Durga -Divine Mother

A few years ago I received a gift of a framed picture of Durga riding on a tiger. I have a strong affinity with tigers, so was delighted to receive this.


Goddess Durga represents the power of the Supreme Being that maintains moral order and righteousness in the creation. The Sanskrit word Durga means a fort or a place that is protected and difficult to reach. Durga, also called Divine Mother, protects humanity from evil and misery by destroying 'evil' forces such as selfishness, jealousy, prejudice, hatred, anger & negative ego.

Goddess Durga has many names, such as Parvati, Ambika, and Kali In the form of Parvati, She is known as the divine spouse of Lord Shiva and is the mother of Ganesha Karttikeya Jyoti. There are many temples dedicated to Durga's worship in India.

Goddess Durga is shown in a female form, wearing red clothes. She has eighteen arms, carrying many objects in Her hands. The red colour symbolises action and the red clothes signify that She is always busy destroying evil and protecting humanity from pain and suffering caused by evil forces.


Following is the symbolism associated with Goddess Durga:
A tiger symbolizes unlimited power. Durga riding a tiger indicates that She possesses unlimited power and uses it to protect virtue and destroy evil. The eighteen arms of Durga signify that She possesses combined power of the nine incarnations of Lord Vishnu that have appeared on the earth at different times in the past. The tenth incarnation, the Kalkin (, is still to come. Thus, Goddess Durga represents a united front of all Divine forces against the negative forces of evil and wickedness.

The sound that emanates from a conch is the sound of the sacred syllable AUM, which is said to be the sound of creation. A conch in one of the Goddess's hands signifies the ultimate victory of virtue over evil and righteousness over unrighteousness.

Other weapons in the hands of Durga such as a mace, sword, disc, arrow, and trident convey the idea that one weapon cannot destroy all different kinds of enemies. Different weapons must be used to fight enemies depending upon the circumstances. For example, selfishness must be destroyed by detachment, jealousy by desirelessness, prejudice by self-knowledge, and ego by discrimination.
Better poilsh my picture then !