Philip Poburka on sat 12 oct 02
'delete' and be...'deleted'...
Oh...I could weep...
Maybe better do so, too...and plenty...more than I was
even...lots more...
...so true!
Too 'true'...
Phil
las vegas
----- Original Message -----
From: "BVCuma"
To:
Sent: Saturday, October 12, 2002 12:08 PM
Subject: Devi...The Mother- Goddess (delete at your own
risk)
Excerpts from...
The Tantric culture drew on the power of the Devi.
It evolved potent chants or mantras, diagrams such as
mandalas and yantras, gestures called mudras and vows
known as vratas, to incite nature to bestow health, harvest
and happiness. Such a culture probably flourished in the
cities of the Indus valley and survived in the villages
and tribes of India.
Women played a powerful role in these rituals for they
were the mediums through which Devi's grace percolated
into society. Their presence was required to make every
occasion auspicious. In spring festivals, women were
asked to sing, dance and kick trees to accelerate their
flowering and fruition.
This was the religion of the common man, of the farmer,
the potter, the weaver, the tanner, the blacksmith, and
the forest-dweller
The goddess of this religion was powerful, untamable
wild and free.
_____________
In the forests, long before civilization's stifling
influence,
ancient Indian tribes heard Devi's wild, unrestrained,
virginal laughter. She was found residing in trees,
with birds and beasts. She was Bagalamukhi, the
heron faced goddess. She was the turtle riding Yamuna
and the crocodile riding Ganga.... proud, turbulent
river-goddess. She belonged to all. She was Renuka,
mistress of the earth. She was Yellamma, everyone's
mother.
But as man became the master, the owner, the lord,
he fenced off the land, plucked away the weeds, seared
the earth with a plough and sowed the seed of his choice.
The earth became man's property, and field on which man
harvested his fortune. Women, always equated with the earth,
were seen as fields too. Man was its jealous farmer. Thus
was patriarchy born.
With the domestication of the earth, Devi's wildness was
rejected; she became the coy village-goddess, the
gramma-devi, whose chastity ensured the village fortune.
Likewise, it was believed that a coy and chaste wife
ensured the fortune of her husband.
_____________
Though her sacredness has always been acknowledged,
every attempt was made to curtail feminine freedom.
Her faithfulness to her husband became the hallmark of
her virtue. Her chastity, it came to be believed, ensured
happiness in the family. So much so that even when her
husband died, she was expected to remain true to her
husband's memory. Without her husband, she became
a non-entity, an inauspicious widow. If she killed
herself on his pyre she was worshipped as a
Sati-Maharani.
Though the goddess was the source of power, wealth and
knowledge, Hindu women were denied the right to make
decisions, the right to own property and the right to
educate themselves. They were hidden behind veils,
locked in the inner courtyard, trapped within thresholds,
smothered by the alleged divinity of chaste wives and
loving matriarchs.
Worse still, they were seen as the fountainhead of
temptation, hurdles on the path of spiritual progress,
to be rejected by those who sought spiritual emancipation.
They were the mythical apsaras who bewitches rishis and
entrapped them in samasara. Many holymen avoided even
casual contact with women lest they be tempted.
The paradoxical worship and suppression of women is
perhaps the greatest tragedy...
__________
Through the ages, man has sought to either control or
escape from the world around him. When both enterprises
seem futile, he turns to the mother-goddess. And she
offers him nourishment, strength, validation and
unconditional love, so that man can come to terms with
the world as it is, not as it should be. This, in essence,
is
the Shakta heritage.
Durga..
Durga is the most splendid manifestation of Devi.
Virginal and sublime, containing within her the power of
all the gods combined, she is the invincible power of
Nature who triumphs over those who seek to
subjugate her......
"Who are you?" asked the gods.
"I am Durga- the inaccessible one," replied the goddess.
"I am Prakti, the substance that gives form and
identity to all things. I am Shakti, the power that enables
all creatures to exist, think, act and respond. I am
Maya, the delusion that makes life alluring yet elusive."
The gods saluted the great goddess....
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