Śrīmātā

Śrīmātā is the supreme śakti (divine power) who presides over Dharmāraṇya and Satya Mandira. The Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa calls her the daughter of Brahmā and a brahmacāriṇī (a woman who keeps brahmacarya, the discipline of purity). She is the kula-devatā (family devī) of all the brāhmaṇas of Dharmāraṇya. She is to be honoured first in every auspicious rite. While she presides there, no great evil can enter Dharmāraṇya directly. When the daitya Karṇāṭaka threatened the region, Mātaṅgī was born from her anger to destroy him.

Form and description

Śrīmātā has ten arms and ten faces. She holds the kamaṇḍalu (water pot) and the akshamālā (prayer beads). Her garments are red, she is anointed with red sandal-paste and she wears red garlands throughout. She is called Brahmaputrī (daughter of Brahmā) and brahmacāriṇī, showing perfect austerity and purity even in her role as the great mother.

The Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa says that the kājeśas, the merchant rulers who rebuilt the city, installed her in Satya Mandira as the central protecting devī of the whole kshetra (sacred land). The Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa speaks of her as one of the central Śaktis of the sacred city. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 16–17)

Kula-devatā of Dharmāraṇya

Śrīmātā is the kula-devatā of all the brāhmaṇas settled in Dharmāraṇya by the great vara (boon) of Bhagavān Vishṇu. She is to be honoured first in all auspicious rites: vivāha (marriage), upanayana (the sacred-thread ceremony), sīmanta (the rite in pregnancy) and every other dharmic rite. The text declares that no auspicious rite is complete without first pleasing Śrīmātā. This first place shows her standing as the supreme mother and protector of the whole brāhmaṇa community of Dharmāraṇya. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 16–17)

Her protecting power

The power of Śrīmātā in Satya Mandira, together with the Śaktis the kājeśas installed in the eight directions and the four in-between directions, forms a barrier. It keeps harmful forces from entering the city directly.

Karṇāṭaka was a daitya of immense power who had conquered all the worlds. He came to attack Dharmāraṇya but could not break through its walls. The sound of Vedic recitation from inside the city tormented him like the stroke of a vajra (thunderbolt), and he could only circle the city in frustration. The text gives this as the direct result of Śrīmātā’s protecting śakti. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 18)

The birth of Mātaṅgī

Karṇāṭaka terrorised the brāhmaṇas of Dharmāraṇya. By daitya-māyā (the trickery of the daityas) he would seize couples at their wedding ceremonies. All Vedic rites, sandhyā prayers, yajñas (fire rituals) and dharmic acts had stopped out of fear. The brāhmaṇas gathered before Śrīmātā and offered her a stotra (hymn of praise) full of distress, called the Vipra-Śrīmātā-Stotra.

Śrīmātā was moved to anger. From that fierce anger, flames burst from her face, eyes, nose and ears. From those flames Mātaṅgī was born, a fearsome śakti with eighteen arms. She fought Karṇāṭaka in battle and in the end destroyed him. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 18)

Names in the brāhmaṇas’ stotra

In their stotra the brāhmaṇas of Dharmāraṇya praised Śrīmātā with many names:

  • Brahmaputrī (daughter of Brahmā)
  • Brahmacāriṇī (one who follows brahmacarya)
  • Jagaṇmātā (mother of the world)
  • Sarvagā (all-pervading)

She is named with cosmic forces: kshudhā (hunger), nidrā (sleep), tṛshṇā (thirst), krodha (anger), vismṛti (forgetfulness), Śānti (peace), Rati (love) and Vijaya (victory). She is also called Māheśvarī, Sāvitrī, Śrī, Umā, Mātā, Dhṛti (steadfastness), Pushṭi (nourishment), Mahāmāyā, Chāyā (shadow) and Jyotiḥsvarūpā (form of light).

She is the five elements: Bhūmi (earth), tejas (fire), vāyu (wind), salila (water) and ākāśa (space). She is Mahāvidyā (the great knowledge), Klīṃkārī, Prāntāri and Devarūpā. These names show her as the whole of the cosmic śakti present in Dharmāraṇya. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 18)

The kula-devatā list

Twenty-five yoginīs were installed as kula-devatās for the twenty-four brāhmaṇa gotras of Dharmāraṇya. Śrīmātā is named first. The full list of the twenty-five yoginī kula-devatās is:

  1. Śrīmātā
  2. Tāraṇī
  3. Devī
  4. Āśāpūrī
  5. Gotrava
  6. Icchā
  7. Ārtināśinī
  8. Pippalī
  9. Tāraviśa
  10. Jagaṇmātā
  11. Mahāmātā
  12. Siddha
  13. Bhaṭṭārikā
  14. Kadamba
  15. Vikāramīta
  16. Suvarṇavasuja
  17. Mātaṅgī
  18. Mahādevī
  19. Vāṇī
  20. Mukuṭeśvarī
  21. Bhadrī
  22. Mahāśaktisaṃhārī
  23. Mahābala
  24. Cāmuṇḍā
  25. Mahādevī

(Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 9)

Sources

  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 9, 16–18