Who is Devi?

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Who is Devi?

In this world, every individual has a mother. But Truth is

the mother of the entire humanity. Those who follow this mother will never face

any difficulties in life. The worldly mothers are bound by space and time and

will have to leave their bodies at one point of time, but Truth is not limited

by space and time and remains the same in all the three periods of time. It is

the master of all the three worlds. So, everyone must necessarily follow such a

noble mother. The term Devi

refers to such a noble mother.

Devi is your

Divine Mother. This Goddess Devi

is also called Sathya Swaroopini,

which means She is the embodiment of Truth. So, worshipping Truth amounts to

worshipping the Goddess Devi. If

you understand and follow this Truth, you will be successful in every field.

Vedas also proclaims this Truth.

Devi is also

referred to by various names such as Durga, Lakshmi, Sarasvathi, etc. She is

described as the embodiment of Shakti,

the universal energy.

The supreme Shakti

manifests herself in the form of Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvathi. Durga grants to

us energy - physical, mental and spiritual. Lakshmi bestows on us wealth of

many kinds - not just money but intellectual wealth, the wealth of character

and others. Even health is a kind of wealth. She grants untold riches to us.

And Sarasvathi bestows on us intelligence, the capacity for intellectual

enquiry and the power of discrimination. One's own mother is the combination of

all these Divine beings. She provides us energy, wealth and intelligence. She

constantly desires our advancement in life. So she represents all the three

goddesses that we worship.

The term " Devi "

also symbolizes the three gunas

(or attributes) namely Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas.

Devi takes the Rajasic form to suppress the forces of

evil and protect the Satwic

qualities. When the forces of injustice, immorality and untruth have grown to

monstrous proportions and are indulging in a death dance, when selfishness and

self-interest are rampant, when men have lost all sense of kindness and

compassion, the Atmic principle,

assuming the form of Shakti,

taking on the Rajasic quality,

seeks to destroy the evil elements. This is the inner meaning of the Durga form

of Devi..

When the Divine Goddess is in dreadful rage to destroy the

wicked elements, She assumes a fearful form. To pacify the dreaded Goddess, Her

feminine children offer worship to Her with red kumkum (sacred red powder). The Goddess seeing the blood-red

kumkum at her feet, feels assured

that the wicked have been vanquished and assumes Her benign form. The inner

meaning of the worship of Devi

with red kumkum is that thereby

the Goddess is appeased.

The significance of Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvathi has to be

rightly understood. The three represent three kinds of potencies in man. Ichchaa Shakti, will power, Kriya Shakti, the power of purposeful

action, and Jnaana Shakti - the

power of discernment.

Sarasvathi is manifest in man as the power of speech, Vaak. Durga is present in the form of

dynamism. Lakshmi is manifest in the form of will power. The body indicates Kriya Shakti. The mind is the repository

of Ichchaa Shakti. The Atma is Jnaana

Shakti. Kriya Shakti

comes from the body, which is material. The power that activates the body that

is inert and makes it vibrant is Ichchaa

Shakti. The power that induces the vibrations of Ichchaa Shakti is Jnaana Shakti, which causes radiation of

energy. These three potencies are represented by the mantra Om Bhur Bhuvah Suvaha. Bhur represents Bhuloka, the earth. Bhuvah

represents the life force, conscience in man. Suvaha

represents the power of radiation. All three are present in man. Thus Durga,

Lakshmi and Sarasvathi dwell in the human heart.

Men are prone to exhibit rajasic

qualities like anger and hatred. They are the menacing manifestations of Durga.

The extolling of the Divine in song and poetry and the pleasing vibrations

produced by them indicate the power of Sarasvathi. The pure qualities that

arise in man such as compassion, love, forbearance and sympathy are derived

from Lakshmi.

When people worship Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvathi externally

in pictures or icons, they are giving physical forms to the subtle potencies

that are within them. The unfortunate predicament of man today is that he is

not recognizing the powers within him and developing respect for them. He goes

after the external, attracted by the physical forms. The relationship between

the material and the subtle has to be understood. The remedy for man's life is

contained within himself. But man seeks remedies from outside. All that is

needed is to turn the vision inward to experience the Divine within. Convert

your ichchaa shakti into a

yearning for God. Convert your kriya shakti

into a force for doing divine actions. Convert your jnaana shakti into the divine Itself.

Bhagavan

Baba