<font color="red">PAMHO</font color>

I've seen deity pictures/idols (other than Vishnu)
like Surya Narayan and Durga Devi holding Disk and Conch Shell same like Vishnu...

I'm not much knowledgeable to understand why...so please shed some light on this...and are there any other deities other than Surya Narayan and Durga Devi with this similarities...

Vijaya Lakshmi and Dhairya Lakshmi I believe also have shankha and cakra.

I thought Bramha, Vishnu and Siva all lent their attributes (weapons) to Durga Devi when they wanted her to kill Mahishasura. Isn't that right?

Vijaya Lakshmi

Dhairya Lakshmi

This site look informative.

http://www.awgp.org/faq/gayatri_faq.html

Perhaps you are right Mataji...or could it also be because Durga Devi is external energy of Vishnu she appeares as non-different to vishnu? and Lakshmi Devi as well?

Pankaja Prabhu...

nice link...i've picked one Q&amp;A from the list...

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<font color="red">Q.2.</font color> Why is Gayatri visualized as a young woman with its peculiar ornaments?



<font color="blue">Ans.</font color> One should not be under the illusion that Gayatri is a living being with one mouth and two arms or five mouths and ten arms. Woman has intrinsic superiority over man and so Gayatri is given mother’s form. Having Kamandal and a book in Gayatri Mata’s hands are symbolic of knowledge and science. There is no living being in the world having five mouths and ten arms. This is just a symbolic representation. Five mouths signify Panch-kosh as the five, sheaths of human existence and ten arms represent ten characteristic features of religion. The symbolism of Mother Gayatri sitting on a swan is that the Sadhak should keep discriminative wisdom like a royal swan or Paramhans. It is said about the mythological Rajhans (royal swan) that it has the power to discriminate the good from the bad, to separate milk from water, to pick up only pearls and leave pebbles. It never eats worms and insects. This is an example of the soul status of a Param-hansa. Ordinarily swans live on insects, neither consume milk nor dive to the depths of the ocean to find pearls. The representation of God and powers of Divinity as female deities is a unique feature of Indian spirituality. There are compelling reasons for this insight. Nature has exclusively equipped the female of the species with powers of reproduction and sustenance of the infant. The expression of selfless love of a mother can only be the true representation of love of God for human beings. Hence, Gayatri has been conceived as Mother. Since, Divinity never grows old and is eternally young and beautiful, Mother Gayatri is shown as young attractive maiden. Besides, meditating on a beautiful woman as symbolic of Divinity also helps one develop a platonic - pious attitude towards women in general. The lotus as Her seat means the presence of Divinity in an environment which is fragrant, pleasant and blossomingly cheerful.
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now...is this answer reliable?...Gayathri Devi has no form?..the form potrayed is only symbolic representation??

now...is this answer reliable?...Gayathri Devi has no form?..the form potrayed is only symbolic representation??
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Just keep in mind it's not from a Gaudiya source.

For us Krishna has form, so don't let that lead you to believe He does not. As for gayatri devi, there is not really a big emphasis on her, but I would assume she has form like any other devi.

Lakshmi is the Sri Sakti of the Lord, and so has shankha and chakra in Her more "powerful" appearances. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

At both junctions of day and night, namely, in the early morning and in the evening, he should be fully absorbed in thoughts of the spiritual master, fire, the sun-god and Lord Visnu and by chanting the Gayatri mantra he should worship them.
SB 7.12.2




No idea where you got this from. If you've been reading thread where Thiest Prabhu is saying about symbolic representations given in Bhagavatam. From the letter Prabhu quotes by Prabhupada:


Yes, sometimes in Vedas such things like the asura's decapitated head chasing after Candraloka, sometimes it is explained allegorically. Just like now we are explaining in 4th Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam the story of King .. Just like the living entity is living within this body, and the body is described there as city with nine gates, the intelligence as the Queen. So there are sometimes allegorical explanations. So there are many things which do not corroborate with the so-called modern science, because they are explained in that way. But where is the guarantee that modern science is also correct? So we are concerned with Krishna Consciousness, and even though there is some difference of opinion between modern science and allegorical explanation in the Bhagavat, we have to take the essence of Srimad-Bhagavatam and utilize it for our higher benefit, without bothering about the correctness of the modern science or the allegorical explanation sometimes made in Srimad-Bhagavatam. But this is a fact that in each and every planet there is a predominant deity, as we have got experience in this planet there is a president, so it is not wonderful when the predominating deity fights with another predominating deity of another planet. The modern science takes everything as dead stone. We take it for granted that everything is being manipulated by a person in each and every affair of the cosmology. The modern scientists however could not make any progress in the understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore we do not accept modern science as very perfect. We take Krishna's version:

gam avisya ca bhutani
dharayamy aham ojasa
pusnami causadhih sarvah
somo bhutvah rasatmakah
(BG, 15.13)

"I become the moon,'' and "`yac chandramasi yac cagnau,"' (ibid, 12) ``I am the splendor of the moon,'' and "`jyotisam api taj jyotis,'' (BG, 13.18) ``I am the source of light in all luminous objects,'' so no one is able to give us the correct information than Krishna, that you should know.
__ Letter to: Krsnadasa, Vrindaban, 7 November, 1972 {extract}


I was seacching Folio for Gayatri I came up with hits that say its chanted. On that site it says anybody can chant it. Not just twice-born sages {heh when I was young I used to chant it, but how did I know your not supposed, I blame my school}. Anyway simple answer is Gayatri is sound representation of Krishna. Bas.

Ps. Do you remember Banasura with 1000 Arms when he fought with Krishna. And then Lord Siva saved him. Krishna said he wasn't gonna kill him anyway!.

With all respect,

What does gayatri devi have to do with the orig. post?

Why is an idol or picture used for worship of God, who is formless?
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Pankaja, I'm pretty sure you are a Gaudiya Vaishnava. Please ask your guru about some of the statements on this website.

God is not formless in Gaudiya theology. Not so much. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] hehehe

Mr Guest devi
You say devi.. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]


God is formless means He doesn't possess a material body. Whats this pre-school? I have to say something for this comment.

Ps. I know you were not trying to be offensive to me. But I don't need to ask my Guru for little things. Next time mind your own business.

Pankaja, I'm not so sure that's what the website meant. Who is running that site, dear? When some say "God has no form" they really mean it. Nirguna brahman... no qualities... [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Anyway, as I think you know, Krishna does have a transcendental form, though not obviously made of this perishable material substance.

(BTW I saw that gayatri devi has shankha and chakra too... nice of you to mention it)

Pankaja, I'm not so sure that's what the website meant. Who is running that site, dear?

Maybe your right about the site. But maybe you didn't even go to the site. I don't know.

Please don't take this as a personl attack Pankaja.

Of course I went to the site. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] (???)

I do not know what their theological beliefs are. I just wanted to be clear on why you were advocating this site. That is all.

Just for references on Gayatri Devi and the Gayatri mantram right? [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]