SALUTATIONS to the Divine Mother, Durga, who
exists in all beings in the form of
intelligence, mercy, beauty, who is the consort
of Lord Shiva, who creates, sustains and
destroys the universe.
This festival is observed twice a year, once
in the month of Chaitra and then in Aswayuja. It
lasts for nine days in honour of the nine
manifestations of Durga. During Navaratri (the
word literally means "nine nights") devotees of
Durga observe a fast. Brahmins are fed and
prayers are offered for the protection of health
and property.
The beginning of summer and the beginning of
winter are two very important junctions of
climatic and solar influence. These two periods
are taken as sacred opportunities for the
worship of the Divine Mother. They are indicated
respectively by the Rama-Navaratri in Chaitra
(April-May) and the Durga Navaratri in Aswayuja
(September-October). The bodies and minds of
people undergo a considerable change on account
of the changes in Nature. Sri Rama is worshipped
during Ramnavmi, and Mother Durga during
Navaratri.
The Durga Puja is celebrated in various parts
of India in different styles. But the one basic
aim of this celebration is to propitiate Shakti,
the Goddess in Her aspect as Power, to bestow
upon man all wealth, auspiciousness, prosperity,
knowledge (both sacred and secular), and all
other potent powers. Whatever be the particular
or special request that everyone may put before
the Goddess, whatever boon may be asked of Her,
the one thing behind all these is propitiation,
worship and linking oneself with Her. There is
no other aim. This is being effected consciously
or unconsciously. Everyone is blessed with Her
loving mercy and is protected by Her.
Durga Puja or Navaratri commences on the
first and ends on the tenth day of the bright
half of Aswayuja (September-October). It is held
in commemoration of the victory of Durga over
Mahishasura, the buffalo-headed demon. In Bengal
Her image is worshipped for nine days and then
cast into water. The tenth day is called Vijaya
Dasami or Dussera (the "tenth day"). Processions
with Her image are taken out along the streets
of villages and cities.
The mother of Durga (that is, the wife of the
King of the Himalayas) longed to see her
daughter. Durga was permitted by Lord Shiva to
visit her beloved mother only for nine days in
the year. The festival of Durga Puja marks this
brief visit and ends with the Vijaya Dasami day,
when Goddess Durga leaves for Her return to
Mount Kailas. This is the view of some devotees.
In Bengal, Durga Puja is a great festival.
All who live away from home return during the
Puja days. Mothers reunite with their sons and
daughters, and wives with their husbands.
The potter shows his skill in making images,
the painter in drawing pictures, the songster in
playing on his instrument, and the priest in
reciting the sacred books. The Bengalis save
money throughout the year only to spend
everything during the Puja days. Cloth is freely
distributed to the Brahmins.
The woman of Bengal welcomes the Goddess with
a mother's love and sends away the image on the
last day, with every ceremony associated with a
daughter's departure to her husband's home and
with motherly tears in her eyes. This signifies
the parting of Durga from Her beloved mother.
Durga Puja is the greatest Hindu festival in
which God is adored as Mother. Hinduism is the
only religion in the world which has emphasised
to such an extent the motherhood of God. One's
relationship with one's mother is the dearest
and the sweetest of all human relations. Hence,
it is proper to look upon God as mother.
Durga represents the Divine Mother. She is
the energy aspect of the Lord. Without Durga,
Shiva has no expression and without Shiva, Durga
has no existence. Shiva is the soul of Durga;
Durga is identical with Shiva. Lord Shiva is
only the silent witness. He is motionless,
absolutely changeless. He is not affected by the
cosmic play. It is Durga who does everything.
Shakti is the omnipotent power of the Lord,
or the Cosmic Energy. The Divine Mother is
represented as having ten different weapons in
Her hands. She sits on a lion. She keeps up the
play of the Lord through the three attributes of
Nature, namely, Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas.
Knowledge, peace, lust, anger, greed, egoism and
pride, are all Her forms.
You will find in the Devi Sukta of the Rig
Veda Samhita that Vak, symbolising speech,
the daughter of the sage Anbhirna, realised her
identity with the Divine Mother, the Power of
the Supreme Lord, which manifests throughout the
universe among the gods, among men and beasts
and among the creatures of the deep ocean.
In the Kena Upanishad, you will find
that the Divine Mother shed wisdom on Indra and
the gods and said that the gods were able to
defeat the demons only with the help of the
power of the Supreme Lord.
The worship of Devi, the universal Mother,
leads to the attainment of knowledge of the
Self. The story in the Kena Upanishad
known as the "Yaksha Prasna", supports this
view. It tells how Uma, the Divine Mother,
taught the Truth to the gods. Goddess Shakti
thus sheds wisdom on Her devotees.
Devi worship is, therefore, worship of God's
glory, of God's greatness and supremacy. It is
adoration of the Almighty. It is unfortunate
that Devi is ignorantly understood by many as a
mere blood-thirsty Hindu Goddess. No! Devi is
not a vicious demoness nor is She the property
of the Hindus alone. Devi does not belong to any
religion. Devi is that conscious power of God.
The words Devi, Shakti, etc., and the ideas of
different forms connected with these names are
concessions granted by the sages due to the
limitations of the human intellect; they are by
no means the ultimate definitions of Shakti.
The original or Adi Shakti is beyond human
comprehension. Bhagavan Krishna says in the
Gita: "This is only My lower nature. Beyond
this is My higher nature, the life-principle
which sustains the universe".
The Upanishad also says: "The supreme
power of God is manifested in various ways. This
power is of the nature of God, manifesting as
knowledge, strength and activity".
Truly speaking, all beings in the universe
are Shakti-worshippers, whether they are aware
of it or not, for there is no one who does not
love and long for power in some form or other.
Physicists and scientists have now proved that
everything is pure, imperishable energy. This
energy is only a form of divine Shakti which
exists in every form.
A child is more familiar with the mother than
with the father, because the mother is very
kind, loving, tender and affectionate and looks
after the needs of the child. In the spiritual
field also, the aspirant or the devotee--the
spiritual child--has an intimate relationship
with the Mother Durga, more than with the Father
Shiva. Therefore, it behoves the aspirant to
approach the Mother first, who then introduces
Her spiritual child to the Father for his
illumination.
The Mother's Grace is boundless. Her mercy is
illimitable; Her knowledge infinite; Her power
immeasurable; Her glory ineffable; and Her
splendour indescribable. She gives you material
prosperity as well as spiritual freedom.
Approach Her with an open heart. Lay bare
your heart to Her with frankness and humility.
Be as simple as a child. Kill ruthlessly the
enemies of egoism, cunningness, selfishness and
crookedness. Make a total, unreserved, and
ungrudging self-surrender to Her. Sing Her
praise. Repeat Her Name. Worship Her with faith
and unflinching devotion. Perform special
worship on the Navaratri days. Navaratri is the
most suitable occasion for doing intense
spiritual practices. These nine days are very
sacred to the Divine Mother. Plunge yourself in
Her worship. Practise intense repetition of the
Divine Name, having a regular "quota" of
repetitions per day, and the number of hours
spent on it.
Devi fought with Bhandasura and his forces
for nine days and nine nights. This Bhandasura
had a wonderful birth and life. When Lord Shiva
burnt Cupid with the fire of His "third eye",
Sri Ganesha playfully moulded a figure out of
the ashes, and the Lord breathed life into it!
This was the terrible demon Bhandasura. He
engaged himself in great penance and on account
of it obtained a boon from Lord Shiva. With the
help of that boon, he began harassing the
worlds. The Divine Mother fought with him for
nine nights (the demons have extraordinary
strength during the night), and killed him on
the evening of the tenth day, known as the
Vijaya Dasami. The learning of any science is
begun on this highly auspicious day. It was on
this day that Arjuna worshipped Devi, before
starting the battle against the Kauravas on the
field of Kurukshetra.
Sri Rama worshipped Durga at the time of the
fight with Ravana, to invoke Her aid in the war.
This was on the days preceding the Vijaya Dasami
day. He fought and won through Her Grace.
In days of yore, kings used to undertake
ambitious expeditions on the day of the Vijaya
Dasami. Those kings who did not go on such
expeditions used to go out hunting in the deep
forests. In Rajputana, India, even up to this
date, people arrange mock attacks on some fort
on Vijaya Dasami.
This day, however, has much to do with the
life of Sri Rama. Nowhere in the history of the
world can we find a parallel to the character of
Sri Rama as a man, son, brother, husband, father
or king. Maharishi Valmiki has exhausted the
entire language in describing the glory of Sri
Rama. And, we shall be rightly celebrating the
Dussera if we make honest efforts to destroy the
demon of our ego, and radiate peace and love
wherever we go. Let us all resolve to become men
of sterling character. Let us resolve and act.
The story of Sri Rama is known in almost all
parts of the globe, and if we but succeed in
following even a hundredth part of His
teachings, we shall make our lives more fragrant
than the rose and more lustrous than gold!
Dussera can also be interpreted as "Dasa-Hara",
which means the cutting of the ten heads of
Ravana. So, let us resolve today to cut the ten
heads--passion, pride, anger, greed,
infatuation, lust, hatred, jealousy, selfishness
and crookedness--of the demon, Ego, and thus
justify the celebration of Dussera.
Religious observances, traditional worship
and observances at times have more than one
significance. Apart from being the adoration of
the Divine, they commemorate stirring events in
history, they are allegoric when interpreted
from the occult standpoint and, lastly, they are
deeply significant pointers and revealing guides
to the individual on his path to God-realisation.
Outwardly, the nine-day worship of Devi is a
celebration of triumph. This nine days'
celebration is offered to the Mother for Her
successful struggle with the formidable demons
led by Mahishasura. But, to the sincere
spiritual aspirant, the particular division of
the Navaratri into sets of three days to adore
different aspects of the Supreme Goddess has a
very sublime, yet thoroughly practical truth to
reveal. In its cosmic aspect, it epitomises the
stages of the evolution of man into God, from
Jivahood (the state of individualisation) to
Shivahood (the state of Self-realisation). In
its individual import, it shows the course that
his spiritual practice should take.
Let us, therefore, examine in detail the
spiritual significance of Navaratri.
The central purpose of existence is to
recognise your eternal identity with the supreme
Spirit. It is to grow into the image of the
Divine. The supreme One embodies the highest
perfection. It is spotless purity. To recognise
your identity with That, to attain union with
That, is verily to grow into the very likeness
of the Divine. The aspirant, therefore, as his
initial step, has to get rid of all the
countless impurities, and the demoniacal
elements that have come to cling to him in his
embodied state. Then he has to acquire lofty
virtues and auspicious, divine qualities. Thus
purified, knowledge flashes upon him like the
brilliant rays of the sun upon the crystal
waters of a perfectly calm lake.
This process demands a resolute will,
determined effort, and arduous struggle. In
other words, strength and infinite power are the
prime necessity. Thus it is the Divine Mother
who has to operate through the aspirant.
Let us now consider how, on the first three
days, the Mother is adored as supreme power and
force, as Durga the Terrible. You pray to Mother
Durga to destroy all your impurities, your
vices, your defects. She is to fight with and
annihilate the baser animal qualities in the
spiritual aspirant, the lower, diabolical nature
in him. Also, She is the power that protects
your spiritual practice from its many dangers
and pitfalls. Thus the first three days, which
mark the first stage or the destruction of
impurity and determined effort and struggle to
root out the evil tendencies in your mind, are
set apart for the worship of the destructive
aspect of the Mother.
Once you have accomplished your task on the
negative side, that of breaking down the impure
propensities and old vicious habits, the next
step is to build up a sublime spiritual
personality, to acquire positive qualities in
place of the eliminated demoniacal qualities.
The divine qualities that Lord Krishna
enumerates in the Gita, have to be acquired. The
aspirant must cultivate and develop all the
auspicious qualities. He has to earn immense
spiritual wealth to enable him to pay the price
for the rare gem of divine wisdom. If this
development of the opposite qualities is not
undertaken in right earnest, the old demoniacal
nature will raise its head again and again.
Hence, this stage is as important in an
aspirant's career as the previous one. The
essential difference is: the former is a
ruthless, determined annihilation of the filthy
egoistic lower self; the latter is an orderly,
steady, calm and serene effort to develop
purity. This pleasanter side of the aspirant's
Sadhana is depicted by the worship of Mother
Lakshmi. She bestows on Her devotees the
inexhaustible divine wealth or Deivi Sampath.
Lakshmi is the wealth-giving aspect of God. She
is purity itself. Thus the worship of Goddess
Lakshmi is performed during the second set of
three days.
Once the aspirant succeeds in routing out the
evil propensities, and develops Sattwic or pure,
divine qualities, he becomes competent to attain
wisdom. He is now ready to receive the light of
supreme wisdom. He is fit to receive divine
knowledge. At this stage comes the devout
worship of Mother Saraswathi, who is divine
knowledge personified, the embodiment of
knowledge of the Absolute. The sound of Her
celestial veena awakens the notes of the
sublime utterances of the Upanishads
which reveal the Truth, and the sacred
monosyllable, Om. She bestows the knowledge of
the supreme, mystic sound and then gives full
knowledge of the Self as represented by Her
pure, dazzling snow-white apparel. Therefore, to
propitiate Saraswathi, the giver of knowledge,
is the third stage.
The tenth day, Vijaya Dasami, marks the
triumphant ovation of the soul at having
attained liberation while living in this world,
through the descent of knowledge by the Grace of
Goddess Saraswathi. The soul rests in his own
Supreme Self or Satchidananda Brahman. This day
celebrates the victory, the achievement of the
goal. The banner of victory flies aloft. Lo! I
am He! I am He!
This arrangement also has a special
significance in the aspirant's spiritual
evolution. It marks the indispensable stages of
evolution through which everyone has to pass.
One naturally leads to the other; to
short-circuit this would inevitably result in a
miserable failure. Nowadays many ignorant
seekers aim straight at the cultivation of
knowledge without the preliminaries of
purification and acquisition of the divine
qualities. They then complain that they are not
progressing on the path. How can they? Knowledge
will not descend until the impurities have been
washed out, and purity is developed. How can the
pure plant grow in impure soil?
Therefore adhere to this arrangement; your
efforts will be crowned with sure success. This
is your path. As you destroy one evil quality,
develop the virtue opposite to it. By this
process you will soon bring yourself up to that
perfection which will culminate in identity with
the Self which is your goal. Then all knowledge
will be yours: you will be omniscient,
omnipotent and you will feel your omnipresence.
You will see your Self in all. You will have
achieved eternal victory over the wheel of
births and deaths, over the demon of
worldliness. No more pain, no more misery, no
more birth, no more death! Victory, victory be
yours!
Glory to the Divine Mother! Let Her take you,
step by step to the top of the spiritual ladder
and unite you with the Lord!
