The Divine Mother

The Cosmic Mother

The Supreme Divine is celebrated as the Divine Mother in many parts of the world. In India, the Divine Mother is worshipped, adored and feared in equal measure across the length and breadth of the vast country. The Mother has infinite names and forms, from the fierce Kali in the east to the resplendent Meenakshi in the south. In the wider Indian subcontinent, from Mother Dhakeshwari to Mother Hinglaj, the Mother transcends present-day geographical boundaries. It is said that the Divine Mother incarnated on earth as Vaishnavi. The famous shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in the north of the country, in Jammu & Kashmir, is visited by millions of devotees. In fact, Kashmir, which gets its name from Rishi Kashyapa, is said to be the abode of the Divine Mother as Sharada, the deity of knowledge and arts. Namaste Sharade Devi Kashmirpurvasini, as the hymn goes in salutation of the Mother.

Garba, an offering to the Divine Mother

The Mother is especially venerated during the festival of the nine holy nights, Navaratri. In the western Indian state of Gujarat, the Mother is revered as Amba or Ambika. Gujaratis have a unique way of celebrating the Mother’s nine nights, its called the Garba. An artistic and traditional folk dance performed by men and women in colorful outfits. Devotees sing glories to the Divine Mother in songs and hymns that are also referred to as Garba. Devotees dance with gusto around an earthen pot that contains the holy lamp. The pot, symbolizing the entire manifest universe, itself is incidentally also called a Garba or Garbo.

The fervor of devotion transcends the song and dance, and union with the Mother is experienced. But what are the ways in which we can experience this meeting with the Mother. The Mother is infinitude itself, so there are innumerable ways in which a devoted child can experience union with the Divine Mother. The Mother is very kind. She grants us, her children, different ways in which we can experience her presence depending on the spiritual attitude, bhaav, of the devotees. Let us investigate the ways in which we can experience the Divine Mother.

?Meeting the Mother

Let us learn more about these bhaav through the lens of Garba. It is said that there are four primary ways in which we can meet the Mother. These are, Salokya, residing in the abode of the Divine Mother, Samipya, intimate closeness with the Mother, Sarupya, assuming the same form as the Mother and Sayujya, merging in the Mother.

As we learnt earlier, the traditional dance in celebration of the Mother is called Garba. Artists, enthusiasts and devotees perform this dance in the knowledge that the Mother is right there. Whether on earth or the highest heavens, the Mother is watching us perform. It is for her enjoyment that the devotees dance night after night. Let us remember that it is she that is the only true enjoyer of all actions. Seekers know that ‘I am not the enjoyer, the Mother in her Purusa aspect as Lalitambika Tripurasundari is the enjoyer’. Let us also never forget that the Mother in her Prakriti aspect is the only doer. Although the Mother is present in every atom of creation, she also has a special place that she calls her own. Her Loka, Manidweepa, where she invites only those children who want nothing but her. The Mother sits high on her throne, dazzlingly bejeweled. Her light is the light of Consciousness. She is verily Brahmanswarupini, the form of Brahman or the supreme reality. Her children perform the Garba dance in her court, as she smiles approvingly and even joins in sometimes. Her children’s joy knows no bounds. Why would it, we are her children after all. Can a fraction of infinity be anything but infinity! Anantam thou art, indeed. Whether dancing on humble earth or in her divine abode, the joy of Salokya is for all to taste.

But sometimes the child has a special song, a hymn, a Garba, that he (or she) wants to sing to the Mother. Just her. Just me and my Mother. The Divine Mother sees the child’s innocent longing, and she calls him closer. The Mother’s court, her palace, the grandeur, the artists, other children, all dissipate from one’s awareness. She grants Samipya. Me and my Mother. Only I sing for my Mother. We discussed earlier about bhaav, the spiritual attitude of the child, and the purest bhaav between the child and its Mother is that of unbridled love with a tinge of affectionate possessive attachment.

As often with worldly love, so with love between the child and the Divine Mother. As the love evolves, a time comes when the lover sees the beloved within oneself. There is no sense of a personal self, other than the beloved. Garbo, the earthen pot, is decorated with colorful cloths and tiny mirrors. What a beautiful moment it must be when the Mother grants Sarupya to her devotees, whereby when they look at those tiny mirrors of the Garbo they see only the Mother, not themselves. One is unable to see oneself as anything other than a reflection of the Mother. One incident comes to mind, it’s from the life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. This was when he was very unwell during his last few years in the physical form. He, an ardent devotee of Divine Mother Kali, was unable to go to her temple to perform Puja on the holy day of Kali Puja. The Mother out of her own grace manifest herself within the physical body of Sri Ramakrishna, so that she could be worshipped there by Sri Ramakrishna and other devotees. At that moment, there was no separate self of Sri Ramakrishna other than the Mother. But to think of it, is there ever anything other than the Mother? Can there be any concept of time that is separate from the Mother? Is there any such place where Mother is not? Thing or person? No. Because time exists in Mother, she is Mahakali. Space is perceived because of Mother. She is Sarvavyapi, all-pervading. And thing, object, you and me? Ah, the ego! What about me, it shouts! Where time and space have been swallowed, what chance do you and I have? But wait, may be what I consider as ‘I’ isn’t what I thought what I was. After all didn’t I just experience myself as the Mother, whilst she granted me Sarupya as I looked in the mirror of the Garbo. Oh, I am her! There is no I. It’s all her.

Sayujya. Words fall short here on. When I have dissolved into her, who is there to write. When you have merged into her, who shall read? Mother. Its Mother. Only Mother. She is the cosmic sound and beyond, as ShabdaBrahman. She is the stillness of Aum. And yet as Shakti she is also the thundering creative energy of Aum that manifests the apparent macrocosm and microcosm of experiences. She is the witness of all worlds, as Jagatsakshini. The lamp in the Garbo, is her Light of Consciousness which pervades all that there is. By her, everything else is. Hence, she is not just Anantam, Infinitude, but she is also Satyam and Gnyanam. Existence itself and Consciousness, and the knowledge of Consciousness. Let us make her an offering of our little self so she may grace us the experience of our real Self. She is the root cause of everything, Sarva Karana Karanam. It’s all the Mother’s play. If she wills that we experience, let us do so with vigor, positivity and celebration.

The dance of life

Life, her creation, is also a Garba. The dance of life. She as Prakriti, Mother Nature, manifests the five cosmic elements, the three gunas or the primary modes or qualities of nature, prana or life-force, the senses and all sense objects. In ignorance of our true nature, we desire. Desires lead to actions, and that leads to its results. Avidya, Kama, Karma. And we are caught in the machine of cause and effect! But we are here, so act we must. For she is also Dharma, rightful conduct.

May we experience ourselves as her children and act thereof, then she will take us where we ought to be. Be it here on earth, Manidweepa or union with her as the Supreme Brahman. What is it to me; I am already free. For she is Maya (bondage) and she is Mukti (freedom).

But don’t ask a little wave to sing the glories of the infinite ocean. Her many facets I cannot count, her many names and forms I do not know, her divine plays I comprehend not. I am only a child, and she is my Mother.

Aum Shri Gurubhyo Namah. Aum Maa Aum. Shubha Navaratri and a blessed path ahead.

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