I thought was conveyed by Lord in mother

Dhoomavathiform. Which is in a constant to other forms of the same

Lord.

 

A question is : what is Dhoom? Dhoomavathi extends from dhoom. Vathis

means someone who possess or is an expert in or an authority. If her

mantra is based on Dhoom, what does it stands for. If someone can

give me a meaning and also the puranical/tantrik background, it will

help and be useful.

[Guest guest]

This mail is in connection with the thought of the letter- "physical

appearence has nothing to do with in any relationship".

We often distinguish between good and evil being merely driven by the

ideas that is formed out of the sight of a person or a scene;and

being the worshipper of beauty we are much prone to be oblivious of

the so-called ugliness. We try to keep ourselves busy with what is

beautiful and joyous shunning mercilessly those who epitomises

ugliness,unhappiness,poverty.

This particular incarnation of mother as Dhumabati tells thats even

ugliness is a part of nature and its beauty lies in its ugliness -

and we must not dare to put a glance of contempt upon those who are

ugly ,poor and unhappy.We must worship ugliness as we worship beauty.