Durgha: Meditate with Four Powerful Deities

Durgha / Durga

Sanskrit: दुर्गा

Durgha is a major deity in Hinduism. She is worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Devi and is one of the most popular and widely revered among Indian divinities. She is known as the warrior Goddess of protection and inner strength. Her legend centers around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity, and Dharma the power of good over evil. Durgha is believed to unleash her divine wrath against the wicked for the liberation of the oppressed and entails destruction to empower creation.

On a deeper level, Durgha is the power behind the process of spiritual awakening; the force igniting and awakening the kundalini energy in the body. She encapsulates fierce beauty; queenly, a protectress, dressed in an elaborate red sari, wearing a crown, riding a tiger or lion, and carrying in her 10 arms the following: a spear, a mace, a discus, a bow and a sword, as well as a conch shell (representing creative sound), a lotus flower, mala beads, and Shiva’s trident. 

Durgha Shakti (power), when called upon through mantra, devotion, and prayer can help us to ‘battle against’ external challenges such as illness or conflict, but also to access and draw to us, the grace necessary to support inner awakening and transformation. Durgha supports us as we ‘battle’ the inner demons of ego, limited thinking, ancestral trauma and conditioning which can trap us into limited ways of being.

The mantra we are going to chant on the third week of the series is dedicated to the Goddess Durgha:

Om dum Durgayai namaha

Sanskrit: ॐ दुं दुर्गायै नमः

 Dum is a beej or seed mantra for Durgha. 

Translation: Om, I bow to the one who overcomes all difficulties

Listen to this Youtube video for proper pronunciation https://youtu.be/kE5QD8DkizA

In Tantrik tradition, the beej mantra or seed sound has a vibrational quality to it which embodies the essence of the God or Goddess. This is the part that invokes the actual energy of Durgha; the Shakti of pure strength.

You might consider coconut, a candle or an oil lamp, rice, and dried fruit, as offerings to Durgha on your altar.