Mata as Adi Shakti-pith
Surya discovered Bharat-Mata and the Ṛta is the pattern in which She brings Maya as Adi-Purush and Adi-Shakti still continue to discover each other.
Brahmanism 103: The Discovery of Bharat-Mata as Adi Shakti-pith
Columbus discovered America. Pilgrims settled the first colonies. Panditji discovered India. Planning Commission settled it.
Surya discovered Bharat-Mata. There was no question of settling down. Adi-Purush and Adi-Shakti are still discovering each other. In the Puranas, the Vedic Sun’s character as an explorer is mapped on to Shiva as the best explorer of the land of Maya. We continue playing this game of Maya.
Maya is antithetical to Brahman. Maya hides a man from realizing his self; his oneness with Brahman. Yet, it is purposefully designed so that Brahman does not get bored.
Imagine a being all alone in the Universe. He is bored as hell. He plays a game with himself but so that there is no bias, he wipes this truth from the memory of Him that is all of us when we are born. Sameness is erased and purposefully Pluralism gets entry. The Supreme part of His Consciousness becomes the umpire, yet he cannot intervene directly.
Shakti becomes paramount. She is His potency. He is Her consciousness. Yes, there is a difference but these cannot be compartmentalized. Shakti forces us to act in spite of it. Everybody must act and react in this Universe. There is no free will.
– We all feel hungry and fight for food.
– We all feel the heat to reproduce and fight for mates.
– We all feel the need to provide for our children and fight for the mundane little things.
– We all feel the need to control the land around us and fiercely protect it from others, without realizing that they are also us.
She forces us to act and react. It thus requires guidance from the Adi-guru, who is Surya in the Vedas, Shiva in the Puranas to build a harmonious society, a Bharat-Mata of ‘Shanti’. ‘Shanti’ does not translate to Peace, in the Christian sense of the term. Peace is an alien concept in India.
Shanti means harmony, living with Shakti, accepting Maya, doing the right things, establishing Dharma and then die and return to Him. This involves violence, severing the crop from the field to oneself doing hard labour, engaging in karma-yoga, towards the ignorant but powerful, a Ravana or the Kauravas who have lost their way and would not give up Maya.
Figure 1; Multiple Geo-political Core in India and the transformation into a living Bharat Mata
It has been explained earlier how Shakti transforms the pan Indian landscape by bringing unequal monsoons to each of the river basins each year. The Ṛta is the pattern in which She brings Maya. She is Aditi in the Vedas, guardian of the Ṛta. In the Puranas She is Adi-shakti. It has been explained before how the river Saraswati is herself Aditi as She brings the Sun, Aditya from the South back to the North.
Just like Savitr is the ṛtá of the Sun, two very distinct ṛtá is associated with the Goddess, Dhātṛ and Tvaṣṭṛ. She becomes Usha in the process, seducing the Sun and forcing him out every morning. Shiva is but a Tamasic deity, so the Sun is depicted as the Rajasic Brahma. However, the Tamasic Shiva has a Sattvic mind and lusts after Rajasic Shakti continuously. (Their union produces Satva guna). He is carefree and would not stop for anything in pursuit of Shakti and Maya.
1. Usha and Saraswati, the road to uncovering Maya
Figure 2; Usha and Pratyusha; Dawn and Dusk
Usha remains the goddess most Rig-Vedic hymns are dedicated to. Pratyusha is the alternate image of the goddess when the Sun sets and there is still light. Does the Sun cause Usha? Or does Usha make the Sun happen? Usha, like the Sun had Her own chariot car driven by horses.
In the Puranas, She invariably transforms into the white pristine imagery of Saraswati as She plays the Veena, and a lustful Brahma chases Her around. Yet, that red head is lost very soon after Sun-break and the Maya is broken. The Puranas hence talk of Shiva destroying Brahma’s head (mid-noon Sun taking over from Sun of dawn).
Figure 3; Sun lusts after Usha; Brahma lusts after Saraswati
| Rig-Veda | Puranas |
| Usha is young maiden, drawn by a hundred chariots (RV 1.48) | Saraswati is pure white like snow, moon, kunda flower (Many sources) |
| Usha followed by Sun who urges her onward (RV 3.61) | Brahma is enticed by beauty of Saraswati (Many sources) |
| Usha rouses life, sets all things in motion (RV 1.48.92) | Saraswati grants boon of ultimate knowledge to ascetics (DBP 9.1.35) |
RV :RigVeda
DBP: Devi Bhagawata Purana Get monthly updates
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2. The Sun’s annual death and resurrection; Aditi becomes Adi-shakti
Figure 4; Aditi nurses Aditya; Adya Shakti nurses Shiva
The Sun helps humankind but also spoils them with selfish indulgence. He creates things for them all around. The Sun invariably sees itself grow small with time and at its lowest is showered favour by the divine mother Aditi. Aditi nurses the Sun to grow back into shape. Consequently, the Sun himself becomes a son of Aditi, Aditya. There are 12 Adityas in all signifying the 12 different aspects of the Sun.
3. The Sun’s sleep and daily death; Ratri becomes Kali
Figure 5; Goddess Ratri becomes Kali
The Sun is also like us. It goes to sleep to wake up later in time. Every time it sleeps, it enjoys a little death. Yet, we know the Sun never sleeps but merely lights the other side of the planet. In sleep or in death, the consciousness of any organism does not disappear but merely subsides so that it can come back with full vigour.
Rig-Veda describes Ratri as a sister of Usha while Purana describes Kali as a sister-self of Parvati.
4. Sun, Time, Astronomy and the Shakti Cult of Bengal
What is Time? How is it to be calculated?
Writes the philosopher Ananda Coomaraswamy on Vedic Conception of Time,
Time hath engendered what hath been and shall be”, and KU. 4. 13 “Lord of what hath been and shall be, He is both today and tomorrow”, and AV. 10. 7. 22: “Wherein what hath been and shall be, and all worlds are instant (prati-tisthata), tell me thou of that Pillar (skambha, Axis Mundi), what it may be”. Note, above (1), that Time is on a par with Lightning and (2) the words, “Time unites procession, recession, and stasis” (kalo galinivrfti-sthitih samdadhiti, SA. 7. 20). This last can only mean that here Time (as in AV. 19. 53 where Time is the source of past and present, and so cannot be identified with either one or both of these durations) is a static point, that of the Stasis in which the two contrary motions momentarily coincide, but which otherwise separates them. The root in sthiti is sthi, to “stand”, “exist”, “be in a given state”, implying stability, and contrasting with gam, or car, cal, to “go” or “move”, implying instability: “what goes” and “what stands” together making up the whole lof the existence of which the Sun is the Self (RV. 1. 115. 1).
In AV. 19.53 and 54, cited above,
“Time”-abso-lutely-is the source of all relative times; not itself a duration, but rather the Timeless, Eternity, to which all moveable time is ever present. It is in these terms that the Maitri Upanisad distinguishes the “two forms” (dve ripe) of Brahman, i.e. aspects of the two natures (dvaitibh’ava)13 of the single essence (tad ekam), as “time and the Timeless (kalas-cikalas-ca): “From one who worships, thinking ‘Time is Brahma’ (kalam brah-meti), time (kata, also death) 14 reflows afar. As it has been said: From Time flow forth all beings, From Time advance to their full growth, And in Time, again, win home,- ‘Time’ is the formed (miirti) and formless, both. There are, indeed, two forms of Brahma; time, and the Timeless. That which is prior to the sun is the Time-less (akala) and partless (akala); but that which begins with the sun is the time that has parts (sakala), and its form is that of the Year … Prajapati … Self 15
There is talk of a Stationary Time and Moving Time. To put this in context of Vedanta, the first is the condition of Adi Purusha who was all alone in the Universe and created this Universe out of boredom. The world around us is not subjected to Time but is; so that He can play the game of Maya. Maya cloaks consciousness so that people do not realize that each one of us is linked to the same Brahman.
– Adi-Shakti moves the ṛtá and creates Maya. Maya helps in human measurement of Time.
– Birthdays, Marriage Anniversary, Salary Day, Bill Date helps us keep track of days.
– Birth Year, Marriage Year, New Job, New Car helps keep track of years.
Yet, persons die, the birthdays and anniversaries are willfully forgotten to suppress memories and then altogether when the memorizer too dies. Jobs aren’t permanent, Losses lead to closing shops and pink slips, every subscription can be ended or modified.
Whatever is not permanent is Maya. Ṛta is the underlying pattern and Shakti the primal cause. Shakti revolves around the Consciousness of the Universe.
Ratri and Surya make day and night. (24 hours)
Aditi and Aditya make a year complete (365 days)
The Vedic Sun is the pole of Time providing the centre to the circle of Time. This is Mahakaal in the Puranas.
Figure 6; Vedic Goddess, Kali and Moving Time
In truth, The Tantra texts of Bengal talk of various other forms of Kali;
Mahā Kālī, Bhadra Kālī, Śrī Kālī, Kāla Kālī, Caņđa Kālī, Cāmuņđā Kālī, Guhya Kālī
Kāmakalā Kālī, Dhana Kālī, Křşņa Kālī, Kālasańkarşinī Kālī, Cińtāmaņi Kālī, Krodha
Kālī, Śřşți Kālī, Rakta Kālī, Sthitināśa Kālī, Yama Kālī, Sańhāra Kālī, Mřtyu Kālī
Rudra Kālī, Mārtaņđa Kālī, Paramārka Kālī, Kālāgni Rudra Kālī, Mahākāla Kālī
Mahabhairava Ghora Caņđa Kālī.
They each denote an aspect of Time, sometimes they overlap to a large extent. However, the moment we say, Time is a Circle, we invite an anomaly. There is a part of the circle that never moves, its Centre.
Figure 7; Kali as Moving Time, Mahakaal as Static Time (We have moved in Time, He hasn’t)
In Circular Time, Kali (Shakti) moves the clock provides the mundane time while Mahakaal (Shiva) is the base of that movement.
The arrow of time can never be stopped by an individual. There is no time and no life without Shakti. Yet, as supreme consciousness, He rules over all time points, and judges humankind on our upkeep of Dharma.
When we said that concentric circles denote Time intervals of varying magnitude, the distance from the Centre to itself is a Zero (0).
Honest Question; Any thoughts now why Indian astronomers discovered Zero (0)?
As Time is a circle, it must be denoted in radial co-ordinates. R and θ. The Centre of Time will always have the co-ordinates (0, 0˚) and perhaps alluded to a Centre of the Universe itself where the Primal Consciousness rests.
Circular Time also means that that the arrow of Time is itself a divine intervention. The Bengali Goddess Kali is as illiberal as one can get. A person cannot control his or Her own Time? The author is not responsible for any future lawsuit regarding this whatsoever.
Figure 8; The three layers of Time and making of Maya
The flower Hibiscus blossoms in the night like Ratri. The flower is circular but its petals forms a wave. In the centre lies its central stalk. Thus, the flower perfectly represents the Universe of a Shakta.
Figure 9; Ranga-Joba, Hibiscus which blooms at night and represents the Shakta Universe
In all probability, the early astronomers created for themselves a Cartesian space with four dimensions. Time was the fourth.
Kala was controlled by Brahman, and had a spillover effect on the other three co-ordinates. (All Geography is a function of time when one thinks of plate tectonics and changing orography and climate patterns). Humans could control only three dimensions and had to chart out their Niti to balance or go with the Ṛta.
Ṛta ((R, θ),(x,y,z)) + Satva Niti (xs,ys,zs) = Dharma ((R, θ)(xd,yd,zd))
If Niti isn’t Satvic, there will be Adharma and non-optimal investment will yield low returns.
Figure 10; Cartesian space of Mahakaal (Red Circle is a different dimension independent of x,z)
Most astronomical projections are alluded to Mahakaal. He has a pillar of Him in Ujjain and is invoked by all astronomers.
Since Mahakaal is Timeless, there is One place Kali does not touch. Kali destroys (transforms) every material but not the Consciousness of the Universe. Kali will surely come after the earthly body of all individuals and will only allow the atman to pass through. This is because the atman is but Brahman. The rest is all Her jewelry. A human body is built by digesting Nature and in is in turn digested by Nature.
So, like a good observer hates noise in his calibration, all Tantrikas and Ganankars invoke Him as the base on which stands Kali or the events of moving time they are to find.
Earlier texts also revere the Sun in a similar way. The Sun may move with respect to Primal Consciousness (due to galactic gravitation pull and Universe expansion) but for the sake of calculation, we can fix the base on the Sun and say that this centre has actually moved away from the Sun.
Figure 11; Changing the base from Mahakaal to Sun
Most of the known solar system revolves around the Sun. Such approximations wouldn’t have disturbed any of those simple ones in any tangible way. (Although the Vedas talk of missing days as Solar year, it is usually shorter than Solar-Lunar year Hindus follow). It is thus, nothing amusing, that Surya Siddhanta was written in Sun’s honour.
Today, in any corner of India, all Hindus follow the same Panchangam regardless of region and caste. Well, if the base of the calculation is the same one divinity that the entire country worships, how can we expect different results?
Figure 12; Kali, In the realm of Greater Time scales
| Vedas | Tantras |
| Aditi is the mother of Adityas (RV 2.27.1) | Shiva compares Kali as Adya (primordial mother)(Mahanirvana Tantra 4.3034) |
| Aditi is the mother of all Gods (RV 1.113.19) | Brahma Vishnu Mahesh are like bubbles forming and passing away in her ocean (Nirvana Tantra) |
| Aditi is widely expanded and extensive (RV 5.46.6) | – |
| Nirrti is petitioned to stay away from affairs of man (RV 10.59) | – |
| Lives in the south (SB 10.1.2.9) and presides over death (SB 5.2.3.3) | Kali is worshipped as Dakshina Kali |
| Ratri provides rest to all creatures (10.127.4) | – |
| Ratri is barren (RV 1.122.2) | – |
| Ratri is gloomy (RV 10.172.4) | – |
SB; Shatpatha Brahmana
5. The Sun and Saranyu conceives the Aswins, Ganesha and Kartikeya is born to Shiva and Shakti
Figure 13; The Birth of Aswins and Ganesha-Kartikeya; Guardians of Duality
Aswins appear twice in the sky. This is the morning and evening star, Venus. The first one appears at dawn even before the Sun rises. He is born of the motion in the Sky, Saranyu but is overshadowed by the Sun on rising. In the Puranic mythology, Ganesha is born out of Parvati’s body but stands in the way of Shiva only to be decapitated later.
The Ashwin reappears in the evening. He is now the parting gift of the Sun to the Sky. In the Puranas, Kartikeya is born of the Lord into the house. In the Vedas, The Aswins are the gods of medicine, overseeing both quick healing and painless death. Ganapati’s trunk, similarly knows of herbs while Kartikeya oversees death (mostly in battle).
Ganesha and Kartikeya, like the Aswins, hold the key to all duality.
In all confrontations involving a zero-sum game, the same deity blesses the winner with material comforts and he finds himself holding the key to the Goddess’s granary and treasury. The other face of the deity crushes the loser and he is compelled to see the wrath of God as men he knows are gobbled up on the battlefield and he stares at his own downfall and death.
Instead of spurious factors like luck or grace of Christian God, Brahmins believe that The Brahman chooses the best man as the winner. The competing task is not the battle but both of their understanding of Ṛta (and consequently Dharma) that compels them into the last resort of a battle.
6. Dhātṛ and Tvaṣṭṛ
Figure 14; Course of the River Saraswati, Tantrika perspective
Food and money are important in winning wars. Dhātṛ or the monsoon is the most important of the Rta as far as food is concerned. In the Vedas, the river Saraswati becomes the Monsoon and becomes the mother of all men and all Gods (individual faces of the Brahman). The Sun plays the most important role in this cycle, is eulogized as Varuna, when he spends time alone with Mother Saraswati in the deep isolated ocean. He becomes the God of the water, of the oceans, of the unseen, and of the darkness when he alone presides over his loving wife with not a soul in sight. He picks Her up and as Brahmins begin guessing the time of Her arrival, he is eulogized as Mitra, the true friend who never lies…
We mapped Savitr last time. How does Dhātṛ look in empirics? Even in 2018, a lot of policy makers, agricultural scientists and such ilk split a lot of hair regarding the arrival of monsoons.
Figure 15; Dhātṛ, Ṛta of the Monsoon
The Start date and End date of the year of monsoons (measured as the nth day taking January as day 1) is measured in the upper two ordinates, its duration and area coverage is measured in ordinate of the middle two graphs while the ordinates of the lower two graphs correspond to the rainfall intensity and rainfall amount.
One can notice almost nothing is static. Our ancestors thought of it as the high-handedness of Indra. The fruits of monsoon were Aendri (Indrani/Sachi). We may discuss that later in another context but in the Shakta cult, the river Saraswati becomes the mother, Dhatri with the Sun as Daksha who leaves it to Her to churn Nature and let the best man (Raja) win by harvesting the maximum gains from the monsoons.
Figure 16; Rainfall Anomaly, IITM Data
Rainfall anomaly was seen as a test of Rajas, especially the Chakravartin whose ownership to rajya depended on addressing the changing nature of resource partition brought about by the Ṛta. Raja who passed the test saw that face of the Ashwin which was the morning start that transformed into Ganesh. Raja who failed saw the other face, of the evening start who morphs into Skanda in the Puranas.
Sometimes, the Ṛta is so cruel, there is simply no second chance, for a course correction. These Rajas taste death to avoid humiliation but his mantri, usually a Brahmin, who did not participate in war becomes richer in experience and uses his knowledge to guide others on what not to do on that same situation.
How is stabilizing the polity through Dhātṛ a test of Dharma?
Figure 17; Rainfall Anomaly, Mean and SD compared
– Shakti is Dhatri, the bringer of monsoon which involves the Earth, Water, Sun, Wind and Sky. (These are only five of the Vasus)
– Shakti is also Kali, the moving tie which involves all the eight Vasus and the basic engineering of the whole Universe itself, which is Tvaṣṭṛ.
Syncing Dhātṛ and Tvaṣṭṛ is the key. Or rather predicting the anomaly and then taking steps to avoid this is. How does Monsoon translate to Agricultural Productivity in the current trends?
Figure 18; Correlation of Monsoon with Agricultural Productivity
Ṛta ((R, θ),(x,y,z)) + Satva Niti (xs,ys,zs) = Dharma ((R, θ)(xd,yd,zd))
If Niti isn’t Satvic, there will be Adharma and non-optimal investment will yield low returns.
This is not the end of the story. Unlike Free will, Dharma does not act independently for every person. Dharma demands punishment of Adharma, Others Adharma also changes the Rta for an entire population at a given time and becomes a given parameter to the person deciding his Niti. The Raja is the ultimate human buck-stopper and upholder of Dharma. He is the first to fall if Dharma is not maintained.
Cutthroat politics demands that the Raja materially well-off wins at the end of the day. This material or “Artha” could be a combination of food-grains, gold from taxation, precious metals and minerals of his territory now at his disposal and able brain and brawn to back it up and protect all.
A Raja grows rich by collecting the Artha through a long chain of subsidiaries who have a mind of their own. If the Raja is tamasic, his underlings will become rajasic, corrupt and greedy and will amass more wealth. They may overthrow the Raja themselves if they can and will find it in them to collude with the enemy if their personal wealth would see a little increase.
Again, if the raja is rajasic himself, the underlings will be overtaxed, scared and will be an accomplice of the enemy by default. It would have been as though his subjects were waiting with garland and lamp to welcome the invader. If people are scared, they will try to move away from the rajya, making the land unmanned and denying the Raja revenue. Traders are forever mobile and would avoid the rajya altogether. In absence of trade, the entire prosperity of the Rajya will fall. The strong, mighty and rebellious might seize this opportunity to take control of those unmanned lands and the Rajas meek underlings, fearing punishment would not even report this to His foolishness, Our Majesty. He is but a walking feast for the Brahman who would be gobbled up in no time, all thanks to his active pursuance of material desires divorcing Dharma.
Ṛta ((R, θ),(x,y,z)) + Satva Niti (xs,ys,zs) = Dharma ((R, θ)(xd,yd,zd))
7. Shakti, Her test of Dharma and the rise of Power Politics in India
Figure 19; Niti and the wheel of Dharma, a visualization
When Shakti blesses us with fruits as the mover of Dhātṛ, She injects ghrita into the Yagna that is the polity of Bharata. If there is Satva niti and Dharma, one gets a perfect wheel that has been maintained with Shiva (Sun) as the Centre.
When a Raja is Tamasic, the shape represents an ellipsoid where the base is thicker in accordance with the artha his subjects and not he has in his command. He will fall first for lack of resources at disposal.
When a Raja is Rajasic, the shape represents an ellipsoid where the apex is thicker. Yes, he is filthy rich when compared to the Satvic Raja but he has handicapped himself. His base is so weak he has no elbow room to tax more if his treasury runs out of money. Also, if his subjects smell blood and weakness in him, should he be raising extra taxes, they will take the lead and handover their share to the invader rather than him.
Figure 20; Three possibilities of Monsoon across diverse geographies that form a Trident like shape.
The river Saraswati as the Monsoons not only hit different regions differently but on different times. The crops are harvested in autumn. As food-crops swell in their treasury, time is rife for warfare and see who is capable of unifying India and be the Chakravartin.
Figure 21; Sun as the Centre of Consciousness; The Rta as Suwastika; Saraswati as Trident
The Sun becomes a centre and the three conditions of early, late and usual rainfall becomes like three pointed ends that poke and test if the Raja has maintained Dharma. Only the Sattvic Raja has both maximum wealth, maximum tax-base and most importantly goodwill among his subjects. He shall win all odds.
Shakti drives the three possibilities into One. A single spear that cracks open the ignorance of the Raja She chooses to fall for Her in battle.
Figure 22; Sun becomes Shiva, Saraswati become Shakti (Durga), upholder of Dharma
Most of the Asuras in Shakti pantheon are but a duo, usually brothers with either displaying the two non-desirable Gunas, either doing nothing or actively trying to rape and exploit The Nature and by extension, Her for She is what moves Nature.
Mahishashura took the form a benign animal as a Tamasic entity and when cut out took to his Rajasic self as the chief collector and hoarder. Ignorance gets destroyed when Saraswati flows with full gusto.
Vritras fall and only the one with knowledge of Brahman, of Dharma shall inherit the Earth. Saraswati rewards their project. They do die eventually but not before understanding the Vedas and its essence of re-incarnation, the very nectar of Amrita that is seeped into their ear and thus becomes immortal, at once with the Brahman. She becomes Mahavidya.
| Rig Veda | Purana |
| Saranyu is mother of Asvins (RV 10.17.2) | Parvati mothers Ganesha and Kartikeya (Many sources) |
| Saraswati is inexhaustible, has her source in the cosmic ocean (RV 7.95.12 RV 5.43.11) | – |
| Saraswati pervades Earth, Atmosphere and the celestial space (RV 6.61.1112) | Shakti|Durga is present everywhere (DM 1.78) |
| Saraswati is the best of mothers (RV 2.41.16) | Shakti|Durga is eulogized as world mother (DM 1.73) |
| Saraswati is a sheltering tree (RV 7.95.5) and an iron fort (RV 7.95.1) | Shakti|Durga protects the world and conquers Durgasura (SP 2.83) |
| Saraswati Kills the demon Vritra (RV 6.61.7) | Shakti|Durga destroys Mahishasura (DM 4.14) |
DM; Devi Mahatyam
SP; Skanda Purana
8. Mahamaya in all Her forms; the image of Gayatri
Figure 23; Vedas into Tantra; Shakti in all Her forms
Once a Brahmin has gone through observing all the phases of the Sun and the effects of His movement brought about by Gayatri, he comes to know of all type of Maya illusions and the knowledge to see through it so that he might partake but not indulge in it.
Once a Kshatriya has successfully chased down the dice-board of India and has understood, if not won the game of the divine consciousness and divine feminine, he becomes a capable ruler. Invariably, the society they build in the name of Brahman himself turns out to be the strongest.
How to represent all the Maya that Shakti creates?
One way, all of it is represented in popular culture and through Moorti is by envisioning a bouquet of flowers with each flower representing a face of Maya. The picture in contrast to the left is that of Devi Kamechcha (Kamaakhya) who is the beholder of all Maya in the Shakti Cult of East India. The depiction of Gayatri in modern India is invariably a toned-down version of her.
The Trinity or three accompanying phases of the Sun are not represented in this portrayal.
Figure 24; The Vedic Goddess Gayatri’s modern representation based on Kamakshya
9. Lalita Tripura-sundari and the Shakti Cult of most of India
Figure 25 The hue of Sky, dynamics of Sun, Aswins and Goddess Lalitha Tripura-sundari
The Sun’s revealing of Maya is worshipped as “Chaat Maiyya” in the native traditions of Bihar. They see the reflection of the sky’s hue in water which is itself perpetually vibrating to have a glimpse of the nature of Life.
Shakti as Vedic Usha and Pratyusha provide knowledge. As the Vedic Aditi, She rejuvenates the Sun every year. As the Sun of Truth (Mitra) transforms to Satyavan, She becomes Savitri, whom every married woman should try to follow.
The Shakti Cult of South India, notable among many Telegu Brahmins is very similar. The same image of Mahamaya is humanized, The absent Sun (for the night) sleeps underneath the splendid hue of Her red saree.
The Sun of Plenty (Pushan) and its corresponding abundance Lakshmi sits on Her side, while The Rising Sun of Knowledge (Bhanu) and its corresponding illumine Usha(Saraswati) sits on Her other side.
The two Aswins become Her two son who sit near Her feet on either side. People worship Shakti when his Ṛta is the most productive and at its peak. The first Navratri is in summer when the Solar Productivity (Savitr) peaks and people celebrate Navratri. Yet, as Rishi Bharadwaj taught us more about economics and agriculture, the Monsoon Productivity (Dhātṛ) resulted in a huge crop post monsoon in autumn and another Navratri began to be celebrated. In the oral traditions of Bengal, Rama smartly waited for and used this agricultural surplus to vanquish Ravana and thus Bengalis fondly call this Tithi as “Okal Bodhan” (Untimely acceptance).
Shakti as Bharat-mata; a conclusion
The Sun as a guiding Guru, face of Brahman guides us all in teaching about Maya and what to do about it. The Sun morphs into Shiva in all Shakta traditions and evolves as the first teacher of Humanity. He is called the Adi-guru. He shows the way to Moksha to all Hindus.
The Sun best explains how Samkhya duality is the atman of Vedanta. Sun provides all life forms with energy. Energy from food transforms the human cognition into burning like the Golden Sun. Enlightened humans pay oblations and closely follow His trajectory. Very similarly, Shakti or Energy Cycle is what binds the invisible consciousness in the Cosmos with all life forms. Shakti is not a unidirectional arrow from Param-Chaitanya to us but a cycle that revolves around Him.
Food, Sex, all material comforts are indeed Maya but the thing is Maya helps us survive.
– Take out food, how will one gather the strength to move himself?
– Take out coitus, how will one not die out in a generation?
– Take out material comfort, how can one make his little one happy without a toy or doll?
– Severe Penance is but Tamas and Shakti punishes them ruthlessly by denying them Shakti.
Uncontrolled Desire is but Rajas and Shiva punishes them ruthlessly by drenching them with Shakti, more than they can handle. They burst open instead of growing up.
– Have too much food? Invariably, it will attract pests and animals and overeating would reduce physical capability.
– Have too much love? Diseases will spread like wildfire from one partner to another and hedonistic indulgence will give way to blistering skin and shame.
– Have too much material comfort? This will only make one insecure of loss and theft. They are destined to see the same greed make their House come crashing as one nears death and successors take to infighting.
God, or Brahman can only be reached by balancing oneself on the Ṛta and over Maya. One must engage yet not be overwhelmed by it. Before “Middle Path” became fashionable, the operative term was Satva. Satva meant to stay on course and balance the Ṛta. The Niti which balances the Ṛta is called Dharma.
To mathematically say so,
Ṛta ((R, θ),(x,y,z)) + Niti (xs,ys,zs) = Dharma ((R, θ)(xdyd,zd))
Brahman (Sun|Shiva) provides the Ṛta (Savitr|Tvaṣṭṛ) which is the time an individual cannot control and the place which he had no initial control (at birth) but can change according to his needs. Maya is the game, Dharma is the answer, Brahman (to sit on the lap of Shiva and Shakti) is the prize.
If India wishes to be a land of Dharma, we have to again ask the Sun and Shiva to teach us about Shakti and Maya and how to traverse it without losing sight of Moksha.
References / Footnotes
The work of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy is Time and eternity (1989, Select Books, page 10-11)
The charts for Monsoon have been sourced from the following.
1. Rainfall details (Start, End, Intensity, Coverage, etc)
Data from paper by Ranade and Singh titled “Large-scale and spatio-temporal extreme rain events over India: a hydrometeorological study”
; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00704-013-0905-1
2. Rainfall Anomaly
Data was accessed from IITM Database,
https://www.tropmet.res.in/~kolli/MOL/Monsoon/Historical/aismr1871-2017-Sep-30-2017.pdf
3. Correlation of rainfall and Productivity
Data from paper by Kumar et. Al titled “Climate Impact on Indian Agriculture” https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.1081
Photo credits;
1. India; http://brhectorsgeoworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/c1-saarc-nations-location-and-physical.html
2. Bharat-Mata; http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=80&EId=96&ImageId=14
Saraswati; http://www.golupandit.com/detail/36/Saraswati-Puja-Kit
4. Adya Shakti; https://in.pinterest.com/pin/311803974182049650/
5. Kali; https://www.boloji.com/articlephotos/a49399.jpg
6. Circle of vectors with Sun; https://i.gifer.com/JrET.gif
Circle of vectors with Kaal; http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMT668/EMAT6680.2002/Jackson/emat6680/write%20up%2010/writeup10images/image8.gif
7.Kali with Mahakaal; https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-084b15fa162dc1f8a6bdf19c8ce4e801-c
8. The Forest and Ecological Succession; LucasMartinFrey – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13274746
The Birth-Life-Death chart; https://www.goodfreephotos.com/albums/vector-images/birth-to-death-vector-clipart.png
The Circle of Mahakaal, Kali and Rta; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Uwe_Graichen/publication/231355151/figure/fig1/AS:393486063947776@1470825796090/The-dependency-between-the-amplitude-of-the-oscillation-an-the-wave-length-while-using.png
9. Hibiscus; lower: By Andy / Andrew Fogg from near Cambridge, UK – can’t resist ’emUploaded by Epibase, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9470239
10. 3-D graph; https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/File:Z_axis.jpg
11. 3-D graph; https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/File:Z_axis.jpg
12. Greater Time Scales; http://www.mcremo.com/ttime.jpg
13. Shiva with Parvati and two sons https://in.pinterest.com/pin/363736107385631488/
14. ibid
15. Monsoon Patterns; https://media.springernature.com/original/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00704-013-0905-1/MediaObjects/704_2013_905_Fig3_HTML.gif
16. Rainfall Anomaly Visualization; https://www.tropmet.res.in/~kolli/MOL/Monsoon/Historical/aismr1871-2017-Sep-30-2017.pdf
17. Rainfall Anomaly with Mean and SD; https://www.tropmet.res.in/kolli/MOL/Monsoon/Historical/aismr-smooth.pdf
18. Monsoon and Agricultural Productivity; https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.1081
19. Dharma and Niti;
Circle ; http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMT668/EMAT6680.2002/Jackson/emat6680/write%20up%2010/writeup10images/image8.gif
Wheel of Dharma; By Shazz, Esteban.barahona [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], from Wikimedia Commons
20. ibid
21. Trident
22.Shiva; https://i0.wp.com/www.wordzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Lord-Shiva-Beautiful-Image.jpg?w=651
Shakti; https://www.jagranimages.com/images/16_11_2017-durga16nov17p.jpg
23. Kamakhya; http://www.shaktipeethas.org/ashtadasa/topic30.html
24. Gayatri; By Raja Ravi Varma – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5030228
Kamakhya; see 23
25. Lalitha Tripura Sundari; https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Tripura_sundari_4.jpg/800px-Tripura_sundari_4.jpg
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