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N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 1
Goddess Worship in Hinduism
--Srinivasan Nenmeli-K
Goddess worship has been practised from earlier civilizations --- in the
Mahenjadao-Harappa civilizations.But Why Worship a female God or Goddess?
One can counter this question easily: Why Not?!
If you can worship a male God, you can worship a female goddess as
well...or may be, even a God beyond gender,as Hindu philosophers told :
"Worship 'IT'....."
In the ultimate analysis, the form of worship you choose is your
choice;but we are conditioned by our cultural,religious and historical
conundrums..Let us explore this in this opening section before we
plunge into forms and methods of Goddess worship in the Hindu traditon...
Worship of a female goddess appeals to many or 'should'--- because
almost all of us [except a few psychotics or those born in test tubes]
owe so much to our mothers and hold our mother [physical,that is] in high
esteem and affection.The mother carried us in her womb for nearly nine
months,fed us through her blood and supported us in the amniotic fluid-
the sac of nourishing liquid---sheilded from noise,jolt and dust of this
world till our organs could grow to some size. After we made our tortuous
exit from the womb,crying at the unfamiliar (perhaps shattering) world
outside,opened our eyes to the world, she nursed with milk and later with
soft food.Then she supported us thorough babyhood ,preschool,elementary
school-------.It is this intimate,affectionate bond that develops that
makes us think of mother with sweetness and indebtedness which can be
transferred to the worship of a female God-- the Supreme,Cosmic,Eternal,
Divine Mother.
In contrast, father is often harsh,strict dispenser of
rules,disciplinarian and a stern teacher.It is difficult to love your
father compared to your mother at least in early months.True, your father
provides you with many things, buys toys and dolls ,and takes you out to
the park or ball game, protects you in many ways---all these come a
little later in almost all families..
Goddesses and Male God in the Western traditions
Now to cultural influences , societal pressures and historical
incidents/accidents.
WE are culturally influenced by the Father figure who provides food after
hunting or serving in a society and bringing home a hunted deer or hard
cash; He protects you and your mother from wild predators--wolves and
lions ---or in the modern context, against our harmful neighbourhood
thugs or social parasites and crooks or terrorists at large....All these
add up to our awe and respect for our fathers.! This has been raised to a
supernatural level by formal religion --with rituals and canons-- that we
tend to worship "our Father in Heaven", "Our Supreme Being -Paramatman" :
as a perfect male--{Purushottaman} ;If he is harsh and a strict
displinarian and a judge at the end of our lives, it is for removing our
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 3sins and purifying our souls .He is the provider (giving the daily
bread) and he is entitled to administer justice! Such a cultural setting,
in almost all formal religions, has given the male God a prominent place
in our modes of worship.
There are other negative religious/cultural connotations too--
degrading the female persona....Females are tricky and vile, and tempt
you into eating the forbidden fruit, making you do things which are
wicked,leading to depravation and ultimate ruin;keep women at bay;make
your decisions yourself...Again women are filthy,dirty [for instance the
monthly menstrual flow is putrid];keep away from them..These connotations
led to such abhorrence of women that they were 'discounted' --a mild
term-- 'down -graded'. So they can be bought and sold as slaves,chattels,
used in brothels, kept in harems and staged in titillating adult shows;
and dispensed with at stakes--they could be witches too.[Women were not
given property rights and could not vote till recent times in most
democracies.]In such a cultural setting,you cannot conceptualize a female
God!
There were societies at the other end of the spectrum of social
consciousness. Women owned property [lands and cattle] and passed them on
to their daughters.The matriarchical society was most dominant and [still
prevails illegally] in Kerala state and is very strong in the north-east
state of Assam in India and among certain hill tribes in India.{As my
friend,a male college professor from Bengal used to say: " Go to
Assam;the girls are lovely and very sportive; marry one,get some teak
wood estate from her family,fish in the beautiful lakes and get
children--so easy!"}.The women always had the upper hand in
daily,village affairs . No wonder, worship of Mother Goddess is most
widely practised even today in these states and in the neighbouring
states too in India.{Ref: Bansi Pandit,A L Bhasham}
Many scholars contend that the early church fathers ,in Judeo-Christian
traditions, suppressed the worship of female gods derived from Greek-
Roman pantheon of gods---the pagan gods and goddesses--...It became
always the male God --the Father in Heaven! .[Ref: Merlin Stone,..]
Add to this the repeated statements that women are filthy, tricky,
untrustworthy and so on --- that the sublime aspects --the supernal
attitude for Goddess Worship --was lost almost completely in the western
traditions.
[There were some flickers/remnants of Goddess Worship in Celtic ,Druid
and other cultures.The witchcraft practitioners and the Wicca traditons
retained them in wraps--as they could not practise openly their forms of
worship. [ref: A brief history of Secret Societies..David Barrett
(Carroll and Graf, NY)]]
The Roman Catholic Church,while saying 'no' to female priests, has
venerated Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus , and women saints down the
ages---they invoke these saints to intercede with God on behalf of their
church members..
In modern times, mainly in the latter half of 20th Century, things took
a turn--that is after WWII, when women began to work in factories and in
office firms. Women openly fought for their rights! Laws had to be
changed;women struggled to get votes in public elections.[At this time of
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 5writing,a few days ago, the US President Barack Obama signed the bill
ensuring 'equal pay for for equal work' including women: ---that is-- in
Feb 2009!.]
Meanwhile , women activists, labelled 'feminists', like Gloria Steinem
and Betty Friedan raised their battle cries and flags [with amusing
rebelious actions like bra burning] and won a respectable place for women
in societies.
At about this time, many female ministers were installed in Churches.
Goddess worship took an upswing....Several women ministries became
popular and influential both within and without the main stream
churches;The New Age groups spawned hundreds of books [ written by:
Louise Hay,Carollyn Myss, Catherine Ponder,Marrianne Williamson,Joyce
Myer,Rasa van werden,Joan Borysenko...the list is long...] extolling the
'feminine mystique ', 'the divine feminine'of women's body and mind and
leading to gradual ,reluctant acceptance of female God in parts of
western society.
The Buddhist influence with their stream of Dharma teachers in the West
-- is also considerable in highlighting the female God worship as
Compassionate Mother and protector destroying evil persons and spirits.
.Incidentally this form of Buddhism, like Buddhism itself, is derived
largely from India and modified from Hinduism down the ages from 6th
century BC to nearly 10 th century AD {CE} when Buddhism largely
disappeared from India,the land of its birth.During this long period,
Buddhism had spread to China,South Asia,Japan and Tibet, with Indian
monks preaching in all these places..The forms of worship of female
goddesses in Mahayana Buddhism and the worship of Kuan Yin in China and
elsewhere are largely resemblances of Hindu Goddess worship.The influence
of Buddhism, in the form of worship and rituals ,besides meditational
aspects, towards Goddess worship is yet to be studied in depth in the
west.
Goddess Worship In India
As a Hindu, born and brought up in India, the worship of Mother
Goddess comes to me in a natural way..The worship of your physical mother
comes first.The most common chant among Hindus is:
"Bow to the deity in your mother;
Bow to the deity in your father;
Bow to the deity in your teacher;
Bow to the deity in the guest; (" at your doorstep,seeking alms or
rest}"
{ "Mathru devo bhava;Pithru devo bhava;Acharya devo bhava; Adhiti devo
bhava."}
There is a subtle logic and meaning in this chant: Your mother points
to your father .(Who else can?!) Your father takes you to the teacher
[guru or acharya ]-- in modern context ,puts you to school) and the
teacher shows you to respect the stranger and the destitute-- that is,
the world at large..}
The most important feature of Goddess Worship in the Hindu tradition is
the unbroken continuation of this worship right from Vedic times.In fact
this article outlines this tradition as it was practised and as it is
practised today in India .First let us consider the temples for
Goddesses,most of them more than thousand years old in India.
Temples for Goddesses
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 7Hundreds of temples have been built with altars for Goddesses where the
devotees worship daily. We shall metion the most popular ones. The three
great temples at Benaras (Varanasi,UP), Kanchipuram(Tamil Nadu) and
Madurai(Tamil Nadu) devoted to the Mother Goddesses, named
Visalakshi,Kamakshi and Meenakshi respectively , attract millions of
pilgrims every year.There are songs and hymns in their praise sung by
many poet-saints.
Several great temples consecrated by Acharyas abound --the Mookambika
temple in Kerala and the Kamakhya temple in Assam ---both venerated by
Adi Shankara [788-820 AD] are major pilgrim centres for all Hindus from
all parts of India. The Sharada temple in Shringeri ,one of the Shankara
seat of learning [Shanakara Mutt],is popular.The Vaishnavo Devi temple in
the snow-clad foothills of the Himalayas, open only in certain months,is
a place of pligrimage for millions every year..
What is more,the goddess worship is carried on at most homes, with small
niche-altars or family shrines every day.
The gorgeous festival of nine nights [nava-rathri]devoted to
Durga,Saraswathi and Lakshmi , the goddesses of protection,knowledge and
prosperity , is celebrated in many parts of India with pomp and
pageantry.This series of nine nights of worship is concluded with Durga
Pooja in Bengal and Vijayadasami [tenth day of Victory] with feasting.
With the various viscissitudes in the long ,tortuous history of
India,with mongols and turks invading from central asia, desecrating many
temples in their wake,with the intrusion of the western powers colonising
India {the Portuguese,the Dutch, the French and the British},with all
these disturbances in the society, the tradition of goddess worship has
gone on with exactly the same routine,the same rituals and the same
liturgy for almost 3000 .The Hindus still chant the same Gayatri
mantra,the recite the same Devi Mahatmayam and offer the same Sri Chakra
pooja for all these years.
Modes of worship
WE shall describe in the subsequent sections the different forms of
Goddess or Devi worship {called Upasana} by the Hindus,their basis ,the
philosophical underpinning and the emotional attunement that goes with
them ..To make the reading less heavy with philosophy, the Vedantic
concepts are briefly touched upon.Our focus will be more on the forms and
devotional practice of worship.For philosophical background ,the
following references may be consulted: [Sw. Prabhavananda, Sw.Sivananda }
A Bit of History
The Upasana or worship through hymns and rituals,especially sacrifices ,
were the most powerful means in the Vedic times.The female deites were
invoked and propitiated with offerings [usually with ghee or clarified
butter, sometimes with animals] at fire altars.The forms were
representations for female deities in rivers and in the dawn [ushas]and
the dusk [sandhya].The Saraswathi river, now gone underground or dried up
,was a favorite Goddess in the Vedic literature.
Linguists and indologists like Max Mueller, Paul Deussen and others
have studied in depth the forms of the Upasanas. [ref: Prabhavananda,Max
Mueller, S. Radhakrishnan, Sri Aurobindo].The rivers were taken as female
deites;even mantras chanted were of feminine gender and were sacred.The
concept of sacredness of female form can be seen in almost every piece of
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 9poem of that period.The female deity was often pictured as virgin bride
decked for wedding.!
Next we consider the Epic and the Puranic period when mythological
legends were developed and written down---roughly between 3rd century BC
and 11th century AD [CE].Several legends relating to the goddessses can
be found in the Puranas,the main ones being Vishnu Purana and Shiva
Purana and Skanda Purana and the lengthy, Srimad Bhagavatam..
The famous story of the battle between the Devas or heavenly beings,
presided by Indra and the Asuras or demons ,when they churned the milk
ocean for getting nectar {Amrit} is fascinating.They used a mountain as
the churning rod, pivoted on a turtle ,with a serpent as the rope wound
around the slope of the mountain.When the churning started, poisonous
vapours emanated and poisons spurted out.Then the devas died one by
one.Dhanvantari came up with the medicine...Finally Goddess Lakshmi, in
the form of Mohini , emerged from the ocean with a golden pot of nectar
or Amrit and she is called Amrita-varshini.Thus the role of Goddesses is
told in an engaging manner.
In the main ,three major goddesses became important, as consorts of
the Gods of (Hindu) Trinity--Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva --the creater, the
protector and the destroyer. The consort of Brahma is Saraswathi,the
Goddess of learning and wisdom;the consort of Vishnu is Lakshmi or Sri
,the Goddess of prosperity and bliss; the consort of Shiva is
Parvathi,Goddess of asceticism and spirituality, like Shiva himself.The
stories of the marriage of these Goddesses to their husbands are told
with moral overtones.. Parvathi,for instance, did penance to seek the
hand of Shiva,the ascetic yogi in the Himalayas.Her father was
infuriated. Lord Vishnu had to intercede and offer Parvathi,his sister,
in a marriage ceremony to Lord Shiva...While the trinity are considered
as three aspects of the Supreme Being,they had their individual
personalities too. What is more surprising is this fact..the worship of
Brahma almost disappeared from India;there are perhaps only a few temples
dedicated to Brahma ,but his consort Saraswathi is worshipped everywhere
in numerous temples and homes.
These puranic stories ,told and retold many times in various
languages of India, form the theme for discussion and worship of the
various goddesses.The standard works of Joseph Campbell contain many of
these stories in a condensed from for English readers.{ref: Mythology by
Joseph Campbell---- ]These stories were also recited in the form of
verses and poems by puranic story tellers attached to Mutts or itenerant
preachers who move from village to village or town to town.[The tradition
of 'Katha Kalaksheba' with music played on a few instruments
[drum,ektara(single-stringed instrument),cymbols] and some gestures by
the story teller in cool evenings in the village commons used to attract
the rustic crowds.This tradition of kalakshebam has almost disappeared.]
The worship of Shakti or Kali as such appeared a little later. Shakti is
the power behind the creation and the operation of the Universe.In some
sense,She is an independent executor of heavenly dispensation.In some
traditions,Shiva is the supreme ;Shiva is the policy maker,while Shakti
or Parvathy in this role is the executor...like the legislative branch
and the executive branch in most democratic governments.Then there were
other synthetic approaches, in which Shiva has two parts split in the
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 11middle of his person.He is half female,half male.;the executive part of
Shakti is part and parcel of his body...this is the iconographic image of
'Ardha-nari-eswara' of Siva. [half-female deity].
The power of the great Shakti or Power and Kali is again spoken in
terms of three forms of power: power of intention or desire or will
power:[iccha shakti], power of action [kriya shakti] and power of
knowledge [Jnana] . This division is important,for any great event to
take place [whether building a city ] or destroying or burning a city to
ashes, Shakti has to take three steps: the will to do that; the means of
doing and the action as such.
The Goddess Kali ,of course, the compassionate Mother,protects the devout
and the weak, but destroys the wicked either singly or in groups.She can
destroy a whole city of wrong-doers.This apsect of female deity is
gruesome in icons, with tongue lashing out,with blood on her person,with
a garland of skulls and trishul [ three -pronged spear in hand]..Such
deities are worshipped because the devout becomes bold to face the rogues
in the society,invoking the Goddess, and then undertake the righteous
acts....the worshippers of Shakti form the sect of Saktas,but worship of
Mother Kali is not limited to that sect alone.[This has taken very
vicious turns sometimes---even those who wish to commit political
assasinations in India, worship Kali before embarking on their mission.N
V .Godse ,who shot Mahatma Gandhi during a prayer meeting in
Delhi,worshipped Mother Kali before making his trip from Pune to
Delhi.!][Ref: Gandhi, by Wolpert.]
The image of Kali at Dakshineshwar near Kolkotha and a form of chakra
But there is the benign aspect of Kali ,the Mother, who could respond to
the cries of the devout and transform an ordinary, humble devotee into a
saint.Such is the life of Sri Ramakrishna, in whose name the monastic
order [Sri Ramakrishna Mission] and Vedanta societies were founded in the
late 19th century by his chief disciple -- Swami Vivekananda.Sri
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 13Ramakrishna was in 'speaking terms' in trance-like state with Mother
Kali.He was the priest of a small temple of Kali in Dakshineswar,near
Kolkotha[Calcutta] , built by a rich widow, Rani Rasmani, who was herself
a woman of lowly caste.Ramakrishna, a pious brahmin ,though reluctantly
at first,ended up as the official priest of this temple.His biography is
so well-known that I need not repeat here.[ref: given below].It was
Roamain Rolland's book that popularised the name of Sri Ramakrishna in
the west.
In a sense ,this article originated in ain the thought that the worship
of Hindu Goddesses must be told because such a worship can produce
saints of the order of Sri Ramakrishna in recent times ---a life that was
minutely recorded by his well-educated young disciples of Calcutta
.[Calcutta or Kolkotha was no mean medieval town ,but the foremost city
and capital of British India at that time.]
One of the benign aspect is the Goddess as Annapurni,provider of food
for her devotees--the aspect worshipped in the Benaras temple.She gave
food to the children of Harischandra who had sold his wife and property
to keep his promise---a test by Shiva.When the children cried for
food,Harischandra prayed to the Divine Mother Annapurni who fed them.
The Goddesses of the Epic and Puranic period
The two epics [itihasas] of the Hindus are the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata.
The Ramayana or the story of Lord Rama is the earlier one.The Hero, Rama
was a prince of Ayodhya, left the right to rule his kingdom to fulfill a
promise made by his father King Dasaratha to his step mother Kaikeyi
[Caucasian or a Russian princess] and left for forest with his wife Sita
and his younger brother Lakshman for fourteen years.Rama represents
righteousness and great endurance.
The story of Rama is told in almost all Indian languages and local
dialects.Sita is the embodiment of virtue or chastity and fortitude.She
is worshipped as the Divine Mother.She was found in the garden by King
Janaka and brought up by him.She has been the ideal for all Hindu women
down the ages.Thousands of temples were built for Rama and Sita
throughout India and in south east asian countries too, that can be found
even today.Sita is pictured as Earth -Goddess [Bhu-mata or Bhumi
Devi].Since Rama is considered as one of the ten incarnations [ 'dasa
avatars' ]of Lord Vishnu, Sita is the incarnation of Sri or Lakshmi,the
consort of Vishnu.The story of her wedding to Lord Rama {'Sita Kalyanam'}
is a story of perennial interest to Hindu devotees.
Now to the Mahabharata.This is a long story of certain heroes and the
family fueds of two families of cousins ,the Pandavas [the five
brothers]and the Kauravas, over the kingdom of Hastinapur,near the modern
capital,Delhi.Pandavas and Kauravas fought an epic battle in
Kurukshetra,near New Delhi..The wicked Kauravas were destroyed,along with
their gurus or preceptors and advisors.The stories in this epic are
fascinating,much like a modern novel,with intrigue and deceit.Since this
story took place in essential parts as given by the writers [Vyasa or
others in later times], we may learn much about that period in Indian
history.Most of the characters were not noble or righteous.But the
epic,as all epics, brings out several moral and ethical lessons for us
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 15through great heroes. .Gambling is denounced as the worst vice which
lead to the down fall of Pandavas and Kauravas..
Mahabharata chronicles the lives of several noble heros and
heroines.Draupati or Panchali [wife of the five brothers,Pandavas]was a
great heroine..But many of these heroes and heroines are not worshipped
as gods and goddesses.{Draupati is still worshipped by some hill tribes.
Polyandry was practised in India and might be common among certain hill
tribes even today.}
The greatest hero of this epic is Lord Krishna.['Krishna' means
'alluring'.] Krishna serves as the counsellor for the Pandavas and
supports them with his divine powers.[The historical period of
Mahabharata is roughly about 3000 BCE ,according to archaelogical
finds,conducted in Dwaraka where Krishna ruled ,near the Kutch region in
the state of Gujarat...]
Lord Krishna's mischievous pranks while he was a mere boy in Vridhavan
[near Mathura,about 100 kms from Delhi] in Brij country is well known.He
attracted lot of young damsels,cow-herdesses or milk-maids, 'Gopis' of
his town.[Krishna was only nine years old at that time and therefore
these innocent pranks should not be misconstrued for carnal pleasures,as
often done by ill-informed western and Indian writers, not familiar with
this lore.].
The dark complexioned Krishna exhibited many divine,supernatural powers
at a tender age,killing demonic persons and protecting the pastoral
community of Brij. The love of the Gopis for Krishna stemmed from their
adoration of his divine qualities.Many became his devotees -- as 'lovers'
in the devotional sense.Among them Radha was the most prominent.Radha
came to be deified in later ages. She is worshipped as a goddess in many
temples ,along with Krishna.Radha-Krishna is a familiar male name among
Hindus;Radharani occupies a special place for veneration. [The
Mahabharata contains the story of Krishna's wedding to two wives--Rukmini
and Satyabhama; but strange as it may appear,these two heroines are not
venerated as much as Radha,the eternal lady-love of
Krishna.]{Incidentally, the Mahabharata includes the long dialogue
between Lord Krishna and Arjuna before the battle of Mahabharata begins--
the "Song Celestial" or the Bhagavad Gita.The Gita contains much
philosophical and esoteric teachings of the Hindus--culled from the
Upanishads,but goes beyond the Upanishads too.. (See ref given below)
The story of Krishna is fully told in enormous detail in the longest
purana,Srimad Bhagavatam.This is the sacred puran or mythological legend
for all Vishnu worshippers or Vaishnavites.
It can be noted that we derive two great goddesses from the epics---Sita
(a representation of Lakshmi and Bhu devi of Lord Vishnu] and Radha.Both
of them are worshipped in many temples today,along with their
husbands.While Sita is the ideal of virtue and chastity and endurance,
Radha is the fun-loving innocent woman ,who had rejected carnal love and
mundane life,to sport with the Divine.
Formal Worship Of Devi {Devi Upasana}
Formal worship of devi or Goddess,whether Parvati or Durga or Kali or
Lakshmi , in many forms, at home or in temples, follows certain
procedures .The worship is mostly on fridays and on full-moon days, in
the evening.Devi Upasana can be an elaborate ritual.
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 17The devotee [mostly women in India]takes bath,wears fresh,clean clothes
and wears caste marks and starts the worship.She prepares the altar with
oil lamps ,incense sticks,flowers, turmeric powder and red ochre or kum-
kum or saffron colored powder...then she offers water,fruits and food
items...There is an elaborate procedure for offering 16 items [shodasa ]
ending with betel leaves or pan as we do for guests at home.
Chanting of mantras. There are specific mantras for each goddess.But
many prefer to chant Gayatri mantra ,which is usually dedicated to the
Sun Lord but can be ascribed to any "Effulgent Being" or self-luminous
Goddess.
The liturgy for Devi Upasana includes two important scriptures:
Devi Mahatmyam --also called Chandi-- a long poem [700 verses]
extolling the exploits of Devi who destroys many demonic persons or
asuras and establishes her rule,to protect the devotees and shower
prosperity and grace upon them.This is chanted in a musical tone,with
proper intonation.. Some may offer oblations to a fire altar ,called
Chandi Homa.Devi Bhagavatam is another scripture widely recited along
with Devi Mahatmyam.
{ Devi Mahatmyam or glory of Devi or goddess was perhaps written in 5th
century,as part of the Markandeya Purana.--attributed to Sage Markandeya
Rishi.It desribes the exploits against demonic forces and the most
important event is the slaying of Mahishasura--the mighty Buffalo
demon.There are three chapters with three major episodes.It is defintely
a later scripture compared to Mahabharata and the Krishna lore.
Some scholars are of the opinion that it is the result of synthesis of
female Goddess worship over several thousand years,independent of male
God or worship of the trinity-Brahma,Vishnu and Shiva....Some would
interpret this form as the influence of Buddhist tantric practices.These
are academic exercises to bring in some historical perspective to these
forms of worship.For a devout person, however,worship of Mother Goddess
is significant ,regardless of historical predicaments.]
Lalita Sahasranama--'the thousand names of Goddess Lalita', the benign
form of Devi,somewhat similar to Goddess Lakshmi...which is chanted as a
stuti or praise of the godesses.[Sahasra means a thousand; it can mean
in many texts "infinite 'too.] Many women chant this Sahasranama on
Fridays or other days without performing elaborate pooja---just take
bath,wear fresh clothes and light a lamp,offer flowers and begin
chanting.
This poetic chant parallels Vishnu Saharanama ['the thousand names of
Vishnu'].Both are ancient scriptures whose authors are not known---may be
attributed to Vyasa again.!.Adi Shanakara, the great Acharya (788-820 AD
or CE) preceptor and philosopher, wrote commentaries on both these 1000-
names texts.]
The formal worship would end with the Arati or waving of light with
camphor.The devotees gathered are offered a prasad,a sacrament-- sacred
gift from goddess---some food item like sugar candy, fruit or sweet
pudding.]
Village goddesses and goddesses to ward off diseases.
Since ancient times small temples were dedicated to village
goddesses..these goddesses protected the village from vandals;they were
propiated to ward off plagues and pestilence,to heal many diseases
,including small pox and eye diseases.The devotees took vows of fasting
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 19and paid their vows in terms of metallic pieces resembling the body parts
of the Devi {goddesses}, in copper,silver or gold ,parts healed by her
and left the pieces in the local temple.Animal sacrifices to these
deities were common and continues in Kamakhya temple too [near Guwahati
,in Assam]and in several village temples.. Such practices continue in
India even today, though officially banned in many states..[Some priests
would write a mantra or symbol in a piece of copper sheet and make a
talisman which can be worn around the neck.]
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Sri Chakra Worship
This form of worship uses a yantra,('yantra' means an instrument) which
is a copper plate in the form of a square.{I find plastic ones too in the
shops--avoid them}.The geometric figure inscribed on the plate is a
diagram with several triangles and squares.At the outer corners ,a petal
may be drawn.A syllable of a mantra is written in each ,taking
clockwise,the whole mantra.Was this devised to remember the mantra for
easy chanting and for counting the number of times it is chanted.?
In the centre, a conical or pyramid like object is kept--this is called
'Meru' or mountain.Meru represents the abode of Lord Shiva,located in the
Himalayas,the Golden Meru mountain in the Mythical Kailash.{Does this
represent Mount Kailash near Leh symbolically?].The meru may be made of
copper,silver or gold.
The devotees sit around the plate kept on the floor or a small table and
offer kum-kum for chanting of each mantra once.This goes on.In simpler
cases, a small mound of turmeric is made--- instead of Meru, in many
homes.
There are other connotations with this Sri Chakra upasana.The yantra may
have concentric circles and squares.These are called enclosures;usually
'nava-avarana' or nine enclosures [nine corridors or inscribed
squares]are depicted.[ The yantra also resembles a fort with nine
parikramas or corridors surrounding the central courtyard and the
sanctum-sanctorum or inner temple.] These enclosures are like nine-doors
through which our mind passes---nine mental states or levels of
consciousness.
The esoteric meaning of these cannot be dealt here in this general
article. Great composers,like Muthuswami Dikshitar [One of the Musical
Trinity in -Carnatic (Southern classical)music]composed hymns which
could take you through these states...The Yantra or Chakra can have many
other features---too numerous to mention here...Again there are nearly 40
types of yantra figures available in religious articles store in
India,for different purposes.
Sri Chakra in temples
Great saints installed Sri Chakra in Goddess temples in another way.The
chakra is engraved permanently on a stone cemented on the floor in a
special hall or sabha in front of Devi's idol or image.Upasana is done
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 21there.Such a temple is often called "Sakti peetam ' or seat of Sakti, a
pilgrimage centre.Shringeri Sharada peetam,the seat of Sankara matam or
Mutt ,one of the four-- supposedly installed by Adi Shankara [in
Karnataka, about 200 miles from Bangalore towards the west coast near
Mangalore]is one such peetam.You can see the Sri Chakra stone engraved
there..(In these commercial days, many self-styled yogis and gurus have
'created ' shakti peetams to their liking and for getting popularity---a
travesty of true traditions.!)
Incidentally, it can be mentioned that Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi built a
temple for his mother {Mathrubhuteswara] in his asramam in Thirvannamalai
where formal worship and upasana are done as Sri Vidya upasana.
Kundalini yoga This can be practised separately or as a conjoint practice
of Sri Chakra Upasana. In this , the Shakti or superior energy, lying
dormant in muladhara chakra [at the bottom of the spine]is made to rise
through the spinal column {sushumna nadi or canal} like a silvery
stream,activating the various chakras or energy nodes in its wake:
[svadhisthana (genital)--> manipura (naval)-->anahata(heart)--> visuddhi
(throat)-->ajna (between eye brows or the third eye--> finally ending in
the 'thousand petalled' Sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head.).This
rise of Kundalini is pictured as the goddess making her journey towards
Her Lord Siva and merge with him in the crown chakra.
Much confusion and misrepresentation exist in the literature about
Kundalini yoga---in theory and in practice.John Woodroffe {Arthur Avalon}
did much early work and wrote extensively,drawing from later-day buddhist
texts.[See the ref below].In the present literature ,much is written
without proper perspective or understanding..[This is a field for modern
day half-baked yogis to fool the gullible, especially in the West..I
shall not go deeper into this topic as it forms a separate study.]
Suffice to say that Sri Chakra upasana is a valid means of raising the
Kundalini shakti. The Shaktipat is derived from such practices, much
distorted by various groups in India,claiming special lineage and powers
to initiate the gullible.!.
Rites of Passage: Till recently,one would not begin Sri Chakra Upasana
without formal initiation or rite of passage.[Things have changed.One
arrives in a car,goes straight to a hall,sit around the Chakra and start
chanting.!Every ritual is modifed to suit for one's convenience and for
extracting money that is...!] A guru would formally initiate you with
the bija mantra [root or seed mantra] after 40 days of strict
observances--restricted food [avoidng salt and spices,etc which increase
the passions] and fasting on certain days,one meal a day,chanting certain
number of times some specified mantra or Gayatri, bath atleast twice a
day, days of non-speaking or mouna, strict celebacy and so on.After such
a rigorous regimen for forty days,the guru will let you join in this
Upasana.I have not done that,but I have seen some persons go through such
rigor in India in my school days--more than 50 years ago...Nowadays even
acharyas of mathas or mutts do not observe these with any rigor,giving
lot of excuses.!.].[Some of the earlier Sankarachariars, especially in
Shringeri peetam, did follow such Sri Chakra upasana.]
These rites of passage are important so that one's mind is purified to a
large extent.Then the Upasana would have a great merit.If a person goes
through these rites of passage,there will be a calmness and effulgence in
the face [tejas] which will be noticed and unmistakebale to you.!I have
been blessed/previleged to see a few faces like that!]
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 23 To make the young worshipper or Upasaka serious,it is often told that
Easwari or Devi would punish you if you transgress these injunctions of
the guru...By and large ,such practices have largely disapppeared even in
India.Sri Chakra Upasana has become a show or ordinary ritual,with
persons talking and chit-chatting in between...No doubt ,these Upasanas
rarely bear fruit.
Tantric Worship
Tantric forms of worship are alternative to Vedantic or Mantra-based
worship and meditations..Thus we talk of 'mantra-tantra'
procedures.Tantra is based on more physical (tan) means of
worship.Goddess worship with Kali as the Goddess of Death and as a
Warrior-princess in a battlefield--is the main plank in Tantric worship.
A tantra adept or tantrik holds two views:1 Life and death are two sides
of the same coin.Therefore one should learn to meditate in burial
grounds,with ash covering the body,wearing skull garlands and using a
skull as eating bowl and sprinkle blood instead of holy water and
dancing naked..Such practices remove the fear of death. 2. The mental
barrier should be broken between the sacred and the profane, since both
are mental constructs and hence severe limitations.A tantrik feels at
home in filth and putrid material,say blood and menstrual flow of women,
as among the pooja articles.For a tantrik,there is a thin line dividing
the macabre and soothing,the fearsome and pacific events.
There are mainly two traditions : kaula or kula [clannish] which is a
family tradition and less bizarre.This form is more like Sri Chakra
worship ,with Kali image being propitiated.The other is Vamachara,( a
,left handed,southern school) much esoteric, using human body for
worship,including a woman or virgin girl, who is worshipped as a
representation of Kali ...Sacrifices were encouraged by some groups.
Some divide Tantra into three traditions: samayachara,Dakshinachara and
Vamachara.There are various permutations of these three in practice.![The
weird and bizarre methods using meat ,fish, wine and sexual perversions
developed in the later part of Buddhism in India,about 7th to 10th
century AD or CE. in secret covens,much like black magic.This led to
revulsion and suppression of Tantric methods in traditional
societies.Such practices are rarely practised in India ; some hill tribes
may still practise them with their own rituals.]
Many scholars claim that Adi Sankara [788-820 AD] was largely
responsible for ending such practices---giving prominence to worship of
Hindu gods [six of them --Sankara is called 'Shanmatha sthapaka']with
chants of mantras and hymns--that is in the Vedantic way. He also
encouraged Sri Chakra worship or Upasana..Thus the Tantric methods were
despised, went underground, and later by about 10th century, had largely
disppeared from Hindu communities.{They were picked up by the Mahayana
buddhists in several modified forms,like Vajrayana and became popular in
Tibet and elsewhere.]It should be noted that at about the same time,the
devotional path and Bhakti cults became dominant throughout India,with
itenerant saints and ballad singers (like trobodours) singing hymns in
local languages and dialects,emphasizing the practice of temple worship
for Siva and Vishnu and their consorts..The popular ethos of Bhakti cults
swept the land.The tantrik and even the Sri Vidya/Sri Chakra worship took
a back seat.
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 25
Worship of Goddess Lakshmi
Worship of Goddess Lakshmi ['SRI'] for wisdom and prosperity [in the
mundane as well as divine sense] was also extensively developed
especially in the South,when the Devotional movement or Bhakti cults
became important.The seeds were sown by the mystic hymnologists,the 12
Alwars[roughly between 5th and 9th century,the exact times have been
difficult to establish].Lakshmi was always worshipped as a divine consort
of Lord Vishnu,the protector of the Universe.Though she is often pictured
as a lovely maiden standing on a large lotus flower,she is always seated
in the heart of Lord Vishnu,richly decorated with jewels..In fact ,she is
the jewel in the bosom of Lord Vishnu...The Alwars who wrote their hymns
in Tamil language [except one Alwar,Kulasekahara,the others did not know
Sanskrit anyway]always praised Lakshmi for her beauty and calmness,her
grace in bestowing prosperity on the devotees.For them ,Lakshmi is the
intercessor on their behalf to Lord Vishnu to bestow boons and to ward
off problems.This theme of Lakshmi is to be found in almost all poems of
Bhakti cults and the liturgy used in temples, throughout India.
The major thrust ,however, for worship of Lakshmi ,also as her
incarnation as Sita,the consort of Lord Rama ,referred to earlier,came
with the work of Vaishnava saints/philosophers,starting with
Yamunachari,Sadakopan and the great grandson of Yamuna,the illustrious
Sri Ramanuja [1017-1137AD] in the Tamil country..While Yamuna gave the
philosophical framework for the Vaishanava mode of worship, Sadakopan
collected and edited the 4000 verses of the Alwars,which were scattered
in temple towns of Tamil Nadu.Soon the 4000 verses became the sacred
canons of Vaishnavas,written fully in Tamil,as alternative text to the
vedas in Sanskrit.In fact the 'Divya Prabandham' Divine Poems.,the
compilation of 4000 verses,is reckoned as 'the Tamil Veda'.
Sri Ramanuja who had a long ministry for nearly 100 years,lived for
the most part in the temple town of Sri Rangam,the seat of Vaishnava
tradition.
[Sri Rangam is situated at a distance of 4 miles from the
industrial/religious city of Trichy in Tamil Nadu.This town has the
largest active temple complex in the whole world,about 150 acres area
with seven concentric corridors.Worship goes on in the Sri Ranganatha
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 27temple.The Angwar Wat complex in Cambodia is larger in area but it is
only a passive site without any worship now..a place of archeological
interest.The UN heritage classification has stated that Sri Rangam
temple is the largest temple complex in the world.](This temple complex
was plundered and partially destroyed by the Muslim commander Malik Kafur
of Allauddin Khilji,the Delhi Sultan in the year 1327AD. He bolted away
with much jewelry,as he did from other famous temples in South India.The
temple was renovated later by Vijayanagara Kings.)
The Vaishanva tradition ,it must be added ,is much older than the time of
Yamuna,but it is this lineage of three acharyas who developed the
tradition on firm footing and spread it across the nation.
Sri Ramanuja travelled across the nation of India,went to Kashmir Vishnu
monasteries and studied their texts too. His greatest contribution is the
writing of "Sri Bhashyam" , a commentary on Brhama Sutras, with a
philosophical interpretation of Vishnu worship with importance to 'Sri'
,hence the name "Sri Bhashyam'. Bhrama Sutras, in turn, interpret the
Vedas and the Upanishad statements for a particular philosophic content.
After this,Goddess Worship in the form of Lakshmi was firmly established
in all Vishnu temples.
The importance of Sri Ramanuja's work lies in other great achievements of
this pontiff..He was a great organiser.He established formal temple
worship in all Vishnu temples,totalling 108 divya desams,sacred places,
throughout the country.He formalised the temple rituals and annual
festivals to be conducted.What is more, he positioned a resident monk
,called a 'Jeeyar',trained in the tradition to oversee the conduct of
temple routines. This tradition is continued even today.Sri Ramanuja
travelled widely in India and spread the Vaishnava cults and temples in
Gujarat,UP and in Karnataka,near Mysore where he was exiled for nearly 12
years.He was also a social reformer,giving greater rights to
untouchables.With his enormous contributions to the cause of Vishnu
worship,the worship of the Goddess Lakshmi had become most widely
prevalent to this day.In every Vishnu temple ,you will find a separate
altar for Lakshmi Devi which should be worshipped first before offering
worship for the Vishnu.
The worship of Bhudevi [the earth goddess,often taken as Goddess Sita]
and the Nila devi as devi of cowherdess, Radha ,is also part of the most
Vishnu temples.The images of the two goddesses are usually kept in the
same altar with Lord Vishnu.The worship of Andal or Godha who was a woman
saint , but later merged with the Lord,[one of the twelve Alwars]came
about in 8th century.Like Meerabai,the Rajasthani princess of Mewar,Andal
was devoted to the Lord and wanted to marry only Lord Ranganatha.Her
father, Peria Alwar,another Alwar,with divine inspiration in a dream,
took the young girl to the Sri Rangam temple where she merged with the
Lord,that is ,disappeared as a blaze of light.!There are temples or
altars for Andal who is also considered as an incarnation of Lakshmi.
Following Sri Ramanuja,other great Acharyas emerged a few centuries
later...Vallabha[1479-1531AD] and Nimbarka [13th century] interpreted the
Bhakti modes with different points of emphasis.Vallabha emphasized love
for Krishna and Radha in very intimate terms of conjugal love.There are
numerous sects in UP,Gujarat and elsewhere where worship of Radha takes
even precedence over that of Krishna.
Then came Chaitanya Mahaprabhu of Bengal[1486-1534] who later became the
pontiff for the Puri temple in Orissa.His devotional fervour, again based
N K Srinivasan Goddess Worship 29on Krishna worship,strengthened worship of Radha as well.The present day
Hare Krishna [ISKCON] group,followers of Prabhupada,derive their lineage
from Sri Chaitanya and the Goswamisof Vrindhavan,near Delhi.They are
devoted toworship of Radharani, as the goddess of choice.
Contact me: You can contact me at: nksrinivasan@hotmail com
Also visit my website: www.freewebs.com/nksrinivasan for more
informationa on the web-page on "Goddess Worship"
Selected References
1 Swami Prabhavananda --- Spritual Heritage of India [General survey]
2 Swami Nikhilananda -- Life of Sri Ramakrishna
3 Romain Rolland --Life of Ramakrishna
4 A L Basham --The wonder that was India..[general historical
perspective]
5 N K Srinivasan --The Essence of Bhagavad Gita --Pustak Mahal,New
Delhi[brief introduction]
6 N K Srinivasan --Fruitful Meditation--Pustak Mahal ,New Delhi [chapter
on Chakras]
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7 David Kinsley -- The Hindu Goddesses--UC-Berkeley Press
8 Swami Sivananda --Devi Mahatmyam-- Divine Life Society -Rishikesh
9 Sister Nivedita (Margaret Noble) Kali-the Mother --RK Mission,Chennai
10 Thomas Coburn--Encountering the Goddess-translations of Devi
Mahatmyam --State Univ of New York-Albany
11 Sarah Caldwell--Oh,Terryfying Mother --Oxford Univ Press-New Delhi
12 John Woodroffe--[Arthur Avalon] -Introduction to Tantra.;also sakti
and shakta -- Ganesh pub,Chennai
13 John Hawley et al --Devi-Goddesses of India --UC Berkeley Press [a
collection of essays for western readers/academics]
14 Elizabeth Harding--Kali --Motilal Banarasidass, India (also Nicolas-
Hays Pub)
15 Lex Hixon - Coming Home-the experience of enlightenment--Larson
Publications
16 Lex Hixon --Visions of the Goddess and Tantric hymns---Quest Books
17 Lex Hixon- Great Swan--Meetings with Ramakrishna---Larson Publications
18 Rachel Fell McDermott--Singing to the Goddess--Poems to Kali and Uma
from Bengal--Oxford U P.
19 Loriliali Biernacki---Renowned Goddess of Desire--Oxforrd U P. (2007)
-------Sarva Jana Sukhino Bhavantu!
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[Revised : 12th Feb 2009]