Worship of Shakti

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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.

 

 

 

Join

my of Goddess

Mahasaraswati Mahalakshmi

Mahakali and

Hinduism.

 

divyabhakti