He Ma Durga

Since my post about Donna De Lory there seems to have been a lot of interest in the translation of her song titled “He Ma Durga”.  My best translation of the Sanskrit title of the song would be “Oh Mother Durga”.  In Hinduism, the Goddess Durga is considered to be the embodiment of creative feminine force.  She exists in a state of self-sufficiency and fierce compassion.  Durga is considered by Hindus to be an aspect of Kali, and the mother of Ganesh, Saraswati, Lakshmi and Kartikeya.  She is thus considered the fiercer, demon-fighting form of Lord Shiva’s wife, the Goddess Parvati.  She manifests fearlessness and patience, and never loses her sense of humour, even during battles of epic proportion.  She is normally pictured as having ten arms and within each hand she carries a different weapon.  She is also normally pictured riding a tiger or a lion.  On the CD cover of  The Lover & the Beloved Donna says, underneath the lyrics to “He Ma Durga”, that this mantra is “a call to the divine Mother, that we may embody her perfect example of unconditional love and compassion”.  That definitely gives us all something to work towards.