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Durga

Durga, the consort of Siva, is a very different character from that in which she appeared as Uma and Parvati. In those forms, though the wife of Siva, she acted as an ordinary woman, and manifested womanly virtues; as Durga she was a most powerful warrior, and has been incarnate under many names for the destruction of demons who were obnoxious to gods and men. She obtained the name Durga because she slew an Asura named Durga, the name of the goddess being the feminine form of the demon's name.

The' Skanda Purana' gives the following account of this occurrence. Kartikeya, being asked by Agastya, the sage, why his mother was called Durga, says: "A giant named Durga, the son of Ruru, having performed penance in favor of Brahma, obtained his blessing, and grew so mighty that he conquered the three worlds, and dethroned Indra and the other gods. He compelled the wives of the Rishis to sing his praise, and sent the gods from heaven to dwell in the forests, and by a mere nod summoned them to reverence him. He abolished religious ceremonies; Brahmans through fear of him gave up the reading of the Vedas; rivers changed their course; fire lost its energy, and the terrified stars retired from sight. He assumed the shape of the clouds, and gave rain whenever he pleased; the earth through fear yielded an abundant harvest, and the trees flowered and gave fruit out of the proper season."

In pictures and images Durga is represented as a goldencoloured woman, with a gentle and beautiful countenance. She has ten arms; in one hand she holds a spear,-with^which she is piercing the giant Mahisha; with one of her left Jiands she holds the tail of a serpent, with another the hair of the giant whose breast the snake is biting ; her other hands are fijled with various weapons. Her lion leans against her right leg, and the giant against her left. The images of Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Kartikeya, and Ganesa are frequently made and worshipped with that of Durga.

In Bengal the worship of this goddess forms the most popular of all the Hindu festivals; it continues for three days, and is the great holiday of the year. At this season, as at Christmas in England, the members of the family whom business detains from home during the year return ; and with the worship of Durga is associated all that is bright and cheerful. Sacrifrces of buffaloes and goats are made to her; feasting, singing, and dancing are continued through the greater part of the night. Her chief festival is in the autumn, but she is also worshipped, though not so generally, in the spring. The reason of this as taught in a Bengali account of Durga is as follows :—Ravana was a devout worshipper of Durga, and had the Chandi therefore Rama attacked him, the goddess assisted her servant. It was in the spring that Ravana observed her festival. Rama, seeing the great help his enemy received from his devotion to this goddess, began himself to worship her. This was in the autumn. Durga was delighted with the devotion of Rama, and at once transferred her aid from Ravana to him.

Durga is said to have assumed ten forms for the destruction of two giants, Sumbha and Nisumbha.

THE CHIEF FORMS OF DURGA

1. DURGA received Chanda and Manda, the messengers of the giants; they, struck with her beauty, spoke so rapturously of her to their lords that Sumbha sent her an offer of marriage by Sugriva.
2. DASABHUJA, the ten-handed, destroyed Sumbha's army under the commander-in-chief Dhumlochana. Of these troops only a few fugitives escaped, to carry the news of their defeat to thoir master.
3. SINGHAVAHINI (riding on a lion) fought with Chanda and Manda, and has four arms only. She drank the blood of the leaders, and devoured a large part of their troops.
4. Mahishamardim (the slayer of Mahisha) slew Sumbha as he attacked her in the form of a buffalo. She had eight or, according to other accounts, ten arms. There is little to distinguish the account of this form from that of Durga.
5. Jagaddhatri (the mother of the world) destroyed another army of the giants; is dressed in red garments, and is seated on a lion. She, too, has four arms only, and is very similar to Singhavahini; the difference being in the weapons she wields. As Singhavahini, she carries a sword and spear, and with two hands is encouraging her worshippers; as Jagaddhatri, she carries a conch-shell, discus, bow and arrow. In all the above forms she is represented as a fair, beautiful, gentle-looking lady.
6. Kali (the black woman), or, as she is more commonly called Kali Ma, the black mother, with the aid of Chandi, slew Raktavija, the principal leader of the giant's army. Seeing his men fall, he attacked the goddess in person; when from every drop of blood that fell from his body a thousand giants equal in power to himself arose. At this crisis another form of the goddess, named Chandi, came to the rescue. As Kali drank the giant's blood and prevented the formation of new giants, Chandi slew the monster herself. Kali is represented as a black woman with four arms; in one hand she has a sword, In another the head of the giant she has slain, with the other two she is encouraging her worshippers. For earrings she has two dead bodies; wears a necklace or skulls ; her only clothing is a girdle made of dead men's hands, and her tongue protrudes from her mouth. Her eyes are red as those of a drunkard, and her face and breasts are besmeared with blood.
7. MUKTAKESI (having flowing hair) destroyed another part of the giant's forces. In appearance there is little to distinguish her from Kali: she has four arms; holds a sword and a helmet in her left hands, and with her right she is bestowing a blessing and dispelling fear, She, too, is standing upon the body of her husband.
8. Tara (the saviour) slew Sumbha, and holds his head in one hand and a sword in another. Her appearance, too, is similar to that of Kali. She must not be confounded with Tara, the wife of Vrihaspati; or Tara, the wife of Bali, the Asura king.
9. CHINNAMUSTAKA (the beheaded) slew Nisumbha. the other giant. It is evident from her appearance that she found her task rather difficult, for her head is half-severed from her body. She is painted as a fair woman, naked, and wearing a garland of skulls, standing upon the body of her husband.
10. Jagadgauri (the yellow woman [renowned] through the world) received the thanks and praises of the gods and men for the deliverance she wrought; in her four hands she holds a conch-shell, a discus, a club, and a lotus. Images are made of Durga at different seasons of the year in nearly all of these ten forms, and various blessings are sought from her by her worshippers. In addition to these she is worshipped under other names; some of the more generally known will now be given. It should be noticed that the Hindus who worship Durga in some of her forms, and the other female deities, when they represent the Sakti, or energy of their husbands, are called Saktas, and form a class distinct from the Hindus generally. An exception, however, must be made in respect to Sarasvati, Lakshmi, and the autumnal worship of Durga; this particular form of worship being common to almost all Hindus.
11. Pratyangira (the well-proportioned one). Of this form of Durga no images are made, but at night the officiating priest, wearing red clothes, offers red flowers, liquors, and bloody sacrifices. The flesh of animals dipped in some intoxicating drink is burned ; the worshipper believing that the flesh of the enemy for whose injury the ceremony is performed will swell, as the flesh of the sacrifice swells in the fire.
12. ANNAPURNA (she who fills with food) is represented as a fair woman, standing on a lotus. In one hand she holds a rice bowl, and in the other a spoon used for stirring rice when it is being; boiled. Siva, as a mendicant, is receiving alms from her. She is the guardian deity of many Hindus, who have a proverb to the effect that a sincere disciple of this deity will never want rice.