Maa Durga – About, Dasa Mahavidya, 108 Names of Durga

In hindu culture it is a common tradition to worship goddesses. They are considered to be the source of all power and energy in the world. They can make or break this world. Praying to Maa Durga gives her devotees the strength and courage to face life’s demons the same way she over powered numerous demons including Mahisasura which gave her the name Mahisasuramardini.

जय भगवति देवि नमो वरदे
जय पापविनाशिनि बहुफलदे ।
जय शुम्भनिशुम्भकपालधरे
प्रणमामि तु देवि नरार्तिहरे ॥१॥

One of the 108 names is Bharathi which means the goddess of speech. Mahakavi bharathiyar the great Tamil poet is said to be an ardent devotee of goddess kali, a form of Maa Durga. There are a lot of names that signify victory or conquering evil such as jaya and vijaya. Goddess of learning, Saraswati is also a form of Durga. Saraswati with the veena in her hand is the giver of education and wisdom. Students are generally encouraged to worship Saraswati to excel in education.

Dasa Mahavidyas – 10 Forms of Goddess Durga

Mahavidyas or Dasha-Mahavidyas are a group of ten aspects of the Divine Mother Durga or Devi/ Adi Parashakti in Hinduism. The 10 Mahavidyas are Wisdom Goddesses, who represent a spectrum of feminine divinity, from horrific goddesses at one end, to the gentle at the other.

The goddesses are:

• Kaali– the devourer of time
• Tara– The Goddess as Guide and Protector who is also known as neel saraswathi
• Shodashi– the beautiful one in all three worlds also called as Tripura sundari
• Bhuvaneshwari– the one who governs the universe
• Bhairavi– the fierce goddess
• Chhinnamasta– the self decapitated goddess
• Dhumavati– the widow goddess or the goddess of death
• Bagalamukhi– the goddess who paralyzes enemies
• Matangi– the supreme power of lalita
• Kamala-the lotus goddess or the tantric lakshmi.

Shiva is also a name of durga. As parvati, one of the forms of Maa Durga is Shiva’s better half.  It is said that in one of her births she is born as Sati or Dakshayini. To win the love of lord Shiva, Sati sought to penance. But king Daksha her father was not too pleased especially when Shiva acceded to her wishes and consented to make Sati his bride. King Daksha organized a great ritual to which all the gods were invited but did not invite Shiva. Sati went anyway and was grief stricken by her father’s action. It infuriated her to immolate herself and commit suicide. This is what gives the practice of women joining the pyre of their dead husbands as sati. Shiva was angry and grief stricken and he performed the tandava dance of destruction. Lord Shiva pulled two locks of hair and from those arose Veerbhadra, the invincible force of destruction and Bhadra kali, the most violent and intense incarnation of Shakti. Along with them they took Kali, Katyayani, Chamundi, Ishaani, Mundamardini, Vaishnavi, Twarita to slay down Daksha and his forces. Shiva later cools down and restores lives to all the slain warriors. Daksha spent the rest of his life as a devotee of Shiva carrying parts of her body across the country. Today these places are known as Shakti peeths. There are totally 51 shakthi peeths in the country. Most of these places have become famous pilgrimage sites for Hindus. Apart from these 51 there are also some small Peethas such as Bindhudham, which came into existence because of Sati’s fallen blood drops.

In her next incarnation she is born as Parvati, the daughter of king of mountains (parvat) called as Himavan. Paravati too meditated towards Shiva to win his love and succeeded in doing so. She gives birth to Kartikeya and Ganesha and slays the demon Tarakasur.

There are a lot of praises about Durga that talk of her appearance. Such as sumukhi the one with a beautiful face, trinetra the one with three eyes, Malini she who wears the garlands, Pattaambaraparidhaana and palavati which means wearing a dress of leather and a red attire respectively, Kanta she who is beautiful, Vishalakshi she who has large eyes, Kali the dark complexioned goddess. Kali is often hailed as the goddess of time, change and destruction.  The origin of Kali is as such a very interesting one. Maa Durga was in battle with the horrendous demon Raktabhija, Maa Durga was quite perplexed about the situation as everywhere the demon’s blood spilled a new demon emerged from that spot. In distress durga devi twitched her eyebrows and it is legend that kali was born out of her eyebrow. Kali saved the day by sucking the blood of the demon. In frenzy she began dancing on the slain bodies of the demons causing destruction all over the place. Shiva was sent to pacify Kali; he lay down on the battle field among the bodies and Kali in her victorious joy stamped on him. After realizing that the mighty lord Shiva lay under her feet, Kali was quite embarrassed about it and stuck out her tongue in astonishment. That is the reason why till today Kali is depicted with her tongue sticking out of her mouth.

Another story shows kali’s maternal instincts which are rarely discussed, it is said that Kali’s blood frenzy came to an end after hearing the cry of an infant on the battle field. Shiva came disguised as the infant to pacify Kali from causing more destruction.

As Bhuvaneshwari she is the Queen of the Universe. Bhuvaneshwari means the Queen or ruler of the Universe. She is the Divine Mother as the Queen of all the worlds. The entire Universe is her body and all beings are ornaments on her infinite being. She carries all the worlds as a flowering of her own Self-nature. She is thus related to Sundari and to Rajarajeshwari, the supreme Lady of the Universe. She is also known as Adi Shakti or Durga i.e. one of the earliest forms of Shakti. She is capable of turning situations according to her wish. It is considered that even the navagrahas and Trimurti cannot stop her from doing anything.

There are many other names that praise Shakti or the power of the female goddesses. These hymns stand as proof for the reverence and respect that we hold for all our goddesses.  These hymns are recited during all auspicious days especially during navaratri and on Durga puja. Shakti is the cosmic energy in our world that runs it. To worship Shakti in its primitive form rejuvenates the human mind and frees it of all worldly obstacles and pain and gives man the courage to face his inner demons.

108 names of Durga

108 Names of Maa Durga