Swami Shivapadananda on the Divine Shakti
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji Day 505
Swamiji continues on Devi the Divine Mother
When they were praying, the question she asked was, 'Who are you worshipping?' The greatest question. When there is a question, there is knowledge, and this knowledge manifested out of the body of Mother Parvati, who said, 'Ah, they are worshipping Me.'
Sri Ramakrishna used to say, 'In this body [i.e. his own body] there are two – the worshipped and the worshipper.' Similarly, in the body of Mother Parvati there were the two: the worshipped and the worshipper. The worshipper Mother Parvati, the outer form, went to the Himalayas and the worshipped Mother Parvati manifested and revealed who she was. She was the Self of all the devas [gods] that uplift, in the form of vidya [knowledge], brahmavidya, atmanvidya, Self-knowledge.
So Mother Parvati first removed the obstacles on the path of creation and later removed the obstacles on the path of prosperity. Lastly she gave the Rishis [Sage-Seer-Saints] the knowledge of who they were. Then she disappeared.
It is this Mother I worship, this Mother is my real Mother. Nay, this Mother is our real Self. This Mother is hidden – just as fire is hidden in wood and sparks of fire are hidden in stones. This Mother is present in every bit of space and solid matter and also in that which we know or know not. Again and again I prostrate to you, O Devi, who takes different forms. Om aim hreem kleem chamundaya vijay.
Without her Lord Shiva is a corpse. Without her Lord Brahma is a skeleton. Without her Lord Vishnu is a paralysed being. May that Shakti protect us, guide us and give us devotion.
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