According to the Devi our true nature--Spirit--is a field of pure consciousness.

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SHRI DEVI GITA

by Shri Giridhar Madras

 

Introduction:

 

Devi gita constitutes the last ten chapters of the seventh Skandha

of the Devi Bhagavatam. In the puranas, one will find several gitas

and many mahatmyas. The differences are that in the mahatmya, the

glorification of the deity is by recounting the various deeds of the

God and offering praise to the divinity. A gita, on the other hand,

is a direct revelation of the truth from the disciple, which often

includes the manifestation of the cosmic form. While mahatymas

emphasize bhakti, gita stresses a balance of bhakti and jnana.

 

Specifically, we are interested in discussing the Devi gita. To

avoid any confusion and also be aware, there are two other devi

gitas. The first of which is found in the Kurma purana. This is a

conversation with Parvati and Himavan, introduced by Lord Vishnu as

Kurma. Goddess Parvati is praised here by 1008 names and She grants

him two cosmic visions and instructs him. The other devi gita is

found in the Mahabhagavata purana, which actually refers to the

conversation of Parvati and Himavan as Parvati Gita. The narrator of

this section of the Mahabhagavata Purana is Lord Shiva. However, by

Devi gita, we refer only to the gita found in the Devi Bhagavatam.

 

Setting:

 

The setting of the Devi gita is introduced by Janamejaya's query

to Vyasa regarding the supreme light who became manifest on top of

the Himalaya mountain. Vyasa talks about the demon Taraka, who has

obtained a boon that he can be killed only by the son of Lord Shiva,

knowing fully well that Sati has immolated herself. Therefore, the

gods became scared and went to Himalayas and worshipped Her asking

to born and marry Lord Shiva. Shakti then appears before them and

grants them a boon that her manifestation will be born as Gauri as

the daughter of Himavan. Himalaya becomes choked with emotion when

he hears that She, whose belly contains millions of universes, is

about to become his daughter. He requests as follows, " Proclaim

to me your nature, and declare that yoga conjoined with bhakti and

that jnana in accord shruti whereby you and I become one. "

 

This sets the scene for Devi Gita and the teachings.

 

Brief summary:

 

In the Devi gita, following Himalayas request, the Devi proceeds to

describe her essential forms. The Devi declares that prior to

creation, She is the only existent entity, the one supreme Brahman

and is pure consciousness. Then She outlines the basic evolution of

the causal, subtle and gross bodies of the supreme Self when

enjoined with maya. The treatment here is very similar to that of

Vedantasara and Panchadasi, but in much more simpler terms than the

latter. Then She reveals Her forms (both the frightful and pleasing)

to the gods and Himalaya. Then follows a detailed summary of the

yoga, the stages of bhakti and the ways to attain Her.

 

Simplicity and Profoundness:

 

Devi gita is both simple and profound. It is different from other

gitas in the respect that statements are clear and can not be

reinterpreted according to one's taste. For example, several

commentaries have been written on the Bhagavad Gita of Krishna,

wherein each commentator feels differently regarding bhakti and

jnana. For example, it required Madhusudana Saraswati to explain

krama mukti in clear terms (though Shankara mentions it also) of

bhakti. But Devi Gita is clear: " Even when a person performs

bhakti, knowledge need not arise. He will go to the Devi's Island

(similar to Brahmaloka). Till the complete knowledge in the form of

my consciousness arises, there is no liberation. "

 

Similarly, the word of 'coming', 'going', 'becoming' cause confusion

since one can not become Brahman, if one is already one. The Devi

Gita provides a clear explanation that all these terms are

applicable only as long as one in maya. It is the clarity of these

terms and the simple explanation of complex vedantic and

philosophical questions that makes Devi Gita unique.

 

Start of chapter 33:

 

The Devi said: " O Giriraja ! This whole universe, moving and

unmoving is created by My maya shakti. This maya is conceived in Me.

It is not, in reality, different or separate from Me. So I am the

only Chit, Intelligence.

 

There is no other Intelligence other than Me. Viewed practically, it

is known variously as Maya, avidya; but viewed from the point of

Brahman, there is no such thing as Maya. Only one Brahman exists, I

am that Brahman, of the nature of Intelligence. I create this whole

world on this Unchangeable eternal Brahman and enter first as Prana

within it in the form of chidabhasa.

 

O Mountain ! Unless I enter as Breath, how can this birth and death

and leaving and retaking bodies after bodies be accounted for! As

one akasa is denominated variouslty as Ghatakas, patakas, so too I

appear variously by acknowledging this prana in various places due

to avidya and various antahkaranas.

 

As the sun rays are never defiled when they illumine various objects

on earth, so too, I am not defiled in entering thus into various

high and low antahkaranas. The ignorant people attach buddhi and

other things of activity on Me and say that the Atman is the doer.

The intelligent people do not say that. I remain as the Witness in

the hearts of all men, not as the Doer. "

 

SHRI DEVI GITA

Shri Giridhar Madras

 

 

1) Sri Mata

— Sacred Mother (feminine); the Seer, the Seen and the Seeing.

— The Knower; the Measurer (masculine)

— " For Whom all creatures are born. " Taittiriya Upanishad 3. 2

 

Sri Lalita Sahasranama, C. S. Murthy,

Ass. Advertisers and Printers, 1989.

 

 

" The Saktas worship the Universal Energy as Mother; it is the

sweetest name they know. The mother is the highest ideal of

womanhood in India. [...]

 

Mother is the first manifestation of power and is considered a

higher idea than father. The name of mother brings the idea of

Shakti, Divine energy and omnipotence. The baby believes its mother

to be all-powerful, able to do anything. The Divine Mother is the

Kundalini sleeping in us; without worshipping Her, we can never know

ourselves. All merciful, all-powerful, omnipresent - these are

attributes of the Divine Mother. She is the sum total of the energy

in the Universe.

 

Every manifestation of power in the universe is Mother. She is Life,

She is Intelligence, She is Love. She is in the universe, yet

separate from it. She is a person, and can be seen and known - as

Sri Ramakrishna saw and knew Her. Established in the idea of Mother,

we can do anything. She quickly answers prayers.

 

She can show Herself to us in any form at any moment. The Divine

Mother can have form (rupa) and name (nama), or name without form;

and as we worship Her in these various aspects, we can rise to Pure

Being, having neither form nor name.

 

The sum-total of all the cells in an organism is one person. Each

soul is like one cell, and the sum of them is God. And beyond that

is the Absolute. The sea calm is the Absolute; the same sea in waves

is the Divine Mother. She is time, space and causation. Mother is

the same as Brahman and has two natures; the conditioned and the

unconditioned. As the former, She is God, nature and soul. As the

latter, she is unknown and unknowable. Out of the Unconditioned came

the trinity, God, nature and soul - the triangle of existence.

 

A bit of Mother, a drop, was Krishna; another was Buddha. The

worship of even one spark of Mother in our earthly mother leads to

greatness. Worship Her if you want love and wisdom. "

 

Swami Vivekananda, " Inspired Talks, My Master and Other Writings " ,

Wed. July 2,1895, Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, NY, pp. 48-49.

 

 

 

" The Goddess is the great Sakti. She is Maya, for of her the maya

which produces the samsara is. As Lord of Maya she is Mahamaya.

Devi is avidya because she binds, and vidya because she liberates

and destroys the samsara. She is praktri and as existing before

creation is the Adya Sakti. Devi is the Vacaka Sakti, the

manifestation of Cit in Praktri, and the Vicya Sakti or Cit

itself. The Atma should be contemplated as Devi. Sakti or Devi is

thus the Brahman revealed in the mother aspect (Srimata) as creatrix

and nourisher of the worlds. Kali say of herself in Yogini

Tantra: " I am the bodily form of Saccidananda and I am the brahman

that has emanated from brahman. "

 

K. K. Klostermaier, Hinduism: A Short History,

Oneworld Pub., 2000, p. 211.

 

 

THE PRIMEVAL ENERGY

 

One of the unique features of Hinduism is the fact that it conceives

Divinity also as Mother Goddess. When Divinity has no name or form --

which is the most important declaration of the Upanishads, the next

logical step is to recognize that the Supreme has no specifity in

terms of gender. The Upanishads transcend the gender-specific

connotation and invent the unique Sanskrit word tat, meaning 'that'

for that Supreme Reality. And therefore they argue, whatever reason

or rhyme we have in referring to God by a masculine pronoun, the

same right there is for us to call God by a feminine pronoun. The

energy of every Cosmic Divinity is taken to be feminine and thus

arises the interesting concept of primordial power or the

[[Parâshakti]], which means 'Power Supreme'.

 

BRAHMAN TO BE KNOWN, SHAKTI TO BE WORSHIPPED

 

The primordial Parâshakti is therefore the ultimate dynamic energy

of the transcendental Brahman, than which there is no other

existence. In fact it is technically wrong to say that She

(Parâshakti) is the Energy of Brahman, because the nature of

Brahman does not allow any attributes or predicates.The moment we

attribute anything to Brahman we have already delimited and

circumscribed it. When we talk of the Energy of the Ultimate Reality

we have already descended one step from the supreme pedestal of the

Unmanifested Attributeless Ultimate.

 

But the beauty of the concept of Parâshakti is that She is

transcendent beyond anything that is finite and immanent in

everything there is. So while we predicate it and relate it to other

things, it is still the Ultimate Supreme that can be talked about.

While Brahman has only to be cognized, Parâshakti can be

worshipped with a name and form. She is the Divine Will personified.

She is the Conscious Power beyond everything. She is the Presence,

invisible and constant, that sustains the world, linking form and

name, holding them in interdependence. There is nothing impossible

for Her. She is the Universal Goddess. She is all knowledge, all

strength, all triumph and all victory. She is the Goddess Supreme

(Maheshvari) who brings to us the total state of illumination.

 

Devi Mahatmyam

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