Navadurga

Nine Aspects of Mother Divine

All the nine forms of Devi represent nine different qualities. Shakti means energy and Devi Shakti is that primordial source of unseen energy which maintains and sustains this creation. Navratri celebrates and honors the nine different aspects of Mother Divine, also known as Nav Durga.

The Devi Shakti, or the feminine spirit, manifests itself in many forms. It encompasses and supplements qualities such as strength, transformation, anger, beauty, compassion, fear, and power. These qualities are reflected in each individual, in different events and in this universe as a whole.

Shailaputri

The first name of Goddess Durga is Shailaputri. Shaila means the peak.

Why is Goddess Durga called as the daughter of the peak?

The Reason behind Goddess Durga being called daughter of the peak as per scriptures

We usually think this means that the Goddess is the daughter of Mount Kailasa, but this is a very basic or lower level of understanding. On the path of Yoga, this means the highest peak or the highest level of consciousness.

This is very interesting - when the energy is at its peak, only then can you notice and recognize it. Only then can you understand and experience the pure consciousness - the Devi. Before it reaches its peak you cannot understand it, because it is born out of the peak.

Here the peak is the peak of any experience, or any intense feeling. If you are 100% angry, then just see how that anger consumes your whole body. Often we do not express our anger fully. Just see, when you are 100% in anger, when you become that anger so fully, you will also come out of it very soon. When you are 100% in anything that consumes your whole being, that is when Goddess Durga is really born. When you are totally 100% consumed in anger, then you will experience such a surge of energy and at the same time you will instantly find yourself coming out of that anger also.

Have you seen how children behave? Whatever they do, they do it 100%. If they are angry, they are angry 100% in that moment and then immediately they also drop that anger after just a few minutes. They do not get tired even if they get angry. But as an adult if you get angry, then it tires you. Why is it so? It is because you do not express your anger 100%. Now, this does not mean that you go around being angry all the time. Then you will also have to face the trouble that anger brings along.

When you reach the peak of any experience or feeling, you experience the emergence of the Divine consciousness, because it always surges from that peak. This is the hidden meaning behind Shailaputri.