Orissa Review * September-October - 2007

Divine Mother Durga : Plurality of Her Names

Dr. Jyotshna Sahoo Dr. B. L. Malla

From time immemorial Mother Goddess was a the Mother Goddess appears in the form of popular deity in ancient world. The conception "Prithvi" or universe and later on she was called of Motherhood of the Supreme being that Aditi, Gauri, Prakriti, Shitala, Ugratara, Kali, manifested in Female form is perhaps the finest Bhawani, Chamunda, Kalaratri, Durga and so on. expression in Hinduism. It is the ascendance of From the following verse it is indicated that the the maternal principle over the male Gods who Mother Goddess was known as "Durga" because yielded their major symbols, weapons and power she had killed the dreadful demon Durga. so the whole might be amalgamated into an "Tadeiba Cha Badhishyami omnipotent totalisation of cosmic forces. Durga Makhyam Mahasuram In India the worship of Mother Goddess Durga Debiti Bikhyatam or Shakti has been in vogue since the Tasmei Nama Bhabishyati" Indus valley civilization. There However the literary meaning of the are many evidences that are word "Durga" is understood as the found from this civilization. presiding deity of an unexplorable Archaeologists have found a region or the savior from the number of terracotta figures crisis. Devi Durga is the from the Indus sites which progenitor of all the minutest and they consider to be biggest things in the universe, representations of the animate and inanimate. This Mother Goddess. John universe is begotten of her free Marshall has stated that the will. Goddess Durga is the foremost among the Indus Mother and the Maid-the Pantheon was the Mother Prakriti and Adya Shakti. She Goddess. It also appears is simultaneously the producer from the inscriptions on the and the produced. She is the stone and wood found in Creator and also the Destructor. Harappa that during the She is formless in her true period of Indus valley civilization Shakti cult was character but she assumes various forms to create, associated with that of Shiva. In the Vedic era protect and destroy as and when necessary.

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Goddess Durga was the Supreme object of grow out of my own body during the period of adoration in Saktism and a number of names had heavy rains in monsoon. I shall gain fame on earth given to her in Indian classical literature. "Devi- then as Shakambari". Mahatmya" of Markandeya Purana indicates that According to Markandeya Purana, the ten many are the occasions when in response to the incarnations of the goddess are: Durga (the prayers of Her devotees, the Mother Goddess goddess was destined to kill the two demons, assumes special forms to incarnate on the earth Shumbha & Nishumbha); Dashabhuja (the ten- and thereby She is known under different names. armed goddess); Singhavahini (seated on a lion); The Durga Gayatri mentions three of Her Mahishamardini (destroyer of the buffalo demon); names 'Katyayani', 'Kanyakumari' and 'Durga'. Jagaddhatri (the mother of the universe who over In the Vedas She is mentioned as "Aranyani" (the came the army of the demons); Kali (the dark- goddess of the forest). In Taittoriya Aranyaka and complexioned goddess) Muktakeshi (with Upanishad She is known as 'Haimavati'. In flowing. hair); Tara (the Savior who slew Bhagabata, Durga is known as 'Ekansha' and the Shumbha in his proper shape; Chhinnamasta (the Sister of 'Krishna'. In Bhishmaparba of headless goddess who killed Nishumbha); Mahabharata Arjun has worshipped Durga as the Jagatgouri (the golden complexioned goddess Shakti of Shiva. Many names of Durga are adored by the gods and all the inhabitants of the mentioned in Mahabharata in a hymn of Arjuna. three worlds). They are Siddha Senani, Krishnapingala, Kali, Devi Durga is worshipped in a variety of Kapila, Mahakali, Bhadrakali, Chandi, Chanda, forms and each form of Durga's image has its own Tarini, Kalyani, Karali, Vijaya, Jaya, Uma etc. In importance. Many are the hymns that are sung in the Haribamsha She is known as Mahishamardini. Her praise. Many are the names by which She is It is said in the Ramayana that Sri Ramachandra hailed by Her devotees. In Kashmir She is also worshipped Mother Durga with one hundred worshipped as 'Amba', in West India as and eight lotuses to seek Her blessings to kill his 'Navapatrika', in Gujurat as 'Hingala' or "Rudrani" great enemy-Ravana. There is mention of in Kanauj as "Kalyani" and in Bengal as "Durga". innumerable Mother Goddesses in Mahabharata who accompanied Kartikeya, the Commander of Durga is called 'Mahavidya' as she the Gods in the battle with the demons. Eight possesses supreme knowledge of Brahman. names of those goddesses are Brahmi, Some of Her other names are Pratyangira (the Maheshvari, Andri, Varahi, Vaishnavi, Kumari, well proportioned one); Kamakshya (the goddess Chamunda and Chandrika. Kautilya in his of Kama or Passion); Sarva Bishwa Janani (the Arthashastra mentioned Devi Durga as 'Spriti of mother of the whole universe) etc. She is also Vegetables'. There is also a popular ritual of the addressed as Purani, Parashakti, Rajarajeswari. Navapatrika in Durga Puja that indicates the She is also named as Brahmani (the creative worship of the goddess of vegetation or fertility. force), Vaishnavi (the preserving force), and It is also found in the Markandeya Purana where Rudrani (the destructive force). She is called Devi says "Oh Gods, I shall nourish the whole Mahayogini who maintains the links of creation, world with the life sustaining vegetables which shall preservation and destruction.

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The divine mother is worhsipped as Adya, blue sky, a golden sheen on the leaves of the trees, because she is the beginning of all. She is mild cold breeze in the pleasant weather and the Mahashakti who remains as the neutral zone of green fields reminds of the great festival-Durga all manifestations in life. As Uma, She is firm in Puja, that symbolizes the eternal truth of the victory her devotion, as Parvati she is loving and of divinity over the evil. The fundamental benevolent, as Durga she protects and rescues symbolism of the different forms of Durga, came the oppressed. She is called Aparna, as she took from Her principle embodying the aspects of life- nothing, not even a leaf while practising the severe fertility and thereby the creativity, continuity, austerities for winning the heart Shiva and getting destruction and regeneration that are bound to Him as Her husband. She is Nitya, as she is eternal happen in a cyclic order by the rules of nature. and never limited by space, time and causality. So She is given the generic name 'Devi' in her She is called Narayani, the goddess who is the worship. real nature of the material world. She is called References: Aparajita, the goddess who is worshipped on the Vijaya Dashami day. Sundari is also the name of 1. Mohanty, Brajmohan, Odissara Debadevi, Utkal Pathaka Samshad, 1981. Durga and some other names are Shailaputri, 2. Bandopadhyaya Pranab, Mother Goddess: Brahmacharini, Chandragrantha, Siddhidatri and Durga, Image India, 1987. so on. 3. Mishra, V, Mahishamardini, Rajesh Publications, She is called Kausiki because She became 1984. angry at the joke of Shiva calling Her "Kali" and 4. Pargiter, F. E., The Markandeya Purana, The She practises austerities by which Her body turned Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1904. into a very fair-complexioned woman-Gouri by the grace of Brahma. She is popularly known for Her ten forms of Mahavidya. They are: Kali, Tara, Sodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Dhumavati, Bagala, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Matangi and Kamala. Durga, the great goddess assumes all these forms and absorbs them in Her at the time of universal destruction. Dr. Jyotsna Sahoo is the Assistant Librarian in the Orissa State Museum, Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Every year in the beginning of autumn Dr. B.L. Malla is the Curator-in-Charge, Manuscript season the appearance of clear sunshine in the Section in the Orissa State Museum, Bhubaneswar.

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