Śivadūtī

Śivadūtī is a divine śakti (power) who was born directly from the jaṭā (matted locks) of Parameśvara Śiva. She was born for one purpose: to fight the asura Ruru. She did tapas (austerity) on Nīlagiri, received power from Śiva, and killed Ruru in battle.

In her joy at the victory she laughed with great force. From each burst of her laughter, fierce Mātṛkā beings arose. Śiva himself fed them and then made them worshipped Mātṛkā devatās. So Śivadūtī is both a warrior śakti of Śiva and the starting point of the Mātṛkā-gaṇa, the company of the Mātṛkās.

Origin from Śiva’s jaṭā

Śivadūtī was not born in the ordinary way. She came out directly from the jaṭā of Parameśvara Śiva. The jaṭā is the seat of great tapas-tejas (the fire of austerity). It holds the rivers, the fire of Kālāgni, and the power of Śiva’s tapas over countless kalpas (ages of the world). To be born from the jaṭā is to be a direct outflow of that gathered śakti.

The name Śivadūtī means “the messenger of Śiva”. She was sent out from Śiva’s own being, as his representative and śakti, for one great task.

Tapas on Nīlagiri and power from Śiva

Before she went to battle, Śivadūtī did tapas on the mountain Nīlagiri. By this tapas she made stronger the śakti she had brought from her birth in Śiva’s jaṭā. Then Śiva himself gave her power and sent her against Ruru with his blessing.

The defeat of Ruru

Śivadūtī fought the asura Ruru and defeated him completely. She killed him. Ruru had been troubling the three worlds, and his death at her hands freed the worlds from his affliction.

The Mātṛkās born from her laughter

At the moment of victory over Ruru, Śivadūtī broke into loud laughter, the laughter of a victorious śakti, huge in its force. From each burst of this laughter, fierce beings sprang up, wild and blazing with śakti. These were the Mātṛkā-gaṇa, the divine mothers. They were born hungry and at once cried out for food.

Śiva feeds the Mātṛkās

The hungry Mātṛkās turned to Śivadūtī for food. She could not feed them herself, so she turned to Parameśvara Śiva. Śiva stepped forward himself and fed the Mātṛkās with offerings from his own body, and their hunger was satisfied.

He then named them Mātṛkā devatās, honoured beings whose pūjā would be set up through the three worlds. In this way Śivadūtī, through her laughter of victory, brought the Mātṛkā-gaṇa into being, and they came to be revered.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛṣṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 31