16. MAHENDRI: 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 SIXTH the Eight Mothers (and the 16th of the Khadgamala Devis)

is MAHENDRI. Mahendri is sometimes identified with Indrani -- a

Vedic goddess form characterized by wrath and jealousy, who is

beautiful and has a thousand eyes. She is associated with lions and

elephants; and is the mother, by Indra, of Arjuna, Jayanta, Midhusa,

Nilambara, Ribhus, Risabha and Sitragupta. (MAHENDRI is also one of

the 36 Yakshinis described in the Uddamareshvara Tantra, together

with Her appropriate mantras and ritual instructions.)

 

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.

 

In keeping with Her Indrani association, MAHENDRI here represents

Her subtle aspect as JEALOUSY.

 

MAHENDRI's mantra is:

 

aim hrim shrim MAhendri matru devi shrI pAdukAM poojayaami

 

Continuing to circumambulate clockwise around the second layer of

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

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

East, the would be the upper lefthand or NORTHEAST corner).

 

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

Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi and Varahi. 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 MAHENDRI, 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

MAHENDRI. Let your intuition and visualization guide you more deeply

into Her meaning for you.

 

As we often state, 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