Durga

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Stone sculpture of Devi Durga, Indian Museum, Kolkata
Durga's fight against the buffalo demon Mahisasur , who has risen from the severed head of the buffalo and begs Durga for mercy in his human form, which he is denied; her mount, the lion, attacks the buffalo from behind; Ambika Mata Temple , Jagat ( Rajasthan , 10th century)
Durga - here riding a tiger - uses the weapons given to her by the gods to fight the buffalo demon Mahisasur, the embodiment of all lower instincts (miniature painting, 18th century).
Ten-armed Durga ( Devi Kushmanda ) as a beautiful woman riding a lion; her fight against mahisasur is no longer depicted, Kolkata , 20th century.

Durga ( Sanskrit , f., दुर्गा , durgā , lit.: the difficult to access, the difficult to grasp ) is probably the most popular form of the goddess ( devi ) in Hinduism , which exists in various divine manifestations, benevolent and punitive: Durga is one Goddess of perfection, who can appear as Sarasvati , Lakshmi , Ambika and Ishvari as well as in other forms and embodies, among other things, power, knowledge, action and wisdom. In Tantrism she is Shakti , the female elemental force / energy of the universe. While it belongs to Vishnu as Lakshmi and to Brahma as Saraswati , it is not assigned to any male god in the form of Durga.

presentation

In classical Indian art, Durga is actually only shown in her role as the killer of the buffalo demon ( mahisasurmardini ); not until much later, in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th century, the aspect of their beauty was also more pronounced. Originally it usually had four, six or eight arms, but in later depictions it has ten, sometimes even eighteen or twenty arms, which symbolizes great power ( Shakti ). The third eye is on the forehead and she rides a lion or a tiger. In her wrathful manifestations she appears as Kali or Chamunda . In her (mostly eight) hands she carries various attributes that can vary - weapons (discus, trident, bow and arrow, sword, club, shield and conch horn), but also religious objects (prayer beads, bell) are typical. She is considered to be the "Great Goddess" ( Mahadevi ) and the "All Mother" ( Ambika ). In Shaktism , Durga represents the supreme goddess who towers above all other gods and is one with the absolute. Kumari , the virgin girl goddess in Nepal , is considered an incarnation of the Durga.

myth

Many scriptures report about Durga. The most famous myth is narrated in the Devi Mahatmya , part of the Markandeya Purana , as well as in the Devi Bhagavata . They are the two most important scriptures for their admirers and they are among the Puranas .

Accordingly, Durga slew the "buffalo demon" Mahisasur together with his army in battle , which is why she is also called Mahishasura Mardini (buffalo demon slayer). She appeared at the request of the heavenly devas who were terrorized by Mahisasur. Through harsh asceticism, meditation and prayer, Brahma granted him the wish that he would only find death at the hand of a woman. Since he did not trust any woman to have this ability, he became more and more power-hungry and in his boundless arrogance rose up to become the ruler of heaven. Everyone should worship him. Shiva and Vishnu became angry when they heard of the demon's activities, and in their anger a bright light sprang from their faces, which combined with the lights from the bodies of the other heavenly ones into one and took the form of a beautiful woman. Shiva and Vishnu as well as all the other heavenly ones gave her weapons: Shiva gave a second out of his trident, Vishnu a second from his disc and each of the heavenly devas gave an exact copy of his emblem. From Surya , the sun, she received the brilliant rays that shine from all the pores of her skin; Kala , the time, gave a sword and the Himalayas a magnificent tiger as a mount. The Devi-Mahatmya describes her as “radiant above earth, her immeasurable splendor penetrated the three worlds, her feet bent the earth and her crown touched the sky. With her thousand arms she penetrated the universe ”. Finally the goddess went into battle with “loud roaring laughter”, the mountains swayed, the universe shook and the seas overflowed. The demon constantly changed its forms during the fight, was buffalo, lion, elephant - until she finally defeated him in his buffalo form. This is the content of one of the very popular Purana stories of the goddess, which almost every Hindu child knows.

symbolism

The symbolism of what is ultimately cosmic happening is very complex and can have different meanings: The constantly changing forms of the demon, for example, can be viewed as the various manifestations of evil. In addition to a symbol for strength, the buffalo often also means a symbol for delusion, egoism and spiritual death. Durga's weapons are the epitome of all cosmic and spiritual forces, the Hindu scriptures speak of these spiritual weapons in many places in pictures, the Bhagavad Gita, for example, calls the "sword of wisdom" or mentions the "mighty sword of disobedience". Believers therefore usually interpret the destruction of the demon as the smashing of all evil, the entire lower human nature, whereby for Hindus the classic six evils are the following: Kama (worldly desires, lust and dissatisfaction), Krodha (anger, anger), Lobha ( Greed), Moha (delusion), Mada (arrogance) and Matsarya (jealousy and envy). Through her victory over these inner enemies of human existence - embodied by the buffalo demon Mahisasur in his various forms - the goddess is recognized as the bestowal of divine wisdom and knowledge.

Firmly

Durga with her four "children" Ganesha , Sarasvati , Lakshmi and Karttikeya . She fights the demon Mahisasur. Altar in the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum , Cologne.

The largest festival in honor of the goddess is the Durga Puja and is celebrated according to the Hindu lunar calendar at the end of September or in October. In the state of West Bengal with the capital Calcutta it is even the most important festival of the entire year. The priest ritually recreates the story of the fight in the worship service , the puja .

anthem

The following short excerpts from a very well-known Sanskrit hymn (Ya devi sarva bhuteshu) from the fifth chapter of the Devi Mahatmya , which Hindus sing and pray especially during Durga Puja or repeatedly listen to them on the radio during this sacred time, make it clear that the goddess is not only thought of as existing outside:

Honor the Goddess, the Great Goddess!
Honor the blessed!
Honor you who create and receive everything!
Glory to Durga again and again,
who leads us out of the tribulation, which is
the source and creator of everything!
Honor, again and again honor of
the goddess who lives as consciousness in all beings,
the goddess who lives as wisdom
in all beings,
the goddess who lives as peace in all beings, the goddess who lives as faith in all beings,
who Goddess who lives as grace in all beings,
the goddess who lives as patience in all beings,
the goddess who lives as contentment
in all beings,
the goddess who lives as mother in all beings, the goddess who lives in all beings lives as an error (or mistake)!

literature

Web links

Commons : Durga  - collection of images, videos and audio files