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The outermost layer of the wall is white in color, and is – as we explored in the first ten weeks of this series – guarded by the ten Siddhis, or Powers. Having paid homage to the tenth and last of the Siddhis, Sarvakama, we progressed inward to the second layer of the enclosure wall, which is colored as the red of the rising sun. There are eight devatas guarding this layer – they are the famous Seven Mothers (saptamatrka), plus one added – Mahalaskmi. First we encountered Brahmi. The second of the Eight Mothers (and the 11th of the Khadgamala Devis) is Maheshwari , of whom Sri Aurobindo wrote: "She is Maheshwari, goddess of the supreme knowledge, and brings to us her vision for all kinds and windenesses of truth, her rectitude of the spiritual will, the calm and passion of her supramental largeness, her felicity will, the calm and passion of her supramental largeness, her felicity of illumination." In the scheme of the Khadgamala, each of these Eight Mothers represent a human passion that must be overcome and controlled before we can enter further into Sri Chakra. We worship each passion as an aspect of Devi, then internalize it; and when we internalize each deity, we *become* Her, so that She is not separate from us. In that way, we "conquer" each passion, just as – in the first enclosure wall – we conquered each siddhi. The third the Eight Mothers (and the 13th of the Khadgamala Devis) is KAUMARI, of whom we may note: "Kaumari is a Mother Goddess in Hindu mythology, and mentioned in epic and Puranic literature. The Shakti of Skanda (Kaumara) who in later Hinduism became to be regarded as one of the group of seven mataras (mothers). She also was one of a group of eight Astamatara. She embodies the lack of envy or, alternatively, delusion. Her animal is the peacock, and her attributes are the arrow, ax, bell, book, bow, cockerel, lotus, spear, staff, and water jar." (Source: Encyclopedia of Gods, New York, Facts On File, Inc. 1993, p. 132) KAUMARI is also said to be the equivalent of the famed South Indian devi known as KANYAKUMARI. |  KAUMARI here represents Her subtle aspect is POSSESSIVENESS. |
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Location of Kaumari: Continuing to circumambulate clockwise around the second layer of
the wall of the First Enclosure, turn the corner; KAUMARI sits to the left of the gate of that wall (looking at a flat yantra facing
East, the would be the top or East-facing wall)[ No 3, Red ]. Into KAUMARI, the ten Siddhis are absorbed, along with Brahmi and Maheshwari.And so it shall continue till we reach Mahaalakshmi – at which point, Mahaalakshmi will include all of the Siddhis and the Seven Mothers. Again, the full pooja of these Devis takes hours, because at each point we pause and do smaller, detailed poojas. Hence the sages of yore created an ALTERNATIVE, SHORT-FORM recitation known as the Khadgamala Stotram more suitable for the demands of modern life. According to Sri Bhasurananda Natha, an accomplished Srividya upasak as well as a member of and advisor to this group: "All of the sadhana of Srividya can be achieved by the recitation of the Khadgamala. Hours of long ritual compressed to less than half an hour of intense meditation that will give you a ticket on the same plane as the great Srividya Upasakas. Whatever your developmental stage, this is IT." Even those who have not been initiated into Srividya can benefit from the Khadgamala. It is important to note that the Devis representing the Passions are *outside* the Sriyantra proper, i.e. the RED area in this graphic. Metaphorically, this teaches that we must get past the Siddhis and the Passions before we can enter the Sriyantra (the higher benefits of sadhana) and reach Devi (the goal of Sadhana; even though each of these Siddhis and Passions are themselves aspects of Devi). [With sincere thanks and appreciation to Sri Amritananda Natha and Sri Bhasurananda Natha, who kindly provided detailed and substantive content for this commentary.] |
