In the Devi Mahatmya¹, the composers describe the circumstances of the emergence of the Goddess Durga. Durga is considered to be a principle form of Adi Shakti–the supreme Goddess Mother. All the Goddesses in Hinduism are lesser forms of Adi Shakti.

Legend says, that the Buffalo demon–Mahishasura–had conquered Heaven, Earth and Hell. He had deposed the King of Gods, Indra, and also assumed the powers of the other Gods like the God of Death, Yama. He and the demons under him were wreaking havoc in all three worlds.

Desperate to regain their agency, the Gods went to the Hindu Trinity–Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Operator & Shiva, the Destroyer–and begged them to help.

Upon hearing this request from the Gods, Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva became angry. The Fire of their anger emerged from their bodies as a blazing luster. Seeing that, a blazing luster emerged from Indra, the King of Gods²; Yama, the God of Death; Agni, the God of Fire; Vayu, the God of Wind; Prajapati, Kubera, Varuna; Surya, the Sun God; Chandra, the Moon God; the Gods of Dawn & Dusk; Bhumi, the Earth Goddess.

The Fire of all the Gods merged together into a flaming mountain, from where emerged Durga.

The Devi Mahatmya describes in gory, colorful detail the glorious victory of the cackling, wine-drinking, red-eyed Goddess Durga over the legions of demon armies, scores of demon commanders and finally the shapeshifting Buffalo demon–Mahishasura.

The Sanskrut word दुर्गा (Durga) is a sandhi (conjunction of words) of दु:, pronounced as “duha” meaning “difficult” & गा pronounced as “gaa” meaning “to go”. Durga is some place that’s difficult to reach. Durga is the Inaccessible.

Durga is difficult to access because to birth her, one needs to combine the Fire from all the constituent Gods.

The Fire that often leaks out of the human body in the form of vengeful anger. When humans feel the Fire inside them, they are often prone to taking it out onto other humans. Yelling at others, hitting them, raping them, murdering them. Sometimes this Fire leaks out in other subtle ways through the spread of nasty gossip, subtle sabotage. For those of you who speak Astrology, you might recognize these leaks of Martian Fire as the fallen forms of Aries and Scorpio.

Anger is almost always a triggered response. It is not a response solely to the present environment. It’s a present day opportunity for old wounds to be jostled and the dormant protectors of the old wounds to lash out onto the present day environment confusing it for the environment of the past where boundaries were transgressed causing the creation of these wounds.³

So in order to access the inaccessible Goddess Mother Durga, one needs to plug all these leaks. The loving compassionate wisdom of the Buddha is profound in guiding you towards closing these leaks.

Now you may be an extremely non-violent human being. It could be that you are connected to the Fire inside you and are able to channel it in a divine embodied manner to meet the Goddess Mother. If that’s the case, this article isn’t for you :) If not, then you are probably living a life disconnected from the Fire inside you. You live a suppressed life. Fire is your instinct. Disconnection from your Fire will leave you feeling confused, listless, doubting your every step. Perhaps you are lost in people pleasing, while secretly despising “doing so much for others without getting any credit”. Or may be you are afraid of your own Darkness, afraid of “losing control”, afraid of speaking your truth. Perhaps you resort to a combination of different numbing mechanisms (alcohol, tobacco, sex, Netflix, food, porn) that help soothe the suffering you feel whenever the Fire ignites in your wounds.

If that’s the case, then your work is to stop numbing and start allowing the Fire to move. Trusting that your body knows how to move with the Fire. Allowing your body to dance with the lapping flames. To become the lapping flames. Till the Fire surges through every vein in your body. Emerges from every cell in your being. Blazing forth lustrously. Till you are the primal energy of Destruction itself. Till you are Shiva, Himself. Till you are Shivaa, Herself.

Glorious blazing fire turning you into the Sun. Allowing for the emergence of the shamanic Lion, who serves as the steed of the Goddess Mother Durga. Bringing you in service of the Goddess Mother Durga. Surrendering to her will. Her will being one of bringing the end of your Suffering, through the destruction of all the Demons that fester in your traumatic wounds. Demons that have emerged from your nether regions and conquered your heart and mind. With a single हूम (hoom) sound, Durga brings Death to the Demons, and through this experience of Death, you become unafraid of Death–Immortal.

म्रुत्योर्मा अम्रुतंगमय |
                                     Lead me from Death to Immortality
ॐ शांतिः शांतिः शांतिः ||
                                     Peace, peace, peace.

I had recorded this originally as a video while I was at the subterranean, magical Pataleshwar Temple in Pune. You can listen to the audio below to feel more into the energy of my rendition and interpretation of this myth. It’s got some very apt cymbals playing in the background.