Alochana-What, Who and How is Durga?

Dear readers,

This article is not strictly religious and completely my views on Mahamaya Maa Durga and DurgaPujo.

You have every right not to agree with me and I absolutely respect any different opinion on this topic.

This is a original article and no part of this article is taken from any website.

This is a thought that came to me on my 29th. birthday and I had to express it in my blog.

Symbolism of Durga

Let us first visit the story of Mahamaya Maa Durga.
Rambha, (boon gainer from Agni Dev), fell in love with a Mahisha and through their union was born Mahisasur. After severe austerities Mahisasura was given a boon by the creator Brahma that no man or God would be able to kill him.

Mahish or the Bull is indicative of desire, lust, craving, intertia - the most basic of human instincts.
The very nature of this instinct is that it cannot be killed by a man or a God. It is immune to punishment, hard-work, stress etc.
The only aspect this instinct is stimulus to is that to the object of its deep rooted desire - its object of lust, in this case a woman.

When MahaDevi appeared before Mahisasura, he wanted to mate with Her and make Her his wife. Thus, this instinct fails to realize and undermines the fact that the very object of its affection can cause its demise.

Durga crumbles this ego in humans. Durga stands for the fact that one's own desire can be the cause of one's end. Desire, interia, unquenched thirst is represented by the Bull, Mahisa. The vahana of Mahamaya is the Lion, the symbolic of the soul.

When the soul realises that the desire is improper, then only can it pounce upon it and Devi kills it.

Improper desire, passion etc. rise in the human mind every time. However, the soul has to be shaken, the consciousness has to fight it and there by making the Lion pounce upon the Bull.
It is this very soul that differentiates us from lesser species which acts only based on instinct. This consciousness is our touch with the divine.

The Devi is within all of us, Durga is in all of us and the battle with Mahisasura is being fought every day, every hour and every minute.

It is important we see this battle and make Durga win every time.

Regards,

Souvik