Durga

Who is Durga?

There are enemies that cannot be defeated by ordinary means. The demon Mahishasura had received a boon from Brahma: no man, no god could kill him. He knew it, and he used it — driving the gods out of heaven, claiming dominion over the three worlds, spreading chaos and suffering without limit.

The gods were helpless. They had tried everything. And in their helplessness, they did the one thing left to them: they pooled all their divine energy together.

From the combined shakti of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra, Yama, and every other god — from the concentrated light of all divine power — Durga was born. Blazing like a thousand suns, riding a lion, armed with the weapons of every god, she rose to fight the fight that none of them could fight alone.

This is who Durga is: not merely a goddess, but the totality of divine power in feminine form. Durga means “the one who is difficult to reach” — or “the fortress that is hard to cross.” She is the ultimate stronghold of the cosmos, the unconquerable.

And she fights — not with anger, not with hatred — but with the fierce love of a mother defending her children.

Iconography and Symbolism

Durga’s many arms are not decoration — each one holds a precise teaching.

Her lion (or tiger) is as significant as the weapons. The lion is the king of beasts — strength, courage, the natural world in its full power — and Durga rides it without fear. She is not carried by power; she commands it.

Her expression is the most important thing: fierce, yes, but not cruel. Her eyes hold both the fierceness of battle and the compassion of the mother. She fights demons — but she is also the refuge of her devotees.

The Defeat of Mahishasura

The battle between Durga and the buffalo-demon Mahishasura (mahi = buffalo, asura = demon) is one of the central myths of Hinduism, recounted in the Devi Mahatmya — the great scripture of the Goddess tradition.

Mahishasura was not easy to fight. He kept changing shape: first a buffalo, then a lion, then a human, then an elephant, then back to a buffalo. Each transformation was a new challenge. For nine days (the origin of Navratri — nine nights), the battle raged.

On the tenth day — Vijayadashami (Dussehra) — Durga pinned the demon beneath her lion’s paw, pierced him with her trident, and severed his head. The three worlds were freed. The gods were restored to heaven. Light returned.

The story is not just mythology. Every person carries a Mahishasura — an ego, a habit, a pattern of thinking — that seems impossible to defeat, that shifts and changes and evades. Navratri is an invitation to call on Durga’s power and fight that inner battle for nine days. By the tenth, something can change.

The Nine Forms — Navadurga

During Navratri’s nine nights, each day is dedicated to one of Durga’s nine forms:

Worship and Practice

Navratri (nine nights) is celebrated twice each year — in spring (Chaitra) and autumn (Ashwin). The autumn Navratri, preceding Dussehra, is the most widely observed and is the context for Bengal’s great Durga Puja.

In Bengal, Durga Puja is not just a religious event — it is a cultural event of staggering scale. For five days, towering clay images of Durga (with Saraswati and Lakshmi flanking her, and Ganesha and Kartikeya as her children) are installed in elaborately decorated pandals (marquees) across every neighborhood. The city transforms. On the final day — Vijayadashami — the images are carried in procession and immersed in the river, amid tears, joy, and the chant of Durga Ma ki jai.

Garba and Dandiya dancing through the nine nights of Navratri, especially in Gujarat, is another expression of this celebration — dancing in honor of the Goddess, spinning through the night in concentric circles around an image of Durga or a lit lamp.

The Mahishasura Mardini Stotram — the hymn of the one who killed Mahishasura — is among the most powerful and poetic prayers in Sanskrit. Even if you do not know Sanskrit, hearing it chanted is an experience that touches something deep.

Ya Devi sarva bhuteshu shakti roopena samsthita — “The goddess who dwells in all beings in the form of power.” She is everywhere, the force behind every act of courage, protection, and love.

Call on her when the battle feels too hard. She has fought harder ones.