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The Preah Neang Deví as a representation of cosmic forces


The representations of Siva’s wives, Durgá or Umá, Visnu’s wife, Laksmí , and Lokesvara’s wife, Prajnaparamitá, are merlu their embodiments. Their attributes make them easily identifiable. As the wives of the gods, the goddesses also symbolize nature.

We already kwon that Durgá killed the Asura Mahisa. In this episode, Durgá symbolizes the power of nature; she is born of the coming together of the gods’powers, while the Asura symbolizes all that exists in nature. But, all that exists in nature must be destroyed by the power of nature, symbolized by the god or the goddess.

Some documents present the god as a representation of the cosmos. As such, Durgá therefor represents the cosmic forces.

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