Manifestations of Durga in Spiritual Sadhana

Divine Life Society Publication: God as Mother by Sri Swami Chidananda

Om Sri Sadguru Paramatmane Namah

PROSTRATIONS again and again to the blessed Divine Mother,

the ultimate goal and destination of all spiritual aspiration

Mother in Her aspect as Durga, Kali the Terrible, is in reality the all-compassionate and all-benign Mother who destroys in order to build, who takes away in order to give in abundance, and who is in reality the one who ultimately reveals Herself to us as the Light of lights, the Eternal Light of the Atman, after having helped us annihilate the dense darkness of ignorance.

In the Saptashati the origin of the name Durga has been given in one verse where we have it described that She, who saves us from all that is calamitous, She who saves us from danger and trouble, is known as Durga. Because She saves Her devotees from all sorrows, dangers and calamities, She is called Devi Durga. She being conceived of in this peculiar aspect of an all-destroying power is not only capable of being esoterically interpreted and explained that She destroys all that is undesirable but also it is based upon universal experience.

Manifestations of Durga in Spiritual Sadhana

Mother Durga manifests Herself in and through the form of the Guru, in the form of an aspirant in the aspirant himself to rise to a higher plane, in the form of a ruthless self-criticism and a self-examination; and when this analysis reveals to the seeker the picture of his lower animalistic self in all its detail then the Mother has to be invoked by him as a strong resolution and a strong determination to completely root out these evil tendencies because this aspect of the Mother is absolutely necessary if one has to start progressing upon the path of Yoga. To be unaware of the defects is the first great obstacle; and then if we get over this and become aware of our defects, but if we do not do anything about them in spite of our knowing our defects, the defects will remain and we will not progress. The next stage is, we must have a fiery determination and a strong power of will to completely break down this lower nature within us. Once this determination is invoked, the Mother manifests Herself as a strong will-power and a resoluteness in the aspirant to conquer and attain victory over his animalistic nature.

Next She has to manifest Herself in dynamic will. This will has to be translated into dynamic action, as Sadhana-Sakti, in the aspirant, so that day by day he begins to fight these evil tendencies in all moments of his daily life, in his actions, in his dealings with others, in his thoughts and motives and in his attitudes; this is done by the Sadhana-Sakti aspect of the Divine-Mother. Thus the Sadhana must proceed. For doing his task successfully he has to generate the power of the Divine Mother as Sadhana-Sakti and all the different processes of Yoga. If he is prey to certain lower appetites, he has to completely destroy those appetites, by a series of Sadhanas like Tapascharya, leaving off certain things, denying himself the gratification of those appetites.

It may be said that the denial of certain appetites may drive them underground as it were, to overcome man at some propitious moment, in the form of temptations. Here we have to put forward a certain great truth. It has been found out that to try to overcome an appetite by feeding it is the most impossible thing upon earth; because sense-cravings are likened to a huge conflagration or fire—and if we try to satisfy them, they say, this process acts as ghee poured into the fire. So that we actually give it something to consume; and by consuming it the fire blazes forth all the stronger and more furiously. It is on the other hand, by withdrawing the food to this blaze of sense-cravings that they die a natural death. Therefore, Tapascharya is another form in which Mother Durga manifests Herself in the aspirant.

In order to bear the rigour of Tapascharya, one must develop the power of Titiksha, the power of enduring things which may be very unpleasant and which may be very difficult and undesirable to the lower side of man. Titiksha in its various forms like fasting, vigil, etc., and self-denial in its various forms like giving up those things which the mind likes best for some period of time, e.g., saltless diet, taking tea without sugar, non-using shoes, come under this category. Methods by which we check some natural downward tendency and control some sensual appetite which draws the personality towards the objective world, have to be intelligently thought over and thus a whole programme of Sadhana has to be worked out by every individual Sadhaka or spiritual aspirant. It is the sum-total of these expressions of the Mother in the Sadhaka that ultimately enable him to transcend the first stage of spiritual life and Sadhana and completely attain victory over the lower nature in him.

The animal sacrifice, as it were, is achieved through the invocation of the divine Power within us in its evil-destroying, darkness annihilating, and Tamas-overcoming aspect. This is the significance and meaning of the worship of Mother Kali in the spiritual life of the aspirant.

It is impossible for anyone to cover the entire field of the manifestation of the Mother in Her aspect as Durga in the life of the aspirant. It is naturally a process which each one has to think out and work out for himself. It is only in its general form that we can say that Mother has to be manifested in the form of a ruthless self-analysis, a firm determination and a dynamic attempt to give expression to this resolution and the qualities like austerity, endurance, self-denial, fasting and the various other aspects of Yoga Sadhana, that we will be able to give it while dealing with the question in a general way.

Sadhak’s spiritual life is achieved through the grace of the Mother, with the attainment of identification with the Cosmic Supreme Being.

Note: Navarathri 2015 – Oct 13-Oct 22

Om Tat Sat Brahmaparnamastu

 Excerpts from: Manifestations of Durga in Spiritual Sadhana - God as Mother by Sri Swami Chidananda