Source: TW
Why do Smartas and Shaktas consider Devi supreme when Adi Shankara in his commentary to Bhagavad Gita 9.25 called the Matrika goddesses unworthy of worship for those who desire moksha?
The question is rooted in ignorance about the Matrikas referred to by Adi Shankaracharya in his commentary on Bhagavad Gita 9.25.
In Bhagavad Gita 9.25, Lord Krishna explains that different types of worshippers attain different destinations. He says:
yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝīn yānti pitṛi-vratāḥ
bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām“Those who are devoted to the celestial deities go to the deities; those devoted to the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship the spirits go to the spirits; and those who worship Me, come to Me.”
Adi Shankaracharya explains in his commentary:
“Those who are devoted to the gods (devavrataḥ), who have vows (vrata), discipline (niyama), and devotion (bhakti) towards the gods, they go (yanti) to the gods (devān). Those who are devoted to the ancestors (pitṛvrataḥ), who perform rites like Shraddha etc. (śrāddhādikriyāparāḥ) and are devoted to the ancestors (pitṛbhaktāḥ), they go (yanti) to the ancestors (pitṛ́n) like Agnishvatta and others.
The worshippers of Bhutas (bhūtejyāḥ), i.e., those who propitiate Bhutas, go (yanti) to the Bhutas (bhūtāni) such as Vinayakas, Matriganas, Chaturbhaginis, and others. Those who worship Me (madyājinaḥ), i.e., those devoted to Vishnu (vaiṣṇavāḥ), go (yanti) to Me alone (māmeva)…
Note:
The reference here is to the “bhutas” that includes various inauspicious spirits and beings such as Vinayakas and Matrikas. These Matrikas and Vinayakas shouldn’t be confused with Devi and Ganesha. Shankara is specifically referring to malevolent spirits, not the supreme goddesses worshipped in the Shakta tradition or the Ganesha known as the remover of obstacles.
The Vinayakas referred to by Shankaracharya are malevolent spirits known to cause various obstacles in human life. As per Sanskrit dictionary, Vinayakas (in plural) refers to a particular class of evil spirits.
The Mānavagṛhyasūtras (2.14) mention four specific Vinayakas: Śālakaṭaṅkaṭa, Kūṣmāṇḍarājaputra, Usmita, and Devayajana.
These spirits are believed to create hurdles such as preventing maidens from finding suitable husbands, causing infertility in married women, hindering eligible princes from becoming kings, and leading to the loss of children or crops etc.
To counteract the negative influences of these Vinayakas, specific rites known as Vināyakaśānti are performed. These are meant to pacify the malevolent spirits. In contrast, Gaṇapatipūjā, the worship of Lord Ganesha, is a positive practice aimed at removing obstacles and bringing auspiciousness.
Similarly, Matrikas in this context refers to fearsome and harmful spirits that pose threats to pregnant women and children. They are not the benign, worshipped forms of goddesses but rather malevolent entities often associated with inauspicious events.
Various texts, such as the Mahabharata, mention different numbers and names of the Matrikas. Examples include:
- Sixteen Lokamatas: Including Vinata and Lohitayani.
- Eight Inauspicious Matrikas: Kaki, Halima, Malini, Brhali, Arya, Brahmata, Palala, Vaimitra, and sometimes Raudra and Rshabha.
- Ten Matrikas: Vinata, Kadru, Putana, Shita Putana, Revathi, Diti, Surabhi, Sarama, Lohitayani, and Arya.
- Seven Matrikas: Revathi, Mukhamandika, Vinata, Putana, Sitaputana, Lohitayani, and Sarama.
- Apart from these named matrikas, eighteen other unnamed grahas are also mentioned.
The inauspicious matrikas are said to dwell in inaccessible places away from human settlements, such as trees, open spots, crossings of roads, caves, crematoriums, mountains, and springs. They of hideous appearance are adorned with weird ornaments, they wear diverse kinds of attires and speak different strange languages. They prowl about in the confinement chamber where birth takes place. They torment pregnant women, and are also a threat to the newborn’s life, especially, during its first ten days.
Notable among the inauspicious matrikas is Putana Rakshashi, who appears in Bhagavata Purana as a stalker in the night who kills children by poisoning them. Another evil goddess, Jara, is mentioned in Sabha Parva of Mahabharata, known for joining together two pieces of a newborn to make a whole baby boy named Jarasandha.
In the Bhāgavatam, after Krishna killed Pūtanā, the gopīs (cowherd women) were trying to protect the baby Krishna from various evil influences. As part of their protective measures, they chanted this mantra to ward off all kinds of malevolent entities:
ḍākinyo yātudhānyaś ca
kuṣmāṇḍā ye ’rbhaka-grahāḥ
bhūta-preta-piśācāś ca
yakṣa-rakṣo-vināyakāḥkoṭarā revatī jyeṣṭhā
pūtanā mātṛkādayaḥ
unmādā ye hy apasmārā
deha-prāṇendriya-druhaḥsvapna-dṛṣṭā mahotpātā
vṛddhā bāla-grahāś ca ye
sarve naśyantu te viṣṇor
nāma-grahaṇa-bhīravaḥ“May all the evil spirits, such as Dakini, Yatudhani, and Kushmandas; the wicked spirits that trouble young infants; Bhutas, Pretas, Pisacas, Yakshas, Rakshasas, and Vinayakas; Kotara, Revati, Jyeshtha, Putana, Matrikas, and others; the Unmadas (spirits causing insanity) and Apasmaras that afflict the body, senses, and vital breaths; the evil spirits that frighten in dreams; the great calamitous portents; and those wicked spirits that seize the old and the infants - may all these malevolent beings, which are terrified at the mention of Lord Vishnu’s name, be destroyed.”
~ Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.6.27–29
The fear of these inauspicious matrikas continues to haunt people even today, with mothers being cautious about attracting their attention to their children and sometimes marking their well-adorned children with a spot of dark substance to hide their beauty from the envious eyes of the matrikas (who are believed to be the spirits of women who died childless or during childbirth).
Adi Shankaracharya’s reference to Vinayakas and Matrikas in his commentary on Bhagavad Gita 9.25 specifically points to these malevolent and inauspicious spirits. These entities are fundamentally different from the Supreme Devi and Lord Ganesha worshipped in the Smarta and Shakta traditions. Smartas and Shaktas recognize Devi and Ganesha as manifestations of the ultimate reality and sources of divine blessings, distinct from the spirits Shankaracharya cautions against.
Footnotes
https://sanskritdictionary.com/scans/?col=1&img=mw0972.jpg
https://referencebooks.rkmm.org/s/enc/m/a-concise-encyclopaedia-of-hinduism/a/vin%C4%81yaka