Durga Devi Is Anger Embodied

अतुलं तत्र तत्तेजः सर्वदेवशरीरजम्

We saw this: the Devas were evicted from Swarga by Mahishasura. They went and complained to Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma was leading them. The anger of all of them, the Trimurthys and all the Devas, came out and became a huge mountain of blazing fire, filling the entire space from north to south, east to west, and from top to bottom.

Then, this huge mountain of fire turned into a woman.

एकस्थं तदभून्नारी व्याप्तलोकत्रयं त्विषा

Those angers of all the gods, which got together at one place and became a huge mountain of fire, turned into a woman.

Two points we can understand here:

One – We see Durga Devi as an angry goddess. We see Lakshmi Devi as a smiling, gentle goddess. Lakshmi Devi, as we see her, is Vishnu Patni, the goddess of wealth, not Mahalakshmi as we see her in Durga Saptashati. Similarly, Saraswathy Devi, as the goddess of knowledge, is also seen as calm and composed, playing a veena. But Durga Devi – she is anger itself, she is rage itself because she is the rage of all the gods combined.

Another thing – If you see the Veda mantras connected to Goddess Durga: 'Jatavedasama Sunavama Tamagnivarnam' – they are all mantras of Agni because she is Agni. She came into existence – but be careful here – she doesn’t come into existence; she is always there. She manifests herself – here she manifested herself as a huge mountain of fire. That’s why Durga Devi’s Veda mantras are the same as those of Agni.

सत्त्विषा – Even when she turned into a woman, her brilliance did not diminish. Her brilliance, her kanthi, filled the three worlds. 'Twisha' means deepthi, brilliance. Even when her form changed from pure Agni into a woman, she was still as brilliant. But here, the anger and brilliance of each god became a particular organ of her body. Even though the fire was common, all the angers of all the Devas merged together into a single mountain of fire. When she turned into the form of a woman, her organs could be identified with each god separately.

Do you see why Durga Devi is so powerful? What is it that she cannot do? Pray to her. A single spark coming from her is sufficient to burn away all your troubles accumulated over thousands of births. Who can stand before her power? Whenever you are facing evil, evil people troubling you, or evil forces troubling you, ask her for one tiny spark. Like a piece of camphor, your troubles will burn and disappear without leaving a trace. You will start wondering: were these troubles ever there, or was I just imagining them?

Shambhu’s tejas became her face. Yama’s tejas, brilliance, became her hair. Vishnu’s tejas became her hands.

यदभूच्छाम्भवं तेजः तेनाजायत तन्मुखम् याम्येन चाभवन्केशा बाहवो विष्णुतेजसा

'Bavhava' – it is in plural, not 'Bahoo' (not in dwivachana, meaning not two hands, but many).

सौम्येन स्तन्योर्युग्मं मध्यं चैन्द्रेण चाभवत् वारुणेन च जङ्घोरू नितम्बस्तेजसा भुवः

The brilliance of Soma became her bosom. Her middle portion – the abdomen, waist, and lower back – was the tejas of Indra. Her legs, from thighs up to the ankles, were the tejas of Varuna Deva. 'Tejas' means anger, rage. Devi is anger embodied. Her backside, the nitamba, was the tejas, the anger of Bhumi.

ब्रहणस्तेजसा पादौ तदंगुल्योर्क्कतेजसा वसूनां च कराङ्गुल्यः कौबेरेण च नासिका

Her feet were the tejas of Brahma. The toes of her feet were the tejas of Surya. You know the brilliance of the Sun; you can’t even look at it for a few seconds. That brilliance of the Sun was just her toes. Then you can imagine her complete form. Her fingers – we saw that the hands were the tejas of Vishnu. The fingers of her hands were formed by the brilliance of the Ashta Vasus. Her nose was the brilliance of Kubera.

तस्यास्तु दन्ताः सम्भूताः प्राजापत्येन तेजसा नयनत्रितयं जज्ञे तथा पावकतेजसा

Her teeth were formed by the brilliance of Prajapati. 'Prajapati' means Daksha. She had three eyes, which were the brilliance of Agni.

भ्रुवो च सन्धयस्तेजः श्रवणावनिलस्य च अन्येषां चैव देवानां सम्भवस्तेजसां शिवा

Her eyebrows were the brilliance of the twilights. Her ears were the tejas of Vayu Deva. These are just examples – in the same way, the tejas (brilliance) of the other Devas also became the various organs of her body.

ततः समस्तदेवानां तेजोराशिसमुद्भवाम् तां विलोक्य मुदं प्रापुः अमरा महिषार्द्दिताः

In this way, Shiva, the most auspicious Devi, was born from the tejas of all the Devas. Their anger, their brilliance, at its peak because they were all angry due to the injustice done by Mahishasura. The Devas became happy. They felt relieved. Looking at the tremendous power of the Devi, they felt happy and relieved that now there is someone who can protect them and remove their trouble.

See this: she is the protector of even the Devas. Another important point – she just manifested; there is no creator behind her. Nobody created her. The Devas didn’t say, 'Okay, now let’s all put together our powers and create someone.' She just manifested herself. Their anger, rage, power, brilliance – they all merged together, and thus she manifested.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi