Durgā

Durgā is the supreme Devī, the great Śakti (power) behind the whole creation. The Purāṇas tell of her many births and deeds. In the Varāha Purāṇa she appears on her own, without a womb, to slay the asura Vaitrāsura. In the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, the Devī Māhātmya tells her three great deeds. In the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa she is the Mūlaprakṛti, the first nature, who came from the intelligence of Kṛṣṇa. In the Kāśī Khaṇḍa she slays the Daitya Durgāsura and takes the name Durgā. In the Mahābhārata Arjuna praises her before the war.

The slaying of Vaitrāsura (Varāha Purāṇa, Chapter 28)

Sindhudvīpa’s vow

A king named Sindhudvīpa was born in the line of the former asura Vṛtrāsura. Indra had slain Vṛtrāsura, in a former life, with a weapon made of sea-foam. Sindhudvīpa was born again as a brāhmaṇa and remembered the old grudge. He did hard tapas (austerity) to get a son who would destroy Indra.

During his tapas, the river devī Vētravatī came in human form and said she wanted him. From their union was born Vaitrāsura. He was a being of great radiance and strength, and he became king of Prāgjyotiṣa.

Vaitrāsura’s conquests

Vaitrāsura conquered all seven dvīpas (island-continents) and then climbed Meru. He beat in turn Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Kubera and Īśāna. The beaten devas ran to one another and at last came to Brahmā.

Brahmā’s trouble

Brahmā was in meditation (gāyatrī-japa) in a space formed by the lotus-waters of Viṣṇu. The devas cried out:

“Save us! Save us from the asura!”

Brahmā thought that all this was māyā, and that there were no real asuras and no real devas. And yet he saw the trouble of the devas.

The Devī appears

As Brahmā meditated, a kanyā (young maiden) appeared before him:

  • She was not born from a womb.
  • She wore white garments.
  • A crown and a garland of flowers adorned her face.
  • She had eight arms bearing divine weapons: cakra, śaṅkha, gadā, pāśa, khaḍga, ghaṇṭā, dhanus and others.
  • She wore a quiver and rode a lion (siṃha-vāhana).

She fought alone. She took many forms at one time and fought the whole army of Vaitrāsura. After a fight of a divine year, she slew Vaitrāsura.

Śiva’s stotra to Durgā

After the victory, Bhagavān Śiva himself praised her:

“Devī! Gāyatrī! Mahāmāyā! Mahāprabhā! Mahādevī! O bearer of great Śakti, victory, victory!”

“Body smeared with divine fragrance, divine garlands of flowers, Maheśvarī! O Mātā of the three syllables (Oṃkāra), salutation!”

“Dwelling in the three worlds, the three tattvas and the three fires, O bearer of the trident! Three-eyed, with a fearsome face, O Sarasvatī born of the lotus-seated Brahmā, salutation!”

“Lotus-petal-eyed Mahāmāyā! Devī from whom amṛta flows! All-pervading mother! Sovereign of all beings! Form of Svāhā! Form of Svadhā! Ambikā, salutation!”

“O Dharmā! O Vāk! O Bhūmī! O Akṣarā! O Buddhi-rūpā! O Lakṣmī! O Oṃkārā! O dweller in truth, welfare of all beings, O Parameśvarī, salutation!”

The name Nandā

After the victory, Brahmā set her on the mountain Himavān. All the devas were filled with joy (ānanda) at seeing her set there. So she got the name Nandā, “she who gives joy”.

The events of Durgā’s appearance took place on a Navamī, the ninth lunar day.

Observance:

  • Honour Durgā on Navamī with single-minded devotion.
  • Men and women should eat flour-food (piṇḍi bhojana) regularly.
  • The wish held in the mind will be fulfilled.

Bhagavān Śiva’s stotra is to be said morning and evening. He says of it:

“Those who recite it, you (Durgā) and I (Śiva) together will give them a vara (boon). Lift them up from all calamities.”

The task to come: Mahiṣāsura

Brahmā also gave Durgā a task for a later time:

“There is another great work for you to perform: the destruction of the asura Mahiṣa.”

This will happen in a later age. These chapters speak of it but do not tell it.

Māyā in the body

In the teaching on the devas in the body (Chapter 17), Māyā is named as one of the powers that leave the body. In that place her name is also Durgā:

“The one called Māyā, who says ‘without me this cannot exist’, her name is Durgā. She will come out again because of a certain cause.”

The Devī Māhātmya in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (Chapters 78 to 90)

The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa holds the best known and fullest account of the glory of the Devī, the Devī Māhātmya (Chapters 78 to 90). It is set inside the account of the origin of Sāvarṇi Manu. The muni Medhasa teaches King Sūratha and the merchant Samādhi about Mahāmāyā. He tells them the three great deeds of her appearance.

The Devī as Mahāmāyā

Medhasa begins by saying that all attachment in the world comes from Mahāmāyā, the supreme power of Durgā. This holds even for the attachment of those who have been wronged. She is Yoganidrā (the sleep of Viṣṇu), Mahālakṣmī, Sarasvatī and Mahākālī, three forms of one reality. She keeps, makes and dissolves the universe. Even Viṣṇu and Brahmā are under her power. This is told in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 78 and 79.

The three episodes (carita-trayam)

First carita: the slaying of Madhu and Kaiṭabha. As Mahākālī, Durgā, in the form of Yoganidrā, left the eyes of Viṣṇu so that he could wake. She deluded the asuras Madhu and Kaiṭabha, who had come out of the wax of his ear. Viṣṇu destroyed them on his thighs. Their marrow became the earth.

Second carita: the slaying of Mahiṣāsura. As Mahālakṣmī, Durgā rose from the joined tejas (radiance) of all the devas. She slew Mahiṣāsura after he had conquered svarga (heaven). She took weapons from every deva and fought wave after wave of armies. She slew Mahiṣa in his buffalo form.

Third carita: the slaying of Śumbha and Niśumbha. As Mahāsarasvatī, Durgā beat the brothers Śumbha and Niśumbha, their generals Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa and Raktabīja, and the great armies. She ended by declaring that she is one without a second, with the words “Ekā’haṃ jagati“, and then slew Śumbha. This is told in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 80 to 88.

The stotras

The Devī Māhātmya holds three main stotras to Durgā:

  1. Brahmā’s stotra (Chapter 81), after the episode of Madhu and Kaiṭabha. It praises her as Mahāmāyā, the sleep of Viṣṇu, the Devī of all creation.
  2. The stotra of the devas (Chapter 83), after the slaying of Mahiṣāsura. It calls her Caṇḍikā, the maker and keeper, the mother of all.
  3. The last stotra (Chapter 88), after the slaying of Śumbha. It praises her as Durgā, Durgati-nāśinī, Bhavānī and Ambikā.

Her varas and later births

Durgā promised to come again in later ages. She would come as Śāmbhavī from the womb of Yaśodā to slay the sons of Vipracitti. She would come as Bhīmādevī in the Himālayas. She would come as Bhrāmarī to slay the asura Aruṇa with swarms of bees. She gave Sūratha his kingdom and, in his next birth, the place of Sāvarṇi Manu, the eighth Manu. She gave Samādhi jñāna (knowledge) and freedom from māyā. This is told in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 89 and 90.

Durgā in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa

The sixteen names (Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 56)

Chapter 56 of the Prakṛti Khaṇḍa gives the full meaning of Durgā’s sixteen names. They are Durgā, Nārāyaṇī, Īśānā, Viṣṇumāyā, Śivā, Satī, Nityā, Satyā, Bhagavatī, Śarvaṇī, Sarvamaṅgalā, Ambikā, Vaiṣṇavī, Gaurī, Pārvatī and Sanātanī. Each name has a meaning rooted in her work in the creation.

She is Mūlaprakṛti. She is Viṣṇumāyā. She came out of Kṛṣṇa’s buddhi (intelligence) at the creation. She is the śakti of Kṛṣṇa. She has one hundred arms, a golden colour, and rides a lion. She has three eyes and bears all three guṇas.

The first honouring of Durgā (Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 65)

The Prakṛti Khaṇḍa tells who first did pūjā to Durgā, in order:

  1. Kṛṣṇa himself did it first, in the Rāsamaṇḍala at Goloka.
  2. Then Mahāviṣṇu, before he fought Madhu and Kaiṭabha.
  3. Then Brahmā, when he faced a crisis of prāṇa (life-breath).
  4. Then Śiva, before the war with Tripurāsura.
  5. Then Indra, before he fought Vṛtrāsura.

After these first cases, ṛṣis and human kings, among them Sūratha, won her favour. This order is repeated in every kalpa (age of the world).

Durgā as the power behind the avatāras (Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 56 and 63)

The Prakṛti Khaṇḍa names Durgā as the śakti behind each avatāra of Viṣṇu and behind every great act of the creation. She appeared as Viṣṇuśakti when Viṣṇu fought Madhu and Kaiṭabha. She appeared as Narasiṃhaśakti when Narasiṃha destroyed Hiraṇyakaśipu. She appeared as Varāhaśakti when Varāha slew Hiraṇyākṣa. She destroyed Śumbha, Niśumbha, Mahiṣāsura and Raktabīja. She is the buddhi-adhidevatā of Kṛṣṇa (the ruling devī of his intelligence) and parā-prakṛti (the highest nature). She is the very force by which all making, keeping and dissolving take place.

Durgā’s teaching to Sūratha (Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 64)

Sūratha won her favour by her pūjā for a year, and she appeared before him. Durgā then gave a teaching of deep non-dual truth. She said that she is Mūlaprakṛti, born before Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva and all the devas. She is nitya (eternal) and anitya (not eternal) at the same time. All forms are hers. She is the root cause of all beings.

In the Rāsamaṇḍala at Bṛndāvana she is the most beloved of Kṛṣṇa, dearer even than Rādhā. She is the ruling devī of buddhi. She is Viṣṇumāyā Durgā, Lakṣmī in Vaikuṇṭha, Sarasvatī in Brahmaloka, Sāvitrī (Vedamātā) in Brahmaloka, and Gaṅgā, Tulasī and Bhūmi in other forms. Her māyā deceives even the learned. She gave Sūratha his worldly vara (boon) and the promise of bhakti to Kṛṣṇa at the end of his time as Manu.

Durgā as Mūlaprakṛti: born from Kṛṣṇa’s buddhi

The Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives Durgā’s place in the creation in its highest form. Durgā arose from the buddhi of Kṛṣṇa (the cosmic intelligence) at the start of sṛṣṭi (creation). She appeared in a splendid form of one hundred arms, bearing one hundred divine weapons. This form goes beyond the description in the Devī Māhātmya of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa. She is here named plainly as Mūlaprakṛti, the first Prakṛti from which all that appears comes.

Durgā’s stotra to Kṛṣṇa

At the moment of creation Durgā made a stotra with a great declaration:

“I am Prakṛti, but I am not independent.”

By this she says that even the supreme Śakti, the Mūlaprakṛti herself, draws her power and her being from Kṛṣṇa as Puruṣa. The stotra goes on:

“At a blink of Kṛṣṇa’s eye, Brahmā perishes.”

This places even the lifespan of Brahmā within the sovereign will of Kṛṣṇa. The phala (fruit) of reciting this stotra is victory everywhere, and the lasting presence of Durgā in the home of the one who recites it.

The five Prakṛtis

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives Durgā as one of five Prakṛtis who match five Puruṣas: Rādhā (Kṛṣṇa), Lakṣmī (Nārāyaṇa), Sāvitrī (Brahmā), Durgā (Śiva), and Gaṅgā as a fifth. Nārāyaṇa Muni teaches this order of the Prakṛtis to Nārada at Bādarikāśrama.

The slaying of Durgāsura (Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 71 and 72)

Chapters 71 and 72 of the Kāśī Khaṇḍa (Uttarārdha) of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa give another account of how the Devī got the name Durgā and was set up as the guardian of the south of Kāśī.

The Daitya Durgāsura was born of the Daitya Ruru. He had a vara (boon) that no human being could beat him. He conquered all three worlds and the worlds above them. He took for himself the powers of every Lokapāla. The devas fled to Śiva, who told Bhavānī to destroy the asura. She sent her emanation Kālarātri as a messenger. Durgāsura tried to carry Kālarātri off. She burned his guards to ash at once with the fire of her bīja HŪṂ. With a single breath she made a river of destruction and slew thirty thousand Daityas. She then drew the whole army of the asura, a hundred crore chariots, two thousand crore elephants and countless horse and foot soldiers, to the Vindhya mountain, where the Devī herself was camped.

The Mahādevī appeared with a thousand arms and terrible weapons. She made nine crore Śaktis from her body, and they fought and overcame the armies of the Daityas. Durgāsura fought in turn as an elephant, whose trunk the Devī cut off. He fought as a great buffalo, who shook the cosmic egg, and the Devī struck him with her trident. At last he took a thousand-armed form. In it he carried the Devī herself through the sky, threw her down, and covered her with arrows. She scattered his arrows and pierced him through the heart with one great arrow. He fell, and a river of blood flowed.

The devas then made the Vajrapañjara kavaca, a hymn of twenty-nine verses. In it they praise the Devī as the Śakti of every deva, the ground of all creation and the supreme Parameśvarī. They sang her praise in joy. Then the Devī said:

“From today my name will become famous as Durgā, because I have caused the downfall of the Daitya Durgā, which was very difficult to accomplish.”

She was set for ever at Kāśī as the guardian of its southern edge. She is to be honoured at Durgākuṇḍa, on the eighth and fourteenth lunar days, on Tuesdays, and in the autumn Navarātra. Under her command stand eight Bhairavas (Ruru, Caṇḍa, Asitāṅga, Kapālī, Krodhana, Unmatta-Bhairava, Saṃhāra and Bhīṣaṇa), sixty-four Vetālas and a hundred crore Bhūtas, who guard the city. This is told in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 71 and 72.

Arjuna’s stotra and her blessing (Bhīṣma Parva)

On the first morning of the war at Kurukṣetra, before a single arrow had flown, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna to do pūjā to Durgā so that he would win. Arjuna got down from his chariot and stood on the earth. With a pure heart he offered the Durgā Stotra of thirteen verses. Among the names in it are Siddha-Senānī, Māndara-Vāsinī, Kumārī, Bhadrakālī, Mahākālī, Caṇḍī, Kātyāyanī, Skanda-Mātā (the mother of Kārtikeya), Brahmavidyā, Vedamātā, Svāhā, Svadhā, Sarasvatī and Mahānidrā. The stotra calls Durgā the sister of Kṛṣṇa by birth in the line of Nanda the cowherd, and yet older than he in her qualities and mahimā (greatness).

The pure devotion of the stotra moved her. Durgā appeared in the sky before Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa himself. She spoke to Arjuna:

“O Pāṇḍunandana, in a short time you will achieve victory. O vīravara, you are the nara himself, and Nārāyaṇa is your companion. You are unconquerable on the battlefield; even Indra cannot defeat you.”

With this blessing she vanished. This is the second of Arjuna’s stotras to Durgā in the Mahābhārata. The first came at the start of the ajñātavāsa (the year of hiding) in the Virāṭa Parva. This is told in the Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma Parva, Chapter 23.

Sources

  • Varāha Purāṇa, Chapter 28 (the slaying of Vaitrāsura; Chapter 17 for the teaching on the devas in the body)
  • Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 78–90
  • Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 29–30
  • Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 56, 63, 64, 65
  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapters 71–72
  • Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma Parva, Chapter 23