Significance of Navaratri

Meaning: O Mother ! You are the personification of all that is auspicious, You are the benevolent form of Lord Shiva, You bestow Divine energy and help people achieve Righteousness, wealth, fulfill desires and Liberation, You are worthy of being surrendered to. Three eyes adorn You. O Narayani Devi, I pay obeisance to You !

What Name should we chant during Navratri?

Navratri begins on Ashwin Shukla 1 (8th October 2010) on this year. According to one school of thought, Sri Mahakali (who has a tama pre-dominant temperament) is worshipped on the first 3 days of Navratri, to reduce the tama component in ourselves. The next 3 days, to enhance the sattva component in ourselves, Sri Mahalakshmi (who has a sattva pre-dominant temperament) is worshipped and on the last 3 days, to intensify the spiritual practice, Mahasaraswati (who has a raja pre-dominant temperament) is worshipped.
During Navaratri, it is good to chant Goddess Durga Devi’s Name – ‘Shri Durga Devyai Namaha’ as much as possible, to get maximum benefit.

Celebrate Navaratri according to science of Spirituality

The Navaratri commences on the first day (pratipada) of the bright fortnight of the Hindu lunar month of Ashwin. During this vowed religious observance, a pot is installed (ghatasthapana) in 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. Sree Durgadevi. During Navaratri, the principle of Sree Durgadevi is more active in the atmosphere.

Night indicates ‘switch over in the process’. one of the Goddess’s names is Kalratri. Kalratri is one who brings about changes in the Kalpurush. Earth’s basic nature is to rotate. Due to this rotation, changes like night and day occur. Vowed observances (vrat) help the body adjust to the changes.

What does Goddess Durga do during Navratri?

During the nine days of Navratri, Sri Durgadevi wanders in the Universe along with Her nine weapons, with the help of the Absolute Fire Principle. Roaming every day in new forms, the Primal Divine Energy completely annihilates the distressing frequencies coming from the seven Patals (the nether regions) to the earth every day, in an ascending order. The distressing frequencies transmitted by the negative energies and the chaitanya (Divine consciousness) frequencies of the destroyer form of the Primal Divine Energy are continuously at war in the Universe.

Sri Durgadevi mounts fierce attacks of radiance with lightning speed, with Her weapons. The pitcher (established during Navratri) and the Holy lamp in it are therefore worshipped as a symbol of this. The heat generated by the lamp in the pitcher denotes the scorching atmosphere created as a result of the continuous war that goes on in the Universe for nine days. The Holy lamp is the symbol of radiance that is created by the weapons and missiles of the Primal Divine Energy. The act of worshipping the pitcher also awakens the destroyer chaitanya of Sri Durgadevi and wipes out the distressing frequencies present in the Vastu.
Today we are faced with the problems of corruption, terrorism, naxalism etc., along with increasing anti-Hindu incidents wherein Hindu temples, Saints, Scriptures are targeted by the unrighteous (Dharmadrohis) it is high time for Hindus to unite and fight against these evils. With the grace of Sree Durgadevi, devout Hindus will succeed. On the eve of ‘Navaratri’ let us pray to the Goddess ‘Mahishasurmardini’ to give us strength to fight against the evil and protect our Hindu Dharma.

Vijayadashmi (Dasera): The triumph of righteousness
One derivation of the word Dasera is from dashhara. ‘Dash’ means ten and ‘hara’ means defeated. Nine days before Dasera, in the nine days of Navaratri, all the ten directions are saturated with the female deity’s (devi’s-Shakti) energy. ‘Shakti’ has control over creation in all the ten directions (dikbhav), attendants (gan), etc. That is why this day is known as Dashhara, Dasera, Vijayadashami, etc. This is one amongst the three and a half auspicious moments (muhurts) of the year. This falls on the tenth day (dashami) of the bright fortnight of Ashvin. The immersion of the Navratri (female deity) is done on the ninth day (navami) or the tenth day. Four rituals namely crossing the territory (Simollanghan), worship of the Shami tree (Shamipujan), worship of the deity Aparajita (Aparajitapujan) and worship of instruments (Shastrapuja) should be performed on this day.

Worship of instruments (Shastrapuja) : On this day soldiers and the feudal princes clean their weapons, arrange them in a row and worship them. Farmers and artisans too worship their respective implements or instruments. Some also perform this ritual on the ninth day of Navaratri.

The royal way of celebration : Since Dasera is a festival of triumph, on this day special rituals have been recommended for nobles and kings. This is a festival signifying victory and valour. Before Arjun went into hiding (adnyatvas), he placed all his weapons in the hollow of the Shami tree. But on this day when the Kourav army was herding away King Virat’s cattle, Arjun pulled out his weapons from the Shami tree and confronted the army and defeated them. It is believed that Lord Ramachandra too slayed Ravana and emerged victorious on this day. To signify these events, this day has been named Vijayadashmi. Actually this festival was celebrated even in ancient times. At that time it was a festival of the peasants. A peasant would celebrate it after bringing home his first monsoon harvest. During the Navaratri, on the day of installation of the pot (ghatasthapana) nine types of food grains are germinated in the altar (sthandil). On the day of Dasera the sprouted grains are pulled out and offered to the deities. In several places the main door of the house is decorated with sheafs of rice grains. This custom also depicts that it is a festival of the peasants. With the passage of time this festival became religious in nature and in the historical ages, it became a political one.

Contact : Hindu Janajagruti Samiti
Phone : 9995876104
For more details, visit : www.hindujagruti.org