24 October 2012 - QA 4

Gurudev, please tell us about the significance of the different armaments of Goddess Durga?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I’ll tell you in brief. In those days they didn’t have guns. In those days, they only had the Trishul (trident). If there would have been guns in those days then maybe an AK-47 would have been in the hands of Maa Durga (Mother Divine).

It is said that the Devatas asked the Mother Divine (Devi), 'Devi, why are you holding these armaments. With one sound of yours, you can burn all the demons to ashes.'
The Devatas then themselves gave the answer saying, 'You are so merciful that you want to purify even the demons with your armaments. You want to liberate them and that is why you are doing this.'
The message behind this is to say that action has its own value. Having the Sankalpa (determination) alone is not enough.
See, God has given us hands and legs so that we can do work.

Now why does Mother Divine have so many hands? That is to signify that even God does work, and not through just one hand but through a thousand hands and in a thousand ways.
Devi has a thousand ways to destroy demons. She can dispel evil even through a flower, like Gandhigiri. So that is why Devi holds a flower in her hand, to settle things through a flower. Then by blowing the conch (Shank) and imparting knowledge. If even that doesn’t work then she uses the Sudarshan Chakra.
So, she has more than one trick. This is to signify that to bring about changes in this world only a single tactic won’t work. You will have to find many ways.

Same is the case with our relationships. We can’t be adamant in all situations. If you be adamant with your father all the time and hope for things to work then that it will not happen. Sometimes love, sometimes being adamant and sometimes anger works.
Same with children. Look at how parents use all different kind of tactics and behavior to bring up their child. Every time using a stick won’t work. Sometimes they have to get their things done through love as well.
So this is what has been said. There are many solutions to a problem and that is why Devi is adorned with so many armaments.