Post by Amritha Varshini on Oct 8, 2013 6:06:00 GMT 5.5
Significance of Navratri - Article by Sri V.S. Krishnan (vsk1940@gmail.com)
Navratri, which means the nine auspicious nights, is the most important festival in India. The festivities start on the first day of Ashwin month in the Hindu calendar, day of Mahalaya, and culminate on the day of Vijaya Dasami. The festival, dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga, is celebrated with great zeal and enthusiasm throughout India. In West Bengal, Durga Puja is celebrated with great dedication and devotional fervor. Puja Pandal is put up in almost every locality. While the air is reverberated with the sound of drum-beating, devotees worship the idol with great earnestness. The Purohits performing the Aarti on the idol is an important part of the Puja. In western India, Navratri is celebrated with esteem devotion. The celebrations include Dandia dance where young girls dance in concordance with music yearning for the company of Lord Krishna. In North India, it is celebrated as Dussera. In South, every house displays different idols of God in ascending steps and forms the platform for music, dance and cultural pageantries. This is the occasion for social get-together and exchange of pleasantries.
The Navratri celebrations are dedicated to the worship of Mother Durga, the embodiment of love and power (Sakti). The first three days are devoted to the worship of Durga in her three different forms, Goddess of Power (Sakti) and love (Sivam), the Goddess of Kumari (young maiden, symbolizing beauty and prosperity) and Goddess of Kali, symbolizing triumph of good over evil. From fourth day to the sixth day, the devotee worships Goddess Lakshmi who brings happiness and prosperity. Prosperity is not to be confused with material wealth. Material wealth may be necessary to an extent but ultimately material wealth should pave way for spiritual wealth.
The individual has witnessed the triumph of good over evil on the first three days. He has also witnessed a new era of peace, prosperity and spiritual wealth on the next three days. Now comes, the most important aspect; the knowledge. This is the day dedicated to the Goddess of Knowledge, Saraswati. Devotees keep the books in an orderly way and offer Puja to them. This is the day that marks the dawn of knowledge.
Knowledge does not mean knowing the material objects hovering over the world. Knowledge does not mean physics, chemistry and maths. True knowledge is not knowing the objects but knowing the subject. Unless one knows himself, he cannot know anything else. All our present day problems arise because of our eagerness to know everything about the world outside except about ourselves. Therefore, before one starts learning something, he should start learning about himself. Book knowledge may help us to an extent but ultimately true knowledge comes out of Satsang, contemplation and self-enquiry.
It was the auspicious day of Saraswati Puja at Ramanashramam. When Muruganar, a great disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi, went to his Guru to pay his respect, he found, nearby, a set of books neatly covered with silk clothes and garlanded. Apparently, the customary Puja has been performed for different books. Maharshi sitting on one side and the set of decorated books on the other side gave a contrasting picture to Muruganar. “Here is Maharshi, the embodiment of knowledge on one side and books, the mere symbols, on the other side”, he wondered. While books represented the form, Maharshi represented the content. For Muruganar, Maharshi conjured up the vision of sugarcane essence, while the set of books symbolised the squeezed out and dried up cane. But viewed from a different perspective, it looked as though the books kept nearby were soliciting equal patronage on the ground that they were the symbols of knowledge while Maharshi remained as an embodiment of knowledge.
May this Durga Puja festival kindle the light of knowledge to the world.
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