The Enchantress

3. Wade(y)

"Aaiiiii," Mahamaya came home from school, grinning. Her hazel eyes shined with mirth as her brown hair shone golden in the sunlight. Her pink cheeks formed little dimples, following her smile.

Indrayani smiled and said in a sing song voice, "Yes, Maya."

Mahamaya giggled and exclaimed happily, "My friends said that I'm the most beautiful girl in the group."

Indrayani's smile dropped a little as she explained, "Tell them that the real beauty lies inward."

Mahamaya stopped, in awe as she said enthusiastically, "I will but can I have a snack first, Aai?"

Indrayani smiled and said, "Sure but after we are done thanking God for the food on our plates. It's almost sunset now, time to lighten the lamp and worship God."

Mahamaya nodded, holding her mother's hand as the mother daughter duo went to the kitchen where a miniature temple was kept. It had Murtis (idols) of deities like Ganesha (God of knowledge known to have an elephant head, a popular God in Maharashtra, son of Shiva the destroyer deity), Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of prosperity and wealth, wife of Sri Vishnu the preserver deity), Goddess Saraswati (Goddess of knowledge, wife of Brahma the creator deity), Durga Ma (ferocious form of Parvati who is wife of Shiva the destroyer deity), Annapurna Ma (Goddess of food, another form of Parvati the wife of Shiva the destroyer deity), a pentagon shaped brass sheet with Bijasni Mata, their family Goddess carved on it (Goddess Bijasni is a form of Yogamaya, when Shakti is one with Shiva the destroyer deity), a Shivalingam (symbol of Shiva the destroyer deity) with a Naag (snake, particularly Vasuki Naag, it is shown wrapped around Shiva's neck) coiled around the Shivalingam and a bull (Nandi, ride of Shiva) in front of the Shivalingam.

Indrayani had explained to her daughter that she should either keep no Shivalingam in her home or a Shivalingam that had the Naag and Nandi with it because without them, the God of destruction was too energetic. Having them helped balance out his energy.

Both of them started with the song of Ganesha, son of Shiva the destroyer deity, praising him as they went on to sing praising songs for Shiva, Durga Ma and Sri Vishnu before ending their worship with a song of Ganesha again. Shiva had given the boon to his son Ganesha that he would be worshipped first and worshipping any other God would be like disrespecting the boon and thus disrespecting Shiva himself.

After they were done, they ended their worship with a famous Marathi hymn, written by Ramdas Swami. Ramdas Swami was a known sage of the bhakti movement who used to worship specifically Hanuman and Sri Rama, both reincarnations of Shiva the destroyer deity and Sri Vishnu the preserver deity respectfully. Sri is a title used before Sri Vishnu or his incarnations. Ramdas Swami was one of the Saints who opposed the rigid caste system of the era and he was spiritual teacher of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a young boy who went on to establish a strong Maratha Kingdom.

"Sadaa sarvadaa yog tujha ghadava,
Tujhe karani deha majha padava,
Upekshu naka gunvanta ananta
Raghunayaka magane hech aata|

Morya Morya mi baal taanhe
Tujhich seva Karukaaya jaane
Anyaay majhe kotyana koti
Moreshwara tu ghal poti||

Jai Jai Raghuveer Samarth
Gurudev Dutta"

(I hope your plans work out forever
Let my body fall for you
Don't be upset because of my mistakes
Sri Ram, this is my only request from you.

Ganesha Ganesha I'm like a thirsty child
I want to keep serving you
Injustices done by me might be in crores (millions)
Please swallow them and keep them in your big stomach.

Hail Sri Ram
Gurudev Dutta (Duttatreya Maharaj)"

(I only know the meaning of the first stanza correctly. I don't know about the second stanza and it wasn't online either. I wrote what I could make out as a Marathi person. If anybody wants to correct me, they can.)