[world-vedic] Mahadevi

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DURGA

 

 

SB 6.5.16 Narada Muni Cursed by Prajapati Daksa

srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir ekachayeva yasya bhuvanani bibharti durga

The maya-sakti, Durga, is in charge of srsti-sthiti-pralaya, creation and

dissolution, and she acts under the direction of the Supreme Lord

(mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram). When one falls in the river of

nescience, he is always tossed here and there by the waves, but the same maya

can also save him when be surrenders to Krsna, or becomes Krsna conscious.

Krsna consciousness is knowledge and austerity. A Krsna conscious person takes

knowledge from the Vedic literature, and at the same time he must practice

austerities.

SB 6.17.29 P Mother Parvati Curses CitraketuIn Bhagavad-gita we find,

mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-caracaram: the material world works under the

direction of the goddess Durga, the material energy of the Lord, but she acts

under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also

confirmed in the Brahma-samhita (5.44):

srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir ekachayeva yasya bhuvanani bibharti durga

Durga--the goddess Parvati, the wife of Lord Siva--is extremely powerful. She

can create, maintain and annihilate any number of universes by her sweet will,

but she acts under the direction of the Supreme personality of Godhead, Krsna,

not independently. Krsna is impartial, but because this is the material world

of duality, such relative terms as happiness and distress, curses and favors,

are created by the will of the Supreme. Those who are not narayana-para, pure

devotees, must be disturbed by this duality of the material world, whereas

devotees who are simply attached to the service of the Lord are not at all

disturbed by it. For example, Haridasa Thakura was beaten with cane in

twenty-two bazaars, but he was never disturbed; instead, he smilingly tolerated

the beating. Despite the disturbing dualities of the material world, devotees

are not disturbed at all. Because they fix their minds on the lotus feet of the

Lord and concentrate on the holy name of the Lord, they do not feel the

so-called pains and pleasures caused by the dualities of this material world.

SB 10.2 Summary Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krsna in the Womb

After Kamsa killed the sad-garbhas, the six sons of Devaki, one after another,

Anantadeva entered Devaki's womb and was transferred to the womb of Rohini by

the manipulation of Yogamaya, who was following the order of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. The Lord Himself, who was soon to appear as the eighth

son of Devaki, ordered Yogamaya to take birth from the womb of Yasodadevi.

Because Krsna and His potency, Yogamaya, appeared simultaneously as brother and

sister, the world is full of Vaisnavas and saktas, and there is certainly some

rivalry between them. Vaisnavas worship the Supreme Lord, whereas saktas,

according to their desires, worship Yogamaya in forms like Durga, Bhadrakali

and Candika. Following the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

Yogamaya transferred Baladeva, Sankarsana, the seventh child of Devaki, from

the womb of Devaki to the womb of Rohini. Because Sankarsana appears in order

to increase love of Krsna, He is known as Baladeva. One may take auspicious

strength from Him to become a devotee of the Lord, and therefore He is also

known as Balabhadra.

SB 10.2.11-12 Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krsna in the Womb

Lord Krsna blessed Mayadevi by saying: In different places on the surface of the

earth, people will give you different names, such as Durga, Bhadrakali, Vijaya,

Vaisnavi, Kumuda, Candika, Krsna, Madhavi, Kanyaka, Maya, Narayani, Isani,

Sarada and Ambika.

PURPORT

Because Krsna and His energy appeared simultaneously, people have generally

formed two groups--the saktas and the Vaisnavas--and sometimes there is rivalry

between them. Essentially, those who are interested in material enjoyment are

saktas, and those interested in spiritual salvation and attaining the spiritual

kingdom are Vaisnavas. Because people are generally interested in material

enjoyment, they are interested in worshiping Mayadevi, the energy of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vaisnavas, however, are suddha-saktas, or pure

bhaktas, because the Hare Krsna maha-mantra indicates worship of the Supreme

Lord's energy, Hara. A Vaisnava prays to the energy of the Lord for the

opportunity to serve the Lord along with His spiritual energy. Thus Vaisnavas

all worship such Deities as Radha-Krsna, Sita-Rama, Laksmi-Narayana and

Rukmini-Dvarakadhisa, whereas durga-saktas worship the material energy under

different names.

The names by which Mayadevi is known in different places have been listed by

Vallabhacarya as follows. In Varanasi she is known as Durga, in Avanti she is

known as Bhadrakali, in Orissa she is known as Vijaya, and in Kulahapura she is

known as Vaisnavi or Mahalaksmi. (The representatives of Mahalaksmi and Ambika

are present in Bombay.) In the country known as Kamarupa she is known as

Candika, in Northern India as Sarada, and in Cape Comorin as Kanyaka. Thus she

is distributed according to various names in various places.

Srila Vijayadhvaja Tirthapada, in his pada-ratnavali-tika, has explained the

meanings of the different representations. Maya is known as Durga because she

is approached with great difficulty, as Bhadra because she is auspicious, and

as Kali because she is deep blue. Because she is the most powerful energy, she

is known as Vijaya; because she is one of the different energies of Visnu, she

is known as Vaisnavi; and because she enjoys in this material world and gives

facilities for material enjoyment, she is known as Kumuda. Because she is very

severe to her enemies, the asuras, she is known as Candika, and because she

gives all sorts of material facilities, she is called Krsna. In this way the

material energy is differently named and situated in different places on the

surface of the globe.

 

SB 5.23.3 P The Sisumara Planetary Systems

The question of how the planets and stars are floating is also answered in this

verse. It is not because of the laws of gravity. Rather, the planets and stars

are enabled to float by manipulations of the air. It is due to such

manipulations that big, heavy clouds float and big eagles fly in the sky.

Modern airplanes like the 747 jet aircraft work in a similar way: by

controlling the air, they float high in the sky, resisting the tendency to fall

to earth. Such adjustments of the air are all made possible by the cooperation

of the principles of purusa (male) and prakrti (female). By the cooperation of

material nature, which is considered to be prakrti, and the Supreme personality

of Godhead, who is considered the purusa, all the affairs of the universe are

going on nicely in their proper order. prakrti, material nature, is also

described in the Brahma-samhita (5.44) as follows:

srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka

chayeva yasya bhuvanani bibharti durga

icchanurupam api yasya ca cestate sa

govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

"The external potency, maya, who is of the nature of the shadow of the cit

[spiritual] potency, is worshiped by all people as Durga, the creating,

preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval

Lord Govinda, in accordance with whose will Durga conducts herself." Material

nature, the external energy of the Supreme Lord, is also known as Durga, or the

female energy that protects the great fort of this universe. The word Durga also

means fort. This universe is just like a great fort in which all the conditioned

souls are kept, and they cannot leave it unless they are liberated by the mercy

of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord Himself declares in

Bhagavad-gita (4.9):

janma karma ca me divyam

evam yo vetti tattvatah

tyaktva deham punar janma

naiti mam eti so 'rjuna

"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does

not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but

attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna." Thus simply by Krsna consciousness, by the

mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can be liberated, or, in other

words, one can be released from the great fort of this universe and go outside

it to the spiritual world.

[Guest guest]

Namaste Alexandra,

 

> India knows many goddesses but also the concept of One Great Goddess,

MAHADEVI.

> As far as I know there are two possible theological concepts

regarding Mahadevi:

> Eighter one declares one special goddess (Kali

> Tripurasundari, etc.) as supreme and all other goddesses as her

manifestations; or one declares that there is a

> supreme source from which all goddesses emanate and this supreme

source is Mahadevi

> I am interested in the second possiblity and would like to know about

the concept of Mahadevi in different shools

> and sub-schools of the Shaiva/Shakta tradition

> Has someone information?

 

if you read the articles by HH Bhakti Ananda Goswami, you can find out

that the original theistic Shaivism

got its concepts from Vaishnava tradition. There the original goddess,

Adi-shakti, is Sri Radha, the source of all

other Devi forms. It's an interesting subject.

 

Yours, Jan