By Suchitra Vashisth
The mother of all life forms,
The feminine determination, prowess, wisdom, and warmth,
She, the pious beauty, the divine manifestation,
‘MAIYA’, the essence of the heavenly region.
With a Lotus in one hand,
She is the first form of ‘Durga’, with a Trident in the other hand,
And riding her bull named, ‘Nandi’,
She is known as ‘Shailputri’.
The second form being ‘Brahamacharini’,
The goddess symbolizes the meditative Parvati,
With a Rudraksh in one and Kamandalu in the other,
She is our calm and considerate mother.
Goddess ‘Chandraghanta’ gets her name from the moon,
Its crescent shape, she showers on us boons,
With arms in Ten hands,
She doesn’t spare those from devilish lands.
The warmth giver to eggs in the womb,
She is the creator, gives birth to warriors for the tombs,
‘Kushmanda’ is her name,
She is fourth in the frame.
Kartikeya beheld in her lap,
‘Skandamata’, allows him to take a nap,
With her four arms, holding lotuses, kamandalu and a bell,
She sits on a lotus and keeps us well.
The form of strength, she is ‘Katyayani’,
She is the most violent form of goddess Parvati,
With a lion as a ride, to this warrior,
There’s none who could be called furrier.
The dark-complexioned, she kills demons to death,
A four-armed deity, carrying a sword and a trident,
She rides a donkey and contains the entire universe in her third eye,
‘Kaalratri’ she is, the seventh divine.
A Trident and a Pellet Drum in her hands,
She travels on her elephant to all lands,
She is ‘Mahagauri’,
Reverenced on the eighth day of Navratri.
The symbolism of perfection,
Holding a mace, discus, and a book, is the four armed connection,
‘Siddhidatri’ on the emblematic lotus,
Is the ninth form of blessing on us.
I bow before her, who paves my way,
In your feet O' ‘Maiya’, my head lay,
To make you smile, I pray, I live,
To do as much, in everything you give.