[Advaita-l] Fw: CHANDI NAVAKSHARI - DURGA SAPTHASATI

[KAMESWARARAO MULA]

Dear Members,
CHANDI SAPTHASATHI RAHASYA:

The Devi Mahatmyam or Sri Chandi Sapthasathi,which forms the core text in Markandeya Purana which is revered by most of theShaktas or Worshippers of Divine Mother as Durga. Essentially Sri Chandireflects on 3 cycles. It is an allegory. It represents the evolution ofspiritual aspirant towards the self realization, an internal struggle for thecommunion with his Soul, the Mother Divine. During this process of perfection,he encounters several barriers and bottlenecks in the form of his Vasanas(mental tendencies) that come his way and make the path obscure and quitedifficult. Falling prey to these pleasures, he gets snared and entangled in thephenomenal and mundane existence. He gets tired, dejected and depressed. Andduring this hard times, that Mother comes in the form of Guru and imparts thesupreme knowledge and makes him aware of his divine self, and infuses him withrevitalized energy, stays beside him in his hardships, holds his hand in thetortuous, thorny
path and makes him realize his true Self which is non-different from Her. 

The three charitas of this Chandi Sapthasathi represent the gross, subtle,causal bodies or the physical, mental and psychic bodies of the individualaspirant who accompany him till he reaches the supreme goal. 

The Chandika Parameshwari, who is non different from Supreme Brahman, is alsothe Maha Maya / Adya Sakti/ Agni / Vaak that manifests itself in 3 forms as 3Vyahritis. They are Bhu, Bhuvah and Suvah which represent Prathama, Madhyamaand Uttama Charitras respectively. Agni, Vaayu and Surya are the deities thatrepresent these 3 cycles. The Chandi Sapthasathi, otherwise called “The Battleof Life” is a chronicle of the battles fought between the Devi and the DivineForces on one side and Asuric, Anti-Divine Forces on the other. It is a greatsadhana shastra. On the poetic side of it, it has all the nava (9) rasas withwonderful characters. The poet uses certain phrases to infuse fear and reverencefor the Divine Power like “Chandika Chandavikrama” , “Durga Durgartinasini” ,“Kali Karaalavadana” , “Humkarenaiva Bhasma”, “Utthaya cha Mahasim Hum DevimChandamadhavath” etc. These words and vibrations have terrific impact on theperson who chants the sapthasathi. 

Chandi denotes the sovereign queen of the supreme Brahman. The word is derivedfrom the root ‘Chad’ means anger, which actually denote a sense ofextra-ordinary quality not limited by any standard or measure; “whom even theGods fear when he gets angry in battles”, “through the fear of him the windblows, the sun rises, Indra, Agni, Death hasten their courses”. So, the commandof this Sovereign Queen instills fear in all the Gods and makes them performtheir respective duties. It is in this sense that the root ‘Cad’ is used.Hence, the sruti says “Mahat Bhayam Vajramudyatam. .”. Here “Vajra” denotesBrahma. 

The word “Sapthasati” denotes theparable of 7 satis or matrikas. The Prathama Charitra extols 1) Kali 2) Tara 3)Chinnamasta 4) Sumukhi 5) Bhuvaneshwari 6) Bala 7) Kubja respectively. TheMadhyama Charitra extols 1) Lakshmi 2) Lalitha 3) Kali 4) Durga 5) Gayatri 6)Arundhati 7) Saraswati respectively. The Uttama Charitra extols 1) Brahmi 2)Maheshwari 3) Kaumari 4) Vaishnavi 5) Varahi 6) Mahendri 7) Chamundarespectively.

If we take these 21 devi as a whole in samasti rupa, 1) Nanda 2) Satakshi 3)Sakambari 4) Bhima 5) Rakthadantika 6) Durga 7) Brahamari Devis are euologizedrespectively. These 7 samasti devis are called Saptha-Sathis. 

 Note: This information was collected from different source & compiled in my understandings and not intended to show any highness / or show up.
Learned may contradict/ or contribute their views with their logics.
Sri Guru Padaravindarpana Mastu
Kameswara
  
 
    
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