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Writer's pictureSwami Pranavananda

Worshipping Divine Mother

Updated: May 29, 2022



A blade of grass while growing-up looks only towards sky and lives its life merrifully. Not until later in its life when a raindrop falls on it does it bend towards the ground and see whence it came forth and who's nurturing it, the Mother Earth. If there is one person whom we are indebted-to right after we were born, it is our Mother who bore us for 9 months and put her life at stake to present us to this world. We all have three mothers: Biological Mother, Mother Earth and Cow but above all is the Divine Mother who sums-up all of the earlier ones. Worshipping Her is a natural responsibility rather than just a show of respect.



There are many ways to achieve devotion upon God through worshipping in Hindu traditions. One can imagine God to be their friend, master, partner, son/daughter or mother/father. Our life experiences, thereby our consciouness, might be tainted by a cheating friend, master that only takes advantage of us, partner who left us in difficult times or son/daughter leaving us at an elder age. Only one we can always count upon is our Mother as we are as much a part of her as a blade of grass with Earth. A famous verse from Durga Saptasathi says:


कुपुत्रो जायेत क्वचिदपि कुमाता न भवति

kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati


meaning: Child can be bad but a Mother is never bad


Shakti (feminine energy principle) worship is so powerful and effective that Meru tantra suggests to tell public that you worship Vishnu, tell your friends that you worship Shiva but only yourself should know that you worship Shakti. It should be kept as secret as coconut water hidden within coconut ! It continues to state below verse:


दक्षमार्गे मातृबुद्धिः स्त्रीबुद्धिः कौळिकेपथि

यस्यजाता दृधतरा तस्यतुष्टातु देवता ॥

dakṣamārge mātṛbuddhiḥ strībuddhiḥ kaul̤ikepathi

yasyajātā dṛdhatarā tasyatuṣṭātu devatā ॥


meaning: Dakshinachara worships Shakti as a Mother and, Kaulachara worships her as a woman. Whichever way you worship her sincerely, you will realize her accordingly



Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says that in this age of Kali Yuga, worshipping Shakti in a form other than ones own Mother is ridden with pitfalls leading one to downfall easily.


She is the one deluding us as Maha Maya

Longtime back I asked my Guru how come Divine Mother worship is so elaborate compared to Vishnu or Shiva. Reply came 'because She is the one deluding us as Maha Maya (power of great delusion) and once we realize all her aspects and wear her as our armour, She can take us to Shiva (who embodies our pure consciousness)'. Profound truth indeed !


Sri Vidya, out of varied forms of Shakti worship, is as intricate and as well organized as its Sri Yantra. We'll take our steps slowly and steadily into this science of worship which has been guarded zealously for many milleniums restricted only to Shakaracharya Mutts across India and few staunch Brahmin families well-versed in Sanskrit and disciplined enough to devote their whole life to realize Divine Mother in form of Shree Mata Lalita. Almost all Temples in India, including Sri Venkateshwara of Tirupati, has Sri Yantra installed in their sanctum sanctorum.



Sri Matre namah

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