An ode to the divine feminine - 1

On a different plane of reality, one fine day, the Great Health gets defeated by a minor ailment (it could just be a mosquito sting). On the verge of death, it gets concerned about well being of the near and dear ones. There was indeed a lot to care about, wives, children, pets, gardens, gold, and even the servants who have been loyal throughout their lives. 

On the same plane, the Spiritual Qualities could not completely free itself from the world's attachments. It tried separating itself long back from the things of the world, the mere traces in the memory caused a great deal of delusion, paralyzing the transcendence of the mind. 

In the forest, both came across the Higher intellect and requested answers to the questions they stumbled upon at their respective stages of life. The Great Health asked,  "How do I tame my mind to recognize that all my worldly possessions today will someday not be mine and get rid of the delusion of 'me and mine' ?". The Spiritual qualities asked,  "How do I get rid of the worldly traces of 'me and mine even after consistent efforts to distance myself from the worldly things ?"

The Higher Intellect replied it's the almighty Divine Feminine who sustains the universe by creating the delusion of Me and mine in all sentient beings. It's her ultimate enchantment by which she makes the Supreme consciousness remain in an inactive or sleeping state. Her magic spares no one, even the ones with the best discrimination (between the worldly and the eternal) and discernment (for the worldly things). Though she deludes, she only has the power to free someone from her enchantment of delusion.  

When the seekers asked more about the divine feminine, the higher intellect said - "She is the eternal one, the whole universe is created upon the existence lent by her. Instead of being everywhere eternally as the primal cause of the universe, she sometimes manifests in different forms if there arises a need, and let me narrate to you the stories of some of her appearances."

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The Higher Intellect continued, once upon a time, when the Consciousness was made asleep by her powerful enchantment, the Mind was threatened by two famously fierce demons Sweetness and Bitterness. The demons attacked the mind by making it chase all that is sweet or pleasant and run away from the bitter or painful sensations. Chasing the pleasant and avoiding the painful, immediately enslaved the mind and made it lose control of itself, leaving it to be reigned by the two demons. 

The mind prayed to the Divine Feminine to get free of this enslavement. 

The prayer was,

"You are the offerings made to the gods and the manes. You are the expletive during the worship and the oath after which the oblation is poured.

You are the essence behind the worship and thus the One to Whom all offerings go.

O eternal one, you are the threefold mantra (AUM) and thus you only are that which can never be described in words (the Brahman).

This universe is born from you. You protect it, and it is you who always consume it in the end.

At the time of creation, you are the creative force, at the time of sustenance you are the protective power, and at the time of the dissolution, you are the destructive power.

You are the primordial cause of everything, bringing into force the three qualities. You are the night of periodic dissolution. You are the great night of final dissolution and the terrible night of delusion.

You are the ruler, the higher intellect that comes from knowledge, you are the nourishment, the fulfillment, the peace, and the fortitude.

Armed with ten different weapons, you are terrible but pleasing, more pleasing than anything.

You are the underlying reality between the conscient and the non-conscient.

How can I sing the praises of her who is the soul of everything? By you, even that which creates, sustains, and devours the world, is put to sleep.

O Goddess, beguile these two invincible asuras with your superior powers. Let my consciousness be quickly awakened from sleep and rouse up his nature to slay these two great demons."

Lauded by the prayers of the Mind, the Divine Feminine withdrew her enchantment from the consciousness. The mind thus becomes conscious of two demons Sweetness (pleasure) and Bitterness (pain). Upon being conscious or aware the fight between the consciousness and the demons started and lasted for 5000 years. After 5000 years the two demons are defeated by the grace of the divine feminine. 

I just tried to narrate my interpretation of the 1st part of Devi Mahatmya or Durga Saptasati or most famously known as Sri Chandi. For regular folk like me, you, etc., the "Consciousness" or Vishnu, the supreme Purusha is kept asleep by the enchantment of the "Divine Feminine" or the Maha-Maya and the "Mind" controls the course of life. When the mind is given a free hand, it is driven by the principle of pleasure (sweetness or Demon Madhu) and pain (bitterness or Demon Kaitava). In its pursuit to run towards pleasure and avoid pain, the person gets entrapped in a hedonic treadmill. One thing of pleasure to another, avoidance of one pain to another, and the cycle never ends. 

If one wants to break the cycle, the only way is to pray to the "Divine Feminine" as the sorceress only is capable of getting one out of the sorcery. If you feel you are also moving continuously from one pleasure to another, never to get complete fulfillment - it is the time to invoke the Goddess to break the chains. You may try to contemplate the part in "red" above. This is a translation of Bramha Stuti mentioned in the Devi mahatma as a powerful means to invoke the Divine Feminine, who would rescue you from the trap created by Madhu and Kaitava. 

Being aware and getting out of the trap, however, are placed in the story 5000 years apart. This is the period of spiritual seeking the time taken between recognizing and realizing. The latter, however, can never happen in the absence of the former, once the runner realizes there is a button to stop the treadmill - the search for the button can be long (even 5000 years through multiple lifetimes) but not infinite. 

To be continued ...

~Avirup Chakraborty