GODDESS
MATANGI: Matangi is the Hindu Goddess of Inner Thought and Wisdom. This
means she oversees the spoken word as she mystically presides over the
more mystic inner kind of knowledge. Matangi is the ninth among the Dasa
Maha Vidyas and is their doorkeeper but she is a primary form as the
all powerful Goddess. As the highest truth, she is not bound by caste
regulations or rules. She is described as the Dark One, a form of
Saraswathi, incarnated as the daughter of Matang Rishi, a chandal who
resisted the caste system and achieved brahimhood through karma. She
worshiped Indra and later Goddess Saraswathi and became his daughter. In
the mythic cycle of Daksha yajna, she appears as a manifestation of
Sati, wife of Lord Siva and the Daksha’s daughter.
Lord Siva is
also known as Matang. His Shakti or power is called Matangi. The goddess
has dark emerald complexion and possesses a disc of a moon on her
forehead. The three-eyed goddess is seated on the crown decorated with
jewels. Her eyes are intoxicated. She is sixteen with a full breast and
slim waist. Below her navel are three horizontal folds of skin. Her
luster is like a blue lotus and is destroyer like forest fire. In each
of her four hands, she has a noose, a mace, an axe and a hook. She is a
destroyer of the demons by enchanting them first with her beauty and
fulfiller of every desire of her devotees. At times she is seen seated
on a corpse, holding a skull and a bowl of blood and untidy long hair.
She is sometimes depicted with dark green skin and three eyes and holds a
parrot and a jewel encrusted veena. This is the same musical instrument
as Saraswathi. Matangi is surroundered by nature especially birds,
green and red parrots which represent a guru.
In mythology,
Matangi is associated with Ucchista Matangini, the Goddess who loves
pollution explained by her origins. Once Lord Vishnu and his consort
Lakshmi visited Lord Siva and Parvathi. The guests made food offerings,
which while being tasted dropped to the floor. Ucchista means spittle
defiled or polluted. From this prasada evolved a maiden known as
Ucchista Matangini. Matangi is also associated with Tantra. Pranatosini
Tantra traces the origin of Matangini. Once Parvathi left Siva and did
not return for some time. Siva disguised himself as an ornament maker
and tested her faithfulness. Parvathi did not give in but became
furious. Later Parvathi disguised herself as a huntress. Siva was so
impressed and turned himself as a chandala. They made love and the
goddess requested that they make love in the form of chandala for this
form to last forever as Uccista-Chandalini. In Svatantra Tantra legend,
sage Matanga assumed austerities to suppress all creatures. After a
considerable period, Goddess Tripurasundari appeared and emitted rays
from her eyes from which Kali emerged with a greenish complexion and
took the form of Raja-Matangini. Thus creatures were all brought under
control.
Matangi is the advisor to Goddess Tripura Sundari who
summons her to attain command over speech and knowledge. It is said that
Matangi manifests Herself as Goddess Meenakshi Amman at Madurai. She is
also worshipped as Ellama and this is connected to the myth of
Parasurama placing the head of Renuka on a recluse woman. Renuka was the
daughter of Renu. She was married to sage Jamadagni and their son was
Parasurama. (Renuka-Ellamma would be posted under separate cover) Thus
Matangi appears in varying conceptions. Her dhyanas too are diverse: Her
complexion can range from white to depict Tantric Saraswathi; brown or
black to depict tribal chandala or green as Madurai Meenakshi. She also
personifies as Shyamala or Kali.
Goddess Matangi is the
embodiment of thought. As Divine Speech, She is the Goddess of the
spoken word as well as outward articulation of inner knowledge,
including all forms of art, music and dance. Matangi relates to
Saraswati, the Goddess of wisdom and knowledge. She is the form of
Saraswati directed towards inner knowledge. She represents the teachings
of the guru, and the continuity of spiritual instruction in the world.
By honouring her, we also honour the guru. Those seeking to teach others
should seek the grace of Matangi. She is the cosmic power that makes a
householder’s life comfortable by granting the principle objects of a
householder – dharma, artha, kama and moksha. She is the goddess of
beauty, marriage, happy life and material gains. The devotees of Matangi
is known to be blessed with Her grace of proficiency in poetry, music,
dancing and the fine-arts in their chosen field.
Goddess
Matangi is associated with the full moon, the ‘night of intoxication.’
The Mahavidyas represent some or other manifestation of the Divine
Mother. They are in this sense also to be regarded as Vidyas or
different approaches to tantric knowledge. Matangi resides in the Throat
Chakra and radiant like the moon. This is the centre of speech. She is
the manifest form of song, and the vibratory sound, Nada, that flows in
the subtle channels, ‘nadis’, down through our entire body and mind.
There is a special ‘nadi’ or channel that runs from the Third Eye to the
tip of the tongue, which relates to Her. This is the stream of
inspiration from the mind to its expression via speech. Matangi
represents the flow of Bliss through this channel, which is experienced
by the creators of great literary, poetic and other artistic work,
resulting in brilliant expressions of creativity. Om Hrim Klim Hum
Matangyai Phat Svaha. Hari Om
— by Yogi Ananda Saraswati ....
___________________________________________________________________________
(Indian
lute).Sri Matangi Devi is not one of the more commonly known goddess
forms; however, She appears in varying conceptions all across the Indian
subcontinent, from the frigid mountains of Tibet to the steaming
jungles of Tamil Nadu. Her Dhyanas are very diverse, and change quite a
lot depending on the Tantra consulted -- Her complexion can range from
white (She is the Tantric Saraswati) to brown or black (She is a tribal
Chandala; an outcaste) to blue or green (She is Meenakshi Madurai, and
also a form of Kali); with two or four arms, holding various different
weapons and other items.
She is seated on an altar and has a
smiling face and a green complexion. Her eyes are intoxicated. Her
clothes and all of Her ornaments are red. Around Her neck is a garland
of kadamba flowers. She is sixteen years old and has very full breasts
and a very slim waist. She holds a skull on Her left side and a bloodied
chopping blade on Her right, And She plays a jewel-encrusted veena. Her
hair is long and wild, and the disc of the moon adorns Her forehead.
She perspires slightly around Her face, which makes Her all the more
beautiful and bright. Below Her navel are three horizontal folds of skin
and a thin vertical line of fine hair. She wears a girdle of jeweled
ornaments, as well as bracelets, armlets, and earrings. She represents
the 64 arts and She is flanked by two parrots.
ABOUT MATANGI
Matangi
is a primary form of the all-powerful Goddess known in Hinduism as
Devi. She appears most prominently as one of the Dasha Mahavidyas (Ten
Wisdom Goddesses) of Tantric Hinduism, but may also be considered a more
primal and fearful form of the popular Goddess Saraswati.
Whereas
Saraswati presides only over Creation, governing traditional knowledge
and arts, Matangi also contains elements of Destruction -- by which She
severs the attachments that bind humans to the mundane world, paving the
way for more unorthodox and revolutionary forms of Creation, knowledge
and art.
She is called the Outcaste Goddess because She prefers to
dwell outside the mainstream, and also because She facilitates the
"polluting" process by which Divine Unstruck Sound is manifested on
Earth in the form of human speech, literature and music. Meditation upon
the esoteric aspects of Matangi provides a bottomless source of
meaning, insight, and inspiration.
HER STORY
Goddess
Parvati (Devi) was away visiting Her father Himalaya, when Her consort
Lord Shiva began longing for Her, and growing jealous in Her absence. So
Shiva disguised Himself as an ornament vendor and appeared at Himalaya s
door. Parvati selected a few shell ornaments, but when She asked the
merchant his price he asked Her to pay him with sexual favors. Outraged
at his presumption, Parvati was about to curse the man when Her divine
intuition revealed he was actually Shiva in disguise, apparently out to
test Her fidelity. Concealing Her knowledge of His true identity, She
replied, "Yes, fine, I agree. But not just now." And She sent Shiva on
His way.
Later, as Shiva prepared for His evening prayers on the
shores of Manas Lake, Parvati came to teach Him a lesson. She took the
form of a beautiful outcaste girl, a member of the wild hunter-gatherer
tribe known as the Chandalas. She was dressed all in red, Her body lean,
Her eyes large, Her breasts full -- and She began a seductive dance by
the lakeside, near the place where Shiva sat.
Enthralled, Shiva
asked Her, "Who are you?" She replied, "I am Matangi, daughter of the
Chandalas. I have come here to do penance." Shiva smiled. "I am the One
who gives fruits to those who do penance," He said, and he took Her hand
and kissed Her, and then He made love to Her. While they were thus
engaged, however, Parvati abruptly transformed Shiva into an outcaste
Chandala Himself -- whereupon He immediately realized that Matangi was
his wife.
Parvati told Him, "Since You made love to Me in the
form of a Chandala girl, She will henceforth be one of My permanent
forms, to be known as Ucchista Chandalini." That is, Matangi, the
Outcaste Goddess, who governs all that is leftover and polluted. And so
Matangi took Her place as one of the Ten Wisdom Goddesses, the primary
forms of Devi/Parvati. And some time later, when Parvati and Shiva
argued and He threatened to leave, Matangi joined the other Mahavidyas
in blocking His every exit, thereby demonstrating (among many other
things) Devi's ultimate power over Shiva -- and His utter inseparability
from Her.
This is only one of the many beautiful myths
surrounding Matangi and Her origins. It is taken from the
Praanatosini-tantra and other sources. Additional versions relate Her to
such pan-Hindu Goddesses as Kali and Lalita Tripurasundari, as well as
to more localized deities -- most notably, Tamil Nadu's Meenakshi
Madurai.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~, here is a longish essay I wrote about Her some time ago.If you would like to read more abouthas
released a CD of hymns to Meenakshi Madurai, two of which focus on
Matangi. The album is volume two of Chasur's "Ksetra" series, and is
entitled, , the prodigiously talented Carnatic (South Indian) classical
vocalist If you would like to hear some hymns toNithyasree Mahadevan Here's a track listing, along with purchase information. ANOTHER DESCRIPTION OF
MATANGI
(Here is another discussion of Matangi, courtesy of "Exotic India.")
In
the second image from the top, above, the background is a golden
yellow, the face of stunning beauty. The bright white complexion of the
Devi, the white color of the birds and that of the conch appear to be
embossing the background. Matangi is seated on a throne of vivid green,
her fingers moving over the strings of the veena (lute). Two lotus
flowers dangle from a slender string tied to the upper part of the
veena, which is shaped like a bird's head.The Goddess Matangi is one of
the Dasha Mahavidyas (Ten Wisdom Goddesses). She is Siddha Vidya or
Tantra personified, thus commanding occult power. On the mundane level,
she is the daughter of the sage
Matanga, who is said to have been the preceptor of Shabari of the Ramayana fame.
At
the edge of her throne sits a parrot seemingly rapt in the music she is
creating. Beside her is a conch-shell. The gentle intoxication caused
by the honey-sweet wine mentioned in Her dhyana-shloka (set out below
the image)> Madhur Madhu Madaam is suggested by the dreamy expression
in Matangi's eyes. Two birds are artistically positioned and the subtle
juxtaposition of light and shade makes the color scheme effective. The
lotus flower under the feet of the Devi is in full glory of bloom.
Being
a goddess of the Tantra system, the crescent moon on Matangi's forehead
here reminds the aspirant on the path of Tantra of the sacrifices he
will have to make to obtain siddhis. The veena tells us of her mastery
over music, rather of the symphony of life in this universe, and of
man's need to harmonize his life to avoid all jarring extremes. The old
folk saying, "Tighten it not so much that it breaks, Loosen it not so
much that no music emanates," is equally applicable to life.
The
parrot, with its tendency to repeat all it hears, symbolizes the
inexorable law of karma, the belief that one cannot escape the
consequences of one's acts. It also represents the world of nature. With
one foot on the lotus, the Goddess controls the terrestrial world in
tranquility and serenity, while the other foot, lifted on to her throne,
represents her sovereignty over the celestial domains. The devotee
invokes her with the following verse:
Aum Maatangyai NamaheGoddess, confer on us well-being,
confer superb prosperity,
grant form, grant victory, grant fame,
kill enemies.
Posted by Sandeepgiri Goswami
Sri
Matangi Devi is not one of the more commonly known goddess forms;
however, She appears in varying conceptions all across the Indian
subcontinent, from the frigid mountains of Tibet to the steaming jungles
of Tamil Nadu. Her Dhyanas are very diverse, and change quite a lot
depending on the Tantra consulted -- Her complexion can range from white
(She is the Tantric Saraswati) to brown or black (She is a tribal
Chandala; an outcaste) to blue or green (She is Meenakshi Madurai, and
also a form of Kali); with two or four arms, holding various different
weapons and other items -- most often a veena (Indian lute).
