Navratri 2020: Here's What Goddess Durga’s Weapons And Mudra Symbolise

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In Hinduism, Goddess Durga is considered to be the epitome of prowess, power, strength, courage and wisdom. She is the one who saves the universe from the evil and negative energies. Though she is worshipped across the country throughout the year, she is widely worshipped during Navratri. The nine-day festival is dedicated to the nine different forms of the Goddess. The festival marks the victory of good over evil as the Goddess had defeated Mahishasura on the tenth day of Navratri as well as Lord Rama had defeated demon king Ravana on the same day.

It is said that Goddess Durga represents divine feminine energy and always protects Her devotees from all sorts of evil. She is believed to be the combined energy of Goddess Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kali, one of the forms of Goddess Parvati. Not only this, she is the warrior-form of Goddess Parvati who was transformed into Durga by combining the power and divine energies of all Gods. These divine powers and energies of all Gods are represented by the different weapons held by Goddess Durga.

Not only the weapons but each and everything related to Goddess Durga symbolism some or the other divine things. To know what does Goddess Durga symbolise, read on:

1. Lion

The lion of Goddess Durga symbolises courage and the uncontrolled materialistic desires and tendencies such as greed, jealousy, agree, selfishness, arrogance, etc. Goddess Durga sitting on a lion symbolises we need to control our materialistic desires, needs and emotions and face our problems with courage.

2. Red Saree

Goddess Durga is usually seen wearing a red saree with gold ornaments. The red saree symbolises passion. It also represents her way of protecting the mankind against evil and bad.

3. Conch

She is often seen holding a conch shell in one of her upper hands. The conch shell in her upper hand represents happiness and dedication for fulfilling our responsibility happily. It gives us a lesson that one must perform his/her duties with contentment and not with resentment.

4. Sword

The sword in her hand signifies the importance of distinguishing and eradicating our negative and evil qualities. It shows one must be ready to quit his/her bad habits and embrace good habits. Also, one should raise voice for unjust and mean actions.

5. Chakra

The chakra in one of the hands of Goddess Durga symbolises duty and righteousness. It shows the importance of acknowledging our duties and responsibilities and fulfilling them to achieve our goals in life.

6. Lotus Flower

The lotus flower in the hands of Goddess Durga symbolises austerity, purity, and detachment from the materialistic world. It gives us a lesson that despite staying in the mud water, the lotus water remains pure, lively and full of colours. Similarly, we humans too should try to reflect the good in bad, we a humble soul even during the toughest of time and never being impudent.

7. Trident

The trident of trishul in the left hand of Goddess Durga symbolises courage and bravery. It tells us that no matter how grave the situation, we should never lose our hope. Instead of running away from the problems in our lives, we should stand strong and face our problems with full courage, hope and determination.

8. Forgiveness

The right hand of Goddess Durga always stays in the forgiving and blessing position. The forgiving mudra (positions) symbolise the need of forgiving others. There's no good in holding on to the grudges. We should always forgive others and seek forgiveness from those whom we have hurt. In addition to this, we must not say rude things to others or hurt others for our pleasure and selfish needs.

9. Club

Goddess Durga usually holds a club in her right lower hand. The club in her hand symbolises devotion and bravery. We must accept whatever the Almighty sends to us. Whether it is happiness or sorrow, we must accept whatever comes in our way and face it with bravery.

10. Bow And Arrow

The bow and arrow in the hands of Goddess Durga symbolises perseverance. No matter what problems come in our lives, we need to persevere and always stick to the truth. We must not lose our character or make wrong decisions.

11. Snake

The snake in the hands of Goddess Durga represents the beauty and truth of destructive times. Those who are living on this earth, will have to die and their soul will take a new form in the next life. It also symbolise goodness in darkest times.