factor in every individual's life is broken down in three
categories: mala or dirt, vikshepa or commotion and aavran or
veil. Mala is like dirt on a mirror. Dirt has to be rubbed
off with great effort. Vikshepa is like clouds covering the
sun. These clouds could gather forces, and destroy
everything. A single desire can destroy many families and
generations. Uncontrollable desires which enter the mind can
lead to disastrous consequences. Vikshepa has to be destroyed
from the root.
In the first section of the Devi Mahatmya, two demons fight
Shakti; they are Madhu and Kaitabha, who come out of the dirt
of Vishnu's ear. They personify lust and anger, spite and
praise - they come in pairs. Lust and anger are companions
and so are spite and praise. One gives rise to another. They
are gates to hell, warns Krishna in the Gita and so does Sri
Rama in the Ramcharitmanas. The next category is Vikshepa,
symbolised by Mahishasura and Raktabija Vikshepa is pramaad
or sloth and ichcha or desire.
The mind is sluggish like a buffalo which can lie in water
for hours on end. Desires are similarly endless Mahishasura
is the slothful buffalo and Raktabija is the mind with
endless desires. Drops of blood from Raktabija get
transformed into thousands of demons. When one is killed
another crops up just like desires that give rise to millions
of desires. If you cut off one or two desires, others come up
because the root is still there. Kali elongated her tongue
and enveloped the earth with it so that million demons walked
over it and she then sucked in all of them.
