Devi- God as female:

Women are the only creation on earth that is able to reproduce. In the embryo state no gender can be identified. However, when Lingam is specified, only women have the power to create. According to Hindu mythology, this universe was born from the womb of Goddess Adishakti. Our ancestors were undoubtedly great scientists!!!!

Hinduism is one of the former religions to worship a female goddess. We begin with the question, what is the gender of God? For Sindhu culture, the answer will be ‘Yes’. The Sindhu tradition celebrates the power and divinity of the mother Goddess or ‘Adishakti’. She is the centre of all cosmic energies. She is often referred as ‘Durga’ or ‘Kali’. Hindu religion also enhances the concept of ‘Ardhnarishwar’. It also symbolises half male and half female. Well for the Abrahamic religions, the answer always is ‘No’. Almost all the western religions idealize a male deity sitting high up in heaven wearing a white robe.

Shiva – Shakti

According, to the verses of Bible, God created male and female in his own representation. How can God create a female in his own image? If he is a male? This question will surely shake your thought process. The concept of Shiva and Shakti is also the base of Hindu religion. They are popularly called ‘Purush’ and ‘Pakriti’. The divine dance of the two opposite forces of nature creates the universe. This is quite popular in the ‘Shaktism’ beliefs of the Sindhu cult. Shavism and Shaktism recognize Goddess as the consort of Lord Shiva. She is also the supreme self and the half part of Lord Shiva. However, in Vaishnavism, She is the Yogmaya of Lord Vishnu. She later takes the form of Goddess Durga after the creation of her child.

In yet another approach, the Goddess is identified spiritually as a manifestation of Shakti or the divine energy which nurtures the whole universe. Each and everything in this universe is also born out of her womb. She is present in all forms. Mutually the Puranas too and the Upanishads also contain the copious examples to the female version of Shakti. The Mahabharata also celebrates Pradyumna’s worship of Goddess Katayani, Yudhishthira’s chants to Goddess Durga and Aniruddha’s hymn to Goddess Chandi. Another popular concept worships the Goddess in the form of Dash-Mahavidyas. They are also the ten forms of the wisdom Goddess representing celestial spectrum of feminine energy. The pantheon starts from the fierce Goddess Kali at one end and astonishingly beautiful Goddess Parvati at the other end.

Tantrism:

The followers of Tantrism worship Maha Kali. All black energy ends in her. She is the supreme black energy. All the manifestations are of the same Goddess who is supreme. She takes different avatars based on the mental temperaments of her devotees. The Dash-Mahavidyas namely are Kali, Shodasi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Matangi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagala and Kamala. She is the patron goddess of marital warfare. Warriors pray for success to the goddess before waging war. They are known as Saptamatrikas or the seven mothers. They are the manifestations of Goddess Durga. In this version even the somber Goddess Laxmi and Saraswati are in war robes. Hence in the Matrika cult, Saraswati is Brahmani, Parvati is Maheswari and Laxmi is Vaishnavi.

In Indus Valley excavations, a Saraswati seal was found depicting the goddess in martial attire. She was attended by seven female warriors representing the seven Matrikas. Even in the later arts of Indus Valley, this form of the goddess has remained unchanged.

In the SkandaPuraan, Prapancha-saratantra, Linga Bhagwat Purana and Shakti Purana list various goddesses as consorts of the male gods. Goddess Durga is the core deity and all other goddesses are the manifestations of her cosmic energy. Only these Shaktis can defeat the demons. Markaandya Purana celebrates the Goddess as the divine self. She is Nava-Durga in her nine forms. We have given a detailed account of the Nava-Durga in one of our previous article. So give it read to take a trip down the holy divinity.

Mahisasuramardini:

Mahisasuramardini is another form of the Goddess. She kills Mahisasur who was invincible by all males. In Greek mythology, Mahisasur is Minotaur. All the Gods combined their creative and destructive energies and goddess Durga took shape to defeat Mahisasur or the buffalo demon. After a fierce battle the Goddess kills Minotaur. She also bears the weapons of all the Gods including the trinity in her ten arms. This is the war mode manifestation of the goddess.

This has numerous symbolisms. Goddess Durga in her lion defeats the buffalo demon. This is suggestive that we as human beings must also defeat the animal instincts within us. It also represents taming of the male ego to strike a balance in the universe. Even Malaysia also worships this aspect of the Goddess. The ten hands of the Goddess depict the multi tasking women of today. Female form of God also is revered in all Cultures. Hinduism is not an exception to this.

Other Cultures:

Geographically speaking, the concept of mother goddess was much more widespread in the ancient world. The Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Native American also worshipped female deities as a core paradigm of their religion. 50 figurines are excavated in Europe. These figurines symbolize different aspects of the Goddess dating back to 20,000 years ago. Among these Venus was the most famous. Let’s see a few forms of the Goddess in other religions:

• Anoba: She is the goddess of Celts. Anoba is the Patron Rivers and forests.
• Agrona: She is Celt goddess of war.
• Rhea: She is the mother goddess of Greeks.
• Aphrodite: She is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.
• Athena: She is the Greek goddess of wisdom and war.
• Pharaoh: Egyptian goddess of protection.
• Isis: She is the Egyptian Goddess of magic, motherhood and fertility.

Many other ancient religions including Native Americans, Chinese, Japanese and Polynesian cultures worshipped the feminine aspect of God. She bears equal impetus as the male Gods. The ancient civilizations revered the Goddess as a guardian of nature having maternal instincts. This is similar to the Sindhu tradition. In the Indus valley excavations, seals of tribal chiefs worshipping female deities have been found.

Excavations:

The female seals excavated from Mohenjo-Daro are analogous to the aircrafts of Baluchistan, Elam, Mesopotamia, Transcaspia, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, Crete, Balkans and Egypt. Also According to anthropologists, all these manifestations were from a single concept of goddess originating from Indo-European Neolithic traditions. All these figurines portray a nurturing side of the female deity which is still core belief of Hinduism. Scientists believe the whole world was united previously. This was in terms of geography.

It is only during the later earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that the earth separated. This resulted due to the collision of the tectonic plates. So, perhaps our ancestors shared a common origin.

We would like to conclude with the following lines:

Ya Devi Sarva Bhutesu Matri Rupena Samasthitha                                                                

Ya Devi SarvaBhutasu Shakti Rupena Samasthitha

Namestasyai Namestasyai

Namestasyai NamoNamah