Why You Should Worship Mā Dhūmāvatī

Last year, on this auspicious occasion of Dhūmāvatī Devī Jayanti (which is the 8th day after the New Moon of Vaiśakh) we gave a series on talks on this very mysterious and often feared phase of Mā's personality (Who is Mā Dhūmāvatī? & Worshipping Mā Dhūmāvatī) where we explored Her origin story, Her symbology and Her significance in theory and practice.

This year, we decided to go further and ask: "given that Dhūmāvatī Devī is associated to alaxmī, inauspiciousness and given that she favors widows, widowers, the lonely, outcastes, mendicants and those who live in cremation grounds, why would a householder in a happy marriage or a person interested in success and auspicious (which is arguably most of us) ever want to approach her?! Wouldn't doing so only invite calamity?!

In response to this important question, we present about 4 reasons why everyone should consider worshipping this often misunderstood and under-represented form of Mā! You'll find a playlist of all our videos on the Mahāvidyās here. 

Here is the dhyāna-śloka (meditation mantra) we used in the talk: 

vivarṇā cañcalā ruṣṭā dirghā ca malināmbarā ।
vivarṇakuntalā rūkṣā vidhavā viraladvijā ॥
kākadhvajarathārūḍhā vilambitapayodharā।
śūrpahastātirūkṣākṣī dhṛtahastā varānvitā॥
pravṛddhaghoṇā tu bhṛśaṃ kuṭilā kuṭilekṣaṇā ।
kṣutpipāsārditā nityaṃ bhayadā kalahapriyā ॥

Pale and restless, irritable and old
Clad in soiled garments
Pale-haired, dry-skinned
A widow with few teeth|
Mounted atop a chariot whose flag is a crow
With drooping breasts and surpassingly cruel eyes
Who holds a winnowing basket
Who shows the boon bestowing gesture
A crone with crooked nose and crooked eyes
Who is always hungry and thirsty, quarrelsome and fearsome.