By Roli S
यस्याः परतरं नास्ति सैषा दुर्गा प्रकीर्तिता – She who is renowned by the name “Durga” is the being superior to whom no one exists. These days it is the time of celebration. It is the time for worshipping and hailing the same most complex of all goddesses in the Hindu pantheon, Durga. From north to south and west to east all the Bharatvasis are submerged in the colour of devotion. The Durga Puja pandals have become bigger and grander. The art, the culture and the tradition surrounding the Durga Puja celebration has become richer, more spirited and vivacious. Young, old, rich, poor, celebrated and common folks all are participating in festivities surrounding the Durga Puja. For me, personally, ‘Puja’ brings back lots of fond memories of my childhood when I used to visit Durga Puja pandals holding my mother’s hands. My mother was an ardent devotee of the Goddess, and her name was Uma. To me in her sari clad figure she was no less than Goddess herself! I would often wonder why she worshipped another goddess? My mind has been full of queries related to my culture, religion and spirituality. My schooling was conducted in English medium schools and without realising I started looking at the world through a different paradigm. Away in boarding, the Durga Pandals and my mother’s hands were left behind. There was nothing in my education that encouraged me to explore the issues pertaining to my own culture and civilisation. I found myself ill equipped to even educate my own children, while they were growing up as to why I found Durga Puja celebrations so heavenly and powerful at the time when I was a little girl. But, today, after all the good and bad experiences, I have begun to see things above stultifying ritualism, and I have understood Durga and wish to understand her with the system of inquiry leading to the universal tradition of inner knowing beyond all the grand ‘pandals’ and exhibits.
Today, looking in the mirror and seeing my strands of grey, I want to write about Maa Durga as someone who has discovered her traditions as a doorway to her own true self! Bharat contains probably a greater diversity of points of view spiritually, intellectually and politically than any other country in the world as it contains all the views of the modern world along with those of its own ancient teachings extending back thousands of years. Today in this era of technology and Social Media Influencers, I wish to help children appreciate their heritage in a society that has very little correct understanding of it. I wish to tell them that without using any social media technology Durga has been a successful influencer since time immemorial. There have been moments in the past when Maa Durga appeared to be telling me affectionately, “My dear daughter, look at yourself, we have many similarities between us, it’s obvious that you are born with some of my qualities, and I am there in every daughter, every woman which you always keep meeting. Any woman who takes up a cause and shows any sort of courage during adversities has the spirit of Durga in her”. Then I realised that, yes, the divine mother is not only in me but in every woman, even my mother was indeed like Maa Durga. That moment gave me so much strength and willpower. I feel I was not wrong in determining my mother as a goddess, when I was a little girl. She was indeed a goddess! To further my understanding of the influence that the Goddess had on people, I have found out that it was the Mother Goddess Durga who was the inspiration behind the song Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, during the Indian independence movement which later became the official national song of Bharat. Durga was ever present in Indian nationalism where Bharat Mata i.e., Mother India was viewed as a form of Durga. This was considered completely secular and keeping in line with the ancient ideology of Durga as Mother and Protector. The Indian Army uses Hindi phrases like “Durga Mata ki Jai!” and “Kaali Mata ki Jai!”, “Jai Maa Bhavani”. The influence of Durga can be seen in Buddhism. The Buddhist Goddess Palden Lhamo shares some attributes of Durga. According to scholars, over its history, the Tantric traditions of Buddhism included Durga and developed the idea further. In Japanese Buddhism, she appears as Butsu-mo (sometimes called Koti-sri). In Tibet, the Goddess Palden Lhamo is like the protective and fierce Durga. Several aspects of Tara are believed to have originated as a form of the goddess Durga, including her fierce guardian form. Durga’s influence can be noticed even in Jainism. The Sacciya Mata found in major medieval era Jain temples mirrors Durga, and she has been identified by Jainism scholars to be the same or sharing a more ancient common lineage. In the Ellora Caves, the Jain temples feature Durga with her lion mount. However, she is not shown as killing the buffalo demon in the Jain cave and is presented as a peaceful deity.
Durga’s influence reached far and wide. Outside the Indian subcontinent, Goddess Durga’s network reached Southeast Asia – in seventh to eighth century Cambodia, tenth to eleventh century Vietnam and eight to ninth century Indonesia. Archeological site excavations in Indonesia, particularly on the island of Java, have yielded numerous statues of Durga. These have been dated to the 6th century onwards. Out of the numerous early to mid-medieval era Hindu deity stone statues uncovered on Indonesian islands, at least one hundred and thirty-five statues were of Durga. That was how influential she was.
After understanding the feminine energy and symbolism of Durga, now I can explain that when Durga carries a spear, a mace, a discus, a bow, and a sword—as well as a conch (symbolising creative sound), a lotus (representing fertility), and a rosary (symbolising prayer), she is both a warrior and a nurturer. Her face was formed out of the light of Shiva; her hair came from Yama; Vishnu, the sustainer, gave her the discus; Vayu—the wind god—offered his bow and arrow. The mountain god, Himalaya, gave her a lion for her mount. Durga, the powerful feminine sets forth to battle the demon for the sake of the world, armed with all the powers and support offered to her by the divine masculine! This explanation of Durga should appeal to the contemporary mindset of the youth of today, I hope, and this approachable significance of Durga will continue to influence the progressive outlook of the younger generation, for many centuries to come, is my expectation.
(Roli S is an Educator, Teacher Trainer, Author and School Reviewer based in Thane)
