CONTENTS

1. Salutations to akti

.....

2. Editorial

.....

10

3. Eight Stanzas to Bhavn

.....

13

4. Par akti and Brahma is One and the Same

.....

15

Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham .....

19

5. Different Aspects of Parakti

Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Jagadguru
6. The Power of the Mantras and Its Worship
Sri Abhinava Vidya Teertha Swami
Shankaracharya of Shringeri Sharada Peetham .....

21

7. The Tattva of akti and Her Worship

Swami Odiyababa .....

24

.....

26

Brahmalina Sri Jayadayal Goyandka .....

32

8. DevSwami Sivananda
9. The Secret of akti Worship
10. Nradas Glorification of Rdh

Nityalilalina Sri Hanumanprasad Poddar .....

43

11. A Request to Mt-akti (Women)

Brahmalina Swami Ramsukhdas .....
12. Hymn to Mother GagSwami Sivananda

48

.....

52

Sri Anand Sarup Sahebji Maharaj .....

54

13. Identity of akti and aktimn

14. Healing by Mantra-aktiSwami Dayanand

.....

57

Swami Abhedananda .....

61

15. The Worship of the Divine Mother

16. Tripura UpaniadK. Subramanian

.....

66

4
17. akti in UpaniadsK. V. B. Sastry

.....

73

K. V. Gajendragadkar .....

75

18. Divine Mother in Upaniads

19. akti in the Kena UpaniadR. P. Dwivedi

.....

79

20. Hymn to Annapur

.....

87

21. ktamH. H. Sri Mahaswamigal

.....

92

22. Worship of the Divine MotherSwami Ashesananda ..... 100

23. Durg-PujBasanta Kumar Chatterjee

..... 104

24. The Conception of r Durg

Akshaya Kumar Banerjee ..... 109
25. Thou Mother: The Supreme
Gobinda Chandra Panigrahi ..... 121
26. Science, akti and SanctityRadhakamal Mukerji

..... 122

27. Odes to the Mother Divine

Kshitindra Nath Tagore ..... 138
28. aktiShambhoo Nath

..... 149

29. Stray Thoughts on the PathM. P. Jain

..... 153

30. Conception of aktiB. Bhattacharya

..... 154

31. Hymn to the Divine Mother for Forgiveness of

Transgressions
32. akti as MotherSri Aurobindo

..... 161
..... 166

33. Adoration of the Divine MotherGuru Govind Singh ..... 177

34. r VidySwami Padmanabhananda

..... 181

35. Klthe MotherSwami Vivekananda

..... 184

36. Five Divine aktis in Gt

..... 185

37. aktithe Power of UniverseDr. Girish Goyal

..... 187

38. Durg is the Supreme MotherOm Prakash Dubey ..... 199

39. akti Worship: Evolution of the Concept of
Cmu in the PurasDr. Ratna Sharma

..... 204

5
40. akti of Prayer

..... 211

41. akti of Faith

..... 213

42. akti of Silence

..... 215

43. Durgthe Supreme Female Reality

Prof. D. Vaidyanathan ..... 216
44. MahvidysGoddesses of Tantra
Dr. Uma Raman Jha ..... 221
45. Transmission of Spiritual Power
Late Vaman Dattatraya Gulavani ..... 226
46. The Cosmic form of Dev

..... 237

47. Introduction for akti Worship

..... 239

48. tma-akti and Chanting Divine Name

Surendra Pal ..... 242
49. akti Tattva
Shailendra Mani Tripathi Brahmarshi ..... 244
50. Grace of GoddessProf. Indravadan B. Raval

..... 251

51. Gyatr-UpsanAtmananda

..... 254

52. Gyatr Mantrathe Power of Powers

Swami Chidananda ..... 261
53. Gyatrthe Mother Divine
Ramakrishna Rao Gandikota ..... 266
54. Gyatr WorshipSandhyvandanam
Dr. C. S. V. Jois ..... 275
55. Durgthe Supreme Female Reality
Kalyana Chowdhury ..... 280
56. aktithe Divine MotherSrikrishna Das

..... 282

57. Mahakti alone is Mother

..... 286

58. aktithe Mother of UniverseDr. V. V. Rampal

..... 288

59. Power and Glory of Ma DurgDr. V.V.B. Rama Rao ..... 290

6
60. Lakm TattvaP. Ramachandrachar

..... 295

61. r MahlakmR. Kannan

..... 302

62. Saraswatthe Goddess and River Celestial

T. Siva Rama Krishna ..... 306
63. Essence of Mahsaraswat
Shiv Sharan Singh Chauhan Ansumali ..... 313
64. akti as Woman: Chaste IdealsDr. Ashok Pandya ..... 316
65. St as akti

..... 321

66. Prayers of Dev

..... 323

67. Mother StChastity PersonifiedSwami Sivananda ..... 325

68. akti and Valour of Bhagawat St

..... 329

69. To r Rdh

..... 332

70. Rdhthe Ineffable MysterySwami Krishnananda ..... 334

71. The Position of Female Deities in Mdhva Sampradya
R. Sridharan ..... 341
72. Madlasthe Divine akti of Motherhood
Minakshi Agarwal ..... 346
73. Mother Cow as aktiDr. Brahmanand

..... 349

74. akti as MotherDr. Chaman Lal Raina

..... 351

75. akti Concept in Durg Saptaat and r Vidy

V. Ramanathan ..... 356
76. Saundarya Lahar: Beauty SupremeR. Subramaniam ..... 363
77. akti-TattvaUma Shanker Gupta

..... 370

78. Importance of Durg Saptaat S. K. Trivedi

..... 374

79. akti in Yogavsiha

Mylavarapu Lakshmi Narasimham ..... 378
80. Goddess akti, My MotherChilukuri Venkateswarlu ..... 382
81. Mystery of BuddhaaktiGautam Chakraborty

..... 383

82. Table of 51 aktiphas

..... 387

7
83. A Few kta Sdhakas
1. r Rmaka Paramahasa

..... 390

2. VmkepA Great akti-Sdhaka of Bengal

Dr. Mukunda Pati Tripathi Ratnamlya ..... 394
3. Bhakta Cadsa

..... 400

84. A Few Sats

1. Sat Damayant

..... 403

2. Sat il

..... 404

3. Sat Anasuy

..... 405

4. Sat Svitr

..... 406

85. Dev Um Fastened the Door

..... 407

86. An Interesting Fable: Dev Annapur

..... 409

List of Illustrations (Coloured)

1. Saraswat Dev

........

83

2. Lakm Dev

........

84

3. Kl Dev

........

85

4. Gyatr Dev

........

86

5. Saccidnandamay Dev

........ 247

6. Godmb Dev

........ 248

7. St Dev

........ 249

8. Lalit Dev

........ 250

 S cH

A MONTHLY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF SPIRITUAL

IDEAS AND LOVE FOR GOD

Vol. 60

October 2014

No.1

Salutations to akti

M S
SS SS SS H
Salutations again and again to the blessed Divine Mother
Who abides in the heart of all creatures as aktithe power
incarnate.

Editorial
There are various devotional cults like those of Viu, iva,
akti, Surya, Gaea etc. A devotee of Viu seeks to establish
that his Ia (chosen ideal) Viu is the Supreme Being and
that iva, akti are only His emanations. He marshals many
arguments based on Puras and Mantra stra for this, finally
to clinch his argument he quotes the authority of a non-sectarian
philosopher like akarcrya, who accepted the superiority of
Viu and iva. Similarly votaries of akti argue that akti is
the Supreme Being. They put forward many arguments to
establish the supremacy of akti as God. There is extensive
literature to establish this.
The purpose of bringing out this issue akti Number as
special issue of Kalyana-Kalpataru is that devotees of akti be
aware of various aspects of akti and aktiphas and thus
develop an ardent faith in Her. And further that the Supreme
Being is one and only one (non-dual). Multiplicity is the
projections of the akti (Power) of the non-dual reality. akti
and its possessor or aktimn are inseparably one (non-dual)
just as fire and its burning power are one. Yet they are different
also, as the burning power of the fire can be distinguished from
the fire. In this conception of relationship, the non-duality of
the Supreme Being is secured in spite of His projection as the
many through His akti. Also the projection of the akti as the
Supreme Being is not affected in any manner. It is the
inconceivable uniqueness of that Supreme Being. He can be
the many through His akti but yet He remains unchanged and
unaffected in the least.
It may be argued that in Dev Bhgavata, akti is eulogised
as the Supreme Being. It is true. These scriptures are meant

Editorial

11

for the votaries of akti who have to obtain salvation through

their ardent faith in akti. So their faith in akti is to be
strengthened and made unswerving. In other words the one
redeeming power whom Vaiavas worship as Viu, aivas
as iva and ktas as akti is really one Supreme Being only.
All the praises bestowed on akti or iva or Viu downgrading
others are really direct praises of one Supreme Being. That
Supreme Being may be called as Viu, iva or akti, Gaea
or Surya. The Vednta philosophy maintains that the one
Supreme Being approaches a votary in whatever form the votary
conceives Him, and every one of these forms can be called the
Supreme Being Himself. For those who can appreciate this
liberal position every sectarian theology is alike. But many
people cannot accept this liberal view. So they raise the slogan
that there is no other Supreme Being other than that they
worship. They look down upon all religionists other than theirs
as worshipping a false God. Such exclusiveness is needed to
strengthen faith at a certain stage of mans spiritual development
but if he is not acquainted with the broad Vednta view, there
is a grave danger of faith degenerating into fantacism. A faith,
even though exclusive, is valid and healthy only to the extent
it recognises the propriety and validity of another mans right
to have his own faith.
r Rmaka, a votary of akti says that a daughter-inlaw in a household loves all the persons belonging to it and
serves them equitably. But her attitude of love towards her
husband has got its own speciality and exclusiveness. This
should be the distinction in the attitude of one towards ones
own faith and the faith of others.
Healthy tolerance of all faiths is necessary. If this view is
accepted then all acrimony amongst various sectarian cults can
come to an end. Therefore the objective of this issue is to see
that the acrimony among various sectarian cults comes to an
end.

12

Kalyana-Kalpataru

This issue contains such articles in the praise of akti as

to strengthen the faith of her votaries. It also includes other such
articles as to develop in us a wider view so that we may have
respect for the faith of others.
I express my gratitude to the Supreme God for inspiring
us and making us undertake this assignment. We are grateful
to our learned contributors but for whose valuable articles this
special issue of Kalyana-Kalpataru would not be what it is.
I thank the editorial staff for their painstaking effort and
cooperation for bringing out this issue.
Our effort would be amply rewarded if this issue of
Kalyana-Kalpataru can help develop readers true devotion to
akti.
Editor

Eight Stanzas to Bhavn

l S S H
No father have I, no mother, no comrade,
No son, no daughter, no wife, and no grandchild,
No servant or master, no wisdom, no calling:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavn!

(1)

U UL
Uh U S S H
Immersed as I am in the limitless ocean
Of worldly existence, I tremble to suffer.
Alas! I am lustful and foolish and greedy,
And ever enchained by the fetters of evil:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee is my help and my strength, O Bhavn!

(2)

S
S S H
To giving of alms and to meditation,
To scriptures and hymns and Mantras, a stranger,
I know not of worship, possess no dispassion:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavn!

(3)

Z Q
Q S S H
O mother! of pilgrimage or of merit,
Of mental control or the souls liberation,
Of rigorous vows or devotion, I know not:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavn!

(4)

14

Kalyana-Kalpataru

XU h UU U
CU U S S H
Addicted to sinning and worthless companions,
A slave to ill thoughts and to doers of evil,
Degraded am I, unrighteous, abandoned,
Attached to ill objects, adept in ill-speaking;
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavn!

(5)

U U U EU
U U S S H
I know neither Brahm nor Viu nor iva,
Nor Indra, sun, moon, or similar being
Not one of the numberless gods, O Redeemer!
In Thee is my only haven of refuge.
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavn!

(6)

U U U S S H
In strife or in sadness, abroad or in danger,
In water, in fire, in the wilds, on the mountains,
Surrounded by foes, my Saviour! protect me:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavn!

(7)

U UUQ U K
CU CU U S S H
Defenceless am Iill, again and helpless,
Enfeebled, exhausted, and dumbly despairing,
Afflicted with sorrow, and utterly ruined:
In Thee is my only haven of refuge,
In Thee, my help and my strength, O Bhavn!

(8)

Par akti and Brahma is One

and the Same
Even as fire and its burning capacity, the sun and its rays,
the moon and the moonlight, water and its coolness are ever
onenever admit of any distinction, so there is no distinction
between God (the Substratum of akti) and His akti (Divine
Energy). Just as the energy of fire cannot exist apart from its
substratum, the element of fire, nor can the element of fire exist
without its energy, God and His Energy are one. The former
is always endowed with a male personality, while the latter is
ever invested with a female form. Thus continuing to be two,
they are eternally one. Essentially they can never exist as two.
One cannot exist without the other.
Par akti (the Supreme Energy of God) cannot exist
independently of the transcendent Brahma (the Substratum of
that Energy); as such She is the same as the Supreme Spirit
the (Oversoul). Even so the transcendent Brahma, the Substratum
of Par akti, is powerful only by virtue of the said Par akti.
Hence He is eternally the same as Par akti. Yet, in spite
of Their being identical, it is the Divine Energy that predominates.
Even the transcendent Realitywhich is all Truth, all
Consciousness and all Bliss,if divorced from Its Divine
Energy, is reduced to a nonentity. Hence the element of Truth
constituting Its being derives its existence only from Its energy
in the form of TruthSat-akti; the element of Consciousness,
from Its energy in the form of Consciousness (Cit-akti) and
the element of Bliss, from Its enrapturing Potencyhldin
akti.

16

Kalyana-Kalpataru

It is these potencies of the Supreme Spirit that have been

referred to under the names of Sandhin, Savit and Hldin
aktis. That essential energy of the Lord by which He
contributes to the existence of all is known by the name of
Sandhin; that by which He imparts light or knowledge is
referred to as the Savit akti: while that all-blissful essential
energy of His by which, though consisting of everlasting
supreme Bliss that knows no beginning or end, He not only
enables other souls to realize His blissful nature but Himself
realizes His transcendent supreme blissful character is known
as Hldin akti.
It is this most marvellous, eternal and supremely blissful
energy of the Lord, constituting His very Self, that enjoys the
title of Devotion or God-Love manifested in its various stages
of Sneha (affinity), Praaya (fondness), Mna (pride), Rga
(passion), Anurga (Love), Bhva (excessive fondness) and
Mahbhva (Extreme Love), and releases a nectarean current of
supreme Love, by taking a dip into which the devotee no less
than the Lord Himself quaffs the nectar of supreme bliss without
satiety. All this is but a miracle of akti (the Divine Energy).
It is not possible to worship Lord Viu, Lord iva,
Bhagavn r Rma, Bhagavn r Ka or any other
manifestation, big or small, of the Godhead in a form devoid
of akti. How can one worship the aktimn alone as divorced
from His aktithat akti which keeps up the indentity of Lord
Viu, Lord iva, Bhagavn r Rma and Bhagavn r Ka,
nay, divorced from which these individual forms can no longer
exist? Devoid of akti, They cease to be what They are.
Whether akti is conceived as accompanying the aktimn
or not, whether while worshipping the aktimn Her image is
placed by the side of the aktimn or not, She is bound to
be wherever the aktimn is being worshipped. Without Her
the Adored or His adoration is out of the question.

Par akti and Brahma is One and the Same

17

Worship of Par akti (the Supreme Energy of the Lord)

alone is equally out of the question. When akti inheres in the
aktimn alone, the latter too shall have been automatically
worshipped through the worship of akti. Hence there is no
distinction as a matter of fact between the Vaiavas (the votaries
of Lord Viu), the ktas (akti-worshippers) and aivas
(votaries of Lord iva). The worshippers of God (the aktimn)
in a male form worship akti as a matter of course, though not
consciously. And the worshippers of akti too likewise worship
the aktimn, the Substratum of akti. Therefore, in whatever
form one may worship the aktimn or akti whether as a
primary or secondary substance, one worships in effect the one
Reality that is all truth, all consciousness and all bliss, provided
one is exclusively devoted to It.
Yet akti is worshipped in various forms and under different
names. The Vaiavas as a matter of fact worship Goddesses
Lakm, St and Rdh. The Saivites adore Goddess Um or
Sat and Durg and the ktas too likewise worship Lord iva
and God Bhairava. On particular occasions the Lord Himself
exhorts and gets His devotees to worship the Divine Mother
and the latter in Her turn exhorts and gets Her votaries to
worship the Lord and feels much delighted thereby. The worship
of r Rma brings ineffable joy to St; that of r Ka, to
Rdh; that of Lord Viu, to Lakm and that of Lord Sadiva,
to Prvat. And the worship of St likewise brings joy beyond
expression to r Rma; that of Rdh, to r Ka; that of
Goddess Lakm, to Lord Viu and that of Prvat, to Lord
iva.
The deity worshipped by a worshippper must be one. This
is most essential. Nonetheless it is obligatory to worship other
forms also in order to win the pleasure of that one Deity or
to do His bidding. In obedience to r Kas command Arjuna
worshipped Lord iva and even akti under the name of

18

Kalyana-Kalpataru

Ekna. Bhagavn r Ka Himself worshipped Lord iva;

Bhagavn r Rma Himself worshipped akti as well as Lord
iva; Bhagavn iva worshipped Lords Viu, r Rma and
akti; the cowherds (of Vraja) worshipped Goddess Ambik (the
Universal Mother), The damsels of Vraja worshipped Goddess
Ktyyan; the Yadus worshipped Goddess Durg; while St
and Rukmi worshipped Goddess Ambik. These are wellknown historical facts.
While conscious of the unity of akti and the aktimn a
votary should worship that particular form, that particular name
and that particular reality alone for which he has conceived a
liking, nay, which is dear to him, and according to the procedure
favourable to its worship. He should, however, recognize the
truth that it is his most beloved Deity alone that is being
worshipped by all in diverse forms and under different names
and that it is his supremely beloved Deity that has assumed
numerous distinct forms.
Kalyan

The very conception of the name Durg, the Mother in

Her apparently terrible and destructive aspect, is a significant
thing to be understood. In the Saptaat, the origin of the
name Durg has been given in one verse where we have
it described that She, who saves us from all that is calamitous,
She who saves us from danger and trouble, is known as
Durg. Because She saves Her devotees from all sorrows,
dangers and calamities, She is called Dev Durg. She being
conceived of in this peculiar aspect of an all-destroying power
is not only capable of being esoterically interpreted and
explained that She destroys all that is undesirable but also
it is based upon universal experience.
Swami Sivananda

Different Aspects of Parakti

Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati
Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham

The ancient seers of India wholeheartedly took to the pursuit

to unravel the mystery behind this universe. As a result they
found this universe to be a conglomeration of Energy of diverse
levels that appears to us as material objects. Further the same
Parakti (Cosmic Energy or Cosmic Power) has assumed the
form of sentient entitiesthe embodied souls (Jvas).
Modern science did not believe in this metaphysical truth
a few centuries ago. But recent researches have proved this
beyond doubt forcing science to believe in this profound Truth
that Energy has assumed (can assume) the form of inert matter.
This Parakti has two states (two aspects) Nirgua and
Sagua (formless unconditioned state and conditioned state with
form). In the formless aspect, She abides as the ever Perfect
Consciousness which Itself is a reservoir of Grace. From this
vast reservoir of Consciousness and grace, a tiny speck gives
rise to our consciousness. Therefore each embodied soul is a
treasure of Consciousness. Divine love is Her command. The
Vedas have enunciated (determined) to the diverse duties of
everyone. All these prescribed duties should be adhered to. By
such adherence to ones prescribed duty one comes to know
about the true state of Parakti. This profound truth has been
stated clearly in the Gt as

A mind gives to fulfilling the duty fickle by its nature falls

a prey to vices like hatred and anger. These vices are to be
remedied by cultivation of happiness or contentment and love.

20

Kalyana-Kalpataru

By eschewing such noble virtues one falls a prey to vices. But

cultivation of virtues and giving up of vices should be adhered to.
To accomplish this, fulfilment of prescribed duties and dedicating
them to the goddess is the way. This makes it very easy.
By such ardent dedication one gets a strong hold, a rapport
to live in this world. Also one should adore that deity who is
ones Ia with faith.
r Durg, Lakm, Saraswat etc., are manifestations of this
Parakti. Verily this same Parakti has assumed the forms
of Lord iva, Lord Viu, Lord Gaea, r Krtikeya and
Surya Nryaa.
The below quoted verse by r akarcrya bears testimony
to the above elucidated fact.

SH
United with akti, iva is endowed (Saundarya Lahar,
verse 1) with the power to create the Universe. Otherwise He
is incapable even of movement.
So as an aspect of fulfilling our duty and adherence to it,
we should worship Parakti and satisfy Her. The power that
gives is Parakti alone, we only have to receive. Our prayer
to Her is whether She keeps us in the state of duality itself
or awards us the bliss of the divine realms of Kailsa, Vaikuha,
Maidwpa etc., She should be happy. Or even if She confers
on us abidance in the non-dual state, She should be pleased.
Such should be our attitude and adherence to duty.
In fact our duty is to worship Parakti by someway without
any desire or hankering.
Contented with what we get we should endeavour to serve
Her. This by itself is worship of a very high orderUCU
mm U etc.

The Power of the Mantras and Its Worship

Sri Abhinava Vidya Teertha Swami
Shankaracharya of Shringeri Sharada Peetham

Suffering transmigration since time immemorial the Jva

desires relief from misery, happiness and freedom from the cycle
of birth and death. To remedy the ills and get relief they strive
through various ways of the world and to attain salvation from
transmigration; they seek solutions according to their latencies.
But we find our efforts and remedies do not completely succeed.
The reason for this is that our power, strength is very limited.
But if we somehow contact the Supreme Omnipotent Lord,
Creator of the Universe then we would have unlimited power.
Our strength would be complete. Then only our life would be
a success.
We can come into such contact or associate with that Lord.
The scriptures declare that by carefully muttering Mantras the
respective gods (Devats) worshipped become subordinate to us.
Mantras are mystic formula and chants. Devats bestow their
grace on us. Fulfilling our cherished desires, the Devats would
alleviate our misery Z S the world is
under the control of gods and gods are under control of Mantras.
Gods being pleased by the muttering of Mantras and their
elaborate worship, they bestow all sorts of worldly enjoyments
and fulfil other goals of life.

Ul S U
LZp

UH

All the fifty alphabets coming out of our mouth make up the
Mantras. Each alphabet is a MantraU S. The
scriptures on Mantras (Mantra stra) reveal aboutby conjoining
what all alphabets which Devat would manifest and what powers

22

Kalyana-Kalpataru

would we gain. Such practice of muttering Mantras can also be

done to remedy miseries, to gain wealth and even salvation.
Right from worship of goblins (Bhutas), spirits (Pretas),
demigoddesses (Yakis) to worship of the Supreme Lord we
have seven crore Mahmantras and ordinary Mantras. According
to his past tendencies (latencies) desires sprout in the mind of
man to seek worldly wealth and pleasure, to avert unfavourable
circumstances and misery as also to release oneself from the
wheel of transmigration i.e., he seeks remedies according to his
inherent nature conditioned by the past. All these cherished
desires and objectives get fulfilled by worship of Dev-Devats
(gods and goddesses) through their respective Mantras. If we,
with complete faith and self control, perform the rituals sticking
to the prescriptions of the stras, fulfilment of our cherished
objectives are certain.
People of Tmasika nature worship Yakis (demigoddesses)
and flaunt their power by displaying their Siddhis. But such
displaying of Siddhis are all in vain for, they dont uplift the
soul, being impediments on the path of God-realization. People
who are Rjasika by nature too worship gods and goddesses
(Dev-Devats); but their mind being full of worldly desires and
ambitions, they miss the mark. Though their worldly desires get
fulfilled, due to these desires of temporal nature, they remain
deprived of real goodpurity of mind and piety. But people
with Sttvika bent of mind are fortunate. For, by their ardent
worship of gods in Sttvika way their lives became blessed and
auspicious. By such worship they even attain Self-realization
by the grace of their beloved Lord. Thus their life achieves its
purpose.
The kta Tantras speak very highly of r Vidy
Pacadakar Mantra. The deity of this very sacred Mantra
is Goddess Lalitmbik (Whose form is the union of iva and
akti).

23

The Power of the Mantras and Its Worship

Those who ardently worship this Mantra should never

perceive any difference between iva and akti. r Hayagrva
(an incarnation of Lord Viu representing Vedic wisdom)
speaks about this matter in the concluding part of Lalit Triat
Stotra

S U SH

@UH

He, who has no more future births or Lord akara Himself

can only be a fit recipient of Pacadakar Mantra.
Taking each alphabet of this Mantra iva and akti both
made the Triat Stotra. Ri Agastya, has written an authoritative
commentary known as r Vidy Dpik on this Mantra.
Those eligible aspirants free from lust (desire), anger, greed
and such other vices should resort to a Guru, get r Vidy
Mantra from him and worship the Goddess with Sttvika
attitude. By such ardent worship one gets access to Power in
its complete form. His worldly life becomes auspicious and
finally he attains salvation by the grace of the Goddess. Thus
our life would attain its purpose and salvation is also got with
ease.

Glory of Divine Mothers Name

Sweet is Thy name, O Refuge of the humble!
It falls like sweetest nectar on our ears
And comforts us, Beloved of our Souls!
The Priceless treasure of Thy name alone
Is the abode of Immortality.
And he who chants Thy name becomes immortal,
Falling upon our ears, Thy holy name
Instantly slays the anguish of our hearts,
Thou Soul of our souls, and fills our hearts with bliss!
Swami Vivekananda

The Tattva of akti and Her Worship

Swami Odiyababa

Question:What is akti-Tattva?
Answer:That unconditioned substratum of whole universe
when it is addressed as a male It is known as Cit and when
regarded as a female It is Citi. Thus Cit and Citi are two
names of the same Truth (Tattva). We call the male form of
the reflection of the Tattva in My as wara, iva or Bhagavn
and address the female representation of the same Tattva as
war, Durg or Bhagavat. Thus iva-Gaur, Ka-Rdh,
Rma-St and Viu-Mahlakm are infact One and the same.
There is no difference between them as regarding the Tattva.
Only the worshippers assign different name and forms to the
Absolute Tattva to suit their own inclinations.
Question:Who is entitled to worship akti? What is its
ultimate result?
Answer:akti worship is mostly done to acquire Siddhis.
The main objective of Tantra stras is acquisition of Siddhis.
People of surika nature worship akti through impure materials
like wine and meat, while Sttvika people worship Her with
pure ingredients like incense-flowers etc. surika people get
surika Siddhis like Mraa-Uccana while Sttvika people
aquire diverse heavenly powers.
Although most ktas are after Siddhis, yet some rare
exceptions are there like r Rmaka Paramahasa. Such
desireless detached worshippers adore Her, brushing aside all
Siddhis. These fortunate men attain the eternal sublime state of
Paramahasa (Jns). This is the ultimate fruit of akti
Upsan (worship of akti). The very Durg Saptaat which

25

The Tattva of akti and Her Worship

speaks of Dev as Swarga Prad or Bestower of heaven also

mentions Her as Apavargad or Bestower of Salvation or
Deliverance.

S U S H
Question:Please tell us about a true incident revealing the
greatness of worship of akti?
Answer:About one hundred twenty-five years before,
there was a Zamindar (landlord) near Jagannthapur. People
used to call him Kartj. He had been initiated in Vaiava
cult by a Pandit. The Pandit though put on cloak of being a
Vaishnavite was infact a kta. He was a devout worshipper
of ym (Kl). But the truth was that he perceived no
difference between ym and yma. Some people approached
the landlord and complained to him about this fact. But Kartj
could not muster the courage to ask his Guru about this. The
people of that region used to revere their Guru ( preceptor) very
much. The Pandit used to worship goddess Kl at night.
Therefore to convince the landlord some villagers decided to
take him to the place where the Pandit performed his worship.
One day when the Pandit was engrossed in his worship the
villagers with Kartj suddenly come there. On seeing Kartj,
the Pandit became a little frightened and prayed to the Divine
MotherO Mother ! If I ever have any devotion to Thy feet,
then change yourself from ym to yma. Due to the Pandits
ardent prayer, the idol appeared to all present there including
Kartj as yma.
Thus excepting the prayer of Her devotee, the Goddess
proved Her identity with the Lord. This fact about Kl-Ka
is well known all over the lands of Aga, Bengal, Kaliga
(Orissa) etc.

Dev
Swami Sivananda

O Devi! O Mother auspicious!

Thou art the Lords My.
Thou art His inscrutable form.
Thou art the Mother of this world.
Thou art the great primal energy.
Thou art the seed of this world.
Thou art the Light of Knowledge.
Thou art the giver of refuge.
Thou art beauty, love and mercy.
Thou art Prakti Durg.
Salutations unto Thee.
Dev or Mahewar or Parakti is the Supreme akti or
Power of the Supreme Being. When Viu and Mahdeva destroyed
various Asuras, the power of Dev was behind them. Dev took
Brahm, Viu and Rudra and gave them necessary akti to
proceed with the work of creation, preservation and destruction.
Dev is the Creatrix of the universe. She is the Universal
Mother. Durg, Kl, Bhagavat, Bhavn, Amb, Ambik,
Jagadamb, Kmewar, Gag, Um, Ca, Cmu, Lalit,
Gaur, Kualin, Tr, Rjewar, Tripurasundar, etc., are all
Her forms. She is worshipped, during the nine days of the
Dusserah as Durg, Lakm and Saraswat.
Dev is the Mother of all. The pious and the wicked, the
rich and the poor, the saint and the sinnerall are Her children.
Dev or akti is the Mother of Nature. She is Nature Itself.
The whole world is Her body. Mountains are Her bones. Rivers
are Her veins. Ocean is Her bladder. Sun, moon are Her eyes.

Dev

27

Wind is Her breath. Agni is Her mouth. She runs this world
show.
Manifestations of akti
akti is symbolically female; but It is, in reality, neither male
nor female. It is only a force which manifests itself in various
forms.
The five elements and their combinations are the external
manifestations of the Mother. Intelligence, discrimination, psychic
power and will are Her internal manifestations. Humanity is Her
visible form.
She lies dormant in the Muldhra Cakra in the form of
serpentine power or coiled-up energy known as the Kualin
akti. She is at the centre of the life of the universe. She is
the primal force of life underlies all existence. She vitalises the
body through the Suumn N and nerves. She nourishes the
body with chyle and blood. She vitalises the universe through
Her energy. She is the energy in the sun, the fragrance in the
flowers, the beauty in the landscape, the Gyatr or the Blessed
Mother in the Vedas, colour in the rainbow, intelligence in the
mind, potency in the homoeopathic pills, power in Makaradhvaja
and gold oxide, will and Vicra akti in sages, devotion in
Bhaktas, Sayama and Samdhi in Yogins. Vidy, nti, lust,
anger, greed, egoism, pride are all Her forms. Her manifestations
are countless.
iva and akti
The Supreme Lord is represented as iva, and His power
is represented as His wifeakti, Durg or Kl. Mother Durg
is the energy aspect of the Lord. Without Durg, iva has no
expression; and without iva, Durg has no existence. iva is
the soul of Durg. Durg is identical with iva. Lord iva is
only the Silent Witness. He is motionless, absolutely changeless.
He is not affected by the cosmic play. Durg does everything.
iva is omnipotent, impersonal, inactive. He is pure

28

Kalyana-Kalpataru

consciousness. akti is dynamic. The power or active aspect of

the immanent God is akti. akti is the embodiment of power.
iva and akti are related as Praka and Vimara. akti
or Vimara is the power that is latent in the pure consciousness.
Vimara gives rise to the world of distinctions. In other words,
akti is the very possibility of the Absolutes appearing as many
of Gods causing this universe. God creates, this world through
Si-akti, preserves through Sthiti-akti, and destroys through
Sahra-akti.
There is no difference between God and His akti, just as
there is no difference between fire and its burning power. akti
is inherent in God. Just as you cannot separate heat from fire,
so also you cannot separate akti from God, the possessor of
akti. akti is Brahman Itself. iva and akti are one. iva is
always with akti. They are inseparable. Worship of Durg or
Prvat or Kl is worship of Lord iva.
Matter, Energy and Spirit
Mother is the creative aspect of the Absolute. She is
symbolised as Cosmic Energy. Energy is the physical ultimate
of all forms of matter, and the sustaining force of the spirit.
Energy and spirit are inseparable. They are essentially one.
Matter is reducible to energy. The Pranopaniad says that
Rayi and Pramatter and energyconstitute the whole of
creation. Matter is the outward index of the inward Power that is
expressed by God. The Power that originates and sustains the
universe is not the Jaa akti or the electrical energy which is the
ultimate reality of the scientists, but Caitanya akti, the Power of
the immutable Consciousness of Brahman. In fact, it is not a
Power which is of Brahman, but a Power which is Brahman.
The Divine Mother
akti may be termed as that by which we live and have
our being in this universe. In this world, all the wants of the
child are provided by the mother. The childs growth, development

Dev

29

and sustenance are looked after by the mother. Even so, all the
necessaries of life and its activities in this world, and the energy
needed for it, depend upon akti or the Universal Mother. The
human mother is a manifestation of the Universal Mother. All
women are forms of the Divine Mother.
You are more free with your mother than with anybody else.
You open your heart more freely to your mother than to your
father. There is no God greater than the mother. It is the mother
who protects you, nourishes you, consoles you, cheers you, and
nurses you. She is your first Guru. The first syllable which almost
every quadruped, or human being, utters is the beloved name of
the motherMa. She sacrifices her all for the sake of her children.
A child is more familiar with the mother than with the father,
because the former is very kind, loving, tender and affectionate,
and looks after the wants of the child. Whenever the child wants
anything, it runs with outstretched hands to the mother, rather
than to the father. If she hears the cry of the child, she leaves
her domestic work and runs immediately to attend to the child.
In the spiritual field also, the aspirant or the devoteethe
spiritual childhas more intimate relationship with Mother
Durg than with the Father iva. Lord iva is quite indifferent
to the external world. He is a Tyg and a Virakta. He wears
the garlands of skulls of His devotees, rubs the whole body
with Vibhuti or holy ash, and remains in the crematorium in
an intoxicated state. He is absorbed in contemplation of the Self.
He remains in a state of Nirvikalpa Samdhi. He has handed
over the power of attorney to His consort, Durg. It is Mother
Durg only who looks after the affairs of the world. Lord iva
gazes at Durg, His akti. She engages Herself in creation,
preservation and destruction.
DurgLakmSaraswat
Divine Mother is everywhere triple. She is endowed with
the three Guas viz., Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. She manifests

30

Kalyana-Kalpataru

as Will or Icch akti. Action or Kriy akti, and Knowledge

or Jna akti. She is Brahm-akti (Saraswat) in conjunction
with Brahm, Viu-akti (Lakm) in conjunction with Lord
Viu, iva-akti (Mahkl or Durg) in conjunction with Lord
iva.
Saraswat is cosmic intelligence, cosmic consciousness,
cosmic knowledge. Lakm does not mean mere material wealth
like gold, cattle, etc. All kinds of prosperity, glory, magnificence,
joy, exaltation, or greatness come under Lakm. Appayya
Dkita calls even final Liberation as MokaSamrjya-Lakm.
Mahkl is the transformative power of the Divinity, the power
that dissolves multiplicity in unity.
The Dev assumes many aspects according to the tasks to
be performed by Hersometimes, sweet and tender; and at
others, terrible and devouring. But, She is always kind and
gracious to Her devotees. Arjuna, the Pava hero worshipped
the Goddess before starting the fight against the evil-minded
Kauravas. r Rma worshipped Durg at the time of the fight
with Rvaa, to invoke Her aid in the war. He fought and won
through Her grace.
The Navartri and its Spiritual Significance
During the Navartri or the Nine Nights, the whole of India
adores the Mother and worships Her with great devotion. Dusserah,
Durg Puj, and Navartri are one and the same. On the first
three nights, Durg or the Destructive Aspect of the Mother is
worshipped. On the succeeding three nights, it is the Creative
Aspect or Lakm that is adored. And on the last three nights, the
Knowledge Aspect or Saraswat is invoked. The tenth is the
Vijay Daam Day or the Day of Victory.
There is a special significance in this arrangement. When
The Dev is worshipped by a devotee in this order, as Durg,
She first destroys the evil propensities that lurk in his mind.
Then, as Lakm, She implants therein, the Daiv Sampat or

31

Dev

the divine qualities conducive to spiritual unfoldment. Then, as

Saraswat, She bestows true knowledge on him.
The tenth day commemorates the victory of knowledge over
nescience, goodness over evil. It is the day on which boys are
put in the school. Aspirants are initiated on this day. On this
memorable Vijay Daam Day, the carpenter, the tailor, the
mason, the artist, the songster, the typist, and all technical
workers do Puj for their instruments and implements. This is
yudha Puj. They behold and recognise the akti or power
behind these instruments, and worship the Dev for their success,
prosperity and peace.
Worship of the Divine Mother
Worship of Dev or the Universal Mother gives not only
prosperity, but liberation from all bondages. It leads to the
attainment of Knowledge of the Self. The story of the Kena
Upaniad, known as the Yaka-Prana, supports this view. Um
taught the Truth to the Devas.
akti is all. She can do anything. She can make or mar.
She can mend or end. For the sake of the continuance of Her
Divine Play here, She Herself, as Avidy-My has veiled the
Truth from you and bound you to this Sasra. When She
is propitiated through the practice of sincere devotion and
unconditional self-surrender, She, as Vidy-My, removes the
veil and enables you to perceive the Truth.
No one can free himself from the thraldom of mind and
matter without Mothers grace. The fetters of My are too hard
to break. If you worship Her as the great Mother, you can very
easily go beyond Prakti through Her benign grace and
blessings. She will remove all obstacles in the path, and lead
you safely into the illimitable domain of eternal bliss, and make
you absolutely free.
May Parakti or Devthe Universal Mother Jagadamb
bless you all wisdom, peace and immortal bliss.

The Secret of akti Worship

Brahmalina Sri Jayadayal Goyandka

Worship of Brahma through the symbol of akti

The contextual meaning of the word akti differs in the
scriptures according to the way the word is used. Tntrikas feel
that the word akti refers to Parakti and regard Her as
Brahmathe essence of Consciousness and Bliss (
r). Perhaps the word akti has been also used in the Upaniads,
Puras etc. (whole Hindu scriptures) referring Dev, Parakti,
war, Mula Prakti and such other names to stand for both the
Absolute (Nirgua Para Brahma which is nothing but
Consciousness and Bliss) as also Sagua Brahma. Scriptures
have tried in various ways to make us understand Brahma
Tattva, which is very subtle and esoteric. So by worshipping
Brahma even in the name of akti, man attains the very same
Paramtm. Devotees worship the same singular Paramtma
Tattva in various names and forms of Nirgua, Sagua, Nirkra,
Skra, god (Deva), goddess (Dev), Brahm (Creator), Viu,
iva, akti, Rma, Ka etc. By knowing the esoteric implication
and by following the path shown by the scriptures (stras) and
cryas (preceptors) by worshipping thus, all devotees can
verily attain God. Worshipping that Supreme Lord (Paramewara),
the ocean of Mercy and Love, the essence of both Nirgua and
Sagua, regarding Him as foremost (Supreme), Omniscient,
Omnipotent, Omnipresent, substratum (abode) of all Guas (modes),
Nirvikra (without any modification), eternal and a condensation
of Consciousness and Bliss, verily the Parabrahma Paramtm
with unflinching faith and guileless devotion (not seeking favours)
alone is worshipping God knowing the esoteric implication.

The Secret of akti Worship

33

Therefore with unflinching faith and devotion, the Divine

Mother, Mahakti, the essence of Consciousness and Bliss
(Vijnnanda) should be worshipped. That formless Nirgua
Svarupa Dev moved by Her mercy for the embodied souls takes
the forms of Brahm (Creator), Viu (Preserver) and Mahea
(Destroyer) and accomplishes the three functions of Creation,
Preservation and Destruction.
Lord Ka Himself says

UEU
l CU SU H
S S
UrSM H
SM
U
QUU
SM

U
UUH
SM

XUXUH
(Brahmavaivarta Pura, Prakti Khaa II. 66. 710)

You alone are the Creator of the Universe, Mulaprakti

war. At the beginning of Creation, You remain as dyakti
(Primordial Power) and out of Your own will manifest as the
three modes (Triguas). Though in reality You ever remain as
the Ultimate Absolute devoid of modes of Prakti (Nirgua) yet
practically You become Sagua. You are verily the ultimate
Brahman Itself, Sole Reality (Satya), Eternal (Nitya) and
Imperishable (eternal). Light of lights, to redeem Your devotees
and bless them You incarnate into various forms. Yet You remain
all pervading (essence of all forms), (Master) Lord of all and
substratum of all phenomena, O Transcendental One! You are
the seed of everything, Adorable and the Absolute not dependent
on anything. You are Omniscient, Bestower of auspiciousness in
every way, O Thou Supremely Auspicious Mother.
The infinite Power of Consciousness (sentience) has two

34

Kalyana-Kalpataru

forms (is twinfold in nature)Nirgua and Sagua. The Sagua

has two formsOne is Nirkra (formless) and other is Skra
(with form). From this evolves the whole universe. The
Upaniads speak of this power as Parakti

S r cU L
Le U U
Q U Sj
U @ SUXU c U Q
(Bahvcopaniad)
From that Parakti, Brahm (Creator), Viu (Preserver)
and Rudra manifested. From the Supreme Goddess all
Marudgaas, Gandharvas, Apsars and Kinnaras, took form.
All objects of enjoyment and various forms of creatures like
born from eggs (Aaja), born from sweat (Swedaja), sprouting
from earth (Udbhijja), born from a womb (Jaryuja) and
whatever belong to Immovable and movable creation, including
humans, nay every creature was born of Her. Such is that Primal
akti known as Parakti.
In Rgveda, the Goddess Herself says

U
U

LpUUL
L U

E
UEH

(Rgveda VIII. 7. 11)

Accepting the semblance of Rudra, Vasu, ditya and
Vivedevas, it is I alone who roams about in the Universe. I alone
am the godsMitra, Varua, Indra, Agni and Avinkumras.
The Brahmasutra too says
(II. 1. 31)
Parakti is possessed of all powers, for it is seen and
experienced as such in this world.
Here too the word Brahma is in the feminine form. In
the scriptures, the word Brahma has been used according to
the contact in all the gendersfeminine, masculine and neuter.

The Secret of akti Worship

35

Therefore the worship of Brahman can also be done regarding

It as Parakti. In Bengal, the great saint r Rmaka
Paramahasa worshipped Brahmathe Ultimate in his
chosen form of Divine Mother addressing Her asMother,
Tr, Kl etc. A lot of other great souls have also worshipped
the Divine in feminine forms. One can certainly attain God by
worshipping the Mahakti (Great Power) of Brahma with faith,
devotion and detachment.
Worship of akti (Power) and aktimn (Power holder)
Many noble persons regard Her as the Hldin akti (Giver
of Divine Bliss) of God. She alone is known as Mahewar,
Jagadwar and Paramewar Lakm, Saraswat, Durg, Rdh,
St and such other names and forms belong to Her only. My,
Mahmy, Mulaprakti, Vidy, Avidy and such other names
also belong to Her.
Paramewara (the Supreme Lord) is the power holder
aktimn while r Paramewar (Goddess) is His (the Lords)
akti. Even though we regard the (akti) power to be different
from the powerholder (aktimn), the fact is not so. Just as the
burning power of fire (Agni) is not different from it. To a man
of discriminative intellect, this world is nothing but the play
(sport) of akti and aktimn. In this sport creation, sustenence
and destruction occur by their Supreme Will. Realizing this
sublime truth these people worship the wonderful pair of akti
and aktimn. The Goddess alone by Her maternal grace will
unite us easily with the Lordfeeling thus, some only worship
the Goddess. Evidences are found in scriptures for all types of
worship by devotees.
Devotees worship this Mahakti (Mother of the Universe)
in various ways. Some regard akti as different from the Lord
while others regard Her as identical with Him. But the fact
remains that one should comprehend the Truth behind worship.
After that it doesnt matter what way we worship. All certainly
can attain the beloved Paramtmthe One Master of the

36

Kalyana-Kalpataru

whole universe. When we worship with ardent devotion and

faith, after comprehending the Tattva (Truth).
Worship of Paramewara
We find that our scripturesVedas, Smtis, Puras and
Itihsas name this Myakti composed of modes of Prakti
(Guas) as Prakti, Mula Prakti, Mahmy, Yogamy etc.
She is of the form of both Vidy and Avidy. That Myakti
has two states Vyakta (Manifest) and Avyakta (Unmanifest),
i.e., She has two states of Smyvasth (Equilibrium) and
Viktvasth or Viamvasth (uneven state). These are also
known as states of effect and cause (causal) or VyktaAvykta. This world born of 23 elements (Tattvas) is the
manifest form of akti. That from which this manifest Universe
is born, into which it mergesis the Unmanifest form of akti.
All embodied beings emanate from the Unmanifest at the
coming of the cosmic day; at the cosmic nightfall they merge
back into the Unmanifest. (Gt VIII. 18)
Some attribute the creation of the Universe to God
(Paramewara), some to Prakti, and some to both Prakti and
wara. On deep thought all claims are found to be correct.
Where Prakti is held to be the creator of the universe, there
it should be understood that in the presence of wara (Purua).
Prakti composed of modes (Guas) creates this Universe.
Arjuna with Me as the supervisor, Nature brings forth the
whole creation, consisting of both sentient and insentient beings;
it is due to this cause that the wheel of Sasra is going round.
(Gt IX. 10)
Where wara is the held to be the creator there, Prakti
is only a portal to creation.
Weilding My Nature I release, again and again ( according
to their respective Karmas) all this multitude of beings subject
to the influence of their own nature. (Gt IX. 8)
But infact by the union of Prakti and Purua alone creation
takes place.

The Secret of akti Worship

37

My premordial Nature, known as the great Brahma, is the

womb of all creatures; in that womb I place the seed of life.
The creation of all beings follows from that union of Matter
and Spirit, O Arjuna. (Gt XIV. 3)
As the Lord of the form of pure Consciousness-Bliss is
transcendental (beyond the modes of Prakti) and changeless
(Nirvikra) any sort of activity is not possible in Him. And My
composed of three Guas (modes) being inert, no action is
possible in it too. Therefore the only plausible explanation is
in the immediate presence of Paramtm, Spanda (disturbance)
happens in Prakti from which the Universe originates. So only
the union of Prakti and Paramtm, leads to the origin of the
Universe. All other arguments are not satisfactory. In the great
deluge (Mahpralaya) the three modes (Guas) along with their
effects merge back into their Cause, then Prakti is said to be
in the Equalibrium. At that time all embodied souls (Jvas) along
with their individual traits (Svabhva), Actions (Karma) and
predispositions (Vsan) merge back into the Unmanifest form
of Prakti which is in a state of Equanimity (Smyvasth).
On the completion of the period of deluge, that very same
Myakti, in the presence of wara sprouts from its Equanimous
state to phase of activity i.e., it manifests itself into the twentythree elements. Then in the presence of wara, Prakti creates
this Universe in order to make Jvas (embodied souls) work
out their Karma according to Gua and Vsan.
Prakti composed of three Guas and Paramtm are
related to each other as that which is supported and the support,
basis of support; i.e., just like an entwining creeper and a tree.
Again Prakti is the Vypya (fit to be pervaded) and Paramtm
is the Vypaka (all pervasive Entity or i.e., that which pervades).
The casual Prakti along with the effect world is a tiny speck
in the Infinite space of the Eternal, Sentient, Paramtm (a
condensation of Consciousness and Bliss). Just as the other four

38

Kalyana-Kalpataru

elements of earth, water, fire and air are supported by the base
called space or atmosphere, so is Prakti supported by wara.
Just as the cloud is pervaded by the Infinite space, so is Prakti
along with this Universe pervaded by Paramtm.
Just as the extensive air, which is moving everywhere
(being born of ether) ever remains in ether, likewise know that
all beings (who have originated from My thought) abide in Me.
(Gt IX. 6)

CUU
S
S
H
(Gt X. 42)
Or what will you gain by knowing all this in detail, Arjuna?
Suffice it to say that I stand holding this entire Universe by
a fraction of My Yogic Power.

(vsya Upaniad 1)
That is this world originating from My composed of three
Guas is pervaded by God (wara).
Yet the Lord is untainted by the My. As the Lord Who
is nothing but Consciousness and Blissis free from faint of
Guas (transcendental), is non-dual and witness of all.
God, who is only one, is hidden in all beings. He is allpervading, and is the inner self of all creatures. He presides
our all actions, and all beings reside in Him. He is the witness,
and He is the Pure Consciousness free from the three Guas
of Prakti. He is non-dual.
(vetvatara Upaniad VI. 11)
Thus realizing the Lord beyond the Guas man frees himself
from all afflictions and miseries and attains the Lord. The easiest
means to realize the Lord is take refuge only in Him. So, man
should take refuge in every way in that Omniscient, Omnipotent
Lord who is nothing but Sat-Cit-nandaExistenceConsciousness-Bliss.

The Secret of akti Worship

39

For this most wonderful My (veil) of Mine consisting

of the three Guas (Modes of Nature), is extremely difficult
to break through; those, however, who constantly adore Me
alone are able to cross it. (Gt VII. 14)
This My consisting of Vidy and Avidy is very strange.
Some regard it as beginningless (Andi) and endless (Ananta)
while some others regard it as beginningless but having an end
(nta).
Some deem it (My) to real, some illusory. Some regard
My to be identical with Brahma, others regard it as different
from Brahma. But the fact remains that this My is very
wonderful and weird. To be more clear, it (My) eludes the
grasp of the intellect. So it is said to be indescribable.
Avidy:Vices, bad habits, surika (demoniacal), Rkasika
(Demonic and delusive nature), the whole transient world which
falls into the category of the objective (Dya)the effect of
Mahat Tattva belongs to Avidy.
Vidy:Devotion (Bhakti), Ecstatic devotion (Parbhakti),
Knowledge (Jna), Vijna, Yoga, Yogamy, Samai Buddhi
(Cosmic Intelligence), Pure Intelligence, Subtle Intelligence, Virtues,
Daiv Sampad (Divine traits)all these belong to Vidy. Just as
fire burns wood to ashes and gets extinguished itself Vidy
annihilates Avidy and vanishes itself. If this preposition be held
i.e., My (Avidy) is beginningless and comes to an end then
the question arises as to why it didnt end before?
If it be deemed that it (Avidy) will duly end in future then
why should one make effort to annihilate it? i.e., when Avidy
spontaneously ends the embodied soul gain salvation automatically.
Then why did the Lord say in Gt that, this My (composed
of three Guas) is indeeddifficult to transcend; but he who
takes refuge in Me crosses it.
If it be deemed that this My is beginningless and also
endless, then its relationship (association) will also be beginningless

40

Kalyana-Kalpataru

and endlessi.e., the embodied soul (Jva) will never attain God
or Salvation. And the Lord says that on knowing the difference
between Ketra (field i.e., three bodies of the soul) and
Ketraja (the knower of the field-self) on decerning the Truth
the soul (Jva) attains salvationattains freedom.
Thus those who perceive with the eye of wisdom the
difference between the Ketra and Ketraja, and the phenomenon
of liberation from Prakti with her evolutes, reach the supreme
eternal Spirit. (Gt XIII. 14)
Therefore this My can neither be regarded as beginningless
and endless. It cannot be described as Sat (Real) nor Asat
(Unreal). It cannot be said to be Asat as its evolute the whole
Universe stands before us in a concrete form. It can neither be
regarded as Sat as the seen Dya (evolute of My) always
is in a state of flux (constant change). As such this Universe
and My are never seen in a stable form i.e., It is transient.
My cannot be regarded as identical with God. As My is
inert, falls into the category of the SeenDya, changeful,
mutable and of the form of misery while God is Consciousness
(nature), Witness (Seer), Eternal, immutable and of the form of
Bliss. Though both are said to beginningless (eternal) yet there
is great dissimilarity between the two.

l UU
(vetvataropaniad IV. 10)
Know then that My consisting of the three Guas as
nature (cause of twenty-three elements) and the Supreme Lord
is Lord of My.

m
U

U
ll
l
ll

rU

U
s

S
H
(vetvataropaniad V. 1)

The Secret of akti Worship

41

(Avidy) Ignorance (Nescience) leads to the perishable.

Wisdom (Vidy) leads to Immortality. Entirely different from
these is He, the Imperishable, Infinite, the Esoteric, Supreme
Brahma, in whom exists wisdom (Vidy) as well as Nescience
(Avidy) and Who governs (controls) them both.
Since I am wholly beyond the perishable world of the
matter or Ketra, and am superior even to the imperishable soul,
hence I am known as the Puruottama in the world as well
as in the Vedas. (Gt. XV.18)
But this My can neither be said to be different from God
as the Vedas and stras declare so.

Z r
(Chndogya Upaniad III. 14. 1)
All this is verily Brahma.

(Gt VII. 19)

U
(Gt IX. 19)
That isMy is akti (Power) of wara and akti is
identical with aktimn (Lord of the Power). Just as burning
power of fire is non-different (identical) with fire so also akti
is identical with aktimn.
Therefore akti (My) cannot be held different either.
Whatever it may be; it would suffice if we worship God
understanding His Tattva (Truth). Worship done with the
understanding (comprehension) of Tattva alone excels.
The fortunate one who knows God by His Tattva (i.e., who
discerns the Truth from the fleeting) cannot afford to forget Him
at any time, in his lifeas he is aware that everything is God.
And also he who knows God to be the most valuable when
compared with the transient world, how can he adore or admire
anyone other than God. If ever he longs for or yearns for

42

Kalyana-Kalpataru

anything other than God, he has not understood the Tattva of

God (Paramtm). Because it is an universal law that one
worships only that which one regards as supreme.
Let us suppose that there is a hill. Imagine that there are
mines of iron, copper, lead and gold in that hill. Some contractor
has taken the hill on lease for a fixed period of time and wants
to extract ore from the mines. Whatever ore he may be extracting
time taken will be more or less the same. A person who knows
the value of these four metals will only extract gold from its
mine. Will he ever waste his time and effort in even thinking
to extract any other base ore. Never! Similarly one who has
realized the Tattva of both God and My will never waste
his precious human life in indulging in transient enjoyments and
wealth. With his whole being and at all times, he will only
endeavour to worship God the Most Precious of all treasures.
Gt also says
Arjuna, the wise man who thus realizes Me as the Supreme
Personknowing all, he constantly worships Me (the allpervading Lord) with his whole being. (Gt XV. 19)
Thus worshipping God in the above mentioned way with
unwavering devotion one attains the Lord. So as long as one
is alive unremitting efforts should be put into worship the
Supreme Lord always with unflinching devotion in desireless
and detached manner.

Nradas Glorification of Rdh

Nityalilalina Sri Hanumanprasad Poddar

Coming to know that Lord r Ka had descended in the

land of Vraja, Sage Nrada once reached Gokula, playing on
his lute. There at Nandas residence he beheld Bhagavn r
Ka of divine aspect, the eminent Lord of Yogs, disguised
as a human babe. He was reposing on a bedstead of gold, on
which was spread a milk-white soft bed; and overwhelmed with
affection, cowherd girls were merrily gazing on him. He
possessed a delicate frame; his look was as innocent as his
personality. His dark curly locks touched the ground. At
intervals he would laugh a while, revealing thereby a tooth or
two of his lovely mouth. The interior of Nandas residence was
illumined by his splendour. Nrada was overjoyed to see his
beloved Lord in the form of an uncovered babe.
He spoke to Nanda as follow:
Nobody in this world knows the incomparable glory of
your child, which constitutes the life of Nryaas devotees
and is most difficult to grasp. Even gods like Brahm (the
creator) and Lord iva are keen to develop unceasing love for
this wondrous babe. The life of this child is a source of delight
to all. Those who will joyously sing, listen to and applaud the
holy narrative of this babe of inconceivable glory shall never
suffer the pangs of rebirth. Give up the seeking, O chief of
the cowherd clan, for the other world and develop exclusive
and motiveless love for this divine child.
Saying so, the great sage Nrada left Nandas palace.
Bowing low to the sage, taking him to be an image of Lord

44

Kalyana-Kalpataru

Viu, Nanda too allowed the sage to depart. Nrada, who is

a great devotee of the Lord, then said to himself. Now that
Lord Nryaa has descended on this earth, His beloved spouse,
Goddess Lakm, too must have descended somewhere, assuming
the form of a cowherd girl, in order to make it possible for
the Lord to carry on His sport: there is no doubt about it. Hence
let me hunt Her up in the dwellings of the people of Vraja.
Pondering thus, Nrada called one by one at the house of
the denizens of Vraja as an unexpected guest and was received
by them with attentions as a manifestation of Lord Viu.
Beholding their supreme love for the Darling of Nanda, he too
mentally greeted them all.
Next he repaired to the house of the high-souled Bhnu,
a friend of Nanda. Bhnu offered worship to the sage with due
ceremony. The noble-minded Nrada spoke to him as follows:
O virtuous soul, you are well-known for your piety. Have
you been blessed with an eminently worthy son or a daughter
endowed with auspicious bodily marks, due to whom your fame
may extend through all the worlds?
Interrogated in these words by the foremost of sages, Bhnu
first brought to the sages presence his eminently glorious son
and made him bow to the sage. Then he escorted the sage to
his inner apartments in order to show his daughter to him.
Entering the inner apartments, Bhnu picked up in his arms a
divine infant girl rolling about on the floor. His heart was all
the time overflowing with affection.
Nrada, a most beloved devotee of r Ka, was enraptured
to behold the marvellous personality of the girl, the like of which
had never been seen or heard of before. Tossing about in an
ocean of supreme bliss, the sole object of enjoyment, the sage
stood motionless like a stone image for nearly an hour and a
half. Then he opened his eyes and, filled with great wonder,
remained mute.

Nradas Glorification of Rdh

45

At last the highly sagacious Nrada thought within himself

Moving about of my own will I wandered through all the
worlds, but I never beheld a girl of such unearthly comeliness,
I have free access even to the realm of Brahm, Rudras heaven
and Indras paradise; but nowhere did I see even a fraction of
such rare beauty. I had the rare good fortune to behold Goddess
Prvat, the great Enchanting Potency of Lord iva, whose
comliness enraptures the whole mobile and immobile creation.
She too cannot approach the splendour of this unique girl.
Goddesses like Lakm, Saraswat, Knti (Loveliness personified)
and Vidy (wisdom personified) are nowhere seen to touch the
fringe even of her shadow. The ability to know the true nature
of this girl cannot by any stretch of imagination be said to exist
in me. Others too, broadly speaking, possess no knowledge
about this Darling of r Hari. The very sight of this girl has
intensified my Love for the lotus feet of Lord Govinda to an
extent never experienced before. Anyhow let me bow in
seclusion to this divine girl exhibiting glory. Her beauty will
prove to be a source of supreme joy to Lord r Ka.
Pondering thus, the sage sent away the cowherd chief,
Bhnu, to some other place and started extolling that divine girl
in that secluded chamber as follows:
O divine girl, invested with infinite splendour and controlling
great yogic powers. You are endowed with an enchanting and
divine personality pouring an endless shower of sweetness all
round. Your heart is overflowing with great joy possessing a
marvellous flavour. By some extraordinary stroke of good luck
of mine have. You appeared before my eyes. O divine girl,
Your glance leads one to experience perennial joy in ones mind.
You look sated as it were with great inward joy. This cheerful,
sweet and pleasing countenance of Yours is an index of some
wonderful phenomenon delightful to the heart. O extremely
charming girl, You are a bud of Love and an embodiment of

46

Kalyana-Kalpataru

Divine Energy. You alone abide in the form of creation,

maintenance and dissolution. You consist of Sattva unmixed
with Rajas and Tamas and are the supreme and transcendent
Energy of the Lord, figuring in the form of Right Knowledge.
It is You who sustain the realm of Lord Viu, which is supreme
Bliss concretised. It is difficult even for Brahm and Rudra (the
god of destruction) to know You. Marvellous is Your power.
You are beyond the contemplation even of lords of Yogs. To
my mind it appears that the Cosmic Powers of Conation,
Cognition and Action are mere part manifestations of Yours.
The inconceivable potencies of Lord Mahviu, the
Supreme Ruler of the universe, are mere rays of Yours. O
Divine Lady! You are undoubtedly the All-Blissful Energy.
Surely r Ka sports with You in the woodland of Vrindavan.
You are enrapturing the universe by Your comely form during
the very infancy. No one can tell how marvellous will be Your
elegance of form and playful glances enlivened with a smile
when you enter the threshold of youth! I long to behold, O
Darling of r Hari, that adorable transcendent personality of
Yours, which will enrapture r Ka, the Darling of Nanda. O
Supreme Goddess, O Mother, pray, be gracious enough to reveal
Your transcendent Personality before the eyes of this suppliant
devotee of Yours, who has sought refuge in You.
Submitting thus, Sage Nrada bowed low to that Supreme.
All-blissful Goddess with a mind dedicated to Her and, extolling
Lord Govinda all the time, remained gazing on that divine girl.
While the sage was engaged in chanting the names of r Ka,
Bhnus Daughter assumed a fourteen-year-old superb and
most soul-ravishing transcendent Personality. Presently girls of
Vraja of the same age, adorned with unearthly jewels and
beautiful necklaces, surrounded the girl on all sides. The
companions of the divine girl then sprinkled the sage with
particles of water in which Her feet had been washed and

47

Nradas Glorification of Rdh

endearingly spoke to him as follows:

You alone, O great sage, have worshipped the Lord with
devotion; for through some inconceivable good fortune of yours
has appeared before your eyes the Darling of r Hari, who
enchants the universe with Her marvellous exuberance of youth
and wealth of beauty and who cannot easily be perceived even
by Brahm, Rudra and the other gods, Siddhas, eminent sages
and other devotees of the Lord! Get up, O Brahman sage!
Quickly recover yourself and, going round Her clockwise as
a mark of respect, offer salutations to Her. Dont you see that
She will vanish this very moment? Then under no circumstance
will you be able to speak with Her.
Hearing the words of those girl companions of r Rdh,
who were all brimming over with love. Sage Nrada went round
that charming girl and lay prostrate before Her for nearly an
hour and a half, He then called Bhnu by his side and said
to him, Immense is the glory of your Daughter. Even gods
cannot know Her greatness. Lord Nryaa personally resides
in the house where Her footprints exist, and Goddess Lakm
abides there with all forms of prosperity. From this day onward
foster with care in your house, like the highest goddess, this
charming girl decked with all ornament. Observing thus,
Nrada departed from his house singing the praises of r Hari.

A Request to Mt-akti (Women)

Brahmalina Swami Ramsukhdas

In modern times women are much slighted and disgraced.

Instead of being regarded as respected mothers they are
considered means (instruments) for sensual pleasures. The
woman meant for sensual pleasures is practically a sense-object.
Such a woman does not deserve as much respect as a mother
does. But the lustful persons, who consider the woman a means
of sensual pleasures and are slaves to her, cant understand this
fact. A girl gets married in order to become a mother rather
than to become an instrument for pleasures. The parents of both
the boy and the girl marry the boy and the girl so that the family
succession may continue. But today women are abstained from
becoming mothers and they are being transformed into instruments
for sensual pleasures. How much disgraceful it is to women
in general?
A woman, in fact, is a mother. She is the mother of both
males and females while she is the wife of only the male. If a man
is virtuous, he sanctifies his own family only, but a noble woman
sanctifies both the familiesher fathers family as well as the
family of her in-laws. King Janaka while addressing St says

(Mnasa II. 287. 1)

In our scriptures women have been very much honoured.
For their safety they have been ordained by the scriptures to
remain under the control of their father or husband or son so
that they may not go astray. If a woman becomes an employee
it is humiliation for her. In her house she is a queen, while
outside her house she is an employee. In the house she remains

49

A Request to Mt-akti (Women)

under the control of one man while outside her house she has
to remain under the control of several men and women and
has to tolerate the scolding and humiliating by her superiors
which is against her tender heart and nature. She deserves
honour rather than humiliation. The control by the father,
husband or son is not meant to make her subordinate but to
make her very much independent. Within the four walls of her
empire, she is a Ma or Grandma and is respected by her
sons and grandsons but out of her circle she becomes simply
an old woman and is slighted everywhere.
In these days it is said that women should have equal rights
with men, but the scriptures have granted them special privilege.

UU

(Manu. II. 145)

The rank of the mother has been considered a thousand
times more than that of a father.

(Skanda Pura, K. XI. 50)

Even the Sanys whom all people pay obeisance should
pay obeisance to the mother with care.
In these days the womb is examined and if there is a girl in
the womb, abortion is caused. Is it the right of equality to
women?
The feeling which is roused by the word mother is not
roused by the word woman. Therefore r akarcrya
addressed Lord Ka as Mother c (Prabodha 244).
In the Upaniads by the declaration , , there
is order that the mother should be served first of all. In the
national song U there is obeisance to the mother. In
Hindu Dharma there is great importance to worship Maternal
Power (Goddess). Goddess Durg is also one of the five deities
of the rank of God. Several volumes such as Devbhgavata
and Durgsaptaat etc., have been written to depict the power

50

Kalyana-Kalpataru

of mothers. All women of the world have been regarded as

the forms of Goddess Durg

l SS S S
(Durgsaptaat XI. 6)
But voluptuous persons cant understand the importance of
a woman as a mother because they regard her as an instrument
for sensual pleasure.
In the scriptures there is no mention at all anywhere that
a man should slight a woman, trouble her, divorce her and beat
her. Not only this but even if a deadly crime is committed by
her, she should not be beaten but she should rather be forgiven.
Bhma was the protector of the Kaurava army

# S cU
(Gt I. 10)
But Duryodhana ordered his army to protect (guard) him
cU UH (Gt I. 11). The reason was that
Duryodhana knew that Bhma would not use his arms and
weapons on ikha even at the risk of his own life. ikha
was first a woman at birth and then she get converted into a
man. But Bhma still regarded him as a woman and therefore
he didnt use his weapon against him. The result was that
Bhma was killed by ikha. This is an example how women
were honoured in India.
According to the ordinance of the scriptures a wife is entitled
to share half of the reward of virtuous actions performed by her
husband but she has not to share the fruit of his evil actions.
Thus she shares half of his reward in free. In the society also
it is noticed that the wife of a doctor or a professor even when
she is uneducated is called Mrs. Dr. X or Mrs. Prof. Y. In fact
in these days there is predominance of pride. Therefore women
instead of becoming polite and modest, talk of pride and enhance
their pride which is the cause of ruin. They thinkIf males
do so, why should we not do? Why should we lag behind?

51

A Request to Mt-akti (Women)

Such a thought enhances only pride, and pride is the root of the
cycle of birth and death as well as of many worries and sufferings.

H
(Mnasa VII. 74. 3)
Can a person with pride understand the facts of the
scriptures? No, she/he cant.
Mothers have played a very important role for the welfare
of the world. They have killed demons such as Raktabja etc.
They have safeguarded our Hindu culture. In these days also
it is observed that women have more knowledge of functions,
festivals, family customs, traditions and particular days of
rddha (when oblation of cooked rice balls and water etc.,
should be offered to manes) than men. A man belonging to
his own family forgets the family customs, traditions and other
ceremonies but a woman who comes from a different family
remembers them. Women in a larger number go to temples,
attend divine discourses, programmes of narration of the scriptures,
observe fasts, chant the divine name, recite the holy books such
as the Rmyaa and offer charity than men do. It means that
they are the protector of our culture.
At present by the advertisement and propaganda of unnatural
methods for birth-control women are losing their modesty,
chastity, character and good conduct etc. Consequently they are
becoming just instruments for sensual pleasures. If women lose
their character, what will happen to the country ? What guidance
will the coming generation receive from their first preceptor, the
Mother? If a woman gets spoiled, both the daughters and sons
born of her, will be spoiled. But if a woman follows the virtuous
path, her offspring will not be spoiled even if her husband is
spoiled. Therefore it is the duty of every human being to
safeguard the character and modesty of women, respect and
honour them and not to let them be slighted and humiliated.

Hymn to Mother Gag

Swami Sivananda

O adorable Mother Gag, the akti of Lord iva!

Prostrations and adorations unto Thee.
Thou art the creatrix and nourisher of the world.
People address Thee Bhgrath, Hara Hara Gage.
I know well Thy story, O dear Mother!
Once King Bhagratha brought Thee down
To purify the ashes of his grandfathers;
Lord iva took Thee in His matted locks.
Thou takest origin from Gaumukha, beyond, Gagotr;
Thou passest through Uttarakashi, Rishikesh and Haridwar;
Thou purifiest the Puyabhumi of Bhratavara;
Thou finally mergest in Gagsgara.
Thou art Bhrntinin and Jagajjanan;
Thou adornest the head of Gagdhara,
Thou art the Nectar of Immortality that gives Salvation;
Thou art Mahmy, di akti and Avyaktam.
People sing Gag Lahar in the evening.
They do rat with Bhva and devotion;
They raise Jaya-JayakraGag My K Jaya;
They worship Thee with flowers and Prasda.
Thou art Jna-Gag, the Wisdom Nectar;
Thy subtle form is in the celestial regions;
Thy gross form only, human beings behold here;
Thou pervadest the world as subtle Cidka.
Thou hast attracted the people of the whole world;
Thy Name has holy associations and vibrations;

53

Hymn to Mother Gag

A dip in Thee refreshes and purifies the heart;

Millions flock to Thee in Kumbha Mel.
Thou art the purest water on earth;
No germs can thrive in Thee;
This is the finding of the scientist in his laboratory;
Thou art sparkling and clear as crystal.
A drop on the tongue at the moment of death gives Moka;
Yogins and Sdhus do Tapas on Thy banks in cottages;
Thou deliverest them from the round of births and deaths;
Who can describe, Mother, Thy glory and splendour?
(Tell me) Will a day come to me, beloved Mother,
To sit on the block of stone on Thy bank,
To shed continuous tears of Prema on Thy lap
And merge in Thee for ever and ever?
O All-powerful Mother of compassion and love!
Bless me with Thy grace and mercy;
Destroy my darkness of ignorance
Remove the veil and show Thy true form.
I am Thine, Mother; Thou art mine;
The sense of duality has vanished now;
The bridge that separates us has broken now;
Let me dwell in Thee, Mother, for ever and ever.

Identity of akti and aktimn

Sri Anand Sarup Sahebji Maharaj

It was a cold wintry morning. The first streak of the sun

had just begun to appear on the horizon. Birds, beasts and men
were reviving into life with the revival of the day. The air was
soon filled with songs, roars and laughters. And the great
Monarch of the East was seen driving in the sky in his blazing
chariot of gold. Mother Nature greeted him with smiles and he
stretched out his golden beams of light and kissed and caressed
her with them. Mother Nature burst into a loving laughter, and
so did all creaturesbirds, beasts and men.
Who is this great Monarch of the East, little birds?
inquired I.
They only chirruped.
Beasts! Could you tell?
They only bellowed.
Mother darling! Would you help me?
He is my lover said she, rather blushingly.
Are you not his Queen ?
No. If I were his Queen, he would live in my chambers
day and night.
But............................
No buts, I am busy interrupted Mother rather sharply.
The golden chariot moved slowly onwards to the West and
Mother became sullen and grim.
Birds and beasts, said I, You see the Monarch every morn
and receive his favours and sing and bellow and forget him!
And, Mother! you too greet him everyday and receive his
caresses and forget him!

Identity of akti and aktimn

55

But we are so busy, answered they in a chorus and turned

their backs at me and left me bewildered. I wept.
Is it then given to man alone, soliloquised I, to grow
inquisitive for the unknown? Every one elseeven Mother
Natureis busy, and man alone has leisure. But why? There
must be some purpose behind this gift of Providence. We are
given eyes and there are all the beauties of nature to perceive
and enjoy. We are given the sense of taste and there are all
the dainties of nature to eat and relish. There must be some
precious provision corresponding with the gift of inquisitiveness
too. But why remain inquisitive about the sun alone, when there
are millions of bodies like it in the heavens, and it is but a
small speck in the vastness of the Universe? Why not aspire
to know the Maker and Sustainer of the Universe? Why not
grow inquisitive about the Great Unknown? Here I felt a jerk
which made me pause. I paused and lo! there came a voice
from within me.
If you do that, you will be doing just the right thing, said
the Voice gently, yet firmly.
A smile came on my lips. It was an involuntary smile. I
checked it and was soon talking to myself again. But who could
be the Maker and Sustainer of the Universe? Not a birdnot
a beastnot even a man. Work implies energy. He must be
an infinite Ocean of Energy.
That wont do, spoke the Voice assertingly.
He must be an Ocean of Supreme Intelligent Energy.
Try again, said the Voice.
He must be an Infinite Reservoir of Supreme Spiritual
Energy.
Right you are, spoke the Voice.
The Maker and Sustainer of the Universe is then an Infinite
Reservoir of Supreme Spiritual Energy. And because He is the
Reservoir of Energy, in the beginning of creation there must

56

Kalyana-Kalpataru

have emanated from Him a Spiritual Current, because when

energy becomes kinetic, it always assumes the form of forcecurrents.
The ocean and the waves of the ocean are one, suggested
the Voice mildly.
Yes. The ocean and the waves of the ocean are identical.
They are but two phases of the same substance. And the same
must be the case with the Supreme Spiritual Reservoir and the
Supreme Spiritual current that emanated from it in the beginning.
The Infinite Reservoir of Supreme Spiritual Energy and the
Supreme Spiritual Current are undoubtedly but two phases of
the same Spiritual Essence. The one is the static phase and the
other is the dynamic phase. But there can be no outflow of
a force-current without a preceding upheaval in the reservoir
of energy. So, there was an upheaval in the Infinite Reservoir
of Supreme Spiritual Energy too and it was after this upheaval
that the Supreme Spiritual Current emanated from It.
The Current is the Rdh and the Reservoir the Swm,
whispered the Voice.
So, Rdh and Swm are two phases of one and the same
Essence. Rdh is the akti and Swm is the aktimn. Blessed
is the name Rdh-Swm.

Healing by Mantra-akti
Swami Dayanand

Human life can be likened unto a house fitted with three

windows of the body, mind and soul. Through these openings
come pouring forth the three kinds of divergent perfect light
of Godknown as Health Rays, Faculty Rays, Wisdom Rays.
These Triune Rays are responsible for the perfect health, mental
equanimity and enlightenment of the soul of man. That is why
man is spoken of as being created in the image of God. But
then arises the question: If man is made after Gods likeness,
why does he suffer in so many ways? The answer is, man as
a Divine Child shares the independence of the Divine Being.
Man essentially, was made as a God; but as such he has the
privilege and free choice of the great God to eclipse that image
with error, or to keep it unobscured and dazzling with rays of
health, power and peace. Man has the peculiar independence
and free power to live in the house of life with its health, strength
and light-giving windows open or closed. Thus, it is that when
he closes the windows of life, the Ultra-violet Conscious Cosmic
Rays are shut out and he lives in the darkness of physical
disease, mental disquietude or abysmal soul-ignorance.
Most people have one or more of their windows of life shut
and jammed for years. That is why they suffer from chronic
maladies. Their rescue lies in the knowledge of the law by which
they may open their windows themselves and bask once more
in the all-healing Conscious Cosmic Rays.
Man wants instantaneous healing by Gods power, but he
fails to understand that the work of healing lies with himself
and that God never wanted him to be sick in the first place.

58

Kalyana-Kalpataru

God gave man the original privilege and free choice to receive
Rays or shut them out. Hence, all physical diseases, psychological
inharmonies and soul maladies born of ignorance come from
mans own fault of shutting out the Rays of God. And the logical
conclusion is, whether knowingly or unknowingly he shut the
health-giving windows of life, he must open them again by selfeffort. Ignorance of law cannot be an excuse for escaping the
consequences of a law which is broken.
There are many kinds of healing, each of which can be used
in healing physical, mental or spiritual diseases.
Of the different kinds of healing by medicine, injection,
affirmation, message, nerve or vertebra adjustment, by imagination
or will or faith, Vibratory healing is of great importance.
Vibratory healing consists in oscillating and sending
vibrations to diseased individuals, internally by energy charged
by will-power, or externally by superconsciously-impregnated
chants, intonations of the human voice, enlivening words,
phrases and affirmationsMantra-akti.
The methods of internal vibrations of energy can only be
done by a system of spiritual exercises such as Yogad offers.
Willingness and determination keep the blood vitalized with pep
and life-energy. If even the layman can keep his mental initiative,
willing-to-work attitude all the time, he will find his blood
charged with life-current, making it immune against the invasion
of bacteria. Keeping yourself smiling from within, pulsating with
joy, and in ever-readiness to act, spiritually ambitious in helping
others, all these not only are good exercises for the mind but
keep the body constantly supplied with fresh cosmic energy
descending into the body through the door of the Medulla
oblongata. Strong will pulls energy from the Conscious Cosmic
Rays surrounding the body through the door of the Medulla
Oblongata. Hence strengthen your will and determination in
everything. Your body shall be internally vibrating with life-

Healing by Mantra-akti

59

current. A man of strong will by his highly vibrating mind can

shake out diseases, failure and ignorance. But the will-vibration
must be stronger than the vibrations of physical or inner disease.
The more chronic the disease is, the stronger, steadier and more
unflinching should be the determination, faith and effort of the
will to get well.
In connection with singing, chanting or intoning away
physical disease or worry or spiritual ignorance, one must
know the law of intonation from high to low, low to whisper,
whisper to mental, mental to subconscious and subconscious to
superconscious, Chanting. This is the method of converting loud
meaningful words into realized experiencesassimilating the
truth of a word or words by chanting loudly and mentally until
they become a part of the souls realization.
Or one must induce the Superconscious, peaceful state first
and from that stage chant mentally or whisperingly or loudly
as he pleases.
But in all cases the intonations, whether mental or physical
(i.e., audible), must be injected with superconscious mentality,
faith and steadiness in the beginning or at the end, to be effective
in accomplishing a specific healing.
Mental chanting is best for individuals, loud chanting ranging
from low to high or vice versa is good in congregations.
In our Hindu Tantra (Hymnal) scriptures we find the advice
that all mystic incantations, seed words, have to be revivified
in the soul of the chanter, vitalized and specifically intoned or
chanted in order to produce the desired results. Mere repetition
without deep feeling of Mantras or incantations does not
produce results.
The Police Commissioner of Chicago declared recently in
a bulletin that if the sounds of vehicles, etc., could be cut down,
city people would live ten years longer. In other words,
inharmonious noise affects the nervous system of people,

60

Kalyana-Kalpataru

weakening this medium through which vital energy is supplied

to all the principal organs of the body, the circulatory system,
brain, etc. With the deterioration of the nervous system, the
energy and thermal supply of the blood becomes low, making
it a fit home for bacteria of disease.
On the contrary, harmonious sounds, chants impregnated
with superconscious soul-force, will-power and faith, awaken
the drooping tissues of the nervous system by rousing vital
energy in them. Hence the external method of vibrating the voice
according to the aforesaid methods can heal all inharmonious
conditions of the body, mind and soul. A sincere kind word,
an inspired song, a soul-solacing voice of wisdom have dispelled
many sorrows and inflamed into many the light of lasting joy.

Mahlakm
In lotus-groves Thy spirit roves: where shall I find a seat
for Thee?
To Thy feets treadfeet dawn-rose redopening my heart
Thy throne shall be.
All things unlovely hurt Thy soul:
I would become a stainless whole:
O Worlds delight All-beautys might unmoving house Thy
grace in me.
An arid heart Thou canst not bear:
It is Thy willloves bonds to wear:
Then by Thy sweetness magic completeness make me
Thy loves eternal sea.

The Worship of the Divine Mother

Swami Abhedananda

From the prehistoric times of the Vedic period down to the

present age the Religion of the Hindus has recognized the
Fatherhood and Motherhood of the one supreme personal God,
and has inculcated that through the worship of either of these
aspects the highest ideal of religion could be reached. In the
Rgveda, the fatherly aspect of God is called Prajpati, the
Lord and Father of all creatures. He is most beautifully described
in 121st hymn of the 10th Book. The conception of a personal
God which we find in this hymn has not been surpassed by
the idea of a personal God among any other nation during the
last five thousand years. When an ancient Vedic seer was asked
To whom shall we offer our prayers and sacrifices? he replied
in ten verses of which two are given below:
(1) In the beginning there arose the Prajpati, the firstborn Lord of all that exists. He holds by His power the heavens
and the earth. To Him we should offer our prayers and
sacrifices.
(2) Prajpati, the Lord of all creatures, who gives life and
strength to all that exists, from whose body emanate the
individual souls like sparks from fire; who is the Purifier of all
souls, whose commands all creatures revere and obey; whose
shadow is immortality and mortality; to Him we should offer
our prayers and sacrifices.
The same Prajpati the true, just and righteous Lord of the
universe and God of all gods (Devadeva) was addressed in the
Rgveda as Dyaus-Pitara or the Father in heaven and the
Protector of all. In the second book of the Rgveda (Ch. 3rd,
verse 20) we read Dyaus me pit jnit nbhi ratra which

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

means, That shining or self-effulgent Spirit Who dwells in the

heavens, is my father and protector, my progenitor or producer,
and in Him lies the source of all things. Later on the same
Dyaus-Pitara was called Zens-Pitara or Jupitar in Greek
mythology who also became Jehova of the Jews and Yaveh
or Father in heaven of the Christians.
Again the Motherly aspect of the Divine Being was called
in the Rgveda Aditi the unflinching and immutable support
of the universe. She is described in another hymn of the
Rgveda as follows:
Aditi is in the heavens and in the illumined space that
pervades between heaven and earth, the Mother of all Devas
or gods as well as the Creator of all animate and inanimate
objects. She is also the Father and Protector of all; She is the
Son and the Creator; by Her grace She saves from sin the souls
of those who worship Her. She gives unto Her children
everything that is worth giving. She dwells in the forms of all
Devas or bright spirits; She is all that is born and all that will
be born. She is all in all.(Rgveda Book 2, ch. VI, verse
19). Thus we see that in ancient India God was conceived as
both the Father and the Mother of the universe. In no other
scriptures of the world than the Vedas and in no other religion
than that of the Hindus is the personal God described as the
Father and the Mother, the efficient and the material cause of
the universe.
As long as the conception of God remains as extra-cosmic,
separate from and dwelling outside of nature which is passive
so long will He appear as the Father or the efficient cause of
the universe while nature appears to be the material cause. But
the more we comprehend God as immanent and resident in
nature, the more clearly we understand that God is our Mother
as well as our Father. When we realize that the feminine element
in nature or the material cause is nothing but a part of the

The Worship of the Divine Mother

63

manifested Divine Energy and inseparable from the Vir

Purua the Supreme Being or the masculine element, then we
understand that God does not, like a carpenter or a potter create
or fashion the phenomena out of the materials which exist
outside of Himself, but that He projects by the process of
evolution everything out of His own body wherein dwell all
matter and forces (akti) of the world. This idea seems to
harmonise with the scientific conception of cosmic Energy.
Modern science traces the whole phenomenal universe back
to the state of eternal Energy. The doctrine of evolution,
correlation of forces, persistence of energy, all these clearly
prove that the phenomena of the whole universe and the various
forces of the external and internal world are but the expressions
of the one eternal Energy. The theory of evolution explains only
the mode in which that eternal energy produces this phenomenal
universe. Science has disproved the old theory of creation out
of nothing, through the fiat of an extra-cosmic God and, has
shown that something can never come out of nothing. Science
teaches that the universe existed in a potential state in that
energy, and gradually through the process of evolution the whole
potentiality has become kinetic or actual.
That eternal energy is not an unintelligent energy, but is
intelligent. Wherever we cast our eyes, either in the external
or internal world, we find the expression, not of a fortuitous
or accidental combination of matter and mechanical forces, but
of regular laws guided by definite purpose. This universe is not
a chaos but a Cosmos, one harmonious whole. It is not an
aimless chain of changes which we call evolution, but there is
an orderly hidden purpose at every step of evolution. Therefore,
that energy is intelligent. We may call this self-existing,
intelligent, eternal Cosmic energy the Mother of the Universe.
She is the source of infinite forces and infinite phenomena. This,
eternal Energy is called in Saskta Prakti (Latin Procreatrix),

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

the creative power of the universe. She is described in Hindu

scriptures thus:

U r U
Z H
Thou art the Par Prakti or the Divine Energy of the
Supreme Being. Of Thee is born everything of the universe,
therefore Thou art the Mother of the universe.
As all the forces of nature are but the manifestations of this
Divine Energy, She is called All-powerful. Wherever there is
the expression of any force or power in the universe, there is
the manifestation of the eternal Prakti or the Divine Mother.
It is more appropriate to call that Energy mother than father,
because like a mother, that Energy holds within Her the germ
of the phenomenal universe before evolution, develops and
sustains it, projects it in space and preserves it when it is born.
She is the Mother of the Trinitythe Creator, Preserver and
the Destroyer. She is the source of all activity. She is the akti,
force in action. A creator, when deprived of his creative power,
is no longer the creator. As the creative power is one of the
expressions of that eternal Energy, the creator or Brahm is
looked upon by the Hindus as the child of the Universal Divine
Mother, so, too, is the Preserver Viu, and the Destroyer iva.
In the Rgveda we read; The Divine Mother saysI am
the Queen of the universe, the giver of all wealth and fruits
of works. I am Intelligent and Omniscient. Although I am one,
by My powers I appear as manifold. I cause war for protecting
men, I kill the enemy and bring peace on earth. I stretch out
heaven and earth. I have produced the Father. As the wind
blows by itself, so I produce all phenomena by My own will.
I am independent and responsible to none. I am above the sky
and beyond this earth. My glory is the phenomenal universe;
such am I by My power. (Rgveda, X. hymn 125).
Thus the Divine Mother is described as all in all. We live

65

The Worship of the Divine Mother

and move and have our existence in that Divine mother. Who
can live for a moment if that Divine energy cease to manifest?
She is the producer of every event that occurs in the universe.
She makes one appear good, spiritual and divine, while it is
She who makes another appear as wicked and sinful; since it
is through Her power that one performs virtuous deeds or
commits sinful acts. But She is beyond good and evil, beyond
virtue and vice. Her forces are neither good nor evil, although
they appear so to us when we look at them from different
standpoints and compare them with one another.
When that all-pervading divine energy manifests, it expresses
itself in two sets of opposite forces. The one set has the tendency
towards God and is called Vidy in Saskta; the other tends
towards worldliness and is called Avidy. The one leads to
freedom (Moka) and happiness, while the other to bondage and
suffering.
This Vidy akti is worshipped by the Hindus as the Divine
Mother in various forms under different names such asDurg,
Kl, Bhavn etc. At the same time the Avidy akti is regarded
as subordinate to Vidy aspect, like Her female attendants.
Those who worship the Divine Mother pray to Her saying
O Mother Divine! Thou art the eternal Energy, the infinite
source of the universe. Thy powers manifest in the variety of
names and forms. Being deluded by Thy power of Avidy
(ignorance) we forget Thee, and take pleasure in the playthings
of the world. But when we worship Thee and take refuge in
Thee, Thou makest us free from ignorance and worldliness, and
givest eternal happiness to Thine own children.

Tripura Upaniad
K. Subramanian

This Upaniad is derived from Rgveda and is one among

the nine kta Upaniads. This explains about the r Cakra
and worship of the Dev Parakti. This also details about
Pacadakar Mantra for meditating on TripuraThe Goddess
Prvat.
There are 16 Mantras in this Upaniad and begins, as usual,
with a nti Mantra:
Tripuropaniad

U cU cUU
S S U U U
c c mQU
U UH ! !! !!!
May my speech stay permanently in my mind and my mind
in the speech. O Self-effulgent one, reveal Yourself to me. May
Speech and Mind be carriers of Veda to me. May not all that
I have heard depart from me. I shall join together day and night
through study. I shall tell what is verbally true. I shall tell what
is mentally true. May Brahman protect me. May That protect
the speaker. May That protect memay That protect the
speakermay That protect the speaker.

SU US U CU
DU U U UU U H 1H
There are three cities and three well shown pathways. On
the r Cakra form, there are alphabets such as etc.,
(3x16). Tripura (Goddess Prvatakti) also called Tripurasundar,
dwells in these three Puras, Paths and Akaras. She is ageless

Tripura Upaniad

67

and shines above the Devas as Supreme Goddess, (Mother of

the vast Universe).
Three cities areGross Body (Sthula arra), Subtle Body
(Sukma arra), Causal Body (Kraa arra).
Three Paths areJna Mrga, Karma Mrga, Bhakti
Mrga.
Three Akaras are Aa, Ka, Da etc.

U
S UH 2H
Nine aktis, nine Yogas, nine Yogins all shine in the nine
Cakras. There are nine Lords, and nine Bhadrs for the spokes
of the Cakra. Also there are nine Mudrs.
Nine aktis areTripurmb, Tripurei, Tripurasundar,
Tripuravsin, Tripurar, Tripuramlin, Tripurasiddhi,
Tripurmbar, Mah Tripurasundar.
Nine Yogas areYama, Niyama, sana, Pryma,
Pratyhra, Dhyna, Dhra, Samdhi, Sahajavasth.
Nine Yogins arePraka, Gupt, Guptat, Samraday,
Kulotr, Nigarbh, Rahasy, Atirahasy, Parparti
Rahasy.
Nine Bhadrs areKmewar, Bhagaml, Nityaklinn,
Bheruna, Vahn, Mah Vajrewar, ivadut, Twarit, Kulasundar.
Nine Cakras areTrailokyamohana, Sarvparipura,
Sarvasakophi, Sarvasaubhgyadyaka, Sarvrthasdhaka,
Sarvarakkara, Sarvarogahara, Sarvasiddhi, Sarvnandamaya.
Nine Mudrs areSarvakobhi, Sarva Drvi, Sarvkari,
Sarvavay, Sarvonmdin, Sarva Mahku, Khecar, Sarva
Bjam, Sarvayoni.

U d UU U H 3H
She was one and the foremost. She became 9 and became
19 and 29 and 40.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

9 = 9 Bhadrs (as above).

19 = 5 Jnendriyas
(Vision, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting,
Touching)
5 Karmendriyas (Eyes, Ears, Nose, Hands, Feet)
5 Pras
(Pra, Apna, Vyna, Udna,
Samna)
4 Antakaraas (Mind, Intelligent, Citta, Ahakra)
29 = The above 19 +
5 Bhutas
(Agni, Vyu, ka, Apa, Pthv)
5 Sub-Pras
(Nga, Kirikara, Kurma, Devadatta,
Dhanajaya)
40 = Twenty-four Tattvas + 1 Mula Vidy + 1 Tula Vidy +
1 Avidy + 3 Karmas (Sacita, Prrabdha, gm) + 2 aktis
(varaa and Vikepa) + 3 Guas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas) + 4
Avasths (Jgrat, Swapna, Suupti, Turya) + 1 Samai or Viva)
May that Dev (Tripura) Having 3 energies (Icch akti,
Kriy akti, Jna akti) encircle me as a fond loving
mother.

U UU
UU U U UH 4H
In the beginning the Jyoti which was dependent on the 5
Indriyas were blazing upwards; but later came downwards
due to Rajas Gua and Tamas Gua. That Jyoti (Light) was
ageless and unchangeable. The Jyoti that gives gladness and
everlasting bliss in the Candramaala is tmajyoti. All the
Jyoti Maalas (spheres) shine forth with this light.

Sd U S CUU
U U H 5H
The
The
The
The

3
3
3
3

Lines (Icch akti, Kriy akti, Jna akti)

Avasths (Jgrat, Swapna, Suupti)
Abodes of the Avasths (Eyes, Neck, Heart)
Worlds (Bhu, Bhuva, Sva)

69

Tripura Upaniad

The 3 Guas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas)all these group of

3 is Parakti. This is varaa akti.
This Parakti (Tripura) dwells along with Kmewara
(Bindu) at the centre of the triangled diagram of r Cakra drawn
with Mantras. This akti is also called Mdanya or Madana
Kmewar.
(r Cakra is a sacred geometrical
diagram for worship. The Sktas consider
this as the holiest. Five downward
pointing triangles representing Dev
intersect with four upward pointing
triangles representing iva forming 43
triangles including the central triangle
in which 3 Bindus are shown. The
presiding deity of r Cakra is TripuraSundar.)

XU U h
ScUUcU cU L H 6H
The varaa Devats (Nityas) are:
1. Madantik
6. Siddhimatt
2. Mlin
7. Lajj
3. Magal
8. Mati
4. Subhg
9. Tu
5. Sundar
10. I

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Pu
Lakm
Um
Lalit
Llayant

Ud SU
S DU U U U H 7H
Thus attended by the Nityas (varaa Devats), Madant
(Tripurasundar) dwells in Eternal Bliss along with iva. Those
seekers (Mumukus) who know this ivakma Sundar, attains
Brahmaloka (Videha Mukti).
Those who worship Her r Cakra and live a pious life,

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

enters Heaven after death and, after enjoying there, gradually,

merge with the Supreme Tripura (Brahmaloka), (Karma Mukti).
After explaining thus the r Cakra Upsan, the Upaniad
now proceeds to detail about di Vidy or r Vidy Upsan.

UU U
U M lH 8H
Pacadakar Mantra is di Vidy or r Vidy and is
the greatest Mantra of Dev.
Kma
=

Has
=
U
Yoni
=

Mtariv
=

Kamal =

Abhram
=
U
Vajrapi =

Indra
=

Guh
=
OU
Punarguh
=
OU
Sakal
=
Myay
=
OU

OU UUOU OU
(Ka E I La HrmHa Sa Ka Ha La HrmSa Ka La
Hrm)
These 15 alphabets are Praava Mantras. She is tma
aktiViwamohin.

DU # qUS U
CU H 9H
The seekers of liberation meditate on Her 3 Praava
alphabets (i.e., 6th Ha, 7th Sa and Vahnisrathi Ka) Ha Sa
Ka and attain immortality.

U U U U SU
U U U H 10H
Ha, Sa, Ka, is three worlds (Bhu, Bhuva, Sva). The
Jaganmt (Parakti) dwells in these three worlds. I pray that
Dev who has three faces and nine lines and also the core of
sound in between Hrm or O.

Tripura Upaniad

71

She is the Kla Swarupa from Minute to Kalpa (Span of

Time). She is Nitya (Eternal) 15 Tithis. She is the embodiment
of 16 Kals. She is residing at the centre of Tripura. She is
the Mother of Universe.
The Soasa Kals are
Pra (Hirayagarbha) Agni
Manas
Mantra
raddh
Apa
Annam
Karma
ka
Pthv Retas
Universe
Vyu
Indriya Meditation Universal Names

m Um S S U
M U M H 11H
Those who desire material gains worship the different forms
of Parakti (Tripura), who dwells in the three worlds having
her face set in the Sun and Moon spheres and in the symbols
of rounded breasts, and who assumes different forms; attain their
wants fulfilled.

Ud Uc
U S h H 12H
Whoever prays and offers Naivedya such as colourful and
Decorated fish, Goats flesh and cooked Rice etc., to the Great
Dev will attain Siddhi in Puya Loka.

@ UL H 13H
di Parakti (Aru or Gaur) along with Saraswat and
Lakm pierces with 5 flowery arrows and binds those who are
attached to material desires.
(The five flowery arrows are the 5 sense impressions. When
consciousness perceives these, the outward directed arrows binds
the aspirant and bestow whatever he wish to. These 5 flowery
arrows together with the bow are personified as Kmadevas.)
This great Vidy, which fulfils the desires of all beings is

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

the primary Vidy of r Parakti. This indeed the akti of

Parabrahma or tman (i.e., it is nothing but Brahma Vidy).
One who knows and understands this shall escape misery and
will become the knower of Brahma Vidy and shall thus escape
from all bondages and attain liberation. In this way, the
Upaniad first gives out the Rahasya Mantra in a code and
then describes that this pertains to Parakti who is none other
than the Supreme formless Parabrahma.

U UU
UU H 14H
Kmewara (iva) and Kmewar (akti) are both equally
great. Equal in energy and equal in power. They equally grant
boon to the aspirants.

Ud U VU S
S U MH 15H
The Parakti, among the two, who is ageless Mother of
the Universe, removes the illusions of Mind of those who dive
deep in the Jna Yoga, and convert them to become one with
the Tripura (Brahma).

U U UU
U lH 16H
OU OUH
Tripura Devs this Upaniad shows the meaning of Okra
contained in the Mah Vkyas. This is the great Rgveda Sra,
Yajurveda Sra, Smaveda Sra and Atharvaveda Sra, and
also the meanings of all other Vidys.
Hrm means O and O is Hrm.
Thus ends the Upaniad.

akti in Upaniads
K. V. B. Sastry

There are eight Upaniads which mainly give details of

akti. The following are the Upaniads:
1. Tripuropaniad (Atharvaa Veda) 2. Tripuratpinyupaniad
(Rgveda) 3. Devyupaniad 4. Bahvcopaniad (Rgveda) 5.
Bhavanopaniad (Atharvaaveda) 6. Saraswatrahasyopaniad
(Ka Yajurveda) 7. Stopaniad (Atharvaa Veda)
8. Saubhgyalakmupaniad (Rgveda).
akti is the power that enables to do things. It is also known
as cosmic energy, which moves through the entire universe. It
represents The Great Divine Mother, in Hinduism. akti is
responsible for creation. Also it is an agent of all change. akti
embodies the active feminine energy of iva, is identified as
Prvat.
The Dev akti is the power aspect of the Supreme Spirit.
We find more details about akti in Tantra stra.
Now let us know a few points how akti in Upaniads
enables human beings enlighten themselves by the application
of the knowledge of meditation. To understand Upaniads we
have to learn the meanings of each word in each verse of
Upaniad. If one reads several times he will be able to
understand the hidden meaning which conveys a message to
every human being to get himself purified.
In Stopaniad it is said about St that she is the Primordial
Cosmic Energy. She is the great Dev akti. To get more details
of this Upaniad one has to read the Upaniad verse by verse.
In brief it is said about the great Cosmic Energy in St.
In Tripuratpinyupaniad it is said about how Moka can
be attained. One has to drive away all the worldly thoughts.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

Completely disconnecting from the materialistic world one can

attain Moka. Then one realizes that he is none other than
Brahma, i.e., Aha Brahmsmi. Those who want to realize
Brahma, they have to meditate upon Brahma. One will get
tremendous akti, when he detaches himself completely from
the materialistic world.
In Devyupaniad also the power of the Goddess Durg is
narrated. In this Upaniad also it is said how one has to pray
to the Goddess Durg. One has to surrender totally to the
Goddess Durg.
In all the above mentioned Upaniads we find the ways
and guidance to concentrate on the power of akti. Here, one
has to understand the meaning of each verse with the help of
those who are thorough in understanding.
In brief akti in Upaniads can be understood only after
understanding it properly. Manana, Nidhidhysana is very
important. One has to make himself pure. If one is lucky enough
to get guidance from a real pundit who can explain in the way
it should be, he understands the power of akti. The person
who explains must be pure hearted.

Divine Mother in Upaniads

K. V. Gajendragadkar

Worship of womanhood as cosmic Power or Supreme

Goddess is not unknown to the ancient literature in India. The
descriptions of various goddesses in the new Upaniads may
serve as the ideals of womanhood to be realized, however
partially it may be, by all individuals and races. They indicate
the height of culture that the thinkers of the time had reached;
for the one significant and universal determinant of true culture
is respect of and admiration for, and appreciation of the tender
and soft qualities in the woman, in all her varied formsas
mother, wife and daughter. We find that terrific instinct in
woman as emphasized by certain Upaniad which is also noticed
by modern psychologists as parental instinct in mothers
animals and womenparticularly when her young ones are in
danger of losing their lives. Tenderness and terror go hand in
hand not only in human consciousness, but also in divine
personalities. The present attempt of our ladies to share the
political responsibilities and face and resist bravely the atrocities
of the barbarous, uncultured boors, is just a faint imitation of
what we find in a completed form in the great Mother, Kl.
The following descriptions of the various aspects of the Goddess
would be found interesting and instructive to our readers.
Dev is pre-eminently a deity of the ktas, and the
description of the different goddesses in the new Upaniads
unmistakably shows the influence of Shaktism, which is also
responsible for the introduction of the technique of Tantrism into
these Upaniads. It is significant to see how these kta
Upaniads combine the beautiful and the terrific in their

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

description of their particular goddess, Mother, or Power

incarnate; for example, the Sumukh Upaniad tells how the
goddess akti should be meditated upon as a beautiful young
girl of sixteen, who is at the same time seated on a corpse,
and is adorned with garments and ornaments and besmeared
with blood. In the Bahvcopaniad the following different
goddesses are mentioned: Mahtripurasundar, Blmbik, Bagal,
Mtag, Svayamvarakaly, Bhuvanevar, Cmu, Ca,
Vrh, Tiraskri, Rjamtag, ukaymal, Laghuymal,
Avruh, Pratygir, Dhumvat, Svitr, arasvat, and
Brahmnandakal. There may be Upaniads dealing with each
one of these goddesses emphasizing the various aspects of
Power. But we find that the Upaniads in which they are
mentioned, describe Mahtripurasundar only and identify her
with the rest. The Saubhgyalakm-Upaniad contains a TantricoYogic description of the goddess, Mahlakm whose worship,
we are told, secures the knowledge called rvidy. Goddess
Durg forms the subject-matter of the Tripuratpinyupaniad.
The Guhyaklyupaniad contains a very splendid description of
the macrocosmic meditation on the great goddess Mahdev. The
Bahvcopaniad, the Saraswatrahasyopaniad, and the DevUpaniads give further characterization of the Dev.
The Bahvcopaniad makes the goddess, Mahtripurasundar,
the object of its praise. The author of this Upaniad tells us
that nothing existed in the beginning but the Goddess alone,
who afterwards created the world with all animate and inanimate
objects. She is the supreme power that permeates the three
worlds and the three bodies, and enlightens them both internally
and externally. She is all forms, and she fills all space and time
with her limbs. She is all sciencesgood, bad and indifferent.
She is verily the Self, and also everything else that is not-Self.
Thus she is both immanent and transcendent. She is a wave
incarnate on the ocean of the bliss of conscious existence. She

Divine Mother in Upaniads

77

is the Self, the universe, all gods and in fact, all that exists.
The only true thing is Lalit, and the supreme homogeneous
Brahma is its inner meaning. She can be known only by direct
and intuitive experience, as she stands for the oneness of the
Self and Brahma. This piece of knowledge, we are told, is
known as rvidy, for the further details about which the
rvidymnyopaniad may also be referred to........
Goddess Sarasvat is described in the SaraswatrahasyaUpaniad, as the daughter of the four-faced God Brahm, and
as supremely fair, with red lips, and with body fully adorned
with ornaments. She has four hands in which she holds the
Akaml, books and weapons. She is the goddess of speech;
she is faith, retentive power and intellect incarnate. She is the
wife of the Creator. She is said to dwell in Kashmir, but we
are told at the same time that she has her home on the tip of
her devotees tongue. She is the goddess of Poetry. She is
poetically described as one whose hair are rendered beautiful
by the rays of the moon, the Lord of Night. She is the river
of nectar, that removes the distress of worldly existence. She
is verily Brahma, and hence has ever that Brahmic nature. She
creates the world by means of Prakti, but is, in reality Purua,
the Supreme Person.
The Goddess Durg is described in the Dev Upaniad as
living in the lotus within the heart, and as refulgent as the
morning sun. She has three eyes, and wears red garments. She
is mild, relieves her devotees from the fear of worldly existence,
and is kindness incarnate. She fulfils all desires of her devotees,
and is therefore called the heavenly milch cow. She is the
goddess of Nationality. She is regarded as unknowable; for even
Brahm and other gods do not know her real nature. She is
infinite, unborn, incomprehensible, and One because of her
omnipresence. She is also not-One, because she is the whole
universe. She is verily the Brahma, and hence she is described

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

in contradictory terms at the same time, for she transcends all

contradictions, such as Veda and not-Veda, Knowledge and notKnowledge, born and not-born. That beyond which there is
nothing is called Durg is the definition of Durg given in this
Upaniad.
We could give only a brief account of only the three aspects
of the ideal and divine womanhoodas Mahtripurasundar,
Sarasvat, and Durg. As one might have easily gathered from
the descriptions given above, this is a tendency in all these new
Upaniads, dealing with various goddesses, to identify ultimately
every goddess with the Absolute or Brahma and regard her as
only an aspect of it. This is mainly due to the dominant influence
of the main Upaniads that taught absolute monism. The authors
of almost all the new Upaniads represented and restated the
fundamental and ultimate principles of philosophy of the main
Upaniads, only in a more popular and simpler way than was
done by the former. They attempted to systematize and incorporate
the popular ideas in the systems of thought preached by the
earlier philosophers of the ancient Upaniads. Descriptions of
the various goddesses as but aspects of the one absolute Brahma
is only an instance in point to illustrate the general tendency
of the New-Upanishadic Movement.

With the help of the dyakti; God sports as an Incarnation.

God, through His akti incarnates Himself as man. Then alone
does it become possible for the incarnation to carry on His
work. Everything is due to akti of the Divine Mother.
Sri Ramakrishna

akti in the Kena Upaniad

R. P. Dwivedi

The concept of akti (power) has been central to the Vedic

thought. In their attempt to define Brahman, the Upaniads have,
time and again, stressed His all-powerfulness or omnipotence.
It is the supremacy of his power that constitutes the basis of
creation, its nourishment, protection and its dissolution. Brahman
represents itself in the universe as Sat (stable, immutable
existence), Cit (motional power of active consciousness) and
nanda (transcendent, all blissful, perfect beatitude) and is the
supreme goal of human life.
Brahman is the inexhaustible source of all akti (power).
From that infinite ocean of strength (Brahman) springs Prakti,
all forms of life, mind, vital force, sense-organs and their
presiding deities, which are but its numberless waves. And just
as no wave, however mighty, can be independent of the Ocean;
no form of life can claim to be independent of its source
the Brahman. And what is akti (power)? It is the self-existent,
self-cognitive, self-effective power of the Lord (Purua), which
expresses itself in workings of Prakti (nature). Prakti is the
executive agency of the Purua, which creates, controls and
sustains the universe through His various instruments like gods
and living beings.

S
UH

(Muakopaisad II. 1. 3)
It is from Brahman that the Pra (life and world of
activity), the Mind (feelings), Cognition (sense-organs), Sky
(ether) and five elements i.e., the wind, the fire, the water and
the earth which supports all, are born. (Muakopaniad

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

II. 1. 3). From Brahman alone are also Devas (gods) variously
born. S U (Muakopaniad II. 1. 7) and
He only has endowed them with special supernatural powers.
Since Brahman is the Absolute Lord of all that is in Cosmos,
gods represent the divine power in its great and fundamental
cosmic functioning; they are not the functioning themselves but
a part of the divinity which is essential for their operations. Gods
are the positive cosmic self-representations of Brahman and their
greatness and glory is in fact His greatness and glory. That God
(Brahman) is all-powerful and is verily the strength of all those
who are powerful has been declared by Lord Ka when He
says U (Gt VII. 11) Of the strong I am
strength and again Whatever being there is, endowed with
glory, grace, and vigour know that to have sprung from a
fragment of my splendour.

lm
U

(Gt X. 41)
The eternal truth of Gods omnipotence has been expressed
by a striking apologue (moral fable) of the Kena Upaniad
which is given below
Once upon a time, Brahman, out of His kindness, fought
against Asuras (demons) and won victory for the gods who felt
so much elated and puffed up that they grew exceedingly proud.
They thought that they alone had attained victory and they alone
were worthy of glory. The Brahman then perceived their pride
and, in order to annul it, appeared before them as a terrible Yaka
(Daemon). The gods did not know who this tremendous and
mysterious form was. Looking at that strange huge creature they
cried, Who is that being who fills us with wonder? and they
spoke to Agni Jtavedas, the god of fire, the conscious force
of material universe and the knower of all cosmic phenomena
to find out the nature and identity of that curious creature. Proud

akti in the Kena Upaniad

81

of his vital force and intellectual faculty Agni saidVery well,

I will find out his nature and whereabouts. So saying Agni
rushed to the Yaka who asked himWho art thou? Firegod saidI am fire-god, Jtavedas the glorious and all
knowing deity. The Yaka then askedTell me, what valour
do you possess in you? Fire-god repliedI can burn everything
that exists on earth. On hearing this boastful reply of Fire the
Yaka put a straw before fire and asked him to burn it up. Fire
swooped over it, tried his best, but utterly failed to burn it. Then
Agni was compelled to return disappointed over his mission to
discover who this creature was.
After the crestfallen Agni returned another mighty god Vyu
Mtariwan (Wind-god) who is considered the great LifePrinciple endowed with the power of infinite movement and
expansion, rose and made a confident advance upon the Yaka
and met with the same formidable challengeWho art thou?
and What is the force in thee? The wind proud of his powers
and merits repliedI am wind (Vyu). Mtariwan is my
another glorious name. The Yaka then askedTell me what
power do you possess? Vyu proudly said, I can blow
up (without any support) whatever there exists in the world.
Hearing this haughty utterance the Yaka saidHere is a small
blade of grass. Lift it up and blow it away. The wind
with all its strength tried to blow the blade of grass but could
not succeed in doing so. Utterly ashamed, the wind went
back disappointed, for it could not find out who the grotesque
creature was.
And finally other gods requested their king Indra, Maghavan
Devarja to find out the real nature and power of the tremendous
strange creature. Indra, proud of his physical prowess and
intellectual, divine attainments approached the Yaka to know
all about him, but as Indra came near, he disappeared. But Indra
didnt give up his quest like other gods and kept standing there

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

in the ethereal region. And lo! to his utter amazement there

appeared a lady of radiant beauty named Haimavat Um,
daughter of Himlaya and divine wisdom incarnate. Indra asked
herWhat is this great mystery which fills us with wonder?
Um saidIt (Yaka) is Brahman. It is through Brahman that
you are victorious. In truth you owe your victory to Brahman.
It is through His power that you live and act, for you are all
instruments in His hands. Your vanity is false and is based on
ignorance. Um therefore represents supreme nature from
whom the whole cosmic action takes its birth. She is the summit
of supreme consciousness of Brahman without whose will
nothing can happen. The gods realized their mistake and knew
their limitations. But because these three DevasAgni, Vyu
and Indra were the first that came near to Brahman, they exceed
other gods.
This parable of gods illustrates that Brahman is all-powerful
and all our faculties have no power independent of Him.
Moreover, it also teaches us that the Absolute Brahman is
unknowable, unthinkable and infinite transcendence. He assumes
deified personal aspects (like Um) to make Himself known to
His earnest seekers and devotees.

Hymn to Annapur
U UU UU
UU UEU
U UEU
U U EUH 1H
O benign Mother, who pourest out upon us Everlasting
Bliss!
Thou, the Ocean of Beauty! Bestower of boons and of
fearlessness!
O Supreme Purifier, who washest away all sins!
Thou, the visible Ruler of the world, the sanctifier of King
Himlayas line!
O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

U%U
UUUU
QUUmU
UL LU UEU
U U EUH 2H
Thou whose apparel sparkles, sewn with innumerable gems;
Who wearest a golden sari to heighten Thine unsurpassable
loveliness!
Thou on whose comely bosom reposes a necklace of many
pearls;
Who dost breathe forth a fragrance, being anointed with
saffron and sandal-paste!
O benign Mother! Thou whose form is soothing to the eyes!
O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

U UU cUU
UU UU
ESUU UEU
U U E
UH 3H
Bestower of Yogas bliss! Destroyer of the foe!
Fulfiller of wealth and of righteousness!
Thou who appearest like waves of light, or the radiance of
sun, moon and fire!
Protectress of the three worlds! Giver of wealth and of all
things wished for !
O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine
Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

UU U U VUU
U UU VU UU
mUUUU
UEU
U U EUH 4H
O Gaur ! O Um ! O akar ! O Kaumr!
Thou who hast Thy dwelling in the cave of sacred Mount
Kailsa!
Thou who dost reveal the meaning of the holy Vedas;
Who art the very Embodiment of the mystic syllable O;
Who openest the gates of Liberation!
O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

UU rUUU
UU VU U
EU UEU
U U EUH 5H
Thou who bearest the manifold world of the visible and the
invisible;

Hymn to Annapur

89

Who holdest the universe in Thy womb!

Thou who severest the thread of the play we play upon
this earth!
Who lightest the lamp of wisdom; who bringest joy to the
heart of iva, Thy Lord!
O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine
Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

UEU EU
UU EU
U U UEU
U U EUH 6H
O Bhagavat! Thou who art the Sovereign of the world!
O Mother Annapur! O Supreme Deity! Ocean of mercy!
Thou whose long tresses, falling to Thy knees;
Ripple restlessly like a rivers current and sparkle like a blue
gem!
Mother, ever eager to give us food, bliss and all good
fortune!
O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine
Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

SU SU
U EU UU VU U U
U U U UEU
U U EUH 7H
Thou who revealest all the letters, from the first to the last!
Mother of the cosmos, gross and subtle, and of its Lord as
well!
Ruler of earth and heaven and the nether world,
Who dost embody in Thyself the waves of creation,
sustenance and dissolution!

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

Eternal uncaused Cause, who art the thick darkness of the

cosmic dissolution!
Thou who bringest desire to the heart of man;
who dost bestow on him well-being in this world!
O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine
Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

SU%U U S
SU U UEU
QCUU U UEU
U U EUH 8H
Thou who holdest in Thy right hand a ladle of gold studded
with jewels,
And in Thy left hand holdest a cup of delicious food!
Thou giver of good fortune, who dost fulfil the wishes of
Thy worshippers.
And bringest about their welfare with a mere wink of Thine
eye!
O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine
Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

UU U
AUU EU
SVU U UEU
U U EUH 9H
Thou whose radiance burns a million times more bright
than sun, moon and fire:
For whom the light of the moon is but the shadow of Thy
lips;
Whose earrings sparkle like the sun, moon and fire;
who shinest like the sun and moon!
Thou, the Supreme Empress, who in Thy four hands holdest
rosary, book, goad and dice!

91

Hymn to Annapur

O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine

Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

U UU U
SU U EEUU
U UU UEU
U U EUH 10H
Protectress of the Katriya line! Giver of utter fearlessness!
Benign Mother of all! Ocean of infinite mercy!
Thou, the Bestower of instantaneous Liberation, the Giver
of Eternal Good!
Provider of ivas welfare! Destroyer of every bodily ill!
O Thou, the Queen Empress of holy Kashi ! Divine
Annapur!
Be gracious unto me and grant me alms.

VUU
Uh KZ U H 11H

O Annapur! Thou who never lackest for anything, who

holdest akaras heart in thrall!
O Prvat! Grant me alms; I supplicate Thee for the boon
of wisdom and renunciation above all.

UEU
Qp S H 12H
My Mother is the Goddess Prvat; my Father is iva, the
Lord whose power none can withstand;
Their worshippers I own as my kith and kin; and the three
worlds are my native land.

ktam
H. H. Sri Mahaswamigal

Uh KZ

VUU
U H

Oh Mother Annapur! Goddess who feeds the entire

humanity! Goddess who is the Fullness of Infinity! Oh, Thou
life giving spouse of iva! Give me the alms of not only the
food for physical up-keep but also That food which confers
Enlightenment and Passionlessness.
While akara extols each of the divinities as one born and
bred in that particular cult, there is no denying the fact that he
is particularly overwhelmed with intense love when he sings
of akti, the Divine Mother, when the flood-gates of poesy burst
open.
akti, the Power of Brahman, is not merely My, which
is responsible for this appearance of the world. She is also the
One who transports the yearning heart to the state transcending
My.
In the loka above from Annapuraka akara prays for
being fed with the Ambrosia of illumination. We have the story
current in Kerala that the Divine Mother actually blessed the
child akara with her milk which is the essence of enlightenment.
Among akaras hymns, a sizeable amount are addressed
to the Mother Goddess, Saundarya Lahar standing foremost.
One of the names in akara Aottara is Saundaryalaharmukhyabahu-stotra-vidyaka.
Some scholars are even of the opinion that akara was
not an out-and-out Smarta, but one with a Samaya slant i.e.,
he had particular leanings towards the Samaya form of worshipping

ktam

93

akti. The code of worship of akti, r Vidy, owes much to

akara.
In many of his Stotras on the Divine Mother he offers mental
worship with all the rich and loving exuberance and paraphernalia
of a regal Puj. He has also composed a Stotra on Dev in
which a foot from the Vedas forms the fourth foot of each stanza
(Tripurasundar Veda Pdastava). Numerous are the shrines
which claim the installation of the r Cakra by akara.
Kmakoi is the very consummation of akaras ardent
devotion to the Divine Mother. Emerging out of the Dakinmurti
of Eternal Peace, akara finally merged in the Eternal Grace
called Kmakoi.
The Absolute is Pura, full and limitless. The Prapaca
(universe) which is infinitely varied, is also limitless. Even if
the limitless Prapaca is taken away from the limitless Supreme,
the limitless Supreme will remain intact. This truth is stated in
an Upaniad Mantra.
The Divine Mother is the Creative Principle of the Universe,
the My or akti aspect of Brahman, which makes the infinitive
One, appears as the infinite Many. She presents the formless
Supreme in finite forms. It is only by Her grace that one can
transcend the My and obtain the Atraitic realisation of the
One without a second.
There are ten main Upaniads and one of them is Kena
Upaniad. In this Upaniad a truth exposited by the Veda is
explained by means of a story. According to this story, the
Devas (celestial beings) once decided to celebrate their victory
over the Asuras (demons). At this festival, all the Devas were
filled with a feeling of self importance and pride in their own
prowess. To cure them of their egoism, God appeared in the
florin of a Yakam, a bright apparition which touched the earth
below and the heavens above. The identity of this phenomenon,
the Devas were unable to comprehend. Agni (Fire) was sent

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

to find what it was. To a question from the Yakam, Agni said

that he was Jtavedas, having the power to reduce anything
and everything to ashes. Thereupon the Yakam threw in front
of Agni a blade of grass and asked him to consume it. Even
though Agni concentrated all his powers, he was unable to burn
it. He came back humbled. Similarly Vyu or Mtariv, also
failed to move the blade of grass, even though he concentrated
all his fury to blow it off. Finally Indra, the Lord of the Devas,
approached the Yakam. The apparition vanished and before the
crest-fallen Indra stood the form of a damsel whose lustre
illuminated the entire place. She was no other than Um or
Haimavat, the Divine Mother, from whom everyone and
everything derive sustenance. This Jyotisvarupa informed Indra
that the Yakam who was present a while back was no other
than the Paramtm, the source of all energy and life, and that
if the Devas had succeeded in conquering the Asuras, it was
due to the grace of that Paramtm who infused the Devas
with their respective powers. Indra became enlightened and he
communicated this knowledge to the other Devas. This knowledge
destroyed the demon of egoism from their hearts, which then
became pure.
Um, the Divine Mother, is the personification of the Sound
Manifestation of the Absolute which is called Praava, Aum.
She is brightness in light and fragrance in flowers. She has the
illumination of a thousand suns and yet has the soothing coolness
of a thousand moons. Along with Brahman, She is the Supreme
Self or Paramtma-Svarupa sung by the Veda. Let us surrender
ourselves at the Mothers feet which the Vedas praise, get
purified of heart, and attain lasting bliss.
The Divine Mother is the soul of the Vara or alphabet.
The stras (Scriptures) which are based on abda (sound) are
therefore forms of the Divine Mother or Par Devat. abda
gives rise to forms, visible shapes. It is observed that when

ktam

95

particular musical notes are played near a pond, the resultant

vibrations induce particles of light dust, floating on the water,
to arrange themselves into specific shapes. Thus abda and Rupa
(sound and form) have close affinity. This also accounts for the
sanctity of Mantras, which are words and letters combined and
arranged in specific forms. The repetition of a Mantra, with
devotion, earns for us the grace of the particular manifestation
of God to whom that Mantra is dedicated. The Divine Mother
is the soul of all Mantras.
The conception of Divinity as Mother is unique and
inspiring. In human relationship the affection of a mother for
her child is unsurpassed. Similarly, the depth of the Divine
Mothers love for her devotees is unfathomable. The grace that
flows from Her is spontaneous and irresistible. That is why the
Divine Mother as r Annapur is depicted as carrying a vessel
containing rice mixed with milk in one hand and a ladle in the
other. She is ready to distribute this food to those who pray
for it. In the abundance of Her mercy, She gives us not only
food that sustains our body, but also Jna (knowledge) that
nourishes the soul. When r di akara prayed to Mother
Annapur to give him alms, he prayed not only for himself
but for all mankind. We are all members of one family, being
the children of the Divine Parents, Prvat and Paramevara. It
is our duty to love, help and serve one another.
In this world, we, mortals, are so overwhelmed with Ajna
(ignorance that though we know a thing to be wrong, we are
helplessly impelled to do it. Ajna is a disease for which Jna
(enlightenment) is the only cure. The Divine Mother alone is
capable of bestowing this milk of Jna, remove our ignorance,
and satiate the hunger of our tm (soul). Like a hungry child
we must yearn for the grace of the Divine Mother, so that we
can obtain from Her the milk of enlightenment.
If we think of Her, we will not only be avoiding doing

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

wrong, but will also be fed by Her with the milk of Jna.
As a result, we will be endowed with the grace of Sarasvat,
the Goddess of Learning, and of Lakm, the Goddess of
Wealth. Not only that, physically we will be healthy and radiant
with charm (Tejas) that flows from health. We will also be
blessed with long life.
Jna will sever attachment-Pa which binds the soul to
this world. When the bond is severed, the liberated soul merges
into the limitless and all-pervasive Bliss, and is no longer
afflicted by fear, sorrow, or pain. Thus the effect of worshipping
the Divine Mother is the fulfilment of the purpose of life: the
merger of the Individual soul with the Supreme Soul. This is
the significance of the Phalaruti for the 100 verses of akaras
Saundarya Lahar.
In Muka Pacaat, r Kmakoi, the Divine Mother to as
darkish blue in colour is referred Kmk in tuti ataka, and
as saffron in colour in the Arya ataka. Saundarya Lahar
describes Ambiks colour as Arua, splendrous red of the rising
sun. Why is the colour of the same Goddess described as darkblue in one place and red in another? According to Mantrastras, Kmevara, who transcends the TrinityBrahm,
Viu, and iva is actionless and unattached. r Kmevar,
His consort who is the Supreme Parakti, seated on the left of
r Kmevara, is described to be red in colour. The sameness of
Prvat (Consort of iva), who is dark, and Parakti, (The Power
of the Absolute) who is red, is indicated in Muka Pacaat
by attributing both these colours to the Supreme Goddess.
r Kmevaras form is like that of a pure colourless crystal
which becomes invisible when immersed in water. He is thereby
conceived as formless even though He has a form. Viu and
Prvat, both dark-blue, are twin manifestations, as also iva and
Sarasvat, both white, and Brahm and Lakm, both golden
yellow. Daylight is colourless, and yet it contains all the primary

ktam

97

colours. If one of the colours is separated from the colourless

light, the rest of the colours reveal themselves. Red is the least
disturbing colour as is evident from the fact that red light is
used to develop photographic negatives. It is called infrared as
opposed to ultraviolet. Under the influence of red Parakti,
the colourless Kmevara man jests himself as Brahm, Viu,
iva and their respective consorts, Sarasvat, Lakm and Prvat
and starts the activities of the world process.
In Saundarya Lahar, r akara Bhagavatpda says that
these three Divinities Brahm, Viu and iva, started their
cosmic process when the Supreme akti knitted Her brow for
a fraction of a second. She stood beyond them all and Her red
splendour stimulated them to perform their respective functions
of creation, preservation and destruction, by Her very presence.
The lesson to be drawn from the foregoing is that the same
Supreme Being appears in diverse forms as we conceive. It is
to shower its grace in the manner we invoke it. We do it by
Mantra and Japa which sound waves are having the power
to transform themselves into the forms whose Mantras they are.
If we continuously chant the Mantra into which we are initiated,
the Supreme Parakti will shower Her grace on us by taking
the form signified by that Mantra.
She is meditated in the moon which gives soothing light
and also assuages heat. Thus she sheds her nectar rays all round.
The Par Devat whom we worship and the full Moon we
sadden the sky are related in this life. It behoves us to constantly
meditate on any chosen Mantra on an a Devat (Divinity
of our choice) so that our soul may be enveloped by that Devat,
and our thoughts by that Mantra even at the time when the
soul departs from the body. That is the path shown to us by
our sages.
In the Upaniad of the Sma Veda (the Kena), the Supreme
Goddess Kmakoi is described as the Daughter of the Himalayas.

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She is Um shining with golden jewels; is of the form of the

mystic syllable, of Okra, embodying its component syllable
of A, U and M. She is the Supreme Spiritual Wisdom. When
the Gods were beset with the pride of victory in battle, she
appeared and gave them the teaching of freedom from false pride
and egotism. We shall first pray to Her for ridding ourselves
of the sense of complacent egotism.
What should be done in an emergency? The feet of
our Mother Divine should be remembered say those whose
words we respect.
She is that Supreme Mother Goddess adored everywhere
in our Bharatavarsha, as Tulaj Bhavn in Maharashtra, as
Kra Bhavn in Kashmir, as Jvlmukh in the Punjab, as
Ambj in Gujarat, as Vindhyavsin in Uttara Pradesh, as Kl
in Bengal, as Kmkhy in Assam, as Cmu in Karnataka
as Kmk in Kanch and as Kanyakumari in the Southern end
of the country. Adored thus in hundreds of forms at different
centre in the land She is ever vigilant protecting us, as Her own
beloved children.
Among the many marks of those who have been blessed
by the Goddess, is the mark of friendliness even to those who
have evil designs on us, as also the mark of brotherly attitude
towards all women. It is said in Mukas hymn to Goddess
Kmk, Those who have been blessed by the glance of the
Goddess, take even the forest as a mansion, foe as friend and
the lip of woman a clod of earth.
The Divine Mother r Kmk is depicted as holding the
bow and the arrow. Kmadeva the God of Love also bears them.
But r Kmk is controlling Kma with Her glance. Hence
Kmk, She holds the sweet sugarcane bow representing the
minds of human beings, and the five floral arrows representing
the five senses through which the mind is influenced and is
functioning.

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ktam

If we surrender ourselves at the feet of the Divine Mother

She will help us to keep the mind and the senses under control
and purify our heart, so that we may attain perfection.
Ambik, the Mother Divine, is all important to me. I consider
Religion to be nothing but meditation upon Her lotus feet. In
the presence of our human mother best is quelled. Meditation
upon the Divine Mother quells all evil propensities. It purples
us to Perfection. Let us dedicate everyone, of our thoughts,
words and actions to Her.

Glory of Divine akti Durg

O tongue, always repeat the name of Mother Durg.
Who but your mother Durg will save you in distress?
Thou art the heavens and the earth, and Thou the netherworld;
From Thee have the twelve Goplas and Hari and iva
sprung.
The ten embodiments of Divine akti art Thou,
And Thou the ten Avatras; this time save me Thou must!
The moving and the unmoving, the gross and the subtle,
art Thou;
Creation and preservation art Thou, and the last
dissolution.
Thou art the Primal root of this manifold universe;
The mother of the three worlds, their only Saviour
art Thou;
Thou art the akti of all, and Thou Thine own
akti too.
Vaishnavacharan

Worship of the Divine Mother

Swami Ashesananda

It is difficult to trace with accuracy the genesis and history

of akti-worship in India. The germ of it can be found even
in the Vedas. Vk, the goddess of speech, and Saraswat, the
goddess of learning, were the celebrated deities of the Vedic
Aryans. Kenopaniad records that Brahm appeared before
Indra as Um Haimavat and awakened his soul from the sleep
of vain egotism. The sacred and much-valued book of the ktas
is Dev-Mhtmya. The incidents described in this scripture are
not only interesting but highly illuminating. Two aspirants, the
king Suratha and the merchant Samdhi, were troubled by the
cares and anxieties of the world. Treachery and hypocrisy of
their own kith and kin made their life extremely miserable. Being
disappointed with their family, they made their disgusted retreat
to the forest-hermitage of the sage Medhasa. They narrated their
sad tale of agony and defeat at the ungrateful hands of their
near relatives and asked him a way out of the sad plight. With
the gentle touch of his hand, the sage first pacified their wounded
hearts. Then he recounted the glory and majesty of the Divine
Mother and the efficacy of Her worship, for eradicating the evils
that torment the flesh. He asked them with all sincerity and
earnest solicitude to propitiate akti. She is the source of all
power, prosperity and happiness. Those who defy Her are
deluded and become enmeshed in the labyrinth of Sasra. She
holds the key to freedom and bestows freedom on those that
surrender to Her omnipotent power. Without adoring akti none
can attain Mukti. Knowing this, approach the Mother with
humble submission and gentle resignation, said the saint,
overflowing with the milk of human love.

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101

Afterwards the Ri narrated the story of Her divine sports

during three previous incarnations. Thrice was She invoked to
save the world from the torture and oppression of the satanic
evil-doers. She fulfilled Her promise on all these occasions and
restored peace and order on earth.
Hearing this, the two Sdhakas made up their mind to
worship Mahmythe Great Mother. They made a clay
image and invoked the presence of the Dev. For three
consecutive years they performed Her Puj with fasting and
vigils. At last their prayers were heard and the Mother was
propitiated. She granted their appeals, vouchsafing Her kind
presence. The dethroned king craved for his lost kingdom. But
the merchant, being disgusted with the evanescent world, sought
for the freedom which breaks off all chains. Their respective
desires were fulfilled by the gracious blessings of the Supreme
Mother.
The sacred treatise further lays down, for the guidance of
akti-worshippers, that they should meditate on the Deity in
three different aspects. As Mahlakm, they should look upon
Her as mild and gentle, calm and sweet. She is the goddess
of wealth and prosperity. Sitting on a blooming lotus She gazes
with a benignant eye and confers all earthly joys. As Mahsaraswat
Her face shines in lovely beauty and serene splendour. She
bestows spiritual insight and divine wisdom on those that abhor
the glittering charms of the senses. The third form of the Dev
is represented as Mahkl. She wears a garland of human skulls
round Her neck. Her hairs are dishevelled. With one of Her
hands uplifted She waves a sword for dealing a death-blow to
the demons of inhuman despotism.
Under various denominations the Dev receives adoration
from Her votaries. But Her real worship consists in viewing
all women as Her veritable manifestationsS S
. They are the real stay of the family and make for peace

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and harmony in society. Neglecting these visible and tangible

forms that adorn every earthly home, where should man go to
seek the divine presence of the Mother?
Some have offered a symbolical meaning of the terrific
Goddess. According to them, the all-destroying time has been
figuratively conceived as Mother Kl, having a dreadful face
and a protruding tongue with a shining set of teeth. Two corpses
of day and night are Her earrings. Though frightful to those
that are given to lust and passion, She is the most loving Mother
to all that have made their heart a burning-ground for Her eternal
dance. To them She is Varbhayakar, with hands outstretched
for giving the boon of protection and fearlessness. Swm
Viveknanda, being inspired by the high ideal of the ktas,
once remarkedLet us worship death! Let us embrace the
terrible, not asking that it be toned down. Let us take misery
for miserys sake! Who dares love misery and hug the form
of death, to him the Mother comes.
She destroys only to create. Her chastisement is only to
reform. Not perturbed by any misfortune that humanity calls
great, a sincere devotee of akti will utterEven if total
extinction meets me in the face, still I will place my faith in
Thee! The green meadows, the beautiful skies are not the only
objects that evoke his admiration. Side by side with the rosy
colour of the early dawn, there is the gruesome pictures of
earthquakes, pestilence and conflagration. To his trained mind
this frightful scene is equally significant. Nothing seems shocking
or unnatural. The only thing he hates is to live a life of
compromiseto cover festering sores with wreaths of flowers.
India is passing through a great crisis. She has become weak
and disabled. Socially, politically and economically, she is
groaning under a heavy weight. Her sons are suffering from
disease and starvation, flood and famine. At this critical moment
of her history who can save her but the All-compassionate

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Worship of the Divine Mother

Mother, the progenitrix of the Universe? If Her children only

hear the divine promise and fulfil the necessary conditions for
Her gracious coming, all their miseries will instantaneously
vanish. She has pledged Herself to infuse strength in their nerves
in all dark hours of life.
Tuning their voice with the mellowed notes of the Ris of
old, let them singO Mother Divine, who dwells in all living
beings in the form of akti, we bow down to Thee again and
again. You are the mistress of all, the dispenser of wealth and
happiness. Protect us evermore with Thy kind, compassionate
glance.

An Anecdote
Once akarcrya had many loose motions. His body had
become very weak. It had become very difficult for him to
stand and move. He kept himself in a bed.
Divine akti Mother in the disguise of a woman came to
akarcryas home. She had a cup of butter-milk in her hand.
She kept standing at the door of the house and in a very sweet
tone asked akarcryaj to come and drink this cup of buttermilk, he will get cured. akarcryaj expressed his weakness
to come and take that cup for drinking. He told the woman that
he has no akti or power to get up from the bed and come to
her. The woman quizzed him, You yourself are Brahman. Do
you require any akti to come to me? akarcrya recognised
that she was not an ordinary woman. She is the Divine akti
Mother. She has appeared before me to rectify my conviction
that Brahman alone exists. He told the Divine Mother akti
that he was in error. akti inheres in Brahman. Brahman resorts
to all activities through akti and thereafter he wrote many
Stotras eulogizing Mother akti.

Durg-Puj
Basanta Kumar Chatterjee

Hindus worship the power of God (akti) as Durg. It is

an accepted doctrine that there is no difference between an object
and its power. Fire is the same as the power of burning. In
the same way, there is no difference between God and His
power. God is the same as His power, i.e., Durg. Hence the
worship of Durg is nothing but worship of the Supreme God.
The nature of God is transcendental. What He is cannot
be expressed by words, cannot even be thought by the mind.
Although we cannot realize the nature of God, we always see
the manifestation of His power. Whatever happens in the world
happens by the power of God. The sun gives light, the cloud
pours rain, the wind blows, all by the power of God. We are
thus more familiar with Gods power than with God Himself.
Hindus have conceived God as iva and Durg as His wife.
iva is the father of the world; Durg is the mother. The father
and the mother jointly look after the affairs of the household.
In the same way the affairs of the world are looked after jointly
by God and His poweriva and Durg. God never exists
without His power; so iva never exists without Durg. iva
forms one half of the body and Durg, the other half. The child
is more familiar with the mother than with the father, so we
are more familiar with Gods power than with God. There are
more devotees of Durg or Kl than of iva. The child makes
more affectionate claims on the mother than on the father. The
wonderful devotional songs of Rma Prasda have made the
worship of God as Mother very familiar to the Bengalis. What
with the Durg-Puj in many houses and what with the influence

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105

of saints like Rma Prasda and Rmaka Paramahasa, the

worship of God as Mother has spread very much in Bengal.
Durg and Kl are the two more familiar forms of akti
or power of God. Durg Herself assumed the form of Kl on
a particular occasion. Kl is the consort of Mahkla. The
particular aspect of God which He assumed for the destruction
of the world, is known as Kla or Mahkla. All objects of the
world are destroyed by the influence of time or Kla. In the
Bhagavadgt r Ka showed Arjuna His terrible all-destroying
form and said, I am Time (Kla), the destroyer of everything.
Kl is that power of God by means of which He destroys all
objects of the universe. For this reason the appearance of Kl
is terrible. She lives on the cremation-ground, a string of human
heads forms her necklace. She has an axe in one hand and a
human head in another. But Hindu devotees have witnessed the
beneficent aspect of God even in this terrible form. For this
reason the other two hands of Kl have got the pose of
distributing boons and rescue from fear. The cremationground is lighted up by the smile of the Divine Mother, as if
She says smiling, Foolish child, why fear death? Death can
destroy the body, not the soul. When one body is destroyed,
the soul gets another body.
Durg was born twice, once as Sat, the daughter of Daka,
and again as Prvat, the daughter of Himlaya. The word
Daka means skill in action. The power which is born of skill
in action acquires fulfilment if it is united with good or the iva.
The western world has now-a-days acquired skill in action: but
their skill has not been employed for iva or God-realization.
It has been employed for the enjoyment of the senses. For this
reason the skill acquired by the western world has not created
good in the world but evil. Sat, the daughter of Daka, acquired
Her fulfilment by union with iva. Daka wanted that iva
should bow down to hima man of action wants the good

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of the world to be subservient to him. But this attempt of Daka

was unsuccessful. This made him angry. He insulted iva and
was himself destroyed. At last, on the supplication of the wife
of Daka, iva revived Daka; but the head of a goat was fixed
to his body, which indicates that action without iva is an index
of the beastly nature. Sat gave up the body which She had
acquired from Daka (the anti-iva) and was born again as the
daughter of Himlaya, the king of the places where the gods
sojourn. Prvat was unsuccessful in getting iva by the beauty
of Her body. In order to attain beauty of mind She engaged
Herself in austerities and ultimately got iva as Her husband.
The image of Durg which is worshipped by the Bengalis
has got ten hands. There are ten different weapons in those ten
hands. With these weapons Durg undertakes the work of killing
the demons. Durg takes Her seat on a lion, which indicates
brute force and which is directed against the forces of the
demons. The fight between the gods and the demons has been
going on in the world from time eternal. The power of the gods
represents our inclination for doing Dhrmika action as laid
down in the stras; the power of the demons indicates the
desire for anti-Dhrmika enjoyment. The desire for enjoyment
is natural and powerful in man. The desire for performing the
Sastric actions is comparatively feeble. For this reason, whenever
there is fight between the gods and demons, the demons are
usually victorious. The Supreme God helps the minor gods and
kills the demons. It is thus that the gods are successful.
There is mention of fight between gods and demons in the
Vedas and the Puras. akarcrya in his commentary on
the Bhadrayaka Upaniad (I. 3. 10) has given the above
interpretation to the fight between gods and demons.
As in the case of other religious ceremonies of the Hindus,
the seed of the worship of Durg is to be found in the Vedas.
Sukta 125 of the 10th Maala of the Rgveda is known as

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107

the Dev-Sukta. The sage to whom the hymns of the Sukta were
revealed was a lady by name Vk, who had attained divine
knowledge (Brahmajna) and was the daughter of Ambhr.
The purport of the Mantras in the Sukta is as follows: I myself
assume the forms of Indra, Agni, Varua and the other gods.
I give wealth to those who perform sacrifices. I am the Supreme
Lord of the universe. Whatever a man does, he does with my
power. The gods and men worship me, etc. This lady, blessed
with the divine vision, saw the power of God permeating the
universe and realized her oneness with this divine power. As
we have said before, the Hindus worship this divine power as
Durg.
After the Rgveda-Sahit, we find reference to Durg in
the Kena Upaniad. The gods once defeated the demons, but
they forgot that it was only through the power of the Supreme
God that they were able to defeat them. The Supreme God
appeared before the gods in the form of a Yaka. Agni went
to Him. He asked Agni, Who are you? What is your power?
Agni replied, I am the god of fire, I can burn the whole
universe. Brahma asked him to burn a straw. Agni tried with
all his might, but was unsuccessful. In the same way Vyu was
unsuccessful to blow away the straw. Then Indra himself went
to Brahm, who disappeared and in His place Um, the daughter
of Himlaya, appeared in an exceedingly beautiful form. Um
told Indra, This Yaka is Brahma Himself. Through His power
you have won the fight. Of course, Um, the daughter of
Himlaya, is Durg or the power of God. For this reason She
was aware of the nature of Brahma. Indra, Vyu, Varua and
others had not this knowledge.
The story of the worship of Durg is given in the Ca,
which forms a part of the Mrkaeya Pura. The story is
divided into three parts. The second part mentions how Durg
appeared. When the gods were defeated by the demons, they

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went to iva and Viu. Haloes of light came out of the bodies
of Brahm, Viu, iva and all the other gods. These haloes
of light were united and took the form of a woman. This was
the figure of Durg. The gods gave their own weapons to Durg.
Durg killed the demons and then began to fight with their leader
Mahisura. Durg put Her foot on the back of the demon and
struck him in his throat with a lance. This caused the demon
to come out of the body of the buffalo. As soon as half of
the figure of the demon came out, Durg cut off his head with
Her sword. The demon cried in grief. The gods were pleased
and began to extol Durg.
The allegorical interpretation of the story of the Ca is
beautiful. Desire, anger, covetousnessthese are the demons
who live in our body. Our inclination to follow the stras
represents the gods. Desire, anger, etc., are strong impediments
in the way of our God-realization. If we worship God, desire,
anger, etc., are destroyed by His power. Then we can attain
success. Though the form of Durg as worshipped by the
Bengalis is taken from the Ca, the Bengalis have made
additions to the form. On the right side of Durg are Lakm
and Gaea, on the left are Saraswat and Krtikeya. They
represent wealth, knowledge, fine arts and prowess respectively.
When the devotee attains God, he attains all these things also.
Many ancient poets of Bengal have composed beautiful songs
on the occasion of the Durg-Puj. These songs describe the
yearning of the mother of Durg for her married daughter, who
comes to her only for three days in the year.
In this way the literary activities of the Bengalis have
acquired fulfilment by being devoted to the service of God.

The Conception of r Durg

Akshaya Kumar Banerjee

It is one of the special traits of Hindu culture that Art,

Philosophy and Religion always go together, and each is
developed in harmonious co-operation with the other two. To
the Hindu mind Beauty, Truth and the Good of life are identical,
representing three aspects of the same Ideal. The same Reality
is sought to be comprehended as Truth through the culture of
Knowledge, to be enjoyed as Beauty through the culture of love,
and to be attained as Good through the culture of disciplined
activity. It is the same all-comprehensive Ideal which the Hindu
mind attempts to realize and to bring down to the plane of
normal experience and thought through the systematic and cooperative exercise of its different faculties. Accordingly, the
philosophical ideas of the Hindu thinkers and the spiritual
intuitions of the Hindu saints have always found artistic
expressions in various orders of poetry, mythology, legends,
music and iconography, in diverse kinds of religious festivities
and modes of worship, and in different forms of domestic and
social customs and observances. These latter, in their turn, have
always exerted the most charming and enlightening influence
upon the mind and heart of the men and women, young and
old, of all grades of culture and all strata of society, and led
them towards the comprehension of the highest philosophical
truths and the appreciation of the deepest spiritual intuitions.
The leaders of Hindu thought have also infused new philosophical
and spiritual significance into the important historical anecdotes,
popular traditions, tribal festivities, social and religious practices,
etc., current among different groups of people, and taught all

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classes of men and women to look upon even the most ordinary
incidents of experience from a higher moral and spiritual point
of view. In this way, the truths of the highest plane of thought
have been brought down to the doors of the most ordinary
intellect and heart, and the ideas and experiences of the lowest
grades of culture have been idealized and spiritualized and
converted into palatable food for the thought and feeling of the
most cultured minds.
I shall here refer to the image of Durg, in which form the
Supreme Spiritual Powerthe Mother of the Universe
( UQ) is worshipped in this autumn season by
the Hindus in general, and the Bengal Hindus in particular. The
conception of Durg, together with the accompanying figures,
really represents the Hindu conception of the world-order and
its spiritual source as well as the relative ideals leading to the
summum bonum of human life.
The world, in its sense-perceptive aspect, is a world of
bewildering diversities. In it we perceive a variety of sounds,
colours, tastes and smells, a variety of non-living, living, sentient
and rational beings, a variety of objects and events of different
orders and characters. The phenomena of the world affect us
agreeably and disagreeably, produce joys and sorrows in our
mind, and awaken in us various ideas, feelings, desires and
activities. Here we experience diverse phenomena, which appear
most horrible to ussuch as floods and earthquakes, cyclones
and tornadoes, famines and epidemics, scorching heat and
piercing cold, destruction of flourishing places and annihilation
of prosperous races, and so on. In the human world we have
bitter experience of competition and rivalry, hatred and malice,
barbarous hostilities and devastating wars, the strong oppressing
the weak, the rich exploiting the poor. But by the side of all
these deplorable spectacles, we have the soothing experiences
of the beauty, the sublimity and the richness of the external

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111

nature the ample provision of food and drink and the other
necessaries of life in it, the capacity of man to put off and get
rid of many of the natural evils by dint of his organized and
systematic efforts, mans power to conquer many of the forces
of nature and to employ them in his service. Our respect for
human nature also is greatly enhanced by the sight of the
expressions of self-sacrificing love and sympathy, the nobility
of character and the loftiness of ideal, the devotion to truth and
non-violence, the organized attempts for the establishment of
peace and harmony, which are found in many men and women
and which exercise a great influence upon the cultural atmosphere
of the human race.
With the growth of dynamic viewpoint in us, the world of
the diverse orders of phenomena appears as the expression of
the co-operation and conflict of diverse kinds of powers or
forces. The phenomena are the embodiments of powers, and
the relations among phenomena are determined by the relations
among the powers which operate within them. The world is
then interpreted in terms of powers, which appear more real
than the phenomena that we actually experience by means of
our senses.
But when our moral consciousness is sufficiently awakened
and developed, the phenomenal and the dynamic aspects of
the world become subordinate to its moral aspect. We learn to
look upon the world from the moral viewpoint and the world
appears as a moral order. The powers or forces, whose actions
and reactions determine the nature and the courses of phenomena,
no longer appear as blind mechanical inexplicable agencies,
operating without any plan and purpose and without any
capacity for initiative and moral discrimination. They now
appear as moral agencies, belonging to a moral organization,
acting in accordance with some plan and design, carrying out
some immanent purpose, and realizing some moral ideal. The

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world, from this plane of thought, is experienced as the

exhibition of a well-ordered series of conflicts and co-operations
among self-conscious and self-determining moral Powers, through
which some great ideal is being progressively realized. All the
so-called physical and psychical powers, and their transformations
into various kinds of phenomena, which appear to be so real
in the lower planes of experience, reveal themselves in this moral
plane as subordinate to and determined by the moral agencies
operating behind them, and as forming parts of a carefully
designed moral order, in which they find their explanation.
The essentially moral nature of our consciousness expresses
itself in the intuition of the distinction between good and evil,
right and wrong, ought and ought-not, ideal and actual. When
this character of our consciousness attains predominance in our
outlook, all the phenomena of the world of our experience and
the powers determining their nature and course are divided into
two classes, viz., good and evil. The world thus appears as the
manifestation of the continued warfare between two classes of
moral Powers, viz., good and evilthose that ought to exist
and those that ought to be destroyed, those that are conducive
to the realization of the Ideal immanent in the universe and those
that put obstacles in its path, those that contribute to the harmony
of the world-system and those that assert themselves for the
creation of discord and strife.
These two kinds of powers are always found to be operating
in the world. In the absence of either of them the world-process
cannot go on. In the absence of the evil powersthe anti-ideal
Forcesthe world would be reduced to a spiritual unity, without
any diversity and without any process. In the absence of the
good powersthe proideal Forcesthe world would be reduced
to a chaos. It is through the interaction of the two kinds of
conflicting moral agents that the world is eternally going on as
a moral order. Hence this incessant struggle between the two

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113

kinds of powers may also be looked upon as a sort of

co-operation from the standpoint of the interest of the worldsystem as a whole. They are the two complementary elements
of the moral order. While playing their assigned roles in this
cosmic process, sometimes the evil Powers appear to be
triumphant and sometimes the good.
When the evil powers apparently get the upper hand in the
world-system, we experience in the human society the predominance
of the individualistic and selfish outlook, the acceptance of
Pleasure, Prosperity and Power as the supreme ideals of pursuit,
the increase of distrust, rivalry, malice, hatred, vindictiveness,
hostility, warfare, exploitation of the weak by the strong, the
trampling down of justice and righteousness, etc., in the relation
between individuals and the different sections of humanity. In
the outer world also we experience the repeated occurrences
of floods, earthquakes, cyclones, droughts, epidemics, scarcities,
etc. It is undoubted that all these occur in accordance with the
laws and through the operations of the forces of nature. But
since these natural forces and laws are subordinate to, and form
parts of, the moral orderin which man and nature are
inseparably linked together by an internal bond of ethical and
physical relationshipthe predominance of evil in the character
and outlook of men is always accompanied by that in the
phenomena of nature in particular periods of the world-process.
These periods indicate the apparent temporary triumphs of the
evil moral Powers over the good in the constitution of the world.
On the other hand, when the good Powers have the ruling
influence over the phenomena of the world, the outlook of men
in general becomes more altruistic than egoistic; the ideals of
Truth, Beauty and Goodness exercise effective restraint upon
the desires for Pleasure, Prosperity and Power; the principles
of justice and righteousness, truth and non-violence, love and
benevolence, determine the courses of activities of individuals

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and communities and nations in relation to one another; and

peace, harmony, co-operation and mutual self-sacrificing service
become evident in the human society. The phenomena of
external nature also give indications of similar order and
harmony, beauty and loveliness, favourable disposition and
altruistic attitude of the Powers acting behind them. Nature then
assumes a smiling appearance. It seems to be eager to bestow
its treasures upon the people. There is equitable distribution of
wind and water, heat and cold, health and sickness. The soil
becomes productive of wealth, which is distributed in the human
society in the spirit of service. Thus the human as well as the
external nature shows the government of the good moral Powers
in the world.
These two classes of moral Powers have been described in
Hindu literature as the Devas (deities) and the Asuras (demons).
The world-order is the phenomenal manifestation of the struggle
between these two kinds of moral Agencies. In this struggle
sometimes the Devas are triumphant and sometimes the Asuras.
The moral consciousness of man is always desirous of seeing
the former victorious over the latter. The fulfilment of the moral
nature of man is dependent upon this victory. Peace and
happiness in the human society, harmony and friendliness among
different individuals, communities and nations, the culture of true
knowledge, noble sentiments and lofty idealsall these depend
upon the effective control of the Asuric Powers by the Daivic
Powers. Nature also manifests the glories of her bosom and
appears in her beautiful and majestic form, when the Devas rule
over and regulate her operations. The orderly progress of the
world towards the realization of the moral ideal immanent in
it demands the triumph of the Devas, and this is also the inherent
plan and design of this universal system. The occasional
triumphs of the Asuras and the weakness of the Devas are only
lapses, which also form parts of the design.

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115

The Devas and Asuras are born of the same source of the
moral order of the world. When the Asuras become temporarily
more powerful than the Devas, and the Asuric powers begin
to rule the world of man and nature, the heart of the world
is oppressed, and the destructive and disruptive forces begin to
gnaw, asunder the bonds of union and harmony in the midst
of apparent pomp and pageantry. The earnest prayer then goes
forth from the innermost heart of this world-order for the special
incarnation of the Supreme Spiritual Power for the destruction
of these destructive forces and the restoration of peace, harmony
and righteous government in it.
Here lies the secret of the occasional aggrandizement of the
Asuric powersthe forces of evilin particular cycles of the
world-order. These offer special opportunities, as it were, for
the extraordinary self-manifestation of the Supreme Spiritual
World-Power with Her incomprehensible wisdom and strength,
beauty and love, glory and grandeur, sweetness and formidableness.
On such occasions the human intelligence gets a special touch
of the Supreme Power in the affairs of the world. The
fundamental Reality underlying this world-process avails itself
of these opportunities to make a special revelation of its
characteristic truth, beauty, goodness and bliss to the human
reason. The apparent temporary triumphs of the evil powers are
not, therefore, aberrations in the world-process, but useful steps
in the realization of the immanent Ideal in it.
The Supreme Power incarnates Herself in the world and
reveals Herself to the human intelligence in various forms. r
Durg is one of these forms. She is represented as a woman.
The conception of the Supreme Spiritual Power as a woman is
deeply significant. It implies that the Power exists eternally in,
for and by the Absolute Spirit, iva. She is eternally and
essentially wedded to that Absolute Reality. The Absolute
Reality, which is beyond thought and speech, beyond time and

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space, beyond change and activity, which exists eternally in,

by and for Itself, which is pure Existence, Consciousness and
Bliss, manifests Itself in and through this Power as the plurality
of phenomenal beings. The Power is neither different nor nondifferent from the Absolute Spirit. The Power gives birth to the
numberless finite creatures, but Her capacity for creation is never
exhausted. Though She eternally transforms Herself into the
diversified world-order, She also eternally transcends it. She is
the wife of the Absolute Spirit and the Mother of the universe
of finite spirits and objects. Moreover, it implies that Power in
its highest manifestation is the embodiment of beauty and love,
sweetness and blissfulness, purity and simplicity. This is the ideal
of womanhood. It is the conflict between power and power that
makes the power agitated and restless, showy and dreadful,
impure and complex. The Supreme Power, being unrivalled and
absolute, is most appropriately represented as the ideal woman.
The Hindus accordingly look upon all women as the partial
incarnations of the Supreme World-Power, and the sweetness,
beauty, love, purity, simplicity and the spirit of service that
constitute the true female character as the ideal state of the
development of power. This is at the root of the respect for
womanhood, which is one of the fundamentals of Hindu culture.
It is not the respect of the strong for the feelings of the weak,
but the homage of the strong to the embodiment of superior
strength.
r Durg the incarnation of the Supreme Power, is
sometimes described as having a thousand hands, sometimes as
having a hundred hands, sometimes as having eighteen hands
and sometimes as having ten hands and so on. She has no fixed
number of hands. But the enlightened devotee sees the operations
of Her hands everywhere, in all the departments of nature, in
all the affairs of human history. In autumn She is worshipped
as the ten-handed Mother of the universe. All the ten directions

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117

are under the controlling guidance of Her hands.

In the Mrkaeya-Pura and the Dev-Bhgavata, which
are two of the most important Puras from the kta point
of view, the body of this Mahdev is described as constituted
of the concentrated and unified energy of all the Devas. It is
said that this Mahdev or Mahakti, as the absolute, selfshining, self-conscious and self-determining power at the foundation
of the world-order, manifests Herself at the time of creation in
the forms of numerous self-shining, self-conscious and selfdetermining Powers or Devas for the harmonious and orderly
regulation of the different departments of the created world. The
Devas are thus essentially the variegated self-manifestations of
the Supreme Power and are therefore non-different from Her.
She is the embodiment of the totality of all Deva-aktis. She
is partially manifested in every Deva. But Her complete selfmanifestation occurs when all the Devas are united, when they
voluntarily merge their apparent independence in the Absolute
Source of their individualities, when the diversified powers of
righteousness are unified and concentrated into the one whole
Power, of which they are the partial expressions. When such
unification and concentration of the morally good Powers of
the world occurs, they become irresistible and the Asuric Powers
come inevitably and immediately under their control.
According to the Puras, every Deva has some brute or
animal power or natural force as his Vhana or carrier. This
is, to the Hindu mind, the proper position allotted to brute force
and nature-force in the world-order. Brute force is only a
development of the force of nature. It does not ignore the
phenomenal reality or deny the moral necessity of brute force
in the divine plan of the world. Brute forcesthe embodiments
of Rjasa and Tmasa aktisare meant for carrying out the
mandates and fulfilling the demands of the Devas or the Powers
of righteousnessthe self-shining, ideal-realizing, plurality-

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harmonizing, iva-revealing, Sttvika aktis. With a view to

putting a check to the self-aggrandizement of the Asuric
Powersthe disruptive and destructive egoistic forces, which
also pertain to the world-systemand to keep them under proper
control, the Powers of righteousness are required to have in their
service or manifest themselves into righteous animal powers and
forces of nature capable of meeting and subduing the unrighteous
Asuric forces on their own ground and preserving the peace
and orderly development of the world.
All these righteous animal powers, employed in fulfilling
the requirements of the particular deities, are conceived as partial
manifestations of one great animal power or nature-force which
is carrying out the command or will of the Supreme Spiritual
Power, the Mahdev Durg, in this phenomenal world. r
Durg is thus conceived as standing on a Lion, the king of
brutes, which is Her eternal Vhana. This Lion remains
undifferentiated from Her, when She remains apparently inactive
or operates as the imperceptible underlying Principle of the
world-order. But whenever we find any special incarnation of
Her in any apparent crisis of our individual or national or
collective life, She brings out from within Herself and makes
a special exhibition of Her Vhana, the Asura-destroying
irresistible natural or animal power. Thus, while She is smiling
and dancing and playing on the sana of Her Lion and
charming and sweetening the hearts of the Devas and the
devotees with the expressions of Her motherly affection and
supramundane beauty, Her Lion goes on destroying the powers
of unrighteousness and restoring the harmony of the worldsystem and establishing again the kingdom of the gods.
Accordingly we find in the image of r Durg that under
the feet of the playful, smiling Mahdev the Lion is fighting
against the Asura, the black demon, and from all Her hands
from all the directions of the moral order of the universe

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119

weapons of various kinds are being hurled upon the breast of

this Asura. The Asura is subdued, the Lion is victorious, and
the Mahdev shines in all Her beauty and glory. All around
Her the Devas, that are Her own partial self-revelations, are
dancing in joy and singing Her glory.
When the Supreme Spiritual Power thus reveals Herself in
the moral order of the phenomenal universe, all the principal
ideals of mans sensuous and rational life are experienced as
eternally realized in Her blissful nature and descending upon
human life as Her blessings. The progress of human life is
generally regarded as consisting in the attainment of wisdom
and knowledge, strength and fearlessness, prosperity and happiness,
peace and harmony. These are represented by Saraswat,
Krtika, Lakm and Gaea respectively. They are regarded as
the children of the Supreme Spiritual Power. It is to be noted
that though these four deitiesthese four principal aspects of
the self-revelation of Mahdevrepresent the ideals of human
life in general, Saraswat, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge,
specially represents the Brahmanical ideal, Krtika, the god of
strength and fearlessness, the Katriya ideal, Lakm, the
goddess of prosperity and happiness, the Vaiya ideal, and
Gaea, the god of peace and harmony, the udra ideal. In the
mode of worship, Gaea is generally worshipped, first, because
it is upon the satisfaction of Gaea, upon the establishment
of peace and harmony within and without, that the pursuit of
the other ideals greatly depends.The name Gaea or Gaapati
is particularly significant. He is the god of the mass. It is upon
the contentment of the mass that peace and harmony in society
is dependent, and, without this contentment, knowledge, strength
and prosperity can never grow in the collective life of humanity.
Discontent and disaffection in that section of the community
almost unknowingly and imperceptibly cut at the root of the
society.

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Thus, the Supreme Spiritual Power, standing with a smiling

face and a dancing or playing posture on the back of the
gorgeously active and irresistibly operating Force of Nature and
animal Power, regulated by Her will, having subdued the
disruptive and destructive moral agencies of the world-system
and established the kingdom of the Agencies of Truth, Beauty,
Goodness, Peace and Bliss, progressively reveals Herself in all
glory and magnificence with the blessings of knowledge,
strength, prosperity and peace within Her arms. This is to the
Hindu mind the picture of the world-order, that opens itself up
to the spiritual eyes of the saints and Ris.
Behind this world-order stands iva, the changeless Absolute
Spirit, perfect in His differenceless self-consciousness and selfenjoyment, who is the Eternal Support as well as the highest
Ideal of this world-order, to whom the Supreme World-Power
is eternally wedded and from whom She is essentially nondifferent and apparently differentiated. When the human soul
seeks to transcend not only the physical and sensuous plane,
but also the moral plane of existence; when it becomes
unsatisfied even with the relative ideals of knowledge, strength,
prosperity and peace, it regards the self-manifestations of the
Supreme Spiritual Power in the world-order as creating a veil
over the true character of iva and offers fervent prayer to Her
for the removal of the veil and the revelation of His transcendent
nature. When the veil is removed, the Universal Mother appears
as identified with iva, and the human soul also realizes its unity
with Himthe Jva becomes liberated from the worldly existence
by attaining unity with iva.

Thou Mother: The Supreme

Gobinda Chandra Panigrahi

Thou Mother! with purple robes and crown on Thy head,

Thy smile of contempt of love that always you have had
For blessings from Thy palm and shelter on Thy feet,
I render myself forever for love and eagerly-meet.
O, Mother! You are the stream of love I know,
The shade of self-confidence to save me so.
From all the anxieties that the human nature urges,
Thou Mother! slacken as the supreme of this mild universe.
You are the akti and iva told Veda alike in Nature,
You are the My and Jna as the marvellous creator.
Thou Mother give birth the generations gladly conceiving,
In the womb of Trigua and of divinity bearing.
The psycho physical universe when O Mother is Thy bed,
Vital evolution goes ahead with wonder that man has had.
For, Thou as Lakm, Durg, Kl and Saraswat are
embodied
With passion, love, prosper, when society seeks from Thee
indeed.
You are the inchoate state of Nda, Brahma and the both,
The universe is within You and You are in all as supreme
thus.
Who personalizes Herself in the form of all for all the
religions,
Thou Mother is supreme as said Veda, the God in all actions.

Science, akti and Sanctity

Radhakamal Mukerji

A religion is to be ultimately judged by the contribution of

the mystic consciousness to social experience and heritage. So
often the mystic enjoys alone the sweetness of his communion
with God or refuses to be disturbed in the sublime height of
his Nirvic calm. Yet there is no doubt that the highest stage
of mystical consciousness is not one of intoxication or detachment
but of active participation in the daily round of individual and
social duties.
The more common experience has been, however, that the
mystic finds a life of active service a hindrance for his ecstasy
or meditation. Thus he shuns the world, which he relegates to
the Devil. The sense of impurity of the world and the flesh
is particularly dominant in the early stages of the mystic life,
when the novice has not been able yet to subdue and tame his
desires. It is for this reason that most religions have their stages
of initiation and preparatory discipline, which are meant to
overcome the impulses by abstention and train the subconscious.
In no religion was greater austerity imposed than in ancient
Brahmanism.
The transmutation of the world and the flesh which the
mystics vision or ecstasy effects is sought in some religions
through a prolonged and persistent discipline of withdrawal of
senses from the objects of enjoyment with which the worshipper
deliberately surrounds himself. This is the distinctive feature of
the Yoga of the ktas or worshippers of the Divine Energy,
who form a numerous body in the East. The background of
the worship of Energy (akti) is philosophic monism. The
Absolute is here worshipped in its Mother-aspect. In the

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Navaratnevara we read That Dev, who is existence,

consciousness and bliss, should be thought of as a female or
as a male, or as pure Brahma. The Absolute in its manifested
aspect is Energy. Energy is conceived in the Indian languages
in the feminine gender. The reason is that the other sex is the
symbol of delight, sport and creation. In the Indian tradition,
the Eternal feminine has represented all forms of Creative
Expression, whether it underlies the play of the senses or the
mind of God. Once the goddess asked, O God! tell me whose
name is Energy and who is iva. The God answered, Oh!
Goddess! Energy dwells in the fluctuating and iva in the calm
mind. One whose mind is calm obtains salvation even in his
own body (Yogastra). In the Dev Bhgavata we read that
Brahm asked the Primal Energy as to whether she was male
or female. The Mother answers that Male (Purua) and Myself
are ever the same. There is no difference between Him and
Me. The Purua is what I am; I am what the Purua is. The
one without a second, the perennial Brahma becomes dual at
the time of creation. As a single lamp becomes dual by
difference of Updhi (condition) as a single face becomes dual
in the form of an image in the mirror, as a single body appears
in dual form with its shadow, even so our images are many
owing to the difference of minds (which are made up of My):
O Aj (unborn), for the purpose of creation the difference arises
at the time of creation. It is only the difference between the
seen and the unseen. At the time of final dissolution I am neither
male, nor female, nor neuter. The difference (male and female)
is imagined only at the time of creation.
In Her most supreme form the Mother of the Universe is
one with the Absolute and none knows her. But the Mother
appears in Her female form in all things manifest. Indeed She
is both the manifest and the manifestation Herself. Thus the
universe is the world-body of the Mother. Her play is world-

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play. Her eyes, playing like fish in the beauteous waters of

Her Divine face, open and shut with the appearance and
disappearance of countless worlds, now illuminated by Her light,
now wrapped in Her terrible darkness. Ones Own Self is the
Goddess in Her playful mood, whose body is the Universe. As
mere manifestation She is white. When She is the mind, her
colour changes into redness, which indicates wish and activity.
Worship is the meditation on this.
As Creative Energy is everywhere, in everything which is
apparent to us, mind and senses in their varying Forms are each
in their abstract aspect particular forms of Energy. The whole
Universe is informed by and is the manifestation of Energy.
But a particularly named goddess is that Energy in the particular
manifestation to which the name is given. The worshipper looks
upon each part of activity of his body and mind as an Energy
or Goddess or more simply, in earlier stages, as presided over
by a Goddess. An elementary view is to regard, say the mind,
as something apart over and governing which is a Goddess or
Energy. The more experienced and correct view is that the Mind
is Energy, that is, a particular manifestation of it.
By constant and earnest suggestion and reference of the
Goddess to the Universe, to mind and to the objects of sense,
the worshipper rises to the feeling that everything, including
things of enjoyment like food, drink or sex, are mere symbols.
Sex, for instance, is a mere fragment of the one Primordial
Energy. It is in this manner that enjoyment ceases to be
enjoyment. In the conception of the woman as the Mother of
the Universe, sexual love itself becomes transmuted, while food
and drink cease to be objects of sense when consecrated by
the Divine communion. The Scripture warns: He goes to hell
who takes food and drink that has not been dedicated to the
gods. A man commits an outrage against his own wife when
he approaches her without realizing that she is the Supreme

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125

Energy who seeks union with his Self. He who withdraws the
senses from their objects and unites them with Self is a true
meat-eater. Others are mere slaughterers of animals. He who
enjoys the bliss arising from the union of Primordial Energy
with Self has true sex love; others are addicted to sex
enjoyment. In fact, the spiritual worth of a man who can
consecrate the world and the flesh which are too much with
us can stand the ordeal better than that of one who flees from
them. Thus the Kulrava Tantra relates: The Great God has
ordained in the doctrine for adepts that a spiritual advancement
must be achieved by means of those very things which are the
causes of mans downfall.
And again,
O, Mistress of the Adept! In the religion of the Adept
enjoyment becomes complete union of subjective self with the
super-self, bad deeds are made good deeds and the world
becomes the seat of salvation.
The above is the broad general principle of the worship of
Creative Energy, which elicits the deepest reverence throughout
a large portion of Asia. A faith which is mere erotic mysticism
or which opens the gates of Hell for religion cannot certainly
be so widespread and persistent. This religion prescribes different
rituals and practices, discriminates the fit and the unfit worshipper
and holds out a promise for the feeble and the timid, who can
acquire by such means strength of will and purity of desires.
It is instinct with symbolism, which has for its purpose the
withdrawal of the senses from their objects so that elevated
contemplation and enjoyment might exist harmoniously and
enjoyment be diverted of its instinctive, coarse or sinful
character. The worshipper makes abundant use of mystic
formula and diagrams, consecrated pots and jars, ritual gestures
made with the fingers, ritual movements with the hands, which
all promote the suggestion that the Divinity in its particular

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aspects presides over or in his mind or body, his particular senses

or organs, his desires or particular objects of his desire. The
dominating philosophical principle which informs the ritual is
the idea which God himself has explained: Think of yourself
as the Divinity, as the manifestation of the Primal Energy. This
you should do by your mind, by your words and by your body.
The ritual movements of the hands as well as the different marks
smeared on different parts of the body bring about by a persistent
process of suggestion the bodily worship, and then the conception
that the body is itself the vehicle of the Goddess.
This leads us to another dominating principle of the Tantra,
viz., that the human body is a microcosm, containing in
miniature all that is contained in the cosmos. The meditation
of diagrams which represent both the body of the worshipper
as the Microcosm and the whole Universe leads up to this.
Another important principle which underlies the worship is
derived from the Haha Yoga. Indeed, this worship begins with
the desire and emotions and ends in Yogic meditation. It is by
awakening suitable Yoga nerves, nerve centres and intercentral
nerves by means of local concentration that the worshipper gains
power over both his body and mind and ultimately succeeds
in attaining a formless meditation. The worshipper is asked to
concentrate his mind in six great centres or circles of energy
situated in his trunk, the one above the other. Each of these
is described as the lotus and the mind should travel like an ant
from one lotus to another. This involves different stages of
mystic consciousness. The Primordial Energy lies asleep like a
coiled serpent, thin as the finest fibre of the lotus stem, but more
brilliant than a multimillion suns. This power will ever be
hissing like an angry female serpent. It will ever rear its head
aloft. It is the cause of the fluctuation which takes place in the
mind. All the other nerves are connected with this. It is the
awakening of this Serpent Energy through meditation and its

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127

ascent from the lowest lotus to the highest, situated in the

crown of the head, that are deemed absolutely essential for
elevated contemplation. Some physiologists indentify the Serpent
with the Vagus Nerve which plays a very significant function
in Yogic meditation, the six lotuses being certain important
plexuses of the sympathetic portion of the autonomic nervous
system. It appears that the characteristic bodily postures and
exercises lead to the contraction of the abdominal muscles, of
the heart, etc., which induces a general circulatory and respiratory
disturbance. This leads to the over-stimulation of the sympathetic
fibres, which arouses the Vagus Nerve from its dormancy. The
mystic establishes control of the Vagus Nerve either by
stimulating it at its endings or at its centre. Concentration is
exercised on the nerve to be stimulated at the expense of all
others. This generates in the nerve an afferent impulse which
is attracted by the lotus or the object of wish fulfilment.The
passage of the Vagus Nerve through all the six plexuses of the
autonomic nervous system until it reaches the brain is thus said
to be the sine qua non of elevated meditation. By making the
Serpent move gradually to and fro from one lotus to another
through the cerebrospinal axis the mind attains the Brahma.
It is interesting to note that even in Hindu images of gods
in temples we sometimes have a representation of the lotuses,
and, in some Buddhist images, a snake coils round the Buddhas
limbs. The penetration of the six lotuses is, indeed, a part of
old and wide widespread Yogic tradition. Some of the Sufi
fraternities thought that there are six great centres of light of
various colours in the body of man. Such centres have to be
moved or made current through the body till the worshipper
realizes, amidst the apparent diversity of colours, the fundamental
colourless light which makes everything visible and is itself
invisible. It is in this manner that the worshipper or Self becomes
identified not merely with Formless Energy or Colourless

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Luminance but also with that Mother in all physical functions

and acts. Nothing then is unholy or unacceptable. Everything
is a particular Energy.Through the different rituals, observances
and forms of meditation the worshipper is gradually led to realize
that all these articular Energy Goddesses are as it were fragments
of the one Energy which is the Prime Divine Energy and, that
the worshipper himself both in his super-self and in his mind and
body, which are particular aspects of the Goddess, is one with
the Supreme Mother. This is the culmination of the philosophy
of the Absolute. Reaching this stage, the worshipper exclaims:
She I am, I am the Goddess. I am none else. I am free.
We thus see that the worshipper worships all forms as
particular Goddesses; he is then led up from lower to higher
forms of Energy until he places before himself for worship, and
finally completely identifies himself with, the Supreme Power
who is both the mother of all these particular Energies, and who
appears in, and as, them and himself. For there is nothing but
the One Mother.
It is not a matter for surprise that we have in some of the
Tantras most elaborate and exhaustive ideal representations of
organic sensations, impulses and desires as well as higher mental
states in the form of particular Energy Goddesses. The objects
of the senses and desires to which man seeks normal adjustment
are translated into the ideal and the imaginary plane. Thus the
Goddesses of the senses, emotions and desires fulfil the impulses
and the desires themselves. Impulses of sex and self-assertion
which trouble the heart so much are thus completely fulfilled
in the ideal plane. The scripture says: The worshipper should
worship the particular goddesses by becoming the selves of those
goddesses, and fully absorb the feeling and attitude of the mind
(Bhva) which the latter represent. A whole host of responses
and attitudes is prescribed by the ritual in relations to the various
goddesses. The worshipper who undergoes particular forms of

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behaviour in an order or system is responded to appropriately

by the goddesses. There is thus established a reciprocal behaviour
between the worshipper and the goddesses, which leads gradually
to mental satisfaction and equipoise. The images or ideal objects
are given for the worshipper, fashioned for him out of the raw
material of mans feeling and will by his religion and philosophy.
These do not follow in a bioscopic succession as creations of the
worshippers own brain do. The images here are woven together
into a complex pattern and system, organised into attitudes and
standpoints which are deliberately cultivated. It is thus that the
contemplation of images and experiences in the ideal plane
becomes the source of joy and equipoise for the worshipper.
His subconscious being drains into particular channels, fixed by
the method of worship and meditation, and there it finds
complete expression. The immediate feeling of personal communion,
which has all through been very vivid, gradually relaxes.
Elevated contemplation and discrimination appear, and finally
the self merges into Formlessness, or the Universal Form,
according to the thought-culture or predilection of the worshipper.
It is impossible to explain the above principles to those who
are not conversant with the elaborate ritual and mode of worship.
But a brief analysis of the ritual as prescribed by the Tantrarja
Tantra may serve as an illustration. Here the diagram that is
worshipped represents the human body and the whole universe
and man (for what is in the former is in the latter and vice
versa) as also the BrahmaEnergy, Form or Self. It is thus
the symbol of the Great Goddess in Her own form and as She
is in the form of the Universe. The diagram is composed of
nine triangles and circles, one within the other, until the central
point is reached. The point is the Great Goddess, who is both
subjective self in man and the Super-self in the Universe. In
the angles of the triangles and in those formed by the intersection
of the latter, we have particular goddesses representing various

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manifestations of the vital and mental functions and activities.

A list of these will be sufficient to indicate the nature of the
suggestion process wrought by the diagram. The diagram
through the suggestion process is transformed into a pure mental
state of the worshipper. The worshipper becomes the diagram
and realizes himself as such through the practical methods of
meditation and discipline enjoined. To give examples, the
worshipper as he concentrates himself on the lines, curves,
triangles and petals, crowded by Energy Goddesses, meditates
among others upon forms of sin and virtue, sex, anger, greed,
jealousy, fascination, obstinacy, the mind and senses, the nerves,
the vital airs and fires; upon goddesses of egoism, intelligence,
steadfastness and memory; upon goddesses of sound, touch,
vision, taste, smell; goddesses of joy, relinquishment, concentration
and detachment; goddesses of the cosmic intelligence and
feeling; goddesses of the elements of the cosmic and the
individual body; and, finally, the Brahma or God-Goddess,
which is the name of the Universal Energy, in which everything lives and moves. After worship in the prescribed manner,
the devotee must consider himself as like unto the Goddess and
one with Her. The meditation is from the exterior to the interior
world, leading up from the lower to the higher forms of Energy.
The image is first gross. Then the Goddess becomes World,
and finally She is formless when the worship and the fruit thereof
is offered to Her. At this stage there is the identity of the knower,
knowledge and the object of knowledge. The worshipper is now
his true Self, the Goddess, and he worships Himself; his body,
which now wears the mantle of Supreme Energy, is the cosmos.
The identity of the self and the Self is brought out in the words
repeated over the diagram: The act of offering is Brahma.
The offering itself is Brahma. Into the fire, which is Brahma,
offering is made by him who is Brahma. By him alone who is
absorbed in the offering to Brahma is unity with Brahma attained.

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God in this religious tradition is Energy, symbolised in the

Mother form which creates, which sustains and which withdraws
into her fathomless womb innumerable worlds, creatures, living
and inanimate, in infinite space. She is both Space and Energy.
Yet She is beyond Space and Time. She is transcendental and
Her pre-eminent form cannot be known. In the Tantraya
Buddhism, Nirva is represented by Nirtm Dev. The
worshipper disappears in Her, through the annihilation of his
feeling and cognition, as salt disappears in the sea. In the
Buddhist Demchog (Mahsukha) Tantra, the Devat as method
which is compassion is united with his spouse, the Mahyogin,
who is Wisdom which is the Void. Around these two in one
are lesser goddesses which form part of the body of the Supreme
Goddess, in whom by meditation they are merged. It is thus
that the Mother Cult has assimilated into itself the doctrines of
the world and the transcendental, which have failed adequately
to meet the needs of the worshippers heart. As Creative Energy
the Supreme Goddess is, however, the active immanent aspect
of the eternally static, transcendental Reality. In this form we
worship Her in all form and in all expression.
Be gracious to me, Oh source and receptacle of all matter
and form,
Who art Activity in the form of the elemental world,
Life of all that lives.
Whose very nature and will is to be, and to do, what she
is and does,
That which we cannot understand.
Obeisance to Thee in the form of sound and ether !
Salutation to Thee in the form of touch and air !
Obeisance to Thee in the form of sight and fire !
Salutation to Thee in the form of taste and water!
Obeisance to Thee in the form of earth with its quality of
smell!

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Salutation to Thee in the form of the ear, skin, eyes, tongue

and nose;
And in the form of mouth, arm, legs, organs of excretion
and generation!
Salutation to Thee as Intelligence, Ego and Mind!
Obeisance to Thee who art the form of the Whole Universe!
Modern science is now making us familiar with the idea
that everything in the world, the colour in the wings of a
butterfly or the most stupendous machinery, the pure thought
of a most beautiful woman or the destruction of a cathedral by
a well-aimed shell is the relation of one form of energy to
another. Men and women, insects and food, earth and the stars
are all caught in an all-pervasive, irresistible dance of energy.
Now man everywhere seeks to express Reality in relation to
his knowledge of the physical world and human nature.
Scientific method has for its objects the classification of
facts, the comparison of their relationships and sequences and,
finally, the formulation of some brief formulae or laws which
do not represent, however, what the natural phenomena must
of necessity obey. Indeed, as Hobson shows, it is unnecessary
for the purposes of natural science to make the assumption that
a single law has a precise correspondence with a single definite
set of relations which actually subsist in Nature. Still less is it
necessary for the purposes of Natural Science to assume that
the law corresponds to a set of relations between real entities.
As science progresses, it becomes more and more abstract. It
gradually tends to become a great conceptual scheme arrived
at by a process of abstraction in which some elements of our
actual precepts are removed and not attended to. Science and
religion thus need not fight with each other and, indeed, they
meet on common ground if and when they both develop to
symbolic conceptions. Science deals with one set of facts and
religion with another. In the lower stages of both science and

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religion, the forms and categories of thought will be different

in each case; but, as they both rise to abstractions, the reality
is pictured by natural science and religion by much the same
kind of symbolism. Before the Reality both science and religion
stand mute and helpless. Now the conceptual scheme used by
the worshippers of God as Creative Energy fits in well with
the trend of scientific thought, which emphasises that matter is
a modification of energy and that every action of everything
living or dead is some form or other of atomic energy which
fills the void. Science conceives Reality as the dance of Energy.
Religion holds exactly a similar view, but on a broader line
of thought. In science Energy is a blind fury which has no regard
for the values of human life. In religion God as Energy forms
the very expression of values. In the Indian languages all human
values and abstractions are expressed in the feminine gender.
All things indicated by words in the feminine gender are
manifestations of Goddess as Energy.
Thus God as Energy here creates, sustains and destroys the
Universe. She is the infinite silence of the cosmos floating in
the all-pervading waters of eternity, when all life and form have
sunk back into the primal darkness. She is the word which first
breathed life into the cosmos. Her lips open and close day and
night like light and darkness. Her brow is adorned with the full
moon. Here lustre is that of a thousand rising suns in the endless
spaces of the universe. Her fathomless womb conceals innumerable
worlds in infinite space. But She is also the meaning of life
in terms of human emotions, desires and achievements. Thus
She frees man from the bondage of ignorance. In conferring
liberation She is Pure Intelligence. Her body is all the sciences
and philosophies. But Her mind is inscrutable as the mystery
of the Universe. Thus the seers worship Her as the Unknowable.
As the bestower of prosperity She is bedecked with the treasures
of all the worlds. She is art in the altar of temples and cathedrals,

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in the dress of women and in the embellishment of homes.

In the thrill of love She is the sweet rosy-coloured darling in
the first flush of her nubile youth. Her eyes roll in passion and
She holds the wine cup. She is asthetic activity and represents all the
fine arts and embellishments that make life beautiful and enjoyable.
She is sex love. She is family bliss. She is all the classes,
professions and means of livelihood. She is the Divine Mother
who is peace, joy, beauty and prosperity in the human world.
God is All Good. The most common prayer which religion
offers to the Divine Mother is in this form: Thou art the All
Good and the source of All Good. Thou fulfillest all wishes
and desires. The lotuses of creation float to and fro in the waters
of space and the Primordial One, the Mother of countless worlds,
resides amongst them.
God is the Eternal Maiden, fresh as a bunch of lotuses full
blown, with her eyes like lotus swimming in the azure of the
world-water. She looks at men with tender eyes, and with the
soft music of the evening Zephyr in her words. As mans eyes
run into hers, and her lips vibrate on his lips, he sees her soul
in him, and his in her. His sex is changed and everything in
the world becomes sweet and tender.
God is the Mothers Love. In all tempests, with his tiny
arms entwined round His Mother-neck, his tresses flung free
in the breeze of time, man sleeps like a babe in His firm embrace.
God is the Primordial Mother. Her dark tresses scatter
innumerable sunless spaces as she dances her cosmic dance. All
are in the dance, from the largest sun to the smallest electrons,
in all sorts of gyrations. All kinds of spaces are covered by
her fleet steps and, as she changes her reel, blazing spots move
aimlessly through space at different rates with her changing
perspectives of space-time.
As the Mother, God is Creative Energy manifest in mind
and matter, in all Form, Beauty and Expression. As Energy she

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evokes energy, and as Mother she evokes sacrificethe sacrifice

of the plant for the seed, of the animal for the offspring, of
the man for the child and humanity, of the groups for society,
and of societies for generations yet unborn.
God as Creative Energy is light, radiant heat and gravity,
the electrical continuum in which all worlds flow. She is the
Divine love or understanding, the Womb of the Cosmos, the
source from which issue varieties of space, time and energy,
varieties of blazing or grey worlds, varieties of things both
mental and physical.
God as energy is sometimes terrible and awe-inspiring. She
stirs the heart of youth to love and snatches away the beloved
in Her supreme self-will. She is energy of destruction. When
She flares up in anger, blazing suns fall as the scattered leaves
of a tree from the cosmic system. Species of plants and animals,
societies and civilization fly back to Her all-engulfing mouth
in obedience to her awesome gesture.
God is the thread of the flower-garland woven by the senses,
and it is She to whom this garland is offered by every activity
of the senses.
When God is conceived as the active immanence in mind
and matter, objects of sense and enjoyment become sacred
themselves. God is present in the wine-cup, or in baptismal
water. Indeed, bread and wine become the flesh and blood of
the God Himself, and demand reverence during the holy
ceremony. In the same manner religion seeks to change all
enjoyment into dedication, all pleasures into offerings, all deeds
into sacrifices. Even that mighty explosive energy, sex, which
asceticism shuns, is transmuted. If it is true that mans instability
of emotions and the will is intimately connected with his sex
life and that neither man nor woman can reach his or her highest
state of psychological development except in the closest possible
association with one of opposite sex, religion must not disregard

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the sex relation. On the other hand, a practical religion naturally

would include sex in its field. In a large part of the world,
the emotional and spiritual sympathy between man and woman
is rare, and there is lack of adaptation to each others subtle
moods and expression. Thus marriage cannot rise to the spiritual
level. The intimate association between man and woman in
religious meditation, the recognition of sex, not as an evil to
flee from but as an uplifting force to be utilised in a partnership
of the spirit, raises sex adjustment from an instinctive level and
marriage from a mere physiological contrivance. It fixes the
greatest and best thing in man, viz., love upon the supremest
object, viz., God. Man cannot achieve perfection if he leaves
love out of account or distributes his life in segregated
compartments of earthly affection and spirituality. Sex thus has
to be evaluated in terms of religious experience. Thus man will
pray not to be delivered from sex but from its temptations; he
will import into normal sexual life a religious partnership so that
the moments of greatest intimacy will cease to be exciting, and a
serene tranquillity and full vitality will be associated together without
the detriment of either. God is to be conceived as the one supreme
Energy who is the passion of love as well as the abstraction
of the most elevated meditation. Nothing is unholy, for Gods
feet are everywhere. You are my Self. My will is Your consort.
My vital airs are Your attendants. This body is Your home.
All the paraphernalia of worldly enjoyment is Your ritual. Sleep
is my ineffable union with Thee. As I walk, I circumambulate
round You. All my words are hymns. Whatever I do, all that
is Your worship.* This is the most supreme consecration.
For the ignorant, God is fetish, image or ritual; for the wise,
*

@U
l

U UU UU U

UH

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God is mysterious and bears a thousand names. For the child,

God is a playmate; for the youth, God is the sweet coy maiden
of Love and Beauty. For the worldly, God is the consecration
of the flesh, and the art and ritual of the satisfaction of desires.
For the leaders of men, God is the supreme embodiment of
renunciation and self-sacrifice. For the aged, God is the All and
the Alone.
Gods body is made up of mans deepest and most fervent
desires and aspirations. In the depth of passion, in the serenity
of knowledge, in the tensest moments of activity, God is with
man. And when passion is frustrated and activity baffled by
cruel Fate and Death and man finds himself as castaway in the
sands of time, he still worships God as the All-Good. When
his knowledge quails before the thought that this Universe, the
scene of his many triumphs and sufferings, must die like ordinary
creatures in the inevitable extinction of the solar system, God
is still the All-True. God is the Eternal Dancer in the allengulfing Space and Time. Life and death, Creation and
Destruction are rhythmically pulsating patterns in His eversupple, ever-flowing dance. As He sweeps majestically over the
dark unfathomable space, a thousand worlds and beings spring
up like lotuses and God lingers amongst them in a kiss, and
His kiss is the beauty and hope of creation. As He swiftly turns
back in the grandeur of sheer aimlessness, a thousand worlds
and beings return after their little day to His all-devouring mouth,
and then God is left alone, Unpartnered. Then there is neither
universe nor man, and God neither feels, nor thinks, nor dreams.

Odes to the Mother Divine

Kshitindra Nath Tagore

1. Forgive My Trespasses
O Mother mine! What mingled tears of joy and remorse
fill mine eyes as I think of Thee! What a good and affectionate
mother Thou ever hast been unto me; yet how often alas! I
have played the truant, fleeing from Thy side and seeking after
fleeting pleasures far and wide! For fear Thou mightest hold
me in Thine arms and fill me with Thy loving caresses, even
a distant glimpse of Thy very face would make me flee again
pleasure-hunting. How terribly, indeed, was my body and soul
bruised by the stings of the thorns and brambles of the World!
Yet, fool as I was, I sought not for Thine embrace to have
my wounds healed up. O my Mother! not even this bitter
repentance of mine bringeth me solace. I feel as though my
life is being burnt up almost to cinders by the fire of torment
that burneth within me! No greater sinner than me, meseems,
can yet be found on the face of this earth. To my proud and
sinful soul Thy sacred name was an aversion instead of a source
of joy, and hence I could not bear to hear it being uttered even
from others lips. Thou alone knowest what frightful torment
and suffering my flights from Thee brought me. Thou knowest,
too, how often, maddened by pain and pangs of conscience,
I sought to wipe out my cursed existence from off the face of
the earth. But even Death coldly passed me by, as if in scorn.
Yea, how often Thy motherly care saved me from death and
blank despair and breathed new life into me! Yet ungrateful
wretch that I was, I tried hard to forget Thy very name and
to banish Thee from my heart! O what a fool I was! Is it possible

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to wipe out of my heart such a sweet name as Thine? Oh no!

Thy name is too deeply dug into my heart to be erased. Nay,
I read Thy name writ large in letters of gold on everything and
everywhereon the face of the radiant dawn and on the glitter
of the stars at eventide; I felt the fragrance of Thy name wafted
unto me by the soft Zephyrs, the messengers of the sweetscented flowers; I heard Thy name sung ceaselessly by the
warblers of the grove in unison with the melody of the boughs!
Yet, for all that, to an impious soul, such as mine, Thine
effulgent beauty, immanent in Nature, made no appeal; nor did
the sweet music of Thy voice evoke the least response in my
heart. O Mother! forgive all my trespasses against Thee. Let
me, O let me once more call Thee by the sweet name of Mother
and so lighten my heavy heart. Let me once more cry aloud
Thy name, sung evermore by the majestic mountains, by the
roaring waves of the Ocean, by the murmuring forests, no less
than by the frolicsome winds sporting with the waving flowers.
Let all these awaken once more in my heart Thy name and
nothing but Thy name. Let Thy sweet name resound eternally
deep in my heart.
2. Let me die at thy Feet
O Mother mine! What a head-strong and wicked child I
grew up to be! Since the dawning of mine intelligence I have
been treading the perilous path that leadeth unto destruction.With
deep motherly concern Thou hast indeed, ever and anon, warned
me. But alas! Thy efforts to reform my life were often in vain,
for Thy counsels fell on deaf ears! Nor, with all Thy fondness
for me, didst Thou spare the chastening rod; but that, too,
inspired little or no dread into me, even with the gaunt spectre
of Death dancing before my very sight. O Mother! What else
couldst Thou do with this self-willed child of Thine but leave
him to learn, by the buffettings of the world, his much-needed
lesson, so that like as a bird, its wings tired by wild flights,

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seeketh its cosy nest, he might come back sick and weary into
Thy sheltering arms? He has indeed come back unto Thee at
last, Thy prodigal son, with body and mind wrecked. Wouldst
Thou not receive me back into Thy warm bosom for once?
What a beautiful body Thou didst confer on me at birth; but
it hath been all torn and lacerated by the deadly thorns and
hard blows of the world. What a noble mind Thou didst implant
in me; but that, too, is wrecked, and the lamp of my life, ever
ready to go out, is burning low. I have now brought to Thy
feet a worn-out body and a shattered mind. Punishment I have
had enoughpunish me no more. Do lift up into Thy warm
bosom, even if it be for once only, this once lost wayward child
of Thine. Let me drink deep of Thy love and bliss streaming
forth a hundred ways from Thy bosom, and give me rest and
peace and cool my heart, parched by the fire of anguish. Let
me be utterly lost in Thee, O Mother! like as a river loses itself
in the Ocean. Shouldst Thou, O Mother! disown me, Thy child,
Thine own child come back unto Thee, stained with dirt and
dust and blood, and refuse to receive me back into Thy bosom,
then grant me at least the privilege of dying at Thy feet.
3. Thy Castaway Child
O Mother! Thy forsaken child is lying in a dark and dismal
ditch by the roadside. The travellers pass him by unconcerned,
and his heart-rending cries attract no notice. Death seemeth to
dog his every step, as fit punishment for one that forsaketh Thee.
In vain doth Nature scatter her charms around him; the silvery
moon smiling majestically along the star-bespangled sky, the
bees fluttering over the variegated flowers and sucking honey
now and then, the ocean eternally rolling and roaring, and rivers
murmuring along in their crystal bedsthese charms no more
evoke their wonted response in his lacerated heart. His distress
knoweth no bounds. There is none to stop the bleeding, none
to lend him a helping hand, nonenone to pour the water of

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sympathy and peace on the fire that ever burneth within him
and seemeth to consume his very life. O Mother! caress him
once again. He is drooping with his bruises. Do Thou lift him
up in Thine arms but once. He hath no doubt by his
waywardness rendered himself unworthy of Thy love with
which Thou didst send him into the world; but that doth not
make any difference to the selfless maternal love with which
a mother nourisheth and reareth even the least worthy of her
children. He is dying of thirstO quench it with one drop, and
one drop only, of the milk of Thy love. With that he could
face death boldly without shrinking. Shouldst Thou deny him
this love and sympathy, where else should he go, then, to seek
for it, wandering as it were from door to door? Then let him
lie where he is, a castaway awaiting his doom. O discard him
not, Mother!O discard him not, Thy repentant child come
back unto Thee. He will never, never more leave Thy side again.
If to take up in Thine arms a sinful child such as he is, Thou
dost think would contaminate Thee, then do not. O Mother!
Let him then die in the ditch, disowned and castaway by Thee.
He cannot, however, bear passers-by saying as they pass him
and cast a look of pity on himHow heartless must be the
mother to let her own child die in deep agony! This stingeth
him to the quick and breaketh his heart more than aught else,
and tears rush into his eyes. He crieth without ceasing till tears
dry up at their source. O Mother! Do but once appear before
him. Full to the brim and almost overflowing is his cup of
misery. Let him dive deep but once in the ocean of Thy
boundless love and then pass into oblivion forever.
4. The Reciprocal Privilege
O Mother mine! I know not whither Thou hast gone, leaving
me all alone. Wherever Thou art, Thou canst not leave me all
alone nor ever can I live without Thee. Why hast Thou brought
me into the world, if Thou shouldst choose to keep away from

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me? I had no say in the matter of my birth; yet, being born

into the world, I have had to taste of both weal and woe
my life is made up of smiles and tears. In truth, my weal and
woe waken joy and grief in Thee, a proud privilege of the child.
But tell me, O Mother! who else but Thyself could make me
the possessor of this proud privilege? I know I have given Thee
pain by breaking Thy commandments and straying away from
Thee against Thy will. But Thou hast not been the only sufferer
thereby. The pain hath reacted on me and caused me deep
anguish that baffles description and naught but death can put
an end to it. There is no anguish comparable to that from which
I suffer at the core of my heart. For a child to give pain unto
the mother and for a mother to punish the child, whether the
punishment taketh the form of repentance or chastisement, is
indeed the proud privilege of both mother and child. By this
test, verily, I know Thee to be my mother and myself to be
Thy child.
5. How sweet is Thy name
O Mother mine! What sweet music doth Thy name sound
unto mine ear! O let me cry aloud and call Thee by that sweet
nameMother. What magic is in the name! The moment I
utter it, lo! my burning heart cooleth down and all my pangs
vanish! Words are too inadequate to describe Thy love and
mercy. I cannot think of them without a feeling of joy ineffable
stirring my whole being. Yet, when I try to utter Thy name,
the tongue refuseth to do its function and my heart quaketh with
awe. How incomprehensible Thou art indeed unto my mind!
I cannot comprehend Thee myself, O Mother! How, then, can
I make others comprehend Thee? Ah! the agony of my life
melteth itself into tears flowing in a never-ending stream down
my cheeks. Aye! The tears blind mine eyes and the world
seemeth to pass away from me for the time being. One desire,
and one only, pervadeth my soulto lay mine aching head on

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Thy bosom and murmur out Mother in a whispering voice

and then say good-bye to the world with the word Mother
lingering on my lips. Let my name find an eternal home in Thee,
O Mother. Let me embrace Thee with the strength of a hundred
pairs of arms. O grant me the power of looking on Thy face
steadily and the privilege of calling Thee Mother with my
whole heart and soul for ever and ever.
6. When shall I be at Thy feet again ?
O Mother mine! meseems, in my early childhood many a
hope and yearning was wont to spring up ripplelike in my heart
and burst like unto bubbles on the shores of my life. I found
no rest till I recounted them all and thus unburdened my heart
unto Thee. How I would lay my head on Thy lap and mutter
them out in lisping accents! How Thou wouldst listen to those
incoherent mutterings with the fondness of a mother, and with
hands outstretched shower blessings on my head saying, May
all thy hopes, O my child, be fulfilled! If ever I complained
unto Thee of pain or sorrow, how Thou wouldst stroke me
fondly with Thy loving fingers, and lo! the pain would be gone
instantly by the magic of Thy touch. Words fail to express with
what motherly love Thou wouldst look smilingly on me, while
mine eyes remained rivetted on Thee wonderstruck. Now I
have reached the eve of my life, when, crushed under the
grinding wheels of the world, my heart bleedeth and yearneth
for the day when I shall have evermore the joy of laying my
head on Thy lap with all my pain relieved by the touch of Thy
healing fingers.
7. My offering of myself
O Mother mine! I have reached the eventide of my life with
darkness closing around me. My heart longeth to call Thee
Mother aloud with the voice of a hundred throats. The
shadows are falling thick and fast and I have none else but
Thee to abide with me in the dark chamber of my heart. In

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this tranquil evening of my life the noises of the world are

hushed within me and Nature, ever active, appeareth unto me
to be in her mid-night slumber. Nature hath brought within me
the calm and tranquillity of the mellowing years and hath for
ever put an end to all the worldly desires and vanities of my
heart. For me the eternal fight between the conflicting elements
of pleasure and pain, the waves of useless worldly clamour,
have all been set at rest once for all. Let me now, O Mother!
hasten to make an offering, unto Thy blessed feet, of my body
and soulmy all. There is, meseems, none to realize what an
incomparable mother Thou hast ever been unto me. Verily, Thou
art known unto me as nothing but the ever-loving and affectionate
mother. O press me to Thy bosom once more ere I depart from
this world of woe. I know I have been a naughty child of Thine;
even then I am Thy child. I know I have more than once played
the truant, fleeing from Thy side in quest of pleasure. That, I
confess with sorrow, was a serious transgression. But O Mother
mine! Tell me how couldst Thou remain so unmoved and bear
Thy childs long absence?
8. Thy penitent child hath come back
O Mother mine! Thy penitent child is come back unto Thee
and craveth forgiveness at Thy feet, on bended knees and with
folded hands. He hath no doubt committed an unpardonable sin
by staying away from Thee for many a longlong day. He
hath suffered enough for thatbehold him, how his body and
soul are all torn and lacerated by the thorns and brambles of
the World and bleed at every pore. Thou surely hast been glad,
O Mother! to see Thy once lost, but now penitent child come
back unto Thee! But his joy knoweth no bounds in returning
into Thine arms. O let him, Thine own child, even if it be for
a moment, hide his face in Thy bosom and sob out his soul
in repentance. He hath no other ambition than to hold fast to
the anchor of Thy feet laid on his heart. Punish him, O Mother

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and he shall bear any amount of punishmentif ever he should

leave Thy side again. Punish him by all means, but refuse not
to drag him back unto Thy feet. O Mother! He feeleth no peace
of mind for the wrong done Thee. Welling forth out of his heart,
the full flood of his repentance rusheth forth towards Thy feet,
while hot stinging tears fall in a never-ceasing stream to wash
out the stain of his sin. O punish not Thy child to death
punished enough already he hath beenby casting a look of
contempt or indifference at him, but rather by taking him into
Thy bosom immerse him in the ocean of Thy bliss divine.
9. Give me shelter
O Mother! Thy presence pervadeth the whole universe. Not
a tiny atom but revealeth Thee in all Thy glory. Whithersoever
I turn my eyes, I behold, O Mother! Thy beneficent hand at
work. Whenever my mind gaspeth for peace amidst the
bickerings and strifes of the world, I turn for shelter unto Thee.
It is then that Thou, sitting at my head, strokest me lovingly
with Thy soothing fingers, and Lo! in a trice, peace ineffable
is felt in every fibre of my body and mind, and all my little
trials and tribulations cease at once, and the fire eating into my
very life goes out in no time. Freed from all mundane cares
and anxieties, let me, O Mother! Fall asleep like a tired babe
on Thy lap. O ! Lay to rest once for all my woes with the
magic dust of Thy feet and let me partake of rest and bliss
everlasting. I am now old and infirm. Feed me once more with
the milk of Thy love with which Thou didst nourish and rear
me when I was a helpless babe. Give me once more vigour
and strength enough to enable me to go out into the world and
proclaim Thy glory.
10. Thou the lodestar of my life!
O Mother! Thou knowest that Thou art the lodestar of my
life. What misery I feel if I but lose sight of Thee even for
a moment! Thou art the Life of my life. Abide with me and

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fill every moment of my life with Thy ever-pervading presence.

Thine absence, however brief, is simply unbearable to me. There
is no song of mine but hath been inspired by Thee. There is
no music of mine but glorifieth and exalteth Thy name in
melodious strains. How my heart leapeth up with joy at the
mention of Thy name! In the hope of beholding Thee I roamed
about the world. I have come to realize at last that Thou art
ever present in the lonely tabernacle of my heart. Back from
my wanderings I taste again the peace of my home within Thy
motherly arms. O I have done with all my wanderings, once
for all, and must now hold fast to Thy bright and holy feet
laid on my heart, as to an anchor-sheet. Good-bye to all the
bickerings and strife over the little things of the world. Such
strife takes away the calm and peace of my life. My heart then
quaketh like unto an aspen leaf, and the all-consuming fire of
agony flareth forth in all its fury. Mother, O Mother! No more
leave me alone in this rude wide world. Apart from Thee I
cannot live. O do give me a seat, however humble, and let me
sit at Thy blessed feet until the last moment of my life.
11. The world seemeth a cremation-ground
O Mother mine! come unto me. Turn not away from Thy
castaway child. The world seemeth to me to be a solitary desert
where Thou hast brought and left me, I know not why. The
world appeareth to me, more than anything else, as a cremationground, where Thou hast left me, forsaken and surrounded by
fierce hungry dogs and vultures. Whichever way I turn mine
eyes, I see naught but Death stalking with giant strides. People
passing by do not so much as cast a look at the dead waiting
for cremation. Only the sorrowing mother sitteth sobbing with
the head of the dead child on her lap. Her maternal grief seemeth
to ooze out of her heart and flow on to her face. How transient
is human life; one moment we are here and the very next
moment we are gonegone none knoweth whither! Such is

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the world whereunto Thou hast brought me, Thine own child,
forsaken and deserted now by Thee. Am I to sit here eternally
like unto the mythical Crow of the Pura watching on Death
stalking along and taking a heavy toll of human life and people
mourning over their beloved dead? I am faint and sick at the
sight of Death, scythe in hand, stalking proudly with head erect
and cutting down indiscriminately young and old. O take me
away, O Mother! from this horrid placetake me away where
there is no Death, nor old age, nor disease. The dead carry
no riches with them. Wherefore should we set our hearts on
those mere shadows? Let those play with them that are so
minded. Children cry over their sand-castles when they tumble
down at the slightest breath of the wind. All earthly things are
no less transient than even those a childs sand-castles. I have
done with the empty shows of the world and now long for
rest and peace everlasting with my head on Thy lap and my
eyes fixed on Thee. O place Thy hand on my head and grant
me the privilege of holding fast to Thy feet laid on my heart.
12. My pride is humbled
O Mother mine! I was born a handsome child, and all
praised my beauty. But if anyone were to call me handsome
now, I should say he was mocking at me. Thou art the Beauty
of all beauties. Thou art, O Mother! Beauty personified and hast
no peer on earth and in heaven. It is not surprising that I, being
Thine own child, should inherit something of that beauty and
thus become handsome. But there was nothing for me to boast
of in this matter, as it was only a gift of Thine. But all the
same I became proud and vain on this account. I realize now
that this my body and mind, howsoever endowed with beauty
they might have been, were nothing but cards to make a playhouse with. One cannot say when and from which side a breath
of death would blow and bring down with a crash the house
of cards. The world is nothing but a miragea cluster of

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

illusions. We find, however, that whoever is born into this world

cannot escape work; in fact, there is no way out of it. It is
laid down that by the sweat of our brow we eat our bread.
But what then? There seems to be no certainty whither I shall
have to go when I depart this life. Even then, I wonder how
it is that I do not feel greater joy or happiness than when I
hear one praise Thee. The scales then drop from mine eyes,
and the veil of illusion is rent, letting in a full flood of heavenly
light. O Mother! curb my pride and arrogance. Let my head
bow low unto the ground at Thy feet. I have now neither the
beauty nor the vigour of youth. I implore Thee in all humility
to cleanse my heart of pride and wash my sins with streams
of Thy mercy. I reck not what the world may say about me;
but I am dying to know, O Mother! If I am still beautiful in
Thy sight.

Mother! In the sea of life my bark is sinking.

The whirlwind of illusion, the storm of attachment is
growing every moment.
My five oarsmen (senses) are foolish, and the helmsman
(mind) is weak.
My bearings are lost, my boat is sinking.
O Mother! Save me!
Mother, Thy light stops not for the saint or the sinner;
it animates the lover and the murderer. Mother is ever
manifesting through all. The light is not polluted by what it
shines on, nor benefited by it. The light is ever pure, ever
changeless. Behind every creature is the Mother pure, lovely,
never changing. Mother, manifested as light in all beings,
we bow down to Thee!
Swami Vivekananda

akti
Shambhoo Nath

The first nine days of the second half of the moon in the
months of wina and Caitra, commonly known as the
Navartra, have an extraordinary importance for an average
Hindu without any distinction whatsoever. Although the
demonstrative part of the festival has much worn out on account
of the impoverished condition of the people of this country, its
spiritual significance has remained intact and would assuredly
remain so till the end of time. What, then, is this Navartra,
and what is its spiritual significance? Those who believe that
it is only a period earmarked for the offering of prayers and
worship to the Universal Mother, the akti, seldom emerge out
of the stereotyped rituals to understand the inner spiritual
significance. To some Navartra appears only as a festival of
the ktas, while others believe that it is nothing but an
anniversary celebration of the superstition handed down to us
by our ancestors. All these conceptions are products of loose
thinking based on ignorance. To understand the inner significance
of the celebration, it is necessary, first of all, to know what
akti is, and what Tattva is, the question of prayer and other
rituals being only one of secondary importance.
akti and aktimn are two correlative terms which in the
matter of realization are mutually inclusive. As no correct
conception of fire can be formed without reference to its
properties of burning or heating, so no idea of God can be
obtained without recognizing the akti side of Him. The sumtotal of the latent potentiality of God is known as akti. It is

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

this power that expands Itself into creation according to the will
of the Lord or Master of creation. The infinity of Universes
are only Its manifestation; that is Its creative aspect, whereas
Pralaya or dissolution is Its destructive aspect. In other words,
collect the total energy of the universe and you know what is
akti.
The worshippers of iva or akara designate akti as
Mahkl, or Durg or Prvat; the devotees of Viu worship
the same all-permeating force as Mahlakm, and the worshippers
of Brahm know Her as Mahsaraswat, Brahm or Gyatr.
The sages see Her in the variegated rays of the sun, in the serene
effulgence of the moon, in the beauty of the flowers and in
the melody of the birds. She is the spirit in poetry, sense in
prose, meaning in words, melody in music, colour in painting
and skill (Kal) in the fine arts. It is this all-pervading deity
that the Hindus invoke and worship during the Navartra. It
is this akti which creates, preserves or destroys the universe.
These three functions are assigned also to the Hindu Trinity.
It is, therefore, the same akti which individually carries out
the Divine Will. This is how one can see unity in diversity,
and diversity in unity.
The three forms of akti responsible for creation, preservation
and destruction are known as Icch-akti, Kriy-akti and Jna
akti. Although manifestations of one and the same energy, these
different forms are conceived in order to bring out and
emphasize the differences of functions they have to discharge.
There is, however, no conflict in their operation. Preservation
is the necessary adjunct of creation, and when this is outgrown,
and stagnation seems imminent the stage of destruction commences,
which is, again, only a prelude to the process of creation and
preservation. This is how the Universal Mother performs Her
task of evolution and involution.
It may, however, be argued that Universal Motherhood

akti

151

being the main characteristic of akti-Tattva, the conception of

Goddess Kl, besmeared with blood, and with a necklace of
human skulls around her neck, should be something revolting
and incompatible. But, as a matter of fact, it is not so. Kl
has no such appearance in reality. Her love and affection as
mother is incomparable. It is only while She plays the role of
destruction in order to advance the spiritual evolution of Her
children, that She excites Herself and assumes a ferocious
appearance. This She does to kill the forces of reaction that
retard the progress of Her creation. She destroys such enemies
of human progress relentlessly only to accelerate the process
of creation and conservation. As we cannot ascribe cruelty to
a surgeon for performing an operation on an ailing patient, we
cannot similarly see cruelty in the destructive role of the Mother.
When a goldsmith puts the costliest metal into his burning oven
and hammers it on the anvil, he does not do so with the purpose
of deteriorating it, but to make it purer and more impressionable.
Unfortunately, however, some evil practices having crept into
our rituals, our Upsan has become a butt of general contempt
and ridicule. But that does not affect the truth that lies behind
akti or its Tattva. Worshippers are dependent on Her mercy,
but She is independent of their belief or disbelief. If people
refuse to believe in the Sun, the Sun will not cease to exist,
plunging the world into stygian darkness. Our disbelief as well
as our vices, therefore, retard our own progress, and it is for
this reason that we have to bow down before the Mother and
pray to Her incessantly to give us insight and strength to see
through the evils that dominate us and shun them. It is for this
that we invoke the blessings of akti. Just as a mother cannot
afford to see her child suffer from misery and affliction and
hastens to its rescue when it helplessly cries for her assistance,
similarly, the Divine Mother akti promptly takes out Her
devotees from the slough of degradation. The Navartra is the

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

period which should be seized to propitiate the akti whom we

have antagonized by our misdeeds. It is time that we realize
our glorious heritage, and the purity and truth behind our
ancestral beliefs. Then and then alone can we enthrone Her in
the sacred sanctuary of our hearts and retrieve our lost position
in the world. This alone can make us pulsate with a new life.
The epicurean theory of eat, drink and be merry has no place
or sanction in the Upsan of the Mother. There is nothing
so certain to drag us down to the horrors of hell than this
absolutely selfish view of life. His (killing for sacrifice) also
has no place in Upsan. The surest and the easiest method
of pleasing akti is the cultivation of the idea that every woman
of the world without distinction of caste, creed, colour or
religion, is but akti Herself and has to be worshipped like the
Mother. Let us develop this belief and we shall realize a power
within ourselves, which will be irresistible. The best form of
worshipping akti consists in worshipping our own mothers and
sisters and protecting them from the trials and allurements of
the world. This is a form of Upsan which in spiritual value
is higher than the highest rituals of the Tntrikas.

Stray Thoughts on the Path

M. P. Jain

(1)
Ever aware, alert and vigilant
Detached from all, everything
Anchored in the core of Heart
Blissfully calm, composed and still.
(2)
A clear conscious perception of the meaning of That
An inquisitive deep insight into the illusion of me
The terms, Thou and That are rendered redundant
In the light of awareness of the unique unitive Being.
(3)
No more maze of thoughts, web of words
Superb peace and calm prevail
The Grace reveals and grace is at work
The wisdom shines with its light and rays.
(4)
The revelation dissolves all concepts and whims
The eternal disguised as ephemeral pulsates in each being
He is in all, all move in Him
As many beads roll on the same string.

Conception of akti
B. Bhattacharya

Regarding the true nature of akti there are prevalent many

curious notions in modern times, and this seems to be one of
the reasons why akti-worship is condemned by many. Those
who cannot think otherwise than grossly are inclined to take
this akti as equivalent to the Tantra where the five Makras
are freely used. Others conceive of some demon-power as akti
and consider the different deities as representing the akti. To
them, therefore, the akti is nothing but certain deities like Kl,
Tr, Chinnamast, etc. To say the least, these ideas are vague,
haphazard and erroneous.
The conception of akti is one of most sublime in Indian
Philosophy. This akti is the creator, maintainer and destroyer
of the universe and is the first cause of creation. akti is the
Ultimate Reality from which the world of Unreal takes its origin.
akti was present when there was no Matter and the world of
matter was created at her express desire. In this Philosophy,
therefore, there is no deism, no gods and goddesses, nor the
five Makras. It is pure Monistic Philosophy which believes
in the transcendence of the Spirit over matter. The akti
philosophy is in direct conflict with the Vedic conception of
the Sun being the Ultimate Reality and the cause of the creation,
and this may be one of the reasons why the followers of the
akti School were termed as heterodox by the orthodox school.
In one of the Tantric works Umnandantha has given a
good description of the Par or the highest akti in the following
words

Conception of akti

SCU
S

155

U
S l

SU

UUH

Par akti is that Power to whom no part of the world

remains unseen; there is no king who is not her slave, and there
is no science that is not known to her.
This is one of the finest descriptions of akti met with in
Saskta literature, though by no means it can be regarded as
complete. But the verse makes it clear that the akti is immanent
in every part of the creation, that She is the embodiment of
Sovereignty, and that She is the fountain-head of all sciences
and knowledge. The theory of akti is a definite advance on
the dualistic philosophy of the Skhya School, and a precursor
of the Pantheism of the Vednta, and what is more important,
is that it contains within it the germs of the theory of
transcendence and immanence.
It is on this theory of akti that Tantrism is based. Some
Scholars hold that Tantrism is based on the dualistic idea of
iva and akti and this is nothing but the Skhya idea of
Purua and Prakti. But this is not correct. The aktisagama
Tantra which deals with akti, as no other Tantra does, also
makes the akti transcend iva; or in other words, makes the
akti the creator even of iva Himself.

U
CUU

SU
H
Oh, Maheni, seeing this (her own figure) she created her
husband dintha from her mind in order to create the
Universe.
According to the Hindu Tantras the akti descends through
endless creations to all beings who are the manifestations of
the akti, that is to say, every being holds within it a divine

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

spark. Now this theory of akti brings infinite possibilities of

cultivating power. The being has within it the power given to
it by the highest akti, and is, therefore, known as the Jvtm,
while the highest akti which is regarded as the fountain-head
of all power is called the Paramtm. The two are not different
in quality but the difference lies in the fact that while the Jvtm
is finite, the Par akti is infinite. The teaching of the Tantra
is that in the regular course of evolution the Jvtm can attain
the state of infinite when it becomes united with the Par akti
and be merged in her. This is called the highest state or
emancipation. According to Hindu Tantras this can be attained
by certain methods and well laid out procedure which are known
only to the experts of the science.
In Buddhist Tantras also, the same idea prevails but here
the nomenclature is different. The place of akti is taken in the
Buddhist Tantras by unya which is the embodiment of unya,
Vijna and Mahsukha from which everything Springs and to
which everything returns. The Jvtm is here designated as
Bodhisattva or one whose mind is bent upon obtaining Bodhi
or final beatitude. In obtaining emancipation the Bodhisattva has
to submit himself to a strict discipline and a variety of psychic
exercises, which gradually lead him on the way to final
liberation. The Buddhist Tantras also conceive the highest unya
in the form of a deity called Nairatma to whose embrace as
if the Bodhisattva jumps, and even as salt melts in water the
Bodhisattva and Nairatma join together or get merged in each
other and be a part and parcel of the highest unya. This shows
that the duality of the Bodhisattva and Nairatma is only apparent
and not real, and this duality disappears the moment the highest
knowledge of unya is realized.
Under the circumstances I am fully convinced that the
Tantras are nothing but sciences which show the methods and
processes by which psychic power can be developed. The aim

Conception of akti

157

of these processes, of course, as has been said already, is the

attainment of emancipation, but all are not able to attain to this
height in one birth, but their labours are awarded during the
course of psychic exercises by their developing certain special
powers which are called Siddhis. These Siddhis are superhuman
powers which can be exercised by one who has attained them
but by no other human being. The Yogasutra of Patajali
recognizes eight Siddhis, such as atomization, levitation, etc.,
while later works enumerate something like thirty-four Siddhis.
It is possible for one to obtain a few or many among these
Siddhis by following the procedures and methods advocated in
the different schools of the Hindu and Buddhist Tantras. Indeed,
the contention of the Tantra is that whatever is possible of
achievement by developing the physical resources of the world,
can be achieved by developing the psychic resources of one
single individual. For instance, we cure diseases by medicines,
but a Siddha will do it by a mere glance at the patient, or a
touch or by incantations from a distance, or some such simple
process. Nay more, he can transfer the life of a lower animal
to a body where the life is extinct. Again, we cannot see
anything beyond a certain range, but a Siddha can at any time
visualize distant objects and give a correct account of them; he
can hear conversations at distant parts of the world by the
projections of his mind. The above are some of the powers
obtained by a Siddha after he had undergone psychic processes
with success.
The body to the Tantric is the representative of the universe,
and he claims that whatever is found in the macrocosm the
counterpart of the same is to be found in the human microcosm.
By developing psychic powers the difference between the two
becomes gradually lessened until they are merged in complete
identity. The powers that are found in the macrocosm are found
to exist in a dormant or latent form in the microcosm. The

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

ancient Yogs discovered ways and means to arouse this latent

power in the human system, and showed ways of developing
powers so as to astonish the world.
Yoga and Hahayoga are the principal means by which
psychic power can be developed. The Hahayoga purifies the
body and helps the worshipper to arouse the Kualin power,
while Yoga with its eight subdivisions assists him in obtaining
the Siddhis, which ultimately lead to salvation. The Yoga in its
highest form produces a condition similar to deep sleep or
Suupti when between the Jvtm and the Par akti a
communion takes place; and by this communion the Jvtm
is able to draw forth energy from the inexhaustible storehouse
of energy, and become powerful himself. As the Par akti
is the fountain spring of all power, it is no wonder that the
Jvtm should draw power from her, provided that he knows
the natural laws by which it can be so drawn. To cut the matter
short, we may say on the analogy of a modern invention that
the Par akti in this case functions as a giant radio transmitter
while the individual Yog works as a receiving station.
This instance of attaining Yogic powers is perfectly in
accordance with natural laws. In the sphere of matter and spirit,
it is the latter that always predominates. The body of a dead
person remains intact with all the sense-organs, muscles and
bones, but something that we cannot see, leaves him. That
something cannot be seen, touched or measured, but so long
as it is there the body is animated and it is able to function
properly. This something is the Spirit, the tm, the Vital Energy
or by whatever other name it may be called. It is superior to
matter of which the body is composed, and this spirit-superiority
has been recognized in India long since the dawn of history.
And as the Indian mind always seeks after the truth or after
that which has some intrinsic value, the ancient savants concentrated
their attention on the spirit more than on matter. In the physical

Conception of akti

159

sphere we find persons solely given to physical exercises and

physical culture develop wonderful powers which others are
unable to obtain. It is possible for a Rmamurti to break thick
iron-chains, or to keep stationary a motor car in motion, or to
allow an elephant to stand on his chest, but to an ordinary man
these feats will appear superhuman. If such feats can be
displayed by one solely given to physical culture by merely
developing the body which, as we have seen, is much inferior
to the spirit, what infinitely greater powers can be developed
by one who takes to psychic culture!
There is another important process by which power can be
developed. This is by the recitation of Mantras either loudly
or mentally. The modern mind dismisses the whole thing as pure
humbug. But let us see whether we can give any scientific
explanation of this phenomenon. No one will disagree that
words are endowed with power, and the degree of power varies
according as they come from this or that individual. The words
of a sovereign, for instance, compel obedience. When an officer
hears that he is dismissed he feels depressed and when an orator
speaks he can infuriate a mob. Thus we can see that words
have power to make others obey, feel depressed or infuriated,
and words manifest these powers with their utterance. The same
natural law applies to the science of the Mantras. When uttered
they generate certain vibrations which prove either benefic or
malefic, in the same way as a radio transmitter sends out
vibrations which generate the feeling either of pleasure or pain
(when there are loud atmospherics) in the minds of the listeners.
The teachers of the Mantra School after wide experience and
experimentation have discovered certain words called Bjamantras,
or certain combinations of words such as the Hdayamantra
or Mlmantra, which have definite value for the production
of benefic or malefic results. The results are obtained by
repeating the Mantra upto a certain number, the mind being

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

fully concentrated on the letters of the Mantra. Vk or speech

has been termed in the Tantric works as Vgvajra or the eternal
Vk which is considered to be indestructible. In fact, some of
the Mtk Tantras declare that in the beginning of creation
the letters of the alphabet were the first to be created and from
them developed the mobile and immobile creation. Every word
that is uttered, produces some result, good or evil, and the Yog
has to be extremely cautious with regard to his speech which
may be productive of evil.
In this paper, I have made an attempt to collect certain
thoughts on the conception of akti and the possibilities given
to human beings for developing psychic power, but at the same
time I must point out that the profession of a Tantric is a
Sdhan which requires persistent efforts of a life-time. It is
something different from a hobby, and requires a strong, pure
and healthy body with a pure and healthy mind. Strange as it
may seem, Yoga and Hahayoga practices are not for puny and
diseased men, for they cannot and should not be the recipients
of the knowledge that is able to bestow mystic powers.

Salutations crores of times to the blessed Divine Mother

who is the one Power that sustains the universe. She is the
source of Power manifest in and through the various names
and forms. Salutations again and again to Her who manifests
within our hearts as aspiration, as Sdhan-akti and preserves
our Yoga and who ultimately manifests Herself as Pure
Knowledge in our consciousness and illuminates our entire
being.

Hymn to the Divine Mother for

Forgiveness of Transgressions
SU
uU S
S
U

SU
UUH 1H
I know, alas! no hymn, no Mantra,
Neither prayer nor meditation;
Not even how to give Thee praise.
The proper ritual of the worship,
The placement of the hands, I know not,
Nor how to make Thee supplication,
But Mother, this at least I know:
Whoever comes to Thee for shelter
Reaches the end of all his woe.

U
UU

U
U

hU

H 2H
Ignorant of the commands of scripture,
Utterly devoid of wealth,
Shiftless, indolent, am I,
Unable to do as I ought to do.
Numerous, therefore, are the offences
I have committed at Thy feet.
Mother! Saviour of all mankind!

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

Auspicious One! forgive my sins.

A wicked son is sometimes born,
But an unkind mother there cannot be.

S U U
U UUU

H 3H
Here in this world of Thine, O Mother!
Many are Thy guileless children;
But restless am I among them all,
And so it is nothing very strange
That I should turn myself from Thee.
Yet surely it were impossible
That Thou shouldst ever turn from me:
A wicked son is sometimes born,
But an unkind mother there cannot be.

S
U

U
S
SU L L
H 4H
Mother of the world! Thou, my own Mother!
Never have I served Thee, never yet
Offered Thee gold or precious gems;
And still Thy love is beyond compare.
A wicked son is sometimes born,
But an unkind mother there cannot be.

@U

S
U U UH 5H

Hymn to the Divine Mother.......of Transgressions

Bewildered by the rules of conduct,

By the injunctions of the scriptures,
I have abandoned, one by one,
The shining gods; and now my life
Has passed beyond the meridian.
Mother, shouldst Thou withhold Thy mercy,
Where, then, shall I fly for shelter,
Weak and helpless as I am?

U
UVU UVU UU U U

H 6H
If one who feeds on the flesh of dogs
Can learn to speak with honeyed words,
A beggar gain uncounted wealth
And so live long and fearlessly,
Simply hearing Thy magic name
Who can describe what must befall
One who repeats it night and day?

S
U
UU
UU
U
UU

UUUH 7H
Only by taking Thee for Spouse,
Did iva become the unrivalled Lord
He who is naked and uncouth,
Besmeared with ash from the funeral pyre;
Whose hair is matted on his head,
About whose neck are venomous snakes
The Lord of every living thing.

SU U
U

163

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

S
U L H 8H
I do not ask of Thee, O Mother!
Riches, good fortune, or salvation;
I seek no happiness, no knowledge.
This is my only prayer to Thee:
That, as the breath of life forsakes me,
Still I may chant Thy holy name.

U U
LU
@
U H 9H
Mother, I have not worshipped Thee
With proper rituals and the prescribed
Ingredients of sacrifice.
Many are my sinful deeds!
Day and night I have spent myself
In idle talk, forgetting Thee.
O Divine Mother, if Thou canst show
The slightest mercy to one so frail,
It will befit Thy majesty.

SU
U L
UU

SUH 10H
Durg! Goddess of Mercys Ocean!
Stricken with grief, to Thee I pray:
Do not believe me insincere;
A child who is seized with thirst or hunger
Thinks of his mother constantly.

U LS
UUU U H 11H

165

Hymn to the Divine Mother.......of Transgressions

Mother of all the universe!

If Thou shouldst show Thy fullest mercy,
Would even that be a cause for wonder?
A mother cannot refuse her son,
Though he has done a million wrongs.

S U
U LH 12H
Nowhere exists, in all the world,
Another sinner equal to me,
Nowhere, a Power like Thyself
For overcoming sinfulness:
O Goddess! keeping this in mind,
Do Thou as it pleases Thee.

The Names of Lalit

Daymurti,
you are the highest mercy,
waylight in the dark;
you who raise us up, again,
each time we fall in the night.
Daityahantr, who
are the huntress of evil
in the surreal heart;
Red queen of the labyrinth,
who rides the mystic tiger.
Mountain Path

akti as Mother
Sri Aurobindo

The one whom we adore as the Mother is the divine

Conscious Force that dominates all existence, one and yet so
many-sided that to follow her movement is impossible even for
the quickest mind and for the freest and most vast intelligence.
The Mother is the consciousness and force of the Supreme and
far above all she creates. But something of her ways can be
seen and felt through her embodiments and the more seizable
because more defined and limited temperament and action of
the goddess forms in whom she consents to be manifest to her
creatures.
There are three ways of being of the Mother of which you
can become aware when you enter into touch of oneness with
the Conscious Force that upholds us and the universe. Transcendent,
the original supreme akti, she stands above the worlds and links
the creation to the ever unmanifest mystery of the Supreme.
Universal, the cosmic Mahakti, she creates all these beings
and contains and enters, supports and conducts all these million
processes and forces. Individual, she embodies the power of
these two vaster ways of her existence, makes them living and
near to us and mediates between the human personality and the
divine Nature.
The one original transcendent akti, the Mother stands above
all the worlds and bears in her eternal consciousness the
Supreme Divine. Alone, she harbours the absolute Power and
the ineffable Presence; containing or calling the Truths that have
to be manifested, she brings them down from the Mystery in

akti as Mother

167

which they were hidden into the light of her infinite consciousness
and gives them a form of force in her omnipotent power and
her boundless life and a body in the universe. The Supreme
is manifest in her for ever as the everlasting Saccidnanda,
manifested through her in the worlds as the one and dual
consciousness of wara-akti and the dual principle of PuruaPrakti, embodied by her in the Worlds and the Planes and the
Gods and their Energies and figured because of her as all that
is in the known worlds and in unknown others. All is her play
with the Supreme; all is her manifestation of the mysteries of
the Eternal, the miracles of the Infinite. All is she, for all are
parcel and portion of the divine Conscious-Force. Nothing can
be here or elsewhere but what she decides and the Supreme
sanctions; nothing can take shape except what she moved by
the Supreme perceives and forms after casting it into seed in
her creating nanda.
The Mahakti, the universal Mother, works out whatever
is transmitted by her transcendent consciousness from the
Supreme and enters into the worlds that she has made; her
presence fills and supports them with the divine spirit and the
divine all-sustaining force and delight without which they could
not exist. That which we call Nature or Prakti is only her most
outward executive aspect; she marshals and arranges the harmony
of her forces and processes, impels the operations of Nature
and moves among them secret or manifest in all that can be
seen or experienced or put into motion of life. Each of the worlds
is nothing but one play of the Mahakti of that system of worlds
or universe, who is there as the cosmic Soul and Personality
of the transcendent Mother. Each is something that she has seen
in her vision, gathered into her heart of beauty and power and
created in her nanda.
But there are many planes of her creation, many steps of
the Divine akti. At the summit of this manifestation of which

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

we are a part there are worlds of infinite existence, consciousness,

force and bliss over which the Mother stands as unveiled eternal
Power. All beings there live and move in an ineffable completeness
and unalterable oneness, because she carries them safe in her
arms for ever. Nearer to us are the worlds of a perfect
supramental creation in which the Mother is the supramental
Mahakti, a Power of divine omniscient Will and omnipotent
Knowledge always apparent in its unfailing works and
spontaneously perfect in every process. There all movements
are the steps of the Truth; there all beings are souls and powers
and bodies of the divine Light; there all experiences are seas
and floods and waves of an intense and absolute nanda. But
here where we dwell are the worlds of the ignorance, worlds
of mind and life and body separated in consciousness from their
source, of which this earth is a significant centre and its evolution
a crucial process. This too with all its obscurity and struggle
and imperfection is upheld by the Universal Mother; this too
is impelled and guided to its secret aim by the Mahsakti.
The Mother as the Mahakti of this triple world of the
ignorance stands in an intermediate plane between the supramental
Light, the Truth life, the Truth creation which has to be brought
down here and this mounting and descending hierarchy of planes
of consciousness that like a double ladder lapse into the nescience
of Matter and climb back again through the flowering of life and
soul and mind into the infinity of the Spirit. Determining all that
shall be in this universe and in the terrestrial evolution by what
she sees and feels and pours from her, she stands there above the
Gods and all her Powers and Personalities are put out in front of
her for the action and she sends down emanations of them into
these lower worlds to intervene, to govern, to battle and conquer,
to lead and turn their cycles, to direct the total and the individual
lines of their forces. These Emanations are the many divine
forms and personalities in which men have worshipped her

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169

under different names throughout the ages. But also she prepares
and shapes through these Powers and their emanations the minds
and bodies of her Vibhutis, even as she prepares and shapes
minds and bodies for the Vibhutis of the wara, that she may
manifest in the physical world and in the disguise of the human
consciousness some ray of her power and quality and presence.
All the scenes of the earthplay have been like a drama arranged
and planned and staged by her with the cosmic Gods for her
assistants and herself as a veiled actor.
The Mother not only governs all from above but she
descends into this lesser triple universe. Impersonally, all things
here, even the movements of the ignorance, are herself in veiled
power and her creations in diminished substance, her Naturebody and Nature-force, and they exist because, moved by the
mysterious fiat of the Supreme to work out something that was
there in the possibilities of the Infinite, she has consented to
the great sacrifice and has put on like a mask the soul and forms
of the Ignorance. But personally too she has stooped to descend
here into the Darkness that she may lead it to the Light, into
the Falsehood and Error that she may convert it to the Truth,
into this Death that she may turn it to godlike Life, into this
world-pain and its obstinate sorrow and suffering that she may
end it in the transforming ecstasy of her sublime nanda. In
her deep and great love for her children she has consented to
put on herself the cloak of this obscurity, condescended to bear
the attacks and torturing influences of the powers of the
Darkness and the Falsehood, borne to pass through the portals
of the birth that is a death, taken upon herself the pangs and
sorrows and sufferings of the creation, since it seemed that thus
alone could it be lifted to the Light and Joy and Truth and
eternal Life. This is the great sacrifice called sometimes the
sacrifice of the Purua, but much more deeply the holocaust
of Prakti, the sacrifice of the Divine Mother.

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Four Aspects of the MotherFour great Aspects of the

Mother, four of her leading Powers and Personalities have stood
in front in her guidance of this Universe and in her dealings
with the terrestrial play. One is her personality of calm wideness
and comprehending wisdom and tranquil benignity and inexhaustible
compassion and sovereign and surpassing majesty and all-ruling
greatness. Another embodies her power of splendid strength and
irresistible passion, her warrior mood, her overwhelming will,
her impetuous swiftness and world-shaking force. A third is
vivid and sweet and wonderful with her deep secret of beauty
and harmony and fine rhythm, her intricate and subtle opulence,
her compelling attraction and captivating grace. The fourth is
equipped with her close and profound capacity of intimate
knowledge and careful flawless work and quiet and exact
perfection in all things. Wisdom, Strength, Harmony, Perfection
are their several attributes and it is these powers that they bring
with them into the world, manifest in a human disguise in their
Vibhutis and shall found in the divine degree of their ascension
in those who can open their earthly nature to the direct and
living influence of the Mother. To the four we give the four
great names, Mahewar, Mahkl, Mahlakm, Mahsaraswat.
Mahewar and MahklImperial Mahewar is seated
in the wideness above the thinking mind and will and sublimates
and greatens them into wisdom and largeness or floods with
a splendour beyond them. For she is the mighty and wise One
who opens us to the supramental infinities and the cosmic
vastness, to the grandeur of the supreme Light, to a treasurehouse of miraculous knowledge, to the measureless movement
of the Mothers eternal forces. Tranquil is she and wonderful,
great and calm for ever. Nothing can move her because all
wisdom is in her; nothing is hidden from her that she chooses
to know; she comprehends all things and all beings and their
nature and what moves them and the law of the world and its

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171

times and how all was and is and must be. A strength is in
her that meets everything and masters and none can prevail in
the end against her vast intangible wisdom and high tranquil
power. Equal, patient and unalterable in her will she deals with
men according to their nature and with things and happenings
according to their Force and the truth that is in them. Partiality
she has none, but she follows the decrees of the Supreme and
some she raises up and some she casts down or puts away from
her into the darkness. To the wise she gives a greater and more
luminous wisdom; those that have vision she admits to her
counsels; on the hostile she imposes the consequence of their
hostility; the ignorant and foolish she leads according to their
blindness. In each man she answers and handles the different
elements of his nature according to their need and their urge
and the return they call for, puts on them the required pressure
or leaves them to their cherished liberty to prosper in the ways
of the ignorance or to perish. For she is above all, bound by
nothing, attached to nothing in the universe. Yet has she more
than any other the heart of the universal Mother. For her
compassion is endless and inexhaustible; all are to her eyes her
children and portions of the One, even the Asura and Rkasa
and Pica and those that are revolted and hostile. Even her
rejections are only a postponement, even her punishments are
a grace. But her compassion does not blind her wisdom or turn
her action from the course decreed; for the Truth of things is
her one concern, knowledge her centre of power and to build
our soul and our nature into the divine Truth her mission and
her labour.
Mahkl is of another nature. Not wideness but height, not
wisdom but force and strength are her peculiar power. There
is in her an overwhelming intensity, a mighty passion of force
to achieve, a divine violence rushing to shatter every limit and
obstacle. All her divinity leaps out in a splendour of tempestuous

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action; she is there for swiftness, for the immediately effective

process, the rapid and direct stroke, the frontal assault that carries
everything before it. Terrible is her face to the Asura, dangerous
and ruthless her mood against the haters of the Divine; for she
is the Warrior of the Worlds who never shrinks from the battle.
Intolerant of imperfection, she deals roughly with all in man
that is unwilling and she is severe to all that is obstinately
ignorant and obscure; her wrath is immediate and dire against
treachery and falsehood and malignity, ill-will is smitten at once
by her scourge. Indifference, negligence and sloth in the divine
work she cannot bear and she smites awake at once with sharp
pain, if need be, the untimely slumberer and the loiterer. The
impulses that are swift and straight and frank, the movements
that are unreserved and absolute, the aspiration that mounts in
flame are the motion of Mahkl. Her spirit is tameless, her
vision and will are high and far-reaching like the flight of an
eagle, her feet are rapid on the upward way and her hands are
outstretched to strike and to succour. For she too is the Mother
and her love is as intense as her wrath and she has a deep
and passionate kindness. When she is allowed to intervene in
her strength, then in one moment are broken like things without
consistence the obstacles that immobilise or the enemies that
assail the seeker. If her anger is dreadful to the hostile and the
vehemence of her pressure painful to the weak and timid, she
is loved and worshipped by the great, the strong and the noble;
for they feel that her blows beat what is rebellious in their
material into strength and perfect truth, hammer straight what
is wry and perverse and expel what is impure or defective. But
for her what is done in a day might have taken centuries; without
her nanda might be wide and grave or soft and sweet and
beautiful but would lose the flaming joy of its most absolute
intensities. To knowledge she gives a conquering might, brings
to beauty and harmony a high and mounting movement and

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173

imparts to the slow and difficult labour after perfection an

impetus that multiplies the power and shortens the long way.
Nothing can satisfy her that falls short of the supreme ecstasies,
the highest heights, the noblest aims, the largest vistas. Therefore
with her is the victorious force of the Divine and it is by grace
of her fire and passion and speed if the great achievement can
be done now rather than hereafter.
MahlakmWisdom and Force are not the only
manifestations of the supreme Mother; there is a subtler mystery
of her nature and without it Wisdom and Force would be
incomplete things and without it perfection would not be perfect.
Above them is the miracle of eternal beauty, an unseizable secret
of divine harmonies, the compelling magic of an irresistible
universal charm and attraction that draws and holds things and
forces and beings together and obliges them to meet and unite
that a hidden nanda may play from behind the veil and make
of them its rhythms and its figures. This is the power of
Mahlakm and there is no aspect of the Divine akti more
attractive to the heart of embodied beings. Mahewar can appear
too calm and great and distant for the littleness of earthly nature
to approach or contain her, Mahkl too swift and formidable
for its weakness to bear; but all turn with joy and longing to
Mahlakm. For she throws the spell of the intoxicating
sweetness of the Divine: to be close to her is a profound
happiness and to feel her within the heart is to make existence
a rapture and a marvel; grace and charm and tenderness flow
out from her like light from the sun and wherever she fixes
her wonderful gaze or lets fall the loveliness of her smile, the
soul is seized and made captive and plunged into the depths
of an unfathomable bliss. Magnetic is the touch of her hands
and their occult and delicate influence refines mind and life and
body and where she presses her feet course miraculous streams
of an entrancing nanda.

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And yet it is not easy to meet the demand of this enchanting

Power or to keep her presence. Harmony and beauty of the
mind and soul, harmony and beauty of the thoughts and feelings,
harmony and beauty in every outward act and movement,
harmony and beauty of the life and surroundings, this is the
demand of Mahlakm. Where there is affinity to the rhythms
of the secret world-bliss and response to the call of the Allbeautiful and concord and unity and the glad flow of many lives
turned towards the Divine, in that atmosphere she consents to
abide. But all that is ugly and mean and base, all that is poor
and sordid and squalid, all that is brutal and coarse repels her
advent. Where love and beauty are not or are reluctant to be
born, she does not come; where they are mixed and disfigured
with baser things, she turns soon to depart or cares little to pour
her riches. If she finds herself in mens hearts surrounded with
selfishness and hatred and jealousy and malignance and envy
and strife, if treachery and greed and ingratitude are mixed in
the sacred chalice, if grossness of passion and unrefined desire
degrade devotion, in such hearts the gracious and beautiful
Goddess will not linger. A divine disgust seizes upon her and
she withdraws, for she is not one who insists or strives; or,
veiling her face, she waits for this bitter and poisonous devils
stuff to be rejected and disappear before she will found anew
her happy influence. Ascetic bareness and harshness are not
pleasing to her nor the suppression of the hearts deeper
emotions and the rigid repression of the souls and the lifes
parts of beauty. For it is through love and beauty that she lays
on men the yoke of the Divine. Life is turned in her supreme
creations into a rich work of celestial art and all existence into
a poem of sacred delight; the worlds riches are brought together
and concerted for a supreme order and even the simplest and
commonest things are made wonderful by her intuition of unity
and the breath of her spirit. Admitted to the heart she lifts

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175

wisdom to pinnacles of wonder and reveals to it the mystic

secrets of the ecstasy that surpasses all knowledge, meets
devotion with the passionate attraction of the Divine, teaches
to strength and force the rhythm that keeps the might of their
acts harmonious and in measure and casts on perfection the
charm that makes it endure for ever.
MahsaraswatMahsaraswat is the Mothers Power of
Work and her spirit of perfection and order. The youngest of
the Four, she is the most skilful in executive faculty and the
nearest to physical Nature. Mahewar lays down the large lines
of the world-forces, Mahkl drives their energy and impetus,
Mahlakm discovers their rhythms and measures, but
Mahsaraswat presides over their detail of organization and
execution, relation of parts and effective combination of forces
and unfailing exactitude of result and fulfilment. The science
and craft and technique of things are Mahsaraswats province.
Always she holds in her nature and can give to those whom
she has chosen the intimate and precise knowledge, the subtlety
and patience, the accuracy of intuitive mind and conscious hand
and discerning eye of the perfect worker. This Power is the
strong, the tireless, the careful and efficient builder, organiser,
administrator, technician, artisan and classifier of the worlds.
When she takes up the transformation and new-building of the
nature, her action is laborious and minute and often seems to
our impatience slow and interminable, but it is persistent, integral
and flawless. For the will in her works is scrupulous, unsleeping,
indefatigable; leaning over us she notes and touches every little
detail, finds out every minute defect, gap, twist or incompleteness,
considers and weighs accurately all that has been done and all
that remains still to be done hereafter. Nothing is too small or
apparently trivial for her attention; nothing however impalpable
or disguised or latent can escape her. Moulding and remoulding
she labours each part till it has attained its true form, is put

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in its exact place in the whole and fulfils its precise purpose.
In her constant and diligent arrangement and rearrangement of
things her eye is on all needs at once and the way to meet
them and her intuition knows what is to be chosen and what
rejected and successfully determines the right instrument, the
right time, the right conditions and the right process. Carelessness
and negligence and indolence she abhors; all scamped and hasty
and shuffling work, all clumsiness and a peu pres and misfire,
all false adaptation and misuse of instruments and faculties and
leaving of things undone or half done is offensive and foreign
to her temper. When her work is finished, nothing has been
forgotten, no part has been misplaced or omitted or left in a
faulty condition; all is solid, accurate, complete, admirable.
Nothing short of a perfect perfection satisfies her and she is
ready to face an eternity of toil if that is needed for the fullness
of her creation. Therefore of all the Mothers powers she is the
most long-suffering with man and his thousand imperfections.
Kind, smiling, close and helpful, not easily turned away or
discouraged, insistent even after repeated failure, her hand
sustains our every step on condition that we are single in our
will and straightforward and sincere; for a double mind she will
not tolerate and her revealing irony is merciless to drama and
histrionics and self-deceit and pretence. A mother to our wants,
a friend in our difficulties, a persistent and tranquil counsellor
and mentor, chasing away with her radiant smile the clouds of
gloom and fretfulness and depression, reminding always of the
ever-present help, pointing to the eternal sunshine, she is firm,
quiet and persevering in the deep and continuous urge that drives
us towards the integrality of the higher nature. All the work
of the other Powers leans on her for its completeness; for she
assures the material foundation, elaborates the stuff of detail and
erects and rivets the armour of the structure.

Adoration of the Divine Mother

Guru Govind Singh

Bowing to Thee, O Terrible of Teeth, O Mother Eternal,

Master of the Yoga of Yogas, O Mother, God-Unions Yoker!
Rider on the Furies of the lion, and Killer of the foes of the
war-field.
O rad, the bearer of V, Imparter of the knowledge of
Brahman.
O Lightning and Flaming Fire, of Thee ever hymn all the Vedas
Never is Thy mystery unmasked by the Seer-kings, the Gods
and the Demons.
Thou art All-perfect in Yoga, Thou art the Wielder of warsword.
Thou, the Vester of Victory, Thou the Destroyer of Devils.
Mother, Thou livest mid water, on land, on the hills and the
mountains.
Manifest Thou art, unblemished in the worlds and lifes all
changes.
Thou art the Blazer of the wicked, Caretaker of all the created.
Thou art the trees and the flowers, and Thou the Grower of
Gardens.
Thou, the Preserver of Universe, Thou art the Light of the
World-scape.
Thou art the Heaven and Earth, Ineffable, veiled from the vision.
Bowings to Thee, O Durg, Bhavn, O Goddess of LightFlame.
Umbrella Thou over Thee arching, O Changeless and Earliest
Godhead,

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

Thee all Ascetics of Thought, through day and night ever

remember.
Thou art indeed who diffusest the Splendour of Time and the
Timeless.
Thrones with Thee Victory, ever of the present, the past and
the future.
O Ocean of endless Compassion, this the one prayer of Thy
servant:
Everywhere spread the devotion, ennobling love of the Brahman!
O Lightning Awake and Awakener, Embodied Figure of Blazes.
Thou art abroad or immanent, matchless, wondrous and
worldwide.
Throughout and over the world may be voiced the Path of the
Pure Ones.
Wake up the Dharma of the Hindus and all afflictions be held
out.
May I repeat but the Name of Hari-Hara, the One, the Immortal,
Lending to the mortals the touch of the Infinites Joy in a
moment.
O Thine be salutations, O Lore of the Vedas, O Sacrificefigured,
Thine be salutations, glorious and perfect, Chief of the Rulers.
Thou art the Mother-creator of the World, all endless and
timeless,
Thou art the Furnisher of Food; for all, the Caretaker and
Protector.
Thou art the Power of the Godhead, Pronouncer and the Word
of the Veda.
Thou the Upholder of Dharma, the Doer the Cause and the
Pure One.
By Thee is the world created, by Thee is commanded to vanish.
Thou art the manyness spreading Thou mayst in a moment
abolish.

Adoration of the Divine Mother

179

Triumph be ours! is my begging; O bestow on us this boon

and blessing:
The evil-doers and demons entirely in a moment be vanquished!
Away from the power of all vision, Durg, the Builder of WorldLife!
Linging my all unto breezes, my clinging is but to Thy shelter.
Tis Thou who figured as Ka, killed Kasa caught by the
hair locks;
Holding Cura the wrestler, Thou flung him away to the
Death-world.
Thou hast O, down all the ages, the game of the cosmos created!
None has shattered its shroudings, and none has its mystery
ravished.
Durg, the eight-armed, Thou art! Bhavn, forevermore deathless,
Showering over the universe, measures of goodness, compassion!
Thou art the sword, the arrow, the scimitar Thou and the dagger!
Thou art the bearer of conch-shell, the lotus, the cudgel, the
discus!
Forever the viewless creatrix! Figure of the wonders of iva!
Thou art the strewer of stirrings, O Goddess, O Durg, the
Matchless.
Queen of the moments eternal, O Body and Form of the Pure
One.
Thou art the Science of the Yoga, Thou art the Word of the
Brahman,
Thou art almighty, the Mother, Thou art all Nature, Bhavn.
Thy Light of a Nature Supernal fills all the bodies and vessels.
Free of all falsity, the great Lord, Hari, by Thee is remembered,
By Thee art the demons and devils seized and subjected and
bonfired.
Then shall the spirits burning appease, of Thy servitor Gobind,
When are imprisoned the foemen, vanquished and seized and
all sworded.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

O Thou the Fulfiller of longings, O leader and guide of the

world-move!
Deeming me utterly Thine, O come now anon to my succour.
Blast and abolish for ever, Asuras and devilish sinners!
Translated by Har Krishan Singh

O Divine Mother, ever blissful as Thou art,

Do not deprive Thy worthless child of bliss!
My mind knows nothing but Thy Lotus feet
The king of Death scowls at me terribly,
Tell me, Mother what shall I say to him?
O Divine Mother, I throw myself on Thy mercy;
I take shelter at Thy Hallowed Feet. I do not want bodily
comforts. I do not crave name and fame; I do not seek the
eight occult powers.
Be gracious and grant that I may have pure love for Thee,
a love unsmittenly desires, untainted by selfish endsa love
craved by the devotee for the sake of love alone. And grant
me the favour, O Mother, that I may not be deluded by Thy
world bewitching My, that I may never be attached to the
world, to woman and gold, conferred up by Thy inscrutable
My! O Mother there is no one but Thee whom I may call
my own. Mother, I do not know how to worship; I am without
austerity; I have neither devotion nor knowledge. Be gracious,
Mother, and out of Thy infinite mercy grant me love for Thy
Lotus Feet.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

r Vidy
Swami Padmanabhananda

r Vidy enjoins the worship of Parakti as Mother of

the Universe. She is the Supreme Cause from which the entire
universe has emanated and she is also its Supreme Sustainer.
Mother Parakti in her boundless compassion blesses her
devotees with Bhukti (prosperity) and Mukti (liberation) both.
We find in many of the ancient scriptures like Kenopaniad,
Bhavanopaniad and Tripuropaniad, how Mother Parakti
showers her divine grace upon Her devotees and blesses them
with Supreme Knowledge. Similarly, we find in Mahbhrata
how Bhagavn r Ka advised Arjuna to propitiate Goddess
Durg before the start of the Mahbhrata war and pray for
Her blessings so that he may defeat his opponents, the Kauravas.
Arjuna accordingly made the following significant prayer to
Mother:

***
***
***
rl l U U
***
***
***
UH
S

U
hU
UUH
(Mahbhrata, Bhma Parva 23.1013)
Thou art the Vedas, the rutis, absolute virtue, protector
of the pious seekers, the ceremonial sacrificial fire. Thou art
the supreme knowledge and the sublime peace experienced

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

during sleep by all living beings. Thou art Svitr, Gyatr and
Parabrahma. I pray unto Thee, O Mother, with all purity and
devotion. With Thy Grace, may victory attend on me in the
battle.
One among the many names of Mother akti is U
R
tambhar, Mahari Patajali, in the Samdhi-Pada of Yogasutra
declares U , that is, the ultimate experience of
Samdhi is preceded by the individuals absorption in the
universe, the subtlest aspect of the Divine Mother (Rtambhar),
which pervades everything as Existence and Bliss. Worship of
the Divine Mother thus bestows peace and bliss on the seeker.
In our tradition, Upsan of the Divine Mother is introduced
at the tender age between 7 to 11 years through Upanayana
Saskra wherein the child is initiated into Gyatr Mantra.
The parents have to inspire the child to perform Trikla
Sandhy, Japa of the Mantra and meditation on Mother Gyatr.
Prior to chanting the Gayatr Mantra, there is an invocatory
prayer seeking the blessings of Mother Divine to help and guide
us in Her worship and meditation. The prayer is:

U
U

U r
r S H

May the Divine Mother Gyatr, who bestows on us, Her

children, all that we need, enlighten us with the Supreme
Knowledge, the Imperishable, which is spoken of in the Vedas.
May Gyatr, the Mother of all metres, impart to us the
knowledge of Brahman.

U
U U
US
UH
O Gyatr, Thou art the vital power, patience, strength and

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r Vidy

splendour; Thou art all the Devas, and their Source; Thou art
the universe, the Time; Thou art the All-pervading Conqueror
of all; Thou art the PraavaO; I invoke Thee, O Gyatr;
and Thee, O Svitr; and Thee, O Saraswat in my heart
chamber.
akti worship is therefore universal and imparted to spiritual
seekers at the very beginning of the spiritual life. Although the
Upaniads and other spiritual scriptures speak about different
Upsans, and they vary in the outer mode of practice, they
are essentially one. Bhagavn akarcrya, in his work
Prapaca-Sra, says:

UUU
U

UUU
UH
(II. 55)

The Supreme Reality is called by the wise as O, Hrm,

akti, Hari, etc. The Upsan of the Supreme Being progressively
leads the seeker to the Goal of lifeGod-realisation or Selfrealisation.
May the Divine Mother bestow on all seekers Her benevolent
Grace and help them to reach their cherished Goal!

Klthe Mother
Swami Vivekananda

The stars are blotted out,

The clouds are covering clouds,
It is darkness vibrant, sonant.
In the roaring, whirling wind
Are the souls of a million lunatics
Just loose from the prison-house,
Wrenching trees by the roots,
Sweeping all from the path.
The sea has joined the fray,
And swirls up mountain-waves,
To reach the pitchy sky.
The flash of lurid light
Reveals on every side
A thousand, thousand shades
Of Death begrimed and black
Scattering plagues and sorrows,
Dancing mad with joy,
Come, Mother, come!
For Terror is Thy name,
Death is in Thy breath,
And every shaking step
Destroys a world for eer.
Thou Time, the All-destroyer!
Come, O Mother, come!
Who dares misery love,
And hug the form of Death,
Dance in Destructions dance,
To him the Mother comes.

Five Divine aktis in Gt

Five aktis of God are stated in Gt. Such as
(1) Mula PraktiAt the time of deluge (Mah Pralaya)
all beings, merge in this Mula Prakti:

US

UH

(Gt IX.7)
At the beginning of creation taking hold of this very
primordial Prakti God projects again and again this whole
multitude of beings helpless under the sway of their own
nature SCU Gt (IX.8). This very Prakti brings
forth the whole creation under supervision of God. This very
root matter has been described as the mother the womb of all
creatures in which God is said to be the seed giving Father
Gt (XIV. 3-4).
(2) Divine Sentient aktiWhenever God incarnates, He
incarnates with the help of this divine sentient akti. Through
this very akti God plays lovely sports which afford bliss to
His own devotees. It is composed of divine sentient attributes.
Hence Gods incarnated body is divine and sentient. This very
divine sentient akti as been described by Lord through words
SDU (By subordinating My Nature I manifest
Myself).
(3) Yoga-My aktiDeluded by this very akti common
people disregard God in his human form taking Him as an
ordinary human being. Even Brahm, the creator of creation
gets deluded by this akti. This Yoga-My akti has been
described by God as Gt (IV.6) and
veiled by Yoga-My (divine potency).

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

(4) Daiv PraktiHere Deva stands for God. It is called

Divine Nature because it is Gods own nature. It
consists of divine traits such as compassion, forgiveness, nonviolence etc. Spiritual aspirants evolve towards God through the
help of these very divine endowments US
(Gt IX.13). This akti is called as Divine Nature
or Being a fragment of Gods own self a being is naturally
possessed of these divine traits. But till this being remains turned
away from God, all these virtues do not manifest or say do
not evolve. They remain veiled. When the being turns towards
God then these divine traits develop and naturally manifest
themselves.
(5) Guamay MyThis My is constituted of the three
GuasSattva, Rajas and Tamas. However much intimate
relationship a being may have with this My or he may regard
himself as its master or however he may try to extract joy from
it. He will get much deluded. He will come under its sway
and will get entrapped in it. This very Guamay My has
been designated as Prakti (III. 27, 29; XIII. 19, 21, 23, 29,
34; XIV.5). Apar Prakti (VII. 4-5), My (XVIII. 61), Daiv
Guamay My (VII. 14-15) and Avyakta (XIII. 5) in Gt.
It takes the form of U (demoniac), U (fiendish) and
U (delusive) when one develops acute sense of identification;
sense of mineness and attachment with it (IX. 12).
In reality akti of God is only one. It is divine or say it
is the very nature of God. By use of that very akti God brings
forth creation of the world and does various other activities and
He plays various sports. That very akti is designated in five
names according to its various sports and activities.
(Gt Darpaa)

aktithe Power of Universe

Dr. Girish Goyal

akti is a Hindu religious concept that means feminine power.

Although it is considered feminine in nature, it is usually reserved
as a term used to discuss the power of Hindu goddesses, rather
than human females. akti is divine, or sacred feminine power.
The sect of Hinduism that devotes to the goddess is known as
Shaktism, and a member of this sect is called a kta.
Shaktism is not the only sect within Hinduism that acknowledges
the power and importance of the goddess. Other sects such as
Vaishnavism and Shaivism also have a place for akti. However,
in these other sects, it is thought of as a complimentary power
to that of the corresponding god. In other words, goddesses are
the consorts of gods, and thus their power is important as a
compliment to the male power, Vrya.
To someone who devotes to Viu, or iva, akti is ability,
life force, creative and procreative power. Vrya, the power of
the male god, is authority, energy that tames, directs, constructs,
and gives purpose to the akti. However, for a kta, the akti
of the goddess may take a more important role outside of its
association with the male force. Within Shaktism, it is the true
power behind the male god, an abstract and all-pervasive power.
The semantic difference here is subtle. Perhaps the easiest way
to distinguish Shaktism is to say that it devotes to the goddess and
her akti above all else. This concept is more appropriately called
di akti, or the ultimate akti. It is not just feminine divine power,
but the ultimate feminine power behind all creation.
When we talk about the goddess and her akti, there are

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a few things which require elaboration. In the first place, this

goddess can generally be considered Mah Dev, or the great
goddess. akti is, of course, also a power held by and associated
with the many manifestations of Mah Dev, such as Durg,
Kl, Prvat, Saraswat, Lakm and so on.
The concept should be understood as part of a threefold
power, the threefold nature of the goddess. akti, again, is divine
power and creative energy. It works in tandem with My and
Prakti. My is illusion, the illusory power of the goddess.
kta theology sees this as a positive, creatively potent illusory
power, rather than a crafty, deceptive power. Prakti is nature,
or the material manifestation of My and akti. Prakti is both
the body of the goddess, and all other material forms, as these
are part of her body.
In addition to the concepts of akti, My and Prakti, a
fourth concept comes into play in terms of the nature and
function of a goddess. This fourth concept is Ll or divine play.
The purpose of Ll is to bring pleasure through play. The four
aspects of the goddess work together in the following way: The
goddess creates (akti) all the material forms (Prakti as the
goddess herself) with the illusion that these forms have an
existence apart from her (My) for the purpose of her own
divine pleasure (Ll).
Forms of akti Worshipped during Navartris
Durg Dev: Durgatinin means one who eliminates all
sufferings so Durg Dev protects us from evil and also removes
miseries. The ten arms of Durg M represent the 10 directions
of Santana Dharma nine forms
1. ailaputr : She is depicted on a bull and carrying a
trident she is the embodiment of the powers of Mahewara,
Brahm and r Hari, also she is called by various names like
Sat, Hemavat, Prvat, Bhavn etc. ailaputr itself means
daughter of the mountains.

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189

2. Brahmacri: Brahmacri translates to one who

performs severe austerities she is portrayed with Kamaala in
one hand and Japa Ml in another hand, she is the one who
enlightens us about the power of Durg M. Peace and
happiness is bestowed upon all her devotees.
3. Candragha: Candra=half moon Gha means bell..so
she is one who has the bell shaped halfmoon on the head, she
is depicted sitting on a lion, having 3 eyes and holding various
weapons for combat...she is the symbol of bravery and she is
worshipped for peace and tranquillity in life.
4. Kum: Ku means little, Sm means warm, A
means egg, here it refers to the cosmic egg. She is believed
to be the creator of the universe and creation itself began only
with the light from her spreading in all directions.
5. Skanda-Mt: Skanda also known as lord Krtikeya is
the commander of the entire Devat army. She lead the
demigods in the great battle against the Asuras. Skanda-Mt
means the mother of Lord Skanda. She is worshipped on the
5th night with Bla Murugan sitting on her lap for boons.
6. Ktyyin: Once upon a time, there was a great sage
called Kta, who had a son named Ktya. Kta was very famous
and renowned in the lineage of saints. He underwent long
austerities and penance in order to receive the grace of the
Mother Goddess. He wished to have a daughter in the form
of a goddess. According to his wish and desire the Mother
Goddess granted his request. Ktyyan was born to Kta as
an Avatra of Durg.
7. Klartri: She is also called ubhakar or one who
always does good. She is depicted in a very fearful form and
is portrayed on a donkey she is black like goddess Kl and
she holds sparkling sword in her right hand to combat all evil
so her protection assures us from freedom from fear.
8. Mahgaur: From her worship all sins of present, past

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

and future get washed away instantly! It is believed that her

body had turned dark due to the severe penances she performed
in the Himlayas then when Lord iva cleansed it with Ganges
then her body turned white she grants boons to all her devotees.
9. Siddhidtr: She is worshipped by all Siddhas, Mahyogs
and others. She has great healing powers. Once Bhagavn iva
worshipped her and was blessed with all supernatural powers
from her blessing only Lord iva acquired the Ardhanrwara
form.
akti-Force for Women
The intricate dynamics of power and gender has grown to
become an increasingly important topic within the realm of
present day academia and justifiably so. Though representing
half of the human race, womens voices, needs and inner
psyches have, traditionally, been relegated to a place of
unimportance in the history of the Western world. Throughout
the history of European civilization, the nature of the feminine
was misunderstood, neglected and, in some cases, practically
demonized. Consequently, for millennia women have been
deprived of the powerpolitical, economic, spiritual, even
sexualwhich men so take for granted. Recognizing the
imperative need to correct this historic imbalance, many modern
Feminist leaders attempted to devise an ideological framework
through which they felt that the roots of this imbalance could
be properly understood. Additionally, there have been many
attempts to wrest control over the primary mechanisms of power,
specifically in the political and economic sectors. As a result,
what were at one time conceived as the exclusive domains of
the male gender have now begun to open up to women. In
the modern West, power is no longer equated with the
testosterone laden half of the human race. The question,
however, is should this have ever been the view of Western
civilization?

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191

For while it may have been the tradition in the West to

naturally equate power with the masculine, this is not at all a
universally held outlook. One world-view which offers us a
fresh and radically different approach to the issue of power and
the feminine is found in the philosophy and culture of Hinduism
and specifically in the concept of akti. Within the metaphysical
framework of akti, we discover the concept of the feminine
as being the very manifestation of power itself.
The Sanskrit word akti can be translated as meaning power
or energy. It is derived from the Parasmaipada verb root ak
which means to be able, to do, to act. This power is
witnessed in all the various phenomena of life. It is the force
responsible for the growth of vegetation, animals and human
beings. It is what is responsible for the movement of all things.
The planets revolve around the sun as a result of akti. It is akti
that makes the winds blow and the oceans churn. akti is
manifest as the very affective ability of all the forces of nature.
She is the heat of fire, the brilliance of the sun, the very life force
of all living beings. In human beings, she is seen as the power
of intelligence (Buddhi), compassion (Day) and divine love
(Bhakti), among her many other functions. It is the power of
akti that .....keeps the gods in their position, makes a man virile
or makes a sage of a man. Without the presence of akti, all
creation would be rendered impotent.
Most significantly, akti is an exclusively feminine principle.
akti is synonymous with the great Dev, or the Great Goddess
of Hinduism. As such, she is omnipresent in Hindu society via
her many forms. She is propitiated by all segments of Hindu
society, especially by women. According to Klaus Klostermaier,
.....childless women implore her to conceive. In times of
epidemics, it is the goddess who is implored to grant health
and relief. akti has always been a living force throughout the
long history of Hinduism.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

Hinduisms respect for akti is not limited to the religions

literary heritage. The various schools of Indian philosophy (SaDaranas) also took this principle quite seriously. The Mmsakas,
for example, held that akti was no less than the inherent power
of all things. The Naiyyika logicians attempted to explain akti
in terms of being the function or property of any cause. For
the Vednta school, akti was .....conceived as the activity of
a cause revealing itself in the shape of an effect (Dev. 1987).
Of all the various schools of Indian philosophy, however, the
school most influential in helping to formulate a theory of akti
was the Skhya school.
Skhya teaches the dualistic doctrine of Prakti/Purua.
According to this theory there are two radically distinct principles
at play during the creation of the cosmos: matter (Prakti) and
spirit (Purua). Prakti is the primordial matter which is present
before the cosmos becomes manifest. It is as a direct result of
the devolution of this original material substance that the
universe, with all its diversity of names and forms comes into
being. Prakti is seen as being .....the power of nature, both
animate and inanimate. As such, nature is seen as dynamic
energy. Prakti is originally passive, immobile and pure
potentiality by nature. It is only as a direct result of her contact
with the kinetic Purua that she unfolds into the variegatedness
we see before us. Sudhra Gupt explains this process of
devolution from the perspective of a kta, or a worshipper of
Dev, the Great Goddess.
The universe with all its diversity and multiplicity remains
equated in the divine volition as conception before manifestation.
It is manifested in the course of basic evolution, started under
the influence of the creative volition of the Divine Mother. The
Universal Mother in Her Absolute Self admits of no mutability,
change or division.
Thus, akti is seen as being antecedent to Prakti, with akti

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193

being the instrumental cause, in the form of the Dev, or the

Great Goddess, and Prakti serving as the material cause.
The idea of Prakti/Purua is seen mirrored in another
closely allied concept: that of the Divine Consort. According to
Hindu teachings, akti, energy, cannot exist in a vacuum. If there
is an energy, it must be someones energy. Almost every god
(Deva) of the Hindu pantheon has a feminine companion, a
consort, a goddess. This is an idea which is an indispensable
element of every major sect of Hinduism. Viu, for example,
has the goddess r (Lakm) as his eternal companion. iva is
accompanied by Prvat, Brahm by Saraswat, Ka by Rdh.
These goddess-consorts are said to personify nothing less than
the essential energy of the god. In the words of Ernest Payne
The energy of Viu and iva was personified as a goddess
and identified with Prakti, the primary source of the universe.
The connubial relations between Dev and her husband were
held to typify the mystical union of the eternal principles, matter
and spirit, which produces the world (Payne, 1933).
The relationship that is enjoyed between the gods and
goddesses in Hinduism is one of the wielder of power
(aktimn, the masculine principle) and the power itself (akti,
the feminine). Each is meaningless without the existence of the
other. While the possessor of power is the guiding force as to
the powers direction and purpose, it is the power itself which
provides the ability to perform any task. To use a crude example,
we might say that the Deva is the computer while the Dev
is the electricity that makes the computers functioning possible.
aktimn is the principle that gives guidance and direction to
power. akti is the vital life-giving force of the god, as well
as the personification of his particular power. As rvatsa
Goswm explains this concept:
On the transcendental plane this functional duality implies
the split of the Absolute into power or potency (akti), the

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subjective component, and the possessor of power (aktimn),

the objective one. On the phenomenal plane too there exists
such a duality.
Together, the Deva and Dev, the god and goddess of
Hinduism, are able and the ability, respectively. Moreover, this
concept is not relegated solely to the realm of the Divine.
The Healing Power of akti
akti, the intrinsic grace of the Divine Mother Goddess,
holds the supreme power of spiritual, psychosomatic and bodily
well-being. Connecting to akti we can unravel all the energies
of healingboth for healing ourselves and healing others.
Drawing from the sacred source of the universal akti, one can
move beyond the limitations of all outer therapies, medications
and even psychoanalysis. The force and benevolence of the
Goddess in her manifestations as Bhu Dev or Mother Earth,
and Mah Prakti or Great Nature, allow us to restore our health
and rejuvenate through the flow of divine grace.
Mother Earth and Mother Nature carry the akti essence
of all healing. Everything in the universe possesses its own
special healing power or akti. Ayurvedic medicine teaches us
how to recognize, understand and work with these different
healing aktis in its various therapies. The Hindu yogic approach
manifests a healing power through its sacred sciences of Dev
Tantra, Bhaktiyoga, Ayurveda, Vedic Astrology, Mantra Jna,
Vednta and Yogsana. To embrace the healing power of akti
we must understand and inculcate the principles of our ancient
Ri culture.
Vyu Maala Atmosphere in Vedic thought Holds Pranic
akti
The atmosphere forms the dominant realm of the Earths
Pra, the global vital force through which the planetary
organism functions. The term atmo in atmosphere derives from
the Greek term for breath that relates to the Sanskrit term tm,

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195

which is not merely the breath but the spirit as well. The forces
of the atmospherewhat is called the sphere of the winds or
Vyu Maala in Vedic thoughtare responsible for the
weather and seasonal changes that drive the movement of all
life on the planet. The atmosphere is the sacred breath of the
planet, which grants life to all creatures.
Being in sync with the rhythmic waves of the Vyu Maala
and sacred Vyu Yantra, patterns formed through the Pranic
atmospheric forces grace us with vitality. The rapid fluctuations
of the atmospheric forces and their subsequent weather patterns
are the primary factors in the outer world for health and wellbeing. Our ability to adjust to their daily and seasonal rhythms
determines whether we resist or succumb to psychosomatic
disorders, ailments or diseases starting with the common cold
and extending to collective epidemics and plagues.
The forces of the atmosphere hold the akti of the universal
Pra. The ecosystem or flora and fauna convey the powers
of heat and cold, dampness and dryness, wind and sunlight,
making their mark upon nature, our physical being and its
energies. Atmospheric forces shape the outer environment, to
which our inner environment or bodily state must harmonize
itself in order to maintain balance. Each one of us can be said
to be a manifestation of the atmosphere, incarnate as an
individual being, which exists as the breath or Pra within
us. Living creatures are atmospheric forms that move along the
planets surface like the winds. In addition, we have our own
inner atmosphere, which manifests our emotional and energy
sphere. How we fine tune our emotions and mindset to its
intrinsic nature, is essential to our psychological well-being. iva
is the great Lord of Pra and the Dev or Goddess is the grace
which directs its flow. The divine Ll of iva and akti as
a manifestation of cosmic dynamism reside behind the play of
our own Pra or life force. Being in sync with Mother Nature

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helps us live in this flow of benevolence. The lightning in the

atmosphere reflects the vibrant akti or life force of the Earth,
holding the solar energy in the clouds, which begets the rain
that nourishes all living creatures. The atmosphere is the great
sphere of akti on Earth with its dramatic storms and shifting
clouds that move swiftly on a daily or even hourly basis. Without
the dynamic flow of air through the atmosphere, life would not
be possible even for a moment.
The Tantras and the Concept of Kualin akti
Vednta is necessary because neither reasoning nor books
can show us God. He is only to be realized by superconscious
perception, and Vednta teaches us how to attain thatSwm
Viveknanda. The same quote may be fully applied to the
Tantras also. For, in recent years, in his arduous and special
Sdhans, r Rmaka has had demonstrated the truth of all
the sixty-four Tantras.
Tantras are the ancient scriptures, which were meant to spread
the light of knowledge of our True Self and bring the humanity
out of ignorance. They are also known as gamas-revelations.
They trace their origin from the Vedas and the Upaniads,
and in fact do not deviate from the teachings contained in them.
Like Vednta, the Tantra has its own followers in the true spirit
of inquiry and realization of the cosmic unity and power of the
Self. Unfortunately, Tantras were tainted with such practices
as erotic mysticism and black magic. Be that as it may, it
is to be understood that the Tantras in their original and pure
forms are as sacred and life invigorating as Vednta teachings
derived from the ancient Indian philosophical thought.
The authorship of the Tantras is credited to Lord iva who
is believed to have granted this knowledge to his Powerthe
akti-Prvat. She, in turn, made them available to the mankind;
Macchindrantha and Gorakhantha were the earliest Gurus/
Teachers of this branch of knowledge. It is well known that Lord

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197

Buddha was also familiar with the Tantras, and in Tibet there
developed a special branch of Tibetan Tantra tradition. Thus, it
can be safely believed that the Tantras are ancient to Buddhism;
in fact, some references about the Tantras are related to the earliest
Vedathe Rgveda, thereby putting them as old as 7000 years.
Original Tantras are divided into three main groups according
to the deity chosen for worship. Thus, related to Viu, iva
and akti came into existence Vaiava, aiva and kta
gamas respectively. However, today, when we talk of Tantras,
we mostly mean ktarelated to akti-Tantras. Further, the
Tantras are divided into three parts, viz.,
1. Sdhanspiritual practices, rituals and worship.
2. Siddhisattainment of special powers through such
practices, and
3. The philosophical base of the Tantras.
The basic philosophical teachings of the Tantras do not
much differ from the other currents of ancient Indian thought.
They are non-dual in their essence, but in place of Atman or
Brahman of Vednta, the Tantras accept combine of iva and
akti as the unifying Principle of Absolute Truth. There is an
essential unity in diversity, and identity of the individual soul
with this iva-akti Principle.
While in Vednta, akara mentions power of Brahman as
My, and takes it to be real and unreal in the last analysis,
in the Tantras akti is called creative power, God the Mother.
In Her womb are the seeds of all future creation, and in fact
iva, the Absolute, is helpless without this Power. The universe
and the creation, therefore, are the attributes or manifestations
of this akti. Thus, Tantras come closer to philosophy of
qualified monism, as expounded by Rmnuja, and may find
some problem with Advaita or absolute monism of akara.
However, one point must be made clear; this akti or God
the Mother is not distinct from iva, the Absolute. Like sun

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and its rays, like fire and its power to burn, like coiled snake
and snake in motion these two are inseparable. While iva is
Knowledge-Existence-Bliss Absolute, the akti is the manifestation
of the principle at immanent plane as the reality of the whole
universe, both sentient and insentient. In the Upaniads this is
illustrated as the female spider and her web; the spider weaves
her thread out of herself and then lives upon it. God the Mother
is both contained and the container!
It is the inexplicable desire for the variety of life with name
and form that produces the universe. The philosophical question,
which akara on one hand and the rest on the other debated,
was about the validity or possibility of such a desire to arise
in Brahman, the Absolute! How can Absolute Consciousness
(the single and the only Reality/Existence/One without the
second), which is without attribute or qualities, and is limitless,
formless, and infinite desire anything to limit Itself! So says
akara.
But Tantras take slightly different view interpreting the same
scriptural injunctions from a different angle. They maintain that
in an attempt to transcend the individual consciousness, the Jva
or individual soul encounters a stage/state where there remain
two realities only; one that of the Sdhaka and the other of
his/her chosen Ideal. The universe is filled with these two
entities, which on the final lap/state merge into one Truth, which
no one can ever describe. This question can never be resolved
till one elevates oneself to the higher plane of consciousness,
where the limited ego is transcended, and human.

Durg is the Supreme Mother

Om Prakash Dubey

The akti philosophy is as old as the Vedas. The Dev Sukta

in the Rgveda is the real source of the akti doctrine. The Dev
is not only the principle of auspiciousness, the principle of
creation, the principle of cosmic energy, but is also the principle
of divine knowledge. The glory of the Dev is most elaborately
sung in the kta gamas and Tantras and in the Dev
Bhgavatam also.
In the gamas, iva is the supreme unchanging eternal
consciousness, and akti is His kinetic power. Universe is power
and it is a manifestation of Devs glory. This is the affirmation
of the akti doctrine. akti being the power of God, kta is
one who possesses akti. In the Tantras, there is most practical
way for the realisation of the highest truth besides attaining
Siddhis and tremendous powers.
akti in the form of Durg is the Supreme Mother of all
mothers. In fact mother Durgs worship is the worship of God
as Divine. As a child is more comfortable with the mother so
is the Sdhaka with Divine Mother. Everything is her manifestation
Durg, Kl, Bhavn, Amb, Ambik, Jagadamb, Gag,
Um, Ca, Lalit, Gaur, Kualin, Rjewar, Tripurasundar
etc., are all her forms.
Durg is, perhaps, the most widely worshipped aspect of
akti. An entire Pura, the Dev Bhgavatam, has been
dedicated to her. Another work, more well known than the Dev
Bhgavatam, but containing practically the same material in a
concise form, is the Dev-Mhtmyam. It is also known as

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Durg-Saptaat, and forms a part of another well known

Pura, the Mrkaeyapura. This work is so highly venerated
that every verse of it is considered to be a Mantra of the Dev
and its repetition is believed to confer whatever boons the votary
prays for.
Literally Durg means one who is difficult to approach
or difficult to know. Being the personification of the totality
of the powers of the gods, she is naturally difficult to approach
or to know. However, being the Mother of the universe, she
is the personification of tender love, when supplicated.
Out of the several aspects of akti put forward by this work,
Yoganidr (meditation-sleep) comes first. She is the power of
sleep, taking recourse to which, Lord Viu rests between two
cycles of creation. She is praised as responsible for the creation,
sustenance and withdrawal of the universe. She is the mysterious
power, the very personification of knowledge, wisdom and
memory. She is pleasant and beautiful. At the same time she
is terrible also. This combination of the opposite qualities is
possible only for her. She is described as wielding several
weapons like the bow, arrow, sword, discus and trident. The
gods could not enjoy their freedom for long. Very soon, they
were overpowered by the demons umbha and Niumbha. So
they had to run to the Himlayas and supplicate the Dev. This
hymn, well known as the Aparjitstotra, praises her as the
unconquered. Her immanence in all the living beings is the
main theme of this hymn. The powers and activities of all beings
are manifestations of only her power. In response to this prayer,
she manifested herself as Kauik Durg, emanating from the
body of Prvat, who herself became Kl the dark one, after
this manifestation.
The unparallel beauty of Durg attracted the attention of
umbha and Niumbha who sent proposals of marriage through
a serf. Unfortunately for them, in a moment of weakness and

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201

foolishness she had vowed to marry only him who would

vanquish her in battle. All attempts at forcibly dragging her away
ended in disaster for the demons. Heads rolled, the intervention
of giants like Dhumralocana, Caa-Mua and Raktabja not
withstanding. Kl, the fierce black goddess who emerged from
the Devs forehead, beheaded Caa and Mua and thus won
the name Cmu for herself. Only the battle with Raktabja
was long drawn needing some special efforts by the Dev since
he had the mysterious power to multiply himself through the
drops of blood spilled in the battle. It was Kl who managed
to spread her extensive tongue and drink away all the blood
gushing out of Raktabja, thus preventing the emergence of more
demons and enabling Durg to exterminate him. The rest was
easy. Niumbha was easily put to death after a mockery of fight.
Laughing derisively, the Dev withdrew all her emanations and
manifestations into herself, showing that she was always the One
without a second. In the ensuing battle, umbha, the lord of
demons, was easily killed, thus ridding the worlds of a great
terror.
This is followed by another piece of prayer, an enchanting
poetical hymn, which is as simple as it is elegant, known as
the Nrya Stuti it starts with fervent appeal to the Mother
by the grateful gods to be benign and gracious. The hymn
describes her as the mistress and the mother of the whole
creation. She is physical universe. She is the mysterious power
of Viu, the original cause, as also the power that deludes
beings. It is only by pleasing her that one can hope to
get spiritual emancipation. All arts and sciences are her
manifestations. She is residing as the intellect in the human
beings. She is the all-devouring time. She is the very personification
of all that is good and auspicious. She is ever engaged in
protecting her children.
The Dev as depicted has three major manifestations:

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Mahkl, Mahlakm and Mahsaraswat. These aspects should

not be confused with the Paurika deities, Prvat, Lakm and
Saraswat. They are actually the three major manifestations of
the One Supreme Power Mahewar, according to the three
GuasTamas, Rajas and Sattva.
Mahkl is the personification of My, the mysterious
power of Lord Viu. Unless she is pleased and voluntarily
withdraws, the Lord in us will not awake and destroy the powers
of evil which are trying to destroy us.
Mahlakm, the second, the Rjasika aspect of the Dev
is described as red in colour like the coral. Being born out of
the combined wraths and powers of all the gods, she is the
personification not only of the powers but also of the will to
fight the evil forces. That is why she is shown as red in colour,
the colour of blood, the colour of war. It is she who destroyed
Mahisura. At the subjective level, Mahisura stands for
ignorance and stubborn egoism. Its subjugation and conquest
are possible only when the Sdhaka pools all this energies
together and fights it with a tenacious will. Since God helps
him who helps himself, the intervention of the divine power
in his favour is always there.
Mahsaraswat is the third deity representing the Sttvika
aspect of the Dev. She is bright like the autumn moon. It is
she who manifests out of the physical sheath of Prvat and
hence known as Kauik Durg. She is the very personification
of physical perfection and beauty. She is the power of work,
order and organization. Lower states of ignorance and egoism
as typified by demons should be destroyed by sudden bursts
of energy. More crafty states which result in endless multiplication
of desiresthat is what Raktabja signifiesshould be tactfully
handled by going to the root, by suppressing them as soon as
they arise.
Aspects of Durg mentioned in the Puras and gamas

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Durg is the Supreme Mother

are legion. For instance, ailaputr, Ktyyan, Vanadurg,

Vindhyavsin, Jayadurg and so on. They are greater interest
in iconography and to the supplicants who can get different types
of desires fulfilled by worshipping the different aspects.
Images of Durg can have four or eight or ten or eighteen
or even twenty hands. The eyes are usually three. The hair is
dressed up as a crown. She is gorgeously dressed with red cloth
and several ornaments. Among the objects held in hand, the
more common ones areconch, discus, trident, bow, arrow,
sword, dagger, shield, rosary, wine cup and bell. She may be
shown as standing on a lotus or riding a lion. Lion, the royal
beast, her mount, represents the best in animal creation. It can
also represent the greed for food, and hence the greed for other
objects of enjoyment which inevitably leads to lust. To become
divine one should keep ones animal instincts under complete
control. This seems to be the lesson we can draw from the
picture of the rider of lion.

r Ka is the Purua; Rdhthe divine consort of

Ka is His akti; the Primal Power. The two are Purua
and Prakti. What is the meaning of Yugala Murti the
conjoined images of Rdh and Ka. It is that Purua and
Prakti are not different; there is no difference between them.
Purua cannot exist without Prakti and Prakti cannot exist
without Purua. If you mention the one, the other is
understood. It is like Fire and its power to burn.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

akti Worship: Evolution of the Concept

of Cmu in the Puras
Dr. Ratna Sharma

The doctrine of akti finds an elaborate exposition in the

Puras and the Upa-Puras. These texts are very rich in content
and provide us with valuable material for an accurate analysis of
aktivda. The popular myths and legends in the Puras portray
the socio-religious order of the contemporary society and have
effected a silent revolution in the religious ideas and practices of
the people and form the basis of popular Hinduism.
The worship of Mother Goddess had gained great prominence
in the vast extent of the Puranic literature. With the rise in the
temple building activities, she was now placed with her consort
or even independently in the temples. She was somehow being
associated with one or the other member of the Hindu Triad
with greater power and prominence. She was called Mahakti
i.e., akti of the Brahma, hence, she too, acquired the Supreme
status.
Her worship is prevalent in two forms viz., the dynamic
or ferocious and benign or beneficent form. In the benign form
she is differently called Bhavn, Vijay, Dev, Um, Gaur etc.,
and is beautiful with human-like pleasant appearance, whereas
in her dynamic aspect she is described as a very ferocious
goddess having a terrific countenance. In this form, she is
popularly called Sat, Kaplin, Kl, Cmu, though later on,
all her forms, in course of time, became fused into a single
goddess, as consort of iva, Rudra who himself is the personification
of the Tmasika Guas.

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205

Among all the emanations of Ambik, two became very

popular in the sculptural representations. One was Mahiamardin
Durg and the other was Cmu. The severe countenance
of Cmu is the most dire and terrific one. She is worshipped
as one of the Saptamtks or as one of the 64 Yogins.
However, we have numerous examples of her being dealt with,
independently. In the lexicons such as the abdakalpadruma
we read that Cmu is associated with the killing of the
demons Caa and Mua. In the Hindu Dharma Koa,
Cmu is referred to as one of the names of the wife of Lord
iva (Rudra) and holds a prestigious position in religious
practices. She can be seen to the left of iva in the Ardhanrvara
form.
In the Puranic literature, we get a very vivid picture of the
origin of this goddess. The Mrkaeya Pura which is held
as one of the early Puras and was edited in the present form
in the Gupta period or perhaps sometimes later, consists of one
complete book containing thirteen chapters and named DurgSaptaat and Dev-Mhtmya. The Dev-Mhtmya is an
elaboration of the concept of the Dev of the Vedic doctrine,
of an all powerful goddess of Supreme transcendence as
propounded in the mbri Sukta and the Dkyya Sukta.
The Saptaat speaks of the goddess Ca, who represents a
consolidated idea of the different aspects of the divine truth as
divine power.
The Mrkaeya Pura narrates the origin of this goddess
under different names. She is Yoganidr, Yogamy. She is the
one who induces Viu to sleep. In an episode in the very first
chapter of the Durg-Saptaat, she is eulogised and invoked
by Brahm. When the world was going through the process
of dissolution, it is then that Lord Viu, with the aid of
Yoganidr was fast asleep. Then out of his ear wax emerged
two dreadful demons, Madhu and Kaiabha, who were adamant

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

to kill Brahm, who was seated on the lotus seat that came
out of the navel of Viu. He invoked the goddess Yoganidr,
who is the presiding goddess of Tamogua, to awaken the great
Lord so that he might kill these two demons. Then came forth
the goddess from the body of Viu, thus awakening him, who,
later, put an end to the two demons.
This episode of the origin of this Unborn goddess is
picturesquely portrayed in a panel in the temple of Tigawa
(M.P.), belonging to the 5th century A.D. This panel shows
the emergence of the goddess from Viu, who lies down at
rest on his snake bed. Here the goddess Cmu as Yoganidr
is shown in a dancing pose. She is represented as ten-armed
deity, and holds a bow, a shield, a Mua from which blood
is dripping, a Khavga, a ula, a Daa, skull-cup; the
uppermost hand is on the chin in a typical pose and one hand
is broken. Her bulging eyes and lolling tongue add to her terrific
appearance. Her ematiated figure is adorned with a long
necklace of bones, and Kualas in ears. The lower tier of this
panel shows Lord Viu lying on his ea aiyy, with a lotus
coming out of his navel on which Brahm is seated.
In the second chapter of the Durg-Saptaat the goddess
once again emerges from the accumulated fury not only of
Viu, iva and Brahm, but also of many other gods of the
Brahmanic pantheon. This episode of the Mrkaeya Pura
continued to be a source of inspiration for the sculptors as is
proved by the icons of the later centuries. The Supreme Goddess
was once again invoked by the gods, for her assistance against
the demons umbha and Niumbha who had become notoriously
powerful and had ousted the gods from their possessions.
Thereupon, goddess Ambik sprang from the body Koa of
the Supreme goddess Prvat and assumed a dazzingly beautiful
form and, henceforth, Ambik, was also known as Kauik.
After Kauik had emerged from the Koa of Prvat the latters

akti Worship: Evolution of the..........in the Puras

207

complexion turned dark and that is why she came to be known

as Klik. Therefore, Caa and Mua, the two servants of
umbha and Niumbha reported to their masters about this
beautiful manifestation. umbha struck with the beauty of the
goddess, resolved to possess her, and sent emissaries to the
goddess, to persuade her to become his mistress. The goddess,
thus, approached, scoffingly replied that, she would accept only
him as her husband who would be a match for her in strength
and would conquer her in battle. umbha, thereupon, ordered
Dhumralocana, his commander-in-chief to seize the goddess by
force. But he was speedily reduced by her to ashes. On this
Caa and Mua were ordered to go and seize the goddess.
The sight of Caa and Mua greatly infuriated the
goddess. From her brow contracted by frowns suddenly sprang
forth a goddess Kl, black and scowling, withdrawn sword and
lasso, holding a mace (Khavga), wearing a necklace of skulls,
clothed in a tiger skin, grim with emaciation, mouth hideously
distorted and the tongue protruding out, her eyes were red and
sunken and she started a terrible uproar that filled the quarters.
This grim goddess began to swallow elephants with riders and
all the chariots with horses and occupants. Caa and Mua
were quickly worsted. The goddess picked up the heads of
Caa and Mua and presented them to her originator, Kauik,
who bestowed on her the epithet of Cmu in recognition
of her achievementThou shalt be known in the world as
Cmu. In another episode presented in the eighth chapter
of the Saptaat, goddess Cmu, helped Ambik and other
mother goddesses who were the aktis of different gods, in
killing the demon Raktabja, as every drop of blood of this
demon (Asura) created a new one as soon as it fell on earth.
Goddess Cmu drank all the blood and prevented it from
falling to the ground, thus killing him.
The eleventh chapter of the Saptaat further states that she

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

incarnated in the horrifying form of Raktadantik and slew

and devoured the demons of the Vipracitti lineage and her teeth
became red like the inside of a pomegranate and she came to
be known as Rakta Cmu and Yogevar. This goddess is
believed to be permeating throughout the movable and immovable
objects of the universe; her worshippers are supposed to attain
this extraordinary power of permeating the whole universe. This
goddess carries in her hands the Khaga, Musala, Hala and
a Ptra.
The Matsya Pura also equates Cmu with Yogevar
and states that each drop of blood that fell from the body of
Raktabja was drunk by Cmu alone. Again in the sixteenth
chapter of the same text, Cmu is stated to have killed the
demon Ruru. Lord Rudra addresses her with the epithets of Kl,
Karl, Klartri and Manojav. She is an emanation of Raudr
who was performing penances on the Nlagiri mountains. From
the Varha Pura, we come to know that Yogevar sprang
from the mouth of iva and assisted the latter against Andhaksura.
Goddess Yogevar and Cmu appear to have been born
under similar circumstances, perform similar functions and are
iconographically almost identical. They possess characteristics
which are also to be seen in ukarevat, an ogress, whom
Viu creates to drink up the blood of Andhaksura. ukarevat,
thus, appears to be no other than goddess Yogevar mentioned
in the Varha Pura. ukarevat is also called Kl and may
as well be equated with Cmu, for according to the
Mrkaeya Pura, this goddess Cmu is but a subsequent
form of Kl.
We get another mythological account in the Varha Pura
regarding the origin of Cmu, referring to her combat with
Ruru, the demon king who pursued the Devas and the latter
tried to secure help from goddess Raudr (Klartri). When she
laughed, goddesses of strange forms, emanated from her mouth.

akti Worship: Evolution of the..........in the Puras

209

These were all ferocious, with expansive breasts, holding noose,

goad, trident, bow and arrows. Goddess Klartri struck at Ruru
with her trident and his trunk (Carma) and head (Mua) got
separated from each other and thus she came to be known as
Cmu. Lord Rudra praises her as Kl, Karl, Cmu and
Klartri. Rudra calls her the snatcher of all beings; fierce;
omniscient; auspicious; pure; three-eyed, the great illusion, the
great beginning, benevolent, cause of growth, black-coloured,
one who obliterated all the sins, having a frightening appearance
and a flaming mouth; sharp teeth, sitting in a hundred vehicles,
sitting on the dead and striking terror. The days of Aam,
Navam and Caturda are auspicious to her and she bestows
boons on her worshippers and those who recite her Stotras.
In the Dev Pura, Cmu is conceived primarily as a
war goddess. She is the primordial energy and iva herself. She
saved the life of Lord Viu from the wrath of Mahmuni
Klgnirudra. She is the creator, preserver and destroyer of the
universe, the universal mother and resides in cremation grounds.
The text praises her by different names as Nrya, Tr, vet,
iv, Gaur, Carcik, Um, Ambik, Cmu and Nand. The
great goddess assumes the form of Cmu and becomes the
champion of gods to destroy a demon, named Ruru. Though
she has a black colour and is smeared with vermilion, yet, she
has a radiating beauty.
Cmu is referred to as a Mtk in the Viudharmottara
Pura. She has a red complexion, sits on a Preta, has an
ematiated body, protruding teeth, has ten arms holding a Musala,
Cakra, Ba, Akua, Khaga, hla, Pa, Dhanus, Daa
and Kuhra.
In the Klik Pura this goddess is said to be four-armed
and is like a blue lotus. In the Agni Pura, Cmu has been
described as a skeletal and emaciated figure who is dressed in
a tiger skin and has a skull-cup in her hand. The Garua

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Pura, too, describes her as a very terrible goddess who has

fearful eyes, is seated on a corpse, holds a skull-cup, bell,
amaru and small bells in her hands, wears an elephant hide
and a necklace of skulls.
From the above discussion we can safely arrive at a
conclusion that these Puras were composed at a phase when
the experimental stage was over and the various concepts had
gradually started assuming a prescribed final form which
determined to a large extent the iconographic features of various
deities and Cmu was one of the popular emanations of the
Dev, who in later centuries established her own cult in the
Tantric pantheon and was invoked for protection against
challenges of aggression. She has a wandering nature and is
considered as the protectress of all the ten quarters
UU U.

Prayer to Mother akti

O Mother, make me mad with Thy love!
What need have I of knowledge or reason?
Make me drunk with Thy loves wine;
O Thou stealest Thy Bhaktas heart.
Drown me deep in the Sea of Thy love!
Here in this world, this madhouse of Thine,
Some laugh, some weep, some dance for joy!
Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Gaurga,
All are drunk with the wine of Thy love.
O Mother, when shall I be blessed
By joining their blissful company.
Narendra

akti of Prayer
This event relates to a period of about sixteen hundreds years
ago. Saint Sklasik used to go to meet her brother Saint
Benadicta every year. The whole day she used to talk on
spiritual subjects and in the evening she used to return to her
monastery because it was her principle that she must live at
night in her monastery. Her brother Benadicta also went to his
monastery situated at same hill. Sklasik was not allowed to
enter Kesini monastery. Therefore her brother Benadicta used
to come one day in a year to meet his sister at same place a
bit far away from Kesini monastery. His sister also used to visit
that place to meet her brother. One year when she went to meet
Saint Benadicta, she felt that it was her last meeting.
Sklasik requested Saint Benadicta that it was her wish
that she wanted to talk this whole night about God. She had
tears in her eyes and her heart was heavy with feelings of God.
Saint Benadicta told his sister, What you say is very good
but I am bound to follow my principle therefore it is very
difficult for me to live outside my monastery at night. We have
utilized the whole day in eulogizing, remembering and thinking
of God. Saint Benadicta intended to move towards his
monastery which was at a distance of five miles from monastery
of Plamberia.
Hearing the firm resolve of her brother, the throat of
Sklasik was choked with emotion. She started praying to God.
It was the time of sunset. As darkness increased her sadness also
increased. Suddenly the sky was overcast with clouds, lightening
started flashing, wind blew violently and it started raining.

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Saint Benadicta smiled and asked his sister what she has
done.
Sklasik was happy, I knocked at your door, but you
did not care for my request I prayed to God. He blessed me
with His grace. Now you will have to stay here.
The akti in Prayer is unfailing. Benadicta had to stay.
He dwelled upon God the whole night with his sister.
Undoubtedly it was their last meeting.

Repeat, O mind, my Mother Durgs hallowed name!

O Gaur! O Nrya! To Thee I bow
Thou art the day, O Mother! Thou art the dusk and the
night,
As Rma Thou drawest the bow, as Ka
Thou playest the flute;
As Kl all-terrible, Thou hast silenced iva, Thy Lord,
The ten Embodiments of Divine akti art Thou,
And Thou the ten Avatras; this time save me Thou must!
With flowers and bel-leaves did Yaod worship Thee,
And Thou didst bless her by placing Ka the child
in her arms,
Wherever I chance to live, O Mother in the forest or
grove,
May mind, day and night dwell at Thy Lotus feet.
Sri Ramakrishna

akti of Faith
Simon invited Jesus Christ for dinner at his home.
A lady entered Simons house. She caught hold of Jesus
Christs feet. She washed them and started massaging them with
oil. Tears dropped from her eyes. Simon was wonderstruck at
the presence of that lady. Maigadalan was known for her bad
character to everyone even to a child. People hated her.
Simon expected that if Jesus Christ was the emissary of God,
He himself would remove that depraved woman.
Jesus Christ asked Simon, Have you to say something to
me. Tears of Maigadalan were washing the feet of Jesus Christ
with reverence. With these words of Jesus Christ a strange sort
of peace prevailed in the whole of atmosphere.
Simon spoke in a respectful tone, Please do bless her with
mercy.
Christ related, Two individuals owed debts of fifty and five
hundred pences to a trader. When there was nothing with those
individuals to pay off the debts then the trader freed both the
individuals of their debts. He relieved them. Jesus Christ asked,
Who individual will respect him more. Simon responded,
That individual on whom he showed much mercy will love
him more. Christ praised Simon, You have replied aright.
Christ cast his eye on Maigadalan for the first time. Christ
cleared the doubt of Simon by telling him, Simon, you are
looking at this lady, I entered your home, you did not wash
my feet, but this holy lady has washed my feet with her tears
and wiped them with her hair. You did not oil my head but
she has massaged my feet with oil. She has relieved me of my

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tireness. I tell you with certainty that her sins have been washed
away by her selfless, sacred and reverent service. All her sins
have been pardoned. She has expressed her great love.
Christ gave assurance to Maigadalan that her sins have been
forgiven. Maigadalan was weeping. Her cascade of repentance
was flowing through her eyes.
Jesus Christ sanctified Maigadalan through his mercy and
told her, Your faith that your sins will be washed away through
the service of saints and realized souls has borne fruit. Faith
has a great power. This is the power of Truth. With this faith
one can realize even God.

Bestowal of Boon by Dev Durg

King Subhu said, O Mother, kingdom on this whole of
the universe and of gods can never be comparable to your
vision. There is nothing in this world greater than Your Vision.
O Devi, I need not seek any boon from You as I have already
been fulfilled with Your Vision. O Mother, my desired boon
is stable and unswerving devotion in You. O Mother! You
abide permanently in K. Kindly always protect K by
abiding there as embodiment of power named Durg Dev.
O Ambike! As You have safeguarded Sudarana against his
enemies and You have made him immaculate in the same
way always safeguard Varanasi. O Merciful Devi! Stay here
till the city of Ks presence on the earth. Bestow this boon
alone I need not seek any other boon. Fulfil all sorts of desires
and destroy all sorts of inauspiciousness.
Durgj said, O king I will permanently stay in K for
the protection of all Lokas till the earth subsists.

akti of Silence
There is an old story which demonstrates the power of
silence. Tattvaraya composed a Bharani, a kind of poetic
composition in Tamil, in honour of his Guru Swarupnanda,
and convened an assembly of learned Pundits to hear the work
and assess its value. The Pundits raised the objection that a
Bharani was only composed in honour of great heroes capable
of killing a thousand elephants in battle and that it was not in
order to compare such a work in honour of an ascetic.
Thereupon the author said, Let us all go to the ascetic and
we shall have this matter settled there. They went to him and
after they all had taken their seats, the author told the ascetic
the purpose of their visit. The ascetic sat silent and all the others
also remained in Mauna. The whole day passed, the night came
and some more days and nights, and yet all sat there silently,
no thought at all occuring to any of them and nobody thinking
or asking why they had come there. After three or four days
like this, the ascetic moved his mind a bit, and the people
assembled regained their thought activity. They then declared,
Conquering a thousand elephants is nothing beside this ascetics
power to conquer the rutting elephants of all our egos put
together, so he certainly deserves the Bharani in his honour.
Silence is most powerful. Speech is always less powerful
than silence. The silence of Dakimurti removed the doubts
of the four sages. Silence is said to be exposition. Silence is
so potent.

Durgthe Supreme Female Reality

Prof. D. Vaidyanathan

M l l U h
Introduction
Religion without philosophy is superstition. Philosophy without
religion is mere theory. And nowhere is the combination of these
two so perfect and lasting as in the great religion of Hinduism.
The gods of Hinduism: The holy Trinity
This is formed of Brahm, Viu and iva alongwith their
consortsSaraswat, Lakm and Prvat respectively. Of these,
Brahm creates the world, Viu sustains it and iva destroys
it; hence the cyclic order of creation, preservation and destruction.
The Guas
Then there are the three GuasSattvagua, Rajogua and
Tamogua; and the three deities of the trinity correspond to these
Guas i.e., Viu represents Sattvathe power of existence and
preservation; iva represents Tamasthe power of annihilation;
and Brahm who stands in between, represents Rajas.
iva
He is the third deity of the trinity. He has two aspects
the mild and the terrible. He is responsible for the dissolution
of the universe. He has three eyes and four handsthe upper
ones each with a trident and a drum and the lower ones posing
the Varada and Abhaya Mudrs. On the head is a crown of
matted hair from which flows Gag. Gaea and Kumra are
his two sons. His akti is represented by his consort Prvat.
She is also known as Durg.
Like her consort, Prvat too has two aspectsthe mild and

Durgthe Supreme Female Reality

217

the terrible. As Prvat, she represents the mild aspect; and in

this aspect, she is usually shown with iva in which form, she
has only two handsthe right one with a blue lotus and the
left one hanging down the side; and when shown alone, she
has four handsthe upper two holding red and blue lotuses
and the lower two exhibiting the Varada and Abhaya Mudrs.
iva the mild is also known as Rudra the terrible; and Prvat
being his consort, she too has her terrible aspects; hence her
name Durg, the terrible.
The Puras describe her as the sister of Viu (Padmanbha
Sahodar) and in one of the forms of ivaArdhanrvara,
she forms the left half.
Many Aspects of Prvat
According to Durgsaptaat, when Prvat in Kauik Durg
aspect was fighting the demon Raktabja, she manifested herself
into seven formsthe Saptamts and they are the Brhm,
Mhevar, Kaumr, Vaiav, Vrh, Nrasih and Indr.
As their names indicate, they are the aktis of Brahm, vara,
Kumra, Viu, Varha, Narasiha and Indra respectively. In this
context, it may be mentioned that Prvat manifested herself as
Kauik Durg and who herself became Kl after this manifestation.
Kl
She is an embodiment of Tamas. She is in the form of a dark
nude woman wearing an apron of human hands and with a
garland of fifty human heads. Her luxuriant hair is completely
dishevelled. She has three eyes and four hands. In the upper
hands, she is holding a freshly severed human head and the sword
used in the carnage; and the lower hands are in the Varada and
Abhaya Mudrs. Her face is red and the tongue protruding.
Lalit
This is another aspect of Prvat; also called as Lalit
Tripurasundar. She is more worshipped in South India. LalitSahasranma and Triat are associated with Lalit; also the

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r Cakraher emblem in which form only she is worshipped

in most of the Dev temples in the South.
If Durg and Kl represent the two powerful aspects of
Dev meaning Prvat, Lalit represents the aspect of beauty;
i.e., as extremely beautiful with a refined form of worship
a unique feature indeed.
Lalit is usually depicted as light red in colour and of
bewitching beauty. She has four hands, the upper ones holding
arrows and a bow of sugarcane and the lower ones the Akua
and the Pa; and in the r Cakra, the dot at the centre
represents the combination of iva and aktiivaakti.
More about Durg
Durg simply means one who is difficult to approach; also
difficult to knowshe being the personification of the totality
of the powers of the Gods; hence called the Mother of the
universethe Supreme Mother. She is also the most widely
worshipped aspect of aktidiparakti.
Images of Durg can have four, eight, eighteen or even
twenty hands. The eyes are usually three. The hair is dressed
up forming a crown. She is gorgeously dressed with red cloth
and bedecked with many ornaments. In her hands are commonly
seen conch, discus, trident, bow, arrow, sword, dagger, shield,
rosary and bell. She is seen standing on a red lotus or riding
a lion; hence her name Sihavhin.
NotePura Devbhgavatam has been dedicated to her;
and in a concise form is the Dev Mhtmyam dealing with
the glory of the Mother. It is also known as Durgsaptaat.
It is formed of thirteen chapters with 700 lokas. Of this,
the first ten deal with the fight between Dev and the nine
AsurasMadhu, Kaiabha, Mahisura, umbha, Niumbha,
Dhumralocana, Caa, Mua and Raktabja and the last three
deal with the hymn to Nrya, merits of reading the book
and the conclusion of the story.
After Durg and before Lalit, comes Mahisuramardin.

Durgthe Supreme Female Reality

219

She took shape as a result of the pooling together of the powers

of all gods, who felt oppressed by the demon Mahisura
one of the nine demons. The trinity got much annoyed on
hearing the misdeeds of Mahisura and the Dev was born out
of their wrath, followed by the wrath of the lesser divinities.
Besides, the exact duplicates of their weapons, they formed her
weapons too. Thus armed and riding on a fierce lion, she fought
with the demon and destroyed him alongwith his vast army.
Likewise, Dev fought with the other eight demons and
everything was over with the first ten chapters of Dev
Mhtmyam. She thus established the fact that she is the
Supreme truth or Supreme Female Reality described in all
scriptural works.
Her other manifestations areVindhyavsin (Vindhycalanivsin) who escaped from the killer hands of Kasathe great
enemy of Lord Ka and whose uncle he was; Raktadant
armed with red teeth, atk with one hundred eyes, Durgam,
Bhm and Bhramarmb to mention a few other demons. And
because of these exploits, Dev became known as Mahkl,
Mahlakm and Mahsaraswatlooked upon as the three major
manifestations of one Supreme power Mhevar and this is
according to the three GuasTamas, Rajas and Sattva respectively.
Mahkl
She has ten faces and ten feet. She is deep blue in colour
bedecked with a variety of ornaments; and with ten hands each
one armed with weapons and objects. She is the personification
of Mah Mythe mysterious power of Lord Viu and who
in this context, creates, sustains and annihilates everything from
the subtlest to the grossest.
Mahlakm
She has eighteen hands, each one armed with a variety of
weapons including discus Sudarana. She is red in colour and
is looked upon as being born out of the combined wrath and
powers of all the gods to fight the evil forces; and it is she

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who destroyed Mahisura (who had been terrorising the three

worlds and made the lives of people so miserable) by cutting
his head off. Soon all the Devas headed by Indra in front came
in a large procession and extolled Nryathe power of Lord
Nryaa the Supreme being with divine hymns known as
Nrya Stuti forming the eleventh chapter of Dev Mhtmyam.
Mahsaraswat
She is bright like the autumn moon. She has eight hands
each holding a weapon and object. It is she who has manifested
out of the forehead of Dev; hence known as Kauik Durg
mentioned earlier; and who herself became Kl the fierce dark
one and who only killed Caa and Mua by beheading them;
and hence her name Cmuevar; and it is she who also
vanquished the other demonsRaktabja, Niumbha, umbha
looked upon as the Lord of the demons.
Some other aspects of Prvat/Durg Paramevar
Annapurevar, the possessor and giver of food; Aparjit
the invincible, Bl the child always nine years old, Bhadrk
who destroyed Dakas sacrifice, Bhutamt, the mother of
goblins forming her retinue, Cmuevarsame as Kl, Indrk
whose eyes are similar to Indras, Kmevar the consort of
Kmevara who is iva himself, Ktyyan the totality of the
powers of the Hindu trinity, Manonmanone who lifts the
mind up the highest state of Yoga, ivadut, who sent her consort
iva himself as a messenger to umbha and Niumbha, Rjarjevar
who rules over even the king of kings. She is looked upon as the
highest manifestation of Prvat and unique by herself; Gyatr,
Svitr and Sarasvatthe three presiding deities of the famous
Gyatr Mantra chanted three times a daymorning before the
sun rises, noon and evening before the sunset respectively; and
these to mention only a few; and I conclude

XUXU
U

U U S H

MahvidysGoddesses of Tantra
Dr. Uma Raman Jha

Tantra means stra. Tantra expounds our knowledge for

getting pleasures and bliss.

The devotees of kta Tantra worship Mahvidys or

Goddesses. There are ten Mahvidys

U Ul U EU
US l H
hl XU

Kl, Tr, Soa, Bhuvanevar, Bhairav, Chinnamast,

Dhumvat, Bagal, Mtag and Kamal are the ten Mahvidys
in kta Tantra.
akti or Goddess is the root of existence of the universe.
It is akti who is creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe.
Without the knowledge of akti liberation is not possible.

US

In the present article a brief description of ten Mahvidys

is given for the general readers.
(1) Kl
For gaining spiritual power ten forms of the great Goddess
are worshipped by the Tntrikas. They are the manifestations
of dy akti. The chief of the ten Mahvidys is Kl. Mahkl
resides in the heart of Mahkla. She is the first and the foremost
Goddess of akti cult.
According to Mahnirva Tantra, Kl is the progenitor of
all objects of the world. She assumes various forms holding various
weapons to destroy the evils of the world. Kl is the consort of
Mahkla, the Eternal Time. She represents akti, the energy
which is the cause of creation and destruction of the universe.

222

Kalyana-Kalpataru

The image of Kl has a posture indicative of certain movements

like the hands being raised, tongue coming out, etc. She is dark
in colour which indicates that all contradictions of the universe
can merge in her lotus-feet. Her left foot rests on the breast
of iva. She resides in the cremation ground where worldly
objects are reduced to ashes. She possesses red teeth in her open
mouth. She grants boon to her devotees. She possesses three
eyes. She wears a garland of severed human hands and heads.
The image of Kl can be considered in the following
Dhyna Mantra

SUU U
U U UU
U CU U CU
UEU MU mKH
(2) Tr
Tr is the second powerful Goddess having dark blue
complexion. She places her left foot on the breast of iva who
lies down like a corpse. She looks terrible. She wears a garland
of trunkless human heads on her neck. She is youthful and
adorned with Pacamudrs (five postures). Tr protects her
devotees when they cry for help in distress. The Dhyna Mantra
of Tr is as follows

U UU U UU
UUUU

S
Z S UU U^UU
gXUU
U
H
Bauddhas also worship Tr.
(3) Soa
Soa is the Goddess as a young and beautiful girl of
sixteen years. She has four hands holding noose, goad, arrow
and bow. She is three-eyed and seated on pedestal comprising
of Brahm, Viu, Rudra, Indra and Sadiva. Tripura-Sundar

MahvidysGoddesses of Tantra

223

or Bl Tripura-Sundar is the name of Soa. Lopmudr,

Durvs and a number of Siddhas have become the devotees
of Soa. The Dhyna Mantra of Soa is as follows

p U
UVU

jH
l U U
U U UH
(4) Bhuvanevar
Bhuvanevar is a full grown woman whose complexion is
like the effulgence of the rising sun. She has put on a crescent
on her forehead and a crown on her head. Her breasts are full
with milk for Sdhakas. She is in a smiling mood. She holds
noose and goad in her two hands and in her other two hands
she has boons for her devotees. The Dhyna Mantra of
Bhuvanevar is as follows

Q UEUS SU SljUd
U
U
UUU

VUk
U EU S UH
(5) Chinnamast
Chinnamast is a Goddess whose head is beheaded. She
shines as tens of millions of suns together. She is a young lady
with heaving and rising breasts. Her mouth is big with the
tongue emitting out and the blood gushing forth from her throat.
Her hairs are dishevelled and decorated with beautiful flowers.
She holds a cutting tool in her right hand. Her left leg is placed
a little behind. Her right leg is in front. She has a garland in
her neck having trunkless human heads. She remains in a
standing posture of Rati and Kma engaged in sexual embrace.
She has two attendantskin and Varin standing on both
sides who are drinking blood coming out of the neck of the

224

Kalyana-Kalpataru

Goddess. kin and Varin are sixteen years old and naked.
The Dhyna Mantra of Chinnamast is as follows

S UEU U Q
SU
hU
Q U UU US

U
H

(6) Bhairav
Bhairav is wearing a garland of trunkless human heads. She
wears a red silken cloth. Her complexion is red. She has high
and round breasts. She holds rosary of beads and a book in
two hands and in her other two hands she keeps boons for her
devotees. She has a crescent on her forehead. Her three eyes
are like three red lotuses. She has a bright smile on her lips.
Bhairav is a powerful deity of Tntrika Sdhakas.
The Dhyna Mantra of Bhairav is as follows

Ud l U VUU
SU k S
UQ#U U U
SU

UH
(7) Dhumvat
Dhumvat is an ugly form of Mahakti. She is a tall
woman with a big nose, having pale complexion, rough looks
depicting her angry mood. She is hungry and thirsty. She is
dressed as a widow with dirty clothes and disorderly colourless
hairs. She has no teeth. She rides a chariot over which sits a
crow. She holds a fan in one hand and the other hand is raised
to bless. Dhumvat removes evils of the devotees. Dhyna
Mantra of Dhumvat is as follows

U U U @
QUU U S
M Um QU
Q U H

225

MahvidysGoddesses of Tantra

(8) Bagalmukh
Bagalmukh is worshipped to win the cases, to destroy
enemies and to be successful in debate and war. She is seated
on a throne beset with gems in the midst of ocean of nectar.
She has yellow complexion. She wears yellow clothes, garlands
and ornaments. She is called Ptmbar. She holds a mace in
her right hand and she catches the tongue of the enemy with
her left hand. Devotees worship her with following Dhyna

U U% US uU
eUU U
UU UUU U
UEU U

U
U
H

(9) Mtag
Mtag sits on the throne of valuable gems and stones. She
has dark complexion. She wears a crescent on her forehead. She
holds noose, goad, sword and Kheaka in her four hands. She
removes evils of the devotees. Dhyna Mantra of Mtag is as
follows

XU U UU
US V
U U% U S
E SH
(10) Kamal
Kamal is the 10th form of Mahakti. She is shining like
gold. She is coronated with nectar pouring down from pitchers
held by trunks of four heavenly elephants. She holds two lotuses
in her two hands and her other two hands are raised for granting
boons to devotees. Dhyna Mantra of Kamal is as follows

hU U Q
UU U
US U U%
k USH

Transmission of Spiritual Power*

Late Vaman Dattatraya Gulavani

There is a process by which a real spiritual teacher imparts

his spiritual power to his disciple. The process is known as aktiPta or transmission of spiritual power. The teacher who
possesses this power of transmission can give this knowledge
of Truth or the knowledge of the way of union with the Divine
to a deserving disciple in an instant way without any effort
whatsoever. Nay he can transform his disciple into his own
powerful form S as the great akara declares in
the first verse of his work, the Vednta-Kesar. Tukrma, the
great saint of Maharashtra, expresses the same idea in one of
his Abhagas where he says that the real teachers make their
devoted disciples exactly like themselves in no time. A philosophers
stone, he says, cannot stand in comparison with the Guru whose
greatness is beyond all measure. Jnewara, the crown-jewel
of saints, declares in choicest terms the greatness of the real
Guru in his Bhvrtha-Dpik, the great commentary on the
Bhagavadgt, to the effect that a man on whom the real Guru
lets fall his glance or on whose head he places his lotus hand,
be he howsoever small and insignificant a being, is at once raised
to a status of the Lord of the Universe himself. He who is lucky
receiving spiritual teaching from a real Guru is at once freed
from all dualities and is established in his own real Self. The
Guru gives and the disciple at once receives the Mahvkya
or the great word of Vednta, and the very moment finds himself
transformed into a living embodiment of the great word.
Jnewara then proceeds to describe how the Lord in the
* It is said h

Transmission of Spiritual Power

227

Bhagavadgt transformed Arjuna, His greatest devotee, into His

form by transmitting His power to him. The Lord extended
His right hand with its dark-blue colour and the radiance of
the bracelet round the wrist and embraced His loving devotee
Arjuna to His heart. The Lord intended to give him that
transcendent experience of Self where no speech or intelligence
can enter and the embrace was a method for the purpose. Heart
met heart and the content of the one was poured into the other
and without giving up the dual form, Arjuna was made one
with r Ka.
The realization of Brahma is never attained merely through
a study of the stras. It is the grace of the Guru that affects
it. Samartha Rmadsa states emphatically that no knowledge
is attainable without a real Guru. This is corroborated by the
stras themselves. Neither words nor a keen intelligence nor
any volume of hearing of spiritual discourses can make one
realize the Self, says the Upaniad, it is only the grace of
the Guru that brings that realization. The power of the
nectarean glance of the Guru representing an immeasurable
stream of compassion finds a beautiful expression in the words
of crya r akara in the following verse:

US U S S m

MLcU K
Q U l

U
CUUH
To whomsoever is brought the realization of the truth, I
am the Brahma, by the ambrosial glance full of immeasurable
compassion of the Guru, he is liberated while yet in this body
with his mind freed from all delusion and doubt. He enters the
supreme abode of eternal nanda.
Thus the Vedas, the Puras, the Tantras and the saints
of all ages have fully testified the idea of the transmission of

228

Kalyana-Kalpataru

spiritual power. The Yogavsiha relates the fact of Vasiha

having transmitted his power to Rmacandra to raise him into
the state of Asamprajta Samdhi or complete absorption in
Brahma for which even Viwmitra thus spoke to Vasiha, O
high-spirited Vasiha, son of Brahm, thou art really great, thou
hast established thy greatness by transmitting the power instant
only. The Yogavsiha then mentions in the next verse the
three methods of transmitting power into the body of the disciple:
SU cU (by sight, touch and word, all
through the grace of the Guru). The process of transmission
is described in fuller detail in the Suta-Sahit of the SkandaPura. The Tntrika works also give a long description of
initiation through transmission. The Ntha Cult is the most
famous of all cults in initiating the disciple through the transmission
of Power. The Cult is as ancient as spiritual knowledge and
the science of Yoga. Gurus possessing this mighty and effective
power of transmission are very rare nowadays, but they are not
altogether extinct. Mahtms of this rare type roam through the
world in disguise and when they come across a deserving
disciple infuse in him the power they possess.
Teachers possessing knowledge and power of transmitting
the Yogic power and thereby rousing the power of Kualin
in the disciple are, as we have said, occasionally met here and
there. The experience I had of such a Mahtm forms the basis
of the present article. It may not be of any practical benefit to
the general reader, but if it only succeeds in convincing him
that there are really men of perfection who can transmit the
Yogic power in others and that one can avail himself of their
grace, I shall consider my attempt to have been amply repaid.
For, if a Sdhaka fortunately comes across such a Mahtm
and succeeds in obtaining his grace, he can easily realize the
object and purpose of his human existence.
The principal objective of Yoga is to attain Samdhi in which

Transmission of Spiritual Power

229

state all modifications of the mind are stilled and suppressed.

To achieve this object, one has to go through the eightfold
process of Yogawhich is very difficult to practiseunder the
guidance of a qualified Guru. A slight error in this Sdhan
may be injurious to the practicant. This difficulty prevents many
an ardent seeker from pursuing the path of Yoga which
comprises a long course of sana, Pryma, the practice of
various Mudrs, the rousing of the Kualin Power and
thereafter opening the gateway of the central nerve within the
spinal cord and directing the Pra to an upward course towards
the cerebral region. Now, the whole of this process can be
brought about almost without an effort by transmission of power.
The effect of transmission is instantaneous on the Sdhaka
who has control over his mind and senses, who observes the
laws of the Varrama Dharma, is devoted to Devats and
Brhmaas, possesses an unswerving faith in the Guru. The
one thing needed above all others is sincere service of the Guru
and gaining of his favour.
The four methods of transmission have been mentioned in
the following passage:

h S U
Sp
H
These are transmission(1) through touch, (2) through the
spoken word, (3) through sight and (4) through thought, and
are classed as the gross, the subtle, the subtler and the subtlest
respectively.

S U
SS

H
S
S

H
S S
S

SH

230

Kalyana-Kalpataru

These verses describe three of the methods of initiation, the

Spara-Dk (initiation by touch) resembling the action of
a bird which nourishes its babes by keeping them under
its wings, the Dg-Dk (initiation by sight) resembling the
action of a tortoise which nourishes its young ones simply by
keeping an eye over them, and the Vedha-Dk (initiation by
concentration of the will) resembling the action of a fish which
nourishes its infants by concentrating its will on them. There
is no mention here of abda-Dk (initiation by word) which
can be of two kinds, initiating the disciple by chanting a Mantra
or by blessing him by word of mouth and thus infusing Yogic
power in him.
The following verse describes the symptoms which indicate
that the power has been transmitted to a disciple:

US
S
U@

UU
UQS
H

The marks of transmission are falling of the body, tremor,

ecstatic delight, perspiration and thrill.
Appearance of light, hearing of the inner sound, lifting up
of the body on the sana, and automatic action of the different
processes of Pryma and their different Bandhas follow a
little later. Some Sdhakas immediately feel the ascent of the
Power from Muldhra to Brahmarandhra, which brings about
perfect peace in their mind. The Sdhaka feels a great change
in his body. All these experiences, on the first day, may continue
for hours, in some cases for half an hour only and in others
for three hours at a stretch, and then cease. So long as the Power
will work, the eyes of the Sdhaka will remain closed and he
will not be inclined to open them. An attempt to open them
will cause trouble. But when the power stops working, the eyes
will open automatically. The closing and opening of the eyes
will indicate whether the power is working or it has ceased to

Transmission of Spiritual Power

231

work. Whenever the Sdhaka closes his eyes he will feel a

variety of movements going on in his body. He should not
obstruct or put any obstacle in the way of the inner working.
He should simply watch it as a witness without assuming any
responsibility for it, for it is the work of a divine power
consciously working from within. And in this state he will feel
very happy, indeed, and his faith will grow strong and
unshakable.
Once by the grace of the Guru the Yogic power of a
Sdhaka is awakened, sana and Pryma and Mudr and
other accessories of Yoga lose their need for him. These sanas,
Prymas and Mudrs are practised only to help the awakened
power to reach Brahmarandhra. When the passage of ascent is
open for the ascending power, these processes become unnecessary
and the mind gets progressively established in peace.
There are occasions when even an illiterate Sdhaka
possessing no knowledge of sana or Pryma may be seen
doing all these practises exactly as prescribed in the stras
under the influence of the transmitted power just like a Yog
who had a training in Yoga for several years. The fact is that
the Kualin power Herself gets all these things done according
to the needs and demands of the case for the growth of the
Sdhaka. The most difficult processes of Yoga are manifested
effortlessly. The processes of Pryma, Puraka, Recaka and
Kumbhaka, take place automatically. A two-minute Kumbhaka
is mastered in a week or two. All this takes place without any
risk to the practicant, for the awakened Power Herself takes
care that nothing is done which may be harmful to the Sdhaka.
The Sdhaka proceeds safely with his Sdhan which practically
works out itself.
When a teacher has awakened the Kualin power by
transmission in his disciple, the power of transmission grows
in the latter. For he grows into the likeness of his Guru. So

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

the power of transmission continues in a line of succession from

Guru to the disciple. The seed of the power is sown in him
by the Guru, so that the disciple, when commanded by the Guru,
may impart the same power to his disciple and thus continue
the line of succession. This privilege, however, is not enjoyed
by every disciple. In some cases, the disciple enjoys himself
the presence of the power but cannot transfer it to anybody else,
as pointed out in the following verse:

SUU

L
SSH

The gross method of transmission (i.e., transmission by

touch) is of two kinds according to the difference in the nature
of Guru. One is like the oil-lamp which lights up any oiled
wick the moment it touches it and gives to it the same power
of lighting other wicks and thus continues the line of succession;
and the other is like the Philosophers Stone which turns by
touch the iron into gold but does not impart the same power
to the gold. It lacks the power of continuing the line of
succession. The disciple of the first type of Guru enlightens his
own life and becomes the source of the enlightenment of the
life of others and the disciple of the second category only
redeems himself but cannot redeem others.
Similarly, transmission through word is also of two kinds:

m m
UU
m
H
The moment a young cuckoo brought up by a crow hears
the voice of a cuckoo, it is awakened to the consciousness
of being a cuckoo; it gains its voice which has the power
of awakening the same consciousness in other young cuckoos.
And the line of succession through word thus continues
unbroken. The peacock, however, is delighted to hear the
thundering of the cloud but cannot delight other peacocks by
its voice. Here the line of succession is not continued.

Transmission of Spiritual Power

233

The same difference is to be found in the case of transmission

through sight.

U m US
S
USH
The subtler method of transmission (i.e., through sight) is
also of two kinds. The tortoise nourishes its young ones by a
mere concentration of its sight and the young ones get from
it the same power which awakens in them when it is needed
for the same purpose. They are not conscious of it until they
grow and give birth to their own babes. A disciple of this
category, similarly, is not conscious of the power of transmission
and continuing the succession given to him by the Guru so long
as he does not find his own disciple. The ruddy goose pair,
on the other hand, are delighted to see the sun but they
themselves cannot delight others of the type.
Lastly, the transmission through will:

m S S gU
#U VUp mH
The subtlest method of transmission, i.e., through concentration
of will is also of two kinds. The one resembles the action of
the fish nourishing its young ones by the concentration of will
and the other the action of a juggler who creates towns and
cities. The former gives its power to its young ones also, but
the latter has no such power of giving it to his creation.
In all cases as quoted above the power of continuing the
line of succession seems to have been vested as in the mother.
The Guru is, therefore, rightly called the Mother.
Once the transmission of power is effected in a disciple by
his Guru, all the processes of sana, Pryma, Mudr,
Pratyhra, Dhra and Dhyna are easily mastered by the
disciple. He will require no special effort and guidance for this
purpose. For the Power herself will guide the Sdhaka for all
those processes.

234

Kalyana-Kalpataru

The biggest point in favour of this kind of Sdhan is that

the Sdhaka is always safe against injury and harm of any kind.
The ordinary Yogic practices of sana, Pryma, etc., are
attended with risks, as the Hahayogapradpik points out that
an error in such practice may bring about all forms of physical
ailment:

Uj

But the Sdhan pointed out here is a natural Sdhan and

it frees the body from all diseases and even the most incurable
malady is thereby thrown out of the system. A worldly man
can avail himself of its various advantages. The delight and
peace, the great boons one expects to get from the arduous and
difficult process of Yoga, are easily attained through this
Sdhan. A Sdhaka following other Sdhan has to pass
through a trying period of painful experiments in the hope of
attaining bliss at the end of a difficult course of discipline. But
this Sdhan begins with bliss and when the Power within
is awakened, the Power herself leads the Sdhaka to the goal
of Self-realization. The Power continues to work incessantly
until the disciple attains the supreme state. In the meanwhile,
if it becomes necessary for the Sdhaka in exceptional cases
to pass through many lives, the awakened Power will continue
awakened in lives and will never sleep again until the goal
is reached. Such is the assurance of the Guru in this path
of Sdhan. All that has been said above will, it is hoped,
convince the reader of the great importance of awakening the
Kualin Power.
Once the Sdhaka is initiated through the transmission of
Power, he cannot by himself start any process of Yoga. It is
the impulse of the Power within that he will obey. Any
disobedience on his part will make him miserable. When a man,
for instance, is overtaken by the sense of sleep, he cannot do
without sleeping. If he acts against the natural impulse, he will

Transmission of Spiritual Power

235

be restless and unhappy. It is the sleep alone that will give him
rest and happiness. Similarly, when the Sdhaka sits on his
sana, there comes to him the impulse from the Power within
to do a particular thing or to make a particular movement and
he must act accordingly. If he disobeys, he is troubled and
becomes restless. But if on the other hand, he opens himself
to the action from within and follows it, he is calm and happy.
The type of Sdhakas who pin their faith on personal effort
is unlikely to yield to and solely depend on a Power beyond
their personality. But the way of the transmission of Power is
a way of surrender and dependence. The Sdhaka initiated into
it has no thought of the progress he would make during the
present term of life. He is happy to be led where the Power
leads him and the Power protects him from all disaster and leads
him to his spiritual destiny. For those who aspire after Yoga,
under modern conditions, there is no easier method to follow
than the process of transmission of Power. Whosoever, therefore,
comes in contact with any Mahtm having the power of
transmission, should not miss the opportunity of gaining his
favour and thus realizing the purpose of his life. In this age
of Kali, this method is like the immortal drink of the heavens
brought to the mortals of this earth. There is no easier, no more
effective Sdhan than this, always lifting the Sdhaka above
griefs and sorrows, above the wrong activities of the little and
perverted mind and bringing him Supreme Peace. In conclusion,
let us pray to God in the words of crya akara in the
ivnandalahar:

U U
U
L pU
U LH
I worship Thy lotus feet and meditate on Thee, O Supreme;

236

Kalyana-Kalpataru

I take refuge in Thee, O Lord, and by word of mouth beg of

Thee to initiate me into Thy acceptance by transmission through
Thine eye full of compassion, which is ever so eagerly desired
by the gods. Teach my mind, O ambhu, the World-Teacher,
the way of real happiness.

The Divine aktiCosmic, Transcendent, Individual

Send Thy pure cadences, O Mother Divine,
To echo inly through the caves
Of a deepening heart which knows itself for Thine.
Play Thy moon-music on the quiet waves
Of an oceans wideness in the still soul,
Where tidal waters wait Thy hushed control.
Unsullied wisdom of gold, which was thrice refined,
Shine in the clear space of holy noon
On all the upland hollows of the mind;
May every shadow-harbouring thought be strew
With solar vastness and compelled
To feel all fear and all self-limits quelled.
Men have found Thee in wildness and the sharp-tanged air,
Breathed of green multitudes of earth,
Far from hates city, orbits of despair,
Alleys of desire or sultry streets of dearth.
Take my offered will and let it be
Fragrant as Thine own, tameless, pure and free.
Arjava

The Cosmic form of Dev

Once upon the ardent prayer of Himalayas, the king of
Mountains, the Divine Mother manifested before him in Her
Cosmic form (Vir Svarupa). At that auspicious time gods like
Viu were present there. The heaven was the Devs forehead.
The moon and the sun were Her eyes. The directions were Her
ears, Vedas were Her speech and wind (air) was Her vital force
(Pra). Her heart was Viwa (the Universe) and Her thighs
were the Earth. The realm of space (Vyoma Maala) was Her
navel and the string of stars were Her chest (bosom).The celestial
world of Maharloka was Her throat and Janaloka was Her face.
The gods such as Indra etc., were Her arms. abda (sound)
was Her ears, organ of hearing. The twinAvin-Kumras
were Her nose, potency of smell was Her organ of smell. Her
mouth was Agni (Fire) and Her twinkling of Her eyes were
day and night. Her eyelids were the abode of Brahma, water
formed Her palate. Taste was Her tongue. Yama was the seer.
My (Deluding potency responsible for the Universe) was Her
smile. Her casting Her charming glance was creation and
shyness was Her upper lip. Greed was Her lower lip and path
of Dharma was Her back. Prajpati, the god of creation was
the organ of reproduction of the Goddess. The oceans were Her
stomach, the mountains Her bones, rivers were Her nerves and
trees were Her hair. Adolescence, youth and old age were Her
charming gait. The clouds were Her hair and the twilights were
Her garments. The Moon was Her mind, intellectual capacity
was Lord Viu and Inner organ (Antakaraa) was Lord
Rudra. The various species of animals like horses were stationed
in the body parts lower than that of the buttocks of the allpervading Goddess. Great realms like Atala etc., were positioned

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

lower to Her waist. The gods saw in this great vision of the
cosmic form of the Goddess roaring flames surging from body
of the Goddess. The tongues were licking its own face. Her
teeth were producing terrible sound and her eyes were pouring
art fire. She was in a heroic form wielding various weapons.
She had a thousands of heads, eyes and legs. She had the
effulgence of a multimillions suns and lightning. That horrible
form was terrifying to the heart of eyes.
Seeing that vision all the gods started crying. All had become
unconscious. They could not remember that she was Dev
the mother of the Universe.
Vedas who were standing all around the goddess brought
all the gods in consciousness. Being conscious they started
eulogizing her in a choked voice with tears of love in their eyes.
Knowing the gods terrified Dev gave solace by manifesting
herself in a very beautiful form.
SourceDev Bhgavata

Why I should go to Gag, or Gay, to K, Kc, or

Prabhsa,
So long as I can breathe my last with Kls name upon
my lips!
What need of rituals has a man, what need of devotion
any more,
If he repeats the mothers name at the three holy hours!
Rituals may pursue him close, but never can they overtake
him.
Sri Ramakrishna

Introduction for akti Worship

Veda Vysa wrote 18 Puras, Bhgavatam, Bhagavadgt
etc., for the sake of people about all the incidents happened
in various Yugas, Manvantaras and Kalpas without which we
will not be aware of so many facts especially in this Kaliyuga.
Dev Puram is one of them describing about the glory and
importance of akti worship. di akara established
Samahasthpana i.e., 6 ways of worshipping God such as
ktam, Saumram, Gapatyam, Kaumram, Vaiavam,
aivam. It is possible to get the liberation, the very purpose
of human birth if we worship sincerely any of the above Gods
which are all parts of the same Brahma. Scriptures say, Sarva
deva namaskram keava pratkchati. Even Lord iva
prayed akti and begged for food saying Bhagavat bhikm
dehi. Veda Vysa and Rmnujcrya advocated people to
worship the Parabrahma, Nryaa with Prakti, Lakm so
that we get the necessary materials for living till we get liberation
from birth and death cycle. Bhgu Muni worshipped Lord iva
alone without akti for which he had to undergo many miseries
which is not possible for any ordinary human being to withstand.
Parabrahma and Prakti i.e., iva and akti are inseparable as
fire and associated heat. r Rmaka Paramahasa the
incarnation of Mahviu, Gaddhara prayed Mother Kldev
saw his wife rad Dev as akti and worshipped her for the
welfare of all human beings. He felt people with empty stomach
cannot pray God and think of salvation the very purpose of
human birth. He prayed Mother Kl for the benefit of all beings
for their basic necessaries. Brahma has millions of properties.
Each property is known by a name and a form. Praying anyone
of the properties will take us to God. Likewise akti worship

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

also will take us to God as all the rivers reach the same ocean.
Although God has no form or name, He reveals himself in any
form of our choice as per our prayer. lwras of South India
prayed God in various Bhvas such as mother, father, friend,
child, son etc., and got vision in that form as they worshipped.
Out of all that, praying God as mother is the easiest and effective
method who will, readily pardon us from our mistakes and
misdeeds. It is difficult to pray the formless Brahma. But it is
easy to pray God as mother who can reveal as any God of
our choice and take us to Parabrahma. In the beginning of
Kaliyuga after the demise of Lord Ka people were interested
in all sorts worldly enjoyments for which people prayed akti
to get all sorts of worldly pleasures. As God appears and
answers to our prayer as per our wish, people started offering
Bali etc., to please God to get more enjoyments forgetting the
very purpose of human birth.
At this juncture Mahvra and Lord Buddha came to earth
as God power to stop Nara Bali etc., and preached Ahis,
paving the way for di akara to come to earth to preach
all, the Advaita philosophy Aha Brahmsmi and the very
purpose of human birth. He formulated a procedure for akti
worship and wrote many scriptures on akti for the sake of all
human beings. It is very difficult for any ordinary person to
reach God on his own. But it is easier to reach God through
akti worship as she is the mother of universe who has the
compassion on all beings to pardon the mistakes and misdeeds.
She also can reveal herself as Rma, Ka or any God of our
choice and take us to God. There are two distinct ways of
worshipping God in Vedic scriptures to reach Parabrahma
1. Brahmavidy and 2. rvidy. The sage Viwmitra formulated
the procedures to pray Gyatr Dev who is the combination
of 5 Devats who can grant us the wisdom required for any
activities in this earth. There are 3 aspects of akti such as Icch

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Introduction for akti Worship

akti, Kriy akti and Jna akti operating on all human beings
to take them to higher level. Out of all the worship akti worship
is the best as Mother provides us all sorts of materials required
till we get liberation from birth and death cycle and take us
safely to God. akti worship varies from people to people as
per their Guas i.e., Tmasika, Rjasika and Sttvika in various
forms and names. As Lord Ka is always associated with his
My Durg akti, Kas worship can also be counted as akti
worship.
Compiled by N. V. Sayee

Glory of akti
Bhagawn Viu told Brahm, O Brahm! Owing to
Devs akti you are the Creator of the Universe, I am
Sustainer and akara is the Destroyer. Devoid of that akti
you neither can create the Universe nor I can sustain it nor
akaraj can destroy it. Taking the help of that akti, I always
do penance. O Vibho! We all are subservient to that akti.
None likes to be born in a subhuman species. It is not my
owns will to be born in the species of a dwarf, boar etc.
It is due to the prompting of akti. Had I been independent,
how I could be beheaded. How could I incarnate as Hayagrva
(Horse-necked). Hence I am not quite independent rather I
am quite dependent on that very akti and always meditate
on that akti.
(Dev Bhgavata)

tma-akti and Chanting Divine Name

Surendra Pal

The divine akti first expresses itself through the divine

idea which, in turn, takes the form of divine sound or Word.
This concept is fundamental to a proper understanding of the
power of chanting divine Name. In Hinduism, O is considered
as one of the most important word symbols. Patajali in his
Yoga-Sutras refers to O as the symbol of vara or God
and states that constant repetition of O removes all the
obstacles to spiritual progress and leads to the awakening of
the Self.
In India, the worship of God in the feminine form has an
unbroken tradition right from the Vedic times. The mother power
or divine Sakti has many forms represented by several
Goddesses. For instance, in the form of Durg or Mahkl,
She represents the power of creation, protection and destruction.
r Rmaka looked upon Her as the manifestation of
Brahman in the universe. It is a common sight in the temples
of various Goddesses where devotees sing devotional songs and
vibrational chants like di akti, di akti, di akti Namo
Namo! to invoke the grace of deities.
According to Blavatsky, chanting of divine Name or Mantra
generates nerve currents which set in motion such muscles as
required for the accomplishment of a desired object. In the
Bhagawadgt, the quintessence of all stras, Lord Ka tells
Arjuna that the one who performs all his sacred duties like study
and teaching of sacred books as well as chanting of Gods names
and praises, is bestowed with divine gifts.
tma-akti or spiritual power is easily achievable by

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tma-akti and Chanting Divine Name

Bhaktiyoga which involves constant remembrance of God. For

this the devotee takes the help of sound symbols called Mantras.
Mantras are short mystic formulas like O Namo ivya. As
mentioned earlier, there are also hymns and devotional songs.
For example, the following prayer has been taken from Dev
Mhtmya
By you the universe is borne
By you this world is created
Oh Devi! by you it is protected.
Thus, we conclude that by chanting Names of God,
Mantras, hymns or devotional songs, we can achieve an
enhancement in our tma-akti (spiritual power) and by the
grace of God and Goddesses, overcome all the obstacles in
spiritual life and eventually get His vision.

Mother Gag pours out all that she has in a continuous

flow to the humanity. She loves all. She has equal vision.
She is quite indiscriminate. A peasant or a king, a sinner or
a saint, a Mohammedan or a Hindu, whoever or whatever
Gods creation be, derives immense benefit out of Her.
O friend! Follow the lines of Mother Gag. Be pure. Be
adaptable. Be tolerant. Be forgiving. Be sweet. Pour out your
love on all. Share what you havephysical, moral, mental
and spiritualwith the whole of humanity. The more you give
the more you get. Give without any selfish motive, without
expecting any reward. Embrace all. Cultivate equal vision.
Swami
Sivananda

akti Tattva
Shailendra Mani Tripathi Brahmarshi

Research and discoveries of the centralize power i.e., aktis

is obviously a thought and analysis of Indian religious life system
and is the root stone of Indian region philosophy, for which
objects are to gain spiritual profit, to get revelations, to be free
from bondage of birth and death, to get rid from disease. Desire
and will of human being to achieve the real goal of life is as
old as the origin of the humanity is in itself.
In the ancient India our ancestor, saints etc., received the
revelation of God and manifested it in their drafts, digests,
episodes etc., for the benefit to the public in general.
Power, Force, Pressure all are the synonyms but obviously
the power is the supreme among all of them. The reason is
clearthe only Power includes all these and only the Power
is based in all of them. This Power is compared as the akti,
and exists in the very nature of all the creatures, substances and
in the entire world. Existence of the akti is crystal clear, which
is expressed by the natural phenomena. Behaviour of the
creatures and nature of them are the examples of the presence
of akti in them, that why any one can feel it and boldly can
say that he is the witness of the akti as the real Power of
that creature i.e., power of life (Pra-akti).
In the spiritual sense the akti is established as a Goddess,
as to the universal acceptance of the supremacy of the Power
akti, the concept is in the pious name of Durg. The various
names are the expression of akti Tattva in their various forms.
akti of wealth is the power of money named as the pious
name of the Goddess Lakm with their expansive forms as

akti Tattva

245

the Vaibhava Lakm as the power of Luxury, Dhana Lakm

as the power of money, Bhgya Lakm as the power of
Fortune. Gha Lakm as the power in the form of a chaste
and faithful wife. Khyti Lakm as the power in the form
of a wise daughter. Saskti Lakm as the power in the form
of a cultured sister.
akti of vocal is the power of speech named as the pious
name of the Goddess Saraswat with their expansive forms
as to the power in the form of memory. The power in the form
of the expression, as to the mild expression. The power in the
form of the talk as to the pleasant talk. The power in the form
of the arguments as to the good arguments. The power in the
form of the reasoning as to the proper reasoning.
akti of pious is the power of success named as the pious
name of the Goddess Gyatr the power in the form of the
success, the progress, the truthfulness, etc.
akti of daring is the power of social life named as the pious
name of the Goddess Caik which is the power in the form
of bravery, daring, commanding power, leading, power to take
initiative, to take risk, to take initiative for a better performance.
akti named as the pious name of the Goddess Klik
is the power in the form of Protective power of Klas as to
the immunity power from the disease as to protect from death.
akti named as the pious name of the Goddess Gaur is
the power in the form of mother, to give desired will, to fulfil
the wish treating all the creatures as her child.
akti named as the pious name of the Goddess Cintpura
is as a power to eliminate all the worries or problems by
providing a proper solution for a problem.
akti named as the pious name of the Goddess Nain is
as a power to see right and wrong, as to the good and evil.
akti named as the pious name of the Goddess Magal
is as a power of Bliss to succeed a better life.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

akti named as the pious name of the Goddess Vaio

is as a power to protect from all remaining sin of life.
The supreme among all of them is the akti named as
Goddess Durg as the power of Soul or tm. This is the basis
or root cause of all the power, definitely this power is the way
to do all works and by this power any one can perform perfectly
or cause to be done better work either himself or from another
person. If these powers are gathered in any one then he can
do all things or shall be the very cause to be done anything
or work in this mortal world.
If these powers of akti are distributed in a wrong way no
one can do anything. If these powers of akti is disappeared
i.e., loss of power it causes so many diseases as to the Prakopa
of Dev Goddess.

Who is there that can understand that Mother Kl is?

Even the Six Daranas are powerless to reveal her.
It is She, the scriptures say, that is the innerself of the
Yogs Who in self discovers all his joy;
She that, of Her own sweet will, inhabits every living
being:
The macrocosm and microcosm rest in the mothers womb;
Now do you see how vast it is.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Grace of Goddess
Prof. Indravadan B. Raval

The events being described here have actually happened.

The first one takes us almost 75 years back. Before independence,
present Svar-Kual town was a part of princely state of
Bhavnagar in Kathiyawar (Saurashtra) region. In the nearside
building of the post office of that town, some 8 families
including that of post master were residing. The post master,
r Mrkari Mirilla Vasva, was an ardent devotee of
Goddess. He used to perform akti Pujana every evening in
which our family also used to participate.
r Vasva, the post master had a tradition to take leave
from service and be in M Mandira of Naiyd (near
Ahmedabad) to celebrate radya Navartraall 9 days. His
Guru, r Keava Maharaja alias Kaniha Keava of Naiyd
M Mandira, was a great akti Upsaka and devotee. He was
the founder of a Gujarati monthly entitled akti which still
inspires devotion and akti-worship among its readers.
Once it so happened that during the very Navartra days,
the audit inspection programme of his office was fixed. So
Mr. Vasva was compelled not to leave the station. In spite
of his profound urge, he could not go to Naiyd. After
4-5 days, in Navartra, he received from Naiyd a telegram
readingMother Calls You. Come Soon (in those days, no
phone service was available). He could not think of anything
else but of Mother Goddess. He thought a way out and decided
to go to Naiyd at least for 2 days and come back. There
in Naiyd M Mandira, the atmosphere was charged with
piety of akti Pujana activities which made him forget to return

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

after 2 days. He overstayed till end of Navartra.

After coming back to his office from Naiyd, he expressed
apology for his absence for more days without any sanction.
His staff members were highly surprised at what the post master
had said, because he was reported continuously present on all
days of inspection! Relevant office records also possessed his
own signatures for all days!! His conversation with different
persons was reproduced verbatim by the staff! There was not
even a bit of sign of his absence!!
All that had left no doubt in his mind that during his absence
in the office Mother Goddess had impersonated him and acted
as post master to save him from difficulties! He was overwhelmed
with sentiment of a child. Tears were rolling from his eyes. It
was a unique manifestation of Motherly Love of Goddess. The
incident changed him thoroughly.
On the very next day he resigned from the service and
shifted to his native place Rajkot. There he established a aktiDhma called M Mandira, and passed rest of his life at the
feet of Goddess there itself.
That shrine situated in Bhaktinagar area of Rajkot city
(Gujarat) is a symbol of glory not only of the Mother Goddess,
but also of her great son, who later on wrote devotional songs,
Garb etc., under the pen-name M Kalp.
Another incident also describes the wonder which godly
grace can create. My father was a religious man. He had deep
and profound faith in Goddess Ambj, the presiding deity of
the family. He used to do Puj for two hours in the morning.
The Puj included recital of S, , etc., and most
important i.e., S from #.
Our next door neighbour was one Mr. Mehta, a businessman.
Once his 45-50 years old nephew from Mumbai had come to
stay with him. Nephew was long suffering from insomnia (a
disease of sleeplessness) and was advised to have change of

Grace of Goddess

253

climate. His uncle had instructed to attend Puj and hear the
recital which my father used to do. There was no furniture in
Puj room. Only a cotton bed (Gadel) was put near the wall
to sit or lie down on it. The nephew was happy to enjoy the
recital though he did not understand the meaning of those
Sanskrit prayers. On the 3rd day, when my father completed
the recital of S, suddenly he found the nephew fallen
asleep!! It was most surprising to my father. He was seeing
an insomnia patient sleeping before his eyes and jolly well
snoring also! The patient had a sleep for more than an hour
or so!
When the family-members of the patients uncle knew of
it, their joy found no bound! It was indeed a miracle to them.
What could not be done by medicine and treatment by expert
doctors of Mumbai, was done by the grace of Goddess!
A popular saying is that in present age i.e., , goddess
U and god , i.e., are easy to please for
divine grace U if () and other gods
can win the favour of U by prayer (S etc.,) why
cant we, the human beings? Yes, the favour or grace of
Almighty is flowing free but for those who are pure at heart
and sincere in prayer. May the Mother of Universe bless us
with her Grace for happy life.

Gyatr-Upsan
Atmananda

S U S U H
l r U
US

H
Gyatr is the mother of the Vedas, Gyatr is destroyer
of sin; there is nothing superior to Gyatr, either on earth or
in heaven; Gyatr should not be considered separate from
Brahma and should be meditated upon as indicated in Soham
(I am He) in any method.
Gyatr is the name of the higher aspect of the innate nature
(Prakti) of Sagua Brahma of the Vednta Philosophy, of
Bhagavn, wara of the Hindu mythology, who is the allpervading Lord of the universe. It is the adorable Light of the
Lord called Par Prakti in Bhagavadgt chap. VII. 5, and is
the life aspect of nature. This divine light provides the medium
of worship of, or meditation on, the Lord; therefore this form
of His worship is called Gyatr-Upsan. The word Gyatr
implies Japa (silent repetition) and Mantra implies meditation on
Him. Gyatr Upsan therefore includes in it Japa of the
Gyatr-Mantra coupled with meditation on the Lord. The word
Upsan implies the dualism (Dwaita) of Upsaka (worshipper)
and the Upsya (worshipped) called Upsya-Upsaka Bhva in
the scriptures. The worship is called Sagua Upsan in contrast
to Nirgua Upsan, which is worship of unmanifest God, the
Parabrahma of Vednta. Scriptures say that Parabrahma is one
without a second (Ekamevadwitya Brahma, nehannsti
kicana) hence in the absence of the second, i.e., the worshipper,

Gyatr-Upsan

255

worship of Parabrahma in dualistic spirit, is inconceivable and

it simply means the Sdhakas meditation on the oneness of his
soul (Jvtm) with Parabrahma. Thus Upsan really means
worship of manifest God or Sagua Brahma.
2. Gyatr-Upsan consists of two parts, viz., Sandhyvandana
and Paca Mahyajas. Sandhyvandana means offering of
prayers in the morning, noon and evening twilight and its chief
part is Japa of the Gyatr-Mantra, coupled with meditation on
the self-illumined wara, the Upsya. The various parts or Agas
of the Sandhy worship practised before and after the Japa of
the Gyatr-Mantra have their own importance and rich occult
significance. The meaning of the Gyatr Mantra according to
r Syacrya, the celebrated commentator of the Vedas, is:
We meditate on the Supreme-effulgence of the Radiant Being
(the indwelling controller and director of all things); may He
stimulate our intellect entirely (to enable us to realize the truth).
This great Mantra has come down to mankind as a sacred
inheritence, from generation to generation, from the most revered
Brahmari Viwmitra of yore, who achieved his spiritual
greatness by the practice of the sacred Gyatr-Upsan and
attained the distinction of being the seer of the Great GyatrMantra. This Mantra has two parts; the first part of it from Tat
to Dhmahi consists of praise of Sagua Brahma (wara) on
whom the Upsaka meditates with reference to the Lords glory;
the remaining part of the Mantra from Dhiyo yo na to the
end of it is prayer to the Lord for enlightenment, to enable the
practicant to realize the truth, which is that of the spiritual oneness
of the Jvtm with Parabrahma.
3. The Jvtm is a manifestation of Parabrahma in Avidy
(the lower aspect of divine Prakti) and his sacred mission during
his earthly existence as a human being, is to ensure his liberation
from bondage in Avidy, by realization of his oneness with
Parabrahma. From his manifest state in Avidy his rise to the

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

spiritually highest state of the unmanifestedness of Parabrahma

is indeed a very difficult task for the Jvtm to achieve
(Bhagavadgt XII. 5). To be able to attain that high goal, he
has necessarily to pass through an intermediate stage in which
Parabrahma happens to be manifest as Saguabrahma (i. e.,
wara) crowned in Vidy (the higher aspect of divine Prakti).
The process of reaching wara consists of the contemplation on
his Light (Vidy) and is called the Gyatr-Upsan. For ensuring
attainment of the supreme goal of realization of his oneness with
Parabrahma, Jvtm (the Upsaka) is advised to meditate on
wara (the Upsya) in the manner indicated in Soham, which
means I i.e., the Jvtm (the Upsaka) am He i.e., wara
(the Upsya), in spirit. Soham forms a happy spiritual link
between wara, Lord of Vidy, and Jvtm, a prisoner in
Avidy, and facilitates the spiritual union between the two. In
this meditation the Upsaka perseveringly practises to give up
the long-standing habit, brought forward from birth to birth, of
considering himself to be the perishable body which is a bundle
of flesh, blood, fat, filth and bones packed up in skin; and practices
to mediate that he is the immortal tm, who is spiritually one
with Parabrahma. When this twofold practice gains root in the
heart of the devotee, wara crowned in his heart (Gt XVIII. 61)
lifts the devotee from the depth of Avidy to his own high level
of Vidy and the happy union between the two is the result. In
course of time when the Upsaka gains fitness to rise higher,
the Lord throws off His mantle of Vidy and reveals Himself
to the devotee as Parabrahma. This is realization by the Upsaka
(Jvtm) of his spiritual oneness with Parabrahma, which is the
highest spiritual goal achievable by man. After this realization
there remains nothing for the Sdhaka to do in the shape of
Sdhan, except to meditate on the goal already achieved, till
he quits his body. Such is the greatness and efficacy of
the Gyatr-Upsan in ensuring salvation of the Upsaka.

Gyatr-Upsan

257

Hence the person who is entitled to practise the Upsan but

neglects to do so is described in scriptures to be one who commits
spiritual suicide (a-Upaniad verse. 3). Till his union with the
Lord actually takes place, the Upsaka cannot speak with
authority on Adwaita-Vednta and is advised to concentrate on
achieving the union.
4. Paca-Mahyajas are the five great sacrifices, which a
Gyatr-Upsaka is required to perform everyday as part of the
Gyatr-Upsan. They are symbolic of the worship of God in
his all-pervading aspect, i.e., in His Universal form (Vir -arra)
containing in it all categories of life (i.e., Jvtms) in the universe,
as manifestations of wara. The five sacrifices are as described
below.
(a) Brahma-Yaja:This is worship of, or meditation on,
Brahma. It involves devout study of the Vedas, called Swdhyya,
which teach all about Brahma, which is the basis of the
manifestation of the universe, and show the way to the realization
of Brahma. It is said that the devotees of Brahma-Yaja attract
sympathetic attention of the Mukttms, or liberated souls, who
reside in the higher planes of the universe, look after the spiritual
elevation of the human race and inspire the latter. ka and Vyu
Tattvas (ether and air) are involved in the worship.
(b) Deva-Yaja:This is worship of Devas (minor gods) who
are agents of wara in the spiritual administration of the universe,
by oblations of Sttvika food (mixed with Ghee) into fire
(Agni-Tattva).
(c) Pit-Yaja is propitiation of Ris, Dharmcryas, Manes,
etc., by means of oblations of water (Jala Tattva).
(d) Manuya-Yaja is service of humanity principally by
offering food to the hungry, clothing to the naked, medicine to
the sick, etc., all products of the Earth (Pthv Tattva).
(e) Bhuta-Yaja:Kindness to all categories of life, other
than man, such as animals, birds and other living creatures. This

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

sacrifice is supposed to include worship of plant life also. Pthv

Tattva is involved in the Bhuta-Yajas also.
5. The Gyatr-Upsan is a combination of Karma, Bhakti
and Jna. The Japa of Gyatr-Mantra, coupled with the
preceding and subsequent parts of Sandhyvandana and the
practice of Paca-Mahyaja represent the Karma aspect of the
Upsan.
Contemplation on the glory of the Lord indicated in the first
part of the Gyatr-Mantra, more especially in the spirit of
Soham, is the Jna aspect; and the prayer contained in the last
part of the Mantra, represents the Bhakti aspect of the Upsan.
This happy combination is indispensable till perfection is attained
by the Upsaka to ensure even progress of the Upsan.
6. Sandhyvandana is the analytic (Vyatireka) part of the
Gyatr-Upsan, because it involves the practice of elimination
of the body (arratraya) during meditation and an attempt on
the part of the Upsaka to realize Parabrahma in his own heart
as Pratyagtm. Through the practice of the Paca-Mahyaja
the Upsaka seeks to realize Parabrahma outside himself in Its
all-pervading aspect as Paramtm, and this may be called the
synthetic (Anvaya) part of the Upsan, though there is in it too
some amount Vyatireka to be gone through during the process
of elimination of Nma (name) and Rupa (form) of every object
in order to find the existence of God in it. The two aspects together
make the Upsan complete and effective.
7. Gyatr-Upsan may be treated as the kernal of universal
religion, because the goal aimed at by its practice, viz., union
of the human soul with God, is what all great religions of the
world have in view. Hence followers of the different religions
are Gyatr-Upsakas in their own ways and should know that
they are a great Universal Brotherhood. The differences in the
forms of practice of the different religions by their followers
hailing from different parts of the world, due to differing local

Gyatr-Upsan

259

conditions, are of minor importance and make no difference in

their spiritual brotherhood and in the goal to be attained by them.
To ensure the natural spiritual progress of the human race, the
underlying common basis of religion should be respected by all
possible means. May God grant the unhappy world the happy
day when there will be an end to all forms of strife in the name
of religion, when mankind will be free to profess the religion
it chooses to do with a view to ensure its spiritual progress and
realize the ideal of universal brotherhood in everyday life.
Greatness of the Gyatr-Upsan
Bhagavn Vedavysa, one of the greatest seers of the hoary
past, and the author of the eighteen Puras including the great
Mahbhrata, has recorded the importance of the GyatrUpsan in the following words:

SS

S
%
U
U H 7H

U E H 8H
S

UH 9H
The Dwija (twice-born) is the stem of the tree (of religion),
Sandhyvandana (i.e., Gyatr-Upsan) is its root, Vedas are
its branches and religious acts are its leaves; therefore the root
must be protected (i.e., Gyatr Upsan should be practised)
at all cost. If the root of the tree is cut off neither the stem nor
the branches (with leaves) will be left (alive). In other words,
if Gyatr-Upsan is neglected, there will neither be a Dwijtm
left in the country nor any religious activities based on the Vedas.
The Dwija (twice-born) who has not understood the GyatrUpsan, and does not practise it, is as good as a udra when

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alive, and after death he will be reborn as a dog, i.e., in a category

of life lower than mankind for having lost the valuable opportunity
of his human birth to attain liberation from bondage which the
practice of Gyatr-Upsan ensures.
Therefore the excellent Gyatr-Upsan should be practised
daily as an obligatory duty. The Dwija, so-called, who neglects
this duty is not qualified to perform any other religious act (Vide
Dev Bhgavata XVI. 79).
To complete the description of the greatness of the GyatrUpsan, it may be mentioned that even r Rma and r Ka,
when they trod on earth, regularly practised it as referred to by the
Rmyaa of sage Vlmki and the rmad Bhgavata Pura.
In these degenerate days what a Dwija father or guardian
generally does for his son or ward principally amounts to bringing
comfort and enjoyment to the latters body and practically nothing
for his soul. The practice of Gyatr-Upsan should be universally
introduced among Dwijas to make up this deficiency. If after
initiation the Upsan is neglected it amounts to irreverence for
the Upsan itself as well as for the Guru giving initiation, who
is generally either the father of the Upsaka, or in the absence
of the latter some other relation of his. Irreverence to the Guru,
like ingratitude to parents and other benefactors, is considered
one of the greatest sins that man is capable of committing. This
undesirable state is, indeed, morally objectionable; and it is
objectionable spiritually as well, because such neglect amounts
to the Upsakas commission of spiritual suicide with sad results
to all concerned. May God grant that all Dwijas, young and old,
take to the faithful practice of both the aspects of the Upsan,
viz., Sandhyvandana and Paca-Mahyajas in all earnestness,
thus ensuring their own spiritual welfare as well as the welfare
of all categories of life in the universe.

Gyatr Mantrathe Power of Powers

Swami

Chidananda

Navartri is an awakening call, year after year, to experience

and express afresh the divine nature in man, to make manifest
the light of truth and love, to vanquish and conquer the evil
forces within. It is through the positive forces of mercy, service
and truth that the negative and evil elements can effectively be
eliminated from the hearts and minds of people. The dark forces
of hatred, selfishness and falsehood can never resist love,
selflessness and truth which are the visible expressions of
Divinity. Dev can be worshipped either through Vaidika or
Tntrika methods. Mother akti is worshipped even without
elaborate rituals, through Par-Puj, pure meditation and Mantra
Japa also. Indeed, this is quite suitable to the majority of people
than the difficult ritualistic form of worship. In the former case,
Bhva or faith plays an important part. No order of reality can
be stepped into unless one fulfils the demands of the one lower
to it. We do not consider the sun and its luminosity as different
entities. Similarly the Sdhaka or Upsaka knows that Dev is
Parabrahma-akti itself, not creating a barrier between Brahma
and akti, and thus reaches the goal through the grace of Dev.
As said above, a Sdhaka can worship Dev through Puj,
meditation and Japa and the criterion is that one should be
honest, sincere and faithful by which Mother akti is pleased
and readily showers Her grace on the aspirant. One may take
to chanting of Dev Mantra during the Navartri doing it with
intense Bhva. The glory of the Name and the power of the
Divine Word are well known in all the religions of the world.
But it will not be an exaggeration to say that in Hindu faith
this tradition of Nma-Mahim (glory of the Name) has been

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given such a place of prominence that it forms a distinct and

integral mode of approach to the Divinity by itself. The practice
of the Divine Name is emphatically posited as a complete
Yogathe Japa Yoga. Especially in the later ages, approaching
our own, it has been brought to the forefront by the saints and
sages of the past five or six centuries all over Bhratavara,
and given equal, if not superior, place with the four traditional
paths for realising the ultimate Reality.
Mantra is to be understood as a collection of letters
scientifically arranged and energised by constant repetition
wherein the divine Nda or sound has been made fully
conscious. It is a sound-symbol. Name is thus a collection of
sound-symbols representing a peculiar sound-formula that has
been intuitively perceived by sages in practice, in the depths
of their spiritual meditation. These symbols were handed down
through the technique of Mantra initiation or Mantra-Upadea
to qualified recipients who, in their turn, with their purified will,
firm faith and determination, relive that experience which their
Sage-Guru had lived. The aspirants in their own lives experienced
the consciousness springing forth in all its splendour in and
through the Mantra and finally this consciousness so pervaded
them that they became one with the consciousness itself.
The approach to the Mantras is made in two main ways,
and in both the element of faith is there. But the difference is
this. One is a purely esoteric approach where the Sdhaka who
obtains the Mantra knows that this is a mysterious divine
formula which, if repeated, will ultimately lead to divine
consciousness; with this knowledge he brings to bear his strong
determination or will-power upon the Mantra, and with resoluteness
he takes to his Sdhan. Ultimately, as a result of his will-power
and constant continuous repetition (Haha) he attains realisation.
The second has got in it an element of pure faith and devotion.
Here it is the Bhva or right attitude that predominates. The

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263

Sdhaka does not depend so much upon the science and the
exact technique of the Mantra-Siddhi as the claiming nature of
his Bhva or attitude that quickly makes the Mantra spring into
his full consciousness. The Bhakta does not depend much upon
his will-power but upon his hearts Bhva, upon the intensity
of his feelings and devotion. He has so much devotion for Dev
that he is sure the mere utterance of Her sweet Name will at
once consume all his sins and bring him to the highest realisation
immediately. This is the sort of faith which most of the later
poet-saints of India had. Perhaps the fundamental difference
between the man of the West and the Orient is that the former
seeks to obtain his wants from the external world, whereas the
latter always relies upon the inner being. The Occidental tries
to get happiness from the outside sense-universe. The Oriental
withdraws his senses, dives within and tastes the bliss of his
own Self. The scientist harnesses nature, tries to tap potency
and power from matter, but the man of Spirit counts as nothing
the forces of this world when compared to the Supreme Power
or akti, the true inner power of the Spirit or Atman. To an
aspirant (especially in this country) all power is in the Atman.
The nature of the Self is omnipotence. The Atman is possessed
of Ananta akti (unlimited power).
This power is first manifest as Sound from which proceeds
the entire creation. All phenomena are evolved out of Sound.
The Vedas embody in themselves this sound aspect of the
Supreme. Each Mantra in the Vedas is the storehouse of infinite
power, and is a veritable mine of limitless akti. Upon this
Mantra akti does the true aspirant, in this country, rely. This
is the secret of his serenity and fortitude. Of all such Mantras,
the most potent is the Gyatr Mantra. There are various,
Gyatr Mantras for various gods and goddesses, and one may
choose the particular Mantra pertaining to the specific IaDevat, or the main Gyatr Mantra itself.

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The Gyatr Mantra is the very life and soul of the Hindu,
to the three of the four Varas of the Hindu society. Even as
the wisdom of the Gt is called the quintessence of all the lofty
philosophy of the Upaniads, so too, the Gyatr Mantra is the
very concentrated essence of the power and splendour that is
in the Vedas. Gyatr is therefore, Mahat-akti. The unique
importance of this Mantra is seen in the fact that its repetition
is enjoined upon the three Varas and ramas of the Hindu
society. The Gyatr Mantra is acceptable to all types of
aspirants, for it is conceived as the worship of the Dev, worship
of Lord Hari, worship of ditya or Sun and also as pure
Nirgua worship of Brahman.
The Tejas of the Brahmacr lies in his Gyatr Japa; the
support and prosperity of the Ghastha is also the Gyatr; the
strength and solace of the Vnaprastha is again the Gyatr
Mantra. Thus, from the moment of the young students
Upanayana (investiture with the sacred thread) up to the moment
when he enters the glorious state of Sanysa, throughout his
life, the Gyatr Mantra is the constant guide, friend, support
and strength to the Hindu. To him the Gyatr Mantra is
everything, and the initiation of the Mantra marks the beginning
of the spiritual life of the Hindu. The Gyatr occupies the first
place in the four great things in his life, viz., Gyatr, Gt,
Guru and Gag.
So great is its importance that the Japa of the Gyatr
Mantra is laid down as a compulsory daily Sdhan in the life
of every Hindu. No matter what ones Kuladevat (family deity)
might be, no matter what ones Ia-Devat may be, yet the
daily repetition of the Gyatr Mantra and the offering of the
Arghya (sacred ablution) repeating the Gyatr Mantra is
enjoined upon every Hindu. The glory of the Gyatr and its
power is such that it is said that a single offering of water
(Arghya) with Japa of the Gyatr carries with it the spiritual

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265

power equaling the sum total of all the thirty-three crores of

celestial beings or Devas.
But it is seen these days that due to the present day
civilisation and the busy hectic life of the majority, especially
in urban areas, many do not find time to perform their Sandhy
(doing Arghya with the repetition of Gyatr three times
morning, noon and evening). This is a sad state of affairs. Dear
reader, realise the wondrous potency of the glorious Gyatr.
Realise clearly what a precious heritage you have in this Mantra.
Neglect not this Divine akti that the Ris of yore have
bequeathed. This is the true akti before which electricity,
radioactivity, atomic force, etc., appear as trifles. Start doing at
least from the Navartri (as Navartri Vrata) regular daily Japa
of Gyatr, and feel for yourself the wondrous power that you
derive therefrom. This is the real Power of powers. It will guard
you from all dangers, give you infinite strength to overcome
all obstacles and take you to the very pinnacle of splendour,
peace and bliss.
May Mother Par akti bestow upon you all strength and
wisdom in your pursuit. May Dev bless you all in your right
endeavours.

Gyatrthe Mother Divine

Ramakrishna Rao Gandikota

S)
U
S U H
(Rgveda III. 62. 10)
O Supreme Lord! Thou art ever existent,
Ever conscious, ever blissfulwe meditate on Thy most
adorable glory.
Mayest Thou guide and inspire our intellect on the path of
highest divinity
May we be able to discriminate between Truth and
Falsehood.
Gyatr is the epitome of the Vedas. It is a Divine Elixir.
Gyanta Tryate iti Gyatr. This sacred Mantra has
been recited in the Cavern of the hearts by millions of
people for over several centuries. There is no prayer more
comprehensive, more majestic, more effective and more blissful
than Gyatr.
Epitome of Vedas
This is called the Song Saviour, as it protects him, who
chants it. Gyatr is the Mantra of the Mantras. It is the Epitome
of the Vedas and the keynote of their teachings. It is the unique
Mantra of purity, unity and divinity. Gyatr is glorious, most
supreme soul lifting, softening and salvation yielding.
Manu says, There is no higher Mantra than Gyatr, there
is no higher deity than ones Mother. Gyatr is the Vedas in
nutshell. It is out of Gyatr the Vedas have come and into
Gyatr the Vedas have converged. That is why this sacred verse
adorns all the Vedas. It occurs in Rgveda (III. 62. 10), in

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267

Yajurveda (III. 35, XXII. 9, XXXVI. 3) and in Smaveda

(1462). The Brahmacrs and the Ghasthas are entitled to
do Tripada Gyatrhaving three feet with 24 syllables.
The Sanyss perform Catupada Gyatr. The fourth Pada
is derived from AtharvavedaParorjasi Savadom.
However some rvidyopsakas at the time of r Cakrrcana
recite the fourth Pada too. Gyatr is the Mantra of the real
Guru, the omniscient God. It is named after its metre
(Chandas), which was revealed to Viwmitra, the Rjari
who got elevated to Brahmari position by performing penance
for centuries.
Gyatr Rmyaa:
Vlmki composed Rmyaa with 24 cantos with 24000
stanzas. Every 1000th stanza begins with a syllable of Gyatr.
Gyatr Rmyaa is a Stotra with those 24 lokas commencing
with those syllables of the Gyatr. The corresponding 24
syllables of the Yogas therein are(1) Tat (2) Sa (3) Vi
(4) Tu (r) (5) Va (6) Re (7) N (8) Ya- (9) Bhar (10) Go
(11) De (12) Va (13) S-ya (14) Dh (15) Ma (16) Hi (17) Dhi
(18) Yo (19) Yo (20) Na (21) Pra (22) C (o) (23) Da
(24) Yt.
Thus Rmyaa is considered to be an exposition of the
Gyatr.
Kausaly Supraj Rma Purv Sandhy Pravartate
Uttiha Nara rdula Kartavya Daivamhnikam
Says sage Viwmitra to r Rmawhile Rma and
Lakmaa were being taken to the forest for protecting the Yaja
that was to be performed. This shows the importance of
Sandhyopsana. Even the gods incarnated viz., Rma and
Ka, gave greatest priority to it.
Invocation to Gyatr:
Salutations to Gyatr! Glorious Mother that grants all the
boons!

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Mother of Vedas and known by Vedas Pthv! grant me

audience!
Accept my hymn of praise, Ye the embodiment of Pra
and senses
Light of the divine wisdom, and conqueror of enemies. Ye
the resplendent form of renowned brightness of Devas.
Form of the universe, form of the Time.
Incarnation of the Praava, Pthv! give me the Darana!
Oh Ye Mahlakm!
Mah Kl, Mah Saraswat!
Salutation to you again and again and again!
Need to Worship the Mother Divine:
In this world, we mortals are so overwhelmed with Ajna
(ignorance), that though we know a thing to be wrong, we are
helplessly impelled to do it. Ajna is a disease for which Jna
(enlightenment) is the only cure. The Divine Mother alone is
capable of bestowing this Milk of Jna, removing our
ignorance, and satiating the hunger of our tm (soul).
A hungry child thinks of its Mother and the Milk she will
give and yearns for both. Similarly we must yearn for the grace
of the Mother Divine, so that we can obtain from Her the milk
of enlightenment. For that purpose we must be constantly
thinking of Her and praying to Her, says the Seer of Kac
Paramcrya Candra ekharendra Saraswat.
Gyatr in the body:
Gyatr Mantra is a means to bring about the communion
of man with god. The body is termed as the temple of the
god. The Gyatr is the cosmos and the human body is its
miniature.
As is the Macrocosm, so is the Microcosmso say the
scriptures. Just as the Gyatr has 24 syllables, the human body
has 24 important elements. They are

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269

(1) Sense organs of Perception

5
(2) Organs of Action
5
(3) Vital airs viz., Pra, Apna, Vyna,
Udna and Samna
5
(4) Subtle Elements
5
(5) AntakaraaMana, Buddhi,
Citta and Ahakras
4
Total:
24
They are interrelated with the universe. Knowledge of every
thing can be got through the Gyatr, which has a relation with
the Body and the universe alike.
Efficaciousness of Gyatr MantraSome Anecdotes:
Surprisingly, in Akabaranm, we find this story to realize
how potent the Gyatr Mantra is. One day Akabara and his
minister Brabala were going around the city in disguise. They
came across a poor Brahmin who was begging. Akabara
ridiculed whether the Brahmin could get no other work to earn
a livelihood. Brabala felt unhappy.
Brabala met the Brahmin later on and offered twice
the amount he earns by begging, provided, he does Gyatr
Mantra Japa at least for 10 times a day. Brahmin used to do
the Japa everyday and collect the amount from Brabala, as he
promised. After sometime the Brahmin got engaged in doing
the Japa for longer periods. Brabala enhanced the remuneration
and asked the Brahmin to perform Japa for his (Brabalas)
benefit. After some months, the Brahmin stopped going to
Brabala to collect the money. Brabala was surprised to find
a magnetic aura (Brahmic effulgence) in the Brahmins face.
Brabala took Akabara to him. Emperor Akabara too was struck
by the divine effulgence beaming forth the face of the Brahmin.
Akabara bowed down and sought the Blessings of the Brahmin
and enquired Brabala who the noble man was. Where he came
from. Brabala smiled and said that he was none else than the

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poor brahmin whom he ridiculed for collecting alms sometime

ago. Brabala revealed the secret of efficacy of Gyatr MantraJapa to Akabara.
Vidyraya performed Gyatr Puracaraa for 24 lakh
times, by which there was a shower of gold, which was used
to relieve the misery of the people of Deccan, who were effected
with severe famine at that time.
There are several such anecdotes which establish the efficacy
of Gyatr Mantra-Japa. It is a philosophers stone, an elixir
divine, which can serve as a Passport to Bliss. It is indeed
a Spiritual food for the hungry soul.
Just as honey is the essence of flowers, Ghee is the essence
of milk so is Gyatr, the essence of Vedas. It is a Kmadhenu
to him who has accomplished it in full. Just as Gag purifies
sins of the body, Gyatr is the form of Brahma-Gag that
purifies the soul. There is no other Mantra superior to Gyatr,
for further progress in the penance for accomplishing the desired
successsays Vysa.
Savit-Scientific Concept:
Savit is the main deity addressed in Gyatr Mantra.
According to Taittirya Upaniad, this Savit is the impeller,
the driving force before the cosmos through whose force the
wind blows, through whose force the Sun moves and through
whose force Agni and Indra discharge their functions. The outer
Sun we see is a mere physical vehicle of a mighty and all
knowing consciousness, which pervades the solar system in
layers of inexpressible glory.
Recitation of the Mantra at the morning, noon and evening
helps the lowering of the entropy of the individual. In other
words the useful energy available for external work may get
considerably increased. This is entirely a mental phenomenon.
The wandering mind is brought to a focal point and is attuned
to positive action. The purpose of human life is not to waste

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271

in restlessness in feverish anxiety and race after physical comfort.

We have to develop our mental, moral and spiritual powers latent
in the man. Sandhy Vandana is the only panacea.
Bhargo:
A true devotee who chants Gyatr with infinite faith can
acquire all the 33 kinds of the wealth covered by the word
Bhargo, in the Mantra. The first foot of Gyatr covers the
following 8 kinds of wealth viz., (1) Valour, (2) Splendour,
(3) Toleration, (4) Physical Strength, (5) Sweetness of tongue,
(6) Celibacy and (7) Righteousness. (8) Freedom from disease.
The Second Foot of Gyatr Covers the Following 8 kinds
of wealth:
viz., (1) Complete education, (2) Brave family, (3) Ability
to maintain the family, (4) Faithful and loving subordinates, (5)
Glory of learning, (6) Healthy body and fame for spiritual
eminence, (7) Ability to meditate and spread knowledge and
(8) Proper use of money for righteous causes.
The Third foot of Gyatr Covers the following 8 kinds of
wealth:
viz., (1) Age, (2) Development, (3) Beauty, (4) Fame, (5)
Fame on account of righteous living, (6) Protection of life, (7)
Means to remove Distress and (8) Rationalisation and command
of language.
Nine other wealths:
In addition to the above 24, the devotee acquires the
following 9 more kinds of wealth, viz., (1) Pure Water, Milk
and other Juices, (2) Butter and Honey, (3) Food Grains, (4)
Just treatment, (5) Truth, (6) Ability to perform Yaja (Sacrifice),
(7) Ability to form institutions of public utility, (8) Help in
the welfare of the country and (9) Cattle wealth (Pau
Sampad).
Further we learn that the three feet of Gyatr verse
possesses the whole 24 Super natural powers associated with

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corresponding deities which aid the functioning of the Cosmic

Scheme.
Sandhyopsan:
Sandhy is the time when wara performs His Cosmic
dance and draws all the creatures towards Himself. However
happy and sweet the activities of a person may be in the day
and night, the times of meeting of day and night, and night
and day are declared by the ancient sages to be very auspicious
and efficacious. That is known as Sandhi. This is the time
the aspirant is expected to enjoy the Bliss of Solitude in
an atmosphere of stillness and calm. It is not time to sloth in
laziness in bed and idle away in a club with cards, wine and
women.
Upanayana Saskra is a prerequisite to perform
Sandhyvandana systematicallyDwijas (twice-born) are qualified
for this purpose. Dwijatva is not acquired by birth alone. In good
olden days even women were eligible to perform the austerities.
Generally the Upanayana Saskra is performed at the age of
8 (Garbhastama). Father alone is competent to initiate his son
to this Sandhyopsan. Unfortunately if father is not alive, the
elder brother is competent. Priest performing the initiation is the
last resort. Initiation to Gyatr is done in strict secrecyby
covering the head of the son and the father with a new cloth
or a shawl.
In Rg and Yajurvedas, some 18 steps are prescribed in the
procedure of Sandhyopsan. It is a quite elaborate ritual and
in the present age it may not be possible to strictly adhere to
this. Instead of completely giving up this Sandhyopsan on
account of paucity of time (of course it is just an excuse). I
advise the younger generation to condense it to at least the
following five stages (Sakipta Sandhyopsan). They are
(a) Purification ceremony (Mrjana), (b) Meditation on Savit
Spiritual Sun, (c) Meditation on Gyatr, (d) Gyatr Mantra-

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273

Japa 108 times or at least 11 times, (e) Farewell to Gyatr

and Surya.
This abridged process hardly takes 15 minutes, when got
accustomed.
Japa-Procedure
Sandhy should never be given up but practised for longer
and longer time everyday for the attainment of the Brahmic
Effulgence, as this attainment alone can take man beyond the
worldly sorrows and miseries.
Mind is like a monkey. Thoughts sway our mind like waves.
As such, mind should be fixed. Lips should be closed, the
tongue should be placed between the teeth. The Mantra should
be repeated in the mind. The tongue and the lips are not to
be stirred or moved but the words are to be heard mentally.
Counting should be done by touching the nodes of the fingers
with the thumb, commencing from the middle node of the
Anmik. This is known as Karaml. This Mantra-Japa should
be undertaken under the strict supervision of the father, who
is the Guru for Gyatr Mantra-Dk. It is only absence of
ones father or his inability, one should seek the guidance of
a competent Guru.
Paradoxically in the present day, the people who are
supposed to be eligible to perform Sandhyopsan and Gyatr
Mantra-Japa, are neglecting or even giving up, considering it
a mere waste of time. Others who are considered to be
ineligible, are complaining that they have been deprived of it
on caste discrimination, blaming the Vara System, though
the Lord in Bhagavadgt has clearly proclaimed that the
division is just on the basis of the Gua and Karma, to facilitate
division of labour. There is scope for upgradation in the Vara
System, by our acts and way of life. There is regression and
down-fall too.
Unfortunately the Gyatr Mah Mantra is being used now-

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a-days as a Ringtone or a Caller tune, in Cell Phones, and even

as a Door Bell Tune (Papam Santam), making a mockery of
it. In this Kaliyuga, Sandhy and raddh are just the two
things to be observed diligently. No Yajas, no Tapas, no other
austerities are required. Further these two things i.e., Sandhy
and raddh cost nothing. A mere will to perform sincerely
is enough. Hope the pristine glory of our spiritual land i.e.,
Bharat is restored soon by our regular Sandhyopsan.

To Divine Mother
Oh, Mother Divine. Where art Thou?
I wandered far and away;
Like a falling star that knows not its end,
Like a motherless lamb that goes on bleating in the
wilderness,
Like a storm-driven ship that knows not where it goes.
And lo, who cried that halt?
Was it you, Mother Divine.
I fear your anger, Mother,
And tremble at my crime.
My heart is heavy with remorse,
And knows not how to invoke
The Gratitude and Love for you.
Peace, Mother Dear, I only ask from you.
Khandubhai Desai

Gyatr WorshipSandhyvandanam
Dr. C. S. V. Jois

SZ @
(vsyopaniad 1)
The entire universe is the abode of Lord the Almighty, who
is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.
With the above saying, by Brahmari Yjavalkya, from
his famous vsya Upaniad, it is evident that the universe
which we are observing is nothing but the Lord Himself.

U Z US
Which also confirms the all-pervading quality of Almighty.
God has two distinct formsFirst, the form which we are
not in a position to comprehend, either by our sense-organs
specially our eyes or the mind; the other, the manifestation of
His vast presence in the form of this world of objects that is
the Pacatattvasthe earth, water, light, air and ether which
is verily visible.
In the fifth chapter of the Bhadrayaka Upaniad, the
conversation between Brahmari Yjavalkya and crya
Uddlaka, son of Aruna a Kulapati, the latter questioning the
former that the present world which we see, the Paraloka which
we have heard and the Pacabhutas have all been encompassed
in one Sutra and he who knows this Sutra knows everything,
do you know this? For this Brahmari Yjavalkya replied in
positive and said that the Sutra is Vyu: the Antarym, which
pervades the entire universe and beyond. Uddlaka and the
entire assembly of scholars present there experienced in their
mind the presence of that Antarym. He alone is Sat, Cit, and
nanda in principle and those who sing and pray this akti,
known as Gyatr (Gyantam tryate yasmat). And the same

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Antarym, which is the creative force of Lord, known as Svitr

(Savituhu y aktihi s) and the same Antarym which when
spelt out known as Saraswat, all the three principles when
observed daily at sunrise and sunset is known as Sandhyopsan
or Sandhyvandana.
ruti that is Veda elaborates this in the following Mantra:

UlS r m
r r r
Brahmari Vasiha states that

U U
j U mH
The meanings of the above two are very clear in establishing
the importance of Gyatr Upsan, which is better understood
as Sandhyvandana.
The initiation of an individual into the system of Sandhyvandana
in the form of Nityakarma is required to be done at the age of
seven (Garbhastama) of a child and before sending him for
Gurukula system of education in the olden days and at least as
early as possible, in the days that is earlier to his high school
education. In this context, that is in the present days the effect
of this initiation is that, such a student attains intellectual upliftment
not only in education but to build up moral confidence to face
this competitive world by the grace of Agni, Vyu and ditya.
After the initiation the sacred as well as secret Mantra, handed
over by generations from father to son, the student practises the
Upsan daily in his future life, to obtain a power otherwise
known as Siddhi which helps the initiated student to visualize
the enormous power of Gyatr Mantra. The Mantra which is
in the form of a prayer goes thus:

S U

U
H

Gyatr WorshipSandhyvandanam

277

Reciting of this Mantra with sincerity (raddh) enhances

the individuals intellectual ability (Dh akti). Here comes the
real power of the mind, the only instrument God has given us,
which is having the capacity to see both inside and outside.
When one who is inspired by some great purpose, from
extraordinary project, all thoughts break their wants/desires and
the mind transcends the limitations, inspiring ones consciousness
to expand in all the directions and the individual finds himself
in a new and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and
talents become alive to find the external objective world in its
proper perspective.
There are innumerable systems that are being observed in
performing Sandhyvandana in this world and particularly in
our Nation (Bharata). Despite this, all the observances (procedures
followed) clearly uphold only one Brahmopsan. This is the
truth. The individual according to his own household principles/
practices who performs the rituals (Sandhyvandana) has the
sanction of his Ghyasutras in the following loka

Ss
S

S S H
It is necessary to observe and perform Sandhykarma in
its prescribed/proper time but due to any unavoidable reasons,
if the time could not be adhered to, even then Sandhyopsan
is a must, throughout ones lifetime, for all those who have
been initiated, in ones own interest and future prosperity.

l U h U H
Here Vidy means to understand the meaning of Mantra
which one recites and raddh means devotion towards the
duty/Karma; such of the Karmas thus performed will result in
bestowing the intended Phalas/results.The above maxim applies
in full in respect of Sandhyvandana.
In the course of performing Sandhyvandana, there are three

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

important stages: Arghyapradna, Gyatr Mantra-Japa and

Suryopastna. All the three put together along with a few
subsidiary purificatory rituals (Mrjana and Ppa Visarjana)
constitute the Sandhyvandana. Whenever the terms Sandhy,
Gyatr, Svitr and Saraswat occurs the term equally applies
to the worship of the visible GodSun. Immediately after the
Arghyapradna, the individual does one Pradaki uttering the
phrase Asvdityo Brahma meaning that the Lord Sun is
Brahman, the supreme Lord. Suns supremacy is again confirmed
in r Rudra Nmaka stating

S L U
L

SH

meaning that the visible God Sun who is red at Sunrise, red
at Sunset and brownish red at other times is Sumagala
bestower of all the auspicious things. His rays extend in all
directions. Further another important factor of Sun worship is
that He is the giver of perfect health to individuals who pray
him particularly when He is at the meridian, as per OU
UU (Saurasukta-Rgveda). Now the second stage
of Gyatr Mantra-Japa is the tool to harness the concentration
of our mind, resulting in intellectual superiority. The third
concluding stage that is the Suryopsan again confirms salutations
to Sun by making Pradaki worshipping at the same time
the powers in all the eight directions and Lords of Heaven and
Ptla.
The Gyatr Mantra which has been coined by Brahmari
Vivmitra in his deep meditation, by the grace of Puan
(another form of Sun) who has also proved the efficacy of the
Gyatr Mantra by initiating twelve of his disciples and
particularly the two by name Kavaa and Ailua (both are, socalled Sudras). Thus from all angles, any individual who desires
to uplift himself, performs Sandhyopsan as Nityakarma will

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Gyatr WorshipSandhyvandanam

attain salvation (Moka). The system is not banned to anyone

on considerations of gender, caste etc., let me conclude this
article with the Puranic version of Gyatr Mantra which is also
highly effective to anyone who recites

S U
S
j
mU
USUH

OM
A woman is really the absolute queen of her home.
An ideal mother and a good housewife is a
Goddess on earth.
She alone can tackle the problems of children
To their best advantage.
The children of today are the citizens of tomorrow.
It is she who really moulds their lives and
Thus helps in the improvement
And strengthening of the race.
The rearing of children is really
The building up of a nation or a country.
From children a nation is made!
Swami Sivananda

Durgthe Supreme Female Reality

Kalyana Chowdhury

The female reality Supreme

Is Mother Durg, ivas queen,
Her grace can help you to know the truth
That is obscured by the illusions screen.
She is primal power Divine
The auspicious creative trend to begin
And also to protect with ample care
And endless beautiful cosmic scene.
In annihilation she always stores
The seeds of life with interest keen
For the cherished future genesis to come
Bestowing Her filial affection serene.
As Um Haimavat She proved
That against the demons gods could win
As She was installed in their hearts
To keep their spirits evergreen.
As Dev Ca She saved the world
Being worshipped by devotees time and again
Brahm, Viu and Mahevara
Sing Her glory in celestial strain.

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Durgthe Supreme Female Reality

r Rma invoked the aid of Durg

The ten-headed wicked Rvaa to kill,
Arjuna was told by r Ka in the war
To the mighty Mother to pray and appeal.
The superlative energys personified source
On the lion of conscience has to remain;
Ever to beget the offsprings welfare
Her ten hands fight in directions ten.

The Names of Lalit

Long as the inked/blind wind,
Darandolitadrghk,
your restless eyes;
and they never blink tonight,
as she scans the sky for him.
You, the primordial
power from which time blazed down,
and the stars kindled;
diakti, you are the
mother of darkness and light.
Mountain Path

aktithe Divine Mother

Srikrishna Das

All the attributes assigned to iva are equally applicable to

akti. iva and akti are really one, like heat and fire, moon
and moonlight, ocean and waves, and sun and sun-rays. A
power-holder cannot remain without power and power cannot
exist without power-holder. akti is called Kula and iva Akula.
Both are inseparable, like negative and positive poles of a
magnet. aktiUm, Prvat or cosmic energy is ivas eternal
wedded consort, occupying half of His body or dancing on His
limitless chest. Their eternal union is called Virasa but when
individualised they are still in perfect union and is called Rasa.
This kind of relationship is called blissful (nandamaya), eternal
(Anantatvam), as also an unbreakable, indistinguishable union.
In r Cakra, Bindu and four triangles pointing downward are
of iva and five pointing upward represent akti, indicating
permanent and perfect unity of the two in one.
iva cannot carry on His functions of the universe without
akti. She is called r Mt (creator of the universe), r
Mahrj (protector) and rmtsimbhanevar (dissolver)
named according to the function She performs. She is Cit-akti
(intelligence), dynamic energy (Kualin) that lies dormant in
Muldhra Cakra at the base of the spine. When aroused, it
travels upward to Sahasrra passing through the intermediate
centres such as Svdhihna, Maipura, Anhata, Viuddha.
Centres are not physical but are in astral sphere, scientists called
this biological plasma, Pra or bio-Pra. It can awaken
miraculous powers in the human being. All the centres are
conceived as lotuses hanging with their heads down, when
Kualin strikes, and opens the centres, the lotuses are turned

aktithe Divine Mother

283

face upward and there is manifestation of super-energy.

akti is with form or without form. She is called Prakti
in Skhya, Avidy in Vednta, Mtk by the grammarian,
akti by ktas and Dev by Paurikas. akti is the seed
of spatial universesthe ether personified. The energy which
enables thinking is called Vimara that which enables procreating
is Rati, and that which causes dissolution, liberation, and
time-cycle is called Kl. akti is multidimensional and
multifunctional.
She is a shining white queen-swan, the floats in the tranquil
minds of sages. There are more than 108 names of Divine
Mother e. g., Paramadhma (supreme abode), Paramajyoti,
(original light of which all other lights are derivations, simultations
and reflections), Sat-Cit-nanda-Rupi, (truth, consciousness
and bliss), Mhevar (Mother of wisdom and power), GuhyaRupi (secret form), Chandassr (essence of Vedas), Hdayasth
(residing in the heart), Yognand (bliss of Yoga), Prema-Rup
(embodiment of love) and so on. These names can serve as
helpful theme of meditation. Actually she is all (Sarvamay).
akti and iva or Um-Mahevara, iva-Durg or Lakm
and Nryaa or Rdh and rka or St and Rma or
Purua and Prakti are one and the same.
In Vedic literature, r and Lakm both are mentioned. Later
these two deities merge into one. In prehistoric period, the great
Mother goddess, Ma and the Father God, were associated with
lion and bull respectively as are iva and akti. The Vedic
Dyaus and Pthv or Aditi are ryan equivalents of the same
deities. In Vedic era Dev Sukta of the Rgveda shows the
supreme goddess related to Rudra as His strength.
Various ways of approach are laid down due to differences
in human temperaments, idiosyncrasy, stages of intellectual
development of the aspirants and their different environments
on this globe.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

Hindu polytheism is universal store of knowledge. It aims

at discovering one in all and all in one. It is accumulated during
the aeons, discovered by man through his own efforts or by
revelations of the seers in different Yugas. Since man came to
live on the earth, he has been trying to solve the riddle of life
and universe. He succeeded in making many discoveries but
the more he discovers, the more he finds it incomprehensive,
unexplored and enigmatic. He however, observed many divine
forces working in the universe and named them according to
their virtues.
The sages through Yoga, meditation and Tapas attained
spiritual insight. They are blessed with visions, intuition and are
able to see beyond time, space, thought and manifested world
and gave mankind a glimpse of cosmic consciousness.
Not only has earth living beings, in cosmos, there are many
planets on which life does exist. Similarly there are millions of
universes, galaxies, which float like bubbles in the unimaginable
space. According to the Hindus, for every universe, there is the
same trinityBrahm, Viu and ivacreator, sustainer and
dissolver. Absolute Being, Paramevara, Parama Brahma,
Paramaiva, presides over all in Father aspect; Mahmy,
(Cidrup) Parabrahmasvarupi, Saccidnandarupi, in Mother
aspect. Mrkaeya Pura says Mahmy is Nikala, Nirgua,
i.e., endless, undecaying, unthinkable and eternal (Nitya) and
transient (Anitya).
Thus fatherhood and motherhood are merely distinction of
name and are two aspects of the selfsame reality.
Without any confusion, an aspirant has to choose his
Iadeva and surrender to Him or Her. The aim is to introvert
the mind and concentrate on a point and then to go beyond
thought to experience the ultimate truth.
It is Bhva, devotion, sincerity and passion of the devotee
that matters and not the deity.

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aktithe Divine Mother

As the Mother aspect of God is more kind, loving and has

melting compassion for her devotees, let us first offer our prayer
and obeisance to Her with full devotion and love. A devotee
must pray for Her grace for success on the spiritual path. He
must surrender and lose his ego. He must make room for divinity
to manifest and shine within. In the ocean of bliss the devotee
sinks and loses himself, feeling He am I Soham.

Mother in Her aspect as Lakm is the one great Power

upon earth that makes life possible and bearable here. Were
it not for blessed Mother Lakm, life upon earth would be
a journey of sorrows and pain. It will be a vale of tears; for
due to the transient nature of things and due to the allpervasive aspect of Mother Durg, destruction is ever haunting
the footsteps of the Jva from the moment it sees the light
of day upon earth until it reaches the grave. Verily, life on
earth is a life of pain and death. It is the shining, radiant
and joy-giving aspect of Lakm Dev that makes life bearable
by balancing the pain and destruction that pervades this
earthly existence with the sweet elements of light, love,
rejoicing, prosperity and happiness in all its various forms.
Mother pervades all aspects of human life as auspiciousness.
She is Kalyn. She is Magalam. She is Saubhgyavat. Both
in the wider sphere of national life as well as in the intimate
sphere of a beings domestic circle, Mother manifests Herself
in all Her radiance and good cheer so that life is sustained
through Her light, through Her charm, and Her Grace. Thus,
Mother Durg and Mother Lakm keep up the balance in
this Ssrika life and make it possible for the Jva to forget
the harsh realities of this transitory passing existence and to
partake of the good things of life with some extent of joy.
Swami Chidananda

Mahakti alone is Mother

It was the period of Satyayuga. Indra the king of gods
became jealous and thought that when a human being does not
foster us by doing Yaja then why he should make efforts for
raining. The creator Brahm has ordained that human beings
should foster gods through sacrifice and gods provide food to
human beings by production of grains through proper rainfall.
Thus the rule of each fostering the other has been violated by
human beings in the beginning. When the posterity of Manu
does not care for us then we also have no concern for them.
Indra was unhappy and enraged. Clouds disappeared from
the sky. When the skylife principle of earth would not irrigate
it then how the food-plants would sprout and grow. Grass dried
up. Creepers turned into dry wood. Trees withered. Terrible
famine broke out. Corn, fruit, vegetable and grassall the means
of life for beings were not there.
Indra became careless in doing his duty but Mahakti
director, controller and mother of the world does not become
careless in nourishing her posterity. All the quarters were full
of light.
Human beings got up from their seats hastily and bowed
down their heads to her with folded hands. In the sky ten handed
red coloured Mahmythe primordial akti kambhar,
riding on a lion manifested herself with trident, noose, head,
bow, thunderbolt, arrow, goad, pestle, conch, discus, mace,
serpent, sword in her hands.
It was raining on the earth. It was not the rainfall of water
but it was the rainfall of corn, fruit, vegetables from the bodily
parts of Mahakti. How much is the hunger of earth bound
beings? If Mahmy bestows then how much those beings will

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Mahakti alone is Mother

consume? This sort of rainfall continued for years together not

for one day or two. The king of gods Indra got afraid. If
Mahmy kept bestowing grains and vegetables like this then
his lordship would get extinct.
The earth would not feel the necessity of clouds. Now no
more ever a human being would offer sacrifices to gods. If this
sort of situation goes on then those days are no more when
gods would face starvation. Indra begged Mahaktis pardon
and the sky was overcast with rain clouds.

Goddess Gag was propitiated by the austere penance

of King Bhagratha. She appeared before Bhagratha and said,
All the sinners of this world will wash their sins and purify
themselves by immersing their sinful bodies in my holy
waters. Where shall I wash the immense store of sins they
deposit in my watery body?
Bhagratha replied: O sacred Mother! Holy saints will
bathe in Gag and purge you of all your sins, because Lord
Viu, the dispeller of all sins, dwells in their heart.
Swami Sivananda

aktithe Mother of Universe

Dr. V. V. Rampal

akti, the creative power, is the mother of all creation. It

is the potential energy that manifests in matter and all the forms
that matter takes. It is the integral part of the conscious energy
that is the reality of all existence. The worship of akti is the
worship of creation, of the nature and of the visible form of
the formless reality. No visible life or activity is possible without
the energy that manifests in myriad forms. iva and akti, the
consciousness and the material form are integral to the reality
of existence, the life form that we share with all other life forms
in this universe. These are the spirit, and the material forming
energy, that together constitute what we call as God. The two
aspects, as two sides of the same coin, constitute the reality that
gives birth to universe and then folds back on itself in the
formless existence in Pralaya.
akti Upsan is a realization of the Supreme Reality in
visible form, an acceptance of the fact that a formless power
exists in all material forms. We bow to that power and seek
blessings of that power.
As life forms, we owe a debt to nature for our existence
and sustenance. We express our gratitude to Mother Nature and
the underlying power for all that we get from it. Without that
power, our existence is meaningless. We symbolize our
acknowledgement of that power by the ritualistic worship of
the akti. Tantra rituals have to be seen in that light. Much
as we worship the supreme spirit, the Parama tm, we also
express our respect to the material form that embodies that tm,

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aktithe Mother of Universe

for the two constitute together the living form of the material
existence of that Reality.
In the male and female terminology, the akti, the creative
principle, is always seen as the female aspect of the Reality.
The male aspect is the supreme consciousness, the intelligence
behind creation. Dev Puj is therefore, to be seen in that light.
The consort of Trimurti is to be worshipped as such. Saraswat,
the goddess of learning, Lakm, the goddess of wealth and
Prvat, the primordial energy are to be worshipped in this
respect. Learning, wealth and motive power as life are all needed
for worldly existence. Dev worship is thus an expression of
our desire to live healthy, wealthy and wise. Tantric rituals
should not take us away, or deviate us, from the reality of
worshipping that supreme power that lies in all creation as the
prime mover and enriches nature in every way.
It is much easier to concentrate on a form that relates to
our life in a material way. Dev Puj is helpful in that respect.
It concerns our material life. It relates to the hardware of life
rather than the abstract software called the supreme consciousness.
It relates to practical aspects of life like power, energy, sex,
wealth and victory. akti Puj is a celebration of life, an
acknowledgement of our happy life, a manifestation of the
creative power that pervades the whole universe as a reality,
something that is and not merely a concept in abstraction.

Power and Glory of Ma Durg

Dr. V.V.B. Rama Rao

Theists believe in the Supreme Power as the basis of all

creation, maintenance and destruction of all things and all beings
in the universe. We believe in the Divine and we worship the
Divine, Supreme Being. Supreme is the term for Brahman also.
The Upaniad defined it as Brahman, the one without beginning
or end, the limitless. Jna is the quality and state of knowingness.
Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Light and Joy are all aspects of the
Supreme. We believe that Existence, Knowledge and Freedom
from grief alone are the manifestations of the Supreme Being,
Brahman. Brahman is without quality or appearance, Nirgua
and Nirkra, without alternative, and from that alone My
has taken birth. It is the prime reason for all worlds and the
universe including the power that sustains all. My (great
illusion) and Brahman are Dharma and Dharm, masculine and
feminine, the indivisible, same. They are also called Prakti and
Purua (broadly the Female and Male principles). The mother
bestows all attention on the child, sustaining and fostering the
offspring. It has been our tradition to worship Prakti, the female
principle. The Supreme Lord is looked upon in the shape of
both Prakti and Purua. The Supreme Mother is considered
to be the source from which all energy and powers flow. People
like us, for ends both mundane and other-worldly, worship of
Prakti is essential.
Ma Durg is called r Vidy also. That is the worship of
Lalit and Ca. Both are the same: only the names and forms
are two: in fact there are many describing the same Supreme.

Power and Glory of Ma Durg

291

Lalit, is based on Pacada Mantra with fifteen Akaras

(letters). Ca is worshipped with the Navkara, nine lettered
Mantra. The description of the power and the glory of Ca
in Saptaat, seven hundred lokas or hymns, is called,
Casaptaat, Durgsaptaat and also Dev-Mhtmya. The
basic secret is described thus:
Mahlakm is the source, the beginning of all creation. She
is the norm and the illustration, the means as well as the end.
At the end Ma Durg has qualities of masculinity. First She
took the shape and hue of darkness and came to be called
Mahmy, Mahkl and Mahmr. Then She took shapes
and came to be called Mahvidy, Mahv, Bhrat, Vk and
Saraswat. She creates three Guas, prime qualities. Rajogua,
the quality of redness, is their basic nature. The Tmasika, dark,
black natured Mahkls creations are, Rudra and Saraswat.
They are white in radiance. The ones created by Mahsaraswat
are Viu and Gaur, hued black. Thus from the feminine the
masculine emerged. Brahm, Viu and Rudra carried out the
functions of Creation, Sustenance and Destruction of the entire
universe and everything, living and non-living in it.
Durgsaptaat, from the Mrkaeya Pura, deals with
a description of the effulgent acts of the Supreme Mother. A
mere reading of it in a devout frame of mind has an ennobling
influence. The present work aims at giving a simple narrative
of the event described in the first part of the Pura, the epic.
A reading, repetition or contemplation on the power and glory
of Dev, Ca or Durg would bless us with peace and joy.
In the eon of Swarocia Manu, King Suratha of the Caitra
dynasty was the monarch of the entire earth. Being benign, he
became an enemy to the demons called Kolavidhwasas, who
later defeated him in a battle. On returning to his capital his
wicked ministers robbed him further. Suratha retreated into a
forest where he saw the hermitage of a sage and seer called

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

Sumedha. The great sage lived in friendship and harmony with

bird and beast too. He gave the king asylum. After sometime,
the king fell into a kind of myness (Mamakra) and began
worrying about the court elephant and his treasury. In the
vicinity of the hermitage, the king ran into a Vaiya who
introduced himself as Samdhi. He was born into a rich family,
but his wicked wife and children turned him out. The king
wondered why he should worry about such wife and children.
The Vaiya expressed his helplessness in not being able to be
hard-hearted.
Mrkaeya, the accomplished Muni, then narrated how the
two went to the sage Sumedha. The king entreated the sage
to tell him why his Manas had been getting out of his control.
Though he knew everything, he was worrying like one ignorant.
Sumedha explained to him that man, bird and beast alike are
thrown into the pit of Moha wherein there is the whirlpool of
myness, Mamat and Mamakra. Under the influence of
the two, they fall into Sasra, which is the making of
Mahmy. The whole creation of the living beings is thus
enticed. Mahmy renders the knowing one helpless. She is
the creator of all animate and inanimate things. If propitiated,
She blesses human beings with salvation, liberation from
bondage to My. She is Parama Vidy, the ultimate knowing,
learning par excellence, the reason and means for salvation,
Mukti. She is responsible for the bonds of Sasra.
The king then asked the sage for the details of that
Mahmy, Her work, Her power and Her form.
The sage (Sumedha) narrated the tale of the Dev killing
the demons Madhu and Kaiabha thus:
She is everlasting and all-pervading. Mahmy is Ma
Durgs incarnation. She took the incarnation to help the cause
of the angels, Devats. At the end of the big eon, Kalpnta,
Lord Viu lapsed into slumber known as Yoga-Nidr

Power and Glory of Ma Durg

293

purposeful, divine sleep, making the serpent diea his mattress.

From out of his earwax the demon duo, Madhu and Kaiabha
were born. They set out to kill Brahm, the Lord of Creation.
Noticing this, Brahm went on invoking the aid of Yoga-Nidr
stationed in the Lords eyes. Yoga-Nidr is the protector and
the mother of the world. She is both the sustainer and slayer.
Brahm extolled Ma Durg thus: Ma Durg you are Swh
and Swadh. You are the form of all fire rituals and you are
Salvation. You are the Everlasting. You are Praava with the
three segments a, u and m. You are the unutterable half
sound too. You are the dawn, the sun and the Par Devat,
the ultimate of all deities. You wear the universe on Your
person. You are the creator and the destroyer. You are the
manipulator of everything and all in the world. While engendering
the worlds, You are the Mother, while sustaining everything,
You are the Ruler, and the while putting all to rout, You are
the Destroyer. You are all learning and all skills: the intellect,
Mah Buddhi, the intellect along with intelligence par excellence,
Mahdev, the Supreme Mother and Mah Asura akti, the
power par excellence. You are Nature, the reason supreme of
the entire creation. You are one inhering all the three, essential,
primal qualities Guas: Sattva, Rajas, Tamas, symbolically the
white, red and black. You are all the three terms of darkness,
the Klartri, Kalpnta pralaya rtri and Mahrtri at the time
of the deluge. You are r, war and Hr. You are intellect
with the quality of preaching. You are shame, You are
contentment, You are peace: You are tolerance. You are the
one with the frightful weapons: the sword, spear, mace, the
trident, conch, bow and arrows. You are the auspicious icon,
benign and beautiful, the very best among the best, the most
compassionate and the most benevolent among the benevolent.
You are all shapes and all forms. How could I ever praise You!
The Lord, the Creator, the Sustainer and the Destroyer too are

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

all subject to slumber at Your will. How can I ever praise You
adequately! Viu, iva and I, Brahm, all the three of us are
shaped by You. Who can praise You adequately! You are
praised thus for Your benevolence and compassion. You can
entice the otherwise indomitable demon duo, Madhu and
Kaiabha in Your enchantment of attachment, Moha. Wake up
Lord Viu! Inspire Him to kill the demons.
Brahm thus prayed Dev, who was in the form of Tamas,
to awaken the Lord to kill the demons. Coming out from the
seat Viu gave audience to Brahm. The Lord of the Universe
got up from his serpent couch and saw the demon duo terribly
strong with eyes glowing, blood red. He locked them in combat,
fought for five thousand years. Madhu and Kaiabha were
engulfed in the great illusion, Mahmy. The two in great pride
asked Viu to seek a boon from them. The Lord asked them
to ask for a boon. The ignorant demon duo seeing everything
overtaken by the deluge asked the Lord to kill them in a place
not wet with water. Lord Viu agreed and holding them to
His middle, cut off their heads with His wheel.
This very first chapter in Durg Saptaat is propitiatory.
Reading it secures devotees Ma Durgs blessings.

Lakm Tattva
P. Ramachandrachar

General Concept
Mahlakm or r Dev is commonly understood as
(1) Aivarya LakmGoddess of wealth
(2) JayalakmGoddess of victory or success
(3) Dhnya LakmGoddess of foodgrains
(4) Santna LakmGoddess of progeny
(5) Vidy LakmGoddess of knowledge
(6) r LakmGoddess of brilliance
(7) rogya LakmGoddess of health
(8) Saundarya LakmGoddess of beauty
Besides; Her special presence is recognised in
(i) Gaja LakmGoddess of elephant
(ii) Gau LakmThe goddess in cow (especially in
cow-dung)
(iii) Vndvana LakmIn Tulas plant (the holy basil)
Mythological Concept
(1) She is the consort of Lord Viu, the protector and one
of the members of top trinity.
(2) Daughter of the ocean, born while churning the ocean
for ambrosia (Amta).
(3) Having the colour of gold; sitting or standing on a golden
lotus (Kanaka Lakm).
(4) She also incarnates whenever her husband Nryaa
assumes Avatra in the world except when the Avatra is of
a very short period(i) Matsya (at the time of dissolution),
(ii) Kurma etc. (iii) When the Avatra is mostly for preaching,

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penance and becoming a saint or a Sanys i.e., (1) Vedavysa,

(2) Kapila, (3) Datta, (4) Paraurma etc.
(5) Her name precedes whenever her husbands name is
uttered or remembered. Exampler Rmalike that.
Lakm Dev during the time of final dissolution
At the end of Brhma Kalpa; there is final dissolution of
the entire physical universe. It is sucked into the black hole of
Vius navel. Nothing remains except the endless ocean and
darkness hidden in darkness which engulfs every being also.
This ocean and the darkness are the Tmasika aspect of
Lakm. It is called as Durg Rupa (different from that of
Prvatthe consort of iva). Then r Hari takes the form of
a brilliant baby with an azure hue and lies playing on a leaf
of banian. He holds His big toe in one hand and puts it in
His mouth. Thousands of poetic devotees have described this
form in rapture. Here the banian leaf is another form of Lakm
of Rjasika aspect called Bhudev (primordial matter that takes
the form of heavenly bodies).
Then Lakm assumes the form of Kaustubha gem and
shines on the breast of the Supreme child. This is the Sttvika
aspect of Lakm called r Dev, further she serves Nryaa
there in the form of an umbrella, Cmara (a fan of silken hair);
bed and fan. At that time even ea the serpent-god who forms
the bed of Nryaa in the ocean of milk is not found. That
comes at the beginning, of next cycle of creation. That will be
a contact border place between the physical universe and the
illimitable uncomprehensible beyond (Tripda Vibhuti). It is
Supernatural. Even Lakm is unable to comprehend it.
Avatra of Lakm
She is the wife of Nryaa who assumes Caturvyuha
Rupas (four aspects indicate)(1) Omnipresence (Vsudeva),
(2) Development (Pradyumna), (3) Gravitation (Sakaraa),
(4) Indestructible or unchecked (Aniruddha). Then Lakm

Lakm Tattva

297

assumes the dynamic forms of these aspects as follows

(1) Nryaa-Mahlakm (original)
(2) Vsudeva-Mydev
(3) Pradyumna-Kt Dev
(4) Sakaraa-Jay Dev
(5) Aniruddha-nt Dev
During the living creation(1) r Rma-St Dev (2) r
Ka-Rukmi Dev, Satyabhm and having her presence in
a special way in other wives of Ka.
Vekaea-Padmvat Dev
She is said to be the shadow form of St. Rvaa did not
kidnap St (because the couple is inseparable). The shadow
remained in the cottage during the absence of Rma and Lakmaa;
which Rvaa kidnapped. At the end of war, the shadow St
disappeared in the fire of test and the real St appeared. As per
request of St; Rma promised to marry (Vedavat) the shadow
St in Kaliyuga. She was born as the daughter of ka Rja
and r Rma becoming Lord Vekaea, married her.
According to Adbhuta Rmyaa, Vedavat was born as
daughter to the king Ambara and at the end had become
Vedavat whom Rvaa wanted to kidnap. She cursed him that
she would be the cause of his destruction and disappeared in
the sacrificial fire-pit. It is said that St killed the thousandheaded Rvaa when even Rma failed to kill him. Different
versions and reasons are given for the birth of St in different
Puras and Rmyaas. They may be explained as taking
place in different Yugas.
Mahlakm is also regarded as Dakigift of gold or
wealth given to holy people for performing religious rites and
ceremonies. Without Daki every religious rite becomes
valueless.
Lakm Dev in Bhagavadgt
In the seventh chapter of Bhagavadgt, r Ka first

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

enumerates the aspects of lower Prakti which are purely

material in nature

US h

UU

U
H
(VII. 5)

The eightfold nature described above is only my lower

aspect. But O mighty-armed Arjuna; there is another aspect
which is superior to this which is the sustainer of all the souls
and supports the entire universe.
And what is this Superior Prakti? Deviating from other
commentators r Madhvcrya explains it in his Gt Bhya

U
U H
Sustainer of souls is r Lakm Dev. She pervades the
bodies and maintains life. She herself has a body of knowledge
and bliss. Her body is eternal;........without any kind of destruction.
She is the dearest to r Hariinfinitely superior to Brahm
and other Gods.
Again in chapter 12, Arjuna questions r Ka, Some
worship Your Sagua form (with shapes and attributes and some
others, your Avyakta form (Nirgua or attributeless). Who
among these are better knowers of Yoga?
For this the gist of Madhvas Gt Bhya and Gt Ttparya
is thisAvyakta means Mahlakm, she is superior to Brahm.

(U U) US
U H
A well-qualified devotee worships Lakm called Avyakta
and gets released from the bondage of creation.
So in his opinion Avyakta is Prakti and Paramtm is full
of auspicious attributes which are not of Prakti (Nryaya
Paripuraguravya).
The answer of Ka for Arjunas querry is that it is very

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Lakm Tattva

difficult to please Lakm (who also can bestow Moka by the

grace of r Hari) and then through her husband Viu to get
final emancipation.
Again in chapter XIV r Ka says

Ur

SZ
U

UH
(3)

Arjuna, Mahad Brahma is my Yoni (wife Lakm). I

impregnate her, from this all beings are created. Madhva says
that according to abda Niraya, Yoni means wife.
r Ka continues, Arjuna, in all the Yonis (where the souls
take bodies) the Brahma is Mahad Yoni (Lakm) and I am
the seeding father.
Again in the XV chapter r Ka says

m L
U

UU
USU UH
(16)

Arjuna, in this world there are two kinds of Puruas (souls

who reside in the body). One is Kara (destructible) and the
other is Akara (which is indestructible). All these beings whose
bodies perish are called Karas and that which is the primordial
matter (Kuastha) is Akara.

rL

UUU
UU

gU

U
H.....

Madhva says that Brahm, Rudra etc., are called Karas

because their bodies disintegrate, but Lakm has a spiritual body
which is eternal. She is the master guide of all animate and
inanimate creatures.
Puruottama is Nryaa.
r Lakm in Vedas (gama r)
She is the guardian deity of Vedas. r Sukta tells her glory

U LUUL
U LU UH

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

She saysI alongwith eleven Rudras, eight Vasus, eleven

dityas (except Viu) and Vivedevas move......

r l
Whomever I want, I make him Rudra, Brahm, Ris and
the learned (Rgveda X. 125, 145).
The deities mentioned above are also explained in terms of
universal forces

......
Those who adore Lakm get emancipated l U U
without beginning or end she is superior to Mahat (Brahma)
and unchanging from this glory.
The Astronomy saysThe universe is not endless but it has
no limit. This can give an idea of Lakmthe guardian deity of
Trigua and cosmic matter in relation to Nryaa the Supreme.
Lakm according to the Bhagavad Rmnuja sect of
Vaishnavism
The essence is given
(1) The word Paramtm includes both Lakm and
Nryaa.
(2) She is like Paramtm in essence.
(3) But Nryaa is absolutely independent and the freedom
of Lakm is by the grace of Nryaa.
(4) Her experience of bliss is equal to that of Nryaa and
all the liberated souls also enjoy equal bliss.
(5) Lakm forms the body of Nryaa and so also all the
souls and matter as

UU m
But they are all spiritual and not material.
Lakm in the sect of Mdhva Vaishnavism
(1) She is infinitely superior to all the beings including
Brahm and Rudra.
(2) She is infinitely inferior to Viu.
(3) She is eternally in liberated state ().

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Lakm Tattva

(4) She is equal to r Hari in the extent of time and space.

(5) She is never separated from Nryaa.
(6) She also can bestow Moka on devotees.
(7) She is in continuous view of the most amazing, blissful
and ever new qualities of r Hari and experiences divine thrills
every fraction of a second.
(8) She can create, protect, destroy, control, enlighten,
enmesh, bind and release all beings by the grace of r Hari.
(9) She flashes in the form of bliss in the hearts of devotees
who retain Satya (r Hari).
Two Historical incidents about Lakm
(1) A.D. 1336Swm Vidyraya was in penance. Two
princes (Hakka Rja and Bukka Rja) came and prostrated
before him. They told the saint that they belonged to a royal
family. The country around was menaced by the enemies of
Santana Dharma; and there was anarchy let loose in the
country. They wanted to gather an army to combat the menace,
but they could not find money so they sought Swmjs help.
The monk asked them to come on a Friday. When they came
he meditated on Goddess Lakm. Then a rain of gold coins
poured around a limited space, so much so that it was sufficient
for the establishment of a kingdom of Dharma. The brothers
established the great Vijayanagar empire.
(2) In the sixteenth century during the reign of Kadeva
Rya, monk Vysa Rja was the royal preceptor. He had become
Sanys very young directly from bachelorhood. Apart from
scholarly Saskta works, he used to compose devotional songs
in the local Kannada language. He used Ka as his Akita
(pen-name). One day Lord Ka appeared in his meditation and
saidYou being a Sanys have no wife, but have I not? The
sage realised his error; then changed his Akita to r Ka. These
two incidents show the importance of Mahlakm.
Let Lakm-Nryaa be pleased.

r Mahlakm
R. Kannan

The Divine consort of this Supreme God rman Nryaa

is r Mahlakm. Both of them are inseparable. He is known
as (Spouse of Mahlakm); (in whom resides
Mahlakm) and U (One who bears Mahlakm in His
Bosom). She is also referred to as c (wife of Lord Viu)
and (one who has been attached to rman Nryaa).
r Viupura refers:

U c

UU
S

l
UH
(I. 8. 35)

In Celestial as well as human beings, Hari is the most

superior among male groups and r Mahlakm is the most
superior among female groups.
Both Lord r Mahviu and r Mahlakm are worshipped
together even in r Vaikuha. This is clearly stated in
Ligapura

U Z
S c UH
r Viupura again states:

c
U

cS
mH
(I. 8.17)

r Mahlakm is inseparable from r Viu and is always

united with Her spouse. Whenever the Lord incarnate Himself
in the world for establishing Santana Dharma, she also
incarnates such as St Dev and Rukmi Dev.

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r Mahlakm

So it is imperative that we worship the Divine couple

together always. It may be noted that urpaakh wanted to
get r Rma alone, she was deformed by Lakmaa. Rvaa
wanted to get St Dev alone, he was killed by r Rma
himself.
r Mahlakm has been extolled in scriptures. Vedas praise
Her as the Supreme Goddess:

U UuU
rmad Rmyaa describes Her as the supreme woman
with all auspicious qualities.

U
(Blaka 1. 27)

Mahbhrata states:

U H
(Vanaparva 192. 56)

Great cryas have praised Her and written Stotras. r

Yamuncrya (otherwise famously known as r Alavandar) has
written Catulok in praise of Her. r rvatsangamira
(Kurathazhvan) has written rstavam, r Parsara Bhaar has
written r Guaratnakoa and r Vednta Deika has written
rstuti.
Let us very briefly go through those works to know the
greatness of Mahlakm:
CatulokIt has been authored by r Alavandar. It
contains only four lokas. It is considered to be the first and
foremost Stotra in praise of the Goddess Mahlakm. The four
lokas mentioned herein are considered to be in correspondence
with the four qualities referred in r Bhyam, a commentary
on Brahmasutras, by r Rmnujcrya. This Stotra describes
that r Mahlakm has rman NryaaPuruottama as Her
consort, diea as Her cosy bed, Garua as Her seat and
vehicle (chariot). All the celestial beings with their spouses serve
Her with deep devotion. Her name is r. Her greatness cannot

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

be measured by anyone, even by Herself as well as Her Spouse.

She grants Moka to anyone who surrenders unto Her. She is
inseparable from Lord rman Nryaa.
rstavamIt has been authored by Kurathazhvan, one of
the foremost disciples of r Rmnujcrya. Herein it is
described that the Lord is immensely pleased, if r Mahlakm
endorses His action of creation, protection etc. It is with Her
blessings only, one becomes a great scholar like Bhaspati or
rich like Kubera. Here again it is stressed that the greatness of
Mahlakm is immeasurable.
r GuaratnakoaIt has been authored by r Parara
Bhaar, the son of Kurathazhvan referred above. r Bhaar
is considered to be the adopted son of Lord r Ragantha
and Goddess r Raganyak of rragam. This Stotra
contains 61 lokas, bringing out the greatness of r Mahlakm
in detail. Here, it is stated that r Mahlakm is All-merciful.
She is prepared to condone all sins committed by anyone who
surrenders at Her feet. She will grant wealth to enjoy in this
material world, Kaivalyam to enjoy ones own soul and eternal
bliss in r Vaikuha.
r StutiIt has been authored by r Vednta Deikan,
a great crya, scholar par excellence and a devoted follower
of r Rmnujcrya. This Stotra contains 25 lovely and
thought-provoking lokas. He describes Her as one endowed
with all auspicious qualities and grants all wishes to Her
devotees. Here again, it is stressed that Her greatness is
immeasurable by any means and it is beyond anyones imagination.
Mahlakm is known as r and that is why the Lord of
Tirupati has come to be known as Lord rnivsan. The word
r has six subtle meanings as interpreted by cryas
(1) She approaches the Lord on behalf of the devotees so
that He grants all their wishes.
(2) She is approached by devotees to get their wishes
fulfilled.

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r Mahlakm

(3) She hears the prayers of the devotees with utmost

concentration and consoles them. o
(4) She makes the Lord hear the prayers of the devotees
and makes Him grant their wishes.
(5) She develops maturity in devotees so that they aspire
for liberation from this material world and reach r Vaikuha
to enjoy eternal Bliss.
(6) She condones the sins of devotees, if they surrender unto
Her. o
r Rmnujcrya first surrenders at the feet of Goddess
r Mahlakm and then only proceeds to surrender at the feet
of the Lord, with Her blessings. This is very clearly described
in his aragati Gadyaa prose type prayer.
r Vednta Deikan refers in his rstuti, confirming that
the Divine couple together is to be worshipped.

Let r Mahlakm with Her Divine consort accept our
prayers and be pleased.

That which is yma is also Brahman. That which has

form, again, is without form. That which has attributes, again
has no attributes. Brahman, is akti; akti is Brahman. They
are not two. There are only two aspects male and female of
the same Reality Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute.
The Gospels of Sri Ramakrishna

Saraswatthe Goddess and River Celestial

T. Siva Rama Krishna

Mahsaraswat is the Goddess of learning, music, knowledge,

wisdom, inspiration, insight and enlightenment. She is inspiration
as Goddess.
The Goddess is represented as a plain, simple and serene
woman surrounded by flowers, standing and sitting on a Lotus,
in a placid lake, holding the V (Lyre) in one hand and a
book and rosary in another and with a swan by her side. In
some pictures and sculptures she is represented as sitting on the
peacock and gorgeously decked.
The fifth day of the first full moon falling in the month
of Mgha or Flguna, as the case may be, is the day on which
the Saraswat Puj is celebrated. On account of this another
name of this festival is r Pacam or Vasanta Pacam. And
there is another name Andya. In olden days, Vedic pupils used
to start their Vedic education from rvaa Purim day
and end with Vasanta Pacam day. It was a sacrament of
tradition.
On this auspicious day along with Dev Saraswat, Gaea,
Pthv, Viu, iva and Surya are also worshipped in a big way.
iva and Saraswat are like brother and sister. They grace
us with knowledge, wisdom, enlightenment, wealth, peace,
plenty and prosperity. Strange as it may seem, though Saraswat
is known as sublime, serene Goddess, she manifested herself
as fierce Mahsaraswat to kill demons umbha, Niumbha,
according to Dev Bhgavatam and Mrkaeya Pura.
Muka Sakaras Muka Pacaat says that Goddess Kmk

Saraswatthe Goddess and River Celestial

307

is none other than Dev Saraswat Herself. Vimala pati kamala

kuti, pustaka rudraksha Shasta hasta puti, Kamakshi pakshma
Lakshi, Kavita vipanchi vibhasi vipanchi. The glory of Saraswat
is extolled in Matsya Pura, Mrkaeya Pura and Skanda
Pura.
Bhaspati, intelligence incarnate, God of gods, worshipped
deity Saraswat, for inspiration, insight and enlightenment.
Brahma Pura says that when Bhumt requested di ea
for enlightenment on the mysteries of knowledge and wisdom,
di ea worshipped and prayed Dev Saraswat, attained
knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment and then taught this to
Bhumt. When Vlmki was unable to answer Vysas searching
questions about Puras he prayed Saraswat and got enlightened
by her grace. In Pukara, Vysa worshipped and prayed
Saraswat for long, for making the division of Vedas. Vedas
originated from Saraswat, according to the Heart of Gyatr.
When sage Yjavalkya, an erudite scholar in Veda,
Vedgas, once, lost his sense of recollection, under the curse
of his preceptor, he worshipped Surya, and then Surya preached
him Saraswat Stotra and then by recitation and meditation of
this Stotra he regained his lost sense of recollection and
remembrance.
Her other names are Brhm, Bhrat, Vp, Vdhri,
Vidydhar and Vgdev. As Saraswat is the consort of Brahm,
she is known as Brahm. And hence early morning time from
4.30 to 6.00 A.M. is known as Brhma Muhurta and it is the
most precious and auspicious time for study, worship, meditation
and contemplation. It is the image of the Goddess, which is
worshipped on Vasanta Pacam day. During Daahar, the
Goddess Durg is worshipped in the form of an image. Durg
stands in the centre, on her right are Lakm, the Goddess of
wealth, and her left, Saraswat, the Goddess of learning. But
in the case of Saraswat Puj, an image is not always necessary.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

In its place a number of books, inkstands, pens and other things

connected with learning and music may be regarded as a symbol
of the Goddess and worshipped with the necessary rites. On
the day of the Puj, the worshippers fast till the time when
offerings of flowers, called the Ajali are made on the sacred
feet of the Goddess. They worship Dev with these following
Soaopacra Puj materialsall are pure whitecurd, butter,
parched rice, white sesame balls, sugarcane pieces, sugar-candy,
honey, white sandal, white flowers, white silk cloth, DudhaPe, radish, sugar, white sacred rice, rice, ghee, banana fruits,
coconut, zizyphus fruit etc. After this and other ceremonies are
over the worshippers break their fast. On the night of the Puj
they hold various entertainments for the invited guests.
The next day after the Puj, the image is taken away and
immersed in the holy waters of rivers or ponds. The immersion
ceremony is attended with great pomp and splendour. The Puj
is not really the worship of the clay image, but rather that of
Learning, through the medium of the Goddess Saraswat, the
spirit of Learning Incarnate.
River Saraswat in History and Legend
Saraswat (Sarasuti) means watery, elegant, flow, stream of
Ambrosia torrent. Saraswat was one of the seven great rivers
of our countrySapta Sindhava. The now non-existent Saraswat
is described as the river par excellence in Rgveda, once flowed
turbulently by the side of Kurukshetra. According to Vedic and
epic traditionSaraswat was once a mighty river with a
continuous and perennial flow down to the Arabian Sea.
It is reported that Saraswat dried up because of serious
seismic disturbances towards the close of the Vedic period. The
Vedic sages and seers aware of this phenomenon, prayed her
intensely not to deprive them of her life-giving waters. It
originates in the mountain region of Sirmour in Himachal
Pradesh, flows and joins Gag and Yamun to form the sacred

Saraswatthe Goddess and River Celestial

309

Trive confluence. Although it disappeared physically, Saraswat

did retain her importance in the later periods. It is only an
undercurrent now.
Thus the stories relating to Saraswats carrying the volcano
in a golden jar to the western sea, her disappearance because
of the fear of touching the Suradsa, bhras, Nidas and the
curse of sage Utathya causing her to go Marudea (waste land)
and thereby become dry are all puranic legends and explain the
natural factors, which generally interrupted her flow. Archeological
investigations revealed that in the late Harappan times the
desiccation of the river had already started resulting in the
shifting of her settlements to the upper valley. At one time,
scientists suggested that the diversion of Rakhi and Chhutang
and the flood waters of the Somb, Boli and Yamun be made
into Saraswat river bed for rejuvenation.
The Sutras mention sacrifices on her banks as of special
sanctity. The entire region between Plasaprasravaa (place of
her rise) and Vinsana (place of her disappearance) was
regarded as very good.
According to Padma Pura, Saraswat was known as Prc
Saraswat in Kurukshetra. Saraswat associations with sage
Dadhci and Pippalda are the subjects of Puranic legends, while
detailed description of her Trthas (sports of pilgrimage) is
available in the Akhaapura, the Padma Pura and
Mahbhrata.
It is said that the land between Saraswat and the Dsadvat
is known as Kurukshetra or Brahmvarta, the holiest place on
the earth, whose standards of piety and good conduct are
considered worthy of emulation by humanity all over the world.
It is reported that the great Bharata king Yayti, Nahua
ruled over Saraswats banks and the dynasty of his son Puru
continued to rule over the ancestral kingdom for generations.
The Satpatha Brhmaa narrates the story of Vedegha

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Madhva carrying the sacred fire from her banks towards east
of Kosala, preserving hereby the tradition that the Kosalas and
Videhas received their culture from Saraswat.
Atharva Veda describes Maruts as ploughing barley on the
banks of the Saraswat when the Lord of plough was Indra.
The Vedic seers and sages prayed to her for the favour of
glorious treasures, milk and her blessing and for living on her
banks forever.
Though Saraswat was primarily river par excellence, later
on as a result of her associations with the composition and
recitation of the Vedas, the Brhmaas and intensive philosophical
speculation of the Upaniads was elevated to the position of
Goddess of Learning to be worshipped in temples and educational
institutions forever.
Saraswat Temples
There are Saraswat temples in Pushkar (Rajasthan), Srinagar
in Kashmir, Kuttanur in Tamilnadu, Maihar in Madhya Pradesh,
Sringeri (Karnataka), Basara (Telengana), Vargal, Ananta Sagar
(here alone Saraswat icon is in standing position). It is said
that Vysa built Basara temple. Some say that Vlmki built
the temple. But, historically speaking, it is reported that either
Rastrakuta Kings or Karnataka Kings may have built the temple
in Basara.
Some Legends about Inspiration as Goddess
Indeed it is true that there is a deity within us who breathes
that divine fire by which we are animated. The celestial
patroness is an entity within the singers or poets heart. There
is a legend about the 15th century great Telugu poet
Pillalamarri Pina Vrabhadrudu. The poet Pillalamarri proudly
claimed and proclaimed that while he himself was an incarnation
of Brahm (or creator of the world), his poetic creation was
through the agency of his queen (Rn); the Goddess of Learning
(V). V is my Rn. And here is his life story: King

Saraswatthe Goddess and River Celestial

311

Narasiha Rya of Vijayanagar, commissions the poet to

translate Jaimini Bharatam. The latter agrees to do so within
a specified time. But till the day before the specified date he
was in his usual fashion of frittering away his time in the
company of dancing girls. His elder brother, a devout Brahmin,
pleads with him to be as good as his word but in vain. At
last, on the night before the day he had to submit his work
to the king, the poet arranges to have his room cleaned and
decorated and shuts himself up in it. After a while, sounds were
heard from within the room, as though a large number of scribes
were engaged in poetic composition. Unable to resist his
curiosity, the elder brother peeps through the keyhole and sees
an exquisitely adorned lady writing verses with great speed near
the lamp. Scenting that someone was secretly observing her,
the lady was angered and vanishes into thin air without
completing the work.
The poet later finishes the remaining few chapters of his
master piece and the next day he visits the royal court. To the
astonished assembly he declares that V is his Rn (queen)
and that consequently such a task was well within his reach.
But the courtiers would not be convinced. At that moment the
Goddess herself stretches out her bejeweled hand from behind
a screen and an aerial voice corroborates the poets statement.
The poet Pillalamarris other well-known work is the
Prabandha akuntal Pariayam. What was a play in the
hands of Klidsa; Pillalamarri transformed it into a mellow
narrative poem with some beautiful descriptions.
This poet is justly regarded as second only to r Ntha
in his mastery of the Prabandha lyricism and in his portrayal
of the Andhra scene of his time.
Indeed, the sacred scriptures of the world are said to have
been dictated by an unseen divine voice and merely copies by
the human hand. To take but a few examples: The Vedas are

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

believed to have emanated from the respiration of Brahma, they

were only heard (hence ruti, the synonym for Veda) by the
Vedic seers, but not composed by them. Potana and rntha
et al were divinely inspired great Telugu poets. The superhuman
influence of Klik in the life of Klidsa is well-known to all.
Klidsa became a great poet of poets from moron by the grace
of Klik.

Radha-Tattva
Rdh is Durg. Rdh is Prvat. Rdh is Rjewar.
Rdh is the sweet, untiring nurse of the whole world. She
is the World-Mother. The whole world rests in Her sweet
bosom. She is the Creatrix and Generatrix of the whole
universe. The whole Ll is kept up by Her. She sways the
world through Her three GuasSattva, Rajas and Tamas.
She is the doctor. She is the medicine. She is the patient.
She is the cup. These are all Her manifestations. She is
dynamic Brahman. She is akti or Power. Without Her, not
an atom can move. She is the light in the sun, sapidity in
water, akti in electricity and will-force, fragrance in the
flower, beauty in the Himalayan landscape, splendour in the
stars, chivalry in warriors, devotion in Bhaktas, revolution in
electrons. She is Avidy, My and Vidy. She is the Vedas.
Whatever you see, hear, feel, taste and smell is Rdh. There
is no other thing in this world save Rdh. She guides the
Sdhakas. She nourishes the babies. She is the untiring
gardener of the universe. Her glory is indescribable. Her
splendour is ineffable! Her beauty, love and intelligence are
inscrutable! Even the thousand-tongued diea will fail to
describe Her greatness.
Swami Sivananda

Essence of Mahsaraswat
Shiv Sharan Singh Chauhan Ansumali

Goddess Saraswat is the deity of knowledge. She is very

kindful and simple deity on earth. She is goddess of Muse. She
is goddess of word, speech and language. She gives an
acquisition of Supernatural power by which everything spoken
comes out to be true. There are ten stanzas (lokas) of mother
Saraswat by which we can get even difficult worldly problems
solved

SM
M

U
USH 1H

She is best end of salvation in the form of essence,

established by Vedas. Her true form is only known by Vedas.
She is form of Brahm. She stays indistinct form and again by
name she is unknown or not apparent. She is worshipped by
name and becomes apparent later on. That goddess Saraswat
protects us.

XUXU
c

m r USH 2H
All the parts or steps and substeps of four Vedas including
Rgveda praise Mahsaraswat. That peerless undivided power
of Brahmasaves us.

SM

USH 3H

The letter of the alphabet, a word, sentence and explanation

have her presence. She is eternal, immortal and limitless. That
mother Saraswat looks after us.

314

Kalyana-Kalpataru

U
USH 4H

Goddess Saraswat is the form of Gods and their spiritual

knowledge and lords. She is spiritual power of Gods and power
of divinity. She inspires all Gods and their spiritual knowledge.
She does all works of omnipotent God. That mother Saraswat
helps us.

U
LMS
S

M USH 5H
She regulates whole of universe with mysterious manner
internally. The great and very little particle or elements do the
work by her inspiration. The Rudra, ditya and other Gods
wrapping round her do all work of universe. All remember
Mahsaraswat and furnished all the work. That Saraswat
protects us.

CU
#M USH 6H

Saraswat is the form of knowledge and she is omnipresent.

The creature cannot feel her presence in simple stage. When
the mind leaves outer form and becomes inner, he gets
acquisition of supernatural power and Mahsaraswat comes in
his heart. That mother gives us light of knowledge and save
our life.

UCU

USH 7H

She presents in the form of name, races etcetera. She lives

in eight forms. She settled in the form of meditation. In this
way we can feel her presence. We request to save our life.

U l

UU
USH 8H

315

Essence of Mahsaraswat

She is indistinct, apparent and Vedas sing wordily her forms

and presence. That Saraswat in form of cow saves us. We pray
to protect us.

U S USH 9H
Knowing the devotion, the devotee breaking all confinement
goes to final beatitude and find salvation. Saves us that mother
Saraswat.

M Z S
rM USH

US
S S S SH 10H
Seekers of enlightenment absorb all names and forms in
Her and thereafter meditate on Her as Brahmawe pray such
Saraswat to protect us.
The great of all mothers! The great of all rivers! Super
of all great goddess mother Saraswat! we are without words
of praise and having no wealth. So my mother gives us glory
along with money and wealth.
Those who chant these pious Mantras/lokas with heart and
soul, Mother Saraswat resides in their heart.
Saraswat Rahasyopaniad

akti as Woman: Chaste Ideals

Dr. Ashok Pandya

Woman is the vigour itself symbols akti reflected in each

era. It is a flame not to be quenched and flag, never to stoop.
It is fragrance

S Z S
S U U H
(Padma Pura, Bhumi Khaa LIX. 24)
There is no any pilgrimage as well no any comfort and
virtue for a graceful life. If we want to see birth, love, devotion,
knowledge, business and religion all together in a one spot, it
may visual in woman only.
Being chaste, woman scales more heights. Such a home of
a chaste invites Ganges and holy rivers in it as well as an
ocean

l U l US H
(Padma Pura, Bhumi Khaa LIX. 13)
The woman is defined as the best creation of God. She is
the real might of this beautiful world reflects Bhagawat
Parmb Jagadamb

S S
(rdurgsaptaat XI. 6)
It is the reason only for what Mahari Mrkaeya Mahrja
prays

U
U
U
UUS
jH
(rdurgsaptaat, Argal. 24)

akti as Woman: Chaste Ideals

317

Woman has been seen as a skilled sailor in spiritual sea

always. Let us go back where Svitr brings back her dead
husband Satyavna from the Pa of Yamarja, the God of
death.
We do not imagine the akti of woman. Svitr, by her
chasteral power not only backed her dead husband but gained
a glory of being mother of hundred sons, received Satyavnas
lost kingdom, eye-sights of her blind father and mother-in-law
as well an abstract reputation in all the three Lokas.
Isnt it a strange that Svitr followed Yamarja continuously
beyond this world! (Mtyuloka). It might bounded she the
Mtyuloka border and might detained Yamalokas border.
Yamarja advised Svitrit would be very difficult to go
ahead, it will trouble you. Svitr gently replies

U
U
(Mahbhrata, Vana Parva 297. 29)
Being with husband ignores each trouble Svitr said
Anywhere my husband will, I would there, hence nothing else,
no problem. She says . Here expressed the woman
as akti. Yamarja alerts: You are far off so much, my
daughter! Svitr replies sharply

U UU

(Mahbhrata, Vana Parva 297. 40)

I am with my husband so this place is not so far for me.
And Yamarja loosened his Pa from the soul of Satyavna.
Svitr backed to the earth with her husbands 100 years age.
Woman as akti or womans akti has been reflected
everywhere in Indian philosophy. It is the soul of Indian culture.
Lord Brahmj expressed a unique episode in cra Ka
of Garua Pura.
Long ago a leprous brahmin Kauika lived in Pratishthanpur.

318

Kalyana-Kalpataru

His wife served him very well although Kauika insulted her
always. She had never been sad and continued to serving.
Once Kauika desired to go to a brothel. His wife did this
also. She carried her husband Kauika on her shoulders. Oh!
What a woman is! She was hardly walking, but going on and
going on. Weight, walk, tiredness, darkness and the object? It
was to go brothel. How did she these all!!
Unfortunately, hermit Mavya Ri was laying on gibbet
(ul) being punished by king. This post was also in the path.
He was in trance to forget pain.
Here the Brahmin-wife going on for brothel lifting her erotic
husband. Because of darkness Kauikas leg clashed with the
pole of ul. Mavyas trance broken and because of unbearable
pain he cursed: one who has injured me, will be no more on
sunrise.
Kauikas wife listened it. She thought, how to make R
is
curse false. She told: If it is going to be happen so, I say no
sunrise would be next. Thus for years the night didnt been
pass nor sun seemed again. This is the power of an Indian ideal
chaste woman. Doesnt it define the woman as akti? Definitely
it proves her akti.
Because of this Mah Rtri, everybody got worried even
gods also. They went to Brahmj, listening this all he told: we
are helpless, the chaste-vigour has detained the sunrise. So, we
have to move for Dev Anasuy, wife of Mahmuni Atri. She
is chaste one, hence she may rid us of the trouble.
Gods went to Dev Anasuy, prayed her. She released
sunrise along with the Kauikas life. This episode does flag
out the might of an Indian chaste woman (reflecting woman
as akti). This is an immediate and practical impact, what we
learned.
What did Anasuy! Wouldnt you like to enjoy a magic!
She converted the Trideva (Brahm, Viu, Mahea) as infants.

319

akti as Woman: Chaste Ideals

Goddess Saraswat, Lakm and Prvat decided to break

chasteral power of Anasuy, thats why they sent their husbands
for begging conditionally that almoner should be necked.
Anasuy understood them. She taught them this tit for tat
lesson and made them babies and enjoyed loving as mother for
a few days.
All the three Goddesses begged pardon for what they did.
Anasuy pardoned them and returned their husbands. This also
happened because of Anasuys chaste-power. It might be seen
everywhere, thats why Vaideh St said:

(Vlmki Rmyaa II. 218. 10)

A unique example we may see in Rmyaa. Mahsat
Urmil a different kind of lady living with different kind of
philosophy.
Think a few, being together you may do each and everything
for anyone or each other but if you are far away for fourteen
years what to do!
Isnt it a marvel that being far for thousands of miles for
fourteen years Urmil never felt separation of her husband
Lakmaa. Here in Ayodhya Urmil released an Ajali and at
a miles of distance Lakmaa felt satisfied. He never needed
the food. What is this! This is an impact of the power of a
wife, it does express the woman as akti.
I would like to quote Bhmat also here. It is a happening
of about eleven hundred years ago. Vcaspati Mira has been
a learned person in south as an annotator. He wrote many notes
on stras and are still famous.
He continued to write with full concentration, this way
thirty-six years passed. Once a day he was working for Brahma
Sutrakara Bhya. One sentence was not proper, yet he
desired. He was thinking on.
Here Bhmat was removing the burned flame replacing an

320

Kalyana-Kalpataru

another the new. Light has been dim and Vcaspati felt. He
sees that a female hand is burning. He asked: who are you,
Dev? What a marvel! Thirty-six years have passed to his
marriage, he didnt know his wife!!
Wife had a cross questionDo you remember, you had
a marriage? Vcaspati replied: Yes, yes; I remember. Bhmat
says gently: I am your wife, thirty-six years have passed, we
have married. Vcaspati kept silent.
He told again, I have married you. For thirty-six years you
are serving me and I didnt speak a single word! You obliged
me. Thanks a lot.
Any wish Dev! asked Vcaspati. Bhmat repliesNil,
my husband! go ahead. Author more books and I would like
to spend my whole life to serving you, nothing else.
Vcaspati melted. Told: What an opinion yours! He
released a heartiest salute to Bhmat for her unselfish service,
askedyour name!, Bhmat replied Bhmat. Vcaspati
thanked: Dev! Notes on kara Bhya being named Bhmat.
Bhmat is still honoured.
This is the India, this is the womans akti who gave the
restraint-lesson to the world. Passing whole life under a single
roof wife did not prefer rights, but to serve and to serve only.
Hence told:

U S U

S
H
(Vlmki Rmyaa II. 118. 12)

St as akti
US

UH
U
h
U
r
m
Q
UH
U U

SH
h SU
S

cU
SU
U

UH
(I. 1. 3135)

St who could enchant the three spheres, saying be it so

started teaching well-considered Rmatattva to Hanumn who
surrendered himself unreservedly. Know thou Rma to be the
absolute Brahma, existence, consciousness and bliss personified,
one without the second, free from all mutabilities, only the
existence and beyond the reach of senses. Unalloyed bliss, pure,
calm, immutable, spotless, all pervading, tm (cosmic), selfilluminating and sinless. Know me to be the primordial nature
( ) designer of creating, sustaining and dissolving. Quite
alertly I procreate this (cosmos) only due to His presence. I
created all this only in his proximity but the foolish ones attribute
it to Him. He took his birth in the spotless Raghu dynasty in
the city of Ayodhya.

U
X

322

Kalyana-Kalpataru

jS

mH
U
U

UU
NSH
U S

UH
US

h
S
U

U
c

U
U
USUH
(I. 1. 3642)

Helping Viwmitra, thereafter protecting his sacrifices,

nullifying the curse to Ahaly and breaking the mighty Pinka
of Lord iva. Holding my hands, thereafter crushing the pride
of Paraurma and then residing in Ayodhya along with me
for twelve years. Then going to Daaka forest, killing of
Virdha. The death of Mrca in the form of illusory deer and
the abduction of illusory St. Salvation of Jayu and Kabandha,
offering of worship by abar and thereafter courting friendship
with Sugrva. Killing Vli and thereafter search for St, building
bridge over the sea and besiege of Lanka. Extirpation of evilminded Rvaa along with his sons, leading Vibhaa to throne
and by Pupaka along with me arrived in Ayodhya and
thereafter consecration of Rma to the throneall these deeds
were done by me alone but people attribute these also to Rma,
immutable and the very soul of entire cosmos.
SourceAdhytma Rmyaa

Prayers of Dev
Durg Stotra

lg
SS

UUhSU
USUU
U Z H
I worship the three-eyed Durg, whose lustre is like that
of a streak of lightning, who is seated on the lord of animals
(lion), who is the dreadful, who is served by maidens holding
weapons and clubs in their hands, who holds with her hands
discus, conch, liquor, clubs, arrows, bow with its string drawn
in with the fingers, who is blazing like fire and who wears the
moon (on the crown).
Lakm Stotra

UU
UXUU
S
VU U
UrXUU
U U H
I worship that Lakm, the daughter of the king of the milkocean, the queen of the abode of Lord Viu, whose servants
are the wives of all the gods, who is the one light and the sprout
of the universe, through a side glance of whose benign grace
Brahm, Indra and iva have attained their high positions, who
is the mother of the three worlds, who is called Kamal, and
who is the consort of Bhagavn Viu.
Saraswat Stotra

UUU
UUUU

S
k

324

Kalyana-Kalpataru

rVUUS

US KUH
May that goddess Saraswat, who wears a garland white
like the Kunda-flower or the moon or the snow, who is adorned
with pure white clothes, whose hands are ornamented with the
V and the gesture of blessings, who is seated on a white
lotus, who is always worshipped by Brahm, Viu, iva and
other gods, who is the remover of all inertness and laziness
protect me.

Vision of Divine Motherakti

My Divine Mother is not only formless, She has forms
as well. One can see Her forms. One can behold Her
incomparable beauty through feeling and love. The Mother
reveals Herself to Her devotees in different forms.
I saw Her yesterday. She was clad in a seamless ochre
coloured garment and She talked with me.
Sri Ramakrishna

Mother StChastity Personified

Swami Sivananda

r St has ever been an ideal to all Indian women. She

possessed the sterling qualities of purity, self-surrender and selfsacrifice and the power of patiently enduring oppression and
extreme violence. As the great heroine of the Rmyaa, she
is still a model for Indian girls. She was a woman unparalleled
in all history. She was a woman divine.
St was the most virtuous and pious woman the world has
ever produced. Ages have passed, but her chaste life still
continues to create interest, admiration and reverence in our
minds. In St, beauty was ideally blended with purity, simplicity,
devotion and sacrifice. Her devotion and faithfulness to her
husband was pure and sincere. In India, she is worshipped as
a goddess as she was an incarnation of Goddess Lakm.
St was an ideal wife. She is best known to the world for
her devotion to her husband, Lord Rma. Soon after she was
married to Rma, He was exiled for fourteen years. When He
was about to depart to the forest, Rma requested St to remain
at home. Just listen to the soul-stirring reply of St:
O beloved Rma! Father, mother, son, daughter, brother
and sisterall of them live by the results of their own deeds.
It is the wife alone who shares the fate of her husband. The
only stay or refuge or support for a woman is her husband.
To a woman, the shade of her husbands lotus feet is preferable
to mansions or palaces. Wealth and prosperity are nothing
compared to the husband. As is the body without Pra or life
and the river without water, so is a woman without her husband.
I have been taught from my childhood to follow my husband

326

Kalyana-Kalpataru

in all conditions of life. I shall certainly carry out now what

I have been taught. Without Thee, O Lord, the wearing of jewels
is a burden and the enjoyment of worldly pleasures real sickness.
I will pass my days quite happily with Thee under the shade
of trees. I shall live in the forest with Thee as if in my palace,
thinking only of the services that are to be rendered to Thee.
O Lord, Thou art my very life! I cannot live without Thee even
for a second!
St was the daughter of the illustrious and wise King
Janaka. While Janaka was tilling a plot of land to perform a
sacrifice, St was found in one of the furrows. At the gathering
of suitors for the selection of Sts life partner, the great bow
was broken by r Rma, and so King Janaka gave his daughter
St to Rma in marriage.
How much she suffered in the forest and later in Lanka
when she was carried off by Rvaa to the Aoka grove! Her
path was not a path of roses. She walked the razors path.
It was covered with flames. Though she was a child of the
palace, she was trained in the school of rigorous austerity and
hardship. She was an embodiment of austerity. On her return
from exile, the people doubted her purity. She forthwith entered
the fire to prove her chastity. Nobody in this world would dare
to undergo this kind of severe ordeal.
Rma urged St not to come with Him to the forest. He
said, You will have to encounter immense difficulties in the
forest. There are wild beasts and cannibals. The path is very
thorny. You will have to live on roots, leaves and fruit.
Therefore, abandon the idea of following Me to the forest.
St replied, O my adorable Lord! I shall gladly welcome
all sorts of difficulties. I shall develop many good qualities
through suffering and misery. The thorns will be as beds of
roses to me, the shade of a tree more comfortable than a mansion
when I live with Thee. Thou art my divinity. I shall certainly

Mother StChastity Personified

327

follow Thee. I shall give up my life without Thee, O Lord!

r Rma was deeply moved by her love and affection and had
to yield to her wishes.
After returning to Ayodhya, r Rma decided to banish
St on account of strong public opinion as to her chastity. He
asked Lakmaa to take her to the forest and leave her there.
They reached the forest and Lakmaa did not know how to
break the heart-rending news to St.
When St came to know the reason for her banishment,
she expressed her feelings thus: O Lord! Thou knowest that
I am chaste, faithful and ever devoted to Thee. Thou hast
abandoned me to avoid a bad name. It is my duty to see that
no censure and infamy befall Thee, because Thou art my sole
refuge and shelter. O Lakmaa! Tell r Rma that a king must
acquire virtue by protecting his subjects. This is the highest
morality. St is born to undergo lifelong troubles, difficulties
and sorrows. Destiny had willed it so. St is not at all sorry
for herself. She is not at all displeased with Him. He must be
naturally extremely anxious and perturbed on account of her
absence. Comfort Him in all possible manner. Tell Him, that
although He has sent her into exile, yet He should not banish
her from His heart. She will enthrone Him in her heart and
worship Him day and night. Wherever she resides, St is the
servant. He is the preceptor, she is the disciple. He is God,
she is the devotee. He is the Lord, she is the subject. He is
the king of Ayodhya, she is an ascetic named Rma Priy.
What an ideal wife St was! Every word that came out
of her mouth expressed sublime sentiments and deep reverence
unto her husband. These words should be engraved in the tablet
of the heart of every woman. No other woman but St could
give expression to such soul-stirring and magnanimous thoughts
at such a sad and critical stage.
O Devs! You will be looked upon with great admiration

328

Kalyana-Kalpataru

and reverence by your sisters of other countries if you tread

the footsteps of St, if you lead the same life of purity, devotion
and sacrifice which she led. No woman suffragist movement,
no equal status in society and its activities can really elevate
you. Remember this point well. Become a St. You will then
achieve everything. You can then move heaven and earth.
Do not run after false shadows and toys. St was cheerful
amidst unbearable suffering. She lost her personal comforts. The
wicked women of the Aoka grove ill-treated her. Rvaa
troubled her in all possible ways. She had to face public insult,
ignominy and shame. Rma banished her. She had to face the
ordeal of fire. And yet she was always happy and unperturbed.
She bore all difficulties and miseries bravely with a serene and
smiling countenance, through the power of her Ptivratya. What
an undaunted spirit she had! What tremendous moral stamina
and soul-force she possessed! St stood the closest scrutiny
and severest tests. She was tried in the furnace and proved
absolutely pure.
May the women of India and the world draw inspiration
from St! May they profit by her exemplary and exalted life,
and thus make their lives sublime and their homes happy through
devotion to their husbands!
May you all shine like St! May you all imbibe the virtuous
qualities of St! May her blessings be upon you all!

akti and Valour of Bhagawat St

Once Lord Rma was present with his associates in the
assembly hall. Vibhaa along with his wife and few ministers
came running agitated and sighing again and again and requested,
Lotus eyed Rma! Protect me, protect me! The Demon
Mulaksurathe son of Kumbhakara who had been forsaken
in the forest due to his birth under a unlucky star. He had been
nourished by honey bees. Being young and pleasing Brahm
the creator by his penance and thus being very powerful and
proud through his boon he has created big trouble for me. When
he came to know of your victory over Lanka and blessing me
with the Kingdom, he reached Lanka along with residents of
netherworld and attacked me. He prolonged the fight for six
months. Last night with great difficulty I have reached this place
along with my wife, son and ministers through a tunnel. He
has told that he will kill first Vibhaa and then he will kill
Rmathe murderer of his father. Hence Lord Rma! He might
be coming to your honour. Under such circumstances you take
such steps as you think proper.
Lord Rma at that time had many other essential engagements.
But hearing the piteous story of his devotee, he immediately
marshalled his monkey-army, his brother Lakmaa and his sons
Lava and Kua and boarding the Pupaka aircraft set out for
Lanka. Getting the report of the arrival of Rghavendra,
Mulaksura along with his army came out of Lanka for fighting.
A horrible war commenced. This horrible war continued for
seven days. It was a very hard problem. All ministers such as
Sumantra etc., also arrived from Ayodhya. Hanumnaj continued
to revive army of monkeys, bears and human beings by bringing
life-giving herbs even then the result of war was unfavourable.

330

Kalyana-Kalpataru

Rma was seated worried under a wish-yielding tree. Mulaksura

had gone in a secret cave for Abhicra Yaja. Vibhaa was
relating to Rma the secret efforts of Mulaksura. Now Brahmj
arrived there and told Rma, I have given him a boon to be
killed only by a woman. There is also another fact to which
also please listen. One day in the midst of sages agitated with
sorrow he muttered that his family had been destroyed one due
to Ca St.
Hearing this one sage, cursed him in anger, O rascal, to
whom you have called Ca that very St will kill you.
Hearing those words from the sage, that knave fellow ate away
that sage. All other sages silently fled in fright. Therefore there
is no other remedy for killing him. Now St alone can kill
him. In this situation please send for St and get that Mulaksura
killed. This is the only way for killing him.
Saying so, Brahmj went away. Lord Rma sent Garuaj
and Hanumnj for bringing St safely on Pupaka aircraft. This
side Stj was in a very strange mood. She was much restless
even for a moment being separated from Rma. Again and again
she was looking towards south on the terrace of the palace for
the arrival of Rma on Pupaka aircraft. Being disappointed she
returned to the Drk pavilion for getting some coolness. For
the victory of Rma she circumambulated the Ppala, Tulas trees
and the idol of Lord iva. At other times she got recitations
of Manyusukta by Brhmaas. At times she worshipped Durg
and asked for a boon of the returning of Rma after victory
in war. At sometimes she arranged for the chanting of atarudrya
by Brhmaas. She never had a sleep. She made several
offerings to all sorts of deities and kept herself bereft of all
enjoyments and adorements. All days were passing like ages
for her. Then Garuaj and Hanumnj reached there. Hearing
the husbands message she set out immediately and reaching
Lanka she had a vision of Lord Rma under a wish-yielding

akti and Valour of Bhagawat St

331

tree. Lord Rma enquired of her the cause of feebleness. Stj

being shy in a smiling way replied, O Lord, it is due to
separation from you. Without you I have no hunger and no
sleep. I kept myself in your thought day and night being
separated from you. I do not know what has happened to my
body.
After this Lord told her about the heroism of Mulaksura.
Hearing this Bhagawat St got infuriated. A powerful Tmas
akti emerged out of her body. Its voice was very horrible. She
moved towards Lanka. Till now on a hint from Rma monkeys
had desisted Mulaksura from the cave engaged in doing
Abhicra Yaja. His diadem fell down while chasing them. In
spite of that he entered the battlefield. Seeing the Shadow-St
he said, You! Go away I dont demonstrate my valour to
woman. She retorted, I am your DeathCa. You killed
Brhmaa who was speaking in my favour. By killing you I
will free myself of his debt. Saying so she shot five arrows
on him. Mulaksura also retaliated by shooting arrows. In the
long run she cut asunder Mulaksuras head. That head fell on
the gate of Lanka. Rkasas lamenting loudly, ran away.
Shadow-St entered into the body of St. After that Vibhaa
showed the whole of Lanka to Rma now as Rma could not
enter Lanka at the death of Rvaa due to the violation of his
fathers words. Stj also showed Aoka-Vanaher dwelling
place. She roamed for a while in that garden with her hand
in the hand of her husband. Staying for a few days in Lanka
Rma returned to Ayodhya along with St and Lava, Kua
etc., on Pupaka aircraft.
(nanda Rmyaa, First Part, Chapter 5-6)

To r Rdh
[Adapted from a Hindi song of the poet-saint Gaddhara Misra]

Glories all to Thee, r Rdh,

Fountain
of
blissfulness
all,
Damsel-queen, whose bodys bloom
And youthful freshness know no fall.
As the Ctak views the clouds,
Thou dost Kas azure gaze;
Like
Cakor
drinkest
Thou
His moon-like faces nectar rays.
Thou a lotus art for
Bee-like
eyes
a
And to cord His gazelle
Thou art like a

Kas
resting-place;
glances
silken lace.

Kas love, so sweet as honey,

Thou
pursuest
like
a
bee:
Thou art drowned in Kas praises,
Which are like a surging sea.
Greatly wondrous and confounding,
So
supernal
are
Thy
ways;
Thou like radiant gold dost glitter,
Though in azure sunk always.

333

To r Rdh

Never did I see or hear,

Such
a
miraculous
part:
Thou adept in four and sixty
Arts, Thou ever artless art!
Even
for
a
single
moment
Heart of whom is drawn by none,
Such Thy Lords the very heart
Thou Hast for good, for ever won.
How Gaddhara can relate Thy
Ways divine, how can he scribble?
Endless are Thy sacred glories,
While his talents are so little.
Madhava Sharan

r St Mt!
Revered and most loved
Mother of India!
Thou art the embodiment
Of womanly grace,
Virtue, chastity and endurance.
Thou art verily Goddess Lakm.
Mother dear,
Guide us with kindly light
On the way
To the abode of my Lord!
Swami Sivananda

Rdhthe Ineffable Mystery

Swami Krishnananda

Last month there was the celebration of the coming of

Bhagavn r Ka, and today the country observes the coming
of that mysterious counterpart in the life of Bhagavn r Ka
whose devotees everywhere adore as Rdha principle whose
association with Bhagavn r Ka is as important and unique
as the message that is delivered to mankind by the life of the
Lord himself. There is some intrinsic peculiarity between
creation and the Creator of this creation. The impossibility to
intelligently comprehend the dramatic relationship between God
and His manifestation has been highlighted in many ways by
philosophers and devotees, and till this day nobody has ever
been successful in knowing how the world came about. This
secret is always hidden from the eye of man by an operation
which keeps man severed from God because if this mystery
is to be known, there would be no world for anyone to
experience.
A sort of illusory relationship is essential even to enjoy the
enactment in a dramatic theatre. It is not logically possible for
a person to explain the relationship between the act and the
actor. We may think that we know it very well, but it is not
easy to understand it. The person who acts in a theatre is one
person, and the part that he plays is another thing altogether.
There is practically no known relationship between these two
elements. The one who acts is certainly different from the role
the actor puts on because the actor behaves in a manner totally
different from the manner in which he would normally behave
in the world. Hence, in that sense we may say the acting is
totally different from the actor but, at the same time, we know

Rdhthe Ineffable Mystery

335

they are identical. We cannot keep the acting somewhere in a

corner and the actor in some other place, two kilometres away.
Such is the relationship between God and this world. We
cannot know whether it is one, or it is not one. Many a time
people, even sincere devotees, are likely to have a subtle
unconscious feeling that the relationship between Ka and
Rdh is something like the relationship between Nryaa and
Lakm or between iva and Prvat. That is not the relation.
Here itself we have the mystery. The Puras, the epics and
the glorified expositions of the creative process highlight the
relationship between iva and Prvat as the power and the
wielder of the power, akti and kta, and a similar relationship
may also be attributed to Lakm-Nryaa. We understand them
as inseparables in an obviously known manner. Such a relationship
cannot be introduced here between Ka and Rdh. The world
can easily comprehend, from the point of view of the accepted
mode of understanding things, the relation between Nryaa
and Lakm. It is an intelligible, acceptable and glorious relation.
Here we have something altogether different. Rdh was not
the spouse of r Ka, nor can we consider Rdh as a akti
in the sense we consider Prvat or akti as a power of iva.
The very purpose of the incarnation of Bhagavn r Ka
was to glorify the magnificence of God. The purpose was
twofold. While the establishment of righteousness and the
destruction of all that is evil is one of the functions of the
Avatra, and is a principle function of any Avatra or Incarnation,
Dharma Lakaa and Adharma Na, and was also the function
of Bhagavn r Ka, there was something different in the
life of r Ka which was not so very obviously and
dominantly visible in other Incarnationsnamely, the demonstration
of the glory of God. The power of God in myriad forms was,
of course, revealed in other Incarnations also. A terrific force
manifested itself as Narasiha, and other marvellous forces of

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divinity manifested themselves in the well-known Incarnations

in the series. But r Ka is also called Ll Puruottama,
which means the play of God was visibly demonstrated in his
life.
How does God play? That is the history of r Kas life.
Even with the furthest stretch of the imagination of human
genius, this play of God cannot be comprehended by any mortal
existence. It is futile to hope to understand what it is. I gave
you a homely and well-known illustration of the difficulty in
our understanding the relationship between the actor and the
acting, though we cannot easily explain what it actually means.
But the glory of God is not merely superhuman in the sense
of something transcending human relations; it also violates
human relations. God is not merely a conformity to law; He
is also a violation of law. This description of God may look
frightening to the law-bound human mind, but the fright that
it may engender gets diminished and becomes intelligible the
moment we understand that a king is considered to be above
the law. All legal enactments, principles and norms of conduct
and behaviour are laid down by the king, who is the highest
judiciary, and the judiciary that he sets up lays down the
consequences of a particular judgement or investigation of a
circumstance or a situation. But the king can set at nought the
judgement of the highest judiciary in his kingdom by another
law altogether, which is not contrary to the operating law but
transcends the operating law. To the ordinary mind this looks
like a violation of the existing law.
Gods law differs totally from mans law because it
transcends mans law and, to the human mind, transcendence
always looks like a violation. All laws or norms that we see
in the dream world are violated in the waking world, as we
know very well. Waking is a total negation of every principle
that we considered as valid in dream, but we cannot consider

Rdhthe Ineffable Mystery

337

waking life as a violation of law. It is a fulfilment rather than

a violation. All the laws of dream are fulfilled in a higher
comprehension and a greater profundity in that so-called violation,
the negation of the rules of dream. So is Gods behaviour in
the world. It is a negative stroke that is dealt at all behaviour
in the human world and, as such, there is a marked difference
between the manifestations or the Avatras of Bhagavn r
Nryaa in other contexts and in the life of r Ka.
Now we come to the context of the relationship between
r Ka and Rdh. As I mentioned, it is not like the
relationship between Nryaa and Lakm or iva and Prvat.
It is the relationship between God and His creation, or in a
more philosophical jargon we may say it is the relationship
between consciousness and matter, the seer and the seen.
Nobody can say what that relationship is. In a psychological
sense we may say it is the relationship between understanding
and emotion; in a logical sense we may say it is the relationship
between subject and object; in a cosmical sense we may say
it is the relationship between God and creation; and in a more
precise, analytic sense we may say it is the relationship between
reason and instinct. They are integrally connected so that they
cannot be set apart as two different things. One continues in
the other, one is inseparable from the other, one is necessary
for the other, one is absorbed in the other.
There are two stages of spiritual Sdhan, the lower and
the higher. All the incarnations depict behaviour which is
normal, and it is only in r Kas life we have a behaviour
which is supernormalnot abnormal, but supernormaland,
therefore, to apply the norms of human life as a yardstick to
measure the measureless immensity of r Kas manifestation
would be to carry hot embers on a dry straw. It would not
be possible. r Kas coming and the various Lls that he
played, as described in the rmad Bhgavata and in the other

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

epics and the Puras, are expected to act as a kind of hint

or an indication as to the existence of something which is totally
different from what man considers as valuable and meaningful.
All the meanings that we read in this world are meaningless
in the Kingdom of God. All the wealth of the dream emperor
is meaningless in the waking life. Not only the possessions but
also the values, the very outlook of life and the norms that we
set up in every field of human understanding and relationship
are, as mentioned already, negated, set at nought, overruled,
defied for the sake of a fulfilmentwhich is God coming into
the heart of man. If we have to understand how God expects
a godman to behave, we have only to study the lives of godmen.
The great saints who were possessed by God-love and Godexperience did not behave like human beings, nor did they
behave like males and females. That they did not behave like
human beings is to say the least. They were erratic elements
in human society and considered in everyway incomprehensible
to the human norms of mutual behaviour and the conduct and
norms of relationship.
Even to this day it has never been possible for anyone to
understand what the relationship is between r Ka and
Rdh. They are not husband and wife, not brother and sister,
not parent and child. What else is it? It is something which
has never been said anywhere, and never will be said anywhere,
because it is not supposed to be said. As I mentioned, it is a
demonstration of human need and human nature, which in
ordinary life also manifests itself in our own practical existence.
But when we live in the shackles of human society and political
embankments related to the physical existence of this body, we
many a time try to fit these supernormal expectations and visions
into the procrustean bed of the visible norms of the ritual-ridden,
mechanised religion of human history.
Thus, the holy observance of r Rdh Aam is a reminder

Rdhthe Ineffable Mystery

339

to the spirit of mannot even to his psychethat there is

something in him which is not male or female, and not human.
For all practical purposes, we cannot think except as human
beings. No man can think that he is a woman, and no woman
can believe that she is a man. We can imagine how limited
our thoughts are. Whatever be their acuteness and genius of
penetrative thinking, men can never believe that they are women;
similar is the case with women. There is this terrible limitation
set upon our thinking itself and, much worse, is that which
compels us to feel that we are human beings. But r Ka
did not behave like a man or a woman, nor did he behave like
a human being. These elements of a non-human or ultra-human
behaviour are described in certain sections of the rmad
Bhgavata Mahpura, and we are always intrigued when we
hear or read about these mysteries.
God is an intriguing something, and He shall ever remain
an intriguing something. We can never calculate the length and
breadth of Gods existence by arithmetic or algebra and,
similarly, we cannot measure the rightness and the wrongness
of Gods actions by our ethical standards because human ethics
is also mathematics; it is also a measuring rod, as arithmetic
is. This cannot apply to the manifestation of a limitless being
in limited form, which we call the Avatra or the Incarnation.
In these realms, the entry of mans thought is forbidden. As
the Bible tells us, man is forbidden entry into the Kingdom of
God, and God has placed an angel wielding a flaming sword
at the gate of the Kingdom, the Garden of Eden, so that no
man may enter. No mortal can enter the Garden of Eden because
the flaming sword is whirling at the gate. This is only to say
that man should not and cannot understand God and, therefore,
the laws of God also cannot be comprehended by human
behaviour and human norms.
The complacency of mans immersion in this vainglorious

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feeling that his understanding is complete has to be shattered

one day or the other by the invasion of Gods infinity, and that
was done by the advent of Bhagavn r Ka with all that
he demonstrated in these Lls and stories that we hear of as
described in the Puras and the epics. They say God entering
man is like a mad elephant entering a thatched hut. The hut
will not remain once the elephant enters it.
All these remain only as examples for us because with mans
hardboiled ego, with this flint-like feeling that mans possession
seems to be, he will cling forever to his own stereotyped fashions
of thought; and he would like to extend the domain of his
measuring rod of understanding to the Kingdom of Heaven
which would not be permitted because the flaming sword is
there; thus, mans entry is debarred. This is why the Upaniad
says that speech, together with the mind and the understanding,
turn back baffled when they try to enter, when they even behold
the gateway to the Kingdom of God. Therefore, it is a matter
for us to admire from a distance and be thrilled at the very
thought if it. Such is the glory which, in mysterious and
indescribable ways, we seem to reveal in our own lives by
religious and spiritual observances of this kind.

The Primordial power is ever at play. She is creating,

preserving and destroying in play, as it were. This power is
called Kl. Kl is verily Brahman, and Brahman is very Kl.
It is one and the same reality.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

The Position of Female Deities

in Mdhva Sampradya
R. Sridharan

r Madhva (12381317 A. D.) is one of the greatest

propounder of Vedantic thoughts and Hindu theology. According
to him, Super sentient being Lord r Hari, sentient beings
(Jvas) and the world of matter (Jaa) are three eternal objects
existing forever and there are eternal fivefold difference (Paca
Bheda) among them. According to r Madhva, there are
innumerable souls having innumerable intrinsic natures among
themselves existing forever and there are Sttvika souls, Rjasika
souls and Tmasika souls. Divine beings or deities belong to
Sttvika group and they are Mukti Yogya Jvas (eligible for
eternal liberation). Among souls also there are male souls and
female souls eternally and intrinsically. Sometimes male souls
can enter into the bodies of female souls in this Sasrvarta
or cycle of birth and death in this world, but female souls cannot
enter into the bodies of male souls. But in Moka, all enjoy
innate bliss (Mukti Sukha) in their intrinsic bodies of males and
females only. Ones worth is determined by ones intrinsic nature
only (Svarupa Yogyat) and not by sex factor. That is why,
when you see the theology of Madhva, you can find a lot of
female deities occupying exalted positions in divine hierarchy
(Devat Tratamya). According to r Madhva the deities are
classified into 32 groups.
In the very first position r Hari occupies the Supreme
position, since He is the one and the only independent being
and All Supreme (Sarvottama Devat). Next to him only all
other divinities occupy various places according to their Svarupa

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and Svabhva (innate form and intrinsic nature). All these are
stated in various Vedas, Itihsas and Puras. A very detailed
analysis of this theory cannot be gone into this small article.
I shall briefly describe the positions occupied by the female
deities and their descent forms (Avatra Rupas) in the divine
hierarchy.
Lakm
Lakm occupies the second position in Devat Tratamya.
She is next to Lord Hari only. She is the divine consort of
Lord Hari. She does not have material body at any point of
time (Liga arra Rahita). She is possessing non-material body
(Aprkta arra) only always as r Hari. So she is Nitya Mukta
(ever liberated). She is coeval with Lord r Hari in space and
time but in divine qualities, she is far inferior to Lord r Hari.
That is why Vedas call her Sama-Asama (equal cum non-equal).
She is inseparable from the Lord. She is Nitya Aviyogin (always
inseparated). Whenever Lord incarnates she also incarnates. She
is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent for all others except
Lord. We have to worship her always in the company of her
spouse Lord r Hari. She has many specific forms like Daki,
r, nti, Bhu, Kti, Durg, Jay, Rukmi, Satyabhm, My,
Kamallay, St, Manoram and Ambhri etc.
Sarasvat and Bhrat
Brahms wife is Sarasvat, Vyus wife is Bhrat. They
occupy the fourth Varga or Kak (class) in the divine hierarchy.
They are equal in all respects. Sarasvat is slightly higher to
Bhrat due to power position. They are almost like twins. They
are Vidybhimn Devats and Buddhi Abhimn Devats. They
are also Veda-Abhimn Devats. They are inferior to their
husbands by hundredfold in qualities. They are also Paraukla
like their husbands and Ram Dev. They have no evil influence
under any circumstances. They have correct knowledge on Lord
Hari. Bhrat becomes Sarasvat in the next Kalpa and attains

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343

Moka. Sarasvat does not have any Avatra in this world. She
has various synonyms like Veda Devik, Bhuj Gyatr, Svitr,
Guru-Bhakti, raddh, Sukhtmik, Brhm and V. Bhrat
is known by the names of Vidyut, raddh, r Vidyut. She
had four descent forms. She was born as Kl, daughter of
Kirja and married Bhma. She was born as Draupad or
Pcl and married Paca Pavas. In fact in Draupad-Deha
apart from Bhrat other deities like ac (Indras wife), ymal
(Yamas wife), U (Avin Kumras wife) and Prvat (ivas
wife) took shelter and so each deity joined with their Niyata
Patis except Prvat (because iva was born as Avatthm and
Avatthm remained as celebate and so Prvat had no male
consort during that Janma). Bhrat was also born as iva Kany
in Tret Yuga and died as a maiden. She was born as Indrasen
or Nalayn and married Moudgalya Mahari. In Kali-age she
was born as Candr and died as a celebate.
After these ladies in the sixth place Kas Mahis occupy
an important place. Kas six wives are Jmbavat, Bhadr,
Nl, Klind, Mitravind and Lakma. They have Ahakra
Tattva arra. They do 39 Kalpa Sdhan and in the 40th Kalpa
become as Samahis.They reside in all Jvas navel region (Sa
Kamal). They are inferior to Garua, ea and Rudra by five
Guas. When they have Lakm vea God has union with them
and they become equal to ea Deva. Jmbavat is slightly
higher than others in position and power. In Tulas Dev
Jmbavat has full Aa. They are great devotees of Lord Hari.
After these Garuas wife Saupar, eas wife Vru and
Rudras wife Vm occupy the seventh position. They are equal
in all respects. Um becomes Vru in the next Kalpa and
attains Mukti. Saupar does not have any Avatra. Vru has
Avatra of Revat and Pey. Prvat became Sat Dkya.
All these three are inferior to their husbands by tenfold. They
are Sad-Buddhi Abhimns. Vru is higher to Um. These

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have occasional Kali vea and so they have sometimes wrong

notions about Lord Hari, otherwise they are great Viu Bhaktas.
In the tenth class Rati and ac come. They are inferior to
their husbands Kma and Indra ten times in quality. Rati was
born as Rukmvat and Lakma, and married Pradyumna
Deva Avatra of Kma; ac was as Tr in Tret Yuga and
married Vli (Indra Avatra). In Dvpara Yuga she became
Citrgad and married Arjuna. She is Jna Bhakti giver.
In the fifteenth class Daka Prajpatis wife Prasuti Shines.
She is equal to Bhgu Mahari in innate nature.
In the seventeenth class, Bhaspati cryas wife Tr
resides. Tr is the presiding deity over Sanmagala or
auspicious things. She incarnated as Kp and married Drocrya.
In the same class there is another female deity by name Pravl,
wife of Pravala Vyu.
In the twentieth Kak, we have the following female deities.
Gag, Saj, Rohi, U and ymal Dev. Gag became
the wife of ntanu and delivered Bhma; Saj is the wife
of Surya Deva, Rohi is the wife of Candra Deva. U as
daughter of Bsura, was the wife of Aniruddha son of
Pradyumna. ymal is the wife of Yama, the Dharmarja. She
was born as Devak during Dvpara Yuga and married
Dharmaputra alias Yudhihira.
In the 22nd class Agnis wife Svh, Haviya Abhimn
Devat comes. She is inferior to Gag Dev by twofold
qualities.
In the 23rd class Ka Devas actual mother Devak and
foster mother Yaod come. They are equal to another U Dev.
This U Dev is Nmbhimn Devat and wife of Avin
Devats. All these three deities are inferior. U became alya
Putr, Mdr and Jarsandhas daughter and married Nakula
and Sahadeva.
Dhar Dev, Bhumi Abhimn Devat and Kayapa-Putr

The Position of Female Deities in Mdhva Sampradya

345

occupy the 25th class. In the 27th class there are 16000 AgniPutrs. They all became as Ka Patns in Dvpara Yuga.
Among 16000 Agni-Putrs, Kaseru has Viea Snnidhya of
Lakm and she is superior to others. Then there are 100 Apsar
Strs including Pigal and Sairandhr. Tilottam was born as
alya-Putr and married Nakula. One Apsar by name Urva
entered surika body of Tak and Putan. Another Urva
was born out of the thighs of Badr Nryaa and entered in
the body of Amb, Bhmas enemy.
Apart from these female deities in the 32nd class called as
Manuyottama Jvas there is a host of unknown Muktiyogya
female souls. Similarly in the Daitya Varga also there is a host
of female evil souls chief among them is Kali-Patn, Alakm.
She is known also as Manthar. She occupies second position
next to Kali. In the 13th position from Kali, Asatya Abhimn
Daity Dual comes. She became as the sister of Duryodhana.
In the 15th position female demons Tak and Putan come.
They fought with Rma and Ka and died. Similarly there
are many evil-natured female souls who go to eternal hell after
Brahma Kalpa. In this way we can see a grand panorama of
female souls occupying high positions in the divine hierarchy
in Mdhva Sampradya as seen otherwise also from great epics
and Puras. Therefore we should not desist simply because
they are female souls. They occupy very high positions because
of their innate capacity and their Bhakti to Lord r Hari. We
should worship these female deities and their indwelling Hari
and obtain His grace according to our innate nature and capacity.

Madlasthe Divine akti of Motherhood

Minakshi Agarwal

The plight of women in todays life raises a question mark

on the basic principles of Hinduism and the strong hold it once
had upon our character and actions. In the Vedic period,
disrespectful behaviour towards any woman was considered as
a mark of disregard of the akti herself but today the woman
is not seen as a symbol of akti or the mother goddess; she
is considered to be merely a weak and meek living thing on
whom any kind of physical, mental or emotional torture can
easily be perpetrated.
Isnt it astonishing that the perpetrators themselves have been
given birth by a woman?
Here arises the need of Madlasthe woman who had
exemplified motherhood by her exceptional divinity! It must be
accepted that a son given birth by Madlas can never dishonour
any woman or girlchild!
It is an accepted fact that a major part of the character of
any human being is given shape while he/she is in the womb
of his/her mother. Those 9 months of pregnancy are the most
critical part of any childs future. Our religious Granthas like
the rmad Bhgawata-Mahpura have explicitly described
the importance of alertness, purity and divinity during the period
of conception and pregnancy. Citations of Dhtarra and
Abhimanyu are the best way to describe the effect of mothers
physical, mental and emotional state during conception and
pregnancy on the corresponding physical, mental and emotional
state of the to-be-born-child. Todays science has also accepted
this fact. If the conception takes place in a congenial, affectionate
and sanctified manner, the to-be-born-child will definitely bear

Madlasthe Divine akti of Motherhood

347

a divine character. The divinity can further be supplemented by

maintaining a healthy environment throughout the pregnancy
thus fortifying the basic foundation of any childs characterbuilding process. This is what Madlas had done!
Madlas had carefully and thoughtfully moulded her children
(before and after their birth) by keeping herself totally connected
with the divine energy of the God. Being the Prathama Guru
of her children, she guided them towards the path of divinity,
purity and strong faith in the almighty.
This is what is needed today. The Delinquents (Lawbreaking Minors) cannot be corrected by sermons or punishments
after they have moved in the direction of impurity and sin. They
should have been moulded in the correct direction when they
were in the womb of their mother and when they were infants,
learning the basics of life.
Bringing into existence a life is not an easy task and it must
be carried out in a responsible manner. We must keep in mind
that what we are creating is to represent the Divine (DevaTattva) and not the Devil (Rkasa-Tattva). The need is to fortify
the Divine energy and not the evil.
From age-old times, Hinduism has recommended some dos
and donts, the must-to-be-done and the never-to-be-done principles
for a pregnant woman. May be, some of those principles can
be adopted for giving birth to positive and divine human beings
on this earth. Maintaining a healthy and sanctified lifestyle,
eating Sttvika food, regular reading and recitation of holy
lokas, Stotras and scriptures, keeping away from all kinds of
negative and destructive elements are some of the basic
principles which directly influence the to-be-born-child through
the mother. After all, any woman would feel proud and satisfied
in getting counted as Madlasthe woman who brought
honour to the name of motherhood by her divinity proving that
the akti of motherhood is the greatest on this earth.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

Only a woman can defeat death by giving birth to a new

life, time and again proving that she represents the divine akti
The Parmb who is the mother of the whole universe. Time
has come when women must prove their existence in the form
of the Divine akti who holds in her hands the power of fruitful
creation.

He Who is Brahman is also akti. When thought of as

inactive, He is called Brahman and when thought of as the
Creator, Preserver and Destroyer, He is called the Primordial
Energy, Kl.
Brahman and akti are identical, like fire and its power
to burn. When we talk of fire, we automatically mean also
its power to burn. Again, the fires power to burn implies the
fire itself. If you accept the one you must accept the other.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Mother Cow as akti

Dr. Brahmanand

The cow is considered as symbol of goodness. The utility

of cow is considered in every period of human history. The
cow is the form of akti in many fields of human existence
primarily, the agricultural fields depends upon the cow. The
bullocks are very essential for the agriculturalists to carry out
agricultural operations. The bullocks plough the fields of the
poor peasants. The cow-dung is used as a fertilizer. The bullocks
carry the loads by bullockcarts. The bovine cattle save the
national income, which is spent on diesel and petrol. Still the
bovine cattle is useful for peasantry as well as for the entire
country.
Cow milk as a food product is very useful for the small
children as well as for youths, adults and it is useful for the
sick persons. It is as useful as the medicine. Cow milk provides
strength to the mind as well as to the body.
The colour of purified butter or ghee is like gold. The cow
urine is also considered as useful as medicine. It is the natural
pesticide for the crops.
According to American, the international society for cow
protection bullocks are more useful for cultivators than tractors
for agriculture purposes.
India, predominantly is an agricultural country. The farmers
have small holdings of land in India. Tractor is a burden on
the peasants. They fail to pay bank loans. They sell there tractors
for the payment of bank loans. The usefulness of cows is so
much. Hence, cow is considered the mother of the world
S U. There is a saying in English cow milk and honey
are root of beauty.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

According to Indian culture the importance of cow is

historical. The cow is the embodiment of peace, auspiciousness
and plenty. According to directive principles of state policy
under the Indian Consideration as under:
The state shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal
husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall in particular
take steps preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting
the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught
cattle.
The socio-economic importance of the cow cannot be
described. Cow is the backbone of Indian Culture. Cow is the
fountain of wealth and happiness. There is a Bengali saying,
, U U U U U U U No doubt
cow is the source of akti from ancient times to modern age
in India.

The Divine mother is everything. All energy or akti of

the universe, whether it is physical, biological, intellectual or
spiritual, is the manifestation of that one Divine akti, the dy
akti, the Primordial Divine Energy. This is what manifests
as this universe; manifests it, withdraws it, again brings it out.
Swami Ranganathananda

akti as Mother
Dr. Chaman Lal Raina

I am Mother Durgthe Divine Energy,

Vision of Medh Ri makes you to see Me.
I am Ca Devthe Durg Saptaat.
See Me through the wavelength of Medh Ri.
The narration of the Ri is Divine revelation,
King Suratha is just the human incarnation.
Samdhi is but a Divine observation.
Vital breath, I am in all the creatures,
Filling the universe with celestial treasures.
Being adored in the finite measures
Being perceived through the senses,
I alone exist, iva could perceive it during dances.
Mrkaeya understood the nature of fluctuations,
Touch, taste, smell, sight and sound are mere functions,
To maintain rhythm and balance of the physical emotions.
Spirit is to recognize and mind to understand,
The little ego need to evolve for higher manifestations.
I myself am the tm of Brahma, and I say so.
I am the eternal spirit revered as Viu-My, lo.
I am Unborn, but omnipresent in execution of power.
I am Mah Klthe eternal Time and time based trigger.
Measure of the time, is my game for cosmic ways.
I create aeons, years, months, nights and days.
I rise with glaciers, peaks and beautiful valleys,
Find me in mountains, jungles and trees.
The ocean is just a drop before me.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

I am a swimming action with a celestial discovery,

I am thus revered as ailaputr.
I am the graphics of the universe,
I am curve, triangle, square and process of reduction.
I am the tangent touching the circle of transfiguration.
I paint with Divine brush and cosmic colours,
Shades and tones are my impressions and Divine sisters.
The realms of Brahm, Viu and iva, are seen,
These are the glimpses of my Primal thought as have ever
been,
Ri has seen me in infinite Nought.
I bring light on the canvas of humanity.
I am revered as the First Brahmacri.
Philosophers wisdom is the shadow of my vision.
Being Durg, I am Existent the Eternal one,
I am embodiment of creation, sustenance and dissolution.
Visible I am in the flash of the Mrkaeyas eye,
Ris deciphered Dev-Mantra in syllable, word and metre.
Who adored me with the GyatrAnuup-Uik metre.
Dressed me in various colourful robes,
Putting sword and missiles in my hands.
Seeing me on the couch of a roaring lion,
Saw me manifested in Nine Virgin forms,
I alone gave a vital breath to Lord Viu.
Ananta serpent was his couch then,
Giving birth to Brahm through his navel root.
Simultaneously Madhu and Kaiabha were born and seen,
With Demoniac fierce looks they had been
Born of Vius ear-wax there and then.
Hastening they were to kill Lord BrahmJust for fun.

akti as Mother

353

Mrkaeya portrayed me as Viu-My then.

Being aroused from Cosmic Yogic sleep, was not a fun.
I was seen ornamented with conch, disc, lotus and Mudr.
With the praises of words were deluded Rkasas.
Viu addressed to them very tactfully:
O demons! You are really valorous and great,
Ask for a boon to create your Eternal fate.
Viu-My is Ka, who killed them on his thighs,
Neither was water there and nor was space.
Universe was filled with all commotion,
It was analyzed with Divine perception.
The Rtri-Suktam was born through Primal vibration.
Verily, it is the First meditation
It was all dark with infinitude
Thus the First Eternal cry was heard, at every altitude.
Brahm got stunned, begged for lease of life
Spontaneously uttered; O Svh! O Svadh!, O Akara!
The Vk got vibrated in A, U and M (O) in Vaakra.
Unseen Sun was seenit was First Nava Rtra then,
Gods were commissioned to help Brahm for procreation.
Take me verily, I am that Mahkl.
I am Mahlakm killing Mahisura.
My own creation is he, but to uphold Dharma.
Viu, Brahm and Indra could not defeat Mahisura.
I was invisible to other Gods and to Indra.
I help the Divine entity with the name of Durg,
I am thus revered as Brahmacri iva-Priy.
I play the role of Candragha,
Making the universe see the celestial iva-Tava.
I bring luminosity around the globe.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

It is just a twinkle of my eyefor fun to probe....,

To keep Nine planets in eternal dynamics.
Bhaspati is my intellect, ukra my ego, kept Surya as statist.
I am the Eternal Seed, not destroyed by any demon.
I am Lalit, the Motherhood in all and One.
Aha Brahmsmi, Tat Tva Asi is my revelation.
I am revered as Kum,
Being Saraswat, preferring aesthetics, music and beauty.
I incarnate to save the Vedic intelligence for human dignity.
I adore the gamas, I give the verdict in the Smti.
I sing the song of Eternity in the Puras.
My face is visible in the akti Sahasranmas.
I alone am fashioned in Tantra-Mantra and Yantra
For I am Skandamt of Kumra Krtikeya.
I am also adored as Ktyyan,
As I was born in the hermitage of the Ri Ktyyana.
I learnt all the quintessences of the Vedic tradition,
Keeping Dhyna, Dhra and Dhti in unison.
I again am invisible in Klartri.
I crush anti-divine having malice, hatred and jealousy.
Guiding the Devas towards the illumining path.
Thus I am slightly visible to the Yogic eye.
I am the Eternal U praising Dev Sukta.
I took birth to fulfil the dream of Kayapa.
I was born as the daughter of the Himlaya,
I am revered as Gaeas Mother Girij,
For certain, I am the Mah Gaur, Mah Vidy.
I cannot be attained through Philosophic reason,
For I am the perfection of the cosmic season.
This universe is but a drop of dew,

akti as Mother

355

Seeing and playing with me are only the few.

For I stand for self-recognition as Siddhidtr.
I again and again am born as Nava Durg,
Some praise me with the words of prescribed Puj.
Some pray me for peace and prosperity.
Some adore me to arouse Kualin.
But I lift the devotee, who loves me with sincere heart,
Evolving his deep conscience to the highest spot.
Joyfully, he finds abode in my Eternal lap.
Revitalizing divinity in every nerve, cell, joint and tissue.
This is verily, the Dev Kavacam, as revealed by Brahm.
I am DurgMother of the fame,
With akti to uphold the devotees name.
The devotee should be sincere and honest one,
Feeding all without discrimination.
Some adore me with thousand flames of Sahasranmas,
Some with Seven hundred celestial Names, with AgniHomas.
But I am only Nine Syllabled One,
I am Existent in the Ca-Bja-Mantra,
That is my celestial Akara,
Call me Durg, the Mother of cosmic vibration.

akti Concept in Durg

Saptaat and r Vidy
V. Ramanathan

The word akti means power or energy. Thus association

of akti with anything gives momentum to it. That is why we
pray to the energy of sun (Savit) in the form of Gyatr Mantra
to stimulate us for action (Dhiyo yo na pracodayt). akti
energises one for positive action. The crya (father) tells the
Brahmacr after Brahmopadeam Ma Suupta (dont sleep)
meaning remain active by imbibing energy from the akti of
Gyatr Mantra.
During Rg-Vedic and early Yajur-Vedic periods, natural
phenomena like early morning (Uus), components of nature,
like river Saraswat, senses and intellectual aspects of life like
raddh, Buddhi and Medh were worshipped as Goddesses.
Only during later part of Yajur-Vedic period, trinity of Gods
(Brahm, Viu and iva) got dominance from Agni and Indra.
Saraswat (Goddess of Knowledge and arts), Lakm (Goddess
of wealth and prosperity) and Prvat (Goddess of welfare)
became their consorts respectively and attained importance.
Various other Goddesses (aktis) were also started being
worshipped.
akti can be used either for destruction or virtuous purposes.
Nuclear power can be used for weapons or to produce
electricity. Here we consider Durg Saptaat as an example
of destructive energy. After that, we will discuss r Vidy as
an example of using energy for virtuous purposes.
Durg Saptaat (Dev Mhtmyam)
This Hindu religious work was composed by R
i Mrkaeya

akti Concept in Durg Saptaat and r Vidy

357

around 400500 BCE. This forms chapters 8193 of Mrkaeya

Pura. It has 700 lokas and hence called Saptaat. DevMhtmyam is referred to in several other Tantric texts also.
Durg Saptaat has its origin in akti (power) being used
for destruction of evil forces. The Mulamantra of Durg
Saptaat belongs to Caik, a fierce form of akti, who can
destroy anything. Thus it is one of the earliest texts of akti
tradition. Mythical, cultic and theological elements of diverse
female deities merge in this text. Thus it is a unification of all
feminine forces. It has an intrinsic significance away from its
Pura source. Its power is in its Mulamantra of one deity
spread in the three episodes, Cmu (Ca). The word
Ca (Caikviolent and impetuous) derives from Caa
(fierce, cruel, violent).
These evil forces and the attempts to destroy them occur
in our own mind. This permanent war between good and evil
is symbolised in daily Sandhyvandanam. We use the energy
(akti) of Gyatrmantra to destroy evil forces and enhance
virtuosity within us.
The evil forces in Durg Saptaat are: Madhu-Kaiabha,
Mahisura and umbha-Niumbha. They represent three
dimensions of evil forces. The unifying factor is that all these
evil forces were possessed by ego which resulted in their
destruction. Madhu-Kaiabha were overjoyed when they found
that they can check Viu from killing them. Their ego made
them offer Viu a boon. Viu asks the boon of killing them.
Madhu-Kaiabha were made to offer the boon by My akti.
Thus energy was required for the destruction of the evil. Mahia
was possessed by the ego that no woman ever has any power
to kill him. umbha-Niumbhas were highly egoistic about their
power and believed in their eternality. The greed for power to
rule the entire world, pleasure and possessions and ego have
destroyed these demoniac forces. These demoniac forces are

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

destroyed by Mahkl, Mahlakm and Mahsaraswat respectively.

These Goddesses represent Tamo-Raja-Sattva Guas respectively.
But all transform themselves into destructive modes. Kl and
the Sapta-Mtks are introduced to Vedic texts from here.
In the first episode, akti is in her universal form. She is
the central point of creation as she puts Nryaa to sleep on
the milk ocean before creation. As creation is about to happen,
the two demons attack Brahm. akti withdraws from Viu
so that He wakes up and kills the demons. Here, the akti is
in the Yogamy form. Yogamy is different from sleep. It
is full activism of energy within oneself. Thus Yogamy is the
inner energy or energy of inner consciousness where the
Supreme resides. Without awakening this inner consciousness,
the Supreme Knowledge cannot be achieved. When the awakening
occurs, it automatically destroys all evil forces within oneself
due to its own energy, again a akti form. This is the
philosophical import of the first episode.
In the second episode, akti is in the form of Durg (the
insurmountable for any evil force). Here the emotional power
of anger to destroy evil is depicted. Durg combines the forces
of all deities. On the other hand, Mahia could take any form
like buffalo and lion. These different forms of Mahia represents
different emotional dimensions of evils. All these dimensions
could be destroyed only by different forms of virtuous power.
This episode teaches us about the need to use different multiple
virtuous powers to win over different types of evils.
In the third episode, Kl emerges as the psychic power of
Dev. This is the darker, transformative aspect of positive power.
After different forms of Dev killed different demons, Dev
absorbs all other forms into herself to kill umbha in the final
war. Minor evils can be conquered easily. But destroying major
evils will require hard work combining many virtues. In Mahia
episode, many evils were concentrated in one person. In the

akti Concept in Durg Saptaat and r Vidy

359

last episode, many evil forces had to be conquered before the

final assault on the major one.
The di akti praised in the first chapter by Brahm, is the
source of all other powers. She acts as Yogamy of Nryaa
and as My (illusion) creating illusion in mortals so that only
the true pursuer can attain Brahma-Vidy.
This text represents the pre-Vedic (around 9th millennium
BCE) concept of independent existence of akti without a male
companion, a contrast to pro-Vedic interdependence concept that
there is no akti without ivam and vice versa with dominance
to male part. Dev-Mhtmyam accepts the ancient Vedic tradition
of Vak and Trayvidy. It also accepts Skhya doctrine of
a codified system. This doctrine says that Prakti manifests itself
as the three Guas. It also accepts the Paramavidy as the cause
of Mukti a concept of Vednta. It synthesises the Aryan and
non-Aryan concepts of Goddess.
In the first chapter of Dev-Mhtmyam, it says that all living
things are conscious, but knowledge is attached to senses. Devs
My power makes even the wise ones to be attracted to
pleasures and become egoistic. She is the creator of all living
and non-living things. She is also the Supreme Being and thus
eternal. She does not possess any property of identityNmaRupa-Gua-Vivarjitnma. She is beyond comprehension, yet
the only solace that comes readily to rescue the world in different
forms at different times.
r Vidy
r Vidy refers to the Tantric style of worshipping akti.
The term r means something or person of immense greatness.
Vidy denotes knowledge, science or arts. The akti worshipped
here is the Rajo-Gua deity, Lalit Tripurasundar (also called
Lalit Paramewar, Lalit). She is praised by thousand names
in Lalit Sahasranma, by 300 names in Lalit-Triat and by
108 names in Lalit-Aottaram. All these are used in the routine

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

worship of r Vidy. Some people distinguish r Vidy as the

Tantric term and r Lalit as the Vaidika term according to
the system of worship. Lalit-Sahasranma contains descriptions
of three Tantric worship styles: Kaula Yoga, Samayacaram and
r Vidy-Upsan. All the three are very commonly used
systems.
Lord iva gave 64 aktitantras to Prvat. Prvat requests
iva to give her own 65th Tantra (r Vidy) to the world to
attain all benefits of the other 64 Tantras. Thus r Vidy is
Swatantra, the 723rd Nma and is Sarvatantreyai the
724th Nma in Lalit-Sahasranmam. Based on this, r VidyTantram is also called Vmakevara Tantram, although some
scholars opine that it is something more than Vmakevara
Tantram. This is implied in the loka 31 (Catuahy etc.,)
of Saundarya Lahar composed by di akara.
r Vidy is a akti concept which shows dominance of
female power (akti) over ivam. The 58th name (Pacabrahmsanasthityai nama), 249th name (Paca-pretsansnyai
nama) and 250th name (Pacabrahmasvarupiyai nama) of
Lalit-Sahasranmam prove this.
r Vidy worship uses r Cakram (r Yantram) as the
medium. This is representative of several different aspects of
physical, metaphysical, spiritual, philosophical and modern
scientific concepts.
In Bhakti concept, three forms are recognised: Japa, Puj
and prayer chanting using mind, body or mouth respectively.
Upsan (Bhakti to a specific personally preferred deity) can
be done in any of these forms. Out of the six Upsan methods
(Saura, Gapatya, Vaiava, aiva, kta and Kaumra)
kta method belongs to worshipping Goddess as mother deity.
r Vidy-Upsan is one form of akti worship. Interestingly,
only this Upsan is given the respectful prefix r. As akti
denotes energy, kta is the worship of the energy aspect of

akti Concept in Durg Saptaat and r Vidy

361

the other five forms. r Vidy is considered to be the most

exalted system in this respect. Energy cannot be separated from
its source, although it is worshipped separately. Thus, the source
or base of akti is iva and akti is its integral part. This
contradicts the pre-Vedic independent conceptualisation of akti
from iva discussed above.
akti, as in science, has two forms: potential and kinetic.
Potential form is Praka (effulgent) and kinetic is Vimara
(illuminating). Effulgence is of inherent character. Here, the
visible world is illuminated enabling us to see. Also Praka
is the Supreme Being and Vimara is the Jvtm. Guru is
Praka (and thus identified with the Supreme, thus Advaita)
and disciple is Vimara.
r Vidy, uses this concept. It accepts the Sagua system
where like a child identifying a doll as a baby, the worshipper
identifies the medium of worship (Cakra, Dpam, Idol etc.,)
as the deity Herself. r Vidy Puj using r Cakram is
regarded as the highest form of akti worship. The time-spaceKraa and Turya dimensions are all represented in this
Cakra. The elaborate Puj process is full of metaphysical and
philosophical meanings.
Lalit means one who plays. The Cakra represents the entire
process from creation to dissolution or more precisely the
Pacakriys (Si, Sthiti, Sahram, Vilayanam and Kp) of
the universe performed by numerous deities and controlled by
r Vidy playfully. Tripura means three worlds. It also denotes
the combination of the three GuasSattva-Rajas-Tamas. She
rules sun, moon, planets, stars and hence time itself. Tripura
also means the combination of will (Icch), knowledge (Jna)
and action (Kriy); also intellectual, emotional and sensational
dimensions; the three states of soul: awakening, dreaming and
sleeping. She is Pacam (five forms or triangles of union),
Pacabhutasi (Goddess of the Pacabhutas: earth, water, air,

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

Agni, sky) and Pacatattvas as given in Lalit-Sahasranmam.

She holds a noose, a goad, a bow made of sugarcane and five
arrows made of flowers. Noose denotes attachment, goad
denotes repulsion, the bow represents mind and arrows represent
the five sense-organs. Attachment of mind to sense-organs gives
material pleasure and repulsion through knowledge acquired by
r Vidy worship is the only way to salvation.

Some people indulge in quarrels, saying, one cannot attain

anything unless one worships our Ka, or nothing can be
gained without the worship of Kl, our Divine mother, or one
cannot be saved without accepting the christian religion. This
is pure dogmatism. The dogmatist says, My religion alone
is true, and the religions of others are false. This is a bad
attitude. God can be reached by different paths.
Sri Ramakrishna

Saundarya Lahar: Beauty Supreme

R. Subramaniam

r akara Bhagavadpda is accredited as the author of

the Saundarya Lahar by Lakmdhara, Bhkara Rya
Kaivalyrama, Kmevara Suri, Acyutnanda and a host of
other commentators of the work. There are others who say that
iva Himself is the author of the Stotra. Those who ascribe
it to akara Bhagavadpda, do aver that the Dravia iu
referred to in Stanza 75 of the work, is akara himself. There
is yet another tradition about the source of this work. akara,
clad in the robes of a mendicant, paid visit to Kailasa and took
the Mantra-stra placed on the throne of wara. While he
was about to leave Kailasa along with the spoil, Nandikewara
who was on duty snatched the book from his hands. After
grappling with him for a while, the crya succeeded in
retaining a portion of the book which contained the first fortyone stanzas of the Saundarya Lahar to which were added fiftynine stanzas later on by him to complete the work.
The Saundarya Lahar, the flood of beauty eminently shares
the characteristics of a poem displaying the finest touches of
poetic fancy, a hymn of praise of Tripurasundar, a series of
Mantras, mystic formulae to be used by the Upsaka; an
exposition on the worship of the Supreme Being in Its aspect
of the akti, Creative Energy known as r Vidy. There came
to be two forms of the worship of the Dev, the former abiding
to the Vedic principles (Samaya Mrga) and the latter, Kaivalya
Mrga abiding to the sixty four Tantras, affording scope for
vulgar practices, appealing to the venal side of human nature
and exercising a demoralising effect on the votaries.
Such of those as are conversant with studying this literature,

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

will surely make easy and wonderful progress in intellectual

attainments, the supreme state of being ever worshipped by the
celestials, with formidable blessings and benedictions of the
Dev. By simply joining the two palms by way of worship and
prostration the deaf-mute became the celebrated poet. Jna
Sambandha of the south and Klidsa of the North and more
so the author of this work, akara Bhagavadpda attained
undisputed and unparalleled respect and veneration with the
blessings of the Dev. For the people to lead a contended and
successful life in the world, this work has been composed by
r akara Bhagavadpda as a Kalpaka tree endowing and
fulfilling all their legitimate desires. By studying each stanza
scrupulously one can derive prosperity and plenty in acquiring
special psychic powers, gratification of specific desires, washing
out in its torrent the evil accumulated for ages. We have,
however, to sound a note of caution here. The very essence
of r Vidy consists in its being availed by its votaries to serve
lofty and altruistic purposes. Hence care should be always taken
to see that it is not dethroned from its high pedastals to serve
ignoble and selfish ends. A few stanzas of this devine literature
is given hereunder:

Q Q
S
SU
UUUUUU

H 1H
Only if conjoint with akti (yourself), would iva earn the
privilege to become overlord, otherwise the God is not even
able to stir. When such being the case, how dares one, who
has acquired no merit, either to salute or praise You, O Goddess!
Who are worthy of being adored even by Hari, Hara, Viraca
and others?
In keeping with the tradition, the first stanza of this work
may be said to contain the quintessence of r Vidy. Kmevara

Saundarya Lahar: Beauty Supreme

365

Suri the commentator of this work has fourteen different

interpretations for the first stanza.

UUSU

U U UU H
SU Us
U U UH 5H
Having adored You, the bestower of prosperity to those that
make obeisance before You. Hari in yonder days assumed the
form of a damsel and fascinated even the destroyer of the
Tripuras. Smara likewise, by worshipping You, is powerful
enough to rouse the passions of even great sages, with a form
fit to be enjoyed by Ratis eyes.
This stanza describes the pervasive influence of r CakraPuj and the Japa of Pacada Mahmantra to attain all
prosperity and plenty including subduing and controlling all in
the world.

U U
S SDU NU

UdU k U UU

U UU
LU

UUH 9H

You are diverting Yourself in secrecy with Your Lord, in

the thousand-petalled lotus, having pierced through the Earth
situated in Muldhra, the water in the Maipura, the Fire
abiding in the Swdhihna, the Air in the Anhata, the Ether
above the Viuddhi and Mana between Aja and thus broken
through the entire Kulapath.
This stanza contains in a nutshell the quintessence of
the sublimest truths of the Vednta and the Yoga systems
in harmonious combination, in relation to the worship of the
Dev as Kualin akti of the microcosm and as the
Tripurasundar of macrocosm. Aim Siddhi, Aa Aiwarya
Siddhi and Bhagawat Svarupa Sktkra are the merits to be
accrued.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

UU

@ @ U UUH
S CU
S S U UUH 10H
Having infilled the pathway of the Nas with the streaming
shower of nectar flowing from Your pair of feet, having resumed
your own position from out of the resplendent Lunar regions,
and Yourself assuming the form of a serpent of three and a
half coils, You sleep in the hollow of Kulakua.
The Upsakas become immortal with physical stamina,
mental exuberance and adequacy of speech.

Z UU
UH
U
c
UH 12H
O Daughter of the snow-capped Mountain! The foremost
poets, Viraci, and others are disappointed in their attempt to
find a match for Your beauty, as even the celestial damsels,
in their eagerness mentally attain atonement with Gira, which
is difficult to attain even by penance. Even Brahm, Bhaspati,
Viu, Indra could not find an analogy for the supreme beauty
of the Dev. Perhaps .......

U
EU
U H
UkU

U UtUUUH 21H
Great men, who, with their minds bereft of impurity and
illusion, look on Your Kal, slender as streak of lightning of
the essence of the Sun, the Moon and Fire and abiding in the
great forest of lotuses, stand far above even the six lotuses,
derive a flood of infinite Bliss.
This stanza dispels all sorrow and torments in life. It brings

Saundarya Lahar: Beauty Supreme

367

Paramhldana, a Sajvan which brings only delight and bliss

all through the life.

SUUlU

U
pZ S h
UU
UH 98H
O Goddess ! You are eternal and are served all around by
the rays, Aim and others emanating from your own frame.
What is there to wonder at, if the Fire of the great Deluge should
perform the ritual of offering lights before whosoever conceives
You always asI am You, treating the wealth of Trinayana
as mere straw. This stanza represents the Yogin who has attained
oneness with the Dev as looking upon the untold wealth of
Sadiva as a mere trifle not worthy of acquisition.

UU UULU

U
S UUUH 34H
O Goddess! You are the frame of abhu with the Sun
and the Moon as the breasts. I conceive Your flawless frame
to be abhu. Hence the relationship of the essential and the
accessory, in the case of You both, equipped of Transcendent
Bliss and Transcendent Consciousness, stands even.
The predominance and the subservience of the two during
creation as also deluge are evenly matched. This stanza indicates
oneness of iva and aktidhra and dheya.

S L LUU
S S U U U
S U E
U H 35H
O Youthful consort of iva! You are the Mind, You the
Ether, You the Air, You the Fire, You the Water, and You

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

the Earth. When You have transformed Yourself thus, there is

nothing beyond Yourself, with a view to manifesting Yourself
in the form of the Universe, inwardly assume the form of
Consciousness and Bliss.
The akti in combination with iva is the prime cause of
the Universe. The Universe is the manifestation of the akti.
Forms and names are transient while substance is real and
eternal. It is this substance, the substratum below names and
forms which is operated upon by and evolved out of the akti.

US UU UU
U U
U U
Ur U U jH 101H
Your devotee diverts himself with Saraswat and Lakm to
become enlightened and opulent, and thus excites the jealousy
of Brahm and Viu, shatters Ratis chastity with his beautiful
frame; and endowed with long life tastes the sweetness of
exquisite Bliss bereft of the ignorance incidental to mortals.
Meditation on the identity of the microcosm with the
macrocosm, the identity of the six lotuses of the five kinds of
similarities and the six kinds of identities, exercise so great
an influence as to make the microcosm manifest as the
macrocosm.

UU

pUU
H
SU UU
SH 103H
O Mother of diction! Composing this hymn of praise of You,
in words originating from You, is much like adorning the Sun
by offering a light before him, offering the moon drops of water
flowing out of a moonstone and pleasing the ocean by pouring
water into it.

369

Saundarya Lahar: Beauty Supreme

You are the Devat for speech habits. Without Your grace
nobody can flourish in graceful speech. This work is not literally
done by me. I have praised You with Your own words. Even
as You are praised for Your glory, You are so much so the
author of this work. Even in spite of the drawbacks in this Stotra,
You have to protect me.

O Rdh Devi, Mother Divine!

Prostrations unto Thee.
Thou art Kas charmer,
Lifes all.
Thou art Kamay.
If You become gracious,
What is here
Which is not attainable?
O Devi! Be pleased!
Protect me, guide me,
Remove the veil of ignorance.
Introduce me to Lord Ka.
Make me rest in Samdhi.
Swami Sivananda

akti-Tattva
Uma Shanker Gupta

My humble salutation and adoration to the World Mother,

the akti. The cult of mother Goddess and akti, the female
divinity in Santana Dharma (eternal religion) symbolises form,
Energy (akti) or manifestation of the human spirit in all its
rich and exuberant variety. In Indian metaphysics, the feminine
symbolises the mind in creation and movement, not in rest and
withdrawal that are symbolised by the males. The images of
female divinities are far more diverse than those of Viu and
iva.
akti or Goddess in scientific terms Energy or Power is the
one without which no leaf can stir in the world, any work cannot
be done without it. Brahm, Viu and Mahea are active
without akti. Brahm, Viu and Mahea carry on their
functions of creation, preservation and destruction in accordance
with the wishes of Mah akti (akti-Tattva).
Hindu Philosophy based on Vednta, the Tantras postulate
that there is one basic energy behind all forms of matter and
energy. The source and sustenance of all creation, whether at
the level of matter or life or mind, is one only. It is akti-Tattva
(Energy), Brahma of the Vednta, and akti of Tantras are
identical. Brahma and akti are inseparable, one in two and two
in one. Dev Bhgavata has been dedicated to her. Mother cult
is centred round Prvat or Durg, is the most widely worshipped
aspect of akti. An entire Pura, Dev Bhgavatam has been
dedicated to her.
akti-Tattva in the form of divine mother Ambe Mt has
become very popular in modern Hinduism. Ambe M is untiring
mother of the whole world. She is the world mother, the Jagat-

akti-Tattva

371

Mt. The whole world rests in her sweet bosom. She is the
creatrix and generatrix of the whole universe. The whole Ll
is kept up by her. She sways the world through her three
GuasSattva, Rajas and Tamas.
Without akti-Tattva an atom cannot move. She is light in
the Sun, flow in Water, akti in Electricity and will force,
fragrance in flowers, beauty in flowers, splendour in Stars,
Chivalry in warriors, devotion in Bhaktas. Skandpura
describes that
Without akti, iva is ava (corpse). akti-Tattva is
Yogamy, she is Vidy and Avidy. She is Vedas. She guides
Sdhakas, nourishes the babies. She is untiring gardener of the
Universe. Her glory is indescribable. Her splendour is ineffable.
Her beauty, love and intelligence are inscrutable. Even the
thousand tongue diea will fail to describe her greatness. The
akti-Tattva is called Durg means one that is difficult to
approach or difficult to know. However being the mother of
Universe, she is the personification of the tender love when
supplicated. The whole universe is energized by her power. She
is the personification of all wealth, power and beauty as also
the virtues. She is the embodiment of Yaja (sacrifice), Par
Vidy (the highest knowledge concerning the spirits) as well
as Apar Vidy (knowledge of secular sciences). It is she who
bestows wealth, both material and spiritual. Her beauty and
valour are incomparable. The power and activities of all being
are manifestation of only the akti-Tattva.
The bright orb of the Sun, with thousand rays journeying
through the sky, transmitting heat, light and vitality. The silvery
Moon with its cool and soothing rays travelling in the sky like
the Sun, making the nights appear glorious and golden are the
creation of akti-Tattva. The sun revitalizes the grass, the trees,
the corn and infuses new life into all being are due to aktiTattva. The moon makes the whole earth, as if immersed in

372

Kalyana-Kalpataru

nectar with its bright lustre and charm. If the sun does not shine
what would be the result? No corn to eat, no fruit to feed
and no water to drink. The Vedas say that Sun, Moon, heaven
and earth were all created by the Par akti, the akti-Tattva
(Pura Brahma).
When we think of evolution of life and the organic world
like Jaryuja, Aaja, wedaja and Udbhijja, it is marvellous.
The combination of male and female element, bringing forth
a living organism called Jva is wonderful. The power that
supports the living creation, like human being, animals, birds,
worms and fly. Animals and human beings walk is also
mysterious. The whole creation of the universe is full of charm
and mystery. The purposive creation has infinite power and it
is all-existent. This power is akti-Tattva, the supreme power.
Vedas affirm that human eyes cannot perceive her:

DU LS p
No one can see her with his eyes but every one can realize
her with a purified intellect after purging his mind of all evil
propensities.
In rmad Bhagavadgt, Arjuna was given Jna-Cakus
by Lord Ka to see His Vivarupa. Lord Ka (the male
form of Parabrahma, the akti-Tattva) was one of the six forms
viz: iva, akti, Gaea, Surya, Viu and Brahm of boundless
immensity from which space, time and causation originate,
Vedas, Puras and other sacred books glorify their myth,
character and worship. Of all these akti-Tattva is unique.
In past Vedic period the importance of mother worship
increased, Ambik, Um, Durg, Kl names appeared which are
related to akti-Tattva. Tantric Saivism holds that the primal
active force in the Universe is not male but the female and
that She is dark and terrible as well as beautiful and seductive.
She is the akti. It is wondering Yogins of Tntrika Saivism thathas
been especially known for their magical and supernatural powers.

373

akti-Tattva

Durg is beautiful and fierce. She rides a white tiger and

carries terrible weapons. She is often depicted killing her
enemies, cutting off their heads and tearing open their bellies.
She is said to represent the female power to avenge wrong,
but she is unpredictable, and Durg is against the Wrong.
Science testifies to the truth that in the beginning of creation
of solid, liquid, gases, energy and mental manifestation was the
world or the Cosmic Vibration which came from an Intelligent
God. Intelligent Cosmic Vibration is the akti-Tattva. The
harmonious relation between man and Her ordered Cosmic
environmentseason of winter, Sunshine and Showersshows
that the universe and all matters is governed by an intelligent
scheme.
The cosmic name or word is vibratory physical manifestation
of the transcendental Power the ever present, ever conscious,
ever blissful.
Mother God, the akti-Tattva. Mother God is hungry for
your love and devotion. True and lasting happiness is found
in Her, the akti-Tattva.

O Black Mother! Have none sung Thy praise? I will sing

Thy praise.
Walt Whitman of America

Importance of Durg Saptaat

S. K. Trivedi

akti-Puj (Energy Worship)

akti worship is prevalent, in one form or another, in all
traditional societies of the world. It is believed that the energies
get dampened during the rainy season. They need re-energising
after the rains stop. akti-Puj consists of rituals performed for
the same purpose.
In Africa people make a big fire (which symbolises the Sun)
in the open and go round and round it (symbolising the planets)
to propitiate the Sun (the eternal source of all energies) and get
invigorated.
From agrarian point of view akti-Puj is the continuation
of the rituals which start after the Pit-Puj (ancestor worship)
and pass on to the worship of goddess Lakm. During this time
the farmers are somewhat free, waiting for the Kharif crop (rice,
millet etc.,) to ripen. After akti-Puj, they harvest the crop and
make preparation for the next crop.
We Indians are a step ahead of the others. We greet the
new Savatsara also with akti-Puj in spring, after the freezing
extreme of the winter season.
From sociological point of view akti-Puj symbolises the
rise and valiant role of the woman power when all others have
failedhuman beings, Yakas, Kinnars and even gods. The
demonsMahisura, umbha-Niumbha etc.,had conquered
the whole universe and no one dared to even think of any move
against them, leave alone getting rid of them. But then the
woman power rose to the occasion and reversed the trend by
making short work of the demons.

Importance of Durg Saptaat

375

The well-being of the world is looked after by energies

only, without which even iva remains simply ava (corpse).
No part of body can function without energy.
Durg Saptaat
This holy book is a vital part of Mrkaeya Pura. It
is alpha to omega of akti-Puj and is followed by allthe
Vaiavas, the aivas, the ktas, the householders, the hermits,
the Tntrikas, the vegetarians, the non-vegetarians et al. Starting
from the Saptalok Durg (the seven couplets in praise of
Goddess Durg) it proceeds through Kavaca (armour), Klaka
(wedge), Argal (bolt), the main part in 13 chapters to the three
Rahasyas (secrets),.... and ends in the Siddhakujik Stotra
(the key, the shortest way, to achieve desired goal, energy,
success and welfare), attributed to Lord iva. Its most sought
after Kavaca or Ca Kavaca provides protection to all parts
of the body from the top (crown) to the bottom (soles), naming
the protecting Goddesses. Our seers have not been selfish or
body-centred only. They didnt stop there itself, but went ahead
to seek protection for family, wealth, cattle as well as the whole
universe. The Vivewar is invoked to provide protection to
one and all

UU S
U U U UUSH
Importance of Durg Saptaat
Durg Saptaat is important for the society at large in many
ways. Some of them are
1. Unity is Strength
Manifestation of the Goddess Durg is a clear example of
the success of unity for a good purpose. Squarely defeated by
Mahisura, when all the gods under the leadership of Lord
Brahm went to Lord Viu for relief, Lord iva was also
present there. On hearing the plight of them, both the Lords

376

Kalyana-Kalpataru

became very angry. This anger came out in the form of Teja
(bright splendour). Small splendours emerged out of the mouths
of other gods also. All these splendours combined together and
manifested in the form of the Goddess. Then all contributed,
whatever they could, to make the deity fully equipped with
everything in order to counter the demon. She accomplished
the task bravely and gloriously, and brought the order back in
the universal system.
The celebrated Hindi poet Jai akara Prasda perhaps had
this in his mind when he wrote in the epic Kmyan-

l, S U U L;
U U S U H
(raddh)
The electrons of energy are lying scattered helplessly. May
humanity combine and co-ordinate them all and become victorious.
2. Evolution of woman power
Durg Saptaat heralds a new era when woman takes up
arms to annihilate injustice and lawlessness in society. Shorn
of all pride and left with no option, the gods had to invoke
the woman power in the form of Mahakti, Ca or Durg,
thus accepting her superiority. At her best woman can ride, not
only tame, the fiercest (Bengal Tiger, who too played a significant
role in decimating the devils) and command the respect of
mightiest ( Lord iva, who readily agreed to be Her messenger).
3. Condition for espousal
Knowingly or unknowingly the Goddess laid down the
universal condition for espousal when She threw down the
gauntlet

U
cH

(r Durg Saptaat V. 120)

(Who defeats me in battle, who subdues my pride, who is

Importance of Durg Saptaat

377

my counterpart in strength, He shall be my spouse.)

Meaning: The male of the species should be superior
physically as well as mentally than the female one.
4. Respect for the vanquished foe
It has been made obligatory to perform worship to Mahisura
alsoU # ( UUS-x)who
achieved union with the deity. In our culture, we have never
been cruel to a subdued or dead enemy and always paid full
respect to them.
5. No war mongering, just tit for tat
Some ignorant people criticise our gods and goddesses for
carrying weapons with them. They forget that weapons are not
for fighting only. They are basically for protection and are used
in war only when all other options have been exhausted.
The Goddess doesnt attack anyone. She takes up arm only
to check the unholy advances of the wicked.
6. Fight for peace and order
The Goddess is not worshipped as power (akti) and victory
only She is also worshipped as M S (being
in all as peace). Peace is the ultimate aim of human life.
The terror of the demons scares even the nature, causing
great harm and calamities everywhere. Their destruction
re-establishes the order and paves the way for progress and
prosperity, which are not possible without peace. The Goddess
facilitates this by removing the perpetrators of lawlessness.
7. Lesson to the lustful
A good lesson has been taught to the wicked who imitate
bravery by molesting the helpless, weak and innocent, assuring
humanity of divine protection.
Thus importance of Durg Saptaat is beyond doubt. May
the Goddess bless us all.

akti in Yogavsiha
Mylavarapu Lakshmi Narasimham

What is Yogavsiha?
Vasihas Upadea to r Rma regarding Jna-akti
related to Yoga is nothing but the spiritual combination between
Jvtm and Paramtm. Yoga is the verbal boun derived from
the verb Yuj. Yogavsiha was written by Mahari Vlmki
consisted with seven Prakaraas and thirty-two thousand
stanzas (lokas).
After completing Gurukulavsa, r Rma returned to
Ayodhya with his brothers. r Rma got Vairgya knowing
the situation, Vasiha enlightened r Rma with his Upadea.
Adhytma Jna-akti is the essence of this Vasiha Gt. This
was appreciated by Nrada, Viwmitra stand Pulastya etcetera
Maharis. This Gt of Vasiha was explained to r Rma
for twenty days.
Contents of Yogavsiha:
There are seven parts. The first part is Vairgya Prakaraa
in which r Rma expresses in Vrgatwa.

H
U U
S S H
Is then happiness in this world, every one takes birth and
dies for rebirth. I dont want this kingdom and pleasures, who
am I and from where I have come, the world is in truth let
it be like that. No purpose is coming from it. In this way r
Rma told Vasiha about earthly pleasures and attitudes which
are purely temporary. This is described in 189 lokas.

akti in Yogavsiha

379

Vasihas Jnabodha was started in second chapters

onwards with various points from Vedas with suitable illustrations.
Second chapter is Mumuku Prakaraa in which Purua
Prayatna, Moka Sdhan were explained. In third chapter,
Utpatti Prakaraa, Vasiha explained tma Jnam, the
knowledge of Soul with different stories like Llopkhynam,
Karkatyopkhynam, Aindavopkhynam etc. Fourth chapter,
Sthiti Prakaraa contains Bhrgavopkhynam, Dmavylopkhynam, Duropkhynam, Prahldopkhynam etc. In
fifth chapter Upaama Prakaraa, Vasiha explained the stories
of (Janaka, Prahlda, Gdhi, Uddlaka, Vtahavya, were explained,
which have the akti of tm.
In sixth chapter Nirva Prakaraa Purvrdham eight
contents are existed. The fourth content is Arjunopkhynam.
This is the most interesting story of Arjuna of Dwparayuga.
Bhagavn Vasiha narrated the incidents of Mahbhrata
Oh Rma! Lord Viu will send his divine power in Dwpara
as Nryaa and Nara with the names r Ka and Arjuna.
There will be war between Kauravas and Pavas. Before
attending the battle in the place Kurukshetra, Arjuna will feel
sad by seeing his near and dear in the group of enemies. Then
he will express his feelings, not to fight with enemies. Then
r Ka will enlighten Arjuna by Gtopadea. By hearing the
Upadea, you will get the energy of enlightenment. In this
fourth part of sixth chapter Arjunopkhynam same stanzas
(lokas) can be seen as it is which are seen in Bhagavadgt

E U U U UUH
(II. 20)
The soul has no birth and death. It exists in all times if
the body is destroyed. The soul is not destroyed because it is
permanent.

380

Kalyana-Kalpataru

U
mmQ UU H
(Gt XV. 5)
The persons who leave Arjuna, Abhimna who live always
in tm by leaving attachment, who leave the happiness and
unhappiness and who are far from the desires can attain place
of tm which is divine.
More than twenty-five lokas are seen as it is of Bhagavadgt,
in this part. Almost the substance of eighteen chapters of Gt
can be seen in Arjunopkhynam. According to this the
Jnaakti is common in Yogavsiha and Gt.
The next part of the same chapter is Culopkhynam the
story of the queen Cul. ikhidhvaja was the king of Mlava,
capital is Ujjayini. His wife Cul became Yagin by getting
the power of Yga. She could fly in sky as well as across the
sea. She could appear and disappear. She prepared her husband
to become dhytmayog and Brahma-Jn. The king attained
the same Jna by the Upadea of his wife. Then both of them
got Nirva which is Moka.
With this story the spirit of women is known which is
explained in the first stanza of akaras Saundarya Lahar

Q Q

In the same way the spirit of energy was explained to r

Rma by Vasiha in the last chapter Nirva Prakaraa
Uttarrdham in six incidents of different stories. The ending
part is r Rma Virnti in which r Rma got enlighenment
by the spirit of knowledge Jnaakti.
Message of Yogavsiha
In this period of ignorance of Kaliyuga, it is necessary to
get spirit of knowledge, which was explained by Vasiha to
r Rma. We know that Rma is nothing but Lord Viu.
But the Lord in the shape of man, gives message to us that

381

akti in Yogavsiha

without the guidance of the well-known Guru, the energy of

knowledge is not attained. According to Swm Viveknanda,
every person has got the power of Mind and intellect, but it
should be enlightened by Guru only as he was enlightened by
r Rmaka Paramahasa. We have to follow the footsteps
of Guru.

Vision of Dev
There was a Mahtama saint. He used to adore Devj
in lonliness. One day when he was worshipping Dev; he had
a thought that Dev ought to bless him with Her Vision. That
very time he sighted that a cat wearing saree, is walking on
her hind legs. Once he got afraid but he prayed to the Mother,
O Mother! Dont put me to fear this way. That very time
the cat manifested Herself as Dev and Devj partook of his
offered sweet.

Goddess akti, My Mother

Chilukuri Venkateswarlu

Oh! Mother,
You are the Mother of mothers
You give me life to live like others,
You leave me alone, unlike other mothers.
Knowing not your omniscience,
Unaware of your omnipresence,
I roam about in innocence.
Like a parrot I talk, as You preach,
Like a chariot I move, as You direct,
Like a creeper I think, as You design.
Let all my thoughts be of You,
Let all my action be for You,
Let all my words praise You.
Direct me to Your domain,
To live in peace and remain,
There, without return again.

Mystery of Buddhaakti
Gautam Chakraborty

Sans akti (power) nothing is executed. When akti is in

playing condition all is manifested, the reverse is unya. The
reverse means: akti remains in non-action-state within its origin.
This state is dibuddha, unya, Vajra in Buddhism. Buddhadeva
says to Subhuti, Ye ca subhute uny akay api te. Y ca
unyat aprameyat api s.(Aashasrika Prajpramit,
18th Parivarta) i.e., O Subhutiwhat is unya is non-perishable.
What is called unyat is non-measurable.
So this unya is not void, this is fullness. When an
aspirant is in Brahma-Nirva state his condition is
U U UH
(Maitreyyupaniad II. 27) i.e., the in is full and the out is
full just like the waterful jar into the sea and the in is (seen)
vacant and the out is (seen) vacant just like the vacant jar
in the sky.
Yes. In Buddhism this unya i.e., dibuddha is Brahma
in Santana Dharma (i.e., Hinduism). When Brahma is in nonaction-state it is Nirgua Brahma. When it is activated it is
Sagua Brahma. i.e., manifested akti of Nirgua Brahma
(Hasopaniad. 2). This Sagua Brahma
consists of three formless forms (i.e., Sagua Nirkra Brahma)
which are Brahm, Viu and Mahewara originated from the
dyakti of Nirgua Brahma in three different names as
Brahm, Vaiav and Rudr, US .....
(wetwataropaniad VI. 8) i.e., the divine akti of this
Parabrahma is of variety.
It is clear that akti is all. akti and aktimn is same

384

Kalyana-Kalpataru

no difference in inner state; only apparent words are different.

And this akti is called Prakti in another name. Further
Prakti is derived into five Mahbhutas which are Vyoma,
Marut, Teja, Ap and Kiti and this five Jagat-Kraa (Mahbhuta)
are headed by five Gods named as Viu, Surya, Mhewar
(Durg), Gaea and iva respectively. kasydhipo
viurgaecaiva mhewar, vyo surya Kitero Jvanasya
gadhipo. Thus these five Gods are Sagua Skra Brahma
and for this reason in Santana Dharma every Puj is started
with the Puj of these five Gods. From these five Gods
the terms of Vaiava, Saura, kta, Gapatya and aiva are
born, so basically there is no difference among the Five, this
is why no Puj is performed without the Puj of these Five.
Thus variety reigns in unity which is the quintessence of
Santana Dharma.
The almost same rule applies in Buddhism. When dibuddha
(non-action-state) is imagined and activated through its akti,
it is named as Vajradhara and akti is named as Prajpramit.
Then from dibuddha five Dhynbuddhas are originated
with their respective akti which is called Buddhaakti.
Five Dhynbuddhas are named as Vairocana, Ratnasambhava,
Amitbha, Amoghasiddhi and Akobhya and their respective
Buddhaaktis are Locan (Rocan), Vajradhtwewar, Pandar
(Pandaravin), Tr and Mmak.
They are the Gods of five Skandhas which are called Jagatkraa same as Mahbhuta in Santana Dharma. These five
Skandhas areRupa, Vedana, Saj, Saskra and Vijna
respectively.
And in another case one more Dhynbuddha is taken as
Vajrasatwa and his akti is Vajrasatwtmik.
A brief description is pictured now for Buddhaaktis and
Dhynbuddhas to recognize at a glance:

Mystery of Buddhaakti
Buddhaakti

Related

with Vhana

Dhynbuddha

Locan (Rocan)

Vairocana

385

Symbol Colour

Related
Skandhas

Cakra

White

Rupa

Gem

Yellow

Vedan

Lotus

Red

Saj

Amoghasiddhi

Viwa-

Green

Saskra

(in Abhaya Mudr)

Vajra

MmakTwo

Akobhya

Vajra

Blue

Vijna

Elephants

(in Bhumispara

Two Fierce Looking

(in Dharmacakra

Snakes

Mudr)

Vajradhtwiwartwo

Ratnasambhva

Lions

(in Varada Mudr)

Pandar

Amitbha

(Pandaravin)

(in Samdhi Mudr)

Two Peacocks
TrTwo Garurhas

Mudr)

The images of Goddesses of Buddhaakti are as follows:

All are sitting on the moon in a posture of Lalitsana (i.e.,
the left leg lies on the base horizontally while the right leg is
in hanging posture from the base).
All bear their respective small Dhynbuddha images on
their heads.
All have their right hand in Varadamudr, (i.e., the right
hand hangs aside showing the palm with open fingers) and the
left hand near the breast showing the palm in Naivedyamudr
as in Hinduism (i.e., the tip of ring finger and the tip of thumb
are touched while the other three fingers are in standing position
with slight bending).
All hold the full bloomed loti (lotuses) with pipes with two
hands by two sides.
All loti bear the respective symbols on them.
All goddesses look very divine, calm and graceful.
In Buddhism two main divisions are Hinayna and Mahyna.

386

Kalyana-Kalpataru

Then comes Tantrayna. In Tantrayna there are various

schools, of them Mantrayna, Vajrayna, Sahajayna,
Klacakrayna, Lamayna and Dalailamayna are the main.
From this Vajrayna school mainly the images of Buddhaakti,
Dhynbuddha appear with their Vhanas, symbols etc.
In Santana Dharma, in meditation Mantra is seen by the
seers, then the Rupa of Mantra-adhihta-devat is seen
where from the image of Devat is created and afterwards
in the reverse way through concentration on the image of Devat
with Mantra one meditates and enters into the impalpable state,
i.e., Samdhi, the gateway of kingdom of God. This is the
mystery episode of Murti-worshipping.
The same episode runs in Buddhism mainly as per Vajrayna
schoolin meditation on Vajra, i.e., unya with Mantra, the
Mantra is seen, the Rupa of Mantra-image forms the Godimage where from the images of Devat are created. This is
the mystery episode of creation of images of Buddhaakti
goddesses etc., in Buddhism.

Table of 51 aktiphas
aktipha

1. Kira

Limbs or
Ornament
Kira

akti

Vimal,

Bhairava

Savarta

Bhuvane
2. Vndvana

Keapa

Um

Bhutea

3. Karavra

Trinetra

Mahiamardin

Krodha

4. rparvata

Dakia Talpa

rsundar

Sundarnanda

5. Vras

Kara-mai

Vilk

Klabhairava

6. Godvartaa

Vma Gaa
(Kapola)

7. uci

Urdhva Danta

Vive,Rukmi, Daapi
Vivamtk

(Vatsanbha)

Nrya

Sahra

(Kanykumr) (Phabhga)

(Sakura)

8. Pacasgara

Adhodanta

Vrh

Mahrudra

9. Jwlmukh

Jihv

Siddhid

Unmatta

10. Bhairavaparvata Urdhva Oha

Avant

Lambakara

11. Aahsa

Adharoha

Phullar

Vivea

12. Janasthna

Thu

Bhrmar

Viktka

13. Kamra

Kanha

Mahmy

Trisandhyewara

14. Nandpura

Kanhahra

Nandin

Nandikewara

15. raila

Grv

Mahlakm

Savarnanda
(warnanda)

16. Nalaha

Udaranal

17. Mithil

Vma Skandha Um, Mahdev Mahodara

18. Ratnval

Dakia
Skandha

Klik
Kumr

Yoga
iva

388

Kalyana-Kalpataru

19. Prabhsa

Udara

Candrabhg

Vakratua

20. Jlandhara

Vma Stana

Tripuramlin

Bhaa

21. Rmagiri

Dakia Stana

ivn

Caa

22. Vaidyantha

Hdaya

Jayadurg

Vaidyantha

23. Vaktrewara

Mana

Mahiamardin

Vaktrantha

24. Kanyakrama Pha

arv

Nimia

25. Bahul

Vma Bahu

Bahul

Bhruka

26. Ujjayin

Kuhan

Magalacaik MgalyaKapilmbara

27. Maivedika

Kaliyn

28. Prayga

Htha k Agul Lalit

29. Virijketra in Nbhi

Gyatr

arvnanda
Bhava

Vimal

Jaganntha

Devagarbh

Ruru

Utkal
30. Kac

Kakla

31. Klamdhava

Vma Nitamba Kl

Asitga

32. oa

Dakia

Narmad,

Bhadrasena

Nitamba

ok

Yoni

Kmkhy

33. Kmagiri

Umnanda
(Umntha)

34. Jayant

Vma Jagh

Jayant

Kramadwara

35. Magadha

Dakia Jagh Sarvnandakar

Vyomakea

36. Tristrot

Vma Pda

Bhrmar

wara

37. Tripur

Dakia Pda

Tripurasundar

Tripurea

38. Vibha

Byn Takhan Kaplin,

Sarvnanda

Bhmarup
39. Kuruketra

Dakia Gulf

Svitr

Sthu

40. Yugdy

Dakia

Bhutadhtr

Krakaaka

Pdguha

(Yugdy)

Table of 51 aktiphas
41. Vira

Dakia

389

Ambik

Amta

Klik

Nakula

Pdguliyn
42. Klpha

Anya Pdaguliyn

43. Mnasa

Dakia Hathel

Dkya

Amara

44. Lak

Nupura

Indrk

Rkasewara

45. Gaak

Dakia Gaa

Gaak

Cakrapi

(Kapola)
46. Nepla

Donon Jnu

Mahmy

Kapla

47. Higul

Brahmarandhra

Koar

Bhmalocana

48. Sugandh

Nsik

Sunand

Tryambaka

49. Karatoytaa

Vma Talpa

Apar

Vmana

50. Caala

Dakia Bhu

Bhavn

Candraekhara

51. Yaora

Byn Hathel

Yaorevar

Candra

iva and akti, which together constitute the ultimate

reality. One is active, the other is not active. But they are one
and the same. A serpent in motion is akti, the serpent coiled
up is iva.
Sri Ramakrishna

A Few kta Sdhakas

1. r Rmaka Paramahasa
Among the prominent Sdhakas of akti in Bengal r
Rmaka Paramahasa commands an eminent position. r
Rmaka has become famous all over the world including
countries like America. The birth of this divinity took place at
about 5:15 am, on 18th February 1836 A.D. corresponding to
Vikrama Savat 1892. The place of birth was the village of
Kmrapukura in Hoogly District. His fathers name was
Khudrma Caopdhyya, and mother was Candramai Dev.
The infant was christened Gaddhara. He was the youngest of
the three brothers. The name of his brothers were Rma Kumra
and Rmewara.
When he became seventeen years old, Gaddhara accompanied
his elder brother Rma Kumra to Calcutta (Kolkata). Rma
Kumra was the family priest of many houses. He officiated
as their priest in conducting Pujs and rddhas. The end result
was that Gaddhara also had to shoulder this responsibility at
times. Gaddhara was also entrusted with the worship in a
family. Finding this worship very suitable for his temperament
Gaddhara immersed himself in it. Soon as days passed by,
worship of the Lord and discussing spiritual matters became the
prominent trait in Gaddhara, he almost forgot everything else.
His mind became very dispassionate. Turning his mind from
earning money and enjoying pleasures; he resorted to bliss of
worship. Immersing himself completely in worshipping the Lord,
and discussing on His Divine Lls (sports) and traits (Guas)
Gaddhara was lost to the world.
The priests Rma Kumra and Gaddhara commanded
respect from the rich Rn Rsama. The Rn treated them

A Few kta Sdhakas

391

with respect and regarded the brothers as her Gurus. On a

suitable place in Dakiewara on the banks of Gag, the Rn
built a huge temple in her garden dedicated to her Ia Goddess
Mahmy ( Kl ) and entrusted the worship of deity to Rma
Kumra. After some days Gaddhara also came and joined
Rma Kumra. Eventually Gaddhara was appointed the priest
of the temple. In the serene, peaceful charming garden of
Dakiewara sanctified by the divine presence of Mahmy,
the mind of Gaddhara soared to the divine heights of Divine
Love. r Gaddhara had a great urge to see the Divine Mother.
Nothing but the vision of the Divine Mother could satisfy him.
Day and night he was deeply engrossed in the single thought
How to have a vision of my Mother? At times even forgetting
to do the daily worship he used to cry before the Divine Mother
regretting that one day of my short life has elapsed still you
didnt bless me with your vision. During these times, he was
never aware of the passing of time. Sometimes for days, giving
up food, water and sleep he shed tears of longing day and night
urging and voicing his ardent plea aloud to the Mother to appear
before him. At those times he used to avow to the Mother that
he loved Her only; that he wanted nothing besides Her.
Seeing his brother Gaddhara, becoming more and more
dispassionate, the worried Rma Kumra celebrated Gaddharas
marriage with a girl of six years named rad. But nothing
could deter the firm resolve of Gaddhara to worship the Divine
Mother with fervour. After his marriage Gaddhara soon
returned to Dakiewara only to immerse himself in the worship
of akti with great fervour. After some days, Gaddhara once
went to his wife and asked herWould you please forget the
marital bond between us and grant me the permission to devote
my life to the worship of the Divine Mother? The innocent bride
rad gladly gave the much sought-after permission to Gaddhara
and encouraged him in several ways to worship Kl. Later this

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

little bride accepted the discipleship of her husband and

blossomed into a great saint and devotee of God. She became
famous all over Bengal as the Divine Mother and is to this
day worshipped by many as an Incarnation of Mahmy.
After getting permission from his wife Gaddhara felt that
all his relations with the ephemeral world have been snapped.
All his hardships in Sdhan have vanished. So with an
exceptional enthusiasm, he practised his Sdhan and worship
of akti. The name of Mother Kl would make him mad with
divine fervour. He would often go into raptures hearing the
Mothers name. Thus often he would lose body-consciousness
and go into trances. He regarded his body as the sacred abode
of the Goddess. With this firm conviction forsaking the world
he used to call again and again Mother! Mother!! When he used
to sit for worship of the Divine Mother, his worship would go
on continuously worshipping thus, in moods of ecstasy and self
oblivion, he would offer flowers to be offered to the Goddess
to himself. When rat is to be done, he would wave the lights
( rat ), but in self oblivion would go on doing so. On sitting
for meditation his trance state would continue for long hours.
Unaware of day and night, he would be lost to the world. His
motionless body in meditation would seem as though a statue
made of stone. Unable to know when his Samdhi would break,
people would wonder at his devotion. Other than such unshakable
firm devotion, no Japa, no Tapa (austerity), no Puj, no
recitation, no Kriy was found in him. His sole spiritual pursuit
was to anxiously call out Mother, Mother and thus express
his deep longing for Her vision.
Seeing this plight of r Rmaka, Rn Rsama, the
benevolent lady entrusted the regular worship in the temple to
another person. Further she made all arrangements for the
comfortable stay of r Rmaka at the temple, regarding him
to be an exalted soul. Now finding relief at the transfer of

A Few kta Sdhakas

393

responsibility of the chief priest of the temple to someone else.

r Rmaka could concentrate completely on his Sdhan.
Thus his Sdhan continued unabatedly with more vigour until
his fortieth year. Greatly pleased at the unshakable faith and
profound devotion of Her ardent devotee, the Divine Mother
granted his wish. It is said that the Universal Mother used to
appear before Her dear devotee, r Rmaka and guide and
guard him. By the grace of the Divine Mother the illiterate priest
of a temple attained Realization of Brahma.
It is said that he used to shine radiantly with the divine
splendour of Sat-Cit-nanda. As the devotion of r Rmaka
reached its zenith, so did the grace of the World Mother fall
more and more on him. Proportionately to Her grace, fame and
glory touched r Rmakas feet.
News spread all over Calcutta (Kolkata) and Bengal that
a great sage lives in Dakiewara, has blossomed in Dakiewara.
Crowds of people from nook and corner of the country and
foreign countries started pouring into Dakiewara. With a heart
filled with gratitude, immensely benefitted by the spiritual
counsel of r Ramaka they left Dakiewara. Just as the
blossoming lotus flower attracts honey-bees, this great sage
attracted ardent aspirants on path of God. The pre-eminent of
all disciples of Rmaka was Swm Viveknanda. Not only
did Swm Viveknanda preached his Masters philosophy in
India, but he preached it all around the world. Thus the
philosophy of Rmaka travelled far and wide through his
ideal disciples and won acclaim all over the world. For further
dispensing his, Masters message Swm Viveknanda founded
r Rmaka Missionan institution dedicated to the service
of all humanity. The simple lives of r Rmaka and his wife
rad Dev, their austerities won Universal appeal. People,
especially seekers of Truth all over the world began to hold
(regard) him as an Ideal Saint and Master.

394

Kalyana-Kalpataru

Unto this day, Rmaka Mission, in line with the noble

vision of Swm Viveknanda is serving people with exemplary
dedication in both spiritual and temporal (material) affairs.
r Rmaka Paramahasa, until his Samdhi (last days)
quenched the spiritual thirst of ardent seekers and guided several
seekers on the rugged terrain of God-realization.
On 16th August 1886 ( corresponding to Vikrama Savat
1943) r Rmaka merged into the Absolute leaving behind
a legacy of Bhakti and Sdhan for seekers to follow.

2. VmkepA Great akti-Sdhaka of Bengal

Dr. Mukunda Pati Tripathi Ratnamlya

Strange are the ways of Mahmy and stranger far are the
deeds of her devotees who take birth in every time and
clime regardless of caste, creed, sect, colour and gender. They
wander over the whole world doing everything and doing
nothing. They are beyond the limits of sanity and insanity.
Sometimes they laugh aloud or weep bitterly, sometimes they
dance incessantly, they sanctify the places where they live.
Sometimes they sing aloud.

L
U

(Bhgavata XI. 14. 24)

Such people are the real ornaments of the earth out of
ecstasy, they sing aloud

U
U

SU!

U
H

A Few kta Sdhakas

395

!
,
S
H

(Abhinavagupta)
O divine mother Ambike! how can I eulogise Thee? All
the letters of the alphabet are the linguistic expression of Thy
own limbs. Wherever my eyes fall, they visualise none but Thee.
The outer Brahma and the inner Pia is permeated by
Thee. Hence, O mother! the killer of all the inauspicious omens,
I cant stir even an inch without Thy inspiration. Every breath
of my life is engaged in Thy eulogy, Japa and meditation; you
are presiding over all my activities.
In the recent past, in the pious and spiritually fertile land
of Bengal, a great devotee of extraordinary merit did live. People
used to call him VmkepVm the mad, lovingly. He was
born in a small village Atal near Tarapur. His parents
Sarvnanda and Rjakumr were simple, upright persons
belonging to the Caopdhyya tradition. He had a younger
brother and two sisters, too. The younger one Rmacandra
remained engaged in household affairs, while Vmcaraa
emerged as a great Tntrika Yog of Bengal, whose fame
spread far and wide like the sweet fragrance of a flower. He
was born in 1891, Vikrama Savat. During his infancy, he was
averse to studies. He delighted in playing with and delightfully
worshipping self made earthen idols. He used to celebrate the
Puj ceremony of Mother Kl, Durg and Jagaddhtr.
His family members felt proud of him. The days were passing
smoothly. All of a sudden the table turned, his father the single
earning member of the family passed away. The economic
condition of the family detoriated from bad to worse. A total
devotee of Kl, Vmcaraa, cared a fig for all this care was
not a word included in his dictionary. Whenever his mother
insisted on him to do some work, he would reply, Can anyone

396

Kalyana-Kalpataru

die from starvation in the kingdom of Jagadamb? In the hours

of anxiety, he would run to the shrine of mother Tr and
tell all his troubles to her. By the grace of her, most of his
difficulties were removed somehow or other. One day, the
mother pressed him hard to start some lucrative business, he
ran straight to the Trpha and bewailed for long. Mother
Tr favoured a bit and he got the job of an assistant votary
in a temple, at the age of 15 years. He got the duty of preparing
Prasda and bringing leaves, flowers and fruits from nearby
garden. His careless cooking irritated the head votary and he
entrusted him with the task of bringing Puj-Updnas
(materials for worship) only. But who can change the nature
of destiny? Very often, he would sit in Samdhi quite oblivious
of the external world. One day, the head votary ordered him
to bring flowers immediately. He had to go somewhere else.
Poor Vm went to the garden and fell into a trance just on
the tree. A great delay took place. The outraged votary rushed
to the garden crying Vm, Vm, but to his irritation; Vm
did not listen to his outcry. He ordered a man to drag him down
the tree. Vm remained unconscious even being dragged to
the ground. He regained consciousness after a few sprinkles of
water. He burst out, Quite good, O Sir! I have brought plenty
of flowers today. The votary finished his worship in helter
skelter and commanded Vm to offer the Bhoga to the idol.
His mode of worship displeased Vm and he said that he
could not obey the orders of such a devotionless votary. Out
of this altercation his duties were dismissed outright. He started
cultivation thereafter. This pursuit also ended in a failure. The
mother sent both the brothers to the house of their maternal
uncle, where they were disliked and teased by the maternal aunt.
Vm was sent to tend cows. Here also he proved a failure.
Sometimes, he would sit under a tree and dance outcrying Hari
Bola! Hari Bola!!, Jaya M Tr! Jaya M Tr!!. The cows

A Few kta Sdhakas

397

of his charge went to the field nearby and did harm to the crops.
One day, while he was immersed in his Dhyna his cows
entered the fields of some farmers. They called him to ward
off the cows and when oblivious. Vm did not move, they
began to beat the cows with their sticks. All of a sudden, Vm
yelled, Dont beat me brethren, do not beat me! I am afraid
already of my maternal aunts beating. If you beat me, I must
breathe my last. People began to laugh. What a mad boy this
is! We are beating the cows and he is crying aloud. How could
they feel the soft empathetic super sensibility of magnanimousVm?
After a few days, the maternal aunt drove the brothers to their
home back. The wheels of time rolled on. One midnight, Vm
left his bed and began to pace up in his verandah. Mother
Rjakumr also woke up and implored him to go to bed again
but how could she arrest the speed of Vm who was hearing
the clarion call of mother Tr? Vm exclaimed, Bless me
mother, bless me! and he ran away to the jungle in utter
darkness, with a hurricane speed. He crossed some part of the
jungle and reached the burial ground which looked very
awesome, desolate and gloomy. To his utter dismay, a gigantic
figure with matted locks and long beard arrested him almost
like clasping. He said, Come on child! I have been waiting
for your arrival for long. You are my disciple. He was saint
Kailsapati, the Vrajavs, a renowned saint of that area.
Another saint named Mokadnanda used to live in his
company. Getting their company the gates of his fortune were
unlocked. The quiet, calm atmosphere and the association of
great Mahtms exerted a miraculous change in him. He would
sit like enchanted listening to the thoughtful discourse of the
two, comprehending nothing. Saint Vrajavs, one day, advised
Mokad Bb to instruct him some Vedic Mantras and
Tntrika rituals. By the grace of Jagadamb Vm acquired
proficiency in those, in no time. The Saskras of his previous

398

Kalyana-Kalpataru

births bore fruit. One day he got the Bja Mantra of mother
Tr by the grace of Bb Kailsapati. He went on meditating
that round the clock and got the Skt Darana of Jagadamb.
His difficult days had passed. Mokadnanda the great Kaulic
Mahtm deputed him as a votary of Trpha. After his
death, he became the full incharge thereat. One day, while he
was bathing in river Devik, he heard a tumultuous uproar on
the other side. People had gathered there with the corpse of
his own mother. When he came to know this, he jumped straight
into the river. The river was rippling furiously. He reached the
other side buffeting the waves, bound the dead body on his
back and jumped again into the river. People thought that there
must be a Jala Samdhi of the dead and the alive, but to
their bewilderment Vmcaraa reached safe. He performed
cremation and sat before the mother of all mothers. He forgot
everything. Three days before the Bhar (Brahmabhoja)
he went to his village and invited thousands of neighbouring
people to attend the feast. When his family members and
villagers came to know of this, they were dazed to think that
a simple, single glass of water would not be possible to supply
for such a great congregation. Rmacandra thought of running
to some other village to save disgrace. Carefree Vm did not
care a fig on the fixed date. The Village-folk were surprised
to see host of people gathering with variety of sweets and
victuals since early morning. Never they had seen such a
plethora of eatables. They rushed to enjoy the feast but to their
embarassment, dark heavy clouds overcast the sky and it seemed
that a heavy rainfall will take place, disturbing all the arrangements.
Sanak Vm implored them to join the feast and said that
no drop of water would fall on any leafy dish. He yelled,
Mother Tr, Mother Tr! and clapped thrice. All the
thundering clouds evaporated like camphor in a few minutes.
Visualising all this, people realised the extraordinary Vibhuti

A Few kta Sdhakas

399

of their dear Vm. They sang in praise of him and resounded

the ovations of mother Tr.
X
X
X
One day, while he was sitting in meditation, a nervous sort
of man came gasping to him, along with him was his mother
crying and yelling, Save me Bb! I am totally ruined, I am
quite undone. Being disturbed Bb abused him, Sl! Why
do you disturb me now? You people do not refrain from
committing sins and run to me at the eleventh hour. Why should
I help you? In a weeping tone the man reported that a Mahtm
had told him that he would die within seven days from snakebite. None but Vm could save him out of the danger. The
powerful Vm felt pity for him. He sketched a guarding line
around a place and bade the man to sit therein. He ordered
the mother to go to mother Tr and pray for the safety of
her son. The serpent reached on time and finding no way to
get in, jumped aloft and fell into the circle, bit the man and
fell into a swoon. The man died at once. Bbs soft heart could
not bear this. He put the corpse before mother Tr and started
Sakrtana. The Mother of all mothers took notice of it and
the snake and the man both regained life. The snake slided into
the jungle and the man went back to his habitat.
Nand, a oma by caste, was his patent servant. He used
to look after his dogs and give water to him. People nursed
a grudge against him. He was a leper, too. Sometimes, they
asked Bb how do you drink the water of his hand! Then
Bb in jovial mood said, I drink the water brought by his
hands, but you, fools! Drink the water besmeared by his legs.
There being a single pond in the area, Nand washed his feet
there and all other people also took the water of that pond in
use. So, they drank the water muddled with his leg-washing.
When the time of his resurrection came, he fell seriously ill and
could not move to discharge his duties. When Bb Vm

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

did not see him for many days, he enquired about him. He went
near his hut and called him aloud. Seeing him and his pitiable
plight, at once, he burst into anger saying, Sl! you are a great
sinner. Why will you not suffer and suffer long? Nand caught
his feet and said, You are my mother and father both. Where
else may I go for resurrection? The mood of Bbj changed.
He commanded him to go to the nearby pond and have a dip
therein after rubbing a handful of the dust of cremation ground
on his wounds. Nand acted accordingly, all his ailments were
removed outright. Such was the effect of his kind mood.
He was very fond of dogs, jackals and vultures. Very often
he would eat with dogs. Sometimes, he would give bread to
them and sometimes he would snatch bread from their mouth
and start, eating himself. He was a perfect Paramahasa. He
was a true devotee of mother Tr.

3. Bhakta Cadsa
The songs of a poet devotee Cadsa are sung all over
Bengal with great faith and devotion. Though Cadsa was
a kta he spread devotion to Ka through his songs. By the
divine command of Goddess Vilk he endeavoured to spread
devotion of Lord Ka.
There lived a Brahmin named Durgdsa Vakc in the
village of Nnnura of Vrabhumi district. He was married to
a girl from Ctn village of Bkura district.
Around Vikrama Savat 1460 in his father-in-laws house
a son was born to Durgdsa. The very same new born boy
blossomed into great devotee-poet Cadsa.
Cadsa lost his parents in his childhood itself. Thus
Cadsa was orphaned and was deprived of education. Taking
pity on the orphaned boy, the Brahmins of the village conducted
the Yajopavta (investiture of sacred thread ceremony) of

A Few kta Sdhakas

401

Cadsa at a suitable age. On his returning to youth, he was

given the responsibility of worship of Goddess Vilk. Thus
becoming the priest of Vilk temple he, like his father
ardently worshipped the Divine Mother with unreal rites.
With a devout mind and a heart brimming with faith he
adored Mother Vilk and practised Tantric Sdhan. After
some days of devout worship Cadsa saw in a vision r
Kas image inside Goddess Vilks idol. This divine
vision eradicated his sense of non-identity between Lord Ka
and Divine Mother. Thus he realized their identity. This vision
ushered in Cadsa divine love for r Rdh-Ka. One day
by the divine command of the Goddess Vilk some spirit
communicated to Cadsa the wish of Divine Mother to spread
the devotion of Lord Ka by singing His Divine Lls. The
kin (spirit) also instructed Cadsa into the secrets of
Vaiava Dharma (Devotion to Lord Ka) and Sahaja
Bhajana (effortless worship).
Right from the next day Cadsa drowned himself in the
Divine love of r Rdh-Ka. Rudiments of unique poetic
skill sprouted in him. Further he already possessed the ability
to sing well. He wrote charming Padas (poems to be sung)
on the Lls of Lord Ka and sang it. Even hearts like rocks
and stones would melt on hearing him sing.
It was during these days that Cadsa was blamed of
hypocrisy and thrown out of Vilk temple. But this incident
did not in the least affect him. He was not worried at all. He
made a hut outside the village in a desolate spot, and resided
there continuing his spiritual practice. Though innocent yet
Cadsas blemishful repute made the villagers avoid him and
look down upon him. He had lost their sympathy. The villagefolk started hating him. This had its due effect and Cadsa
lost his way of livelihood. Food and clothes were denied to
him from the village. For how many days could he beg food

402

Kalyana-Kalpataru

from other far flung villages to stay alive? Once he couldnt

get food for many days and plunged into pitiable plight of
starvation and death. That very day in order to avoid death he
decided to leave his native village and move out to stay alive.
The villagers who were deluded had no thought of Saint
Cadsa. But how could the Merciful, Compassionate Mother
Vilk abandon her dear son? That very night She appeared
in a dream to the village headman and reprimanded him thus,
O devilish man, due to the false allegation (blasphemy) made
by you people my devotee is leaving this place forever ( is
migrating to another place). If you all desire your own good
then endeavour to please him.
Is there any need to say what happened further!
The whole village led by the headman went to Cadsas
hut and apologized to him with folded hands. The benevolent
Cadsa, at once stood up and embraced with love all men.
Admiring Cadsa benevolent gesture, all the villagers adopted
the Vaiava Dharma of Cadsa. The great saint graced them
all with Dk (initiation).
Since then Cadsa wholeheartedly went on giving to all
Vaiavas the elixir of Ka-Ll till his death. His Padas
(compositions) soaked with devotion are exquisite embellishments
of Bengali language. Vaiava devotees feel sanctified by singing
his divine compositions; and how many Abhaktas (non-devotees)
have taken to the path of devotion by listening to his sublime
songs. Bhakta Cadsa shed his mortal coil at the hallowed
land of Vrindavana. Unto this day his Samdhi exists there.

A Few Sats
1. Sat Damayant
Loosing everything in gambling, being disconsolate Nala
and Damayant were wandering from forest to forest. Nala also
had one clothing on his body and so also Damayant had one
clothing. Having starved with hunger for several days, afflicted
with hunger they happened to see some birds with gold like
wings. Nala threw his only one clothing to catch the birds.
Unluckily the birds with that cloth flew away in the sky. Being
tired Damayant was sleeping on earth. During her sleep Nala
sets out with Damayants half clothing.
Not finding her husband, Damayant is searching her
husband here and there just like a mad woman. A huge python
comes to bite her. In the meantime a hunter comes there and
cuts off the head of the serpent with a sharp arrow. But being
enchanted by her beauty the hunter seeks her love.
Bereft of husband and kingdom Damayant apprehending
the evil intuition of the hunter got enraged and in a harsh tone
she cried out.
If I never think of anyone else than Nala then this wretched
hunter may fall here dead. Thereupon that hunter fell down
lifeless on the earth like a burnt-up tree.

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

2. Sat il
In remote ancient times there lived a Brhmaa namely
Kauika. He was very cruel, hot-tempered and afflicted with
leprosy. His wife was a chaste and devout lady. That virtuous
lady deified her fierce looking husband as the Supreme God.
Once at a night she was going to some place with her husband
seated on her shoulders. On the way her husbands leg shoved
sage Mavya (and he in turn) cursed that her husband would
die on the rising of the sun. That chaste lady retorted, If it
is so then the sun would not rise till I do not order it. It so
happened. Words of a chaste lady do not prove false. The sun
could not rise. The sun did not rise for ten days. In the whole
of Cosmos there was a turmoil.
All the gods beseeched the famous Anasuythe wife of
Atri-Sage. She approached il. Telling her of the great
commotion in the whole Universe due to not rising of the sun.
Anasuy persuaded her to allow the sun to rise on her assurance
that she would make ils husband alive and hale by virtue
of the power of her chastity.
At midnight the sun was adored. Having got permission
from the chaste lady the sun dawned on the peak of Himlayas
like a blossomed lotus flower. Simultaneously the husband of
il fell down dead on the earth.
The words of Anasuy at that time are worth remembering
for good.
If I had never seen any other person as my husband then
by virtue of this truth, this Brhmaa may become free of all
diseases and again he may become youth and further he may
live for a hundred years along with his wife. If I do not adore
any god equal to my husband then by virtue of this truth that
Brhmaa may gain life rid of diseases. If I always keep myself
absorbed in the worship of my husband with my mind, word

A Few Sats

405

and action, then by virtue of this devotion, this may come to

life.
Brhmaa rid of disease got up as a youth. By his halo
he radiated his home like a god free from old age and death.
The glory of the chastity of il and Anasuy spread
throughout the Universe.

3. Sat Anasuy
She was an embodiment of chastity,
She was the wife of Atri R
i.
She was intensely devoted to her husband
Her mind was ever fixed at the feet of her husband;
All scriptures speak of her glory.
She is a model for women.
Once Brahm, Viu and iva
Tried to test her Ptivratya.
They appeared before her
And asked for Nirva Bhik.
She sprinkled water over them.
They became her babies.
She embraced them;
They became one with three heads and six hands.
This child is r Datttreya.
Such was the power of her chastity.
O women! Follow her foot-steps.
Glory to Anasuy!
My prostrations unto her!

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Kalyana-Kalpataru

4. Sat Svitr
Svitr was the daughter of King Avapati.
She was extremely beautiful, chaste and virtuous
She married Satyavn, son of King Dyumatsena.
She was highly devoted to her husband.
She fasted and did severe Tapas.
Satyavn went into the forest;
Svitr also followed him.
He gathered fruits
And cut down a tree for fuel.
He felt severe headache.
Satyavn sat down with his head on Svitrs lap
And gave up his life-breath.
Lord Yama came to take Satyavn to Yamaloka.
Svitr spoke words of wisdom to Yama
And brought back Satyavn to life.
She obtained several boons also.
Such is the power of Ptivratya.
Glory to Svitr!
My adorations to her!

Dev Um Fastened the Door

The outstanding devotee poet Rmaprasda Sen had a vision
of Um Dev in his lifetime. His devotion was very deep and
he kept absorbed himself in the feet of Bhagawat. It is said
that once he started to prepare a shutter for his cottage with
the help of grassroots, stalk of bamboos and some strings. It
was noon. The devotee thought of preparing the shutter calling
the name of Mother Um ( the name of his daughter). He called
Mother Um, Mother Um, Mother Um. His daughter had gone
to play with her girl friends. She had no awareness of the
callings of her father. Calling Um a few times, he started his
work.
Song was overflowing from his heart. It was reflecting his
intense devotion and he was quite absorbed in his devotion.
From one side the string was passed but to fasten the shutter
it was necessary that the string should come from the other side
as well. Bhagawat Um seeing the trouble and guilelessness
of her son came running for his help. Then it was very easy.
From both sides the string was passing and thus the shutter was
fastened till the song was complete. What a strange mimicry
of Mother? On the calling of daughter in a moment she comes
running and then disappears.
Just now his daughter Mother Um comes. She asks in a
surprise Father! You have fastened the shutter in a very good
way. How alone it was possible for you to do it. Father smilingly
said, O daughter, how it had been possible without your help.
You have helped me by passing the string from another side
then only this shutter has been fastened in a very good way.
The daughter was quite wonderstruck. When she heard

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regarding her help in this work. She told that she was playing
with her girl friends. Now she has come when the shutter was
already fastened. Suddenly Rmaprasdaj did not believe it. But
on repeated saying by his daughter he also was in great surprise.
Then he understood that Bhagawat Um had helped him. This
great devotee started weeping bitterly and song melody started
flowing as before. This is a true and unearthly event. This is
known through a song related to this event.

U U UUH
, Q U
, U U
U, M UU U
, U
M, UU U UH 1H
O mind! Why have you forsaken the mothers feet.
O mind! Think of Mother akti, you will get salvation. Bind
it with the string of devotion.
O mind! You could not have her vision in time.
How burnt up skull you were having.
Coming in the disguise of daughter, Mother Um fastened
the shutter of my house in a fraudulent way.
One who will contemplate on Mother by single pointed
mind, he alone will be blessed with her vision. That is why
Mother Um fastened the shutter of Rmaprasda in the
guise of his daughter.
(From Kalyana)

An Interesting Fable: Dev Annapur

There lived a ruddy goose bird at some place on Himlaya.
Travelling several countries he reached K. Luckily he reached
the celestial realm of Annapur like an orphan being greedy
of grains. Wandering in the sky forsaking K and
circumambulating the temple of Dev it went away to another
country.
After sometime it expired and went to heaven. There he
being handsome youth enjoyed all sorts of felicities.
Thus enjoying felicities for two Kalpas it returned to the
earth. He took birth in a best Katriya family and was known
as Bhadratha. He was devoted to Yaja and Dharma. He was
truthful, omniscient, master of senses, self-controlled and victor
of enemy kingdoms. He retained the memory of previous births
which is rarely found on the earth.
Learning about him through Janaruti sages came there.
They took their seats.
Thereafter all the sages asked of him, We have a great
doubt that owing to what virtue you have memory of previous
births. On account of what virtue you have the knowledge of
past, present and future. We have come here to enquire about
it. Please tell us truly in a straight forward manner.
r Nryaa said, O Brahman, hearing the question of the
sages extremely religious king started telling the secret of his
knowledge of the past, future and present alike.
Sages! Hear the cause of the vision of the three times. I
was a ruddy goose in my some previous birth. Born even
in a low caste I circumambulated Bhagawat Annapur
unconsciously. O good fellows, by that virtue I resided two

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Kalpas in the heaven and thereafter I am visited with a gift

of vision of seeing through the past, present and future.
Who can realize the reward of remembering the fact of
Jagadamb Dev. Tears flew continuously from my eyes while
dwelling upon her glory. Fie upon those sinful and ungrateful
embodied beings who do not adore their mother and adorable
Bhagawat.
Neither worship of iva nor worship of Viu is eternal.
Worship of Bhagawat alone is eternal because She has been
declared as eternal by rutis.
What more I have to say in this doubtless mother. We always
ought to worship the lotus-feet of Bhagawat.
There is none who excels Bhagawat in this universe. We
must adore her in her attributeless form or form with attributes.
(Dev Bhgavata)

River Ganges, also lovingly called as Mother Gag, is

the holiest of rivers to the Hindus. She is attributed with
tremendous spiritual significance. Not only She cleans the
body, but also purifies the soul. Every pious Hindu thirsts
at least for a spoonful of Gag water in his lifetime. The
River Gag has been highly eulogised in the ancient
scriptures of the Hindu religion. Taking in a spoonful of the
sacred water or a dip brings countless benefits.
Swami Sivananda