kAtyAyanI

[Shrinivas Gadkari]

On Tue, 14 Jan 2003 21:35:57 -0500, Ravi Mayavaram <ravi at AMBAA.ORG> wrote:

>The interepretation by Jaldhar and following expansion by Shrinivas are
>wrong, at least IMHO.  To me, it is more than ignorance, downright
>offensive and obnoxious. I dont know what level of arrogance or ignorance
>it takes to call jagadamba who is embodiment of all auspiciousness as
>widow. SHE is a mahapativrata, whose Lord survives even after taking
>poison, when all devas who have take amrita perish like flies falling in
>fire. SHE is the one who witness the great dance of HER Lord at the end of
>Universe (maheshvara mahakalpa mahaataNDava saaxiNii). Texts that describe
>HER auspiciousness are countless.  Even in this world there is nothing
>more offensive than calling one's mother a widow. To say so about
>jaganmAta, is a even worser crime. Only someone devoid of any bhakti would
>even utter it.
>

Namaste,

Jaldhar was simply quoting some other work and I was struck by the
term "red color" since something similar occurs in the durgA sUkta. As
regards respect for devI, I think everyone participating in this thread
has nothing but deep respect for HER (a look at the archives can confirm
this).

>This name kAtyAyani fortunately occurs in shrii lalitaa sahasranAma, I
>could answer it (i am waiting to get good answer for another fool who made
>a similar statement about dhumavatI in ambaa-L.)  The name kAtyAyani  is
>#556 name is sahasranAma. If you have a good translation or commentary
>kindly refer to it.

Would not like to go into an indepth discussion on dhumavatI here (and
also my knowledge about dhumavatI is limited). Just would like to mention
a point here, and I think this point is important. When we talk about
shiva tattva and shakti tattva, we are talking about tattva-s and not
necessarily about the greatest RShi-s of these tattva-s namely, bhagavAn
rudra and devI pArvati.

>
>--------------from a translation of bhAskararAya bhaashhya --------------
>This name means SHE is the daughter of R^ishi Kata. This is the name of
>deity in the collective form of brightness (tejas) of all deva-s. The
>vAmaNa puraNa says "That brightness which is the best, and the greatest,
>is known in the world  by the name kAtyAyani. Under that name SHE shines
>and is celebrated in the world.
>
>According to kALikaa puraaNa this is a deity of ODhyAna. The devi purana
>says ka means brahma, head and philospher's stone; as SHE support or rests
>on them SHE is called kAtyAyanI.
>

Thanks for this information.

Best regards
Shrinivas