Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi

Hi Readers,

Today, I am going to write about Hinduism, our belief and my findings of yet another form of Devi or Shakti. As we all know Hinduism is a religion that does not have a specific founder. It has evolved over the years and will continue to do so. People following Hinduism does not worship one god and has 3600 gods and goddesses. Basically,  Hinduism is divided into major three groups the Shaivism ( followers of Lord Shiva), Vaishnavism ( followers of Lord Krishna or Vishnu) and Shaktism ( followers of Shakti or Devi). However, there is no restriction to follow any God or Goddess and people generally choose their main deity as for their family hierarchy or as per their own belief.

It will be easier to understand Hinduism if you know the Law of Conservation of Energy.
" Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed. Only one form of energy can be transformed into another. The sum total of all the energy remains same in universe. "

Similarly, as per Hindu belief, human body is perishable but the soul is immortal. The soul is subjected to continuous birth and  rebirth. The soul changes bodies as a living person changes clothes. So, after death the soul changes bodies like transformation of energy from one form to another. The cycle continues births after births and the suffering continues endlessly." So, the ultimate goal of a Hindu is to attain salvation that is also called as Moksha or Nirvana.

It most be very confusing for one to understand how we Hindu remember so many Gods and Goddess, even though, we do not follow a strict rule unlike other religion to worship or study our holy scripture. Generally, other religion have only one holy scripture, where as in Hinduism we have many. The Bhagwat Gita, Vedas, Purana, Upanishads, Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Yes, worshiping or visiting temples is never mandatory for a follower of Hindu. Reading scriptures and confining our belief to any form of God is also a freewill. Still, almost every Hindu believes in many more than one God and Goddesses. We celebrate many festivals in mark of our religion and beliefs. Now, I am going to introduce you to a rare and fierce form of Shakti or Mother Goddess. Hinduism not only beliefs in praying to different form of god but also worships, trees, mountains, rivers, cow and many more.

Shri Maha Pratyangira Devi

Sri Maha Pratyangira Devi, originated form Lord Shiva's fierce form Sarbeswara (Sharabha). The mythological story goes like this.

Lord Shiva in form of Sharabha or Sarabeswara

When Lord Vishnu in the form of Narashimha ( Narashimha Avtar or Vishnu) killed Hiranyakashypu by tearing his body apart and drank his blood, He became too fierce and aggressive. It was not possible to suppress his anger and then all gods prayed to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva took the form of Sharabha or Sarbeswara. That is half lion and half bird with eight legged. It is mightier than lion and elephant and could kill a lion. However, when he came in front of Narashima , Lord Narashimha took the form of Ganda-Berunda i.e. the ferocious two headed bird to combat Sharabha. At this time, from one wing of Sharabha or Sarabeswara the Shakti in form of Pratyangira originated. She is a combination of lion and human. With a lion head and body of a beautiful women. She is also called Narashimhika. She was able to combat the anger and ferocious Narashimha. She was able to calm Narashimha by sitting on his lap.

Ganda-Berunda form of Lord Narashimha

Shri Maha Pratyangira Devi

Sri Pratyagira Devi is also associated with shri Chakra. She is considered to be powerful repellent of influences generated by witchcraft.Pratyangira Devi has also mention in Ramayana. Indrajit was performing Nikhumbala Yangya in which he worshipped Sri Pratyangira Devi. Hanuman came down to stop him from completing this Yagnya which otherwise could have made him invincible.

It is also believed that Lord Shiva in form of Sharabha or Sarabeswar had worshipped the Trishakti's ( Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati) and in their combined form incarnated in Sharabha Pakshi, He then changed his form to Bhairava and from his third eye appeared a huge fearful Goddess called Pratyangira.

There are only few temples in India where Devi Pratyangira is worshipped in this form. She is also worshipped in another form Sri Atharvana Bhadrakali.

She is goddess known to combat black magic and witchcraft.