Mahagauri- Meaning and Significance

Posted by Sapna on September 21st, 2019

Mahagauri is one of the most divine forms of Goddess Durga who is revered on the eighth day of the nine daylong celebrations of Navratri in India. Maha means large and gauri means white. Thus, when you combine Maha and Gauri, the name Mahagauri is derived. The word ‘Mahagauri’ thus means extremely white, as Her complexion is white and She is very beautiful. Goddess Mahagauri is known to bless Her devotees by fulfilling all their desires and by offering them relief from any kind of sufferings. The devotees also worship and offer prayers to Goddess Mahagauri to be blessed with lifelong togetherness and loyalty.

Iconography of Goddess Mahagauri

The beautiful goddess Mahagauri is generally portrayed having four hands, In Her one hand She holds a trident, In Her second hand She holds a lotus, in Her third hand She holds a drum, while the fourth hand is seen in abhaya mudra. Sometimes, the idol or picture of Goddess Mahaguru is seen holding a rosary instead of a lotus flower. Her animal mount is the white bull and She is mostly depicted as wearing white clothes.

Legend of Goddess Mahagauri

There are many stories revolving around the Legend of Goddess Mahagauri. One of the most famous stories of goddess Mahagauri is as mentioned below. Goddess Parvati had taken the form of Kaalratri in order to kill all the evil spirits. After killing all the evil spirits Her skin still remained dark as night. Lord Mahadev playfully always teased Her by addressing Her as 'Kali' (dark or dull skinned). Irritated by this, Goddess Parvati prayed over and meditated over Lord Brahma by undertaking an extreme repentance enduring numerous days, to recover her fair and glowing skin.

On the other hand there were two very evil demons named Shumbha and Nishumbha who according to a boon received could only be killed by the girl child of Parvati. The Goddess has no female child.

Here goddess Parvati was busy performing penance and meditation to attain a boon from Lord Brahma. Appeased by Her prayers Brahma gave Her a solution. He told goddess Parvati to bathe in the Mansarovar River in the Himalayas (some nearby variations supplant the Mansarovar River with the blessed Ganges stream). As instructed by Lord Brahma, Goddess Parvati bathed in the Mansarovar River and as She washed Herself, the dim skin separated from Her body and took form of a female.

This female was named as Kaushiki. As She was born out of Parvati’s Skin, She was technically Her daughter. Kaushiki soon proceeded to kill the evil spirits Shumbha and Nishumbha. Thus, goddess Parvati got back to Her white appearance and magnificence, and thus came to be known by the name Mahagauri, which signifies "amazingly reasonable".

In another story, Parvati wishes to bring forth Lord Shiva as her better half and according to Rishi Narad's advice. In order to appease Lord Shiva, goddess Parvati undertook a lot of penance and hardships to gain Lord Shiva’s trust. In the dangerous forests She would dedicatedly do all the penance to win the heart of Lord Shiva and win Him as Her husband. She did all this without all solaces, even nourishment, and conquered heat, cold, downpour and tempests for a long time. Her body over a period of time got covered with earth, soil, creepy crawlies and dry leaves. Satisfied by Her dedication, Lord Shiva submits and washes Her in the water of the Ganges that streams from his dreadlocks. She rises as Mahagauri, as white as a jasmine blossom and dressed in white.

She rides on a white bull, is said to be nine years of age (this being the motivation behind why a few pieces of the nation perform kanya-pujan, adoring the unmarried young lady) and is dressed and ornamented in white.