Ramakrishna Mission Students' Home, Chennai
On
SIGNIFICANCE OF SAKTI WORSHIP
At 7.30 a.m.
Let me begin by invoking this sloka from the Chandi:
Ya devi sarvabhuteshu Saktirupen samsthita
Namastasyaei Namastyasei Namastyasei Nomo Nomah
The Goddess that exists in all substances, as Shakti or the Primordial Energy, I salute Her again and again.
The Chandi introduces the great Mother as the great illusion (Mahamaya) which prevents us from viewing things in their real perspective. Instead, it creates a fierce attachment in our mind to material objects and thus bind us down to a lower plane of existence It is through Sadhana and constantly reminding ourselves of our true nature that we will be able to see and realize ourselves in true perspective.. For this the Great Mother has to be propitiated. To a real Sadhaka, this Sadhana is not for material gains, not for more power, more money or more wealth. For a true Sadhaka, the real significance lies in realizing that he and his universe are nothing but media for the manifestation of one all pervading power,-the power of God, the power that is one with God. This is not to understand merely intellectually but to realize in each and every one of his cells that he lives and moves because of that power. All spiritual endeavours of a true devotee of Sakti aim at the realization that his self, including his body, mind and spirit is an instrument of that Power which is all around him, above and below, within and without.
King Surath and Merchant Medhas
King Suratha had been defeated by his enemies, troubled by his subjects and ignored by his employees and relatives. So he repaired to the forest, being fed up with the world and its ways. The merchant Samadhi had a similar fate. He had been cast out by his wife and sons. So he also came to the forest. But their present trouble was not so much the old suffering as the meaningless attachment they felt for their old relatives and property.
When the king asked, why his mind was affectionately attached to those ungrateful folk, the merchant replied that he did not know why it was being drawn to them. Then they went to the sage Medhas and narrated their sorrow and the problem. The King said. Though I have lost the kingdom, I have an attachment to all the paraphernalia of my kingdom. How is this, O best of sages? And this merchant has been disowned by his children, wife and servants and forsaken by his own people; still he is inordinately affectionate towards them. Thus both he and I drawn by attachment towards objects whose defects we do know are exceedingly unhappy. How does this happen, then, sir that though we are aware of it, this dilution comes?
The great sage informed them that it was by the illusive power of Mahamaya that the entire world is deluded, but it is She who, when propitious, becomes a giver of worldly and heavenly enjoyment as well as final liberation to human beings.
At the end the sage advised: O great Kind, take refuge in Her, the supreme Goddess. She indeed when worshipped bestows on men enjoyment, heaven and final release from transmigration.
Both the king and the merchant practiced hard penance to please the Goddess. She then offered two boons to them according to their wishes, one boon granting sovereignty of the universe and the other final realization. Thus the Devi according to the Chandi grants both material and spiritual fruits-bhukti and mukti.
Medhas informed them that the cause of uncontrollable attachment was the deluding aspect of the Divine Mother. The pre-requisite for this release from limitations is the grace of the Mother and that can be achieved when one surrenders his all to Her, and that fervently prays to Her.
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Since time is short, and the subject is a vast one, let me briefly now revert to the life of Sri Sri Thakur and see how he looked upon Sakti or the Divine Mother. To him the Mother was the same as Brahman, the Absolute To Sri Ramakrishna, the Absolute was true, it was active as well as inactive, formless as also the one capable of taking forms. Through his Sadhana at Dakshineswar, he realized that Brahaman and Sakti are one and the same. Brahman is the static aspect while Sakti is the dynamic aspect of the Supreme Being. The whole world is the manifestation of the dynamic aspect of the Supreme Being and as human beings, we are in the realm of Sakti. To him, this Sakti or the primal cosmic energy is the same as the Divine Mother and we are all Her children. Complete surrender to the will of God, to the power of God, was the watchword of Mother worship of Sri Ramakrishna. This complete surrender to the Mother brought about with it a realization of unity-a unity with all beings as children of the same universal Mother or individual sparks from the same dynamo. This has added a great humanitarian tone to Sri Ramakrishna's teachings and has now been enshrined by Swamiji as the motto of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission where service to humanity is recognized as the best form of worshipping the Mother or the Supreme Being. Take a minute and think how our life has been made so much easier. If you can do Tapasya, undergo all kinds of austerities, privations and perform difficult rituals, well and good. But that is not at all necessary if you remember that by serving the fellow human beings especially the down trodden, the poor and the sick, you are in fact serving the Mother. That will be your Sadhana and through this instrument or medium, you will realize the Divine Nature within yourself.
Swamiji & concept of Mother worship
About the origin of Mother worship, Swami Vivekananda says:
"Mother worship is a distinct philosophy in itself. Power is the first of our ideas. It infringes upon man at every step. Power felt within, is the Soul, without, nature. And the battle between the two makes human life. All that we know or feel is but the resultant of these two forces. Man saw that the sun shines on the good and the evil alike. Here was a new idea of God as the Universal Power behind all. The Mother-idea was born."
Sri Ramakrishna & concept of Mother worship
Sri Ramakrishna looked upon the highest Reality as the Divine Mother. He says:
"One must propitiate the Divine Mother, the Primal Energy in order to obtain God's grace. God Himself is Mahamaya. It is His will that we should run about a little. Then it is great fun. God has created the world in play, as it were. This is called Mahamaya, the Great Illusion. Therefore, one must take refuge in the Divine Mother, the Cosmic Power itself. It is She who has bound us with the shackles of illusion. The realization of God is possible only when those shackles are severed."
Conclude
"Mother is Everything"
Totapuri was attacked by dysentery. The excruciating pain in the stomach did not allow him to keep his mind in the highest regions. He got disgusted with the body and wanted to give it up in the Ganga. He waded through the river at dead of night. Swami Saradananda writes:
"But was the deep Bhagirathi dry tonight? Or was it only the external projection of his mental picture? Who would say? Tota almost reached the other bank but could not get water, deep enough for drowning himself in. When, gradually, the trees and houses on the other bank began to be visible like shadows in the deep darkness of the night, Tota was surprised and thought, "What strange divine Maya is this? Tonight there is not sufficient water in the river even to drawn oneself! What strange unheard-of play of God?" And immediately some one as it were from within pulled off the veil over his intellect. Tota?s mind was dazzled by a bright light and he saw " Mother, Mother, Mother; Mother, the origin of the universe; Mother, the unthinkable Power; Mother in land and Mother in water; the body is Mother, and the mind is Mother; illness is Mother, and health is Mother; life is Mother, and death is Mother; everything I see, hear, think or imagine is Mother! She makes nay of yea and yea of nay! As long as one is in the body one has no power to be free from Her influence, no, not even to die, till She wills! It is that Mother again who is also beyond body, mind and intellect ? the Mother, the supreme "fourth", devoid of all attributes. That one whom Tota had so long been worshipping as Brahman and to whom he offered his heartfelt love and devotion was this very Mother! Siva and Sakti are, One, ever existing in the form of Hara-Gauri! Brahman and Brahma-Sakti are one and the same!"
Such was the realization of a great Jnanayogin.
Mother as Power
There is a story current about Sri Sankara. One day he was passing through a street in Varanasi. A dead body was lying on the road and a young man, presumably the wife of the dead man, was sitting by its side, weeping. Sankara asked the people to remove the dead body. The woman replied, "Why, you may ask the body to move away." "What", said Sankara, "has the dead body any power to move of itself?" The woman retorted, "If it is not possible for a tiny body to move without power, how do you hold the view that this whole universe moves without a power behind it?" Another vista, as it were, opened before Sankara, that there is such a thing as Divine Power and the world is Her sport. After this vision Sri Sankara sang in the first verse of the famous Saundarya Lahari :
"If Siva is joined to Sakti, He is able to create. If not so, God is not even capable of movement."
As Sri Ramakrishna puts it:
"Brahman is actionless. When It is engaged in creation, preservation, and dissolution It is called the Primal Power, Adyasakti. This Power must be propitiated."
Thanks
