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This form of the Mother once stayed in the Ashram of sage Katyayan for penance, hence She is called Kaatyayani. She too sits astride a lion, with three eyes and four arms. On the left She holds a weapon and a lotusl; on the right, the mudras of defending and granting. Her complexion is golden! |
N.Madasamy Katyayani : The power that Unbind Katyayani means "Virgin", "Eternal Virgins". The concept of Virgins is rather different from an ancient and modern conception. From an ancient conception, virgin had little to do with abstinence from sexual intercourse. Virginity is an indication of an independent autonomous woman. A woman who does not require to answer to any man. A woman who knows what she wants. This is what being said about Kali "No man can own Kali or tell her how to act for she is mad with the love of the Divine" If Our body is the temple. Going to the temple, is like diving deep within us. The sanctum is the place were our "Goddess" resides. The moment we enter into the "temple", we undergoes a metamorphosis. Our secular character remains without. We shed it, like a snake shedding its sledge. Once inside we may have said to die to time and returned to the World Womb, the World Navel, the Earthly paradise – To the Goddess. That is what happens in Skandamata. We go back to the Mother, to the Goddess. We have seen the light. We have become the ligth. "When changes is happening deep within us and in this transformation, you are never the same again". We emerge from the temple a spiritually reborn person. We become Katyayani. We becomes the "Eternal Virgins". The sword she carries signifies the breaking away of the karmic bond. Katyayani is the power that breaks this cycle Lili Masamura When I meditated one night on the word "virgin" at the Feet of Kali, it struck me that the word, while not a Sanskrit word, was very like one, since it combines the syllables "Vir", meaning "heroic", and "ragin", or "ragini", ("passionate")in a specifically feminine sense. A "Vir-Ragini" could thus signify a woman who has mastered her emotional nature and harnessed it to the service of God. Since women are known for their "emotional" natures, this is no mean feat, since overcoming one's own "Pra-Kriti" ("tendencies" or "natural responses") is considered the supreme heroism. The Heroic path is not limited to men...in fact, the world could use more women on the "heroic" path to get things moving! The world has no shortage of children, for instance, so women who were willing to sacrifice their personal selfish desire for children for the greater good, thus "mastering" their animalistic biological cravings, and dedicate their lives to spiritual pursuits or to good works to benefit ALL children would be an example of what I am talking about. |