NAVARATRI CELEBRATION

Hari Om!

Wishing everyone in this a very happy, prosperous & blessed Navratri. This is a very vibrant and joyous time of the year, where the supreme mother, Goddess Durga (Shakti), is invoked and prayed throughout the nine days for  various attainments, both at materialistic and spiritual level.

Since the feminine energy is considered to be equally divine and nurturing, and absorbing of all the good & bad qualities of the child, I feel it is important to understand the scientific co-relation of the Feminine Energy with the Nine forms of the supreme mother& celebrate the festival in the true essence. This will essentially, give a refreshed outlook to each one’s views towards the Shakti form of energy. This will hopefuevelop a deep and compassionate sense of,attitude of gratitude, towards the feminine energy, which is taken for granted, most of the times.

What is the Meaning of Navratri?

Navratri symbolizes victory of positivity over negativity, Navratri literally means “Nine nights” in Sanskrit; Nav – Nine and Ratri – nights. During these nine nights and ten days, the three forms of the Divine Mother are worshipped and invoked -Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi.

Why 9 nights or Navratri?

The first 3 days are of DURGA denoting Tamasik gunas

First 3 days: The goddess is separated as a spiritual force called Durga also known as Kali in order to destroy all evil and grant boons.

Second 3 days are of LAKSHMI symbolizing rajasic gunas

Second 3 days: The Mother is adored as a giver of spiritual wealth, Lakshmi, who is considered to have the power of bestowing on her devotees inexhaustible wealth, as she is the goddess of wealth.

The last 3 days are dedicated to SARASWATI signifying satvic gunas

The Last 3 days: is spent in worshiping the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. In order to have all-round success in life, believers seek the blessings of all three aspects of the divine femininity, hence the nine nights of worship.

In reality, all these three qualities co-exist and we have to skillfully get past them. These nine days are a reminder for this. It is the awakening of the Divinity – that quality of the Mother Divine which does not negate anything, yet nurtures the good qualities. Supporting the positivity in us and skillfully removing the negativity can be learnt by invoking and awakening the Divinity within us. Irrespective of the qualities of a child, the mother always loves the child; same is with the Mother Divine. This all-inclusive power supports us and brings out the divine quality in us. This can happen only when we do regular sadhana. Navratri or Navadurga Parva happens to be the most auspicious and pious period of Spiritual sadhana for worship of Shakti (the sublime, ultimate, absolute creative energy) the Divine, conceptualized as the Mother Goddess-Durga, whose worship dates back to prehistoric times before the dawn of the Vedic age. These nine days serve as a reminder to be a good sadhak (seeker), as none of these virtues mentioned herein can manifest in a Sadhak without the grace of the Sadguru.

Signifiance of Navratri

The beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn are considered to be important junctions of climatic and solar influences. These two periods are taken as sacred opportunities for the worship of the Divine Mother Durga. The dates of the festival are determined according to the Lunar Calendar. Lord Brahma mentions in the Markandeya Puraan to Rishi Markandey about the various incarnations of Divine mother, the first incarnation of Shakti was as Shailputri further incarnations of the Divine Mother were as: Brahmacharni, Chandra hanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidatri in that order. These nine manifestations of Shakti are worshipped as “Nava-Durga”. Navratri is also a period of introspection and purification, and is traditionally an auspicious and religious time for starting any new ventures. During this vowed religious observance, a pot is installed (ghatasthapana) at a sanctified place at home. A lamp is kept lit in the pot for nine days. The pot symbolizes the universe. The uninterrupted lit lamp is the medium through which we worship the effulgent Adishakti, i.e. Maa Durga.The festival of Dusshera is celebrated to worship the goddess Durga. The form of the goddess Durga is said to symbolise creative energy. This form of the goddess has nine aspects. Navratri therefore is dedicated to the worship of these aspects. Each form or aspect of the goddess has its own day dedicated to it. After worshipping the Divine mother for nine days & nine nights, the 10 day is known as Vijaydashmi, or the day to celebrate the complete victory of the good over the evil, the destruction of the Ravana in us and the resurrection of Lord Rama and his virtues within us.

So navratri is just not the festival to play garba and still continue the old habits of disrespecting women. This is the time to mend old ways, and pray to the Maa Durga for forgiveness and freedom from all the sins& wrongs done towards the mother earth and all the feminine energies around the world. Raas Garba is the mother’s way of celebrating the goodness and churning out the navaras within each human being. And this is the time, that the ever benevolent mother is in a virtuous mood of giving and granting boons to all her children. The Divine mother Earth has suffered enough and more tortures due to the indifferences and power struggle between her children in the name of various religious wars. All the women are still reeling under the clout of fear, from anti social elements and from demonic virtues who disrespect women and treat them only as an object of pleasure, and deprive them of their true rights. I strongly and firmly condemn all atrocities done towards all the mothers, sisters, wives & daughters across the world. I am a firm believer of Shakti ( the Divine mother ) ,and I teach my disciples through the Ancient path of #Kriyayoga , to respect both the energies equally. One can never attain supreme oneness, if the person doesn’t know to respect the masculine and feminine energy with equal stature. Since both the energies have to co-operate in unison for the sushumna to awaken and the spiritual experience to happen in the sadhak. In the year 2013, I celebrated navratri, in a unique way, by conducting “Self-Empowerment for women” programme free of cost across the nine days at various venues in and around Mumbai, personally training women, on various powerful and easy to use self- defence techniques, in the wake of the rising crime against women and also exploitation of women by self-styled godmen. In #Kriyayoga, we respect women as we consider the feminine energy equally important for ones spiritual progression as the male energy.

I sincerely urge every individual across the universe to pay utmost respect to the divine mother and treat women with the same pious ness, dignity &respect, as they treat, the goddess Durga for these nine days. Remember, that if the women were not there, the entire process of pro-creation would not have been there.

May the blessings of the Primordial Mother, shower everyone with abundance of prosperity,harmony,wisdom and unconditional motherly love, so that each of you spread this positive chain of “Unconditional love and Unconditional Forgiveness”, to restore World peace as a mark of respect to the ailing Mother Earth, who has always nurtured everyone with the Same “Unconditional Love and Unconditional Forgiveness”, in spite of all the destructions that were caused in this universe, due to human beings selfish and ulterior motives of supremacy.

Love everyone and be happy and most importantly be the reason for happiness to a second living being in this universe, if each of you follow this ,then everyone will be happy and content in this world and the universe will be a true heaven on earth.

This VijayDashmi , literally burn the Ravan ( demonic qualities) in you and pray to the Supreme mother for strength, to bring out the Virtues of Lord Ram in you.

Love & Blessings

Sadguru Mangeshda