हरि सर्वोत्तम । वायु जीवोत्तम | श्री गुरुभ्यो नमः
What does Durga mean?
Durga simply means “difficult to reach”.
Here is a condensed extract from “The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary” by V. S. Apte that defines female (दुर्गा), male (दुर्गः)and adjective (दुर्ग) forms:
दुर् : A prefix substituted for दुस् before words beginning with vowels or soft consonants in the sense of 'bad', 'hard' or 'difficult to do a certain thing';
...
○ +ग 1 difficult of access, inaccessible, impervious, impassable; 2 unattainable; 3 incomprehensible; 4 following wicked path, vicious;
○ +गः 1 a difficult or narrow passage through a wood or over a stream, mountain &c., a defile, narrow pass; 2 a citadel. fortress, castle; 3 rough ground; 4 difficulty, adversity, calamity, distress, danger;
○ +गा 1 an epithet of Pārvatī, wife of Śiva; 2 the female cuckoo; 3 N. of several plants.
...
As one can see, the word itself is difficult to define even in the material or अधिभौतिक sense!
Whom does Durga refer to?
So it is not surprising that in the अधिदैविक sense, i.e. of divinity or deities, there are many views on who is दुर्गा देवी .
The most popular interpretation is the नवदुर्गा forms of पार्वती associated with शरद् नवरात्रि, i.e. शैलपुत्रि, ब्रह्मचारिणि, चन्द्रघण्टा, कूष्माण्डा, स्कन्दमाता, कात्यायनी, कालरात्री, महागौरी, and सिद्धिधात्री. This is prevalent also amongst followers of शक्त tradition – who view the trinity of ब्रह्म, विष्णु and शिव themselves (and other divinities) as derived from आदि-पराशक्ती. Another tradition is to attribute 3 days each of Navaraatri to कालि/दुर्गा, लक्ष्मी and सरस्वति.
All these traditions address their deities as Durga – since they are all “difficult to reach”.
Knowledge vs. Tradition
However, independent of tradition, proper understanding has to be based on the solid foundation of प्रमाण. To this end, Lord Veda Vyaasa compiled the Veda-s, composed the 18 Puraana-s incl. Srimad Bhaagavata, the Mahabharata, and also gave us the Brahmasutra-s to interpret all Shaastra-s correctly.
A proper understanding, i.e. one that is consistent, satisfying and unchanging, can only be built on a chain of trust – rooted in perfect and complete sources of knowledge (आगम) with defect-less reasoning (अनुमान) applied thereof. This is what Acharya Madhva’s philosophy (तत्त्ववाद or यथार्थ ज्ञान – knowledge as it is) brings to us via His commentaries – replete with specific references to trusted sources and inferences thereof. Even today this logical methodology of reasoning is the basis of all science as the only accepted form of research and epistemology.
Of particular importance is the reliance on ONLY Saatvic sources of आगम such as Srimad Bhaagavata, Vishnu, Varaaha, Garuda, Naarada and Padma Purana-s, the Pancharaatra and of course the Lord’s own words in the Bhagavad Gita (BG). Note that the six Raajasic and six Taamasic Puraana-s (also written by Lord Veda Vyaasa) include misleading statements that have to be interpreted consistently with Saatvic आगम – just as with Upa-Puraana-s like Devi Bhaagavata as well as Shruti-s and Smriti-s authored by others.
When we pray to Durga, whom to focus on?
Lord Krishna says in BG 8.4 “अधियज्ञॊऽहमॆवात्र”, or “… it is only I who am called Adhiyajña – as I am the Energiser and Enjoyer of all Yajñas …”. So it is evident that the innate and superior-most energy behind any force, including all deities, is the Lord Himself.
Lakshmi, who is inseparable from the Lord, takes various consort forms along with Him to effect His wishes. For example, for the four Vyuha forms of वासुदेव, संकर्षाण, प्रद्युम्न and अनिरुद्ध, Lakshmi takes the forms of माया, जया, कृति and शान्ति respectively. So also for the 24 forms of Keshava et al, and 10 forms of Dashaavataara – and so on.
The popular अम्भृणी सूक्त (Rig Veda 10.125 referred to as Devi Sukta by some) clearly states that She creates the worlds, the entities thereof and appoints Brahma, Rudra, and others, pervades the Universe, is the destroyer and liberator – but Her own creator, Naarayana who lies in the Ocean of Pralaya, is the energiser and reason behind all this.
As Acharya Madhva explains in his Bhagavata Taatparya Nirnaya, Lakshmi has three primordial forms : श्री, भू and दुर्गा that control and manifest सत्त्व, रजस and तमस attributes in souls respectively. These forms are primordial because they accompany Lord Naarayana during Pralaya kaala – metaphorically representing water, leaf and darkness respectively.
As described in Srimad Bhaagavata 10th Canto, Lord instructs माया to move the 7th child (Balaraama with Sankarshana within) from Devaki to Yashoda and delude Kamsa with the warning that his destroyer is yet to be born. Lord also instructs माया to take birth as Yashoda’s daughter and lists the names that She will be referred to as (Srimad Bhaagavata 10.2.11-12): दुर्गा, भद्रकाली, विजया, वैष्णवी, कुमुदा, चण्डिका, कृष्णा, माधवी, कन्यका, माया, नारायणी, ईशानी, शारदा and अम्बिका. Note that the term माया here primarily refers to Lord’s इच्छा शक्ति, but also Lakshmi in her various forms esp. Durga and consort of Vaasudeva – it does not refer to illusion or non-existence or an unknown mystic power, which are mundane meanings that are out of context.
Durga form of Lakshmi, who controls Taamasic attributes such as ego, selfishness, sorrow and ignorance, is of particular importance in Kali Yuga since the predominance of us fall prey to these flaws. She is described in Shri Vaadiraja’s Durgaastava as तमोभिमानिनी पायाद्दुर्गा स्वर्गपवर्गदा. A simple English translation of this beautiful work is available HERE.
Vaishnava worship to any entity is via अन्तर्यामि उपासन, i.e. acknowledging the innate presence of hierarchy of deities eventually reaching Lakshmi and Narayana. For example, praying to Ganesha is done through Bharati & Mukhyapraana eventually to the Vishwaambhara form of the Lord. So irrespective of which Durga form we begin with, we reach Durga form of Lakshmi and eventually Lord Narasimha from Whom Her energy is derived. Shri Kesava Rao Tadipatri has elaborated HERE showing how male (दुर्गः) and female (दुर्गा) forms in a simple and elegant hierarchical model explain why Parvati and other forms too are called Durga.
In conclusion, proper वैष्णव अनुसन्धान is to focus on the intrinsic form of Lakshmi as Durga when performing Navaraatri Pooja, Durga Namaskara, Chandika Homa or visiting Durga temples.
And there is really no ‘difficulty’ since Durga = Lakshmi!
/Raghunath Rao/ “Do your Best … and leave the Rest … “
(All mistakes mine – all credit to Gurus and Acharyas )
|| sarvaṁ śrī kṛṣṇārpanamastu ||
