Durgā. A goddess in Hindu literature who represents a conglomeration of deities and demonesses associated with mountains, fire, and vegetation. The assimilation of these into Durgā seems to have begun toward the end of the Vedic period. In the Purāṇas she is portrayed as a fierce female warrior. She appears in many guises, one of the best known of which is that of Kālī, which is also the name of one of the tongues of the god of fire (Agni). She is also the goddess of the Himālayas and sometimes has beneficent aspects. In popular lore among the lower classes she is simply the Mother-goddess, Kālī Mā.

Geddes MacGregor, Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy, New York: Paragon House, 1989

durgā f. (of ○ga, q.v.) the Indigo plant or Clitoria Ternatea L.

• a singing bird (= śyāmā) L.

• N. of two rivers MBh. vi, 337

• 'the inaccessible or terrific goddess', N. of the daughter of Himavat and wife of Śiva (also called Umā, Pārvatī &c., and mother of Kārttikeya and Gaṇêśa, cf. pūjā) TĀr. x, 2, 3 (d"ṣ devii) MBh. &c

• of a princess Rājat. iv, 659, and of other women

Sanskrit-English Dictionary, by M. Monier William