Manifestations of Devi

Satsang by Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Devi is the great power behind this creation. She is called Maya because out of creation has appeared maya in the form of this world. Being the ruler of maya, she is Mahamaya. Devi is also avidya rupini, the form of ignorance, because she creates bondage. She is vidya rupini, the form of knowledge, because by removing illusion she gives knowledge and liberation. Being the prakriti which existed even before this creation, she is called Adya Shakti. Being the expression of chit shakti, the force of consciousness, in prakriti, she is called vachak shakti, the verbal force.

In the tantras the soul is meditated upon in the form of Devi. In this manner, Devi is herself Brahman in the Mother aspect. In her Para Brahman aspect, Devi is beyond all names and qualities. In her World Mother aspect, she has three forms. The first is her omnipotent form which is unknown. The second is a very subtle aspect which manifests in the form of mantra. However, as it is difficult to meditate on her formless existence, she is also imagined in the gross material form, the description of which is found in the tantras and puranas.

In her prakriti aspect, Devi is the source of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara; she has the male as well as the female form. But generally the female form is meditated upon. All the mantras and yantras in the tantric scriptures are in fact her forms. The forms of Mahedevi, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Gayatri, Durga, Tripura Sundari, Annapurna and so many other devis and female powers are her different manifestations.

In the forms of Sati, Vma, Parvati and Gauri, Devi is the consort of Lord Shiva. At the yajna of Daksha, being unable to bear the insult to her husband, Sati laid down her life due to shame and grief. Lord Shiva, unable to bear the separation, took hold of Sati's dead body and began to roam around in a state of semi-madness. Taking advantage of this state of affairs, and in the absence of any divine discipline, the lower powers began to raise their heads at different places. When Vishnu saw this, he cut Sati's body into fifty-one parts with his chakra. The places where these fifty-one parts fell are the fifty-one shaktipeethas where Devi and her Bhairava are worshipped in different names and forms.

As Devi has many names and forms in the brahmanda or universe, her subtle form in the body is called kundalini shakti. Just as the reflection of one moon takes many forms in the water, in the same manner the one power expresses itself in different forms. In animals, birds and all the different forms of life, and also in inert matter, the same power of Devi is being expressed.

Human beings also have within them all the elements found within the universe. This body is a universe in miniature form. The creative power of the universe is lying latent in the human body also. To arouse that power and make it active is the purpose of tantra sadhana. The practice of tantra and all its disciplines inspires the sadhakas to realize their divine power and to feel the presence of this power in the world around them. The sadhaka becomes qualified for nirakara worship by first going through the external forms of worship and the various rituals or karmakanda of the sakara methods of worship, and ultimately realizes Mahedevi in the form of his or her own soul and thus attains liberation.