Worship of Shakti

September 2, 2002

This one by one of India's greatest saints is on ... also from the same source.

BB AY

Worship of Shakti

By Swami Sivananda Saraswati of Rishikesh

Excerpt from Bhakti Yoga, Life and Works of Swami Shivananda, Vol. 5, Divine

Life Society, Shivanandanagar, 1986 (pp. 282-287).

The Divine Mother, Devi, Mahesvari or Para-Shakti is the supreme shakti or power

of the Supreme Being. Shakti is the energy aspect of the Lord. It is inherent in

God. Just as you cannot separate heat form fire, so also you cannot separate

shakti form God, the Shakta, or the possessor of shakti. Shakti and Shakta are

one. They are inseparable.

Devi, Kurga, Kali, Bhagavati, Bhavani, Ambal, Ambika, Jagadambe, Kamesvari,

Ganga, Uma, Chandi, Chamundi, Lalita, Gauri, Kundalini, Tara, Rajesvari,

Tripurasundari, etc., are all forms of Shakti. Radha, Durga, Lakshmi,

Sarasvati, and Savitri are also five names of the same Shakti. She is worshiped

during the nine days of Navaratri as Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvati.

Manifestations of Shakti

Shakti is symbolically female; but It is, in reality, neither male or female. It

is only a Force which manifests Itself in various forms.

Electricity, magnetism, heat, light, the five elements and their combination,

are all external manifestation of Shakti. Intelligence, discrimination, psychic

power and will are all Her internal manifestation. She keeps up the lila (play)

of the Lord through the gunas-sattva, rajas and tamas. She lies dormant in the

muladhara chakra at the base of the spine, in the form of serpent power or

coiled-up energy known as the kundalini shakti, She is at the center of the

life of the universe, She is the primal force of life that underlies all

existence. She vitalizes the body through the sushumna nadi and nerves and

nourishes the body with bile and blood. She is the energy in the sun, the

fragrance in the flowers, the beauty in the landscape, the Gayatri or the

blessed Mother in the Vedas, color in the rainbow, intelligence in the mind,

potency in homeopathic pills, power in sages, devotion in bhaktas, samyama and

samadhi in yogis.

Knowledge, peace, lust, anger, greed, egoism and pride are all Her forms. Her

manifestations are countless. Devi or Shakti is nature Itself. The whole world

is Her body, mountains are Her bones, rivers are Her veins, ocean is Her

bladder, sun and moon are Her eyes, wind is Her breath and fire is Her mouth.

The Divine Mother

Devi is the Mother if all. The pious and the wicked, the rich and the poor, the

saint and the sinner are all Her children. In this world, all the wants of the

child are provided by the mother. The child's growth, development and

sustenance are looked after by the mother. Even so, all the necessities of life

and its activities in this world, and the energy needed for it, depend upon

Shakti or the Universal Mother. The human mother is the manifestation of the

Universal Mother. All women are forms of the Divine Mother.

You are more free with your mother than with anybody else. You open your heart

more freely to your mother than to your father. There is no God greater than

the mother. It is the mother who protects you, nourishes you, consoles you,

cheers you and nurses you. She sacrifices her all for the sake of her children.

She is your first guru. The first syllables which almost every quadruped or

human being utters is the beloved name of the mother: "Ma". A child is more

familiar with the mother than with the father, because the former is very kind,

loving, tender and affectionate, and looks after the wants of the child.

Whenever the child wants anything it runs with outstretched hands to the mother

rather than the father. If she hears the cry of the child she leaves her

domestic work and runs immediately to attend to the child. In the spiritual

field also, the aspirant or the devotee (the spiritual child) has a more

intimate relationship with Mother Durga than with the father, Shiva.

It behooves, therefore, that the aspirant should approach the Mother first, so

that She may introduce Her spiritual child to the Father for its illumination

or Self-realization. That is the reason why the devotees have placed Radha,

Sita, Gauri etc., first in the jugal (combined) names, such as Radha-Krishna,

Sita-Rama, Gauri-Shankar, Uma-Shankar, Bhavani-Shankar, Lakshmi-Narayana.

Mother's grace is boundless, Her mercy is illimitable, Her knowledge is

infinite, Her power is immeasurable, Her glory is ineffable, Her splendor is

indescribable. Approach Her with an open heart. Lay bare your heart before Her

with frankness and humility. Be as simple as a child. Kill ruthlessly egoism,

cunningness, selfishness and crookedness. Make a total, unreserved, ungrudging

surrender to Her. Sing Her praises, repeat Her name and worship Her with faith

and unflinching devotion.

Worship of the Divine Mother

Worship of Devi or the Universal Mother gives not only prosperity, but

liberation from all bondage. It leads to the attainment of knowledge of the

Self. The story of the Kena Upanishad, known as the Yaksha-Prasna, supports

this view.

Shakti is all. She can do anything. She can make or mar, She can mend or end.

For the sake of the continuance of Her divine play here, She Herself, as the

veil of ignorance, has veiled the truth from you and bound you to this samsara

(worldly existence). When She is propitiate through the practice of sincere

devotion and unconditional self-surrender, She, as knowledge, removes the veil

and enables one to perceive the Truth.

No one can free himself from the thralldom of mind and matter without Mother's

grace. The fetters of maya are too hard to break. If the aspirant worships Her

as the great Mother, he can very easily go beyond the phenomenal world though

Her benign grace and blessings. She will remove all obstacle in the path, lead

him safely into the illimitable domain of eternal bliss and make him absolutely

free.

The aspirant thinks that the world is identical with the Divine Mother. He moves

about thinking his own form to be the form of the Divine Mother, and thus

beholds oneness everywhere. He also feels that the Divine Mother is identical

with Brahman.

Worship of the Divine Mother, intense faith, perfect devotion and self-surrender

will help one to attain Her grace. Through Her grace alone can knowledge of the

Imperishable be attained.

Durga: Lakshmi: Sarasvati

Divine Mother is everywhere triple. She is endowed with the three gunas, sattva,

rajas and tamas; She manifest as will (ichcha shakti), action (kriya shakti) and

knowledge (jnana shakti); She is Brahma-shakti (Sarasvati) in conjunction with

Brahma, Vishnu-shakti (Lakshmi) in conjunction with Lord Vishnu and Shiva-sakti

(Maha-Kali or Durga) in conjunction with Lord Shiva.

Sarasvati is cosmic intelligence, cosmic consciousness, cosmic knowledge.

Lakshmi does not merely mean material wealth like gold, cattle, etc., but all

kinds of prosperity, glory, magnificence, joy, exaltation or greatness come

under Lakshmi. Durga (Devi) is the transformative power of Divinity, the power

that dissolves multiplicity in unity.

Devi (Durga) assumes many aspects according the tasks to be performed by

Her-sometimes sweet and tender, and at other times terrible and devouring. She

is always kind and gracious to Her devotees. Arjuna, the Pandava hero,

worshipped Her before starting the fight against the evil-minded Kauravas. Sri

Rama worshipped Her at the time of the fight with Ravana, to invoke Her aid in

the war. He fought and won through Her grace. When Vishnu and Mahadeva

destroyed various demons, the power of Devi was behind them. Devi took Brahma,

Vishnu and Rudra and gave them the necessary shakti to proceed with the work of

creation, preservation and destruction.

Navaratri and its Significance

During Navaratri the whole of India adores the Mother and worships Her with

great devotion. (Dussara, Durga Puja and Navaratri are one and the same.) On

the first three nights, Durga or the destructive aspect of the Mother is

worshipped. On the succeeding three nights it is the creative aspect, or

Lakshmi, that is adored. On the last three nights the knowledge aspect, or

Sarasvati, is invoked. The tenth day is "Vijaya-dasami day" or the "day of

Victory".

There is a special significance in this arrangement. When the Devi is worshipped

by a devotee in this order, as Durga She first destroys the evil propensities

that lurk in his mind. Then, as Lakshmi, She implants therein the divine

qualities conductive to spiritual unfoldment. Then, as Sarasvati, She bestows

true knowledge on him.

The tenth day commemorates the victory of knowledge over nescience, goodness

over evil. It is the day on which boys start their schooling. Aspirants are

initiated on this day. On this memorable day the carpenter, the tailor, the

mason, the artist, the songster, the typist and all technical workers do puja

to their instruments and implements. They behold and recognize the shakti or

power behind these instruments, and worship the Devi for their success,

prosperity and peace.

Shiva and Shakti

The Supreme Lord is represented as Shiva, and His power is represented as His

wife-Shakti, Durga or Kali. There is no difference between God and His Shakti,

jus as there is no difference between fire and its burning power. Shakti is

inherent in God. Just as you cannot separate heat form fire, so also you cannot

separate Shakti from God, the possessor of Shakti. Shakti is Brahman Itself.

Shiva and Shakti are one. Shiva is always with Shakti. They are inseparable.

Worship of Durga, Devi, Parvati, Shakti or Kali is worship of Lord Shiva.

Mother Durga is the energy aspect of the Lord. Without Durga, Shiva has no

expression; and without Shiva, Durga has not existence. Shiva is the soul of

Durga. Durga is identical with Shiva. Lord Shiva is only the silent Witness. He

is motionless, absolutely changeless. He is not affected by the cosmic play.

Durga does everything. Lord Shiva is quite indifferent to the external world.

He has handed over the power of attorney to His consort, Durga. It is Mother

Durga only who looks after the affairs of the world. Shiva is absorbed in

contemplation of the Self. He remains in a state of nirvikalpa samadhi.

Shiva is omnipotent, impersonal, inactive. He is pure consciousness. Shakti is

dynamic. The power active aspect of the immanent God is Shakti. Shakti is the

embodiment of power. Lord Shiva gazes at Durga, His Shakti; She engages Herself

in creation, preservation and destruction.

Shiva and Shakti are related as effulgence and the power that is latent in pure

consciousness, which gives rise to the world of distinctions. In other words,

Shakti is the very possibility of the Absolute appearing as many, of God

causing the universe. God creates this world through the power creation,

preserves through the power of preservation, and destroys through the power of

dissolution.

Shiva is an embodiment of bliss and knowledge. Shiva Himself appears in the form

of man with a life of pleasure and pain. If you remember this point always,

dualism and all hatred, jealousy and pride will vanish. You must consider every

human function as worship or a religious act. Answering calls of nature,

micturition, talking, eating, walking, seeing and hearing all become worship of

the Lord if you develop the right attitude. It is Shiva who works in and through

man. Where then is egoism and individuality? All human actions are divine

actions. One universal life throbs in the heart of all, sees in the eyes of

all, works in the hands of all and hears in the ears of all. What a magnanimous

experience it is, if one can feel this by crushing this little "I".

Unfortunately the old tendencies, the old desires and the old habits or

thinking stand in the way of your realizing this experience.

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September 2, 2002

Nice to see you around and thanks so much for the great post!

Bountiful blessings,

Sy

A Y wrote:

Namaste Mates

This one by one of India's greatest saints is on ... also from the same source.

BB AY

Worship of Shakti

By Swami Sivananda Saraswati of Rishikesh

Excerpt from Bhakti Yoga, Life and Works of Swami Shivananda, Vol. 5, Divine

Life Society, Shivanandanagar, 1986 (pp. 282-287).

The Divine Mother, Devi, Mahesvari or Para-Shakti is the supreme shakti or power

of the Supreme Being. Shakti is the energy aspect of the Lord. It is inherent in

God. Just as you cannot separate heat form fire, so also you cannot separate

shakti form God, the Shakta, or the possessor of shakti. Shakti and Shakta are

one. They are inseparable.

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matakibhakti · June 2, 2008

namaste all

i would like to know how to set up a proper kali ma, kal bhairo, and kateri amma altar properly in my home, the proper south indian way. i have received wrong information from people and have been trying to learn and teach myself using all the resources i can find. and there is no temple near me that i can ask. so i turn to all of you in search of guidance.

thank you