Hinduism, or Indian mythology, is a pool of divine and mind-numbing Vedic Story (stories). 10 Mahavidya is one such Hindu myth that creeps into every pilus of immortals if they desire to churn ancient texts to consume wisdom. Earlier, I wrote about Kali, the terrifying form of Shakti, the 1st tantric goddess of Dasa Mahavidya, and narrated how she came into existence and saved the Devtas from the havoc of Raktabija.

However, today, I am narrating the story of Tara, the 2nd tantric goddess of Dasa Mahavidya, and how she gives birth to Lord Narayana (Vishnu).

Origin and Legends of the Goddess Tara

Story 1: Sati

According to the Puranas, Sati, the consort of Lord Shiva, daughter of Daksha Prajapati, arranged a great sacrifice, or Yajna, and invited Devtas, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Brahmans, and knowledgeable people, except Sati and Lord Shiva, his son-in-law.

Sati came to know about the yagna from Sage Narad and showed a desire to attend it. Therefore, she asked Shiva for the same, but he denied it, saying that one should not go to any event without an invitation. Daksha arranged it to insult him and Sati, but she did not accept the fact and thus went to her father’s home.

He told Sati not to attend the great yagna and insulted her and Lord Shiva. Sati became furious and thought that her husband did not consider her the mother of the universe. Therefore, she assumed different forms of shakti. Shiva began to tremble and tried to flee, but in every direction, a form of Dasa Mahavidya was standing and blocking his route.

Story 2: Parvati

Another legend in Sanatan Dharma begins with the Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean between gods and demons. While churning the ocean, Halahal, the deadliest poison, came out of the water to save the world from destruction. Lord Shiva drank the poison. However, he fell unconscious. Parvati came to the spot as Goddess Tara, 2nd tantric goddess of Dasa Mahavidya, and took Shiva on her lap. She fed him breast milk and reduced the effect of the poison.

Story 3: Kali

The third origin story of Goddess Tara is reminiscent of when Shiva lies down under the feet of ferocious Kali by becoming an infant to stop her. Kali sees the infant under her feet and stops due to maternal instincts. Out of her love as a mother of the universe, she breast-milked the hungry baby, Shiva. He sucks her all out while sucking her breast milk.

Significance of the Goddess Tara

Goddess Tara is blue, and Kali is black. Her tongue is blood-sucking and fearfully sticking out as Kali with frightening features. Tara’s hair is tangled as if snakes are hanging and swinging. She wears tiger skin, and Kali only wears the hands of corpses. She carries five half-moons as a tiara. Tara has three eyes filled with vermillions of rage. She has four arms and a huge protruding belly. She stands on a fresh corpse.

In her four arms, she carries a lotus, a sword, a bowl, and a bell. She illuminates us with good deeds and fulfills her devotee’s wishes.

Incarnations of the Goddess Tara

• Goddess Tara has taken several incarnations and are narrated in the ancient texts of Hinduism. She is linked with various other goddesses in the universe. She is Tara, the Goddess Star.
• In the Vedic times, she took an incarnation as the goddess Earth to nourish all living beings.
• Tara took another incarnation, the Goddess of the Druids, which means mystic or diviner.
• She is the goddess of ancient Finland and is known as Tar.
• Tara is a deity of the Tibetan Buddhists.
• She is worshipped in Chinese Buddhist tradition as Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion.
• In Kali Yuga, Tara is known as the Tantric Goddess in Tantric tradition and is therefore famous as a Tara, one of the Dasa Mahavidya.
• Therefore, it is believed that Tara, the 2nd tantric goddess of Dasa Mahavidya, the 10 great wisdom will take several forms on our planet and help the devotee get liberation.

Eight Forms of the Goddess Tara

Kali and Tara are often considered the same, but they are not. Kali is the goddess of time, death, creation, and war. Tara is the universal mother of compassion.

However, there are eight forms of Goddess Tara, which are:

• Ekajata
• Ugratara
• Mahogra
• Kameshwari
• Chamunda
• Nila Saraswati
• Vajra
• Bhadrakali

Goddess Tara: Mother of the Universe

Adi Shakti, the primordial goddess has desired to create a world where she can nurture life and spread transcendental bliss among the creation for spiritual growth.

Tara stirs the first movement of creation. A vibration begins. Para Shakti then begins the series of vibrations that take the form of sound. This primordial vibration takes the form of sound, “OM” or “AUM”.

This primordial vibration is the perfect stillness where every yogi wants to reach and submit themselves to the ultimate destination. All desires come from this primordial vibration and end there as well.

All sense begins here and ends here. The action takes form here and stops here. The ego drives from here and destroys here.

Creation, manifestation, harmony, bliss, wisdom, and knowledge begin here and end there as well.

Goddess Tara is Om and the vehicle of the two worlds, consciousness and unconsciousness.

As OM, she is Goddess Nila Saraswati, the blue (serenity) goddess of knowledge. She bestows comprehension of this divine sound and takes one to the world of spirituality from the material world.

Life begins with and ends with her, as she is the “Om”.

Goddess Tara: Mother of Lord Narayana (Vishnu)

As per Shakti Maha Bhagwat, Goddess Tara, the 2nd tantric goddess of Dasa Mahavidya, is the mother of Lord Vishnu. She created the first seed, Lord Narayana, from which the universe took birth and propelled all life.

Through this mesmerizing Dasa Mahavidya write-up, we at Vedic Story desire to take you on the path of spiritualism and to the world of Indian mythology.

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