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Devi Mahatmya - Great Story of the Goddess Achala Sylwia Mihajlovic
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- Religie en spiritualiteit
Devī Māhātmya, a part of ancient Mārkaṇḍeya Pūraṇa, is the great story of the Goddess which is traditionally recited and contemplated upon during Navaratri — the nine nights of Divine Mother. It is also mentioned multiple times in Bṛhat Parāśara Horā Śāstra, the bible of Vedic Astrology, as a potent tool for initiating the process of inner and outer transformation — including transforming our karma dictated by the planets.
The story, in short, describes a metaphoric battle between the Goddess, Śakti, representing the Divine spark within us, and various demons which disrupt our inner space. An attentive reader and a spiritual seeker will immediately notice that the whole story illustrates the struggles that we all encounter in our sadhana.
The idea is that when we use our imagination to visualise this inner battle, we do not only become more capable of recognising those inner demons in the future, but also by mentally joining the Goddess in Her battle, we transform something within us in a very profound way. The very idea of going through this battle willingly, in our mind, is to resolve the conflicts within and avoid external battles of life before they even occur.
The 13 Chapters of Devī Māhātmya are traditionally into 9 consecutive days, during which they are supposed to be recited in their prescribed sequence. Needless to say, the most auspicious time to contemplate on this spiritual epic is during the 9 nights of Navaratri - or first 9 lunar days of any bright fortnight.
Read more about the mysteries of Devī Māhātmya here: https://medium.com/@discoveringyouniverse/devi%CC%84-ma%CC%84ha%CC%84tmya-a-metaphor-of-inner-battle-62bc396b5a77
…or take part in your own “Journey with the Goddess” for 9 days of Navaratri: https://academy.discoveringyouniverse.com/courses/journey-with-goddess-navaratri-workshop/
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Devi Mahatmya - Day 9: Chapter 13
On the last day of Navaratri the 13th chapter of Devī Māhātmya is traditionally recited, which recounts the story of king Suratha and merchant Samadhi praying to the Great Goddess and having their boons fulfilled. The story is more than just a promise of Divine Mother to grant our wishes, whenever we contemplate on Her great stories - it is also a reminder to choose wisely what we pray for.
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Devi Mahatmya - Day 8: Chapter 12
On the 8 day of Navaratri the 12th chapter of Devī Māhātmya is traditionally recited, in which the Goddess Herself explains about the great transformative of contemplating upon Devī Māhātmya. She says: “I shall without doubt destroy every misfortune of those who with collected mind will praise me always with these hymns.” She assures everyone that when one listens to this great story with love and devotion, even if without proper knowledge about it, She will still grant Her benedictions upon one and destroy one’s miseries. The Goddess is also saying in this chapter that apart from reciting Devī Māhātmya for nine consecutive days during the first nine days of any bright fortnight, it is also very auspicious to meditate upon those stories on Ashtami tithis (Mahakali), Navami tithis (Mahasarasvati) and Chaturdashi tithis (Mahalakshmi).
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Devi Mahatmya - Day 7: Chapter 11
On the 7 day of Navaratri 11th chapter of Devī Māhātmya is recited and contemplated upon. In this chapter the gods celebrate the victory of the Goddess over evil and extol Her with the prayer known as Narayani Stuti - praising Her as Narayani, who assumes many forms, to guide us from within and direct the drama of cosmic creation. The Goddess also makes Her promise that whenever the evil arises again, She will appear - again and again, to uplift all and bring balance to the universe.
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Devi Mahatmya - Day 6: Chapters 9 & 10
On the 6 day of Navaratri chapters 9 & 10 of Devī Māhātmya are recited, in which the final battle between the Goddess and demons Śumbha & Niśumbha takes place - the battle between our limitless, divine self and attachments to “I” and “mine” represented by those two asuras. Before slaying Śumbha the Goddess withdraws the 8 Matrikas, Her expansions, within Herself, and thus shows Him and reminds us all that in reality it is She alone who does everything in the universe - for there is nothing that is not Her.
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Devi Mahatmya - Day 5: Chapter 8
On the 5 day of Navaratri 8 Chapter of Devī Māhātmya is traditionally recalled and contemplated upon. In this Chapter the Divine Mother fights with demon Raktabija, representing our never-ending desires. During the battle, the Supreme Mother expands Herself into 8 forms known as eight Matrikas or eight Yoginis. Each of those 8 mothers helps us to overcome one of the 8 negative qualities fuelling our mind’s negative patterns. They also represent the 8 arms of Goddess Mahasarasvati.
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Devi Mahatmya - Day 4: Chapter 7
On the day 4 of Navaratri the battle between the Goddess Mahasarasvati and the demons continues. In Chapter 7 demons Chanda and Munda are being slain by Her, while She assumes a fierce, dark-complexioned aspect of Kali and swiftly conquers the demon army. Kali, who swallows the entire armies like a dark night of dissolution, represents within us the divine power to withdraw and neutralise all our negativities and attachments, so our mind can return to its state of stillness, and so our inner chatter can stop.