When Maa Pierced the Sky…

When Maa Pierced the Sky…

In today’s namavalli, GuruDeva revealed Maa’s 711th name, DurgaRupini, meaning She is Durga, the One who is the very form of invincibility and cannot be defeated. Maa Bhavani, ever compassionate, ever alert, ever rushing to protect her devotees, annihilating whatever danger dares to loom near them.

In my own life, Maa has never felt far. She has rushed even before the words were ready and before the mind even knew what it was asking for. That is what she does for her children. She does not always approach in a way the world can understand. She crosses, she tears through, and She arrives.

Maa, being GitaPriya, cries for Her can be found in many songs. One such song I discovered last year in Creative Bench was a Marathi one. Of course, not knowing the language, all I would do was dance and sing “Devi Maaji, Devi Maaji,” for the one to whom bhava never needed validation. In that song comes the line, “Haakanla dhaav tu, devi maazya.” Rush to me when I call, O my Goddess. That line sat inside me for a long time. Later, on looking into it, I found that it moves through the devotional world of Yellamma, but the cry inside that line is older than any one film. It is the cry of the child who knows the Mother can cross distance, the cry that asks for arrival, and She always arrives…

One such cry, perhaps not remembered by many in its fullness, is tied to one of the leelas that shaped the India we know today. Such are the movements of the Great MahaMaya.

Tuljapur tradition begins with that cry. The old kshetra memory speaks of Anubhuti, wife of sage Kardam. After his death, she remained in the world for the sake of her infant child and undertook tapas on the bank of the Mandakini. In that exposed condition, when she was alone except for the child she still had to protect, the demon Kukur came upon her. She fled upward until there was nowhere to go and no one to help, that is when She surrendered it all and called to Bhagawati whose answer to a mother in despair was immediate. Bhavani manifested, destroyed the demon, and at Anubhuti’s request remained there upon Yamunachala.

In this leela of Maa, Sri Rama stands there too. The sacred memory connected to Ghat Shila near Tuljapur says that Rama and Lakshmana passed through those rocks while searching for Sita, and that Tulja Bhavani stood upon the rock and directed Rama toward Lanka. This is how the place remembers itself. First, a helpless mother cried and the Mother answered. Then Rama, carrying the anguish of separation and the burden of dharma, moved through that same sacred ground and received direction. So the ksetra is not remembered only as a place of rescue but also as a place of direction too. She comes when the cry breaks open, and she points when the path is hidden.

Protection of Maa is not passive. It has movement and terrific speed, our dearest Maa Vegini. In the memory of this kshetra, She was first remembered as Tvarita, the swift one who rushes to the cry of Her devotee, and over time that living current moved through Turja into Tulja. The name itself reveals Her nature. She does not remain seated when Her child calls.

Then comes Shivaji Maharaj. By the time his name rises in this current, the field is already prepared. In Maharashtra’s sacred memory, Maa Bhavani did not merely bless Shivaji Maharaj from afar. She is remembered as having placed the Bhavani Talwar into his hands, giving him not just a weapon but Her own sanction to protect dharma and raise Swarajya. And when he could not physically return to Tuljapur, history still preserves the continuity of that bond, he consecrated a Bhavani temple at Pratapgad with great solemnity. The meaning is clear, Maa of Tuljapur was not limited to the hill, She moved with Her child wherever dharma had to be defended.

First, Anubhuti. A widow with her infant, pressed so far that only a cry remained, and Maa came. Then Rama. A prince moving through the wound of separation, searching for Sita through stone and distance, and Maa showed the direction. Then Shivaji Maharaj. A son of this soil carrying a work far greater than his own life, standing before enemies, intrigue, and impossible odds, and Maa stood behind him. Three different ages. Three different burdens. Only one law. When the cry is real, She comes.

And for me and you, currently moving through the journey of life, always remember this. Remain sincere, and whenever you call, She will pierce the sky and come. She always did, and She always will.

Jai GuruDeva

Jai Khyapa Parampara

Jai Kaala Bhairava

Jai Maa Adya ❤️