Mother Destroys to Save, by Swami Chidananda Saraswati

[Guest guest]

Salutations again and again to the blessed Divine Mother, the Supreme

Inscrutable Power, the mysterious achintya-shakti (inconceivable power) of

Para-Brahman (the Supreme Absolute). Salutations to the great Devi (Goddess) who

is the source of all manifestation and embodiment. Salutations to the great

divine power, divya-shakti, from whom have flowed forth all the countless,

innumerable universes; in whom all names and forms dissolve and vanish; and

through whom all beings attain their eternal union with the great reality, the

supreme transcendental being, Para-Brahman.

 

This conception of the great power - the cosmic spirit as the

Mother-is very easy to understand. For the first impression of any soul who has

come out into this world is that of the mother. The earliest recollection which

a being can ever have is that of lying in his or her mother's lap and perhaps

looking up and gazing into her love-filled eyes. To the child, in the mother is

centered a

whole world of tenderness, love, nourishment and care. It is where one runs for

comfort, clings to for protection and nourishment-and

there he gets comfort, protection and care. Therefore, the ideal of

love, care and protection is in the conception of the mother. Therefore this

notion transferred to the cosmic being is the most

natural, most logical and most easy-to-be understood step, and thus it is that

the glorified conception of the Great Mother who loves all, nourishes all, cares

for all and protects all, has come into being in the philosophic conception of

the Hindu.

 

Today we shall devoutly offer our humble worship at the Mother's blessed feet in

the form of a few words describing some aspects

of Her glory. In doing this let us ever be aware that even this privilege of

worshiping Her - glorifying Her and dwelling upon Her greatness is only due to

Her compassion and grace. Without Her grace, most difficult it is to get an

opportunity to think of Her,

to remember Her, to speak of Her, and to utter Her glorious names,

calling upon Her as Mother. All gracious is She, infinitely compassionate is

She. Love is her nature and thus She has bestowed

upon us all this great blessing and the joy to dwell upon Her in thought and

through word, to devoutly adore Her upon this most auspicious and glorious day.

 

The Mother is whatever is. The essence of pure existence is the Supreme Being or

Para-Brahaman. Mother is whatever we know. That which is beyond our knowledge,

that is the purusha, the Supreme Being. That which we know through our mind and

senses is nothing but the manifestation of Mother. She is not only the universe

which we know, this little world and the countless stars, the sun and moon -all

these the terrestrial and the stellar, the lunar and the solar

systems that comprise this little universe-all this is but an infinitesimal

speck in the vastness and infinity that is Mother. Innumerable such universes

have their rise and fall within Her infinite nature. She is all power and also

the great transcendental power at the back of all manifestation, the primal

cause for all manifestations and embodiment. She is the very creatrix not only

of this world but even the creator, preserver and desolver of the world. Brahma,

Vishnu and Maheshwara (Shiva) have their being in the Mother. She is the Mother

of all-of countless Brahmas, Vishnus and Maheshwaras. In as much as She is all

power, all powers are Her play; and therefore all the three dynamic

manifestations - Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara - also are modifications of

Mother as Adi-Shakti (the primordial power). She is also Brahma-Shakti, manifest

to us in and through the form of Saraswati; Vishnu-Shakti, manifest

in and through the form of Lakshmi; and also Shiva-Shakti, manifest in and

through the form of Parvati.

 

Delusion and Deliverance

 

In this aspect of all power, She has a twofold form. The devout Hindu worships

Her as both. It is a beautiful conception-and what a wonderful depth of

significance there is in this conception of Mother in Her twofold aspects-that

of the cosmic delusion as well as of the cosmic deliverance! She binds down all

to this mysterious

illusory appearance, this world-play, and turns them in Her own playful manner

in the wheel of birth and death. As such, She is known by the name Avidya, the

delusion that is opposed to spiritual wisdom or knowledge. She is also the

cosmic deliverance. In this aspect She smiles upon Her children and She releases

them form the delusion of Her other aspect, Avidya. In Her aspect as this cosmic

deliverance, we know of the Mother as Vidya-Maya. Artists have therefore

visualized Her in the form of a radiant being, a goddess having in one hand a

noose or a type of rope with which She binds, an in the other hand a sharp knife

by which She snaps bondage if She is propitiated. Thus She is a mysterious

combination of Avidya-Maya and Vidya-Maya. Therefore She is called

indescribable.

 

In both these aspects She has set up the drama of universal phenomena. Lovers of

the Mother who have worshipped Her and obtained Her grace and have been

vouchsafed with a vision of Her real nature have lovingly depicted Mother and

Her play in this secret way. The devotees of the Mother sweetly and intimately

conceived of this world-play with the Mother as both the one who initiates it,

and the

one who ends it.

 

The Puzzling Kali

 

When we step into the further consideration of particular aspects

of the Devi, immediately we are confronted by a terrible problem.

For the very first conception of Mother, especially as it is done during the

Devi Puja, is in a form and in an aspect which leaves ordinary minds quite

bewildered-not only those who are foreign to our culture and genius, but even

Indians, even Hindus, many of them enlightened and educated, are unable to

understand what is this conception of divinity whom we call Mother as an

all-destructive, terrible, and fearful being.

 

In Bengal, the whole of Dussera is the worship of Durga and Maha-Kali. To very

many people, Kali is a name that strikes terror. We

Hindus even think that Kali-worshipers are tamasic and that Kali

is a dread deity. I can say from my own personal experience that if a picture of

Maha-Kali--with Her dark body, lolling red tongue, with Her garland of skulls,

dressed in a skirt made of severed human hands, with a sword dripping blood in

Her hand - if such a picture is kept in an orthodox South Indian house, the

ladies of the house

will see that the picture is forthwith removed from the house. If their feelings

about Kali are right, then how comes this conception of Kali as the Mother? How

can you worship Her?

 

This is a natural mistake that requires to be corrected. Mother is never

terrible, never fearful, is always all-loving and all-compassionate. The

explanation for the Divine Mother, Para-Shakti,

being conceived of, among other aspects, also in Her aspect as Kali, is a very

simple one. It is not difficult; it is not deeply metaphysical; it is not

obscurely philosophical; it very natural and very simple.

 

I shall first start by giving a very up-to-date and modern, and therefore easily

graspable analogy. We have the modern antibiotics. They are called the

lifesavers of the modern age and millions of people look upon them with feelings

of gratitude. But though these life-saving drugs which are benign and cure

disease are the benefactors of humanity, I shall show how they may be also

regarded to be terrible and destructive. They are destructive to the germs that

they attack in the system and destroy. Would it be correct to call these

life-saving antibiotics very destructive? If it were right to call them

destructive and terrible, then you may also be equally right to call Kali the

Mother terrible and destructive.

 

Destroy To Save

 

For She destroys but to save. She destroys ignorance, nescience, in

order to bestow knowledge. She destroys darkness so that we may realize light.

She destroys all pain, all sorrow, all misery and all the earthly travails and

tribulations, and bestows upon us bliss, joy and immortality. Thus She is a

destroyer of all those factors that bind the jiva (individual soul) to this

terrible samsara (wheel of birth and death). She is a terrible destroyer of all

terrible things and the benign bestower of blessedness and beatitude. Thus is

that the Mother is conceived of as the destroyer of one of Her own aspects; just

as by the power of will-and will is also a portion of

the mind-we overcome certain weaknesses and evils in the same mind. As

Vidya-Maya, Mother as Kali destroys avidya (ignorance) and takes us to the

transcendental Brahman.

 

Thus we find that Mother Kali stands for a glorified being, a Mother who is

intent upon giving deliverance from delusion. It is in this aspect that the

lover of the Mother worships Her as Kali. He calls

upon Her: "Oh compassionate Mother! I am at the mercy of this all-

powerful mind. I am tyrannized by the ego and the senses. I have become enslaved

by the six enemies (anger, hatred, fear, greed, pride, & jealousy) and this

whole family of vasanas (mental modifications), vrittis (mental waves) and

samskaras (metal habits). They are ever battling against me. Therefore, Thou

alone can'st save me from these terrible foes." He invokes Her aid and power to

help destroy all these factors, so that when he cannot battle and overcome them,

he gets the strength of the Mother and She graciously comes to his aid and in

Her symbolically terrible form She helps him overcome the senses and attain

mastery and victory over the mind.

 

(Excerpt from God As Mother, Divine Life Society, Shivanandanagar, 1991 (pp.

13-20).)

[Guest guest]

I like this very much. Thank you.

 

, "devishakti_india"

<devishakti_india> wrote:

 

*** [L]et us ever be aware that even this privilege of worshiping Her -

- glorifying Her and dwelling upon Her greatness -- is only due to Her

compassion and grace. Without Her grace, most difficult it is to get

an opportunity to think of Her, to remember Her, to speak of Her, and

to utter Her glorious names, calling upon Her as Mother. ***

[Guest guest]

I ran across the following Ramakrishna quote yesterday; it reminded

me of the section of devishakti's post that DB commented on:

 

"The mind can disentangle itself from worldliness if, through Her

grace, She makes it turn toward Herself. Only then does it become

devoted to the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother."

- Sri Ramakrishna

 

, "devi_bhakta"

<devi_bhakta> wrote:

> I like this very much. Thank you.

>

> , "devishakti_india"

> <devishakti_india> wrote:

>

> *** [L]et us ever be aware that even this

> privilege of worshiping Her -

> - glorifying Her and dwelling upon Her greatness --

> is only due to Her

> compassion and grace. Without Her grace,

> most difficult it is to get

> an opportunity to think of Her,

> to remember Her, to speak of Her, and

> to utter Her glorious names, calling upon Her as Mother. ***