The Mahashakti

VANDE MATARAM

Srimat Anirvan

Sri Aurobindo has bequeathed to us the Mantra of Mother worship.

“ Om Anandamayee, Chaitanyamayee, Satyamayee Parame”

Thou art Omkara, thou art manifested Bliss, manifested Consciousness and

manifested Existence –Truth art thou, Oh Supreme Mother.

In this Mantra, the Mother has clearly been addressed as Brahmamayee or

Manifested Brahman. Brahman is the absolute Purusha and the Brahmamayee

Mother is the Absolute Prakriti. The conception of Brahman is identified with

the concept Sat, Chit and Ananda. And the Mother is perceived as the

Anandamayee, Chaitanyamayee and Satyamayee. There is no difference in the

essence of the two ideas; the difference lies only in the sequence. Additionally,

in the Mother’s Mantra, there is the reference of ‘mayee’, an implied suggestion

of Manifested or ‘maya’. Brahman is essential Sacchidananda and the Mother

is the manifested Sacchinanada. Brahman is the Supreme Purusha and the Mother,

as the manifestation of Brahman, is His intrinsic Shakti — His Para Prakriti.

Brahman is Shaktiman and the Mother is His Shakti. Essentially, there is no

difference between Shakti and the Lord of Shakti — the distinction is only in

the specific and relative expressions of the Cosmic Oneness.

That Sri Aurobindo has introduced the Mother, the embodiment of Brahma

Shakti, by arranging the Brahmic aspects in a reverse order, is to be noted. This

gives us a hint of a double aspect. First, Brahman and His Shakti are not only

identical but are interwoven with each other. This has been made transparent

in the hexagonal symbol consisting of an intertwined upward and a downward

triangle, which Sri Aurobindo has used to represent his vision of the Truth

Revealed.

Secondly, in this Mantra, as is apparent, we find the sequence in the reverse

order. The Mother is addressed first as the Embodiment of Bliss, then of

Consciousness and lastly of Truth. A little introspection would reveal that

In our day-to-day life, our mother, first and foremost, is the embodiment

of Ananda — of ecstasy — the source of love and beauty. It is the mother, who

brings us near to our father. Mother is Bliss, Father is Consciousness or

Knowledge and their inseparable union is the Truth of our existence.

Moreover, there are two aspects of the Blissful nature of Mother. In one, she

is verily the Universal Mother, in the other, she is the Beloved of the Supreme

Purusha. Both together constitute her aspect of Maheswari or Parameswari. In

one form, she is Durga as well as Radha. In this connexion, we can bring to

our mind the Durga Stotra of Sri Aurobindo and Radha’s Prayer by Sree Ma.

Together they form the twin petals of the same lotus of Ajna Chakra.

The Mother, in one Universal Form, represents the multitudinous creation.

She has descended for the accomplishment of Divine Work in different families

and different countries from age to age. India has worshipped the Divine Mother

from time immemorial. Worship of the Mother is a special trait of the country,

especially in Bengal. We see mother not only as one who gave us Life, and

brought us up but also in the extensive vastness of the country that nourished

and cherished our Soul and beyond that we even see her as the Universal mother

of All. Everywhere it is the one and only Mother. We worship her with the Mantra

of Fire — VANDE MATARAM; we utter the Mantra of worship of the Divine

Mother;

“Om Anandamayee, Chaitanyamayee. Satyamayee Parame!”

following this reverse concept is very conducive to our Sadhana.