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upon the Tantra consulted -- Her skin tone can range from white (She
is the Tantric Saraswati) to brown or black (She is a tribal
Chandala; an outcaste) to blue or green (She is Meenakshi Madurai,
and also a form of Kali); with two or four arms, holding various
different weapons and other items. I will post an essay or two on
these various aspects of Matangi, as the week goes on.
FULL FORM IMAGE
Here is a full-form description of Maatangi, which attempts to bring
Her many aspects together into a single image (a synthesis of dhyana
mantras for Her forms as Ucchista Maatangini [from the Brihat
Tantrasaara], Maatangi [from the Purashcharyaarnava], and Raja-
Maatangi [from the Purashcharyaarnava and Saaradaa-tilaka]). You will
notice that this "full-form" description is quite different from this
week's Group picture -- that image is discussed further down.
Here is the description: She is seated on an altar and has a smiling
face and a green complexion. Her eyes are intoxicated. Her clothes
and all of Her ornaments are red. Around Her neck is a garland of
kadamba flowers. She is sixteen years old and has very full breasts
and a very slim waist. She holds a skull on Her left side and a
bloodied chopping blade on Her right, and She plays a jewel-encrusted
veena. Her hair is long and wild, and the disc of the moon adorns Her
forehead. She perspires slightly around Her face, which makes Her all
the more beautiful and bright. Below Her navel are three horizontal
folds of skin and a thin vertical line of fine hair. She wears a
girdle of jeweled ornaments, as well as bracelets, armlets, and
earrings. She represents the 64 arts and She is flanked by two
parrots.
ABOUT MAATANGI
Maatangi is a primary form of the all-powerful Goddess known in
Hinduism as Devi. Maatangi appears most prominently as one of the
Dasha Mahavidyas (Ten Wisdom Goddesses) of Tantric Hinduism, but may
also be considered a more primal and fearful form of the popular
Goddess Saraswati. Whereas Saraswati presides only over Creation,
governing traditional knowledge and arts, Maatangi also contains
elements of Destruction by which She severs the attachments that bind
humans to the mundane world, paving the way for more unorthodox and
revolutionary forms of Creation, knowledge and art. She is called the
Outcaste Goddess because She prefers to dwell outside the mainstream,
and also because She facilitates the polluting process by which
Divine Unstruck Sound (Nada) is manifested on Earth in the form of
human speech, literature and music. Meditation upon the esoteric
aspects of Maatangi provides a bottomless source of meaning, insight,
and inspiration.
HER STORY
Goddess Parvati (Devi) was away visiting Her father Himalaya, when
Her consort Lord Shiva began longing for Her, and growing jealous in
Her absence. So Shiva disguised Himself as an ornament vendor and
appeared at Himalaya s door. Parvati selected a few shell ornaments,
but when She asked the merchant his price he asked Her to pay him
with sexual favors. Outraged at his presumption, Parvati was about to
curse the man when Her divine intuition revealed that he was actually
Shiva in disguise, and apparently testing Her fidelity. Concealing
Her knowledge of His true identity, She replied, Yes, fine, I agree.
But not just now. And She sent Shiva on His way.
Later, as Shiva prepared for His evening prayers on the shores of
Maanas Lake, Parvati decided to teach Him a lesson. She took the form
of a beautiful outcaste girl, a member of the wild hunter-gatherer
tribe known as the Chandalas. She was dressed all in red, Her body
lean, Her eyes large, Her breasts full and She began a seductive
dance by the lakeside, near the place where Shiva sat.
Enthralled, Shiva asked Her, Who are you? She replied, I am Maatangi,
daughter of the Chandalas. I have come here to do penance. Shiva
smiled. I am the One who gives fruits to those who do penance, He
said, and he took Her hand and kissed Her, and then He made love to
Her. While they were engaged in the act, however, Parvati abruptly
transformed Shiva into an outcaste Chandala Himself whereupon He
immediately realized that Maatangi was his wife.
Parvati told Him, Since You made love to Me in the form of a Chandala
girl, She will henceforth be one of My permanent forms, to be known
as Ucchista Chandalini. That is, Maatangi, the Outcaste Goddess of
What is Leftover and Polluted. And so Maatangi took Her place as one
of the Ten Wisdom Goddesses, the primary forms of Devi/Parvati. And
later, when Parvati and Shiva argued and He threatened to leave Her,
Maatangi joined the other Mahavidyas in blocking His every exit,
thereby demonstrating (among many other things) Devi s ultimate power
over Shiva and His utter inseparability from Her.
This is only one of the many beautiful myths surrounding Maatangi and
Her origins. It is taken from the Praanatosini-tantra and other
sources. Additional versions relate Her to such pan-Hindu Goddesses
as Kali and Lalita Tripurasundari, as well as to more localized
deities most notably, Tamil Nadu's Meenakshi Madurai.
ANOTHER VIEW ON MATANGI (from "Exotic India," discussing the second
painting above):
The Goddess Matangi is the deity of one of the Dasha (ten)
Mahavidyas. She is Siddha Vidya or Tantra personified, thus
commanding occult power. On the mundane level, she is the daughter of
the sage Matanga, who is said to have been the preceptor of Shabari
of the Ramayana fame.
In this portrait, the background is a golden yellow, the face of
stunning beauty. Matangi is seated on a throne of vivid green, her
fingers moving over the strings of the veena (lute). Two lotus
flowers dangle from a slender string tied to the upper part of the
veena, which is shaped like a bird's head. At the edge of her throne
sits a parrot seemingly rapt in the music she is creating. Beside her
is a conch-shell. The gentle intoxication caused by the honey-sweet
wine mentioned in Her dhyana-shloka:
I meditate on Matangi who
Seated on the gem-studded throne,
listens to the sweet utterances of the parrot,
is aglow with youth,
has one foot on the lotus,
has her forehead bedecked with the crescent moon,
plays on the veena,
has a garland of jasmine flowers,
has a fitting bodice adorning her,
wears red garments,
has a conch-vessel,
is inebriated with honey sweet wine,
has the vermilion mark on her forehead adding luster to it.
Matangi, the daughter of sage Matanga,
supportively plays the ruby-bejeweled veena
leisurely in her self-glory
charming in her sweet vocal _expression of song
her delicately soft limbs, lustrous like sapphires.
Madhur Madhu Madaam - is suggested by the dreamy _expression in
Matangi's eyes. Two birds are artistically positioned and the subtle
juxtaposition of light and shade makes the color scheme effective.
The lotus flower under the feet of the Devi is in full glory of bloom.
Being the goddess of the Tantra system, the crescent moon onMatangi's
forehead here reminds the aspirant on the path of Tantra of the
sacrifices he will have to make to obtain siddhis.
The veena tells us of her mastery over music, rather of the symphony
of life in this universe, and of man's need to harmonize his life to
avoid all jarring extremes. The old folk saying, "Tighten it not so
much that it breaks, Loosen it not so much that no music emanates,"
is equally applicable to life.
The parrot with its tendency to repeat all it hears symbolizes the
inexorable law of karma, the belief that one cannot escape the
consequences of one's acts. It also represents the world of nature.
With one foot on the lotus, the Goddess controls the terrestrial
world in tranquility and serenity, while the other foot, lifted on to
her throne, represents her sovereignty over the celestial domains.
The devotee invokes her with the following verse:
Goddess, confer on us well-being,
confer superb prosperity,
grant form, grant victory, grant fame,
kill enemies.
In this portrait the background is effulgent, profusely effusing
golden light. The face of Goddess Matangi has been beautifully
painted. The foliage of the blooming trees and the density of the
green color have surfaced the painting. The light and shade effect
has made the color scheme prominent. The lotus flower under the feet
of the Devi is in full glory of bloom. The bright white complexion of
Devi, the white color of the birds and that of the conch appear to be
embossing the background.
Aum Maatangyai Namahe
by devi_bhakta