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april 2019yogajournal.com.auourselves, createSLAYING DEMONS
In fact, in the tales of Durga, the
demons she battles are not just external
bad guys. They also represent the inner
obstructive forces we face in our journey
to enlightenment and self-actualisation.
So, as you read her story, think of it not
just as a superhero saga but also as a
parable about the process of inner work.
Consider that it is showing you how to
dissolve the negative energies of fear,
greed, and anger so that you can stand
in your essential strength and beauty.
Your inner battle may not be as
dramatic as this one. But it’s going on,
nonetheless! Here is her story.
Remember, read it as a parable of an
inner battle.
Shumbha and Nishumbha are
brilliant demon brothers with magical
superpowers. They’ve practiced hard
austerities in order to earn a boon, or
benefi t, from their cosmic grandfather,
Brahma. The boon makes them
unconquerable by men or gods, but
Brahma has been careful to word the
boon so that it contains a loophole: it
says nothing about a goddess.
The demon brothers are soon
masters of the universe. They eject the
gods from the celestial regions andenslave the inhabitants of the earth. The
gods are reduced to hiding in caves,
plotting revenge. But fi nally, a sage
reveals to them that the demons have a
weakness. Though Shumbha and
Nishumbha can’t be conquered by
anyone male, they might be vulnerable
to a female warrior. So the gods travel to
the mountain where Durga has her
hidden dwelling to ask her for help.
As they call out to her with prayers
and hymns of praise, Durga appears out
of the clouds, clothed in robes whose
colours shift and slip, revealing and
concealing the beauty of her breasts and
the curve of her belly. An erotic perfume
surrounds her. She rides a lion.
In a voice like soft thunder rumbling
through mountains, she agrees to
intervene and restore the balance. The
goddess has no sooner spoken than she
has transported herself to the demon
kings’ garden. Flowers drip from her
fi ngers, and clouds form and dissolve in
her hair. She is beauty personifi ed,
allurement clothed in form,
enchantment itself. Within moments,
the demon kings have come to their
windows to look at her. They are
connoisseurs of feminine beauty. Of
course, they want her in their harem.
But when the palace major-domo
brings the demons’ proposal to Durga,
she smiles. “There is just one diffi culty,”
she explains. “In my girlhood, I took a
silly vow that I would only marry a man
strong enough to defeat me in battle.
You know how girls are—full of fantasy
and romantic notions. But a vow is a
vow. If your masters really want me,
they’ll have to fi ght with me.”
“Lady, you are either mad or
suicidal,” says the major-domo. “No one
has ever defeated my masters.”
“Nonetheless, that is my condition,”
says Durga, giving him such a
languorous glance that he feels stirrings
of lust in every part of his body. “And if
your masters are afraid to do battle, I
am happy to take on their army.”
Which she does. In an intense battle,
the goddess defeats battalion after
battalion. At one point, a host ofgoddesses emerge from her body,
including the fearsome Kali. Together,
the goddesses destroy the entire demon
army, leaving only the brothers.
Shumbha advances upon Durga.
“You said that you would fi ght my
army single-handed,” shouts Shumbha
in a voice so loud it shakes the nearby
hills to powder. “But you had helpers.
Your challenge is forfeit.”
“Not so,” roars the goddess,
vibrating the sky with celestial thunder.
“These goddesses are parts of me.” The
other goddesses melt back into her
form, leaving just Durga, shining with
an almost blinding light.
The goddess’s eight-armed form
swells until it fi lls the sky. Twirling her
great sword like a baton in one hand
and her axes, maces, spears, and
crossbows in the others, she fl ies
through the air and slays the demon
kings.
“Ma,” says Shumbha with his dying
breath, and then a smile comes over his
face as the ecstasy of the goddess fi lls his
being. In that instant, both demons are
transfi gured, dissolving into Durga’s
body and dying into the mystery. When
the ego dissolves, even the most
demonic soul comes home, back to the
heart of the mother. Durga returns to
her mountain home, promising to
return when there is need for her help.LETTING GO OF EGO
This tale makes sense on several levels.
From the point of view of the
environment, it’s a story about the
unstoppable power of nature. From
another perspective, it assures us that
higher powers will protect us when we
take refuge in them. But on the esoteric
level, the Durga story is about the
transformation of the ego. The mighty
battle between Durga and the demons is
the inner struggle that invariably begins
when we undertake real transformative
practice.
Like those demon kings, the ego
enters into spiritual practice with its
own secret agenda. Egos seek control—
control over circumstances, control over
the body, and control over the people
around us. Power and mastery are what
matter to the ego. So, naturally, the ego
will resist surrendering to higher
powers, letting go of its agendas, or
giving up control on any level. But
shakti has a different agenda. She wants
to move us away from egocentric