Overcome Evil With Her
The autumn festival of Durga Puja commemorates the victory of Goddess Durga over the buffalodemon Mahishasura and celebrates her annual visit to the terrestrial home of her parents. The central image of the mother goddess is in iconographic conformity to her description in Devi Mahatmyam, popularly known as Chandipath, which is recited during the puja. Flanked by Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartikeya and Ganesha, the 10-armed embodiment of Shakti has a weapon in each hand, with lion as her mount, and the spear thrust into the chest of the demon in human form, halfemerged from the carcass of a slain buffalo. Durga is the militant manifestation of Parvati, Shiva’s consort. The Devi Mahatmyam refers to her identification with Shakti, power, Maya, illusion, and Prakriti, nature. As Shakti, she epitomises divine power and surpasses the gods in what is considered to be a male preserve. As the personification of Maya, in the Madhu-Kaitabha legend, she deludes the demons so that Vishnu can overpower them. The armour given to her by Vishnu is the elusive Maya that makes her invisible. Maya as a complex concept can be a positive force when resorted to by the deity as a necessary aid to subdue the evil elements. The destruction of evil forces seems to be a kind of lila, a game for her. As Prakriti, she is inseparably connected with the physical world. According to the scriptures, she personifies earth itself and stands for cosmic stability, sustains all beings of this earth and provides food
Source: Economic Times, 9/10/2018
The autumn festival of Durga Puja commemorates the victory of Goddess Durga over the buffalodemon Mahishasura and celebrates her annual visit to the terrestrial home of her parents. The central image of the mother goddess is in iconographic conformity to her description in Devi Mahatmyam, popularly known as Chandipath, which is recited during the puja. Flanked by Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartikeya and Ganesha, the 10-armed embodiment of Shakti has a weapon in each hand, with lion as her mount, and the spear thrust into the chest of the demon in human form, halfemerged from the carcass of a slain buffalo. Durga is the militant manifestation of Parvati, Shiva’s consort. The Devi Mahatmyam refers to her identification with Shakti, power, Maya, illusion, and Prakriti, nature. As Shakti, she epitomises divine power and surpasses the gods in what is considered to be a male preserve. As the personification of Maya, in the Madhu-Kaitabha legend, she deludes the demons so that Vishnu can overpower them. The armour given to her by Vishnu is the elusive Maya that makes her invisible. Maya as a complex concept can be a positive force when resorted to by the deity as a necessary aid to subdue the evil elements. The destruction of evil forces seems to be a kind of lila, a game for her. As Prakriti, she is inseparably connected with the physical world. According to the scriptures, she personifies earth itself and stands for cosmic stability, sustains all beings of this earth and provides food
Source: Economic Times, 9/10/2018
