The Hindu goddess Durga
Introduction to the Hindu Goddess Durga that kills your demons

Durga is an incarnation of Devi or the Mother Goddess, a unified symbol of all divine forces. For Shaivas Durga is the wife of Shiva. For Vaishnavas and Shaktas Durga is another form of Uma or Parvati.

The Hindu Goddess Durga manifested when evil forces threathened the very existance of the Gods. To destroy these demons, all gods offered their radiance to her creation and each formed part of Durga's body. Durga also obtained very powerful weapons, such as the chakra from Vishnu and a trident from Shiva.

The name "Durga" in Sanskrit means "invincible". The syllable "du" is synonymous with the 4 devils of poverty, sufferings, famine and evil habits. The "r" refers to diseases and the "ga" is the destroyer of sins, injustice, irreligion, cruelty and laziness.

Durga killed the powerful demon Mahish and all his great commanders. Demonic forces are self-destructive but very powerful. Divine forces are constructive but slow and efficient. When demonic forces create imbalance, all gods unite, becoming one divine force called Shakti or Durga.

Click here to hear the Durga mantra online.

All Durga pictures of paintings

This introduction on the Hindu Goddess Durga was extracted from "Tools for Tantra", which contains many more details on Durga, also on the construction and meaning of the related Durga Yantra. This yantra is said to be the most powerfull one after the Shri Yantra, which itself belongs to one of the 10 Mahavidias, or incarnations of the Divine Mother. These are all described in the book, including their yantras. Click here for all extracts from this book.