The New Nation - Internet Edition

Prem Ranjan Dev

Durga Puja is the greatest socio-religious event of the Bengali Hindu. The concept of Durga as a Goddess symbolising 'Sakti' took a long time to evolve out of many ancient religious texts and traditions. The Skanda Purana says that the Goddess got her name after killing a demon called Durga, who had been harassing the Gods and had stolen the Vedes from them with a view to destroying religions. Then the Gods unitedly sought her intervention, the Goddess destroyed the demon and restored the Vedas. She also incorporated the Vedas into her own body to ensure that these were not stolen again. That is why Durga is also called Vedamoyee. She destroys all the evil forces represent by the six ripus : lust, anger, greed, delusion, arrogance and jealousy.

Durga is tranquil and turbulent, sereve and fierce, soumya and rudra at the same time. However, what is generally worshipped in the Bengali Hindus is Durga as Mahishasuramardini, as the vanquisher of Mahishasura, the buffalo-demon. The conception of Durga as Mahishasuramardini took a definitive shape in the Markandeya and other Puranas, particularly the Devi-Mahatyam or the Chandi that forms part of the Markandeya Purana where the impartance of the Devi or the Supreme goddess is highlighted. Iconographically also, the image of Durga worshipped by the Bengali Hindus is that of Mahishasuramardini as described in the Devi-Mahatyam with ten arms, each with a weapon symbolising shakti. One of these weapons is a spear with which the Goddess pierces the chest of Mahishasura, causing the blood to spurt out. With her sons and daughters Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh-standing by her on both sides, she presents a picture of massive power that prevails over all that is evil.

Durga is the progenitor of the universal process in its entirely. She is the presiding principle of the cosmic manifestation and the source of ultimate goal of all perfection and attainment of all existence. She is essentially unique and one. Durga the divine mother and the emblem of shakti or cosmic energy is also the symbol of the Hindu female hierophany. The worship of Durga as mother is an important feature of Hindu religion. Durga also reflects the importance of what is called woman-power in modern-terminology. Durga is also the symbol of Prakriti, the primordial matter or substance, which' provinces the basis for all that exists in the universe. Since she fights all the forces of evil, the Goddess, as worshipped by the Bengali Hindus, has been invested with ten arms equipped with a wide range of weapons. However, in the different scriptures, the number of arms varies from two to as many as thirty two, the latter number serving as a reminder of the vast sweep of her powers. The Markandeya Purana narrates all these powers in a series of shlokas of which an off-recited one reads "Ya Devi sarvabhuteshu Shaktirupena Sangsthita; Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyri Namo. Namah (Repeated salutations to the goddess who is present in all living beings a 'Shakti').

Two different concepts of Durga are in Vogue one of which is that of 'Mahishasuramardini'. The second concept is that of Durga as Uma, Gauri Parvati, the daughter of the Himalayas, who, as the wife of Lord Shiva and the mother of Laxshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartik, radiates the peaceful ambience of the divine mother rather than the bellicosity and destructiveness associated with Mahishasuramardini. In this second sense, Durga Puja represents her home-coming from the Himalayan abode of her divine spouse Lord Shiva. It is the concept of Durga as Uma, Gauri or Parvati that great poet Kalidasa projected in his 'Kumarasambhaba'. In the evolution of this concept, the scriptures, literary works as well as, folklores have all made their respective contributions.

Sanatan Dharma is the most ancient and insightful among the Dharmas of the worlds, it is called Hinduism. Our Vedas, Sastra, Puranas and Gita have dealt with it extensively. This vedic Hinduism is an etermil and unfathomable ocean. Hidden beneath its surface are the pearls of wisdom and essence of life. Many sages and great men have traveled on the path of legacy of inspire and help mankind. At a time when the impact of Hindu thought and spirituality is increasing globally and when scholars from many disciplines are discovering parallels between Hindu thinking and scientific thought. True spirit of Hinduism is very relevant to present time. It has answers to problems of relationship between man and man, man and god, it brings man closer to man and creates love for all creation. Sanatan Dharma explains the way for attaining liberation according to each individual stage in life.

Hindu thoughts are democratic and social. There are a number of concepts is Sanatan Dharma which are rarely understood in true depth. According to historians, the conception of Durga as 'mother' might have evolved in amongst the Bengali Hindus under the influence of somecults from Assam, Meghalaya and Burma, where matriarchal traditions had strong roots. Alternatively, this tradition might have travelled to the areas where the Bangali Hindus live in major numbers along with the Dravidians, who came from Mohenjodaro and Harappa, where a similar custom was believed to have prevailed.

A somewhat identical practice was in vogue in Sumer. It is believed that the people of Sumer hailed from the eastern and north eastern regions of India and might have taken with them the custom of worshipping the 'mother'. The Bangali Hindus, it is claimed, were good seafarers and traders in ancient times and used to travel to the island of crete in the Mediterranean Sea. Some of them were said to have colonised in crete where they introduced the worship of Goddess.

Man is the maker of his destiny and he can exercise his free will, but at the same time he has taken upon himself the responsibility to ensure full participation in the entire cosmos and consequently between man and gods, man and nature, man and other living, beings and finally between man and man. May our Durga Puja become fruitful.