Devīmāhātmya

An extract from the book A Yoga philosophy guidebook.

Centuries before the Devī Bhagavata Purāna was compiled; another text central to Shaktism emerged and was popularized throughout India. The Devīmāhātmya is a section of the Mārkandeya Purāna _in which the sage Mārkandeya shares three specific legends contained within a single story arc. The _Devīmāhātmya articulates a profound philosophy that weaves together Vedantic nonduality and bhakti (devotion) to the Divine Mother. Four widely popular hymns with universal themes that contain deep wisdom and devotion come from this text: the Brahmāstuti, the Śakrādistuti, the Aparājitāstuti, and the Nārāyanistuti.

The Devīmāhātmya begins as Mārkandeya introduces the virtuous king Suratha, who has retired to a forest hermitage after losing his kingdom. Suratha soon meets the merchant Samādhi, who was rich and happy until his greedy family stole his wealth and cast him out. Both of them came to the forest retreat seeking peace, but find that in the quiet surroundings, they are faced with their attachment and pain of loss. Together they approach the sage Medhas, whose name signifies insight, and ask to be freed from the delusion that grips them. The sage replies that they have been “hurled into the whirlpool of attachment, the pit of delusion, by the power of Mahāmāya, who produces the continuing cycle of this transitory world.” (All translations of the Devīmāhātmya by Devādatta Kāli from the excellent book In Praise of the Goddess)

The word māyā has entered our modern vocabulary, and it is often used in a pejorative sense. We think of it as a state to be escaped through practice leading to greater wisdom. But here Medhas refers to Mahāmāya as the Divine Mother: 

“She, the blessed goddess Mahāmāya, seizes the minds of even the wise and draws them into delusion. She creates all this universe, moving and unmoving, and it is she who graciously bestows liberation on humanity. She is the supreme knowledge and the eternal cause of liberation, even as she is the cause of bondage to this transitory existence. She is the sovereign of all lords.” (Devīmāhātmya 1.55-58)

The king is confused by this, and asks for clarification, and in reply Medhas tells the three stories about Devī.

In Medhas’ first story, Brahmā has just been born out of Vishnu’s naval while Vishnu sleeps on the eternal ocean. Suddenly, two fearsome asuras are born from Vishnu’s earwax and come to devour Brahmā. Brahmā calls out for help to Yoganidrā, the Divine Mother who is sleep. His beautiful prayer is the Brahmāstuti, which reveals Devī as the “nectar of immortality…the transcendent being…inseparable and inexpressible…the eternal source of all becoming…the supreme mother of the gods…the creative force at the world’s birth and its sustenance for as long as it endures…the great knowledge and the great illusion, the great intelligence, the great memory, and the great delusion, the great goddess and the great demoness…”

Roused by the prayer, Devī awakens Vishnu, who battles with the demons for a century until they become prideful and make a mortal mistake. This ancient Vaishnava story has been changed to emphasize the role of Devī as Yoganidra: 

“Do not be astonished. This same Mahāmāya is Yoganidrā, the meditative sleep of Vishnu, the lord of the world.” (Devīmāhātmya 1.54)

Human life inherently involves limitation. Our eternal and infinite souls have consented to live in a world where we feel alone and separate, where the future is unknown, and where the primary stimulus for growth is pain. It’s easy to feel resentful toward the state of limitation and see it as wrong or evil. But the Devīmāhātmya reminds us that limitation itself is the Divine Mother. Our limited consciousness is not a mistake, not our fault or a cause for shame or mockery. She lulls us into the sleep of egoistic delusion, in which we dream that we are small and finite. She conceals Her infinitude and grants us the experience of longing for Her, which draws Her progressively closer to us, and eventually joins us to Her in the embrace of yoga. This re-union is the hidden purpose of creation, and the goal toward which evolution climbs.

Medhas’ second story recounts Durgā’s victory over the dreaded Mahishasura. The demon Mahisha and his army have conquered Indra and the devas and cast them out of heaven. They come to Brahmā, Vishnu, and Śiva asking for help, and a divine light radiates from the foreheads of the three great beings. This light is joined by light from all the other devas, which combines to create the fierce goddess Durgā, riding on a lion. Each of the devas gives her a weapon, and she single-handedly defeats the entire demon army and the buffalo-headed Mahishasura. After endlessly shape-shifting to escape Her, Durgā finally pins him down and pierces him with a spear, and his true form emerges from the mouth of the buffalo. Durgā Devī decapitates him with a single stroke.

In Durgā temples throughout India there are statues and paintings of Durgā on her lion standing on Mahisha’s neck and piercing his side with a spear. And images of a goddess on a lion and a buffalo demon also appear on pre-Vedic artifacts from the Indus Valley in the modern Punjab. While the first story depicts Devī’s tamasic aspect, the second shows her as rajas, the fire of swift action that conquers evil. Here Devī intervenes in the world to support the restoration of order and righteousness. Even as she enters the world of form and the field of battle where the asuras and devas struggle for supremacy, she remains calm, serene. She maintains her transcendent poise as she effortlessly defeats hordes of asuras. The countless arrows of Mahishasura’s general Chiksura affect her as much as rain showers affect the primordial Mount Meru. His massive sword strikes her arm and shatters. 

Devī is the protector, the mother lion who will face any foe to save her beloved children. When we are afraid, overwhelmed, despairing, when we have been cast from our homes and all seems lost, we can call out to Durgā Devī, cry for her protection from the depths of our hearts. And every call is heard, every cry receives Her loving reply. At the end of the second story, Indra and the gods sing Devī’s praises in the Śakrādistuti and offer gratitude for her unconditional compassion. She slays the wicked who “may have committed enough evil to keep them long in torment” and redeems them so that they “may attain the higher worlds.” No soul is beyond redemption, no evil act severs the link between Mother and child.  

In the third story, Devī appears in her sattwic form as a beautiful woman. Again, two asuras, Śumbha, representing ego, and Niśumbha, attachment, have vanquished the devas and taken control of the three worlds: heaven, earth, and the underworld. The devas remember Devī’s promise to respond to every sincere call, and so they call out to her in a profound prayer called the Aparājitāstuti. The prayer powerfully affirms that Devī abides within all beings as consciousness, intelligence, sleep, hunger, shadow, power, thirst, forgiveness, order, modesty, peace…and finally, even as error. When we experience ourselves as alone or unseen, it is only because she has veiled her presence within us. 

In response to the prayer of the devas, Devī emerges from the body of Parvatī, who is traditionally the wife of Śiva, but in this story she is in no way subservient to anyone. When Śumbha and Niśumbha’s spies Chanda and Munda see the resplendent form of Devī, they rush back to tell the demon kings about her. They are immediately gripped with desire and a need to possess her. Her reply to their advances is that only one who has defeated her in battle can marry her. Again, Devī defeats layers of armies and generals, including Raktabīja, who replicates himself anew every time a drop of his blood touches the Earth. Devī manifests the fearsome Kālī to catch each bead of blood in midair. “And within her mouth those great asuras who sprang into being from the flow, those she now devoured, even while drinking Raktabīja’s blood.” 

Śumbha is the naked ego, captivated by the Divine One and her awesome power, but only wanting that power for himself. His brother Niśumbha is attachment, and walks always in front, grasping and clutching that which the ego desires. These brothers are powerful and confident, cunning and elusive, and they approach Devī and accuse her of cheating by creating the various forms that fought on her behalf. In reply, she draws the emanations back into herself and utters what is considered a mahāvākya, or great dictum: “I am alone here in the world. Who else is there besides me?” 

In the end, Devī defeats the force of ego represented by Śumbha. “When the evil one was slain, all the universe became calm, regaining its natural order, and the sky cleared.” She has liberated the soul, and it radiates light and truth without the interference of ego, which distorts perception and clouds vision. When we embark on a spiritual path, often the initial motivation is a combination of an emergent soul longing for freedom and the ego’s desire for spiritual power. Lusting for self-enhancement, the ego can grow stronger through the cultivation of spiritual wisdom and authority. But ultimately it must face Devī, who is immune to ego’s false power.