- November 23, 2024
Contents
Saptha Matha / Saptamatrika are called as The Seven Divine Mothers. They are seven in number and called namely as Brahmi, Maheshwari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani and Chamundeshwari. These Sapta Matrika are the aspects of Specific Gods in Hinduism.
Brahmi is a facet of the Lord Brahma, the God of Creation.
Maheshwari is an aspect of the Lord Shiva, the Almighty.
She is considered as the feature of the Lord Murugan, who is regarded as the Tamil God.
Vaishnavi also known as Narayani is an aspect of the Lord Vishnu, the preserver of protector of the Universe
Varahi is also a feature of Lord Vishnu, who took an avatar of the animal Pig. Hence, Varagi has a pig face and has four arms.
She is an aspect of the Lord Indra, the king of Indra.
Chamundeshwari is an aspect of Rudra, who is an avatar of the Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva fought with a demon named Anthakasuran. During the fight, the monster kept appearing from the blood drops shed from his body. In order to destroy them, Lord Shiva created the power of Yogeshwari from the fire in his mouth. Yogeshwari in turn created the power of Maheswari. Brahma appeared as Brahmi in support of Maheswari. Lord Vishnu created Vaishnavi / Narayani and Varahi, the Lord Indra came in to support Maheshwari as Indrani and the Lord Yama came to rescue as Chamundeshwari.
Here comes another story about the appearance of the Sapta Matrikas. A monster named Mahishasura was blessed with a boon that he can only be destroyed by an unborn woman. Hearing this boon, the Gods and Sages were terrified thinking about the atrocities of the monster Mahishasura. Everyone had to go and guard themselves by requesting to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva asked his wife Goddess Shakti to guard everyone. So the Goddess Shakti created the Sapta Matrika from herself and destroyed the demon Mahishasura. Upon killing the demon Mahishasura, the curse of his death surrounded the Sapta Matrika and they asked Lord Shiva to remove the curse.
Lord Shiva asked them to worship him at a place called Koliyanur. The Lord Shiva sent one of his features Veerapathran to protect these Seven Divine Mothers. At this place, the God Dakshinamoorthy, the God of Education preached those virgins and removed their sin of murder.
Brahmi / Brahmani is a facet of the Lord Brahma, the God of Creation. The colour which belongs to him is yellow. He has four faces and six arms. He would be sitting on the Lotus Flower. The swan is found to be his vehicle. He wears a yellow dress and ornaments with a crown over his head.
Maheshwari is an aspect of the Lord Shiva, the Almighty. His colour is White. It is said in the Sri Tattva Nidhi and Vishnudharmottara Purana that he had five faces and three eyes on each face. Sri Tattva Nidhi says that he has ten hands. In the Vishnudharmottara Purana he is said to have six arms and in the Rupamandana, Machcha puranam, Amsumat petakamam and Purva Karanakamma he is said to have four arms.
She is considered as the feature of the Lord Murugan, who is regarded as the Tamil God. According to Sri Tattva Nidhi, he has six faces and twelve arms. He is said to have four hands in Amsumat petakamam and Rupamandana. The peacock is said to be his vehicle.
Vaishnavi also known as Narayani is an aspect of the Lord Vishnu, the preserver of protector of the Universe. The colour which belongs to him is Blue. Vaishnavi has beautiful eyes and face.
Varahi is also a feature of the Lord Vishnu, who took an avatar of the animal Pig. The colour which belongs to him is Blue. Hence, Varahi has a pig face and has four arms.
She is an aspect of the Lord Indra, the king of Indra. Sri Tattva Nidhi says that he has six arms. He is said to have four arms in the texts of Amsumat petakamam and Purva Karanakamma.
Chamundeshwari is an aspect of Rudra, who is an avatar of the Lord Shiva. His colour is black. It is said that he had four arms and three eyes and had thick upward hair.
prārthanā |
brahmāṇī kamalēndusaumyavadanā māhēśvarī līlayā
kaumārī ripudarpanāśanakarī cakrāyudhā vaiṣṇavī |
vārāhī ghanaghōraghargharamukhī caindrī ca vajrāyudhā
cāmuṇḍā gaṇanātharudrasahitā rakṣantu nō mātaraḥ ||
brāhmī –
haṁsārūḍhā prakartavyā sākṣasūtrakamaṇḍaluḥ |
sruvaṁ ca pustakaṁ dhattē ūrdhvahastadvayē śubhā || 1 ||
brāhmyai namaḥ |
māhēśvarī –
māhēśvarī prakartavyā vr̥ṣabhāsanasaṁsthitā |
kapālaśūlakhaṭvāṅgavaradā ca caturbhujā || 2 ||
māhēśvaryai namaḥ |
kaumārī –
kumārarūpā kaumārī mayūravaravāhanā |
raktavastradharā tadvacchūlaśaktigadādharā || 3 ||
kaumāryai namaḥ |
vaiṣṇavī –
vaiṣṇavī viṣṇusadr̥śī garuḍōpari saṁsthitā |
caturbāhuśca varadā śaṅkhacakragadādharā || 4 ||
vaiṣṇavyai namaḥ |
vārāhī –
vārāhīṁ tu pravakṣyāmi mahiṣōpari saṁsthitām |
varāhasadr̥śī ghaṇṭānādā cāmaradhāriṇī || 5 ||
gadācakradharā tadvaddānavēndravighātinī |
lōkānāṁ ca hitārthāya sarvavyādhivināśinī || 6 ||
vārāhyai namaḥ |
indrāṇī –
indrāṇī tvindrasadr̥śī vajraśūlagadādharā |
gajāsanagatā dēvī lōcanairbahubhirvr̥tā || 7 ||
indrāṇyai namaḥ |
cāmuṇḍā –
daṁṣṭrālā kṣīṇadēhā ca gartākṣā bhīmarūpiṇī |
digbāhuḥ kṣāmakukṣiśca musalaṁ cakramārgaṇau || 8 ||
aṅkuśaṁ bibhratī khaḍgaṁ dakṣiṇēṣvatha vāmataḥ |
khēṭaṁ pāśaṁ dhanurdaṇḍaṁ kuṭhāraṁ cēti bibhratī || 9 ||
cāmuṇḍā prētagā raktā vikr̥tāsyāhibhūṣaṇā |
dvibhujā vā prakartavyā kr̥ttikākāryaranvitā || 10 ||
cāmuṇḍāyai namaḥ |
iti saptamātr̥kā stōtram |
