Durga or Shakti ?

Taking the cue from my previous article – Insurance, I wanted to lament upon the different goddesses mentioned in the Hindu Mythology – Durga and Shakti. Though the two goddesses have often been mentioned synonymously or interchangeably in many stories, the scriptures hold them as different.

Those who are familiar with the Shaktas, would know that Shakti represents supreme power or energy who replicated herself in many forms to bring them to life. She represents the life force. In a way she represents the power within oneself. The scriptures have been pretty much silent where Shakti herself has engaged in a war. She represents power, but does not exerts herself. She is always represented as an epitome of peace. 

Maa Shakti

Durga was invoked by the gods when they needed to kill a demon – Mahishasura. They joined together, provided their own weapons to the form of Goddess to make her all powerful and provide protection to them from Mahishasura.  Incidentally, the word Durga is also related to hindi word – “Durg” meaning fortress or a citadel. The forts or buildings were built to provide protection to the dwellers from the forces outside the boundary. One may deduce that Durga represents power to protect. She represents the power that is exchanged or is seen from outside. In one of my previous posts – Trinity, I also mentioned her as the goddess of the emotional quotient. Exchanges of compliments can also boost one’s sentiments or thought processes. Thus even an exchange of emotions is an exchange of power.

Maa Durga

While Durga represents the power on the outside, Shakti represents the power in the inside. Importantly, we all have a part of Shakti in ourselves. However, we are always searching for Durga all the time. We are all searching for Durga to feel powerful. As the human mind is capable of imagination, it is also open to the fear. It can imagine if it looses what it has today? Its this fear of loss that invigorates the search for power in the humans. It is the search for Durga in us, that leads us to do some inhumane acts as well.

One must understand that the life force is sustained by the power from within and not from outside. At the same time, the mental peace and the sense of achievement are all triggered from one’s self and not from outside yet again.

Understand and realize your Durga and Shakti appropriately. Be sure to nurture them and respect them. Mismanaging the power has never been fruitful for anyone.

Insurance

A friend of mine is recently looking to purchase an insurance policy for himself and his family. We were debating upon the merits of such a policy and he argued the security for the family. In case of any untoward incident, his family shall be taken care of monetarily. The other day I met the same friend partying hard and later driving. He was lucky to have reached his home unharmed. Later, one day I sat thinking of him and his situation and a story came to my mind.

When the Pandavas formed their kingdom of Indraprastha, representatives from various kingdoms all across India were invited. Many kings and princes came to Indraprastha to pay their regards to the glory of Pandavas and also to satiate their curiosity on what kind of kingdom have Pandavas built, without the support from Hastinapur? Pandavas chose Sri Krishna to be their chief guest. This decision of theirs did not go well with many invited guests. Amongst them was Shishupal – the king of Chedi. Shishupal happened to be a cousin of Sri Krishna but was jealous of him. At the same time, Bheem had killed Jarasandha at the instigation and technique suggested by Krishna. Consumed by his jealousy and the idea to teach Krishna a lesson, Shishupal publicly opposed the decision of Pandavas. He called Krishna names and questioned his lineage. He went on to hurl insults and obscenities at Krishna. Pandavas and a few others got agitated with Shishupal’s behavior, but were calmed down by the ever smiling Krishna. Shishupal, sensing no objection to his insults, kept on with his offenses. 

When he spoke the 100^th abuse, Sri Krishna warned him to watch for his tongue as it could be fatal for him. Ignoring Krishna’s warning, Shishupal’s foul mouth committed the 101^st offense towards Krishna. Just then Sri Krishna used his sudarshana chakra to cut off Shishupal’s head.

When Shishupal was born, bad omens occurred. Some say that he was born with the head of a donkey. It was said that at the sight of Shishupal’s slayer, the donkey head would disappear. So when Krishna visited his aunt and saw the new born baby, the donkey head miraculously gave way to a handsome boy. Knowing the fate, Shishupal’s mother realized that her son would be killed by Krishna. To protect her son, she begged Krishna to forgive 100 sins of Shishupal. Sri Krishna smiled at her request and granted her wish. Assured of her son’s long life, Shishupal’s mother lived happily. So did Shishupal as he knew no one could touch him. However, in the happy days, Shishupal’s mother forgot to warn him of the 100 sins condition. Had he known so, he would have paid heed to Sri Krishna’s advise and would have lived longer. Had he known that he is allowed only 100 sins, he would have been more careful in committing those. Had his mother taught him to be a better human being, he would not have required the 100 sins limit!

In a way we all behave like Shishupal’s mother. Looking for a solution outside without searching for the same inside of ourselves. Be it organizations who look at external factors or latera hires or even consultants to fix their issues. Or be it individuals, who find it easier to blame others for what they could not achieve. To compensate for our own shortcomings, we almost every time blame others who support us or are with us all the time. We forget that even the best of support we have got has an expiry date attached to it. Instead of looking at the external factors, if only we can focus on the internal factors, we may be able to find a self sustaining path that shall lead to success in both – short and long terms.

At the same time, this story draws my thought process towards the parenting and teaching issues we are all grappling with today. We expect our children to do extremely well. We expect our schools to take care of our children. We expect the teachers to teach well and transform our kids into a super genius who is great at everything that he does. What we often forget is the inherent capability of the child and his or hers view of life. We often miss out focusing on the purpose of one’s life and are too busy building the safety nets than to make them better person.

If only we focus upon our strengths and weaknesses instead of looking for externa forces as security, more than half of the issues can be resolved easily.