Devi Bhagavata Purana: The divine narrative of Goddess Durga

                                                   

In the days of yore there lived a demon king by the name of Danu. He had two sons, Rambha and Kharambha. They were blessed with all forms of happiness and prosperity. The lack of progeny was , however, a source of worry for them. In order to beget a child both Rambha and Kharambha engaged themselves in severe penance. Rambha meditated on Agni, under a peepul tree haunted by Yakshinis. Kharambha on the other hand got himself submerged under water and practiced severe austerities. 

 

 

On observing Rambha engaged in the worship of the Pancha-Agnis, Indra, the lord of the Devas, was troubled. He assumed the form of a crocodile and devoured Kharambha, who was then engaged in severe penance. Grief-stricken by his brother's death at the hands of Devendra, Rambha decided to end his own life. At this juncture Agni appeared before him and offered to grant him any boon he desired. Filled with a burning desire for retribution, Rambha asked for a boon to beget a son who was endowed with extraordinary might. He also wished for the downfall of the Devas at the hands of his powerful son. Agni bestowed the boon upon him that he would beget such a prodigious issue who would rule the three realms. Rambha came in contact with a she-buffalo with whom he chose to cohabit. The impregnated buffalo was taken to asura loka by Rambha, in order to safeguard his child. As fate would have it, a male buffalo was deeply enamored by this she-buffalo and pursued her whereupon he engaged in a deadly combat with Rambha which ultimately resulted in Rambha's demise. Terrified, the she-buffalo sought refuge under the Yakshas who guarded the peepul tree under which Rambha practiced his austerities. Taking pity on her pathetic condition, the Yakshas decided to protect her and then killed the male buffalo. When they were about to cremate Rambha, the she-buffalo too decided to immolate herself in the same funeral-pyre. Before anyone could stop her from doing so she jumped into the fire. At that moment, Mahisa emerged from her womb and out of the love for his son, Rambha too emerged out of the flames as the terrible Raktabija. With blood-shot eyes, consumed by the fire of revenge and hatred, Raktabija and his son Mahishasura stood in front of the raging flames that consumed Rambha and his wife's body waiting eagerly to exact their revenge on the Devas. This marked the beginning of a great showdown between the two eternally antagonistic forces of good and evil that constantly strive to emerge victorious against the other. As these events, that formed the threshold of a great battle, were taking shape,  the Devas elsewhere, were making merry, not knowing the nefarious force that was about to take them by storm!

जयन्ती मङ्गला काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी ।
दुर्गा शिवा क्षमा धात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽस्तु ते ॥२॥

 

 

 

 

Tripura Rahasya

The ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu are well known. Amongst them Lord Parasurama was known for his fractiousness. His father, Jamadagni, was a great hermit who had acquired lot of merit on account of his severe austerities. His mother, Renuka Devi, was considered to be an incarnation of the supreme goddess herself. Parasurama was always at loggerheads with the Kshatriyaas. One day when Parasurama was not present, the Kshatriyaas  ravaged his hermitage and murdered his father. Burning in the crucible of his ire, he took an oath to eliminate each and every one of their kind on earth including  the incipient children. Upon his father's demise his mother wanted to immolate herself in the same pyre. Carrying his dead father on one shoulder and his mother on the other Parasurama was walking through the woods. It was then that he met the avadhuta (naked saints) named Dattatreya, the illustrious and erudite son of Anasuya, also known to be the incarnation of Maha Vishnu himself. After paying his respects to Renuka Devi, Dattatreya was asked by her to guide Parasurama along the path to liberation. Later  the irate Parasurama upon hearing about the exploits of the divine incarnate Lord Rama, decided to confront and challenge him to a duel. However this encounter humbled Parasurama, who lost almost all of his yogic powers on this occasion. On his way back, Parasurama met the great avadutha Samvarta, Brihaspati's brother. The palpable aura and peace that Samvarta exuded intrigued Parasurama. This sparked in him a yearning to explore the ethereal realm.

 He took refuge under Dattatreya and sought spiritual guidance from his preceptor. From this point onwards continues one of the greatest works on advaita philosophy, in the form of several anecdotes narrated by Dattatreya to his pupil. These accounts are filled with divine nectar and are capable of conferring moksha on all those who contemplate upon its true meaning and import. This work entitled Tripura Rahasya is a guide to facilitate the understanding of the self and enables the truth seekers to cast away the sheath of nescience and materialism.

It transforms every instant of our life into a sublime experience turning the fuming volcanic crater of sorrow and misery into a cool caldera of supreme bliss.

                                               

                                                           Om Nama Shivaya!

Shakambari Devi: Killing of Durgama

In the olden times there lived an asura called Durgama(son of Ruru). In order to defeat the devas he hatched an evil plan. He realized that the oblations of ghee given to Agni(fire) during a sacrifice along with the chanting of Vedic mantras energized the devas. He therefore came to the conclusion that in the absence of the Vedas the devas would no longer be continually energized and therefore would gradually grow weak with time . He performed severe austerities in order to please the creator Lord Brahma. Pleased with his sincerity and devotion Brahma deva offered to grant him a boon. The asura then asked for the boon that all the Vedas should come into his possession and the boon was granted by Brahma. 

Soon the Brahmins forgot all the Vedas and as foreseen by Durgama all the devas lost their powers and their divine lustre. Durgama then took over the heavens and drove out the celestials. It also stopped raining on earth as the homams which were responsible for ensuring regular rainfall were not being performed any longer. Chaos and anarchy reigned the earth as famines and droughts disrupted all forms of life. With drudgery and despondency reaching new heights with every passing day the sages, burdened by oppression, fear and suffering, took shelter in the caves of mount Sumeru. With no other recourse left the sages began to pray to the Highest Devi, the primal force(Adya Shakthi), the one who eternally remains in the company of the most powerful and supreme deity Maha Shambhunatha.

Upon hearing the desperate cries of her children, the divine mother, who responds at once to the call of her devotees, filled with compassion, gave the sages her darshan. She had a blue body with about hundred eyes all over her body(Satakshi). She had four hands. One of them was holding arrows while the other was holding a bow. The other hand was holding a lotus while in another one she was holding a lot of juicy fruits and vegetables(Shakambari). She distributed these fruits and vegetables to everyone and appeased their hunger. Then for nine consecutive days she cried ,with an endless stream of tears flowing down from all the hundred eyes over her body thereby replenishing all the dried up sources of water with the indispensable elixir of life. Thus all the lands became green again ,throbbing with life.

Upon hearing about the appearance of the Devi, the asura Durgama intending to launch an all out assault brought out his entire army of 1000 akshouhinis and marched ahead to meet the devi in combat, with a huge uproar. The Devas ,the Brahmins and the Devi confronted the asura army. The sky was covered with a flurry of arrows which seemed to cast a shadow on the sun. The devi then cast a protective circle around the devas and the Brahmins and stood outside the circle. Multiple forms then emerged from the devi. In an instant the battle field was filled with numerous devis:Kali,Tara,Dhumavati,Bagalamukhi,Chinnamasta,Bhairavi,Matangi,Kamala,Bhuvaneshwari,Tripura Sundari,Tujala Devi,Mohini,Kamakshi,Jambhini,Guhya Kalis and many others. 

Among these sakthis the first ten are prominently known as the Dasa Mahavidyas. With these innumerable number of devis combating the rakshasa army, they were soon obliterated. Then the devi faced the most powerful of them all, Durgama. In order to restore the state of order and peace back to the earth, the Devi unleashed a fatal array of arrows, charged with her divine energy, upon Durgama and thus put an end to the imbalance created by this fiend.

As the devi had killed Durgama she acquired the name Durga. All the devas including the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra, began to sing glorious hymns praising the Supreme Shakthi. The devi thus restored peace to the three realms and returned the Vedas to the Brahmins reminding them to always remember her, sing her praises and read her glorious deeds.

Reading about the glorious deeds of the Divine Mother gives the reader the benefit of performing several hundred Ashvamedha Yagyas. The one who reads this story or narrates it will be blessed with all kinds of prosperity and happiness in his life. Also the one who remembers and chants the names Satakshi and Durga will be able to unveil the Maya around him ,realize the ultimate truth and will attain Moksha . 

Prior to narrating the story of Sri Satakshi Devi Vyasa(the narrator) makes a specific mention of its ethereal and consecrating nature. This story is to be told only to those who are genuinely interested in knowing about the lilas of the Primeval Shakthi. Those who immerse themselves in the consecrating waters of this episode contained in the Puranic lore are indubitably the chosen ones.

In Devi Mahatmyam it is mentioned that these forms of the Devi viz. Shakambari and Satakshi are rare and therefore a secret fit to be disclosed only to a select few.

Salutations to the Divine Mother who has used my humble self as a tool to relay this great and holy episode, filled with divine nectar, to everyone using this platform.

THIRUVADHIGAI VEERATTANAM: A PLACE OF CURE FOR GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES

MAHA SHAMBHUNATHAR

 Previously we had spoken about the story behind Lalithasahasranama in which we saw the destruction of Bhandasura by the devi herself. The evil rakshasa called Mahishasura existed before Bhandasura who was also slain by the devi who took the form of Durga. There is a subtle difference between these two samharas. While Mahishasura symbolised raw evil Bhandasura symbolised a more metamorphosed form of evil. Bhandasura represented the evil that had evolved from its nascent callowness to its matured and more subtle form, masquerading under the name of ego. This additional characteristic of evil made it formidable and demanded of the devi a more powerful form. It is this  anava or the I factor which we must try to conquer in order to realise the Paramatman. It is one among the triple impurities present in humans that we must get rid of inorder to transcend to higher planes of spirituality.

 Thiruvadhigai Veerattanam is situated on the banks of the river Kedilam,23 km from Vizhupuram in a place called Panruti. The main deity of the temple is Lord Shiva known as Veeratteshwarar. He is a svyambhu lingam (natural formation) with 16 faces(konams).The presiding female deity is goddess Tripurasundari also known as Periyanaayaki.The sthala vriksha of this temple is the Konrai tree. There are separate shrines for Vinayaka,Tripurantakar,Bhairavar,Murugan,Dakshinamurthy,Tirunavukkarasar and Tilakavathi Ammayaar.

Legend has it that it was at this very place where Lord Shiva destroyed the three floating cities, an incident popularly known as the Tripura Samharam.Eons ago,there lived an asura named Tarakasura who had three sons Vidhyunmaali,Taarakkaksha and Kamalaaksha. By virtue of their rigorous penance they obtained a boon from Brahma the creator that they could not be conquered by anyone save somebody who could destroy their three impregnable fortresses of copper,silver and gold simultaneously. Though they were very peaceful by nature yet Indra was jealous of their prosperity and somehow wanted to destroy them. By propagating vicious lies of a new dharma which ruled out the existence of hell and heaven ,Indra tricked the Asuras into revealing their truly hideous nature and thus they created a state of anarchy in all the three worlds as they lost their fear of sanction and ceased to perform their regular worship of the Shiva Linga and the Saaligrama. There upon the devas approached Lord Shiva and sought refuge under him. The gods then embarked on a quest to vanquish the three sons of Tarakasura. Lord Shiva rode a chariot in which Brahma was the charioteer and the four vedas the steeds. The sun and moon were its wheels. Finally Lord Shiva created a bow from the Meru mountain with Vasuki as the bow string. Lord Vishnu became his arrow and Agni became the arrow's blazing tip. Finally in order to restore order and peace to the three worlds Lord Shiva destroyed all the three fortresses simultaneously by releasing the arrow which reduced the three cities to ashes instantaneously.Another account tells us that Lord Shiva destroyed the three fortresses by his smile thus incinerating the three asuras who are in reality symbolic of the triple impurities in human beings:ego,karma and maya. Only when we destroy these three malas/impurities i.e. Anava Mala,Karma Mala and Maya Mala in us we can become recipients of Lord Shiva's divine grace and compassion. Needless to say Thiruvadhigai Veerattanam is  the best place for us to go when we want to cleanse our soul and rid it of these imperfections.It is only at this very sacred spot the Lord himself mitigates these maladies that corrupt the human soul.
The temple is built like a ratha(chariot). This is to symbolize the chariot which Lord Shiva used for Tripura Samhara. 

The temple has been visited by Thirugnana Sambandhar Thirunavukkarasar  and Sundarar. Appar( better known as Tirunavukkarasar) was born in a Saivite family. He lost his parents when he was young and his only living relative was his sister Thilakavati Ammaiyar whose only aim was to take care of her brother.  Thilagavathi Ammaiyar was a staunch saivite while Appar turned to Jainism much to her discontent. Once Appar suffered from a severe stomach ache and the Jain monks were not able to cure him. No amount of mantras seemed to have any effect on him. Appar was taken to his sister in Thiruvadigai 


and he begged her to cure him. Thilagavathi 


Ammaiyar took her brother to the temple. 


Taking some holy ash, she rubbed it on his 


stomach and asked him to ingest some. He found 


immediate relief and he sang his first padigam in 


the Verattaneshwarar temple and Lord


 Shiva,pleased with his singing ,conferred upon 


him the title 'Navukku Arasar'(the king of the 


tongue) in recognition of his literary and 


linguistic prowess.

This temple is therefore said to be the sole 


recourse for people suffering from 


gastrointestinal ailments, ulcers, and jaundice.

Even today when people with such ailments sing 


the song 'Kutraiyina Varu..' with devotion in


 their hearts Lord Shiva immediately comes to 


their rescue. By the therapeutic gaze of the Lord 


these ailments are obliterated .

 Oh Maha Shambhu we seek your divine feet.


 May the aura of your infinite wisdom and your


 boundless grace engulf all of your creations


 conferring upon them prosperity and happiness.



http://www.saivam.org.uk/siddhandha/docs/THI


RUMURAI/thiru04_1.pdf




(verses 1-10)

THE STORY BEHIND LALITHASAHASRANAMA :THE FINAL PART

  

 DEVI LALITHA TRIPURASUNDARI

Goddess Parashakthi then appeared before them holding a book in one hand and a rosary of beads in the other. Her  face was cool and radiant like the moon.When Maha Shambhunathar was beseech ed by relentless requests from  the Gods ,he told them the way to appease  Devi Parashakthi. He told the celestial beings that the Maha Yaga had to be performed and that he himself would conduct the Yagya  for the sake of restoring a state of order and peace in the Universe. Saying thus he asked the celestial beings to return to devaloka and assured them that the present state of anomie was just a temporary one ,thus assuaging their fears. Lord Shambhunatha then entered the Universe in the form of the seven layered Vayu. One of the seven cosmic oceans that  had dried up was used as the altar and after Vayu blew away the remaining water in it ,Chidagni was used to kindle the sacrificial flame.And thus the great Yagya was conducted with the six great comic oceans being offered as six  drops of ghee into the altar. The two pralaya meghas(clouds) were used ,as spoons,to give the aahuti(offering). The creations/shrishtis were classified into five types and all of these five types of creations were offered to the great sacrificial fire as sacrificial animals.The stars festooned the corners of the altar in place of flowers which are normally used  for such decorative purposes  in Yagyas. Finally Lord Shambhunatha asked all the gods to jump into the sacrificial fire.

ASHWARUDHA DEVI

SAMPATKARI DEVI

After a moments hesitation, all the gods, including the trinity and their spouses, jumped into the fire.Then out of the fire emerged the Devi in the form of Lalitha Tripurasundari seated on a golden plate. She was in the form of a sixteen year old girl and the age sixteen has been chosen deliberately as the Devi is an amalgamation of the powers of the 16 nithya devis. The goddess was seated on a chariot called Chakra Raja Ratha. She was armed with multiple weapons. She then created a form of a Parabrahman from within herself called Kameshwara  and married him. Then step by step she created Brahma and Lakshmi from her left eye,Vishnu and Parvathi from her right eye and Shiva-Saraswathi from her third eye. Lakshmi,Saraswathi and Parvathi represent the Saatvik,Raajasik and Taamasik aspects of the Super Goddess’s power.She then started the process of creation all over again as the sanctity of her creations had been desecrated by Bhandasura’s evil. One by one, she created the Vedas,the Sun,the Moon,fire,darkness,the nine planets,the penal code,poetries,plays,shastras,mountains and so on and so forth.She then created Bala Devi from her heart,Goddess Matangi from her intellect and Goddess Varahi from her ego.She also created goddess Ashwarudha from her pasam and Devi Sampatkari from her ankusha. Later on she created the Goddess Nakuleshwari (Vaageshwari)from her cheeks and Goddess Gayatri from her Kundalini  Shakthi.

GODDESS VARAHI

MANTRINI DEVI

She made Mantrini Devi(Matangi) her prime minister and gave her a ring. With Ashwarooda Devi riding Aparijit(a horse)  , Sampatkari Devi seated on Ranakolahalam(an elephant),Goddess Varahi riding  her chariot Kirichakra and Mantrini Devi  riding her chariot Geyachakra, Goddess Lalithaparameshwari marched to battle with her innumerable number of Yoginis. Then from the bird in Mantrini Devi’s hand appeared Dhanurveda  who gave her a quiver called akshaya(unlimited).The deafening stentorian of Lalitha Devi made the evil forces tremble with fear. Her clarion call was in fact ringing a death knell to the asura clan.When the news of Lalitha Devi’s march to battle reached the capital of Bhandasura’s Kingdom(Shunyaka) Vishanga and Vishukra were contriving about a nefarious plot to surreptitiously assess the strength of  the Devi’s Army. However the conceited Bhandasura dismissed their well founded fears as meaningless and silly. Meanwhile he instructed Kutilaksha to lead the forces and asked his priests to perform abhichara homa(black magic). With Kutilaksha appointing Durmada to lead the army and he ,riding a camel ,was engaged in a fierce duel with Sampatkari Devi who finally killed him.

THE SIXTEEN NITHYADEVIS

Later Ashwarudha Devi faced a deadly onslaught from his enraged elder brother Kurunda.Finally she delivered a fatal blow with her spear. Later they unleashed the lethal serpent army upon the Devi Sena and at that moment Goddess Nakuleshwari appeared riding an eagle and subdued  the serpent arsenal by creating a vast army of mongooses which gobbled up the new born serpents.She killed the Nagarakshasas by unleashing the deadly Garudastram.Then the devis were faced by a new kind of predicament. Rakshasas born to Kikasa  had the ability to blind their opponents in battle by virtue of a boon that they had received from the Sun god that he would reside in their eyes.In the face of this adversity Varahi’s attendant Tiraskarini Devi riding her aeroplane Tamoliptam blinded these asuras by deploying her Andhanastram.Then Bhandasura’s brother Vishanga with his predilection for vulpine thoughts decided to attack the Devi Sena from the rear. And simultaneously Kutilaksha attacked them at the front. Even though the Devis were taken aback by this stealthy attack they immediately recovered from the shock and began to attack the armies fiercely. By the light provided by Jvalamalini and Vahnivasini the Nithya devis were able to discern the asuras hiding in the dark and thus exterminated them.The devi was extremely pleased by their pugilistic skills and their pageantry. Jvalamalini then made a wall of fire around the Devi to protect her. The next day Bhandasura in desperation sent  his 30 sons to battle all of who were killed by Bala Devi. Ambal however was very disturbed by their sly warfare. Vishukra then planted Vighna yantras at strategic positions in the fire wall and as a result of the inebriating influence of his dark magic there was a sporadic outbreak of callousness,apathy and laxity among the devi’s attendants. Finally devi summoned her son Ganesha who destroyed these yantras and thus broke the influence of the evil imprecation. Later the asuras tried to create a feeling of intense thirst among the devi sena and to counter this cunning technique Varahi Devi summoned Mayasamudra who relieved the Devi Sena of their thirst by  showering  liquor rains. Finally Vishanga was killed by Varahi with her pestle and Vishukra was killed by Mantrini Devi.

BALA DEVI

At last Bhandasura faced Devi Lalitha Tripurasundari herself in combat. He then invoked the pent up dark energy inside him and from him emerged all the asuras like Hiranyakashipu,Hiranyaksha,Raavana,Kumbhakarna etc. The Ten incarnations of Vishnu then came out of the Devi’s fingernails to kill these rakshasas. Then sensing the swirling vortex of negative energy inside him she finally unleashed the Pasupatastra which annihilated  both Bhandasura and his capital Shunyaka. Though she obliterated the asura yet Mahishasura and Bhandasura are merely  representatives of our ego and our evil qualities. They are the figures of evil created by the coalescence of the dark energy inside  us all.

Thus even today the battle continues as the divine forces of the Devi fight against the malevolence that stains our minds and our hearts. As her children we must ensure our divine mother’s victory by fostering the sublime essence of divinity in our hearts and jettison away our garrison of bad thoughts thereby making it a suitable place where the Almighty can reside. Those who have immersed their heart and soul in the consecrating waters of our divine mother’s history will be rid of all the sins that they might have committed in the past and will be recipients of our divine mother’s boundless grace and compassion.