Devi assumes various forms,
fierce at times and
benevolent at others. Even in iconographic depictions where she's killing a demon, her form assumes a pacific of countenance (saumya-vadana). Devi's actions are not motivated by anger, greed or selfishness. When she kills a demon, she does so because his actions warrant pain for his body in this world.
The first thing that strikes about this work is its intensity. The drawings expansive curves convey the calm monumentality of the transcendent feminine reality that underlies the universe. Devi's form rendered here appears to throb with energy, the drawing and delineation of the feature having been pressed into service towards the attainment of that end. Her eyes are large, the gaze firm and the face radiant. She appears human; her third eye is the only indication of her cosmic being. She pulls out the demon's tongue and clubs it to death. The green color of the demon is also symbolic of envy. Devi is adorned with a stone-encrusted crown, beneath which her hair parts into two to fall on either side. She wears many stringed necklaces, armlets with pompoms, wide, firm bracelets, girdle at the waist, earrings and anklets. She wears a brown choli and a red saree. The colors are chosen with great care to show to advantage the glistening complexion of the goddess.
Here when she stands thus in all her glory against a richly done up background, she appears like a vision, a veritable shakti, embodiment of divine energy.
This description by Renu Rana
times since 2nd Oct, 2008
