The Glory of the Goddess-Devi Mahatmyam

The inner metaphorical significance of the Devi Mahatmyam
Now let us examine the significance of the Devi Mahatmyam or Saptashati from the level of
inner psychic reality. The Devi Mahatmyam begins with Markandeya narrating how a
virtuous king named Suratha, dispossessed of his kingdom meets the merchant Samadhi who
too has been dispossessed of his wealth and cast out by his own wife and children. Instead of
finding tranquillity amid the peaceful and spiritual surroundings of the sage Medhas’
hermitage, they are plagued by thoughts of loss, betrayal and attachment to the past. Together
they approach the wise sage Medhas, whose task it is to awaken them to a higher spiritual
awareness. The king, the merchant and the sage are archetypal characters that reside in all of
us to differing degrees, characters with whom we can identify to varying degrees.
The King, the Merchant and the Sage as allegories to the Body, Mind and Intellect
Suratha is “one who has a good chariot” (su: good; ratha: chariot). The body is the chariot
while the Self is the rider. “The Self is the rider, and the body the chariot; the intellect is the
charioteer, and the mind the reins” (Katha Upanishad 1. 3. 3). Man does the journey of life
through the cycle of samsara with the chariot (ratha) of the body. In this long cycle of
innumerable births called samsara chakra, man goes through countless lives. The cycle of
samsara and its inevitable sufferings goes on as long as man does not realize that it is the Self
(Atman) that is the rider and not the body or mind or pseudo-self. Unfortunately we continue
to suffer till we realize this. According to the world-view of the Devi Mahatmyam , it is the
Goddess who is the Supreme Self. Hence as the Supreme Self She is the rider. Born a warrior
(kshatriya) Suratha is endowed with a strong physique, a good body. By virtue of his
strength, he is capable of protecting himself as well as others. Initially he has all the material
enjoyments that come naturally to a king. Yet he loses them later on in life as one would
expect in an impermanent and temporal world. This loss coupled with his continued
attachment is the cause of his suffering. Till then all along he had not realized that the
Goddess, the Supreme Self is the rider. So in spite of everything he was not truly a “Su”ratha
or one with a good chariot.
Samadhi, on the other hand is a merchant (vaishya). The word ‘samadhi’ indicates an
integrated or concentrated or focussed mind, a mind that is absorbed in meditation (‘sam’:
together or integrated; ‘a’: towards; and ‘dha’: to hold). In other words the word ‘samadhi’
denotes a focused or concentrated mind, a mind in meditation. As his name indicates,
Samadhi, the merchant is single-minded or one-pointed in his pursuits. Being a merchant
initially his focus is on wealth. Because he has the natural ability to be focused, he attains his
goal-material wealth. In the first half of their lives the king and the merchant pursue their
goals- power and riches-respectively and they attain their goals. Both the king and the
merchant are good by nature. The king protects his subjects like his own children while the
noble merchant shares his prosperity with his whole family. But power and riches are not
permanent in this ever-changing world. As is often the case both of them lose their hardearned
and well deserved power and riches. Cheated by people whom they trusted, they
realise the limitations of worldly life. Apart from fate, their own relatives cheat them. In fact
the merchant’s wife and sons misappropriate his wealth and cast him out. In spite of their
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