On Karunamayi Ma, from Deities and Devotees in _The Graceful Guru_: part 3

[Guest guest]

Ma Karunamayi, aka Bhagavati Sri Sri Sri Vijayeswari

Devi

 

" The books, pamphlets, and Internet resources locate

Karunamayi Ma as a " poorna avatar, " a full incarnation

of the Goddess (Devi), [....] In introducing one of the

books that focus on [the Lalita Sahasranama], Sri

Vijayeswarananda [Karunamayi Ma's disciple and

brother] emphasizes that Karunamayi herself is an

incarnation of Lalita: " Coming to the Lalita

Sahasranama, who but Lalita Herself can explain its true

meaning or significance? The present day generation is

blessed, indeed, for they have the opportunity to see

Lalita Devi in the sakara [ " with form " ] form of Sri Sri

Sri Vijayeswari Devi. [....] " In yet other places, she is

identified with the goddess Lakshmi [and also with

Saraswati]. She is thus seen as a manifestation of all the

main goddesses of the Hindu tradition. "

 

Excerpted from the essay _Deities and Devotees_

by Vasudha Narayanan

 

In: The Graceful Guru

Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States

Edited by Karen Pechilis

Oxford University Press, 2004

ISBN: 0-19-514537-2

 

Part 3 [final section]

 

Goddess as Guru

The books, pamphlets, and internet resources locate

Karunamayi Ma as a " poorna avatar, " a full incarnation

of the Goddess (Devi), and in particular say that she is

the incarnation of Sarasvati, goddess of knowledge and

the performing arts in the Hindu tradition. Elsewhere,

her brother and disciple Sri Vijayeswarananda

introduces a book of her teachings by saying that she is

the incarnation of the goddess Lalita (a form of Parvati).

The book focuses on the meanings of the thousand

names of the goddess Lalita (Lalita Sahasranama). The

Lalita Sahasranama is a very popular devotional work in

south India, and millions of women recite it regularly.

Karunamayi Ma regularly gives discourses on it and

explains the meaning of the names. In introducing one

of the books that focus on this work, Sri

Vijayeswarananda emphasizes that Karunamayi herself

is an incarnation of Lalita: " Coming to the Lalita

Sahasranama, who but Lalita Herself can explain its true

meaning or significance? The present day generation is

blessed, indeed, for they have the opportunity to see

Lalita Devi in the sakara [ " with form " ] form of Sri Sri

Sri Vijayeswari Devi. Secondly, they are able to hear

Her melodious, mellifluous and soothing voice through

Her illuminating discourses on spiritual subjects which

have remained unintelligible for ages.... By amma's will,

Kali Yuga is changing to Krita Yuga. " In yet other

places, she is identified with the goddess Lakshmi. She

is thus seen as a manifestation of all the main goddesses

of the Hindu tradition.

 

Nowhere in the biographies or books that I read of her

have I [the author] seen any mention of the caste or

community that she was born into. From the viewpoint

of devotion this is perfectly normal and acceptable; there

are popular sayings all over India that one is not to

inquire about the antecedents of holy people or streams.

The saying implies that we should not let the apparent

insignificance of the origins diminish their grandeur that

we perceive when they arc flowing full stream. Besides,

in the context of identifying her as a goddess, this

question does not seem to arise.

Karunamayi asks her devotees to learn the " language of

God " ; this is absolute silence. She says that absolute

silence is not only physical but also mental. [....]

 

Karunamayi Ma is the guru and the goddess, the deity

for her devotees, leading them into meditation and

peace.

 

Teachings

Although the initiation into the Saraswati mantra and the

emphasis on reciting the thousand names of Lalita are

the special teachings of Karunamayi Ma, there are also

teachings that are more generic in nature. Along with the

regular practice of meditation, Karunamayi Ma advises

control of the mind and asks one to keep anger and

jealousy under control. She asks us to purify the heart

and " abide in the Supreme State. " According to her

followers, " inner peace and selfless love are the qualities

She values above all others. For Divine Mother to come

and dwell in our heart we must have Shanti (peace) and

Shanti is the Very essence of God. " Like many other

teachers, she says that " human love ephemeral, selfish

and shortsighted in character. " She contrasts this with

Divine Love, which is eternal, selfless, and all-

encompassing. It is this divine love that she asks us to

have for other human beings, and to selflessly serve all.

Karunamayi Ma says that promotion of meditation and

service are the main teachings of her institution. She

says that she would like everyone to meditate and

follows it up by saying quite frequently that " service to

humanity is service God. "

[....]

 

Although most of Karunamayi's work has been centered

in her native state of Andhra Pradesh and her teachings

have been done there and in the United States, she is

now opening up a new center in Bangalore. Here her

devotees building a " Peace Village " that seems to be a

teaching institution as well. The areas of instruction and

service are traditionally Indian in their scope, and this is

a commentary on her priorities. There is an Ayurvedic

center offering treatment and instruction, a yoga training

center, and instruction in Sanskrit, (citation of scripture,

advanced Sanskrit courses in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the

Bhagavad Gita, and tantric texts. The performing arts,

which are an integral part of the Hindu tradition, are also

taught, along with workshops in jyotisha (astrology) and

vastu, the Indian science of geomancy. [....]

 

Karunamayi Ma [...] has followers who are Hindus

from India and the United States as well as Euro-

American devotees. A few of her close followers are

from Colombia, South America. [....]

 

On a normal festival day, about a thousand or more

devotees come to the Hindu Temple of Atlanta. Very

few from this crowd come to visit and hear gurus;

despite the vision that this essay and this book present,

many Hindus do not opt to follow gurus. This may be

particularly true with the devotees who frequent the

Hindu Temple of Atlanta. There are about six or seven

temples and meditation centers in the greater Atlanta

area, each catering to Hindus from different parts of

India, or Hindus from different religious communities.

In general, more south Indians frequent the Hindu

Temple of Atlanta and again, in general they tend to be

fairly orthoprax. Many of those who came to

Karunamayi Ma's talks and ritual were those who hailed

from her area in India. Karunamayi Ma gives her talks

in fluent Telugu; although she increasingly speaks

English and also has a very good translator, she

frequently speaks in her " mother tongue, " her native

language, and it is natural that people who speak that

language are attracted to her. [....]

 

Karunamayi Ma [...] [does not fit] into any orthodox

lineage of teachers. [....]

Karunamayi Ma speaks constantly about the equality of

religions. [....]

 

There is no ambiguity in the representation of

Karunamayi Ma--she is identified as an incarnation of

the Goddess--a generic Hindu goddess who is the

source of all power and who is presented as manifesting

herself as Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Durga. Some

pictures depict her in a red sari that one associates with

Lakshmi or Durga, and in some she wears a white sari

and holds the vina, a lute-like instrument. This is

probably because pictures of he goddess Saraswati

usually depict her has holding a vina and wearing a

white sari. When she came into the temple in Atlanta,

Karunamayi Ma folded her hands in a gesture of

worship in front of the major deities, but lingered in

front of the icon of the very beneficent-looking Durga,

and eventually sat in the special chair reserved for her

right outside that shrine. As far as I could see, she does

not speak about herself directly as the goddess, but in

her talks where she speaks of herself as the mother who

knows everything about the child and cares about it, and

in using the same words to refer to herself and the

Goddess (Amma and Mother), there are strong

implications that she is speaking from an exalted

position. [....]

 

In 1999, when I asked Karunamayi Ma about issues

pertaining to the Hindu ideas of women and pollution

(menstruation, for example is considered polluting [by

some]), she upheld the traditional teachings and said that

during that time it would be better for a woman not to

worship.

 

Karunamayi Ma [...] speaks of the Mother Goddess

being everywhere. Explaining a particular prayer to the

Goddess, she interprets it this way: " The beautiful

essence of the sloka [prayer] is that, Mother is

everywhere! She is all! So open up your third eye and

see Amma everywhere. And in the seventh mantra it

says, 'Salutations to the Divine Mother in all beings in

the form of beauty' (as kanti rupena). Actually, 'kanti'

means 'luminous,' not 'beauty.' " This of course is

interesting, because although she is referring to the

Goddess as Mother and as Amma in this (and other

talks), she frequently refers to herself also in the third

person as Mother and Amma. [....] Karunamayi Ma thus

uses words like " Mother " and " Amma " regularly to

refer both to the Goddess and herself. [....]

[Guest guest]

JAI KARUNAMAYI!

 

~Janardana Dasa

 

msbauju <msbauju wrote:

Ma Karunamayi, aka Bhagavati Sri Sri Sri Vijayeswari

Devi

 

" The books, pamphlets, and Internet resources locate

Karunamayi Ma as a " poorna avatar, " a full incarnation

of the Goddess (Devi), [....] In introducing one of the

books that focus on [the Lalita Sahasranama], Sri

Vijayeswarananda [Karunamayi Ma's disciple and

brother] emphasizes that Karunamayi herself is an

incarnation of Lalita: " Coming to the Lalita

Sahasranama, who but Lalita Herself can explain its true

meaning or significance? The present day generation is

blessed, indeed, for they have the opportunity to see

Lalita Devi in the sakara [ " with form " ] form of Sri Sri

Sri Vijayeswari Devi. [....] " In yet other places, she is

identified with the goddess Lakshmi [and also with

Saraswati]. She is thus seen as a manifestation of all the

main goddesses of the Hindu tradition. "

 

Excerpted from the essay _Deities and Devotees_

by Vasudha Narayanan

 

In: The Graceful Guru

Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States

Edited by Karen Pechilis

Oxford University Press, 2004

ISBN: 0-19-514537-2

 

Part 3 [final section]

 

Goddess as Guru

The books, pamphlets, and internet resources locate

Karunamayi Ma as a " poorna avatar, " a full incarnation

of the Goddess (Devi), and in particular say that she is

the incarnation of Sarasvati, goddess of knowledge and

the performing arts in the Hindu tradition. Elsewhere,

her brother and disciple Sri Vijayeswarananda

introduces a book of her teachings by saying that she is

the incarnation of the goddess Lalita (a form of Parvati).

The book focuses on the meanings of the thousand

names of the goddess Lalita (Lalita Sahasranama). The

Lalita Sahasranama is a very popular devotional work in

south India, and millions of women recite it regularly.

Karunamayi Ma regularly gives discourses on it and

explains the meaning of the names. In introducing one

of the books that focus on this work, Sri

Vijayeswarananda emphasizes that Karunamayi herself

is an incarnation of Lalita: " Coming to the Lalita

Sahasranama, who but Lalita Herself can explain its true

meaning or significance? The present day generation is

blessed, indeed, for they have the opportunity to see

Lalita Devi in the sakara [ " with form " ] form of Sri Sri

Sri Vijayeswari Devi. Secondly, they are able to hear

Her melodious, mellifluous and soothing voice through

Her illuminating discourses on spiritual subjects which

have remained unintelligible for ages.... By amma's will,

Kali Yuga is changing to Krita Yuga. " In yet other

places, she is identified with the goddess Lakshmi. She

is thus seen as a manifestation of all the main goddesses

of the Hindu tradition.

 

Nowhere in the biographies or books that I read of her

have I [the author] seen any mention of the caste or

community that she was born into. From the viewpoint

of devotion this is perfectly normal and acceptable; there

are popular sayings all over India that one is not to

inquire about the antecedents of holy people or streams.

The saying implies that we should not let the apparent

insignificance of the origins diminish their grandeur that

we perceive when they arc flowing full stream. Besides,

in the context of identifying her as a goddess, this

question does not seem to arise.

Karunamayi asks her devotees to learn the " language of

God " ; this is absolute silence. She says that absolute

silence is not only physical but also mental. [....]

 

Karunamayi Ma is the guru and the goddess, the deity

for her devotees, leading them into meditation and

peace.

 

Teachings

Although the initiation into the Saraswati mantra and the

emphasis on reciting the thousand names of Lalita are

the special teachings of Karunamayi Ma, there are also

teachings that are more generic in nature. Along with the

regular practice of meditation, Karunamayi Ma advises

control of the mind and asks one to keep anger and

jealousy under control. She asks us to purify the heart

and " abide in the Supreme State. " According to her

followers, " inner peace and selfless love are the qualities

She values above all others. For Divine Mother to come

and dwell in our heart we must have Shanti (peace) and

Shanti is the Very essence of God. " Like many other

teachers, she says that " human love ephemeral, selfish

and shortsighted in character. " She contrasts this with

Divine Love, which is eternal, selfless, and all-

encompassing. It is this divine love that she asks us to

have for other human beings, and to selflessly serve all.

Karunamayi Ma says that promotion of meditation and

service are the main teachings of her institution. She

says that she would like everyone to meditate and

follows it up by saying quite frequently that " service to

humanity is service God. "

[....]

 

Although most of Karunamayi's work has been centered

in her native state of Andhra Pradesh and her teachings

have been done there and in the United States, she is

now opening up a new center in Bangalore. Here her

devotees building a " Peace Village " that seems to be a

teaching institution as well. The areas of instruction and

service are traditionally Indian in their scope, and this is

a commentary on her priorities. There is an Ayurvedic

center offering treatment and instruction, a yoga training

center, and instruction in Sanskrit, (citation of scripture,

advanced Sanskrit courses in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the

Bhagavad Gita, and tantric texts. The performing arts,

which are an integral part of the Hindu tradition, are also

taught, along with workshops in jyotisha (astrology) and

vastu, the Indian science of geomancy. [....]

 

Karunamayi Ma [...] has followers who are Hindus

from India and the United States as well as Euro-

American devotees. A few of her close followers are

from Colombia, South America. [....]

 

On a normal festival day, about a thousand or more

devotees come to the Hindu Temple of Atlanta. Very

few from this crowd come to visit and hear gurus;

despite the vision that this essay and this book present,

many Hindus do not opt to follow gurus. This may be

particularly true with the devotees who frequent the

Hindu Temple of Atlanta. There are about six or seven

temples and meditation centers in the greater Atlanta

area, each catering to Hindus from different parts of

India, or Hindus from different religious communities.

In general, more south Indians frequent the Hindu

Temple of Atlanta and again, in general they tend to be

fairly orthoprax. Many of those who came to

Karunamayi Ma's talks and ritual were those who hailed

from her area in India. Karunamayi Ma gives her talks

in fluent Telugu; although she increasingly speaks

English and also has a very good translator, she

frequently speaks in her " mother tongue, " her native

language, and it is natural that people who speak that

language are attracted to her. [....]

 

Karunamayi Ma [...] [does not fit] into any orthodox

lineage of teachers. [....]

Karunamayi Ma speaks constantly about the equality of

religions. [....]

 

There is no ambiguity in the representation of

Karunamayi Ma--she is identified as an incarnation of

the Goddess--a generic Hindu goddess who is the

source of all power and who is presented as manifesting

herself as Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Durga. Some

pictures depict her in a red sari that one associates with

Lakshmi or Durga, and in some she wears a white sari

and holds the vina, a lute-like instrument. This is

probably because pictures of he goddess Saraswati

usually depict her has holding a vina and wearing a

white sari. When she came into the temple in Atlanta,

Karunamayi Ma folded her hands in a gesture of

worship in front of the major deities, but lingered in

front of the icon of the very beneficent-looking Durga,

and eventually sat in the special chair reserved for her

right outside that shrine. As far as I could see, she does

not speak about herself directly as the goddess, but in

her talks where she speaks of herself as the mother who

knows everything about the child and cares about it, and

in using the same words to refer to herself and the

Goddess (Amma and Mother), there are strong

implications that she is speaking from an exalted

position. [....]

 

In 1999, when I asked Karunamayi Ma about issues

pertaining to the Hindu ideas of women and pollution

(menstruation, for example is considered polluting [by

some]), she upheld the traditional teachings and said that

during that time it would be better for a woman not to

worship.

 

Karunamayi Ma [...] speaks of the Mother Goddess

being everywhere. Explaining a particular prayer to the

Goddess, she interprets it this way: " The beautiful

essence of the sloka [prayer] is that, Mother is

everywhere! She is all! So open up your third eye and

see Amma everywhere. And in the seventh mantra it

says, 'Salutations to the Divine Mother in all beings in

the form of beauty' (as kanti rupena). Actually, 'kanti'

means 'luminous,' not 'beauty.' " This of course is

interesting, because although she is referring to the

Goddess as Mother and as Amma in this (and other

talks), she frequently refers to herself also in the third

person as Mother and Amma. [....] Karunamayi Ma thus

uses words like " Mother " and " Amma " regularly to

refer both to the Goddess and herself. [....]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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