Goddess of the Week: MAATANGI

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Maatangi Devi's dhyanas (meditation images) vary widely, depending

upon the Tantra consulted -- Her skin tone can range from white (She

is the Tantric Saraswati) to brown or black (She is a tribal

Chandala; an outcaste) to blue or green (She is Meenakshi Madurai,

and also a form of Kali); with two or four arms, holding various

different weapons and other items. I will post an essay or two on

these various aspects of Matangi, as the week goes on.

 

FULL FORM IMAGE

 

Here is a full-form description of Maatangi, which attempts to bring

Her many aspects together into a single image (a synthesis of dhyana

mantras for Her forms as Ucchista Maatangini [from the Brihat

Tantrasaara], Maatangi [from the Purashcharyaarnava], and Raja-

Maatangi [from the Purashcharyaarnava and Saaradaa-tilaka]). You will

notice that this "full-form" description is quite different from this

week's Group picture -- that image is discussed further down.

 

Here is the description: She is seated on an altar and has a smiling

face and a green complexion. Her eyes are intoxicated. Her clothes

and all of Her ornaments are red. Around Her neck is a garland of

kadamba flowers. She is sixteen years old and has very full breasts

and a very slim waist. She holds a skull on Her left side and a

bloodied chopping blade on Her right, and She plays a jewel-encrusted

veena. Her hair is long and wild, and the disc of the moon adorns Her

forehead. She perspires slightly around Her face, which makes Her all

the more beautiful and bright. Below Her navel are three horizontal

folds of skin and a thin vertical line of fine hair. She wears a

girdle of jeweled ornaments, as well as bracelets, armlets, and

earrings. She represents the 64 arts and She is flanked by two

parrots.

 

ABOUT MAATANGI

 

Maatangi is a primary form of the all-powerful Goddess known in

Hinduism as Devi. Maatangi appears most prominently as one of the

Dasha Mahavidyas (Ten Wisdom Goddesses) of Tantric Hinduism, but may

also be considered a more primal and fearful form of the popular

Goddess Saraswati. Whereas Saraswati presides only over Creation,

governing traditional knowledge and arts, Maatangi also contains

elements of Destruction by which She severs the attachments that bind

humans to the mundane world, paving the way for more unorthodox and

revolutionary forms of Creation, knowledge and art. She is called the

Outcaste Goddess because She prefers to dwell outside the mainstream,

and also because She facilitates the polluting process by which

Divine Unstruck Sound (Nada) is manifested on Earth in the form of

human speech, literature and music. Meditation upon the esoteric

aspects of Maatangi provides a bottomless source of meaning, insight,

and inspiration.

 

HER STORY

 

Goddess Parvati (Devi) was away visiting Her father Himalaya, when

Her consort Lord Shiva began longing for Her, and growing jealous in

Her absence. So Shiva disguised Himself as an ornament vendor and

appeared at Himalaya s door. Parvati selected a few shell ornaments,

but when She asked the merchant his price he asked Her to pay him

with sexual favors. Outraged at his presumption, Parvati was about to

curse the man when Her divine intuition revealed that he was actually

Shiva in disguise, and apparently testing Her fidelity. Concealing

Her knowledge of His true identity, She replied, Yes, fine, I agree.

But not just now. And She sent Shiva on His way.

 

Later, as Shiva prepared for His evening prayers on the shores of

Maanas Lake, Parvati decided to teach Him a lesson. She took the form

of a beautiful outcaste girl, a member of the wild hunter-gatherer

tribe known as the Chandalas. She was dressed all in red, Her body

lean, Her eyes large, Her breasts full and She began a seductive

dance by the lakeside, near the place where Shiva sat.

 

Enthralled, Shiva asked Her, Who are you? She replied, I am Maatangi,

daughter of the Chandalas. I have come here to do penance. Shiva

smiled. I am the One who gives fruits to those who do penance, He

said, and he took Her hand and kissed Her, and then He made love to

Her. While they were engaged in the act, however, Parvati abruptly

transformed Shiva into an outcaste Chandala Himself whereupon He

immediately realized that Maatangi was his wife.

 

Parvati told Him, Since You made love to Me in the form of a Chandala

girl, She will henceforth be one of My permanent forms, to be known

as Ucchista Chandalini. That is, Maatangi, the Outcaste Goddess of

What is Leftover and Polluted. And so Maatangi took Her place as one

of the Ten Wisdom Goddesses, the primary forms of Devi/Parvati. And

later, when Parvati and Shiva argued and He threatened to leave Her,

Maatangi joined the other Mahavidyas in blocking His every exit,

thereby demonstrating (among many other things) Devi s ultimate power

over Shiva and His utter inseparability from Her.

 

This is only one of the many beautiful myths surrounding Maatangi and

Her origins. It is taken from the Praanatosini-tantra and other

sources. Additional versions relate Her to such pan-Hindu Goddesses

as Kali and Lalita Tripurasundari, as well as to more localized

deities most notably, Tamil Nadu's Meenakshi Madurai.

 

 

ANOTHER VIEW ON MATANGI (from "Exotic India," discussing the second

painting above):

 

The Goddess Matangi is the deity of one of the Dasha (ten)

Mahavidyas. She is Siddha Vidya or Tantra personified, thus

commanding occult power. On the mundane level, she is the daughter of

the sage Matanga, who is said to have been the preceptor of Shabari

of the Ramayana fame.

 

In this portrait, the background is a golden yellow, the face of

stunning beauty. Matangi is seated on a throne of vivid green, her

fingers moving over the strings of the veena (lute). Two lotus

flowers dangle from a slender string tied to the upper part of the

veena, which is shaped like a bird's head. At the edge of her throne

sits a parrot seemingly rapt in the music she is creating. Beside her

is a conch-shell. The gentle intoxication caused by the honey-sweet

wine mentioned in Her dhyana-shloka:

 

I meditate on Matangi who

Seated on the gem-studded throne,

listens to the sweet utterances of the parrot,

is aglow with youth,

has one foot on the lotus,

has her forehead bedecked with the crescent moon,

plays on the veena,

has a garland of jasmine flowers,

has a fitting bodice adorning her,

wears red garments,

has a conch-vessel,

is inebriated with honey sweet wine,

has the vermilion mark on her forehead adding luster to it.

Matangi, the daughter of sage Matanga,

supportively plays the ruby-bejeweled veena

leisurely in her self-glory

charming in her sweet vocal expression of song

her delicately soft limbs, lustrous like sapphires.

 

Madhur Madhu Madaam - is suggested by the dreamy expression in

Matangi's eyes. Two birds are artistically positioned and the subtle

juxtaposition of light and shade makes the color scheme effective.

The lotus flower under the feet of the Devi is in full glory of bloom.

 

Being the goddess of the Tantra system, the crescent moon onMatangi's

forehead here reminds the aspirant on the path of Tantra of the

sacrifices he will have to make to obtain siddhis.

 

The veena tells us of her mastery over music, rather of the symphony

of life in this universe, and of man's need to harmonize his life to

avoid all jarring extremes. The old folk saying, "Tighten it not so

much that it breaks, Loosen it not so much that no music emanates,"

is equally applicable to life.

 

The parrot with its tendency to repeat all it hears symbolizes the

inexorable law of karma, the belief that one cannot escape the

consequences of one's acts. It also represents the world of nature.

With one foot on the lotus, the Goddess controls the terrestrial

world in tranquility and serenity, while the other foot, lifted on to

her throne, represents her sovereignty over the celestial domains.

The devotee invokes her with the following verse:

 

Goddess, confer on us well-being,

confer superb prosperity,

grant form, grant victory, grant fame,

kill enemies.

 

In this portrait the background is effulgent, profusely effusing

golden light. The face of Goddess Matangi has been beautifully

painted. The foliage of the blooming trees and the density of the

green color have surfaced the painting. The light and shade effect

has made the color scheme prominent. The lotus flower under the feet

of the Devi is in full glory of bloom. The bright white complexion of

Devi, the white color of the birds and that of the conch appear to be

embossing the background.

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe!