Shashṭhī, Maṅgala Caṇḍī, Manasā and Surabhī

In Skanda 9 of the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Nārāyaṇa tells Nārada about four more forms of Parāśakti. They are Shashṭhī Devī, who guards newborn children; Maṅgala Caṇḍī, who gives welfare; Manasā, the devī of snakes, who cures snakebite; and Surabhī, the divine cow, mother of all cattle. Each is an aṃśa (a part) of Mūla Prakṛti. The Purāṇa gives the origin, nature and pūjā of each.

Shashṭhī Devī

Nature and origin

Shashṭhī Devī guards newborn children. She watches over birth, survival and welfare in the first year of life. She is the sixth part (shashṭha aṃśa) of Prakṛti, and from this comes her name.

She is shown seated under a banyan tree, with a child on her lap or at her breast. Cats attend her, as her vehicle or companions in the tradition.

In the Devī Bhāgavata she is one of the definite forms of Mūla Prakṛti, and she works in the field of birth and the welfare of infants. Every child who lives through the first six days owes this to her protection. Every mother who gives birth safely is under her grace.

Pūjā

Shashṭhī Devī is worshipped on the sixth day after a child’s birth, in the Shashṭhī ceremony, when mothers pray for the protection and long life of their newborns. She is also honoured on the Shashṭhī tithi (sixth lunar day) of the bright fortnight each month. She is honoured above all on Skanda Shashṭhī in the month of Kārtika, in connection with Kārttikeya.

The Purāṇa declares that those who honour Shashṭhī on the right days will never lose their children.

Maṅgala Caṇḍī

Nature and work

Maṅgala Caṇḍī is the auspicious (maṅgala) form of Caṇḍī, the fierce devī of the battlefield, changed into a giver of welfare and good fortune. She shows that the same power who destroys the enemies of her devotee can also fill the devotee’s life with every good. Her name joins two sides: Maṅgala (auspiciousness, prosperity, welfare) and Caṇḍī (the fierce, the wrathful, the unconquerable).

She is called on to remove obstacles before auspicious undertakings, such as marriages, journeys, yajñas and new businesses, and to bring about the results that are wanted. The Devī Bhāgavata presents her as a separate form of Parāśakti, who turns the power of Parāśakti toward bringing every good to those who worship her.

Manasā

Nature and origin

Manasā is the devī of the serpents (nāgas). All snakes obey her. She cures snakebite and guards her devotees from every harm from serpents. In the Devī Bhāgavata she is an aṃśa of Parāśakti, who took this form to protect people from the constant danger of poisonous snakes. She also shows that even the most fearful creatures of the earth are under the control of Parāśakti.

The form of her pūjā

Manasā is worshipped above all in the rainy season, when snakes come out of the ground, and on Nāga Pañcamī. Her dhyāna (the picture held in meditation) is given in the Devī Bhāgavata. She sits on a lotus or on a coiled serpent. Serpents are her ornaments. She holds a water vessel and wears the crown of the nāga-king.

The mantra of Manasā and the method of her pūjā are given in detail. The text declares that those who worship Manasā will never be harmed by snakes in their home, their fields or their journeys.

Surabhī

Nature and origin

Surabhī is the divine cow, the mother of all cattle in the world and the source of endless abundance. She is the cosmic kāmadhenu (the cow that fulfils wishes), seen as the first mother of cattle. The Devī Bhāgavata describes Surabhī as an aṃśa of Parāśakti who took the form of a cow to give the world milk, ghee, curds and all the things that support both human life and the rituals of the devas.

Her importance

Every cow on earth is a descendant of Surabhī and so is sacred. Milk, curd, ghee, cow dung and cow urine are together called pañcagavya, and they are used in every major ritual. They get their power to purify from the divine origin of Surabhī. The Devī Bhāgavata links the holiness of cows in the tradition with the truth that cows are a form of Parāśakti, in this nourishing, abundant, life-giving aspect.

Her pūjā gives plenty of cattle, plenty of food and the welfare of the whole household. Farming and herding communities honour her with the pūjā of cows on Govardhana Pūjā and Gopāshṭamī.

One Mūla Prakṛti in many forms

These four forms, Shashṭhī, Maṅgala Caṇḍī, Manasā and Surabhī, together with Svāhā, Svadhā and Dakshiṇā, who are covered in the earlier chapters, show the Devī Bhāgavata’s teaching of Śakti. No part of life lies outside the reach of Parāśakti: the sacrificial fire, the offerings to the ancestors, the guarding of newborns, victory in battle, the fear of snakes, or the wealth of cattle. Every protecting deva and every devī of village and home is a particular form of the one supreme Mūla Prakṛti.

Chapter 50 of Skanda 9 is titled Śakti-rahasya (the secret of Śakti). It is the closing summary of this teaching.

Sources

• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 9, Chapter 46 (Shashṭhī Devī)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 9, Chapter 47 (Maṅgala Caṇḍī)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 9, Chapter 48 (Manasā)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 9, Chapter 49 (Surabhī)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 9, Chapters 46–50 (the closing summary; Chapter 50 is Śakti-rahasya)