Saptamātṛkās

The Saptamātṛkās are the seven divine mothers. They are the seven śaktis (powers) who came out of Brahmā, Śiva, Skanda, Viṣṇu, Varāha, Narasiṃha and Indra during the great battle with Śumbha in the Devī Māhātmya. Each mother has the exact form, vehicle and weapon of the deva she comes from. Together they are the divine army of Devī in her great appearance.

Origin in the Devī Māhātmya

In the great battle with the armies of Śumbha and Niśumbha, the devas watched Devī fight against huge forces. Each of the great devas then sent out from his own divine form his own śakti, the female power that belongs to his being, to join the army of Devī. These śaktis came out in female form, with the exact marks of the male deva whose power they were. They are the Saptamātṛkās.

Cāmuṇḍā is sometimes counted as the eighth, but she stands apart. She is Devī’s own manifestation, born from the furrowed brow of Devī. She does not come from the śakti of any male deva. The Saptamātṛkās are the śaktis of the devas. Cāmuṇḍā is the power of Devī herself shown openly.

This is told in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 84–86.

Their part in the battle

The Saptamātṛkās joined the forces of Devī and fought with great power against the armies of Śumbha. They are described as fierce and joyful in the fight, drunk with the joy of battle, and roaring in the eight directions. Each Mātṛkā fought with the weapons and the way of fighting of the deva whose śakti she was. Together they were a mighty army that went with Devī through the battles against Raktabīja, Niśumbha and Śumbha himself.

Raktabīja threatened to fill the battlefield with copies of himself born from his blood. The Saptamātṛkās took part in the joint action that finally destroyed him. Cāmuṇḍā drank his blood while the weapons of Devī drained him. In the last battle with Śumbha, the Mātṛkās fought at the side of Devī.

This is told in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 84–88.

Taken back into Devī

Śumbha mocked Devī and said that she relied on the strength of others. Devī then made her highest declaration:

Ekā’haṃ jagati

This means “I alone am in all the world.” At that moment she drew all the Saptamātṛkā-śaktis back into herself, with all the other divine powers that had appeared to fight beside her. The Mātṛkās melted back into the one Devī. This showed that their separateness was only a vibhūti (a manifestation) of her one undivided nature.

This is told in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 87–88.

The Aṣṭa-mātṛkā tradition

The wider tradition counts eight Mātṛkās, the Aṣṭa-mātṛkās. They are the seven above, with Cāmuṇḍā as the eighth. The group of eight is common in the images of temples and in ritual texts, where the Aṣṭa-mātṛkās guard the eight directions.

The Vāmana Purāṇa account

The Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 30, gives a separate account of how the Saptamātṛkās came out. In it the seven Mātṛkās come out directly from the body of Caṇḍikā during the battle against Śuṃbha. The seven are:

1. Brāhmaṇī, from the aspect of Brahmā
2. Māheśvarī, from the aspect of Śiva
3. Kaumārī, from the aspect of Kumāra-Skanda
4. Vaiṣṇavī, from the aspect of Viṣṇu
5. Vārāhī, from the aspect of Varāha
6. Māhendrī, from the aspect of Indra
7. Nārasiṃhī, from the aspect of Narasiṃha

Śivadūtī, the messenger of Śiva, also comes out of Caṇḍikā in the same event. The setting is the battle with Śuṃbha and Niśuṃbha in which Kauśikī, who was born from the kośa (sheath) of Pārvatī, fights.

Sources

• Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa (Devī Māhātmya), Chapters 84–86
• Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 84–88
• Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 87–88
• Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 89–95
• Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 30