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Durga: Lion or Tiger?

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Namaste Satish:

 

You write; *** Durga's vehicle is Lion. Pictures which show Her with

tiger are not correct. ***

 

But what lion? The popular prints usually show Devi riding an

African lion (Pathera leo felidae), which surely can't be right.

Wouldn't the (highly endangered) Indian lion (Panthera leo persica)

be the species contemplated by the dhyanas?

 

And is a tiger truly never correct? I'd be curious as whether other

members have any thoughts on this? I have quite a lot of faith in

Satish's accuracy in these matters, but I'd always thought that the

tiger vahana was, if anything, more accurate than a lion!

 

Just wondering ...

 

DB

 

 

, "Satish Arigela"

<satisharigela> wrote:

> , "prainbow61" <paulie-

> rainbow@u...> wrote:

> > Namaste,

> > It also reminded me of Durga,

> > because, although this Goddess figure is not holding any

weapons,

> >Her

> > torso seems to be dressed in leather armor and Durga sometimes

is

> > pictured riding on the back of a lion. (Usually a tiger, I know,

> but

> > sometimes a lion) And that puts the female figure above and

almost

> > one with the feline figure. I cannot say which Goddess is being

> > depicted in this sculpture, but I really like it.

>

> Durga's vehicle is Lion. Pictures which show Her with tiger are

> not correct. Not correct in the sense that none of the scriptures

> that I came across which deal with Her woship describe Her as

seated

> on tiger. Lord Shiva specifically tells that She is seated to be

> meditated as being seated on a Lion or on the head of the demon

> Mahisha.

>

> The Kali-Vilasa tantra gives mantras for Her vehicle, Lion- Simha

> mantra(Simha= Lion, in sanskrit) and her asana Mahisha- Mahisha

> mantra.

>

> Lion form is also associated with gods. Ex:Lord Vishnu and Lord

> Shiva. Narasimha(Lion head and human body) for Vishnu and

> Sarabheshvara for Shiva.

>

> Rgds

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Namaste,

 

It is impossible for anyone to read all tantras or all literature

regarding Her attributes and worship. If someone found any reference

saying tiger is also valid or a reference mentioning both are valid,

I will change my opinion.

 

As for African lion or Indian lion, it will not matter. One can

meditate on whatever lion is appealing since the shastra has no

particular say on that.

 

A guess: Since Durga worship is more popular in Bengal than in other

parts of India, and since tiger is quite common(and feared-in

sundervan forests) in Bengal, there might have developed an

association of Durga with tiger from which it might have spread to

other parts of India.

 

Added to that, tigers can be also found in the southeastern state of

Andhra Pradesh and also Madhya Pradesh and probably in Assam and in a

couple of other states too, which might have made the association

popular among more devotees and artists.

Whereas the Indian lion, I think, is confined only to the state of

Gujarat.

 

Rgds

 

, "Devi Bhakta"

<devi_bhakta> wrote:

> Namaste Satish:

>

> You write; *** Durga's vehicle is Lion. Pictures which show Her

with

> tiger are not correct. ***

>

> But what lion? The popular prints usually show Devi riding an

> African lion (Pathera leo felidae), which surely can't be right.

> Wouldn't the (highly endangered) Indian lion (Panthera leo persica)

> be the species contemplated by the dhyanas?

>

> And is a tiger truly never correct? I'd be curious as whether other

> members have any thoughts on this? I have quite a lot of faith in

> Satish's accuracy in these matters, but I'd always thought that the

> tiger vahana was, if anything, more accurate than a lion!

>

> Just wondering ...

>

> DB

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  • 4 years later...

 

Whereas the Indian lion, I think, is confined only to the state of

Gujarat.

 

That is the case now, but the Asiatic lion roamed all over the Indian subcontinent and as far west as the Middle East just a few hundreds of years ago, what to speak of the situation as it was back in Vedic times, which effectively ended with the start of Kali-yuga in 3102 BCE. By the way, Durga Maa's vahana is not an ordinary lion but an entity residing in higher, finer, ethereal domains of reality. As for the tiger, she is the vehicle of Ambe Mata. Mother Durga proper is always on a lion, no other creature.

 

yA devi sarvabhuteshu mAtri rupena samsthita

namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah

 

yA devi sarvabhuteshu buddhi rupena samsthita

namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah

 

yA devi sarvabhuteshu shakti rupena samsthita

namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah

 

ati-prema se boliye Adya-Shakti Bhagavati DurgA MAtA Ki Jaya!

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till date i have not found any shastric reference to tiger being durga"s vahan.and the opinion that tiger gained popularity because of high availability of the animal in bengal(the principal area of durga worship) is also not correct. in fact if one analyzes the ancient durga pujas of bengal which are being continued without break for hundreads of years(in some cases even more than 450 years)then he can see that in all such places she is atop a mythical white coloured animal,having a horses head,lions body and human like clawed arms.it is also heavily ornamented.i have no clue how this animal came into being but i think it might have been influenced by ancient mythological temple sculptures and the 'gaja simha ' of orissan architecture.it was only in the colonial period that african lion came to be depicted in bengal's pujas.there is no ancient picture or sculpture of durga on tiger in bengal whatsoever.

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