Devi Mahatmyam

26/09/2018. The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatmyam A talk given on the 13th of October, 1972, during the Navaratri worship. 4. There are three stages of transformation described in the three sections of the Devi-Mahatmya. 1. The first one is where Adi-Sakti awakens Maha-Vishnu who was asleep, so that He may destroy or overcome the original demoniacal forces, Madhu and Kaitabha. 2. The second stage is where the same Sakti manifests Herself as Maha-Lakshmi and overcomes Mahishasura and Raktabija. 3. The third one is where Sumbha and Nisumbha are destroyed by Maha-Sarasvati. And the nine days of worship, which are referred to as Navaratri, comprehend these three stages adored in three days of worship, each. The final victory is called Vijaya-Dasami, the tenth day. That is the day of Victory, where you master the forces of Nature completely and your goal is reached. When you step over nine, you enter into Infinity. Numbers are only nine; you do not have ten numb...

31/08/2018 The Esoteric Significance of the Devi Mahatmyam A talk given on the 13th of October, 1972, during the Navaratri worship. 3. The Devi-Mahatmya, which is a part of the Markandeya Purana, contains thirteen chapters which are grouped into three sections known as the Prathama Charitra, Madhyama Charitra and the Uttama Charitra. As in the Bhagavadgita sometimes we are told that the eighteen chapters can be grouped into three sections of teaching, consisting of six chapters in each, the Devi-Mahatmya also, which is an epic counterpart of the methods of the Bhagavadgita in its practical implementations, is capable of a division into three sections. The march of the soul is graduated into three major steps, though there are many minor steps involved in these three major ones. While we have to rise through various rungs of the ladder of evolution, we come to three points or halting places, we may call them, where there is a complete transformation of outlook, attitude and co...

10/08/2018 Devi Mahatmyam -2. 2. Our longings are fundamentally very deep and cannot be easily satisfied by temporary make shift or day-to-day adjustment of outer circumstances. Our desires are profound, our yearnings are very unintelligible to outer atmosphere of our daily life. We seem to have a root which is deeper than what can be comprehended by our normal understanding of the world. We grow from all sides, and when we long for or desire or yearn or aspire, we do so in a very comprehensive manner. This aspiration of the human being is really the soul's longing for freedom. All our desires are desires of the soul, ultimately. Though they look like sensory desires, mental desires, intellectual desires, social desires, etc., they are, at the bottom, the longing of the soul of the human being, which ramifies itself into various distracted rays through the operations of the mind and the activities of the senses. Our longings are, therefore, capable of being collected int...

29/07/2018 INTRODUCTION : The Devi Mahatmyam or the Durga Saptasati is a unique book in this world. It is the base and the root of the religion of the Saktas. It is a Kamadhenu for one and all; it gives whatever man wants. It gives Bhakti in this world and Mukti afterwards. It is a powerful reservoir of Mantras from the beginning to the end. Every verse of this text is a dynamic force which acts powerfully in overhauling the nature of man. The first verse of the text implies that the whole book is an explanation of the root of the Devi-Mantra, viz., "Hreem". There are many commentaries on this text which explain it either in a mystical way or in the ordinary manner. Whatever be the case, the Mantras of the Saptasati are not to be neglected by one who wishes to lead a good and peaceful life in this world. The conception of the Infinite as Mother is not an altogether meaningless one. The Rigveda bears testimony to the fact that even in such ancient times, there was ...