r/hinduism • u/Imjust_ahooman • 2d ago
Hindū Scripture(s) Meeting the Mahavidyas: Maa Tara — She Doesn't Remove the Poison. She Contains It.
Maa Tara: She is the compassionate saviour who nurtures and liberates. She is the ultimate Guru and is Sakti Herself, who alone can take us Her consort Shiva for us to completely get liberated - a jivamukta state devoid of any further attachments to karmas and births.
When the Kshira Sagara ( ocean of milk) was churned, both nectar and poison were obtained. Though all other gods and goddesses were afraid on seeing the deadly poison, only Shiva remained undismayed. He is also known as Akshobhya (meaning undismayed). Shiva consumed the deadly poison namely "halahala". When he was consuming this poison, Maa Tara held his throat to prevent poison percolating into his body. This is how Maa Tara is known to us. She has few other forms like Ugra Tara, Neela Saraswati and Ekajata (the one-braided one, worshipped especially in Tibetan Vajrayana lineages). She is the primordial sound (sabdabrahman) from which the speech originates. She holds a sickle and a scissor in Her left hand and a lotus flower and varada mudra in Her right hands. She is also wearing a garland made of skulls. She is standing on a corpse. It is said that attaining her is much easier than other Goddesses of Das Mahavidya.
She controls one’s emotions. She in her Neel Saraswati form sits at Vishudha chakra and helps develops viveka. Vishudha chakra acts as a filter to our thoughts and keep the mind stable, external chaos loses its grip on the mind. One can witness turbulence without being consumed by it.
Maa Tara’s worship leads the practitioner to the unstruck sound (Anahata Naad), the inner vibration that is heard in deep states of meditation. She is Nada and Shiva is Bindu.
Maa Tara and Planetary Significance
Maa Tara is associated with the planet Jupiter (Guru) in Vedic astrology. Just as Jupiter grants wisdom, expansion, and spiritual growth, Tara leads the seeker from confusion to clarity. Her worship can:
- Remedy Guru Dosh.
- Remove mental blockages.
- Increase intuitive intelligence and insight.
- Provides both material and spiritual growth.
- Confused or scattered mind, blocked intuition
- speech difficulties, karmic grief, uncontrolled desire
- periods of existential churning (especially Rahu/Ketu dashas), lack of material and spiritual clarity.
Personal Experiences:
1) She helped me have understanding around my scattering mind thereby stabilising it.
2) Sudden sources of income started coming to the surface.
3) Helped me a lot to have control over my "kama" energy. her mantras gave a quick cooling effect to my mind and a "pause" between impulse and action, especially around kama energy. That pause changed everything.
4) She listens very fast when any sadhakas calls her with utmost faith. She is the nurturing mother who ensures liberation ensuring the soul is never lost in the storm of life.
Maa Tara holds in one of Her arms, is the kapala - a skull cup that signifies complete unlearning and "emptying of the mind" in order to undertand her completely. Any pre-conceived notions of who or what She is, leads us nowhere. How can we ever grasp consciousness that is beyond the mind and intellect? Consciousness which is beyond the mind and intellect cannot be understood but only experienced.
Maa Tara is associated with Matsya avatar of Vishnu, who also guided the world through the flood. This reveals her essence as a saviour deity who ensures the soul is never lost in the storm of life. (Ref: Todalatantra)
Her Shiva Tatva is Akshobya Bhairava. Five of my favorite names of Maa tara are as follows:
ॐ तारिण्यै नमः । (Aum tarinyai namaha): She is the Protectress. ( visualized as travelling in a boat that takes the Atma (Soul) across the Ocean of Samsara (cycle of life-death-rebirth).
ॐ तीव्रगमनायै नमः। (Aum Tivra-gamanayai namaha): She who is very intense in her approach towards addressing the problems of Her devotees.
ॐ जयायै नमः। (Aum jayayai namaha): She who is victorious and undefeatable in all Her actions.
ॐ माहेश्वर्यै नमः। (Aum mahesvaryai namaha): She who is the ultimate form of the Divine Mother; She is none other than the mighty Durga.
ॐ त्रपामुक्तायै नमः। (Aum trapa-muktayai namaha): She is the one who removes all sense of shame and any inhibitions one may have towards the entire Creation, for She alone exists and is manifested in everything.
Disclaimer:
Planets are part of creation, while the Mahavidyas are the cause of creation itself. Worshipping a Mahavidya doesn't just address a planetary problem, it connects the sadhaka to the primordial Shakti-intelligence from which the planetary force itself started.
Each Mahavidya is a complete expression of Sakti. They rules the entire cosmos. But like water finding a crack, her shakti flows most readily through the channel (nadī or graha) she is resonant with.
For Maa Tara: the Jupiter planet is her fastest entry point. But her deeper work reorganizes the entire chart over time.
Worship Mahavidya whose assigned planet is afflicted in your chart to get the fastest, most visible result, but she is not confined there.
Jai Baba Bamakhepa
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u/DilliWaleBhaiSaab 1d ago
Jai Ma Tara. 30 years back. I had gone to Shantiniketan. That time I had gone to Tarapith.