The Divine Mother is so beautiful. In her higher manifestations her beauty is formless. She is in everything. Her divine compassionate love is expressed in the raindrops. Her beauty is reflected in the colors of the rainbow. She offers fresh hope to mankind with the rose-tinted clouds at dawn. Above all she is present in one’s heart.
The Divine Mother appears in many magnificent appearances to the worshipping devotee, in all cultures and religions. She then becomes extremely close, loving and personal.
In Christianity the Virgin Mary is the eternal Mother of God. She has many embodiments. In Gaudalupe, Mexico, she has a brown face. In numerous pilgrimage sites, she is worshipped in a black form as in Chartres, Cathedral. The Divine Mother assumes countless forms: brown, black or white.
In Hinduism, she has many manifestations. Kali represents Mother nature. She is Aum, the cosmic vibration. In Aum everything exists—all matter, all energy and the thoughts of all conscious beings. Her 108 heads garland show that she is invisibly present in all our minds. Her tongue sticks out; she has four arms all of which are symbols of nature. In an inner vision, she radiates beauty.
Durga is Shakti, the creative force, Aum personified. Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom. She is symbolized as playing a Vina, and she is the mother of all stringed instruments. Lakshmi is the goddess of abundance and prosperity and is bedecked in gold. Parvati is the daughter of the mountains and the consort of Shiva. Chamundi is a lesser aspect of Parvati.
In Buddhism the most revered goddess is Tara. Tara came into existence from a tear of Avalokiteshvara, which fell on the ground and formed a lake. Out of its waters, rose up a lotus, which on opening revealed the Goddess of compassion.
A hymn to the Divine Mother
Thou art the most beautiful, whose holy hands
Hold pleasure and hold pain! Doer of good!
Who art thou? The water of existence
By Thee is whirled and tossed in mighty waves,
Is it O mother, to restore again
This universe’s broken harmony
That thou without cessation, art at work?
Extracted from Swami Vivekananda’s poem.
Aim Hrim Klim