Concept of Durga based on Prasthanatraya
By Shri Kesava Rao Tadipatri
The moment the sanAtana siddhAnta believers hear the name "Durga", their hearts get filled with devotion, fear, awe and enormous feeling of surrender and dAsa-bhAva. But at the same time, there comes the confusion - Who is this Durga? Is that Parvati or Sarasvat or Lakshmi or some kind of Merger of multiple Devis, etc. Then do all Shaivites worship Durga or all Vaishnavites worship or only Devi upAsakas worship and who actually is Durga and should people worship Durga only during Navaratri or all through the year, etc. Do Vedas and Puranas tell the same? Is Lalita devi same as Durga Devi? Who is primary deity represented by LalitA-sahasranAma?
What is the etymological mening of the word DurgaH or DurgA.
duHkhena gamyate iti durgaH durgA vA |
duHkhena = atikleshena = with great difficulty
gamyate = avagamyate = is known
It is impossible to know completely about the Lord. But different beings can know bout the Lord to some extent (to the extent of individual's abilities). Even that is very difficult.
gamyate also means prApyate = reached or obtained.
It is very difficult to reach.
durgaH = duHkhayogyAn duHkhaM gamayati prApayati iti durgaH = gives sorrow to duHkhayogya-s.
durgaH = bhaktAnAM duHkhaM gamayati nirgamayati = removes the sorrow of His devotees.
Based on prasthAna-traya (which are Upanishads, Geeta and Brahmasutra-s - they call Upanishat-prasthAna, GeetA-prasthAna and Sutra-prasthAna), the following is what is to be understood.
Just as two humans can have the same name, two devatas can also have the same name. But in case of humans, one does not indwell in another. But in case of devatas, they do that - as upanishat says - rUpam rUpam pratirUpo babhUva. When the real person moves the hand, the reflection also moves. In other words, the actual person controls his image. Similarly, the indwelling god controls the outer one. As Sri Krishna says - Ishvarassarva- bhUtAnAM hR^iddeshe.arjuna tiShThati | bhrAmayan sarvabhUtAni yantrArUDhANi
mAyayA" Lord kRiShNa or Lord Narayana is present in the hearts of all the beings and controls them like puppets. " JagannAtha Daasaru also says the same in Sri HarikathAmrutasaara - "kEvala biMba hari yeMdu".
When one thinks of Durga, one must imagine AshTa (eight) durgas. The word DurgA can be in masculine gender(DurgaH) or feminine gender (DurgA). All the deities, except Narayana can be either masculine or feminine. Only Narayana can have both masculine and feminine forms - as He is Bimba for all the beings. He resides inside all.
The names Sarasvati and BhArati are used interchangeably, but one must be clear whom we are referring based on the context. The wife of MukhyaprANa is called BhArati (that is why, when we refer to ParamAtma as indwelling force of MukhyaprANa, whose consort is Bharati, we say bhAratIramaNa-mukhyaprANa-antargata paramAtmane namaH). In the next Brahmakalpa, the current Brahma gets liberated(goes to Moksha) along with Sarasvati and MukhyaprAana becomes Brahma and BhArati becomes Sarasvati. That is why MukhyaprANa is called BhAvibrahma (future Brahma).
PArvati Devi is the basic DurgA deity. UmApati Rudra dEvaru is present inside this DurgA as DurgaH. Inside Rudra dEvaru, Sarasvati and Bharati are present as Durgas. Inside Sarasvati, Brahma is present as DurgaH and inside Bharati, MukhyaprANa is present as DurgaH. Inside Brahma and MukhyaprANa (and also inside all the deities, including Sarasvati, BhArati, Rudra and Parvati), Lakshmi is present as DurgA. Lord Narayana is present inside Lakshmi, Sarasvati, BhArati and PArvati as DurgA and inside Brahma, MukhyaprANa and Rudra dEvaru as durgaH). That is why we hear in Vishnu sahasra nAma - durlabho durgamo durgo durAvAso durArihA. So DurgaH is one of the names of Vishnu. Also Vishnu sahasra nAma has - anAdirbhUrbhuvo lakShmIssuivIrO ruchirAMgadaH. Lakshmi is one of the names of Vishnu and the word Lakshmi is in Feminine gender. He is present inside Lakshmi with the same name Lakshmi.
Similarly another pramANa says - brahmaNi brahma-rUpo.asau shiva rUpI shive sthitaH. (He is present inside Brahma with the same name and form. He is present inside Shiva with the same name and form.)
So, in essence Narayana is present inside Parvati with the name and rUpa of Parvati and inside her DurgA form, with the name and rUpa of DurgA.
Narayana is present inside Rudra with the name and rUpa of Rudra and inside his DurgaH form, with the name and rUpa of DurgaH.
Narayana is present inside BhArati with the name and rUpa of BhArati and inside her DurgA form, with the name and rUpa of DurgA.
Narayana is present inside Sarasvati with the name and rUpa of Sarasvati and inside her DurgA form, with the name and rUpa of DurgA.
Narayana is present inside MukhyaprANa with the name and rUpa of MukhyaprANa and inside his DurgaH form, with the name and rUpa of DurgaH.
Narayana is present inside brahma with the name and rUpa of brahma and inside his DurgaH form, with the name and rUpa of DurgaH.
Narayana is present inside Lakshmi with the name and rUpa of Lakshmi and inside her DurgA form, with the name and rUpa of DurgA.
Now LalitA is another form of these deities. So LalitA sahasranAma refers to all these deities with the primary sense referring to Lord Narayana Himself. The word SarvAntaryAmi refers only to Narayana. That does not bring down any of these deities. Lord Narayana gave them all lot of powers and mere mortals will have to worship all the deities, but as per their tAratamya. sarvottamatvena (as all Supreme) only Narayana is worshiped. All the deities worship their higher ones.
Then a natural question arises - how come Sri Raama and Sri Krishna worshiped Lord Shiva. The answer is very simple. There are two reasons for that. The Lord wants others to follow him -
yadyadAcharati shreShThastattadevetaro janaH |
sa yatpramANaM kurute lokastadanuvartate || Geeta 3-21||
(What ever the great people do, the other people follow that. Their actions become pramANa and the world emulates them)
Lord has to do mArgadarshana to others. That is why he bows to Dasharatha, Kausalya, Devaki, Vasudeva, nanda, Yashoda, et al. Secondly as explained above, inside Shiva, He is present as Shiva. So, He actually bows to His own form. Vadiraja explains this beautifully. When Sri Krishna goes to Kailasa and bows to Shiva, "Atmanepadi" dhAtu is used indicating He bowed to Himself. Shiva does PratinamaskAra to Sri Krishna. Then "Parasmaipadi" dhAtu is used, indicating that Shiva did not bow to Himself, but bowed to Lord Sri Krishna.
In spite of all this one lingering doubt may be there inside one's mind - All these are round-about explanations. Is there an unambiguous, plain and clear-cut pramANa statement that says that Lord Narayana is all Supreme.
There are many such. Vedic passages from Narayana Sukta, etc have such clear cut statements. None of the suktas extolling other deities have such All-supreme statements about those deities. Note that shastras describe that Narayana has all the names, forms and auspicious qualities and so the primary one for all those sUkats is again Narayana.
mattaH parataraM nAnyatkiJNchidasti dhanaJNjaya |
mayi sarvamidaM protaM sUtre maNigaNA iva || 7-7||
(Oh Dhananjaya, there is no force, no one and no entity that is greater than me. Just as the string holds all the beads together, I hold the entire universe.)
Geeta is abundant with such expressions - one more is -
yasmAtkSharamatIto.ahamakSharAdapi chottamaH |
ato.asmi loke vede cha prathitaH puruShottamaH || 15-18||
(I am greater than all kShara jIvas and also akShara - Lakshmi. That is why I am extolled in Vedas and Puranas as Purushottama.)
Brahma, Rudra or Durga never gave such statement. In fact there is AmbhraNI sukta, which is also called DevI sukta, in which Lakshmi says that she controls everything and appoints Brahma, Rudra and Rishis and in Pralaya, destroys them all. Even her controller and source is there in the middle of the ocean reposing or lying down (who is Narayana).
The three forms of Lakshmi are ShrI, BhU and Durga, who are controllers of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Madhvas worship all the three forms and we need the grace of Durga for not getting affected by TamoguNa. VijayadAsara Durga SuLAdi extols this form of Lakshmi only.
In Tantra-sAra-saMgraha, MadhvAcharya explains about Durga mantra and its aMganyAsa, the dhyAna-rUpa, etc. So Durga worship is very essential for Madhvas and the procedure and understanding is stressed a lot. Durga is mentioned in Shri Madhvavijaya kAvya also a few times. Sri Vadirajaru composed hrI DurgAstava. A few others in Madhva Parampara also composed DurgA stotras. The archakas in Durga temple in Durga beTTa in PAjaka kShetra are Madhvas only. So no one should think that Madhvas do not worship Durga. On similar lines, so many daasaru composed dAsarapadas on Rudra devaru and still some think that Madhvas do not worsip Rudra devaru. He is ahaMkAra tattvAbhimAni devata and mano-niyAmaka.
What is the etymological mening of the word DurgaH or DurgA.
duHkhena gamyate iti durgaH durgA vA |
duHkhena = atikleshena = with great difficulty
gamyate = avagamyate = is known
It is impossible to know completely about the Lord. But different beings can know bout the Lord to some extent (to the extent of individual's abilities). Even that is very difficult.
gamyate also means prApyate = reached or obtained.
It is very difficult to reach.
durgaH = duHkhayogyAn duHkhaM gamayati prApayati iti durgaH = gives sorrow to duHkhayogya-s.
durgaH = bhaktAnAM duHkhaM gamayati nirgamayati = removes the sorrow of His devotees.
Based on prasthAna-traya (which are Upanishads, Geeta and Brahmasutra-s - they call Upanishat-prasthAna, GeetA-prasthAna and Sutra-prasthAna), the following is what is to be understood.
Just as two humans can have the same name, two devatas can also have the same name. But in case of humans, one does not indwell in another. But in case of devatas, they do that - as upanishat says - rUpam rUpam pratirUpo babhUva. When the real person moves the hand, the reflection also moves. In other words, the actual person controls his image. Similarly, the indwelling god controls the outer one. As Sri Krishna says - Ishvarassarva- bhUtAnAM hR^iddeshe.arjuna tiShThati | bhrAmayan sarvabhUtAni yantrArUDhANi
mAyayA" Lord kRiShNa or Lord Narayana is present in the hearts of all the beings and controls them like puppets. " JagannAtha Daasaru also says the same in Sri HarikathAmrutasaara - "kEvala biMba hari yeMdu".
When one thinks of Durga, one must imagine AshTa (eight) durgas. The word DurgA can be in masculine gender(DurgaH) or feminine gender (DurgA). All the deities, except Narayana can be either masculine or feminine. Only Narayana can have both masculine and feminine forms - as He is Bimba for all the beings. He resides inside all.
The names Sarasvati and BhArati are used interchangeably, but one must be clear whom we are referring based on the context. The wife of MukhyaprANa is called BhArati (that is why, when we refer to ParamAtma as indwelling force of MukhyaprANa, whose consort is Bharati, we say bhAratIramaNa-mukhyaprANa-antargata paramAtmane namaH). In the next Brahmakalpa, the current Brahma gets liberated(goes to Moksha) along with Sarasvati and MukhyaprAana becomes Brahma and BhArati becomes Sarasvati. That is why MukhyaprANa is called BhAvibrahma (future Brahma).
PArvati Devi is the basic DurgA deity. UmApati Rudra dEvaru is present inside this DurgA as DurgaH. Inside Rudra dEvaru, Sarasvati and Bharati are present as Durgas. Inside Sarasvati, Brahma is present as DurgaH and inside Bharati, MukhyaprANa is present as DurgaH. Inside Brahma and MukhyaprANa (and also inside all the deities, including Sarasvati, BhArati, Rudra and Parvati), Lakshmi is present as DurgA. Lord Narayana is present inside Lakshmi, Sarasvati, BhArati and PArvati as DurgA and inside Brahma, MukhyaprANa and Rudra dEvaru as durgaH). That is why we hear in Vishnu sahasra nAma - durlabho durgamo durgo durAvAso durArihA. So DurgaH is one of the names of Vishnu. Also Vishnu sahasra nAma has - anAdirbhUrbhuvo lakShmIssuivIrO ruchirAMgadaH. Lakshmi is one of the names of Vishnu and the word Lakshmi is in Feminine gender. He is present inside Lakshmi with the same name Lakshmi.
Similarly another pramANa says - brahmaNi brahma-rUpo.asau shiva rUpI shive sthitaH. (He is present inside Brahma with the same name and form. He is present inside Shiva with the same name and form.)
So, in essence Narayana is present inside Parvati with the name and rUpa of Parvati and inside her DurgA form, with the name and rUpa of DurgA.
Narayana is present inside Rudra with the name and rUpa of Rudra and inside his DurgaH form, with the name and rUpa of DurgaH.
Narayana is present inside BhArati with the name and rUpa of BhArati and inside her DurgA form, with the name and rUpa of DurgA.
Narayana is present inside Sarasvati with the name and rUpa of Sarasvati and inside her DurgA form, with the name and rUpa of DurgA.
Narayana is present inside MukhyaprANa with the name and rUpa of MukhyaprANa and inside his DurgaH form, with the name and rUpa of DurgaH.
Narayana is present inside brahma with the name and rUpa of brahma and inside his DurgaH form, with the name and rUpa of DurgaH.
Narayana is present inside Lakshmi with the name and rUpa of Lakshmi and inside her DurgA form, with the name and rUpa of DurgA.
Now LalitA is another form of these deities. So LalitA sahasranAma refers to all these deities with the primary sense referring to Lord Narayana Himself. The word SarvAntaryAmi refers only to Narayana. That does not bring down any of these deities. Lord Narayana gave them all lot of powers and mere mortals will have to worship all the deities, but as per their tAratamya. sarvottamatvena (as all Supreme) only Narayana is worshiped. All the deities worship their higher ones.
Then a natural question arises - how come Sri Raama and Sri Krishna worshiped Lord Shiva. The answer is very simple. There are two reasons for that. The Lord wants others to follow him -
yadyadAcharati shreShThastattadevetaro janaH |
sa yatpramANaM kurute lokastadanuvartate || Geeta 3-21||
(What ever the great people do, the other people follow that. Their actions become pramANa and the world emulates them)
Lord has to do mArgadarshana to others. That is why he bows to Dasharatha, Kausalya, Devaki, Vasudeva, nanda, Yashoda, et al. Secondly as explained above, inside Shiva, He is present as Shiva. So, He actually bows to His own form. Vadiraja explains this beautifully. When Sri Krishna goes to Kailasa and bows to Shiva, "Atmanepadi" dhAtu is used indicating He bowed to Himself. Shiva does PratinamaskAra to Sri Krishna. Then "Parasmaipadi" dhAtu is used, indicating that Shiva did not bow to Himself, but bowed to Lord Sri Krishna.
In spite of all this one lingering doubt may be there inside one's mind - All these are round-about explanations. Is there an unambiguous, plain and clear-cut pramANa statement that says that Lord Narayana is all Supreme.
There are many such. Vedic passages from Narayana Sukta, etc have such clear cut statements. None of the suktas extolling other deities have such All-supreme statements about those deities. Note that shastras describe that Narayana has all the names, forms and auspicious qualities and so the primary one for all those sUkats is again Narayana.
mattaH parataraM nAnyatkiJNchidasti dhanaJNjaya |
mayi sarvamidaM protaM sUtre maNigaNA iva || 7-7||
(Oh Dhananjaya, there is no force, no one and no entity that is greater than me. Just as the string holds all the beads together, I hold the entire universe.)
Geeta is abundant with such expressions - one more is -
yasmAtkSharamatIto.ahamakSharAdapi chottamaH |
ato.asmi loke vede cha prathitaH puruShottamaH || 15-18||
(I am greater than all kShara jIvas and also akShara - Lakshmi. That is why I am extolled in Vedas and Puranas as Purushottama.)
Brahma, Rudra or Durga never gave such statement. In fact there is AmbhraNI sukta, which is also called DevI sukta, in which Lakshmi says that she controls everything and appoints Brahma, Rudra and Rishis and in Pralaya, destroys them all. Even her controller and source is there in the middle of the ocean reposing or lying down (who is Narayana).
The three forms of Lakshmi are ShrI, BhU and Durga, who are controllers of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Madhvas worship all the three forms and we need the grace of Durga for not getting affected by TamoguNa. VijayadAsara Durga SuLAdi extols this form of Lakshmi only.
In Tantra-sAra-saMgraha, MadhvAcharya explains about Durga mantra and its aMganyAsa, the dhyAna-rUpa, etc. So Durga worship is very essential for Madhvas and the procedure and understanding is stressed a lot. Durga is mentioned in Shri Madhvavijaya kAvya also a few times. Sri Vadirajaru composed hrI DurgAstava. A few others in Madhva Parampara also composed DurgA stotras. The archakas in Durga temple in Durga beTTa in PAjaka kShetra are Madhvas only. So no one should think that Madhvas do not worship Durga. On similar lines, so many daasaru composed dAsarapadas on Rudra devaru and still some think that Madhvas do not worsip Rudra devaru. He is ahaMkAra tattvAbhimAni devata and mano-niyAmaka.
Shri Krishnarpanamastu !
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