15. VARAHI: The Khadgamala Devis Series

[Guest guest]

There are eight devatas guarding the second layer of the outer

enclosure wall (the Ninth Enclosure), which is colored as the red of

the rising sun. They are the famous Seven Mothers (Saptamatrka),

plus one added – Mahalaskmi. To learn more about the Saptamatrikas,

see our homepage:

 

http://www.shaktisadhana.org/Photo%

20Gallery/Matrikas/Saptamarkas.html

 

The fourth the Eight Mothers (and the 14th of the Khadgamala Devis)

is VARAHI, the boar-headed form of Devi. For further information on

this fascinating devi, see our homepage presentation at:

 

http://www.shaktisadhana.org/DEVI/varahi.html

 

Or the excellent discussion on the Shiva Shakti Mandalam page:

 

http://www.shivashakti.com/varahi.htm

 

In the scheme of the Khadgamala, each of the Eight Mothers

represent a human passion that must be overcome and controlled

before we can enter further into Sri Chakra. We worship each passion

as an aspect of Devi, then internalize it; and when we internalize

each deity, we *become* Her, so that She is not separate from us. In

that way, we "conquer" each passion, just as – in the first enclosure

wall – we conquered each siddhi.

 

VARAHI here represents Her subtle aspect is PRIDE.

 

VARAHI's mantra is:

 

aim hrim shrim VArAhi matru devi shrI pAdukAM poojayaami

 

Continuing to circumambulate clockwise around the second layer of

the wall of the First Enclosure, turn the corner and VARAHI sits at

the next corner ahead of you (looking at a flat yantra facing

East, the would be the lower lefthand or NW corner).

 

Into VARAHI, the ten Siddhis are absorbed, along with Brahmi,

Maheshwari, Kaumari and Vaishnavi. And so it shall continue till we

reach Mahaalakshmi – at which point, Mahaalakshmi will include all

of the Siddhis and the Seven Mothers.

 

We have not exhausted all there is to say about VARAHI, of

course. But this is enough for purposes of the Khadgamala. We are

not writing full essays on all the aspects and all the mantras of

VARAHI. But again, please note that the beauty of the Khadgamala

Stotram is that NOTHING is required for its recitation except for

your time, attention and concentration: You need simply sit and

recite the Stotram. The mantra given just above is not part of the

stotram; it is offered merely for informational purposes. The entire

stotram is self-contained, as explained in earlier posts.

 

The full text of the KS (along with a FAQ that answers most common

questions about it) can be found by clicking the photo on the front

page of this Group, then selecting DOCUMENT from the menu that

appears.

 

[With sincere thanks and appreciation to Sri Amritananda Natha and

Sri Bhasurananda Natha, who kindly provided detailed and substantive

content for this commentary.]

 

Aum MAtangyai NamaH