God as Mother : Essence of Devi Mahatmyam-. Sri Swami Chidananda.

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Monday, January 10, 2022. 6:00. AM.

13. Saptashati’s Lesson

14. FOURTH NIGHT : Lakshmi: The Supreme Sustainer

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Next, we have to transcend even the human nature with all its wrong conceptions and with its ego-sense, if we are to reach the higher divine consciousness. This process of overcoming even the human side of the aspirant’s consciousness is symbolised by human sacrifice or Narabali. The arrangement of the Saptashati in the three aspects of first the killing of Madhu-Kaitabha, secondly the killing of Mahishasura, and thirdly the killing of the brothers Shumbha and Nishumbha with their host of demons, symbolises the different stages of Sadhana. Madhu and Kaitabha represent the gross form of the lower nature of man. Mahishasura represents the next stage, the annihilation of the Rajo-Guna aspect. When we come to the third part, we find the Asura is a far finer type of demon; he is a king, very wealthy, greatly cultured, but with a supervening vanity. He possesses dominance over all the celestial hosts and he possesses the entire wealth of the world. Everything that is desirable, all that is best in all the fourteen worlds, are possessed by the invincible brothers and they command a huge host of warriors. One of the warriors is a demon called Raktabija who is equated with the human egoism. It is after the destruction of egoism in its lower form that the ultimate destruction of Shumbha and Nishumbha is possible, symbolising as it were the destruction of Vikshepa and Avarana Shaktis, by which the last barrier between the human and the Divine is removed and the culmination of the Sadhak’s spiritual life is achieved through the grace of the Mother, with the attainment of identification with the Cosmic Supreme Being.

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FOURTH NIGHT : Lakshmi: The Supreme Sustainer

SALUTATIONS to the blessed Source, destination of all! Salutations to the Supreme power of the Almighty Being manifest as Saraswati! Salutations to the Power manifest as Mahalakshmi and that Primal Power manifest as Durga!

Today is the fourth day of the worship of the Godhead conceived as the Mother of all creation. From today we enter into the next phase of this deeply significant adoration of the Mother, in Her aspect of the nourishing and sustaining function of the Supreme Shakti. From today for three days all over India the Mother will be adored as Mahalakshmi. The last three days will be Her worship in Her aspect of Mahasaraswati, culminating on the tenth day, the Vijaya Dasami.

15. Involution of Spirit in Matter :

When we take up the consideration of this peculiar arrangement of the Navaratra Puja, the worship of the Mother in the three aspects, in this particular order of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati, we are confronted with a very significant truth. It is in itself the revelation of a certain actual law. We know when the transcendent power which is unmanifest and beyond all names and forms becomes manifest as the visible universes, as phenomena and takes on the appearance of Nama-Rupa, there commences a process of involution, of the transcendent becoming relative, of the nameless and formless entering into forms and we see in it a process of the supreme, subtlest of the subtle, the original cause and source becoming progressively grosser and grosser until it reaches the ultimate grossest manifestation in its termination as inert matter. This process of involution is the order of the projection of phenomena. It is the order of one becoming the many, the unmanifest becoming the manifest, the cause appearing as the various effects. Correspondingly, when from this movement into matter the seeker strives to rise back into the original state of transcendence, through a reverse process of an inner movement from matter back into the spirit, we find that the manifestation of this divine power or Shakti starts operating in exactly the contrary and opposite way. When involution starts, it is first the creativity of Brahma that begins to operate. The creative power functions and names and forms stream forth from the great Prakriti. From the state of being beyond, when the names and forms stream forth in the realm of Maya, these names and forms come under the sway of time, under the threefold aspect of the past, the present and the future. As they have to retain their names and forms and exist in threefold time, there arises the function of the preservative, the sustaining, the nourishing and the protecting factor. Mahashakti then operates as the dynamic counterpart of Vishnu the Preserver, He who sustains and keeps up the world-process. She is Maha-Lakshmi. Change has to take place and names and forms are in their very nature perishable and passing because they come under the operation of time or Kala. This process of breaking up the names and forms is performed by Rudra who presides over Laya or dissolution. Thus these functions operate—starting with creativity, then sustenance and then dissolution. This is the descent into matter.

Next : 16. The Evolution of Man to Godhead

To be continued ...

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