The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatyam

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The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatyam

 

Our longings are fundamentally very deep and cannot be easily satisfied

by temporary makeshift or a day-to-day adjustment of outer

circumstances. Our desires are profound; our yearnings are very

unintelligible to the outer atmosphere of our daily life. We seem to

have a root which is deeper than what can be comprehended by our normal

understanding of the world. We grow from all sides, and when we long

for, or desire, or yearn, or aspire, we do so in a very comprehensive

manner. This aspiration of the human being is really the soul's longing

for freedom. All our desires are desires of the soul, ultimately. Though

they look like sensory desires, mental desires, intellectual desires,

social desires, etc., they are, at the bottom, the longing of the soul

of the human being, which ramifies itself into various distracted rays

through the operations of the mind and the activities of the senses. Our

longings are, therefore, capable of being collected into a single

essential power, an inward urge, which we may call the longing for

freedom. It is freedom that we ask for and it is freedom that anyone

asks for. Varieties of longings and multitudes of enterprises in the

world can be collected into a single focus of the soul's aspiration for

liberation. And this aspiration for liberation is not merely the longing

of the human being, but of all that is created anywhere on earth or in

heaven. Whether it is the plant or the animal, whether it is a man or a

celestial, the aspiration is this much. All longings can be boiled down

into the quintessence of the longing for liberation, freedom from all

sides and an ultimate supremacy over one's own self in the realisation

of this freedom.

 

The Devi-Mahatyam which, in a majestic poetry in Sanskrit, describes to

us the epic of the march of the human soul to its destination - the

realisation of this freedom - is the dramatic aspect of the great

worship of the Divine Mother during these nine days of Navaratri, or

Dusera as we call it. The march of the soul is dramatic. It is not a

lagging or a crawling but a beautiful, sonorous, musical advent, we may

say. This is the beauty of the Devi-Mahatyam. All epics have this

particular character of grandeur, uplifting the emotions, and chastening

the intellect of the devotee who goes through them.

 

The Devi-Mahatyam, which is a part of the Markandeya Purana, contains

thirteen chapters which are grouped into three sections known as the

Prathama Charitra, Madhyama Charitra and the Uttama Charitra. As in the

Bhagavad-Gita sometimes we are told that the eighteen chapters can be

grouped into three sections of teaching, consisting of six chapters in

each, the Devi-Mahatyam also, which is an epic counterpart of the

methods of the Bhagavad-Gita in its practical implementations, is

capable of a division into three sections. The march of the soul is

graduated into three major steps, though there are many minor steps

involved in these three major ones. While we have to rise through

various rungs of the ladder of evolution, we come to three points or

halting places, we may call them, where there is a complete

transformation of outlook, attitude and constitution of our being. These

threefold transformations of the spiritual being of the aspiring soul

are dominated or presided over by three deities known as Maha-Kali,

Maha-Lakshmi and Maha­Sarasvati. These three presiding forces are

representative of the powers of the spirit within manifesting themselves

in an upward ascent towards freedom ultimate, so that in this march of

the soul to its freedom, it carries with it everything that is connected

with it. The difference between the spiritual march and your march along

the road or a highway is this: that while in your march on a roadway,

you alone walk and nobody need accompany you, nothing need be connected

with you, and you can have a free walk independently, in the spiritual

march, it is not such an isolated march because you carry with you

everything that is connected with you.

 

Now, what are the things connected with you that you carry? There are

four stages of this relationship. Consciously we are related in a

particular manner and subconsciously we are related in another manner

altogether. Consciously, we people seated in this hall for example, have

a particular sort of relationship among ourselves, but subconsciously

our relationships are of a different kind altogether and they need not

tally with our conscious relationship. And deeper still, we have a layer

where our relationship is more akin to a unity of life than to a

diversity of personality. There is a fourth stage which is incapable of

any description at all. We do not know whether we are to call it a unity

or a diversity, or oneness or otherness. This is the goal towards which

the soul is marching. So, in the description of the Devi-Mahatyam, we

are carried forward psychologically and spiritually to our destination

of the ultimate realisation.

 

There are three stages of transformation described in the three sections

of the Devi-Mahatmya. The first one is where Adi-Sakti awakens

Maha-Vishnu who was asleep, so that He may destroy or overcome the

original demoniacal forces, Madhu and Kaitabha. The second stage is

where the same Sakti manifests Herself as Maha-Lakshmi and overcomes

Mahishasura and Raktabija. The third one is where Sumbha and Nisumbha

are destroyed by Maha-Sarasvati. And the nine days of worship, which are

referred to as Navaratri, comprehend these three stages adored in three

days of worship, each. The final victory is called Vijaya-Dasami, the

tenth day. That is the day of Victory, where you master the forces of

Nature completely and your goal is reached. When you step over nine, you

enter into Infinity. Numbers are only nine; you do not have ten numbers.

All the arithmetic is within nine numbers only. The whole cosmos is

within nine. But when you transcend the nine, you have gone to Infinity,

which is beyond cosmic relationship. The lower powers of Nature are like

dirt. We call them Mala. " Vishnukarna­malodbhuto hantum

brahmanamudyato, " says the Devi­Mahatyam. The Madhu and Kaitabha,

two Rakshasas (demons) are supposed to have come out of the dirt of the

ear of Vishnu. The lowest category of opposition is of the nature of

dirt, Mala; and psychologically, from the point of view of the seeking

soul, this dirt is in the form of Kama, Krodha and Lobha. " Kama esha

krodha esha rajo-guna samudbhavah " , " Kamah krodhastatha lobhah tasmat

etat trayam tyajet " : It is desire and anger born of Rajas; desire, anger

and greed - these three therefore should be abandoned, says the

Bhagavad-Gita. These three are the gates to hell. These three are

regarded as dirt, because they cover the consciousness in such a way

that it appears to be not there at all. It is like painting a thin glass

with coal tar. You cannot see the glass. It is all pitch-dark like

clouds. This has to be rubbed off with great effort. When this Mala or

dirt is removed, you get into another trouble. Do not think that when

you are tentatively a master of Kama, Krodha and Lobha, you are a real

master of yourself. " There are more things in heaven and earth than your

philosophy dreams of, O Horatio, " said Hamlet. So do not think that your

philosophy is exhaustive. There are many more things that philosophy

cannot comprehend. Kama, Krodha and Lobha are not the only enemies.

There are subtler ones, more formidable than these visible foes. As a

matter of fact, the subtle invisible enemies are more difficult to

overcome than the visible ones. Sometimes an angry man is better than a

smiling person. A smiling person is more dangerous than an angry one,

because he can have a knife under his armpit. This is what we will face.

 

When we manage somehow to overcome this Madhu and Kaitabha, Kama and

Krodha, we get into the clutches of Mahishasura and Raktabija. They

represent the Vikshepa Sakti, the tossing of the mind. Every minute the

mind changes its forms which multiply in millions. You read in the

Devi-Mahatmya, how Mahishasura changed his form. Now he is an elephant,

now he is a buffalo, now he is something else. If you hit him in one

form, he comes in another form. And this is your inexhaustible opponent.

His energies are incapable of being exhausted. However much you may try

to oppose the Vikshepa Sakti, it will manifest in some form or other.

This is described in the form of the demon Raktabija, whose drops of

blood were seeds of hundreds and thousands of demons like him coming up.

When the Devi severed the head of one Rakshasa, the blood fell on the

ground profusely and from that blood, millions cropped up. And when She

killed them, again another million cropped up. So there was no end to

it. If you cut off one or two desires, the desire is not over. The root

is still there. The branches are only severed. Unless the root is dug

out, there is no use of merely severing the branches of the tree. So

what did the Devi do? She asked Kali to spread her tongue throughout the

earth, so that there is no ground at all for the Rakshasas to walk over.

They had to walk over the tongue of Kali. So huge it was. And now the

Goddess started cutting their heads and when the blood fell, it fell not

on the ground but on the tongue of Kali. So she sucked everything.

Chariots and horses and demons and everybody entered her mouth. She

chewed all chariots into powder. Likewise, we have to adopt a technique

of sucking the very root of desires and not merely chop off its

branches. Otherwise, desires will take various forms like Mahishasura.

When we think that Mahishasura has been killed, he comes as a buffalo,

and when the buffalo is attacked, he again comes as an elephant, and if

Devi attacks the elephant, he comes as a bull and attacks Her. So, there

is no way of overcoming these desires by merely dealing with them from

outside by a frontal attack. Their very essence has to be sucked,

because a desire is not an outward form or an action; it is a tendency

within. You may do nothing, and yet you will have desires, because

desire is not necessarily an activity. A desired person need not be very

active. He can be sitting quiet, doing nothing, saying nothing, and yet

be full of desires because it is a tendency of the mind, an inclination

of consciousness, that we call a desire. That can be inside, even if

there is outwardly nothing. This is the Vikshepa Sakti - distraction,

tossing and the chameleon-attitude of desire - which attacks us; when,

with Herculean efforts, we try to destroy or gain control over Kama and

Krodha, Madhu and Kaitabha. After Madhu and Kaitabha, we get Mahishasura

and Raktabija. Thus Mala and Vikshepa are the primary oppositions in our

spiritual pursuit.

 

Ancient masters have told us that while Mala or dirt of the

psychological structure can be removed by Karma Yoga, by unselfish and

dedicated service, Vikshepa or distraction of the mind can be removed

only by worship of God, by Upasana. While Karma removes Mala, Upasana

removes Vikshepa. But even now, we are not fully safe. While Mala might

have gone and Vikshepa is not there, we may have a third trouble,

namely, a complete oblivion of consciousness. We will have no knowledge

of anything as to what is happening. Ajnana or ignorance is an opposing

power subtler than its effects in the form of Mala and Vikshepa.

Distraction and direct sensual desires are the outer expressions of a

subtle ignorance of Truth - Avidya or Ajnana. Why do we desire things?

Because, we do not know the nature of Truth. Why does a strong wind

blow? Because, the sun is covered over with clouds. The sun is covered

by the clouds first, then there is darkness, and then a gale or cyclone

starts blowing from the north, breaking our umbrellas and uprooting

trees. All these happen because the sun does not shine. Even so, when

the Atman is covered over by ignorance of its nature, the winds of

desire begin to blow, and they come like violent storms. Impetuous is

the force of desire. You cannot stand against it, because the whole of

Nature gets concentrated in a desire. That is why it is impetuous and

uncontrollable. All the powers of Nature get focused in a desire when it

manifests itself, whatever be that desire. So the whole of Nature has to

be subdued. You are not to subdue only your individual nature, but the

cosmic Nature itself is to be subdued. This is what is depicted in the

epic of the Devi-Mahatmya. It is the subdual, overcoming, transformation

of the cosmic Nature in the form of Tamas, Rajas and Sattva. While Mala

represents Tamas, Vikshepa represents Rajas.

 

Sattva is also a Guna, unfortunately. We always praise Sattva and regard

it as a very desirable thing. But it is like a transparent glass that is

placed between us and the Truth. You can see through it, but you cannot

go beyond it because though the glass is transparent, it can obstruct

your movement. It is not like a brick wall, completely preventing your

vision, as Tamas does; it is not like a blowing wind which simply tosses

you here and there, as Rajas does; it is a plain glass, through which

you can have vision of Reality, but you cannot contact Reality

nevertheless. How can you contact a thing when there is a glass between

you and the thing? Yet you can see it. So they say even Sattva is an

obstacle, though it is better than the other two forces in the sense

that through it you can have a vision or an insight into the nature of

Reality which transcends even Sattva. There is a glass pane and you can

see a mango fruit on the other side of it. You can see it very well, but

cannot get it; you cannot grab it. You know the reason. Even Sattva is a

subtle medium of obstruction, which acts in a double form - as

complacency or satisfaction with what has been achieved, and an

ignorance of what is beyond. These two aspects of Sattva are indicated

by the two personalities of Sumbha and Nisumbha. They have to be

dispelled by the power of higher wisdom, which is Maha-Sarasvati.

 

Action, contemplation and knowledge are the three stages through which

we have to pierce through the veil of Prakruti, or the three Gunas. And

as I mentioned earlier, we are not individual pedestrians on the path.

There is no individual movement here. It is all a total movement of

everything connected with us, and no item in the world is really

disconnected from us. Every thread in a cloth is connected with every

other thread. When you lift one thread of a cloth, the whole cloth comes

up, because of the interconnection of the warp and the woof of the

cloth. Likewise, there is an internal interconnection of beings, which

prevents any kind of individual effort for the sake of salvation. That

is why salvation is universal, it is not individual. When you attain to

the Supreme Being, you become the Universal Being. You do not go there

as a Mr. So-and-so or as a Mrs. So-and-so. The path of Sadhana also is a

cosmic effort of the soul, a subtle secret which most Sadhakas are

likely to forget. It is not a small, simple, private effort of yours in

the closet of your room, but a dynamic activity of your essential

personality, internally connected by unforeseen relationships with

everything in the cosmos. When you enter the path of the spirit you have

also, at the same time, entered the path of cosmic relationship. A

Sadhaka is, therefore, a cosmic person. A spiritual seeker, an aspirant

is a representative of cosmic situation. He is not an individual, though

he looks like a person; and his Sadhana is not an individual effort. It

is much more than what it appears to be on the surface. It is, as it

were, the conversation between Nara and Narayana -

Krishna-Arjuna-Samvada, as they call it. You and your God are face to

face with each other. In Sadhana, in spiritual effort, you are face to

face with your Maker. And the face of the Maker is universal. He is not

in one spot, hiding himself in one corner.

 

So, the dance of the cosmic spirit, in its supernal effort at

self-transcendence, is majestically described in the beautifully worded

sonorous songs of the Devi-Mahatmya, where we are given a stirring

account, a stimulating description of what Maha-Kali did, what

Maha-Lakshmi did and what Maha-Sarasvati did in bringing about this

evolution, transformation of the whole range of Prakruti from Tamas to

Rajas, from Rajas to Sattva and from Sattva to Supreme Vijaya, mastery

in the Absolute, God-realisation. All our scriptures, Puranas and epics,

all our ceremonies and celebrations, all our festivals and Jayanthis -

whatever be the occasion for a religious performance - all this is

charged with a spiritual connotation, a significance which is far

transcendent to the outer rituals which is involved in their

performance. Every thought, every aspiration, every ritual and every

duty of ours, every action that we perform automatically becomes a

spiritual dedication of the Soul, for the sake of this one single

aspiration which it has been enshrining in itself from eternity to

eternity. This significance is brought out in all our epics and Puranas.

Whether in the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, whether in the Bhagavad-Gita

or the Devi-Mahatmya, they tell us the same account in different

terminologies and with different emphases. It is always a song of the

soul. The Bhagavad-Gita is a song of the soul, the Over-soul speaking to

the lower soul. Here again, we have a similar account of the actual

Sadhana involved in the realisation of this ultimate harmony of the soul

with the Over-soul.

 

The spiritual practice of a Sadhaka is, therefore, a confronting of the

three forces of Tamas, Rajas and Sattva, gradually, stage by stage, in

their cosmic significance, forgetting not for a moment that we are not

'islands'. No man is an island. You must have heard the poet's saying:

" No man is an island unto himself. " That means he is not surrounded

simply by oceans and cut off from things. He is connected with

everything. This is the significance we have to read in our practical

lives. This is the meaning we have to see and visualise in our personal

Sadhana. And when we learn to see the significance of the presence of

divinity or the universality of God even in our private actions, we are

taken care of by universal forces. We need not bother about even the

smallest problem of our life. Even the littlest of our difficulty will

be taken care of in a proper manner by the forces that are in the world,

provided, of course, that we are able to read the significance of

universality even in the most private of our actions, even in the

smallest and littlest of our actions. There is no such thing as a little

action in the world. Everything is important. Even the most

insignificant event is a very important event; ultimately, because

hidden behind it is the ocean. This significance we have to learn to

read. This is, in my humble opinion, what Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji

Maharaj meant whenever he said that God­realisation is the goal of

life. He was not tired of saying this throughout his life. We can see,

in his earlier books especially, that they commence with the sentence:

" The goal of life is God-realisation. " Whatever he had to say in those

books, he said afterwards. So, the first thing is to remember that the

goal of life is God-realisation. Do not forget this. The little petty

tensions and turmoils and annoyances and worries and vexations are not

the goal of life. They are the obstacles that come on our way, which we

have to carefully obviate and go with caution - like a pilgrim who has

lost his way in this wilderness of life - and yet confident at the same

time that the warmth of the spiritual sun is always energising our

personality and that we are never, at any time, any moment of our

practice, completely cut off from that source of energy.

 

So, through the worship of Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Sarasvati,

we worship Mula-Prakriti, Adi-Sakti in her cosmic dance-form of

transformation, prosperity and illumination. In the beginning, what

happens to a Sadhaka? There is a necessity of self-transformation. It is

all hardship, rubbing and cleaning, washing, sweeping, etc. That is the

first stage through the worship of Maha-Kali, who brings about a

destruction of all barriers. Then what happens? There is tremendous

prosperity. You become a master and a progressive soul commanding all

powers, getting everything that you want. This is the second stage. In

the first stage, it looked as if you were a poor person, having nothing,

very weak. But, when you overcome this weakness by removing the barrier

of Tamas, you become prosperous. Nobody can be as rich as a Yogi. He can

command all the powers. By a thought he can invoke all things, and this

is Goddess Maha-Lakshmi working. When Maha-Kali has finished her work of

destruction of opposition, Maha­Lakshmi comes as prosperity. A great

Yogi is also like a royal personality, because of his internal

invocations, though unconsciously done, of cosmic powers. When

prosperity dawns, it looks as if the whole universe is heaven. In the

first stage, it looked like hell. Afterwards, in the second stage, it

looks like heaven, when Maha-Lakshmi begins to work. But this also is

not sufficient. Knowledge should dawn. It is not heaven that you are

asking for. You want the realisation of Truth. Maha-Sarasvati will come

to help and a flood of light of Truth will be thrown, and you will see

things as they are. There is no enjoyment, prosperity, richness, wealth,

or any such thing. It is Truth unconnected with you in the beginning,

but later on inseparable from yourself. Thus, from opposition to

prosperity, from prosperity to enlightenment, and from enlightenment to

Self-realisation do we proceed. So, these are the truths esoterically

conveyed to us in the Mantras of the Devi-Mahatmya.

 

This Devi-Mahatmya is not merely an esoteric epic. It is not only a

great spiritual text in the form of occult lessons; occult teachings of

which I have given you an outline. But, it is also a great

Mantra-Sastra. Every Sloka, every verse of the Devi-Mahatmya is a Mantra

by itself. I will tell you how it is a Mantra, by giving only one

instance that is the first Sloka itself. " Savarnih suryatanayo yo manuh

kathyate-shtamah. " This is the first Sloka - " Savarnih surya-tanayah. "

It is all a Tantric interpretation and a very difficult thing to

understand. But I am giving you only an idea as to what it is like.

Surya represents fire, the fire-principle. Surya-tanaya means that which

is born of the fire-principle. What is it that is born of the

fire-principle? It is the seed 'Ra'. According to Tantric esoteric

psychology, 'Ram' is the Bija Mantra of Agni. In the word 'Savarnih',

'Varni' means a hook; so add one hook to 'Ram'. " Yo manuh kathyate,

ashtamah. " Eighth letter - What is Manu? It is a letter in Sanskrit.

Eight letters are Ya, Ra, La, Va, Sya, Sha, Sa, Ha. The eighth is Ha.

Add Ha to it. Ha, Ra and one hook, make 'Hreem'. " Savarnih suryo-tanayo

yo manuh kathyateshtamah, nisamaya tadutpattim. " " You hear the glory of

that, " the sage says. So, the first verse means: " Now, I shall describe

to you the glory of 'Hreem'. " This Hreem is the Bija of Devi. But,

outwardly it means, " Listen to the story of the king so-and-so, who is

the eighth Manu, " and all that. Thus in addition to the outer meaning,

there is an inner significance of the Mantra. I am giving you only the

case of one Mantra. Like this, every Mantra is full of inner

significance. And every Mantra is repeated by devotees for some purpose

or the other. The Devi-Mahatmya is especially recited for averting

calamities in life. Catastrophes, calamities and tensions - personal or

outward, whatever they be - all these are averted by a regular daily

recital of the Devi-Mahatmya. When there is war threatening a country,

for example, or pestilence or epidemic spreading everywhere, or any

internal tension or anxiety of any kind, the Devi-Mahatmya is to be

studied. And it is a very potent remedy prescribed by seers of yore -

not only for temporal terrestrial prosperity, but also for the glory of

the hereafter, for illumination, for the destruction of Avidya or

Ajnana, for overcoming Mala, Vikshepa and Avarana, and to be a fit

recipient of the grace of the Almighty. Thus is the outer significance

and the inner significance of the Devi-Mahatmya, and the special meaning

that it has in the life of spiritual seekers or Sadhakas. Glory to God!

Glory to Sadhana! Glory to the integral character of spiritual practice!

May we be blessed with this illumination, with this wisdom, with the

strength to tread the path of the Spirit, to our ultimate Freedom!

 

(A talk given on 13th October of 1972 during the Navaratri worship By

Swami Krishnananda)