Dhumavati Shakti Sadhana

8/9/2019 Dhumavati Shakti Sadhana

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Dhumavati

42.1. Dhumavati whose nature is smoke is again a Mahavidya who is not known outside the

Mahavidya cult. There are no references to her in the earlier mythologies. She unlike most

other Mahavidya is old, ugly and sulking. She is the only Mahavidya without a consort. She

is a widow associated with strife, loneliness, unfulfilled desires and inauspicious things of

life. Dhumavati shares some of her characteristics with three other ancient goddesses

!irriti, "yeshta and #lakshmi $ who personified disorder, decay, poverty, misfortune,

dissension, sickness, and the whole range of life%s ills, culminating in death. !irriti in &ig

'eda is the opposite ofRta the order, harmony and well(eing in nature. !irriti in contrast

to Rtastands for anger, disorder, death, decay and destruction. "yeshta, the elder, is dark

and ugly. She indulges in )uarrels and is intolerant of anything that is auspicious. . She isinstinctively drawn to households in which there is strife*where family mem(ers )uarrel

or where the adults feed themselves and disregard the hunger of their children. #lakshmi is

the dark $ reverse image of +akshmi. She is everything that +akshmi is not. #lakshmi

sym(olies (ad temper, hunger, thirst, need, poverty and all the misfortunes of life.

42.2. -hile there are similarities (etween Dhumavati and the a(ove three goddesses, there

are also some differences. nlike those goddesses, Dhumavati is a widow/ she is ugly and


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old. Dhumavati is also said to (e fierce, frightening and fond of (lood. She has , however,

certain positive characteristics such as0 guiding the devotee along the spiritual path to help

himher attain li(eration/ granting Siddihis and rescuing her devotees from trou(les.

4.1. TheDhumavati Tantradescri(es her as an old and ugly widow. She is thin, tall,

unhealthy, and has a pale comple3ion. She is descri(ed as restless and wicked. nadornedwith any ewel, she wears old, dirty clothes and has disheveled hair. 5er eyes are fearsome,

her nose long and crooked, and some of her long fang$like teeth have fallen out, leaving her

smile with gaps. 5er ears are ugly and rough/ her (reasts hang down. 6n one of her

trem(ling hands, she holds a winnowing (asket, while the other makes a (oon$conferring

gesture 7varada-mudra8 or knowledge$giving gesture 7cinmudra8. She rides in a horseless

chariot (earing an em(lem of a crow as her (anner. She is astute and crafty. #lways

hungry and thirsty, Dhumavati initiates )uarrels and invokes fear.

4.. The sym(olisms associated with Dhumavati e3plain that she points out to the negative

aspects of life, asking us to develop a sense of detachment .The (owl of fire she holds (urns

ignorance and also indicates that all things are eventually destroyed. The winnowing (asketis viveka the power of discrimination that separates the grain 7real8 from the chaff 7unreal8.

9n an outer level , she seems like poverty, destitution, and suffering, the great misfortunes

that we all fear in life. :ut in truth, she directs us look (eyond the small am(itions .

4.2. 6n thePrapancasarasara-samgraha, Dhumavati is descri(ed as having a (lack

comple3ion and wearing ornaments made of snakes. 5er dress is made of rags taken from

cremation grounds. She holds a spear and a skull$cup 7kapala8 in her two hands. The spear

is sometimes replaced (y a sword. #nother description in the same te3t says Dhumavati is

aged with a wrinkled, angry face and cloud$like comple3ion. 5er nose, eyes, and throatresem(le that of a crow;s. She holds a (room, a winnowing fan, a torch, and a clu(. She is

cruel and frowning. 5er hair appears disheveled and she wears the simple clothes of a

(eggar. 5er (reasts are dry. 5er hair is grey, her teeth crooked and missing, and her

clothes old and worn.


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4.4.. There are also unusual descriptions of Dhumavati where she is shown as a good$

looking young woman full of life with attractive features. She is not a widow. She is holding

a winnowing (asket while riding a huge crow. She is adorned with ornaments, (racelets,

arm$(ands, necklaces, and pendants. She is elegantly dressed. 5er appearance here is in

total contrast to the descriptions of her as ugly and old wearing soiled rags.


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44.1. 6f Sodasi and :huvanesvari represent the sparkling vivacious stage in woman%s life,

Dhumavati proects the end and the misera(le part of woman%s life. She is an old and a

sulking widow who has nowhere to go. She is lonely, a social outcast / (ut, free from its

o(ligations and constraints. She lives in a cremation ground surrounded (y (urning

funeral pyres. She is often hungry and thirsty/ and, is rankled (y unsatisfied desires and

the memory of many things she missed in her life. The crow which is her em(lem and on

which she is shown riding is a scavenger (ird feeding on half$(urnt corpse/ it is a sym(ol of

death and inauspiciousness.

44.2. Smoke (illowing out of a )uenched fire is her nature .Dhumavati%s youth and

freshness are (urnt out/ and what remains is the smoke of her spent life. #nd like smoke

she is restless and wandering. 5er nature is not (rightness. The smoke usually is dark,

polluting and concealing.

#nother interpretation is that Dhumavati is a good teacher. :y o(scuring or covering all

that is known, Dhumavati reveals the depth of the unknown. Dhumavati o(scures what is

evident in order to reveal the hidden and the profound.


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44.. She favors the unmarried, the single and the widowed. She instills a desire to (e alone

and an aversion to worldly things. She encourages a certain kind of aloofness and

independence/ and sets one on the spiritual path.

Dhumavati represents a typical old widow of the orthodo3 society. #lthough a widow was

considered unfortunate or inauspicious, she was free to undertake spiritual pursuits such aspilgrimages and vratas that were not easily possi(le in her younger days while she had to

shoulder family responsi(ilities. =or some of those women who found their married life

oppressive, widowhood might come as a sort of relief. +ike the traditional sanyasin, a pious

widow is outside the society free from its constraints and o(ligations.

44.4. Dhumavati sym(olically portrays the disappointments, frustrations, humiliation,

defeat, loss, sorrow and loneliness that a woman endures. She is the knowledge that comes

through hard e3periences, after the youthful desires and fantasies are put

(ehind.Dhumavati thus represents a stage of woman%s life that is (eyond worldly desires,

(eyond the conventional ta(oos of what is polluting or inauspicious. She desires to (e free

and at the same time she likes to (e useful to the family and to the society.

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Dhumavati Shakti Sadhana