Sunday 30 April 2023
Thursday 27 April 2023
Vedic and Puranic Concept
In the Vedic theology, there are two main deities that we find: Agni and Indra. Agni is the central deity of the Veda, and Indra is the head-deity. Agni is the face of Gods, and all Vedic worship is offered to various Gods through Agni. Thus Agni is central. And the Lord of all deities is Indra, thus Indra is the head-deity or the Godhead.
We can compare this, to the way in a family the husband is head of the family and the wife is the center of the family connecting and managing the entire family.
In Saiva – Śāktā parlance, we find Śiva-Śakti dual to be similar to this. Śiva is Īśvara, the Lord. He is the guiding principle. Śakti is pervading, the principle of manifestation, causing creation, sustaining and dissolving it. She does it, inspired by and for the Lord. Vedic Indra can be seen as Īśvara and Vedic Agni, the divine will, can be seen as Śakti in Saiva – Śāktā parlance. The close association of the Mother with Vedic Agni is further explained through Her epithets like Agni Kunḍa samudbhava (discussed above), Agni Sikha (having fire for Her hair). The symbolism of Lalita Herself assuming the form of the power of divine will reinforces this idea.
Further, triputi is directly related to the Vedic theology. In the Paurānika trimurty concept, Brahma, Viṣṇu and Rudra preside over creation, sustenance and dissolution functions. They are representatives of Śatva, Rajas and Tamas. According to Yāska, they derive from the Vedic triplet Agni (Fire God), Āditya (Sun God) and Vāyu (Air God). The older Śāktā schools like Candi (Mother Durga) speak of this triplet. In the more recent ŚrīVidyā, the corresponding aspect of Vāyu finds a replacement with Śoma (Moon God). Both Vāyu and Soma are aspects of Rudra. However Vāyu signifies strength while Śoma bliss, and therefore the corresponding God/Goddess being worshiped have these qualities too. Thus, while Candi is representative of power and anger, Lalita is a pleasant form.
The three functions of creation, sustenance and dissolution, are further expanded into five functions. They are sṛṣṭi(creation), sthiti(sustenance), laya (dissolution), tirodana (veiling of individual consciousness through māya) and anugraha (unveiling, making the individual realize the Truth beyond Māya). The Mother presides over these five functions, and hence is called Pancha Krtya Pārāyana. The representatives of these five functions are Brahma (creation), Viṣṇu (sustenance), Rudra (dissolution), Īśvara (veiling) and SadāŚiva (unveiling, absolute truth). All these five derive their life force, the strength to act, from the Mother. These five deities are said to form her royal chair, with Brahma, Viṣṇu, Rudra and Īśvara forming four legs and SadāŚivaforming the plank. Hence the Mother is called Pancha Brahmāsanāsīna. Pancha is five, āsana is seat, asīna is having sit on the seat. The five Brahmas are the five deities mentioned.
Without Her, they are lifeless corpses. That is why the Mother is also called Pancha Pretāsanāsīna or seated on the seat of five corpses. Preta means corpse.