Navaratri

Nine nights of worship of the Divine Mother

Hinduism believes that the reason behind human birth is to gain liberation from the coils of maya and enter the blissful realm of the Absolute. Maya is the illusory power of the Divine Mother, which deludes us into thinking this world to be absolutely real. The festival of Navaratri helps all Hindus renew their relationship with the Divine Mother and beg her to free us from the divine illusion.

The jivatma or embodied soul takes many births and goes through the dramas of many lives until it reaches a point of satiation with the external world and longs to return to its original status. This then is the purpose of life in Hinduism – to return to the source from which we have come. Hinduism gives many methods for having this experience and these paths are known as “yogas.” They help us to transcend the levels of the mind and experience the Absolute.

Hinduism is a way of life, and our ancient sages gave us many rituals and festivals meant to ensure that we never forget the goal of human life. Consciously or unconsciously these rituals help to nurture that one single aspiration in us, which our culture has been enshrining within itself from eternity. Even if our conscious minds forget the purpose for which we are born, that purpose will remain imprinted on the level of our subconscious. Thus, the Hindu calendar is studded with numerous festivals, all intended to take us back to our roots. This goal is embedded in our genes and carried forward from generation to generation. All our scriptures, epics, ceremonies and festivals are charged with this spiritual goal. They have an esoteric significance that is not apparent to the common eye. 

Indian thought is famous for its symbolism and from ancient times the pictorial representation of God took the form of both male and female. The universal form of the motionless Absolute came to be associated with the male and the manifested energy of nature with the female. To the undiscerning eye, the Brahman and nature are two completely different things but this is only an apparent phenomenon. Fundamentally they are one, as gold and ornaments made of it, are one. The Absolute and nature are not “two” but “two-in-one.” Hinduism has always recognised and accepted these two principles and variously called them by many names as Shiva/Shakti or Purusha/Prakriti. 

Just as the tree is latent in the seed, so this universe of names and forms, lies enfolded in this shakti of the Brahman. She is the Divine Mother who is the womb of all creatures. As nature, this shakti manifests herself in multifarious forms, so we personify the Divine Mother in the forms of various goddesses. She pre-supposes all existing forms, past, present and future. But she is also maya, the illusory power that entrammels us in her web of beauty and mesmerises us into believing that this world which we see before our eyes is real. The jivatma or embodied soul is so fascinated by her beauty that it forgets the purpose for which it has incarnated in a human body.

Navaratri means nine nights and in this festival of Navaratri we worship the Divine Mother in her many forms. It takes place in the first nine days of the bright half of the lunar fortnight in the Hindu month of Ashwin (September/October). This year, 2022, it starts on 26th September and ends on 4th October. The 10th day is known as Vijayadashami or the day of victory and falls on the 5th of October.

This festival is also known as Durga Puja. It shows how Hinduism has always revered the feminine and strived to empower women through the ages. Unfortunately, with the advent of the Abrahamic religions, masculinity has been extolled so that now we find that women are actually trying to ape men. They wear men’s clothes and demand their rights as equals. This is amazing. Surely, we were not made equal or meant to be equal. Both males and females have different physiques, different roles and different temperaments. Both males and females are unique creations of God. Nature never likes duplicates. Even the five fingers of one hand are totally different and play totally different roles. Then why should women demand equality with men? It is quite absurd. Navaratri is a Hindu festival which extols and proclaims the individuality and strength of the feminine.

Durga, is the virgin goddess. She stands on her own and does not need the support of any of the male gods. She is a true representative of dynamic feminine power at its highest. If only this feminine power was ruling the world, we would not have had all these world wars!

During these nine days and nights Durga is worshipped in her nine different forms.

(These forms have been given in the blog on the Nava Durgas).

Seen on the background of eternity, the drama of our lives, enacted on the stage of space and time, is only a show of light and shade, like a TV show. It is only a creation of the mind and like all TV shows it passes, flows and vanishes into the space from which it came. This phenomenon is what Hinduism calls maya – shakti of the goddess who has produced this phenomenal world which has its basis in ignorance of the true nature of reality. 

This view of the world as given by our ancient rishis has been corroborated by Quantum Physics. They have discovered that we are connected to every single thing in the cosmos by this one underlying energy field which they call “The Field” and which our rishis called Prakriti. The tiniest bit of matter is not solid as we have been led to believe but only energy in motion. This pulsating energy field is the centre of our existence. Our eyes deceive us into imagining a reality that does not exist in the way we perceive it. But we are so fascinated by this world which has been created by this enchantress that we forget the purpose for which we have taken a human birth. In order to remind us of this purpose and reconnect with this source of the universal energy of the Divine Mother, the Hindu culture has demarcated two festivals in the year dedicated to the remembrance of that energy. 

The nine days of Navaratri are meant for reflection and removal of our negative traits and the acquisition of positive qualities. These nine days can be divided into three parts. The first three days are kept for the worship of Maha Kali, the next three days for Maha Lakshmi and the last three days for Maha Saraswati. Some people also worship the Nava Durgas or the nine aspects of Durga on each day.

Let us take the first method of worship of the three different goddesses. Before we can proceed towards our goal of union with the Absolute it is absolutely necessary to remove all the complex amount of negative traits that we have accumulated throughout the year. 

For this a certain amount of force may be necessary. So during the first three days the goddess is worshipped as Kali which is her unconquerable form as Kaala or Time – relentless, all-consuming and indomitable. Time is the only killer! Everything in creation falls a prey to Time. All of us fear Death in its aspect of Time, so Kali’s form is frightening to behold. It is meant to intimidate those who are not ready to accept the fact that life is a coin with two sides – birth and death!

She is usually portrayed as pitch black with long dishevelled hair falling behind her like a cloak. She wears a girdle of severed arms and a necklace of freshly cut heads. She has a cavernous mouth dripping with blood from her lolling tongue. She has long sharp fangs and claw-like hands with hooked nails. She portrays one of the masks of Prakriti – of nature giving birth to all beings from her womb, feeding them at her breast and then devouring and assimilating them back into herself!

Kali’s nature is such that she cannot tolerate deceit and falsehood. Her wrath is immediate and dire. Thus, we spend the first three days and nights of Navaratri worshipping her, for only she can remove our negativity and vulgarity. When we start a garden, the first thing we have to do is to dig the ground and remove all the stones and unwanted grass and weeds from it. This is the job which is given to Kali so for the first three nights we pray sincerely to her to take away our negative traits even though this may cause some pain.

The next three days are kept aside for Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, beauty and auspiciousness. She is the one who is lavish with her gifts of all types of good fortune which include positive traits of the mind. In the garden of our mind which has been ruthlessly weeded by Kali we invite the beauteous Lakshmi to come and sow the seeds of love, generosity, consideration, compassion, gratitude and so on. For this we worship this beautiful goddess and entreat her to come and take her abode in our hearts that have been cleansed of all negativity.

The last three days are dedicated to the enchanting Saraswati – the goddess of learning, arts, science and wisdom. Seated on her vehicle, the graceful swan, she floats through space looking for an opportunity to bless us. During the last three days we beseech her to enter our hearts and fulfil the goal of human life which is to attain the Absolute. In that garden of our mind which has been weeded of all its negativity by the forceful Kali, and in which the gracious Lakshmi has sown the seeds of positivity, we invite Saraswati, the one who can give us the bliss of union with the Absolute. Only in such a garden can the pure lotus of enlightenment bloom.  

This is the esoteric meaning behind the festival of Navaratri which is celebrated all over Bharat. This festival is celebrated twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. In these following days and nights let us beseech her in her various forms to enter into us and dispel the darkness of the accumulated ignorance of our true nature with the glowing lamp of knowledge which only she can light for us. 

Sadhanas for Navaratri

One of the main sadhanas that are recommended during these days is the reading of the Devi Mahatmyam (Glories of the Goddess) which is also known as Chandi Path (chant of the fierce one) and Durga Saptashati (seven hundred shlokas to Durga). So here we will give some instructions how the thirteen chapters should be divided during these days. Durga stands for the invincible aspect of Adi Shakti, the primordial energy of the divine in the form of the goddess. 

The seventy-fourth to the eighty-sixth chapters of the Markandeya Purana is known as the Devi Mahatmyam. It is a highly esoteric treatise with seven hundred shlokas, in which are embedded many important bija mantras. As with all Puranic books, the stories are all symbolic. If we read this with faith and concentration we will find that with each asura that Durga vanquishes, one of our negative traits will also be vanquished. Before we start the reading we have to supplicate her that she will clear all our negative tendencies and make us pure and ready to receive the highest wisdom.

The book begins with the story of a king named Suratha and a merchant called Samadhi who have been thrown out of their homes by their families. They are totally dejected with life and by coincidence they both meet each other at the ashrama of a great rishi called Medhas. In order to comfort them he tells them the story of the divine lilas of Durga which come in the Markandeya Purana. He tells them to surrender everything to the Divine Mother who will take control of our lives and lead us to enlightenment. Of course the story has a deep esoteric meaning which if understood properly will help us to control our lower nature and expel all our negative tendencies.  

There are thirteen chapters in the book which are to be divided into three sections and have to be completed during the nine-day vow. The three sections are known as Pradhama Charitra devoted to Maha Kali, Madhyama Charitra to Maha Lakshmi and Uttama Charitra to Maha Saraswati. 

The altar for Navaratri is a special one. First of all we should fill a mud or copper pot with Ganga Jal and put some sheaves of grain or banana leaves in it and keep it as the symbol of the Goddess of plenty. The pot can be embellished with sindoor (red powder) and a red string which is wound round it. Some people also keep a flower pot or some vessel which has been filled with mud on which nine types of seeds of different grains are sown. These should be watered daily and by the tenth day all of them should have sprouted. Each grain stands for a certain positive quality which will grow and flourish in our minds during these nine days. This is distributed as prasad at the end of the festival. Of course we also light the usual diyas or lights and incense and make some edible offering. Durga is supposed to be fond of black channa or beans so many people offer that. Of course anything we make in the house and offer with love is happily accepted by her. In South Bharat people make beautiful altars filled with idols of all the deities. Reading of the Devi Mahatmyam and singing her bhajans are an essential part of this festival. 

Before starting the reading, three preparatory stotras (hymns) are to be read which give extra benefits. These are the Devi Kavacham which is a sort of armour for protection against all evil forces as well as for curing diseases. Then comes the Argala Stotram which invokes the blessing of the goddess and the Keelaka Stotram which gives us the benefits to be got from the reading. 

Pradhama Charitra is the 1st chapter and should be read on the 1st day. It has the famous Brahma stuti which has a lot of bija mantras.

Madhyama Charitra comprises the 2nd, 3rd and 4th chapters and the rest is known as Uttara Charitra and should be read on consecutive days ending on the tenth day which is known as Vijayadashami day or the day of victory.

Those who wish can also do the whole poem comprising of 13 chapters on Vijayadashami day. 

In the first chapter Durga slays the demons known as Madhu and Kaitabha. They stand for the dualities of pleasantness and unpleasantness. Madhu is sweetness or addiction and Kaitabha is bitterness or aversion. The world is a world of duality and we have to overcome this duality before we can proceed on the path to liberation. 

The next three chapters deal with the killing of the great asura known as Mahishasura who stands for the stubborn ego which refuses to accept anything other than itself as being the greatest. Thus, he is shown with a buffalo body. The buffalo is quite unintelligent and has a stubborn way of not listening to orders! Such a person is not open to the voice of the divine which is always ready to lead us. 

The fifth is the longest chapter and contains the conversation between Durga and the messengers of the two great asuras known as Shumbha and Nishumba who want to marry her. The first messenger is known as Dhumralochana who stands for distorted vision – someone who cannot discern reality from unreality. All of us suffer from this particular quality. 

Durga finishes him off and then Shumbha sends Chanda and Munda. Chanda is anger and Munda extreme dullness. Actually they refer to the qualities of rajas and tamas. The awesome form of the goddess that kills them is known as Chamunda. 

After this Shumbha sends the asura known as Raktabija, whose every drop of blood turns into a thousand warriors if allowed to fall on the ground. This asura stands for our unquenchable desires that keep multiplying even as they are satisfied.

Shumbha’s brother is Nishumbha who stands for self-pity which prevents us from putting forth our best in any endeavour. This is what Arjuna suffered from in the 2nd chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. One by one, Durga vanquishes all of these asuras.

The 11th chapter is a beautiful stotra to Narayani, who is the sole refuge of all “naras” or human beings.

The goddess gives all her blessings in the 12th chapter and the 13th chapter concludes the story of the king and the merchant whose wishes are fulfilled. 

May the Divine Mother bless all of you and take you to the highest pinnacle of wisdom and glory.

Aum Shakti Aum!

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