Navaratri is celebration of the Universe

[Guest guest]

Dear Sastryji,

Yes navaratri is celebration of the universe,but our present date of celebration

has gone out of proper timings and thus is no more as effective as it should

have been.This can be made effective only by proper calendar reform.We have to

shift both our navaratras by one full month backwards to make it as per the

vedic injunctions.

The spring and autumn eqinoxes are no more valid. So the expected fruit of

celebration is no more.this is why people are believeing less in our vedas which

followed properly is superb.

thank you,

Hari Malla

 

 

, " Dr.B.G.Y Sastry "

<drbgysastry wrote:

>

> Navaratri is celebration of the Universe

> The festival of Navaratri is celebrated with prayers and gaiety in the

beginning of autumn and 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.

> Vedanta says, matter reverts to its original form to recreate itself again and

again. The creation is cyclical, not linear; everything is recycled by nature in

a continuous process of rejuvenation. The human mind, however, lags behind in

this routine cycle of creation. Navaratri is a festival to enable us to take the

mind back to its source.

> The seeker finds the true source through fasting, prayer, silence and

meditation. Night is 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 speech and brings rest to

the chattering mind, and meditation takes you deep into your own being.

> The inward journey nullifies our negative karmas. Navaratri is a celebration

of the spirit or prana which alone can destroy Mahishasura, inertia;

Shumbha-Nishumbha, pride and shame and Madhu-Kaitabha, extreme forms of craving

and aversion. They are opposites, yet complementary. Inertia, deeply ingrained

negativities and obsessions, Raktabeejasura; unreasonable logic, Chanda-Munda

and blurred vision, Dhoomralochana can be overcome only by raising the level of

prana and Shakti, the life-force energy.

> The nine days of Navaratri 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 recognise and reflect on them. The first three days

of Navaratri are tamo guna, the second three of rajo guna and the last three of

sattva guna. Our consciousness sails through the tamo and rajo gunas and

blossoms in the sattva guna in the last three days. Whenever sattva dominates

life, victory follows. The essence of this knowledge is honoured by celebrating

the tenth day as Vijaya Dashami.

> The three primordial gunas are considered as the feminine force of the

universe. By worshipping the Mother Divine during Navaratri, we harmonise the

three gunas and elevate sattva in the atmosphere.

> Navaratri is celebrated as the victory of good over evil. From the Vedantic

point of view, the victory is of absolute reality over 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.

> Though the microcosm is well within the macrocosm, its perceived separateness

is the cause of conflict. For a gnani or a wise person, entire creation comes

alive and he recognises life in everything in the same way children see life in

everything. The Mother Divine or pure consciousness pervades all forms and has

all names. Recognising the one divinity in every form and every name is the

celebration of Navaratri. Hence, special pujas honouring all aspects of life and

nature are performed during the last three days.

> Kali is the most horrific manifestation of Nature. Nature symbolises beauty,

yet it has a horrific form too. Acknowledging the duality brings a total

acceptance in the mind and puts the mind at ease.

> The Mother Divine is recognised 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. Realising this aspect of the Mother

Divine in 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.

> (By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar)

>