Guest guest Posted February 24, 2004 Report Share Posted February 24, 2004 Namaste Satish: You write; *** Durga's vehicle is Lion. Pictures which show Her with tiger are not correct. *** But what lion? The popular prints usually show Devi riding an African lion (Pathera leo felidae), which surely can't be right. Wouldn't the (highly endangered) Indian lion (Panthera leo persica) be the species contemplated by the dhyanas? And is a tiger truly never correct? I'd be curious as whether other members have any thoughts on this? I have quite a lot of faith in Satish's accuracy in these matters, but I'd always thought that the tiger vahana was, if anything, more accurate than a lion! Just wondering ... DB , "Satish Arigela" <satisharigela> wrote: > , "prainbow61" <paulie- > rainbow@u...> wrote: > > Namaste, > > It also reminded me of Durga, > > because, although this Goddess figure is not holding any weapons, > >Her > > torso seems to be dressed in leather armor and Durga sometimes is > > pictured riding on the back of a lion. (Usually a tiger, I know, > but > > sometimes a lion) And that puts the female figure above and almost > > one with the feline figure. I cannot say which Goddess is being > > depicted in this sculpture, but I really like it. > > Durga's vehicle is Lion. Pictures which show Her with tiger are > not correct. Not correct in the sense that none of the scriptures > that I came across which deal with Her woship describe Her as seated > on tiger. Lord Shiva specifically tells that She is seated to be > meditated as being seated on a Lion or on the head of the demon > Mahisha. > > The Kali-Vilasa tantra gives mantras for Her vehicle, Lion- Simha > mantra(Simha= Lion, in sanskrit) and her asana Mahisha- Mahisha > mantra. > > Lion form is also associated with gods. Ex:Lord Vishnu and Lord > Shiva. Narasimha(Lion head and human body) for Vishnu and > Sarabheshvara for Shiva. > > Rgds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 24, 2004 Report Share Posted February 24, 2004 Namaste, It is impossible for anyone to read all tantras or all literature regarding Her attributes and worship. If someone found any reference saying tiger is also valid or a reference mentioning both are valid, I will change my opinion. As for African lion or Indian lion, it will not matter. One can meditate on whatever lion is appealing since the shastra has no particular say on that. A guess: Since Durga worship is more popular in Bengal than in other parts of India, and since tiger is quite common(and feared-in sundervan forests) in Bengal, there might have developed an association of Durga with tiger from which it might have spread to other parts of India. Added to that, tigers can be also found in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh and also Madhya Pradesh and probably in Assam and in a couple of other states too, which might have made the association popular among more devotees and artists. Whereas the Indian lion, I think, is confined only to the state of Gujarat. Rgds , "Devi Bhakta" <devi_bhakta> wrote: > Namaste Satish: > > You write; *** Durga's vehicle is Lion. Pictures which show Her with > tiger are not correct. *** > > But what lion? The popular prints usually show Devi riding an > African lion (Pathera leo felidae), which surely can't be right. > Wouldn't the (highly endangered) Indian lion (Panthera leo persica) > be the species contemplated by the dhyanas? > > And is a tiger truly never correct? I'd be curious as whether other > members have any thoughts on this? I have quite a lot of faith in > Satish's accuracy in these matters, but I'd always thought that the > tiger vahana was, if anything, more accurate than a lion! > > Just wondering ... > > DB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indulekhadasi Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 Simhasaneswari She sits on a lion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveroftheBhagavata Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Whereas the Indian lion, I think, is confined only to the state ofGujarat. That is the case now, but the Asiatic lion roamed all over the Indian subcontinent and as far west as the Middle East just a few hundreds of years ago, what to speak of the situation as it was back in Vedic times, which effectively ended with the start of Kali-yuga in 3102 BCE. By the way, Durga Maa's vahana is not an ordinary lion but an entity residing in higher, finer, ethereal domains of reality. As for the tiger, she is the vehicle of Ambe Mata. Mother Durga proper is always on a lion, no other creature. yA devi sarvabhuteshu mAtri rupena samsthita namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah yA devi sarvabhuteshu buddhi rupena samsthita namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah yA devi sarvabhuteshu shakti rupena samsthita namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah ati-prema se boliye Adya-Shakti Bhagavati DurgA MAtA Ki Jaya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunds Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Must be the Gir forest Lion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveroftheBhagavata Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 It is only restricted to the Gir reserve now, Sunds. In the past, the Asiatic lion was far more geographically widespread than it is in our own times. And like I said, Maa's vahana is a higher dimensional, subtle being, not an earthly feline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divinity Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Lion for Sri Sri Saptasati Chandi makes it very clear in Madhyam Caritra regarding appearance of Mahalakshmi who is also refered as Mahisasuramrdiniand and Maa Durga. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadheRade1657 Posted April 7, 2008 Report Share Posted April 7, 2008 Someone asked me what her lion's name was... anybody know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triniboy108 Posted May 17, 2008 Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 most of all the murits of Durga Ma that I see, she is riding a tiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadheyRadhey108 Posted May 17, 2008 Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 In the wall hanging I have of Durga Devi behind my altar, She's riding a lion... probably doesn't help, since not every picture of a supernatural being is exactly how they are... but at least it's a start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambya Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 till date i have not found any shastric reference to tiger being durga"s vahan.and the opinion that tiger gained popularity because of high availability of the animal in bengal(the principal area of durga worship) is also not correct. in fact if one analyzes the ancient durga pujas of bengal which are being continued without break for hundreads of years(in some cases even more than 450 years)then he can see that in all such places she is atop a mythical white coloured animal,having a horses head,lions body and human like clawed arms.it is also heavily ornamented.i have no clue how this animal came into being but i think it might have been influenced by ancient mythological temple sculptures and the 'gaja simha ' of orissan architecture.it was only in the colonial period that african lion came to be depicted in bengal's pujas.there is no ancient picture or sculpture of durga on tiger in bengal whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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