Devi Suktam — An Eternal Hymn Signifying Our True Nature

Our Ancient Scriptures Can Empower Us Today

Goddess Durga at Ramakrishna Mission, Khar, 2023. Pic credit: Reema Sen

A few days ago, many parts of India celebrated Mahalaya. It is believed that on this day, the Goddess starts from her abode at Kailash, where she stays with her consort, Lord Shiva, to visit this world, her parents’ home. Mahalaya marks the onset of Navratri (the festival of nine nights), which worships the fierce ten-armed Goddess Durga, the warrior form of Parvati.

At the start of Navratri, the Devi is invoked with the Devi Suktam, an ancient hymn from the Rig Veda. As a child, I remember being woken up in the wee hours of the morning when my mother would turn on the radio to listen to the special broadcast celebrating Devi’s advent. This tradition continues even today in many Bengali households. However, since the chant is in Sanskrit, a language that I (unfortunately) am not familiar with, I never understood the significance of the chant until a couple of years ago.

When I first heard Swami Sarvapriyananda explain the hymn (link to his lecture below), I was awed by its raw power, easy conviction, and sheer exhilaration. What stunned me was that this extraordinary poetry had been composed about 5000 years ago by a sage, who was a woman!

This is an ironic yet potent pointer to those following current news events 😀. This chant was not meant as a tribute to the feminine, but it can very well be in today’s times.

The Vedas Are the Oldest Religious Texts Known to Humanity

The Veda is derived from the root word ‘vid’, which means knowledge. This contains the earliest foundational understanding of this universe, human life, and the interplay between forces of nature, divine intervention, and human existence. The Vedas were not composed by any one sage, or even a few sages. It is said that the Rishis “saw” these revelations when immersed in the deepest levels of meditation. This also explains the Indian word for philosophy, darshan, which means to see [the ultimate reality].

Much like scientific research that uncovers laws governing the physical universe, the Vedas are considered eternal truths revealed to the sages.

There are three main traditions of deity worship in Hinduism — the worship of Shiva, Vishnu (and his avatars, Rama and Krishna), and Shakti (the Divine Goddess). All of them have roots in different hymns found in the Vedas.

Devi Suktam is the first Vedic hymn dedicated to the Goddess and is thus considered the origin of Shakta worship, which reveres the Goddess as the primary deity. [You can read here to know more about the Hindu tradition of worshipping the Divine Feminine].

Time to Celebrate the Goddess

Devi Suktam Is an Unusual Hymn

Devi Suktam was composed by Rishika Vagambhrnige. Her name was Vak, and she was the daughter of the sage, Ambhrna.

Unlike other chants, this hymn is not directed to any god. Instead, the hymn celebrates herself, or rather, her divine Self. She writes not as a mere mortal but as an illumined soul, as someone who has realised Oneness with the Universal. She has experienced aham brahmasmi, (or, I am Brahman) and now wholly identifies herself as the Supreme Self.

She is the first to confidently declare that the Ultimate Reality transcends the perceivable universe yet is present and inherent in every atom of creation. She says this with firm conviction, which comes from her direct experience of self-realisation as the Supreme Reality. As you read the lyrics later on in the article, notice how every verse starts with a confident ‘I’, revealing the author’s firm establishment of self in divinity.

This hymn is also regarded as an ode to the Goddess as the personification of the sacred Word or Sound. Vak means speech, and Vagambhrni means the resonance of sound. The hymn establishes sound as the primary energy that carries cosmic intelligence. Hindus consider the sound of “Om” as the Source itself. All forms can be reduced to energy at the core, and sound is the primal energy.

The Hymn

Image Credit: Reema Sen

So that you enjoy the uninterrupted flow of the beautiful lyrics, I have presented the English translation below without any explanation. You may not even need any further elucidation, but I have explained later in case you do.

Image credit: Reema Sen

The Hymn Explained

I proceed with the Rudras, with the Vasus, with the Adityas, and with the Visvedevas; I support both Mitra and Varuna, Agni and Indra, and the two Asvins.

In the Vedic age, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, Indra and the Asvin brothers were the primary Gods. Rudras, Vasus, Adityas, and Visvadevas were the demi-gods.

Vak breaks forth confidently and proclaims: I have become all the Gods. I am the power which makes the world move. I hold (support) all the gods, meaning she is the substratum of all divinities, for she is not different from Brahman, the Ultimate Reality.

I support the foe-destroying Soma, Tvasta, Pasan and Bhaga; I bestow wealth upon the institutor of the rite offering the oblation, deserving of careful protection, pouring forth the libation.

Soma was a valuable herb in the Vedic age, its juice was offered to the gods during yajnas, fire and sacrificial rituals. The gods could not be defeated in battle when they drank soma juice. Tvasta is the god of construction, Pusan is the Sun, which sustains life, and Bhaga is the god of wealth and fortune. Vak, who now identifies as Brahman, says she alone sustains the gods who destroy foes, nourish life, and bestow wealth. She emphasizes that she is the one who bestows good fortune to those who perform the fire rituals, so loved by the gods.

I am the sovereign queen, the collectress of treasures, cognizant (of the Supreme Being), the chief of objects of worship; as such the gods have put me in many places, abiding in manifold conditions, entering into numerous (forms).

Vak most assuredly states: I am the Sovereign of the Universe, the Mother Goddess who creates, sustains and protects, and then destroys the universe. (Remember that she made this statement 5000 years ago!) This is the origin of worshipping the Divine Feminine. Realising “her-self” to be Brahman, she declares that she is the foremost object of adoration in any worship. and states: the gods have established me in different places; I am the same soul present in different life forms.

He who eats food (eats) through me, he who sees, who breathes, who hears what is spoken, does so through me; those who are ignorant of me perish; hear you who have hearing. I tell you that which is deserving of belief.

Every act of a living being, including breathing, eating, seeing, and hearing, is done through the power of the Mother Goddess, who resides in every living being. Vak states: All life is sustained by me, in me and through me. She is not just the cosmic power behind all gods receiving worship, she is also the veritable consciousness of all humans. She is the power by which human life exists and sustains itself. In other words, By Her Light, all is Lit Up.

She also cautions those ignorant of spiritual truths that they will be subject to multiple life cycles. She presents the way to become liberated from multiple cycles of birth and death and asks people to become aware of her (as a Personal God, the Ultimate Reality or their non-dual consciousness). She exhorts: Listen to what I tell you with faith and conviction, for I (credibly) reveal the Truth from the highest state of consciousness. Those who ignore this suffer through repeated cycles of birth and death.

I verily of myself declare this which is approved of by both gods and men; whomsoever I will, I render formidable. I make him a Brahma, a Rsi, or a sage.

I reveal spiritual knowledge and religion. I am that which reveals religion and humanity. She stresses that she speaks by herself, meaning she is the Source that reveals knowledge. She is not the messenger or conduit to whom the secret spiritual knowledge has been revealed — she is the Source.

She continues: Whoever worships me with devotion, I give them what they want. I make him an extraordinary intellect or sage. Worship me to get enlightenment. By my grace, you become strong, wise and powerful.

I bend the bow of Rudra, to slay the destructive enemy of the Brahmanas, I wage war with (hostile) men. I pervade heaven and earth.

I remove all the obstacles in the path of my devotees. I fix the arrows on the bow of the Rudra. Rudra is another name for Lord Shiva and is known as a fierce deity. I protect my devotees and wage war for the benefit of humanity. Being one with Brahman, I am all-pervasive and permeate air, water and land.

I bring forth the paternal (heaven) upon the brow of this (Supreme Being), my birthplace is in the midst of waters; from thence I spread through all beings, and touch this heaven with my body.

I give birth to the heavens and put it as the head of God. The poet reminds us that we are forever in the lap of the Mother. She says: I am the Ocean of Cosmic Consciousness, from whence all creation starts and subsides. I am born of God, am the inseparable power of God, and manifest whenever there is Creation. I enter all beings that are in the universe, and hence touch the heavens with my body.

In essence, Vak states that being consciousness, all beings are within her and through her. Nothing in creation is outside her.

I breathe forth like the wind giving form to all created worlds; beyond the heaven, beyond this earth (am I), so vast am I in greatness.

When the worlds were created at the beginning of the Universe, I blew through that like a breeze. I gave form to creation and invested them with existence, light and meaning. This entire creation comes from me, exists on my lap, and disappears into me. I transcend this completely. I am beyond space and also beyond this earth, I am neither matter nor mind. I am the cause and effect, I am the essence of all, yet I am also beyond this. Beyond this transient creation. is the sky of existence-consciousness-bliss, which is what I am.

Devi Suktam Encapsulates the Essence of Religion

The Vedas were revealed to the sages, and they chose to reveal the most exalted truths through a woman.

Devi Suktam established the practice of Shakta tradition in India, where the Goddess is worshipped as the primary deity.

Furthermore, this short but powerful chant promises any sincere spiritual aspirant that he or she too can attain the status of Vak and realise the highest truth that there is only One God or non-dual Consciousness. And that the aspirant is not different from It.

The hymn symbolizes the Oneness of Existence, which is the central message of Hinduism, irrespective of which God or tradition one follows. God is worshipped in different forms or without any form, but the Ultimate Reality is beyond all differentiation created by names and forms.

Until we attain the state of self-realization and uncover our true nature, we suffer from the Illusion of Separation. However we can still get strengthened by Vak’s message that unambiguously states that it is only Divinity that operates through us in all our actions. Through constant remembrance, we can choose to identify ourselves as a part of the vast ocean of Cosmic Consciousness, rather than limiting ourselves to being a small wave.

Finally, once again, we are reminded of this world’s transient nature and the divine power that operates through us. Yet, blinded by Maya, we stay entangled in this world, driven by our egoic impulses and attachments. Only with Divine Grace and the constant remembrance of our true immortal selves can we break free from the shackles of fear, doubt and petty impulses to wake up to the reality of our true nature, which is pure existence-consciousness-bliss or Satchidananda!

Acknowledgements:

It would be foolish for me to claim credit for any of the content of this article. I have primarily used the sources listed below:

1. Swami Sarvapriyananda’s inspiring lecture

   A Hymn to the Devi

2. I have taken the English translation from Rgveda Samhita English translation according to H.H. Wilson & Bhasya Sayanacarya

3. I have borrowed heavily from Veda Vihangam The Essential Veda written by Samarpan

4. Rgveda for the Layman written by Shyam Ghosh

Any inaccuracies or limitations in this post are all mine.