Dūrga

By Jit Majumdar

diificult to reach or access
unapproachable; unconquerable; inaccessible; a fort
a rākşasa slain by goddess Durgā (Sk. Pur.); the myrrh tree, or “guggul” (Commiphora mukul); (fem: dūrgā):
the primary and most predominant form of the Great Mother Goddess, who is depicted as a valiant and majestic warrior woman, with eight, ten, twelve or eighteen arms, brandishing various weapons, riding a lion, and slaying the mighty asura who takes the form of a buffalo (Mahişa), thus called Mahişāsura, and who, as the Mother of the universe, is the consort of Śiva as the Father of the universe, and the daughter of Himāvān, the demigod king as the personification of the Himalayas. She is worshipped throughout India in different names and forms, but most predominantly worshipped by the Bengali people in the above and form, and depicted with Gaņeśa, Lakşmī, Sarasvatī and Kārttīkeya as Her and Śiva’s four children.

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