God as Mother - The Destroyer Of Destructive Forces

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shriadishakti , " jagbir singh "

<adishakti_org> wrote:

> CONTENTS

>

> Publishers' Note

> Prayer to Mother

> The Indian Concept of the Divine Mother

> The Worship of the Divine Mother

> The Power Of The Transcendent Reality

> The Destroyer Of Destructive Forces

> Destruction: The Springboard To Construction

> Lakshmi: The Supreme Sustainer

> The Path Of Prosperity

> Goddess Of Auspiciousness At Home And At Heart

> Creation: The Music Of Mother's Veena

> The Goddess Of Success

> The Path To Final Liberation

> The Great Goal And Its Attainment

>

>

>

 

SECOND NIGHT

 

The Destroyer Of Destructive Forces

y:a dðv:i s:v:üB:Üt:ð\:Ø S:eVt:-p:ðN: s:öesT:t:a

n:m:st:sy:ò n:m:st:sy:ò n:m:st:sy:ò n:m::ð n:m:H ..

yà devã sarvabhåteùu ÷aktiråpeõa saüsthità|

namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaþ ||

 

SALUTATIONS again and again to the blessed divine mother, the

Supreme Inscrutable Power, the mysterious Achintya Shakti of para

Brahman. Salutations to the great Devi who is the source of all

manifestation and embodiment. Salutations to the great Divine Power,

Divya Shakti, from whom have flowed forth all the countless,

innumerable universes, in whom all manifestations have their being

and into whom all names and forms dissolve and vanish, and through

whom all beings attain their eternal union with the great reality,

the Supreme Transcendental Being, Para Brahman.

 

This conception of the great power, the Cosmic Spirit, as the Mother

is very easy to understand. For the first impression of any soul who

has come out into this world is that of the mother. The earliest

recollection which a being can ever have is that of lying in his or

her mother's lap and perhaps looking up and gazing into the love-

filled eyes of the mother. To the child, in the mother is centered a

whole world of tenderness, of love, of nourishment and of care. It

is the ideal world from where one draws sustenance, where one runs

for comfort, which one clings to for protection and nourishment; and

there he gets comfort, protection and care. Therefore, the ideal of

love, care and protection is, in the conception of the mother.

Therefore, this notion transferred to the Cosmic Being is the most

natural, most logical and most easy-to-be understood step, and thus

it is that the glorified conception of the great mother who loves

all, nourishes all, cares for all and protects all, has come into

being in the philosophic conception of the Hindu.

 

Today we shall devoutly offer our humble worship at the Mother's

Blessed Feet in the form of a few words describing some aspects of

Her glory. In doing this, let us ever be aware that even this

privilege of worshipping Her; glorifying Her and dwelling upon Her

greatness is only due to Her compassion and Grace. Without Her

Grace, most difficult it is to get an opportunity to think of Her,

to remember Her, and to speak of Her, and to utter Her glorious

names, calling upon Her as Mother. All-gracious is She, infinitely

compassionate is She; love is her Nature and thus She has bestowed

upon us all this great blessing and the joy to dwell upon Her in

thought and through word to devoutly adore Her upon this most

auspicious and glorious day.

 

The Mother is whatever is. The essence of pure existence is the

Supreme Being or Para Brahman. Mother is whatever is that we know.

That which is beyond our knowledge, that is the Purusha, the Supreme

Being, the transcendental Para Brahman. That which we know through

our mind and senses is nothing but the manifestation of Mother. She

is not only the Universe which we know, this little world and the

countless stars, the sun and moon—all these the terrestrial and

the stellar, the lunar and the solar systems that comprise this

little universe; all this is but an infinitesimal speck in the

vastness and infinity that Mother is. Innumerable such universes

have their rise and fall within Her infinite nature. She is all-

power and also the great transcendental power at the back of all

manifestation, the primal cause for all manifestation and

embodiment. She is the very creatrix not only of this world but even

the creator, preserver and dissolver of the world. Brahma, Vishnu

and Maheshwara have their being in the Mother. She is the Mother of

all, countless Brahmas, Vishnus and Maheshwaras. In as much as She

is all-power, all powers are Her play; and therefore all the three

dynamic manifestations Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara also are

modifications of Mother as Adi-Shakti. She is also Brahma-Shakti

manifest to us in and through the form of Saraswati, Vishnu-Shakti

manifest in and through the form of Lakshmi, and also Siva-Shakti

manifest in and through the form of Parvati.

 

Delusion and Deliverance

 

In this aspect of all power, She has a twofold form. The devout

Hindu worships Her as both. It is a beautiful conception: and what a

wonderful depth of significance there is in this conception of

Mother in Her twofold aspects—that of the Cosmic Delusion as well

as of the Cosmic Deliverance! She binds down all to this mysterious

illusory appearance, this world-play, and turns them in her own

playful manner in the wheel of birth and death. As such She is known

by the name Avidya, the delusion that is opposed to spiritual wisdom

or knowledge. She is also the Cosmic Deliverance. In this aspect She

smiles upon Her children and She releases them from the delusion of

Her other aspect Avidya. In Her aspect as this Cosmic Deliverance,

we know of the Mother as Vidya-Maya. Artists have therefore

visualised Her in the form of a radiant being, a Goddess, having in

one hand a noose or a type of rope by which She binds, and in the

other hand a sharp knife by which She snaps the bondage if She is

propitiated. Thus she is a mysterious combination of Avidya Maya and

Vidya Maya. Therefore, She is called Indescribable.

 

In both these aspects She has set up the Drama of universal

phenomena. Lovers of the Mother who have worshipped Her and obtained

Her Grace and have been vouchsafed with a vision of Her real nature

have lovingly depicted Mother and Her play in this secret way. We

all know that as children when in a group we gather together, we

wish to play; and not knowing how we may carry on this play we

approach the grandmother of the house. Lovingly she consents to show

us a game; and thus she sets going a game of hide-and-seek. She

tells the children: Children, run about and play. The children

engage themselves in play. They run; they catch each other and the

game of hide-and-seek goes on. But, then, should some child feel

that it has had enough of the play and wish that it may be released

from the play, tired of running here and there it has only to run up

to the grand dame and lay its hand upon her. One who touches the

grand dame cannot now be caught. Even as the grand dame brought

about this play, watches the play in progress, and takes care of the

children at play, and in the end touching her the child is released

from the play,—even so, this universe is but a child's play

to the great Mother. Anyone who is fed up with this constant running

about in this wilderness of the sense-world and longs to be out of

the play, he has but to run up to this great Mother and touch Her;

and once for all he is released from the bondage of this play. Thus

have devotees of the Mother sweetly and intimately conceived of this

world-play with the Mother as both; one who initiates it and one who

ends it.

 

The Puzzling Kali

 

When we step into the further consideration of particular aspects of

the Devi immediately we are confronted by a terrible problem. For

the very first conception of the Mother, especially as it is done

during the Devi Puja is in a form and in an aspect which leaves

ordinary minds quite bewildered—not only those who are foreign to

our culture and genius but even Indians, even Hindus, many of them

enlightened and educated, are unable to understand what is this

conception of divinity whom we call mother as an all-destructive,

terrible, and fearful being?

 

In Bengal, the whole of the Dussera worship is the worship of Durga

and Mahakali. To very many people Kali is a name that strikes

terror. We Hindus even think that Kali-worshippers are Tamasic and

that Kali is a dread deity. I can say from my own personal

experience that if a picture of Mahakali with Her dark body, lolling

red tongue, with Her garland of skulls, dressed in a skirt made of

severed human hands, with a sword dripping blood in Her hand—if

such a picture is kept in an orthodox South Indian house, the ladies

of the house will see that the picture is forthwith removed from the

house. If their feelings about the divinity as Kali was right, then

how comes this conception of Kali as the mother? How can you worship

Her?

 

It is a natural mistake which requires to be corrected. Mother is

never terrible, never fearful, is always all-loving and all-

compassionate. The explanation for the divine Mother Parashakti

being conceived of, among other aspects, also in Her aspect as Kali

is a very simple one. It is not difficult; it is not deeply

metaphysical; it is not obscurely philosophical; it is very natural

and very simple.

 

I shall first start by giving a very up-to-date and modern, and

therefore, easily graspable analogy. We have the modern antibiotics

the various mycins and also Penicillin. They are called the life-

savers of the modern age and millions of people look upon them with

feelings of gratitude. But though these life-saving drugs which are

benign and cure disease, are the benefactors of humanity, I shall

show how they may be also regarded to be terrible and destructive.

They are destructive to the germs which they attack in the system

and destroy. You get infected; your body is filled with germs; they

cause disease. You take penicillin and it goes and destroys all the

germs; and by thus annihilating and destroying these germs, the

disease is removed and you become well. Would it be correct to call

these life-saving antibiotics very destructive? If it were right to

call them destructive and terrible, then you may also be equally

right to call Kali the mother, terrible and destructive.

 

Destroys to Save

 

For, She destroys but to save. She destroys ignorance, nescience, in

order to bestow knowledge. She destroys darkness so that we may

realise light. She destroys all pain, all sorrow, all misery and all

the earthly travails and tribulations; and bestows upon us bliss,

joy and immortality. Thus She is a destroyer of all those factors

that bind the Jiva to this terrible Samsara. She is a terrible

destroyer of all terrible things and the benign bestower of

blessedness and beatitude. Thus it is that the Mother is conceived

of as the destroyer of one of Her own aspects; just as by the power

of will—and will is also a portion of the mind—we overcome

certain weaknesses and evils in the same mind. As Vidya-Maya, Mother

using Her aspect as Kali, destroys Avidya and takes us to the

transcendental Brahman.

 

Thus we find that Mother Kali stands for a glorified being, a Mother

who is intent upon giving deliverance from delusion. It is in this

aspect that the lover of the Mother worships Her as Kali. He calls

upon Her: " Oh compassionate Mother! I am at the mercy of this all-

powerful mind. I am tyrannised by the ego and the senses. I have

become enslaved by the Shad-Ripus and this whole army of Vasanas,

Vrittis and Samskaras. They are ever battling against me. Therefore,

Thou alone can'st save me from these terrible foes. " He

invokes Her aid and power to help destroy all these factors, so that

when he cannot battle and overcome them, he gets the strength of the

Mother and She graciously comes to his aid and in Her symbolically

terrible form She helps him overcome the senses and attain mastery

and victory over the mind.

 

This indeed is the content of the Durga Saptashati, the scripture

which we read during these nine days. It contains thirteen chapters

which describe this process of the Mother giving battle to, on

behalf of divine beings, and destroys the entire array of cosmic

nescience, of wickedness, of all that is a negation of the Supreme

Truth. Each aspect of this negation of truth is depicted in this

great scripture which is a wonderful allegory, by some particular

demon; and these demons are given appropriate names and forms

according to those aspects of nescience. And the thirteen chapters

describe how Mother using numerous forms annihilates all the aspects

of evil, of nescience, ignorance and this cosmic delusion. And at

the end the Supreme Victory to the powers of wisdom and knowledge is

achieved and the Jiva is freed for ever from ignorance.

 

This is not peculiar to the Shakti cult or Devi-worshippers. We will

find this allegory in all the religions of the world. We have God

and Satan in Christian theology; Satan represents the antithesis of

all that is divine, all that is of Light. We have the Ariman and

Ahura Mazda in the Zoroastrian religion; and in that religion Ariman

stands for forces corresponding to the conception of Satan in

Christianity. We have the Mara in Buddhism. Even so we have in

Hinduism the force of evil, call it Maya, ignorance or Asuric

forces, which stand for all that is the antithesis of light,

knowledge, wisdom and Atman. They are called in Vedantic parlance

the Anatman, to be overcome by the Knowledge of Atma. That is the

central theme of this great scripture—the Saptashati—where

Mother enables Her sons to do away with Evil with the help of Her

aspect as Mother Kali.