Vijayee bhava!

[1]

Swami Tejomayananda [1]

The purpose of human life is to know the truth and not for bhoga, or enjoyment, alone. Knowledge of the truth gives us real victory in life. But what is this victory? It is conquering our own minds so that we are not perturbed by the little changes that take place in the world around us. This complete victory over our minds is possible not by compulsion nor by superficial methods that suspend the mind temporarily, but by knowledge and understanding. Navratri serves this purpose. Ratri means “night” and nava means “nine”. During Navratri, the Goddess is worshipped in Her various forms as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Though the Goddess is one, she is represented and worshipped in three different aspects.
Durga is durgati harini — she removes evil tendencies in us. According to the Purans, Goddess Durga’s killing of the demon Mahishasura is symbolically the destruction of the tamoguna (ignoble qualities of laziness, darkness and ignorance) within us. In the Durga havana (sacrifice), we invoke that divine power within us to destroy our animalistic tendencies.
For knowledge to dawn within us, we have to prepare our minds. The mind must be pure, concentrated and single-pointed. This purification of mind is obtained through worship of Goddess Lakshmi. Today when we think of Lakshmi, we think She represents material wealth. But what is real wealth? Without discipline or self-control, or the values of love, kindness, respect and sincerity, material wealth is of no use. It will be squandered away recklessly or lost. Real wealth is the inner wealth of spiritual values that we practise in our lives, by which our minds become purified.
Victory over the mind can be gained only through knowledge, through understanding; and it is Goddess Saraswati who represents this highest knowledge of the Self. Although there are many kinds of knowledge in the Vedas — astronomy, archery, architecture, economics and so on, real knowledge is spiritual. We may have knowledge of many other subjects and sciences, but if we do not know our own Self, we are illiterate! Therefore, supreme knowledge is the knowledge of the Self, and this is represented by Goddess Saraswati.
Thus, during Navratri, Goddess Durga is invoked first to remove impurities from the mind. Then Goddess Lakshmi is invoked to cultivate the noble values and qualities. Finally, Goddess Saraswati is invoked for gaining the highest knowledge of the Self. This is the significance of Navratri, and when all these three are gained subjectively, then, on the 10th day, Vijayadasami is celebrated, which is today, the day of true victory.
Come let us all pray and celebrate together as Goddess Durga cherishes her victory over Mahisasura.

Swami Tejomayananda, head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, is an orator, poet, singer,
composer and storyteller