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The Divine Mother (3 of 4) |
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She
has three eyes and four arms. Her upper right hand makes a gesture
meaning "fear not," while the lower right hand's gesture promises
the granting of boons to Her devotees. Her left hands hold a bloody
sword and a freshly severed human head. Thus She combines the compassionate
and the terrible aspects of the Divine. Yet even in Her terrible
aspect She is looking out for the good of Her devotees--indeed of
all humanity: The head She has severed represents the ego, the biggest
obstacle to our realization of God. |
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wears nothing but a skirt and a garland--but the skirt is made of
human arms, the garland of skulls. Again, however, these symbols transcend
the obvious macabre associations with Her destructive nature. The
arms represent work or action, also known as Karma: All work belongs
to Her and should be dedicated to Her. The fifty skulls in the garland
represent the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, the root of
all knowledge, indeed of creation itself. The murthi of Adya Ma found by Annada Thakur in the Eden Gardens and reproduced in the Adyapeath temple reflects most of these characteristics. Missing is the skirt of human arms and the third eye, in whose place appears a mark similar to those made on their foreheads by devout Hindus everywhere. In addition, Adya's hair, instead of flowing free, is matted into three long strands, like the matted locks worn by sannyasins, including the Great God Shiva Himself. |
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Murthi
at Adyapeath
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Copyright 1999, Daksineswar Ramkrishna Sangha Adyapeath. If you have any questions about this page, contact mashani9(AT)adyapeath(DOT)org. For questions about Adyapeath contact kalidas99(AT)adyapeath(DOT)org. |
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