A night with Nava Shakti - Chamunda

She woke up in cold sweat,
What was that?
All she remembered were those eyes.
A man moved around,
A lightning in the dark, two eyes so powerful
Swept the air as they danced to his beat.
He resounded again...

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

She stood, silent looking at the sea,
The waves advancing with force washing her feet,
Giving additional rhythm to the drumbeat.
The moon swayed in the night sky,
Tossing among silent clouds
As the wind whistled on.
The mridangam beat reverberated in her mind...

She raised her feet, looked up to the air and called to the Goddess Chamunda.

Oh Mother
Help me perform the very dance,
The dance of fury
The dance of lightning
Those very steps that you walk...

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

The feet raised, the body moves
The muscles wake up
To the calls of the night
The cat moves in stealth
Chamunda descends

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

The dimly lit cloudy stage
The wet floor with waves
The slow beat in the waters
A trident gold the goddess awakes
The spirit invoked

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

The muscles like a panther move
The feet agile, the body smooth
The steps sure, the earth resounds
Sending ripples through the wind
The fury within pours forth

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

Together the beat, together the step
They yield the trident of death
The eyes glow, the limbs move
The grace within unfolds
The bodies arch back, and then attack

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

A red glow in pure white skin
The Goddess shimmers in gold
A deadly trident circles around
Her deft hands behold
The power within

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

The flames light up, the gods descend
The sea recedes and comes forth again
The clouds move, the moon reveals
The bright eyed goddess moves
Crossing the man in rhythmic outburst

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

Their backs meet, their feet retreat
The tridents move like lightening
Circles of light that never meet
As they unite and depart
The energy within overflows

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

The tiger moves, in similar step
As she takes her feet through the air
Her grace her light her charm revealed
She moves in fury
Her feet sink in the sand beneath

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

Such force, the tremors felt
The heart pound the heat rises
Her skin glows, her dress in red
Sways to the wind as she flows
The trident now her halo holds

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

The gods witness the performer go
The man gives the beat to her feet
Her moves so easy her mind so calm
That sways with such delicacy
Through the shaken air

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

Such grace unknown, such power not felt
That brings the great gods to earth
Lord Shiva beholds her silent steps
The shastras of bharata unfold
The dance of fury, the dance of vigor

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||

The moon hides, the sea calm
The man bring down the rhythm
The dance concludes the body weakens
Chamunda withdraws from the being
A miracle engulfed into the silence again.

damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum |
damadamadama | damadamadama | damadamadum ||














Photo courtesy: Glossary of Indian Art | Shunya.net

Karma Bhakti or Jnana
The way of devotion or the way of selfless work or the path of knowledge
All or one ?

Each is a part of the other integral
Bhakti matures into knowledge
As knowledge matures into Bhakti
In every seeker

Knowledge of the One undivided Divine
In apparently divided forms
Is the root for selfless work

Knowledge and love that the Divine ordains
Forms the basis for renuciation of fruits of action

Should I wish to eat a sweet can I eat just sugar?
There is the milk of knowledge
the ghee of selfless work
That makes a sweet a treat to eat

Ultimately in that union with the Divine
Encompasses all the paths

Devi Sureshwari...

....Bhagavati Gange!

Yet again, one more time I had the opportunity to visit the immense Himalaya and touch the feminine waters of the Ganga. Travelling in a boat across the Ganga at Rishikesh, watching with delight, the Ganga Arati by the devout on the banks every evening, floating diyas in flower cups that are sailing like lamps of joy on the waters. While on my blog Akshara, I have begun writing about the Himalayas, here on Cosmic Consciousness, I feel like writing on the malleable, ductile, fluid, chirpy, bouncy, serene, violent, forceful, quiet, elegant, charming, mind-numbing Ganga that can take the one meditating on her to the state of Samadhi in a trice.
So in many many forms, the Ganga will begin to flow....