Shodashi, the Mother Goddess

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Shodashi, the Mother Goddess

 

Shodashi represents the Saguna Brahman in the form of mother goddess

representing a sixteen year old pretty girl. Sixteen year old girl is always

sweet and beautiful all over the world and the sixteenth birthday is celebrated

on a grand scale. Every woman wishes to be sixteen all the time and all men

want their wife to be sixteen for ever! The sixteenth day (May 2) of Mahasamadhi

of Swamini Sharadapriyananda represents Shodashi, the mother goddess. Chinmaya

Mission celebrates the sixteenth day of Mahasamdhi of Swamini Sharadapriyananda

with prayers to the mother goddess, Shodashi. Swamini has assumed the role of

Shodashi from yesterday and will guide the universe with her ever presence in

non physical form with love, compassion, knowledge and wisdom. The article

below describes the role and relevance of Devi worship and this article is quite

appropriate to honor the services of Swamini Sharadapriyananda.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

Note: Swamini Sharadapriyananda, a disciple of Swami Chinmayanda was the founder

and head of Chinmayaranyam, a vedantic institution who attained Mahasamadhi on

April 17, 2000.

 

The worship of mother Goddess (Ambal) is an integral part of the Vedic religion.

The forms and names represent different aspects of Shakti (energy). The mother

goddesses were in reality the female emanations of the male counter parts. The

male and female aspects always appeared in pair and both forms were considered

equally important. The well known pairs are the following: Shiva-Shakti,

Brahma-Saraswati, Vishnu-Lakshmi, Krishna-Radha, Rama-Sita and

Karthikeya-Devayaany. Sri Ganesha and Sri Hanuman were the two notable

exceptions.

 

The mother Goddess took various forms which include Durga, Chandika, Chamunda

and Kali to fight the evil and to restore peace and order. Mother Goddesses

represent symbols of love, compassion, protection and security. The worship

of mother goddesses was accompanied by intricate rituals and sacrifices and

often stretched over many days.

 

The mother goddess incarnate into a Tantric group of Mahavidyas ( great wisdom)

which include Kali, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Matangi, Kamala and

others. Shodashi was the goddess as a sixteen-year-old pretty young girl.

Bhuvaneshvari was her manifestation as the sovereign of the universe. As

Bhairavi she assumed a fearful shape - a female counterpart of Bhairava (Shiva)

in his irate and destructive mood Matanga means elephant, and Matangi

symbolized enormous power. Shiva was known as the elephant-killer and Matangi

was his consort. She was conceived as a beautiful woman seated on a throne,

wielding beneficial power. Kamal, another form of the goddess, was a pretty and

auspicious woman, a consort of Sadashiva, the ever-benign.

 

Eight other incarnations of the goddess fall into the group of Yogini which

include Tripura, Bhishana, Chandi, Kartri, Dhartri, Hartri, Vidhayini, Karala

and shulini. Some of the manifestations overlap as the same name occurs in

different groups. The appearance of the goddess Kali's various manifestations

depends on the place of her appearance and the purpose of her worship. Thus she

emerges as Shmashankali, Bhadrakali, Grihyakali, Mahakali, Rakshakali etc.

 

All these manifestations associate the mother goddess with the local goddesses

popular among the common people. The care of infants and children has always

been the traditional domain of women. For example, Shakti, the benign, motherly

goddess embodied the divine aspect of this power and was also supplicated to

grant offspring to the childless. Each of these goddesses had various

incarnations highlighting a specific aspect and the diverse needs of the

population.

Colorful tales along with festivals and rituals establish and cultivate

dedication and devotion. The stories that relate to the mother goddesses are

more heroic than the superman and superwoman episodes that we see in the TV.

 

Thousands of other incarnations of goddess can be seen as deities in Indian

villages and towns. They truly characterize the historical events of heroism

and valor against evil and the documentation was in story form. For the Vedic

civilization with the oral tradition, stories and slokas were easy to remember

and transfer from generation to generation. The goddesses in these stories,

like the people who created them. possess human frailties and faults. But the

relevance of these myths has not diminished through the ages for the very reason

that they stress the age-old values of devotion, determination, courage and

faith. At the same time they weave a colorful pattern of the life and customs

of the age in which they originated. Temples with architectural wonders and

festivals with fun and food have been maintained for thousands of years to

preserve and protect the Vedic civilization.