Shakti in her ten aspects

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Swati Chopra [1]

The ongoing fervour of Durga Puja turns my mind to the idea of Devi, the Divine Feminine, in Indic wisdom traditions. The Great Goddess who has nurtured the subcontinent since times immemorial, who has turned us from darkness to light as an all-powerful slayer of our ignorance, who as Shakti embodies the creative principle that supports life, and as Mahamaya is the great matrix in which the Immanent acquired form.
In the Devi Mahatmyam, a fifth-sixth century text, the Great Goddess proclaims, “I am all alone in the world here. Who else is there besides me? See these goddesses who are but my own powers entering into my own self.” These goddesses’ are the Mahavidyas — a group of 10 that covers a whole spectrum of characteristics, a full circle of attributes from the mundane to the fantastic, from the creative to the destructive, from life to death and back to life. It is said that Devi assumed these forms to reveal to Shiva, her divine spouse, the core truths of creation. Hence the term “Mahavidya”, or “great knowledge”.
The Dashamahavidyas (10 Mahavidyas) are: Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshvari, Chhinnamasta, Bhairavi, Dhumawati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi, and Kamala. Kali embodies the fierce energy that destroys negativity. Tara is the compassionate guide. Shodashi (the goddess as a 16-year-old), also known as Tripura Sundari, is the one petitioned to slay demons. As Bhuvaneshvari, she is creator and owner of the world. As Chhinnamasta she embodies the play of life and death. As Bhairavi she symbolises the decay inherent in creation. As Dhumawati she denotes the unsatisfactory nature of desire and the need to discriminate truth from illusion. As Bagalamukhi she wrenches a demon’s tongue who abuses his power of true-speech (vak-siddhi), thereby ensuring balance and control. As Matangi she subverts norms of ritual purity and leads the mind out of conditioned spaces of “right and wrong”. And as Kamala, she reigns over the material realm.
Through these varied manifestations, Devi seems to be for ever expanding her role as universal mother. She brings the universe to birth and nourishes it, she goes to battle against her children’s bugbears and slays them (I believe demons to be signifiers of negative aspects of our natures, such as afflictive emotions). Through her unconventional forms, she tries her best to draw us out of our ignorance and narrow ways of understanding reality. Benevolently or forcefully, she guides our attention from the illusory towards truth and reality.
If we think about our own mothers, haven’t they whacked us when we were naughty or stubborn, cajoled us out of dark moods, held us when we were feeling out of sorts, and did all they could to ensure our blossoming? Now one just needs to blow up that effort by a million times to arrive at a role vast enough for the Great Mother of the universe. No wonder she has been depicted in so many forms and actions.

Swati Chopra writes on spirituality and mindful living. Her most recent book is Women Awakened:
Stories of Contemporary Spirituality in India.