The Goddess Of Protection Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

Economists are generally unromantic creatures
And visiting Hyderabad to make a presentation
On Public Sector Finance
I was more interested in buying cheap silk
At the tourist emporium,
During a break organized by our hosts,
Than in the line of trucks along the roadside
Which were being fussed over for the puja,
Carrying representations of the Goddess Durga
Preparing to promenade serenely on her tiger + Tata.

And now, grown gnarled and sage, as a poet of sorts,
I find myself writing:

Doubtless now it will come to women
To have the last word in the last days
In a world run from the alpha to the omega
To the seventh seal and the seventh angel.

This is the dawning of the Age of Amazons
...

To take arms against a sea of male foibles
And rescue the world from perfidy and dishonour.

-

But ladies or better perhaps women
Surely you already have your own familiar -
Armed eight-fold by the gods themselves.
The female form which, when the male Devas had been bested
By the Buffalo Demon Mahishasura, rose to the challenge
And defeated the ignorance and chaos that he represented,
By killing the fearful, overwhelmed and outwitted horned one,
Piercing his heart, while riding him down on her liger Dawon.

Shiva your supposed better half
Gave you three pointers as to when to act;
Vishnu gave you a discus to spin the world
Around your index finger and bring down evil;
Varuna gave you shell to put against your ear
So that you could discern justice and truth;
And the sword or spear that Agni gave you
Will cut fine and sharp in judgments, free of doubts.

Maruta gave you a bow and two quivers of arrows
The sources of energy and action;
Indra gave you the thunderbolt of confidence
The flash of understanding that strikes home;
Krishna will clothe you with righteousness
And the garments of forgiveness;
And then there is the gift of Vishvakarman
The enlightening lotus flower born of muddy waters.

And Himayat, the spirit of the mountains tamed the snow lion
As your proud and playful jousting steed,
With the tiger from the jungle of the terai,
Meek but boundlessly fierce as its alternate -
And a snake at your feet promising a transformation
In consciousness to the highest state of pure bliss.

Then there are additional gifts like the bell of Indra's elephant Airavata;
A replica of Yama's staff of death;
A noose from Varuna, the lord of waters;
The string of beads and a water-pot donated by Brahma, the lord of beings;
With Surya bestowing his own rays on all the pores of your skin;
Kala providing a spotless shield;
And the milk-ocean chipping in a pure necklace,
A pair of undecaying under garments,
A divine crest-jewel, a pair of ear-rings, bracelets,
Brilliant half-moon ornamented jewelry - armlets for all your arms,
A pair of shining anklets, a unique necklace and rings for all 80 fingers;
Visvakarman also providing an unsurpassed axe,
Weapons of various forms, and impenetrable armour;
The lord of wealth (Kubera) setting up a drinking tab, ever full of wine;
And Sesa, the lord of all serpents, who supports this earth,
Treating you to a writhing-necklace bedecked with the best jewels.

So that overall you have your hands full riding high -
Regardless of having 8,10 or 18 arms;
Whether winking one or more of your three eyes
Signifying moon-desire, sun-intimacy
Or the middle eye of fire, intuition and perception;
Or being transformed into various avatars
Like Kali, Bhagvati, Bhavani, Ambika,
Lalita, Gauri, Kandalini, Java, and Rajeswari
Or appearing in any one of nine manifestations
Like Skondamata, Kusumanda, Shailaputri,
Kaalratri, Brahmacharini, Maha Gauri,
Katyayani, Chandraghanta, and Siddhidatri.

I could go on and the very mountains would ring
But suffice to say that Hollywood giving Wonder Woman
A sword and buckler, isn't the half of it.
And now I see that passing the line of floats
Being prepared for the puja in Hyderabad
In 2008, I should have been more respectful.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I am the Queen, the gatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful, first of those who merit worship.
Thus gods have established me in many places with many homes to enter and abide in.
Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them, - each man who sees, breathes, hears the word outspoken.
They know it not, yet I reside in the essence of the Universe. Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it.

I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that gods and men alike shall welcome.
I make the man I love exceeding mighty, make him nourished, a sage, and one who knows Brahman.
I bend the bow for Rudra [Shiva], that his arrow may strike, and slay the hater of devotion.
I rouse and order battle for the people, I created Earth and Heaven and reside as their Inner Controller.

On the world's summit I bring forth sky the Father: my home is in the waters, in the ocean as Mother.
Thence I pervade all existing creatures, as their Inner Supreme Self, and manifest them with my body.
I created all worlds at my will, without any higher being, and permeate and dwell within them.
The eternal and infinite consciousness is I, it is my greatness dwelling in everything.


— Devi Sukta, Rigveda [1500 - 1200 BCE] 10.125.3 - 10.125.8