ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>CHA&#7750&#7692&#298 DI V&#256R (the Ballad of goddess Cha&#7751&#7693&#299)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279<i>CHA&#7750&#7692&#298 DI V&#256R</i> (the Ballad of goddess <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299</i>) or, to give it its exact title, <i>V&#257r Sr&#299 Bhagaut&#299 J&#299 K&#299</i> by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh and included in the <i>Dasam Granth</i>, is the story of the titantic contest between Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 and other gods on the one hand and the demons on the other. The poem allegorizes the eternal conflict between good and evil. The source of the legend is "Dev&#299 mahatmya, " a section of the <i>M&#257rka&#7751&#7693eya-pur&#257&#7751a</i>, and the narrative follows, in the main, the classical detail though the dominant interest lies in the character of Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 which, through the creative genius of the poet, attains reality and firmness belying its mythical origin. The <i>V&#257r</i>, in Punjabi, is one of the trilogy of poems about Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 in the <i>Dasam Granth</i>, the other two being in Braj.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cha&#7751&#7693&#299, the eight-armed goddess, consort of &#346iva, the god of destruction in the Hindu mythology, is also known by the name of Durg&#257 or Bhagaut&#299. This last name has multiple connotations : it stands for goddess Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 as well as for the sword, which, according to Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, is the symbol of power (<i>&#347akti</i>) and ultimately of Ak&#257l, the Timeless One Himself. Sikhism is strictly monotheistic and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, like his nine spiritual predecessors, promoted belief in the One Formless God, excluding all incarnations and images. He chose the Pauranic story of Durg&#257's valorous fight against the demons for its martial import.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The <i>V&#257r</i> opens with an invocation to God symbolized as sword and then to the first nine Gur&#363s or preceptors of the Sikh faith. This part of the poem with the subsequent addition of invocation to the Tenth Gur&#363, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, forms the opening section of the current Sikh ritual supplication, <i>Ard&#257s</i>. The story begins with the demons overthrowing the gods and establishing their own sway where once the gods ruled. The Satyuga, the age of truth, is past and it is now the time of not-so-righteous Tret&#257. Great discords prevail in the world; N&#257rada - famous for his ability to stir up passions - is abroad. The gods in their helplessness <i>turn</i> to Mount Kail&#257sh where lives Durg&#257. Their leader, King Indra, supplicates the goddess for help : "Thy shelter we seek, Goddess Durgsh&#257h!" Riding her demon-devouring lion, Durg&#257 at once sets out to annihilate the evil-doers. A fierce battle ensues, and the heavens are torn by the beating of drums, blowing of shells and the piercing cries of war. The sun becomes invisible in the dazzling brilliance of shiny swords and spears. In the awesome confusion of battle, the warriors fall to the ground, in agony, like drunken madmen. Those pierced with spears lie motionless like olives on the branch of the tree. The fallen heroes look like so many domes and turrets struck down by lightning. The demons fight with dreadful determination and not one of them has been seen fleeing the field. Their womenfolk watch the bloody scene from their towers, amazed at the goddess's wondrous valour.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Durg&#257' s sword seems dancing in her hand raining death on the dauntless foe. The demons, full of wrath, close in upon her roaring like the black clouds. The mighty Mahkh&#257sur comes in great fury, but Durg&#257 smites him with such force that her sword, breaking the helmet to pieces and piercing through the body of the rider, the horse and the earth, rests on the horns of the bullock (who supports the earth). The Queen, upon her stately lion, tears through the battle-ranks of the demons demolishing them with her deathly sword. "Durg&#257, with God's grace, has won the day. " Restoring to the gods their lost kingdom, she returns. But the troubles of the gods are not yet ended. The demons again rally under their chiefs, &#346umbha and Ni&#347umbha, and march upon the kingdom of Indra. The gods are again undone and are forced to seek Durgsh&#257h's help. The goddess is ready for another battle.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 - another name for Durg&#257 in the poem - flashes upon the battle's dread array like lightning. Warlike heroes such as Lochana Dh&#363mra come forward to match the goddess's prowess, but they all fall to her fatal sword one by one. &#346umbha sends out fresh armies to face the fight. The goddess meets them with an angry charge of arrows sending many a hero to eternal sleep. It is now the turn of another, &#346ra&#7751vat B&#299j, who brings a mighty host of ironclad, vengeful soldiers. Durg&#257 mounts the lion as she hears the fiendish din and, flourishing the mace of battle in her hand, leads her army on. But deathless is &#346ra&#7751vat B&#299j. As the drops of his blood fall to the ground, hosts of demons arise from them to join the strife. Many more are born every instant than Durg&#257 and the gods can destroy. The goddess, in a rage, remembers K&#257l&#299, who bursts forth from her forehead in a flame of fire. Durg&#257 and K&#257l&#299 both spread ruin in the enemy's ranks with their bloodwashed swords. At last, &#346ra&#7751vat B&#299j is surrounded and "the swords around him look like a crowd of fair maidens eagerly gathered to see a newly arrived bridegroom. " K&#257l&#299 drinks the blood falling from Durg&#257's blows so that no drop touches the earth, thus preventing the birth of more demon warriors.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Great is &#346umbha's anguish when he learns of &#346ra&#7751vat B&#299j's death. The wrathful demons prepare for revenge. The firm earth trembles under the marching heroes like a vessel upon stormy seas. But resistless is Durgsh&#257h on the field of battle. She cuts up the foemen like a hewer cuts the twigs. Those who were never tired of fighting have had more than their fill today. Mounting his fiery steed comes Ni&#347umbha with a heavy bow he had specially sent for from Mult&#257n. But before he can take aim, a deadly blow from Durgsh&#257h's sword bears him down. The same fate awaits &#346umbha. Seeing their chiefs fall in this manner, the demons raise a loud howl of woe. They leave their horses and fly with weeds of grass in their months in token of surrender.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Durgsh&#257h restores to Indra his crown. "Hail to Jagm&#257t - the Universal Mother, " cry all the worlds.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Durg&#257 emerges from this account triumphant, high-spirited and glorious. She is the symbol of divine power and justice. To the virtuous, she is a ready and kindly friend and protector.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 d&#299 V&#257r</i>, the different names used for the goddess are Durgsh&#257h, Cha&#7751&#7693&#299, Dev&#299ta, R&#257&#7751&#299, Bhav&#257n&#299, Jagm&#257t and M&#257h&#257 M&#257&#299 - the Great Mother.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The chief point of <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 d&#299 V&#257r</i> lies in its warlike temper which is evoked by a succession of powerful and eloquent similes and a dignified, echoic music of the richest timbre. The poem, though not the size of a true epic, has a remarkable breadth of sweep and intensity and a heightening rhythmical tempo with well-marked climactic patterns. On the reader's mind it makes a stirring and invigorating impact. Niha&#7749gs, among Sikhs, especially include it in their daily devotion and derive much inspiration and spirit from reciting it.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Loehlin, C. H. , <i>The Granth of Guru Gobind Si&#7749gh and the Khalsa Brotherhood</i>. Lucknow, 1971<BR> <li class="C1"> Ashta, Dharam Pal, <i>The Poetry of the Dasam Granth</i>. Delhi, 1959<BR> <li class="C1"> Nikky, Gunindar Kaur Singh, "Durga Recalled by the Tenth Guru, "in <i>The Journal of Religious Studies</i>, vol. XVI, Nos. 1 & 2. Patiala, 1988<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>Aspects of Punjabi Literature</i>. Firozpur, 1961<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagg&#299, Ratan Si&#7749gh, <i>Dasam Granth Parichaya</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> Bed&#299, K&#257l&#257 Si&#7749gh, ed. , <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 d&#299 V&#257r Sat&#299k</i>. Delhi, 1965<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurbhagat Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>