The Seven Goddess

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The best-known mythological accounts of the seven goddess are foundinthe third episode of the Devi Mahatmya.There are the demon Sumbha and Nisumbha, who have usurped thegodsfromtheir positions, are confronted in battle by the Devi. Whenthe demonarmies approach her, the male gods, who are watchingfrom thesidelines, create sakhtis, female counterparts of themselves, to helpthe Devi on the battle field. Seven such shaktis are created, and inappearance they closely resemble the male gods from whom they aresaidto arise. ( see previous post ). Charging into the fray, this groupofsakthis collectively called the Matrkas tears into the demon army andbegins to slaughter them. Along with Kali ( who is called Camunda),Sivaduti ( a goddess formed from the sakti of the Devi) and the Deviherself, the Matrkas devastate the demons. After the battle theMatrkas dance, drunk with the blood of their

victims.In Devi Mahatmya and Devi- Bhagavata-purana, these Goddessare understood not primarily as the divine consorts or the saktis ofthe male deities but rather as extensions or forms of the Deviherself. In the later episode of the Devi Mahatmya, after Nisumbhahasbeen killed by the Devi and her female cohorts, the demonSumbha challenges the Devi to single combat, in effect complainingabout her many female allies. In response to his challenge, sheabsorbs into herself all the Matrkas. She refers to them as just somany of her different forms.In the Vamana-purana, it was accounted that the Matrkas arises fromthe Devi herself and not from the Male gods at all even though theyare described and named after the male deities.By and large these seven goddess act as a group and share the samecharacteristics : they fight ferociously and get drunk on blood.Theyare effective warriors who protect the stability of the

world bycombating demons.In the Matsya-purana account, the Matrkas being described indifferent context. They are created by Siva to combat the demonAndhaka, who has the ability to duplicate himself from each drop ofblood that spills from him when he is wounded. The Matrkasare instructed to drink up his blood and thus defeat him. After thebattle the Matrkas announce that they will now proceed to devour allthe gods, demons and people of the world. Siva commands them not todothis, but they ignore him and begin a rampage of destruction. Sivasummonds Narasimha, Vishnu man-lion avatara, who creates a host ofbenign goddesses, they in turn calm down the terrible Matrkas andstoptheir destruction. At the end of the episode it is said that Siva'sown terrible form as Bhairava is enshrined with the images of theMatrkas at the place where the battle took place.In the Varaha-purana, the Devi who is called Vaisnavi is

doingasceticism on Mouont Mandara. At one point she loses herconcentration; from her distracted mind are created severalbeautiful female attendants, who later become the Devi's helpmate onthe battlefields when she fights demons. Although the Matrkas aredescribed as lovely in this account, they are born when the Devilosescontrol of her concentration. This suggests the Matrkas essentiallyuncontrolled natures. Born from lack of mental control, they lackcontrol themselves.

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