Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
Manasi Devi is the presiding Deity of Manasi-ganga and is seen here in her form as goddess Durga, riding upon her tiger carrier. All the forms of the mother goddess like Manasi, Santoshi, Chandrika, Chamunda and Kali etc, have their origin in Durga Devi, who is a direct manifestation of Yogamaya Devi, the internal potency of Lord Krishna, who appeared as Krishna’s sister and is also known by the name Ekanamsa. Yogamaya also manifests as Purnamasi to take part in Krishna’s pastimes. There are four important temples of Devi in Vraja that were established by Vajranabha Maharaja and the names of these Deities are; Manasi Devi at Govardhana, Vrinda Devi at Kamyavana, Pateleshvara Devi at Mathura, and Yogamaya Devi at the Govindaji-Yogapitha in Vrindavana.
There is another goddess called Manasa Devi, who is also known by the name Naga Devi, who is a nagin, a female nag (celestial serpent) and considered to be the dual daughter of Lord Shiva and the king of serpents Vasuki. This particular Manasa Devi (Nagdevi) is also an expansion of goddess Durga. The worship of Manasa (Nagdevi) is very popular with women all over India, who worship the goddess in order to protect their families from the attack of poisonous snakes. She is also worshiped by young unmarried girls in order to obtain a good husband.
