“Navratri is not just a time to celebrate and
joy but is to attain Everlasting happiness, Peace and Anandam.”
Navratri (Nav Durga) is a nine day festival of Hindus
honoring the Mother Goddess. This celebration occurs twice a year: The first
one is in the spring, during March/April and the second one is in the fall,
during September/October based on the lunar cycle. “Navratri is not just a time to celebrate and of joy but is to attain
Everlasting happiness, Peace and Anandam (Bliss) through self-discipline,
self-control, and sacrifice. It is 9 Days of Living in Mother Goddess
Consciousness and Experiencing Her Grace and Love.
During the
nine days, people celebrate by performing different types of pujas and ceremonies.
Also, many Hindus observe fasting; eating only fruits, vegetables and dairy
products, perform specific sadhana, prayers, practice celibacy and visit
temples. Many temples, as well as private homes, offer special prayer programs called
“Jagran” with singing and music throughout the night. On the final day, young
girls up to age nine are worshipped as goddesses and given gifts as an offering
of gratitude to mother goddess for her blessings. It is believed that at that
age the girls have pure energy like mother goddess. In some parts of India, the idol
of the Goddess Durga is immersed in the holy rivers on the 10th day (Dashehra).
The
festival signifies the nine glorious aspects of the Divine Mother and is
celebrated not only in India
but in many parts of the world. Mother Goddess is also called Shakti, the
energy of God. She is the energy of the Trinity, as the creative aspect of Lord
Brahma, sustaining aspect of Lord Vishnu and destructive aspect of Lord Shiva
are all encompassed within Her. The Divine Trinity of Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi
and Saraswati together represent feminine energy that provides protection,
love, prosperity and knowledge to all their devotees. Goddess Durga is known to
remove evil, misery and pain from our lives. Goddess Lakshmi is the Goddess of
Wealth and Goddess Saraswati is also known as the Goddess of Knowledge. Nav
Durga is therefore a special time to worship and sing the glories of the
Goddesses, and pray for good health, prosperity, purity of mind, love, peace
and Anandam/bliss. As large numbers of people pray during this time, the
collective energy becomes very powerful and it is said that the prayers offered
are often heard by the Goddesses.
Navratri (Nav Durga), is spiritually significant because
it represents the three stages of an individual's spiritual journey: Self-Purification, Self-Transformation and
Self-Realization.
Self-Purification
(eradication of the negative tendencies of our minds and hearts):
During the
first three days, the Goddess Mother is worshiped in her powerful, destructive
and terrifying form of Kali/Durga.
People pray to Mother, asking Her to use Her destructive power to destroy all
imperfections and faults (eradication of the negative tendencies of our minds
and hearts) and purify them enough to become a receptacle of her divine energy.
Self-Transformation:
After
self-purification the next three days of Navaratri are
devoted to worshipping the Goddess in Her prosperity-bestowing form as Mahalakshmi. Goddess Mahalakshmi does
not merely bestow material prosperity, but also grants qualities which a
sincere spiritual seeker requires, namely, calmness, peace, equanimity,
compassion, and love. By worshipping and praying to Her, one starts developing
positive attributes and experiences inner prosperity, peace and happiness
(self-transformation).
Self-Knowledge:
During the last three
days, Goddess Saraswati is worshiped
as the bestower of the true light of knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Once one is purified by Goddess Durga (vices
being annihilated), transformed by Goddess Mahalakshmi by receiving the
spiritual wealth of inner peace, calmness, compassion and love, then the
devotee is ready to receive the true light of understanding. By worshipping and
praying to Goddess Saraswati, the devotee is now blessed with true wisdom
(Self-Knowledge).
Navratri is not just a time to celebrate
Goddess Durga’s victory over the demons; it is also the time to pray to Goddess
Durga to remove our enemies/vices within us, like anger, selfish desires,
greed, ego and undue attachments. We must pray to her to destroy our inner
enemies/vices. Only then can we attain
Self-purification, Self-transformation and Self-Knowledge -- Everlasting
happiness, Peace and Anandam, “Sat Chit Ananda.”
Satya Kalra
Founder of Path to Anandam
satya@pathtoanandam.org
No comments:
Post a Comment