The term 'nav' (nine) 'ratri' (Chit-shakti/ Knowledge/Forces) actually means nine (types) knowledge. These are akin to nine 'bhava-rasa' (emotions), nine musical tones (sounds/raga). The firs emanate of the maha purusha Narayana is the prakruti ; 5 jnyanendriya and manas, buddhi, chitta, and ahankara. Now the entire universe is the product of these nine aspects of prakruti/nature. The learned ones worshiped prakruti in these nine forms giving it the feminine forms in the nine Devis. In fact all the forces that emanate from th epurusha are termed feminine although these are no different from the purusha. Lakshmi Tantra of the Agama Shastra gives more details.
one should be cautious about using the terms like feminine forms! There are no masculine or feminine at higher levels of consciousness ('chit'). The principle of 'oneness' (samatvam) should always be kept in mind. Purusha and prakruti are one and inseparable! It is the manifest forms that give us illusion of separateness! This avidya, lack of higher knowledge, has given rise to tantrics to separate shive /shakti from shiva /pusrusha, forgetting the fact that shive is the prowess of shiva only! there is no sunrays without the sun or the waves without a sea. The heat and the fire are inseparable. Thus, whoever attains to this oneness becomes one with the the supreme!
The practice of worshiping separate Goddesses like Durga, Sharada, Kamakhya, Mahalakshimi or any other Devi by different names, almost a hundred, may be the result of identifying the powers of the supreme! All that we worship reaches the One supreme narayana! sarvam vasudevam iti |
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