The
festival of Navratri is celebrated with prayers and gaiety in the beginning of
the Ashwin (autumn) and the
beginning of Chatira (spring). This
period is a time for self-referral and getting back to the Source. During this
time of transformation, nature sheds the old and gets rejuvenated; animals
hibernate and life emerges back afresh in the spring.
According
to Vedic sciences, matter reverts to its original form to recreate itself again
and again. The creation is cyclical, not linear; everything is recycled by
nature - a continuous process of rejuvenation. The human mind, however, lags
behind in this routine cycle of creation. Navratri is a festival for one to
take the mind back to its Source.
The
Mother Divine is recognized not just as the brilliance of intellect (buddhi), but also the confusion (bhranti); she is not just abundance (lakshmi), she is also hunger (shudha) and thirst (trishna). Realizing this aspect of the Mother Divine in the entire
creation, leads one to a deep state of Samadhi. This gives an answer to the
age-old theological struggle of the Occident. Through wisdom, devotion and nishkama karma, one can attain advaita siddhi or perfection in the
non-dual consciousness.
Kali
is the most horrific manifestation of Nature. Nature symbolizes beauty, yet it
has a horrific form. Acknowledging the duality brings a total acceptance in the
mind and puts the mind at ease.
Though
Navratri is celebrated as the victory of good over evil, the actual fight is
not between good and evil. From the Vedantic point of view, the victory is of
the absolute reality over the apparent duality. In the words of Ashtavakra, it
is the poor wave which tries to keep its identity separate from the ocean, but
to no avail.
The
three primordial gunas are considered
as the feminine force of our magnificent universe. By worshiping the Mother Divine
during Navratri, we harmonize the three gunas
and elevate sattva in the atmosphere.
The
inward journey nullifies our negative karmas. Navratri is a celebration of the
spirit or prana which alone can
destroy mahishasura (inertia), shumbha-nishumbha (pride and shame) and madhu-kaitabh (extreme forms of craving
and aversion). They are completely opposites, yet complementary. Inertia,
deeply ingrained negativities and obsessions (raktabeejasura), unreasonable logics (chanda-munda) and blurred vision (dhoomralochan) can be overcome only by raising the level of prana and shakti, the life-force energy.
The
seeker gets back to the true Source through fasting, prayer, silence and
meditation. Night is also called ratri
because it brings rejuvenation. It gives relief at the three levels of our
existence – physical, subtle and causal. While fasting detoxifies the body,
silence purifies the speech and brings rest to the chattering mind, and
meditation takes one deep into one's own being.
The
nine days of Navratri are also an opportunity to rejoice in the three
primordial qualities that make up the universe. Though our life is governed by
the three gunas, we seldom recognize
and reflect on them. The first three days of Navratri are attributed to tamo guna, the next three days to rajo guna and the last three days to sattva guna. Our consciousness sails
through the tamo and rajo gunas and blossoms in the sattva guna of the last three days.
Whenever sattva dominates in life,
victory follows. The essence of this knowledge is honored by celebrating the
tenth day as Vijaydashmi.
Though the microcosm is
very well within the macrocosm, it’s perceived separateness is the cause of
conflict. For a gyani (wise), the
entire creation becomes alive and he recognizes life in everything in the same
way children see life in everything. The Mother Divine or the Pure Consciousness
itself pervades all the forms and has all the names. Recognizing the one Divinity
in every form and every name is the celebration of Navratri. Hence, special
pujas honoring all aspects of life and nature are performed during the last
three days.
© The Art of Living Foundation
