Ishta Devata -- I

Choosing an Ishtadevata is similar to choosing a husband/wife/companion/friend. You ask a person why he or she chose someone as a husband/wife/companion; he or she might give you some answers. But basically you fall in love with someone and then try to justify your selection. We can try to rationalize our decision but cannot do it completely. It is a decision of the heart. It is something called Love. You choose your Ishta Devata out of love. It is a decision of the heart. The intellect does not play a major role in the selection. That is the reason we end up by saying MAA chose me. Don't we end all discussions about the choice of our lover by saying I fell in Love. Period.

But there is a basic difference. Here the love could be Mathru bhava, Pithru bhava, Vathsalya bhava etc, depending upon how you view your Ishta Devata as Mother, father, child, friend, lover etc.

However we can analyze the reasons for choosing a particular deity as Ishta Devata.

1. In most of the cases the Deity whom you have known from childhood is the Ishta Devata. If you have played with Krishna idols in childhood most likely Krishna will be your Ishta Devata. Krishna is I think the most popular God as Ishta Devata as we believe that Krishna is our friend. We look at his pictures as Bala Krishna and feel comfortable with him rather than with Siva who is always a father figure.

2. The family deity is another choice. Again a question of familiarity.

3. It is said that "For a child Mother is GOD." So many people are drawn towards Goddesses.

4. Many people who are devotees of Bagavan Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa also become devotees of  MAA BHAVATHARINI. Since you read so much about her that over a period of time she becomes your Ishtadevata.

5. Many people are attracted to MAA KAALI because there is no caste distinction in most of her temples. MAA KAALI/ MAA Durga is the favourite Goddess of all revolutionaries because of their association with overcoming the forces of evil.

Recently I was talking to a converted Hindu from Europe. She said that she saw a photograph of a Hindu goddess in a shop and immediately felt that this is her deity.

You always hear of the classical theory of the three gunas. Satwik, Rajasaik, Tamasik. People and gods are again classified according to the gunas. The theory says you choose the gods according to the gunas to which you belong. This theory looks good, but in practice it becomes irrelevant. MAA KAALI is the popular Goddess in Bengal. She is very popular among the so-called lower castes in South India. Do we conclude that all Bengalis and South Indians who worship MAA KAALI are Tamasik or Rajasaik in nature? Was Bagavan Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Tamasik or Rajasaik in nature?

We worship our Ishtadevata as the Ultimate power. This has no gunas. Nirguna. That is why MAA KAALI is called trigunathmikai. So we can safely discard this theory of Gunas ascribed to Gods/Goddesses.

So you choose your Ishtadevata as one whom you fall in love with. When it happens it will happen. Then you can rationalize your decision. As I said earlier the Ishta Devata could mean mother, father, child, friend etc. depending upon your feeling. Psychologists have written so many books trying to explain why we fall in love with someone or why we choose our friends. But I do not think there is a perfect answer. Again the concept of Ishta Devata is basically Tantrik. The Smarthas (I was born one) do not believe in this. But most people have a favourite god. Only that most of the Hindus do not use the term Ishta Devata. Your favourite God becomes your Ishta Devata.

I remember one of friends in a Yahoo group saying that even in spirituality, everything has to be logical. I do not think we can rationalize decisions of the heart. The decisions are not always logical.

It is not necessary to have an Ishtadevata for spiritual or religious Sadhana. But if you look into your heart you will find your Ishta devata. Other than Ishta Devata, you have Kula Devata, Grama Devata etc.

Sankar

KALI UPASANA/SADHANA - 2

MAA KALI is the Supreme Deity of the Saktha religion.

Before going on to the details of Kali upasana, a couple of important points. Some of this may not be known to all.

1. MAA KALI has many Rupas, more than any other Deity in the Hindu pantheon. Ranging from Smasana Kali to Shodasi Kali (also known as Maa Lalitha Tripura Sundari). Not many may be aware that the Tripura Sundari temple in Tripura is Shodasi Kali. That is the local name. The state of Tripura is named after her. She is called Shodasi because of the Shodasi mantra (sixteen lettered mantra) with which she is worshiped.

2. Yes. Kali is worshiped in the SriVidya tradition also. There is a KramaDiksha for that. Medha Samrajya Diksha is the Purna Diksha.

3. Kali Upasana does not have any rigid rules. This is emphasized by all the Tantras. Kali is accessible to everyone irrespective of caste, creed or social status.

3. Kali Upasana ranges from the purely Sattvic Upasana to the extreme form of Tantric Agora Upasana.

4. Though many Tantras emphasize the so called Vira Sadhana, in real life it is seen that Maa Kali is pleased with all types of Upasanas. Though Sri Ramakrishna did learn Tantras fom Maa Bhairavi Brahmani, he did not worship Maa Kali in the Tantra tradition. He was a Kali Bhaktha and worshiped her with Bhakthi. As we all know Sri Ramakrishna was the foremost Kali Bhaktha in living history and had her Dharshan.

KALI UPASANA/SADHANA

कालिकायै विद्महे श्मशानवासिन्यै धीमहि

तन्नो घोरा प्रचोदयात्।

I was thinking of posting an article about Upasana/Sadhana of Maa Kali in the web site. A long unfulfilled promise.

I will now post a series about Kali Upasana, Kali Mantras and also trace the history of Kali worship in India.

Kali is worshiped all over India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. There is a mistaken impression that Kali worship is confined to eastern India. This is far from true.

We hear of Kali worship from the times of Kalidasa the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%81lid%C4%81sa

His famous poem on Mother Kali is Shymala Dhandakam

You can find an English translation here.

http://www.sthothrarathnas.com/shyamala_dandakam

Some of you especially from South India may shout now. "Stop. Shymala Dhandakam is about Saraswathi and not Kali. I know the poem. My grandmother used to recite it. It is very popular in South India."

Yes. It is very popular in South India and is known as a poem on Saraswati. But that information is wrong. The above quoted translation is by a Tamil Brahmin. See his comments. Then Kalidasa who called himself as Kali's servant would be writing about Kali and not Saraswati. The term Shymala means dark colored one. We also call Maa Kali, Shyama. Pray when did Saraswati become dark in color? She is portrayed as fair in color in all other slokas.

Matha marakatha shyama as Kalidasa calls her.

Of course there is another theory that Shyamala is Matangi or Raja Matangi. But there is nothing to indicate that Kalidasa was a worshipper of Raja Matangi.

Maa Kali is well known for bestowing her Upasakas with Kavithvam or the ability to compose poems. There are slokas for that. About that later.

Again Kalidasa lived during the period of King Vikramaditya. We all know the stories of Vikramaditya, his minister Bhatti and of course the famous Vethaal. Vikramaditya was again a worshipper of Maa Kali. The stories are full of magical powers (Ashtama Siddhi) and Kali Upasana is well known for getting Astama Siddhi.

The place of birth of Kalidasa and Vikramaditya viz. Ujjain has played a major role in the spread of Kali worship.

By the way The mantra that Kalidasa reportedly used was the Shadakshari (six lettered ) Mantra

क्रीं - क्रीं -हुं - हुं - ह्रीं - ह्रीं