The most sacred nine nights of the Navaratri (‘nava’ meaning ‘nine’ and ‘ratri’ meaning ‘night’) remind us of the spirit of the Mother Divine, the Mother of the entire cosmos. She is Shakti Herself, the one who infuses our days with a fresh and warm radiance, and adds a depth of silence to our nights. She is the most Divine, the most Pure, the most Sacred, the most Wise one. She is the One who gives birth to the entire universe and the One who breathes life force into each one of us. As our beloved Swami Veda Bharati has said,
“Please understand, there is no You.
All awareness is she.
All knowledge is she.
All creativity is she.”
The Navaratri thus is an invitation for us to get in touch with the divinity, purity, sacredness, and wisdom within ourselves which is our essential nature. Our ashram joyfully celebrates the Divine Mother’s presence and the transformative energy of the Navaratri festival each year during March-April and September-October. This time too, we celebrated the Navaratri festival from October 3-12. The festivities commenced at the Ma Tara temple, with customary invocations of the five elements, worship of Shakti and Guru, followed by a sankalpa (sacred resolve) for the 9-day non-stop 24-hour recitation of the Sri Lalita Sahasranama (Thousand names of the Mother Divine). The mantra chantings that began filled our hearts with Her ever loving presence.
The Ashram was brimming with love and devotion as more than 50 participants came together from 7 countries for the Navaratri retreat—Cultivating the Divine Feminine—with Rabindra Sahu, including a large group of 33 members from Hungary. The retreat took us through a journey of understanding and contemplating upon the various forms of the Divine Mother. The nine nights of the Navaratri are dedicated to nine forms or aspects of Mother Durga. Each form of the Mother unveils a different energy force that guides a sadhaka on the spiritual path. They also represent various spiritual qualities that are essential for self-transformation. The retreat concluded with Kanya Pujan, where we worshipped 9 young girls representing the 9 forms of Mother Durga (Navadurga).
Here is a very brief overview of what was shared during the retreat:
- Ma Shailaputri: She is the power of stability, inspiration, and represents new beginnings.
- Ma Brahmacharini: She is the power of meditation, devotion, austerity, and self-discipline.
- Ma Chandraghanta: She represents the power of alertness, purification, peace, and serenity.
- Ma Kushmanda: She is the power of creation.
- Ma Skandamata: She is the power of motherhood and nurturance, and represents pure love and compassion.
- Ma Katyayani: She is the power of courage and strength, and represents our ability to fight against ignorance.
- Ma Kalaratri: She is the power of destruction of ego and fierce purification.
- Ma Mahagauri: She represents the power of radiant divine light and spirituality.
- Ma Siddhidatri: She represents enlightenment and highest wisdom.
We pray to the Mother for self-purification so Her energy can be cultivated within each one of us. When She, the Mother of the entire Universe, is invoked in our hearts, we can never be alone. As Swami Veda has said, “When She’s known, the sorrows become pleasures. The poisons become ambrosia. The worldliness becomes liberation. The world being within Her, when I dwell in the world, I dwell in the realization of Her. Hence the worldliness becomes spiritual liberation.”
True sadhana lies in our ability to maintain this connection with our inner divinity, to carry the purity, holiness, and innocence that we have experienced during these nine days and nights of Navaratri into our everyday lives. To make not just these nine nights, but every day and every night, a divine one.
Let us pray to the Shakti principle for purification and guidance on our spiritual path, so we may realise Her subtle essence that is within us.
