Different Manifestations of the Divine Mother -- part 1

[Guest guest]

namaste ,

 

The following is an article on Devi which appeared in an old

souvenir of kanchi matham. i am just typing in and sending the article .

 

DIFFERENENT MANIFESTATIONS OF THE DIVINE MOTHER ---Part1

by

C.V.Swami Sastrigal

 

 

Aum lalitaa mahaa tripura sundaryai namaH

 

 

s^RiShTvaa shaktimaho shivaH parashivaa s^RiShhTvaa shivaM taavajau daaMpatyaM

samavaapya vishvajanakau bhuutvaa tayoH kriiDhtoH !

 

shaktissaa hi kumaarika parashivo devo vratii sarvadaa v^Rittasyaasya

rahasyamadbhutatamasyaadhyaa vijaananti hi !!

 

Sivam created Sakti.

Sakti created Sivam. Neither of these has a birth. This Sivam and Sakti became

husband and wife. They brought forth an infant called the universe. They were

playing with it.Of these Sakti is certainly a virgin. Sivam is a bachelor for

ever. The ancient sages sanaka and others know thw secret of this mystery.

 

The suutasamhita says: sarvam vyaktam umaaruupam .( All that is manifest are

forms of uma or sakti). The saptashati says : vidyaassamastaastava devi bhedaaH

: striyaassamastaassakalajagtsu .( All the vidyaas(knowledge) and women seen in

this world are O devi Thy manifestations) . So all percieved things are Devi's

different forms. The Bhagavatpaada sang in the saundaryalahari : manastvam

vyomastvam marudasi marutsaratirasi tvamapaH : tvam bhuumiH tvayiparinatayaM

nahi paraM -- " Worshipful mother ! The mind , the sky , the wind , the fire

,the water and the earth are all Thy transformations .There is naught beyond

thee." This view of the transformations of the Divine Mother is a feature of the

tantrik philosophy. In fact, everything is imagined in the supreme Sakti(paraa

sakti) which is of the nature of sat(Reality) chit(knowledge) and aananda(Joy).

 

The sweets made of sugar , flour and ghee appear different in name and form.

But they are all constituted of the same substances. The different names and

forms are all attributions of our mind. So , too are names and forms imagined in

the brahma sakti (Power of the absolute).

 

The same Sakti is conceived in the different forms as baala, lalitaamba ,raaja

raajesvarii , bhuvaneshvarii, canDi , durgaa , etc., and worshipped as such.

When devi is consecrated in the shrii vidyaa puuja , she is meditated upon with

the words : shrii lalitaayaaH am^Rita caitanya muurtiM kalpayaami : " I meditate

in this image the form of shrii lalitaamba which is compacted of nectar and

supreme intelligence."

 

When put into mouth , sweet things made of sugar , flour and ghee are reduced

to a formless mass and we taste the sweetness only . So too when we meditate in

our heart on the devi's various forms of worship imagined on the brahma sakti of

what is sat , chit, aananda, we shall not see the distinctions of form , but

experience only the pure internal bilss . But god has to be worshipped with

names and forms till this bliss becomes a felt experience. Among the divine

forms ,in what is ultimately sat , chit, aananda, there is no gradation of high

or low. This difference of level is a product of our imagination.

 

Yet in the bahv^Ricopanishad , speaking of certain divinities , it is

said that lalitaa alone is truly, the one without a second : satyam ekaM

lalitaakhyaM vastuH tadaadviteeyaM.

 

Again we have :

laksshyatvaat.h sarva vidyaanaaM

lingahiinatayaa sthiteH

taarakatvaat.h bhavaambodheH

laliteti prakiirtyate.

 

As She is the object of all vidyaas, as She is with out differentiation of male

or female , as She lifts her devotees across the ocean of samsaara , She is

known as lalitaa. Thus has the word lalitaa been explained.

Moreover it is said :

striiruupaam cintayet.h deviiM

pum ruupaaM vaa vicintayet.h

athavaa nishhkalaaM dhyaayet.h

saccidaananda lakshhNaaM.

 

Parameshvarii may be meditated on as a male or as a female, or as genderless

saccidaananda. The glories of devi are expatiated on in the Sakti puuja chapter

of the suutasamhita.

 

 

 

this is the first part . i will post second part which speaks about the

dhyaanaas of different forms of devi paraa shakti later .............

 

aum

with regards

satish.

 

 

 

 

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