NAVRATRI PART 1

Mahalaya Amavasya

The night before Navaratri is known as Mahalaya Amavasya, and is a time when one pays their respects to their ancestors. The significance of the day:

“We have taken all the things that we have today for granted. But without the generations that came before us, firstly we would not exist here; secondly, without their contribution we would not have all the things that we have today. So instead of taking them for granted, today is a day when we express our gratitude to all of them.  It is done as a ritual to pay homage to one’s dead parents, but is actually an expression of gratitude for all those generations of ancestors who lived before us.”

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-Kaitabh , 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, Dhoomralochan 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.   

Navratri means the nine nights and the new night. Creation happens in the darkness. In the womb of the mother and underneath the soil. Nine months in the womb are like nine long nights where the spirit takes human form.

Night provides rest and rejuvenation. At night the entire creation goes to sleep including the ashram night watchman. (Laughter) People working come home at night and they really celebrate, rejoice and pray. Nine nights are precious as they have subtle energy. The subtle is enriched. There are 64 divine mother impulses which govern the subtle creation. These are responsible for restoring all earthly and spiritual benefits. They are simply part of one's awakened consciousness. These nine nights are celebrated to rekindle those divine impulses and celebrate the innermost depth of our lives.

Cleanse your body and cleanse your soul. Cleanse your body with water and your soul with knowledge and your spirit with pranayam and kriya. There is no penance higher than Pranayam. It is the greatest penance. 

What is the meaning of Navaratri? Ratri, "ra" means giving solace. Solace from three types of problems, that is "tri" - physical, ethereal and causal. Ratri relieves you and puts you to sleep. No animal needs to worry at night. Whether happy or unhappy everybody goes to sleep. In Sanskrit, words are connected to the meaning. This leaf (tied on the stage) is "parna". It absorbs sun rays and photosynthesis happens. Similarly there is "aparna". That which doesn't absorb but radiates – like a mirror. This white cloth (pointing to his white robes) is "aparna". White color doesn't absorb, it reflects. Similarly green is "parna" as it absorbs.

Navaratri has two meanings - "New Night" and "Nine Nights". It takes nine months for a child to be born. The child rests in the womb during this period. Similarly in Navaratri you get back to the Self - self referral. Dip into yourself and then you come out with more creativity and are victorious. Negative forces - craving and aversion - get relief from all these. Go to the source of energy.

Craving and aversion are two asuras (demons) like "Madhu" and "Kaitabha". Then there is also "Raktabijasura", that which is in your genes. "Rakta" means blood, "bija" means seed. Raktabijasura is like gene in the blood. Sometimes your behaviour is not in your control - it's in your genes, Raktabijasura. Medication and meditation are required to tackle Raktabijasura. When such energy comes to you, transformation happens, the genes change.

Then there is "Mahishasura" - dullness. Dullness like a buffalo. You need "Shakti" (energy) to deal with this. When Shakti comes, inertia is lifted out. "Shumbha" and "Nishumbha" - doubting on everything. "Shumbha" means doubting oneself and "Nishumbha" means doubting others. Doubting at every step. These days people are so busy. Mind is so clogged, so occupied, no time to think of oneself. If someone insults you, don't think it as intentional.
"Chanda" and "Munda". Chanda means opposite head. Chanda will oppose anything you say. One who cannot agree with anything. "Munda" does not have a head at all. Whatever you tell them, it will all go in air. Then there is "Dhumralochana", "Dhumra" means smoke and "lochana" means eyes – smoky eyes. They see everything hazy.

All this is due to lack of Shakti. When you are full of energy and enthusiasm none of these rakshasas (demons) can come in you. 

When you are full of energy and enthusiasm none of these rakshasas (demons) can come in you.The beginning is always associated with feminine energy. While time is considered male, space is always regarded as being feminine and the whole universe is a combination of both time and space. You came into the world with the mother as your creator. The Navratri or nine holy nights in Hindu tradition - that began this year on March 16 - signifies new beginnings. The season is one that celebrates the New Year variously as Gudi Padwa, Ugadi and Navroz, soon after the Moon enters the first part of Aries.

Mahakaal or time is always male energy, but since space is feminine, the beginning of time is viewed as something that celebrates the latter. The nine days of Navratri are marked as days special to the Divine Mother.

Significance of nine 

The universe is made of multiples of three - 3, 6 and 9. It takes three forces to make the universe stable. Every atom has neutron, electron and proton - three things to make it stable. We have three stages of consciousness - waking, sleeping and dreaming. Rajas, tamas and satva are three qualities of Prakriti or nature. Multiple of the numeral three is nine, and therefore the first three days of Navratri are devoted to tamas, the next three days are reserved for rajas and the last three days are set aside for satva. The celebration begins with tamas.

The unborn baby remains in the mother's womb for nine months and nine days. The baby is secure and comfortable inside, and does not have to do anything. Everything is taken care of. The birth of the baby and the coming of the spirit create vibrancy, energy and enthusiasm. Similarly, the nine days of Navratri reveal the importance of the inward journey which is essential for outward expression. You sow the seed deep into the soil and then it sprouts and grows to become a tree. In the same way, the nine days of Navratri present an opportunity for all to go within and then emerge, ready to create. That is why on the tenth day of Sharad Navratri before winter sets in, we celebrate Vijaya Dashmi as a day of victory and new beginnings. 

In the yogic culture, the summer solstice which falls in the month of June marks the beginning of Dakshinayana, which means in the Earth’s sky, the Sun begins to trace a southward movement in the northern hemisphere of the planet. Similarly, the winter solstice which falls in the month of December marks the beginning of Uttarayana or the northern run of the Sun. The half of the year from the beginning of Uttarayana in December to the beginning of Dakshinayana in June is known as gnana pada. The other half of the year from the beginning of Dakshinayana to the beginning of Uttarayana is known as the sadhana pada.

The southern run is the phase of intimacy or the feminine; the earth is acting out her role as a woman. Festivals concerned with the feminine energy are celebrated only in these six months. The whole culture of this land was attuned to this. Every month, there is a festival of some kind.

In this feminine half of the year, September 22nd marks the autumnal equinox; and the quarter from the first Amavasya or new moon to the beginning of Uttarayana in December is known as the Devi pada. In this quarter, the northern hemisphere of the planet becomes “gentle” because it is the quarter where the northern hemisphere receives the least amount of sunlight in the year. So everything becomes subdued; it is not “on” in a big way.

The day after the Mahalaya Amavasya, marks the first day of Navaratri, which is all about the goddess. In Karnataka, Navaratri is about Chamundi, in Bengal it is about Durga. Like this, it is about various goddesses in different places, but essentially Navaratri is about the feminine goddess or the feminine divinity.

Three devis, four navratris

The first three days are tamo guna pradhan, then the next three are rajjo guna pradhan and the last three days are satva guna pradhan. That is, the first three days are devoted to Kali, the destroyer of the existing system; the next three days are devoted to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and last three days are devoted to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge that springs from both destruction and creation.

There are actually four sets of Navratris coinciding with the four seasons, as the whole of Creation goes through a kind of transformation with each changing season. Of the four Navratris, two are more important. The current one, known as Chaitra Navratri, marks the change from winter to spring, and the Sharad Navratri that occurs usually in October, marks the shift from autumn to spring. In the south, Sharad Navratri is considered to have greater significance as seasonal variations are not as marked as they are in the north - the south experiences a prolonged warm season and so the current Chaitra Navratri is not prominently observed there. Navratri is not only a time of fasting and prayer, it is also a time to exhibit cultural excellence. So every household in South India displays statues and figures of deities and sacred objects - these are normally arranged neatly on a stand with odd-numbered step-shelves. Sprouted lentil-based snacks and other dishes are served to visitors and this is a time to meet friends and relatives.

Sowing the seed 

All festivals begin with beejaropan, the sowing of seeds. This is an ancient practice. In all our festivals, we have always been concerned with the environment and have revered water and seeds. We have a tradition of planting nine different seeds during Navratri. It also shows the importance of planting multi crops so that agriculture is sustainable, as opposed to mono-crop or single crop cultivation. Earlier, there was a tradition among farmers to sow multi crops, so that if one crop failed, there would be other crops they could rely on. Also multi crops will not deplete the nutrients in soil unlike single crop plantations.