THE INNER SIGNIFICANCE OF NAVARATRI FESTIVAL (Part 1)
The festival of Navaratri (nine nights) culminates on the tenth day known as Vijayadashami or “Victory Day.” In the previous post I wrote how it symbolizes the victory over the inertia and limitations of the mind.I asked Pal Pandian for further details and he kindly offered insight into what is meant by the inertia and limitations dwelling within.“Dasha Hara in Sanskrit means the removal of ten bad qualities,” he began. “The entire Navaratri celebration represents the overcoming of these qualities. It is said the Goddess fought with evil for ten days and nine nights. The final victory comes on this tenth day. Hence, Vijaydashami signifies Vijaya with the literal meaning being “to win”, over these ten bad qualities.”
“The ten bad qualities Sir,” I asked, “are they the inner ones of the mind, or outward acts like the ones depicted in some Western religions?”
“Ah, yes, they are the dark characteristics of humanity,” Pal replied. I asked him to name them and they are as follows:
Ahankara – Ego
Amanavta – Cruelty
Anyaaya – Injustice
Kama Vasana – Lust
Krodha – Anger
Lobha – Greed
Mada – Pride
Matsara – Jealousy
Swartha – Selfishness
Moha – Attachment
After thanking him I commented that the battling and overcoming of evil by good seems to recur in the many stories. “Yes, it’s true,” he stated.
I settled in, sensing Pal was about to go into some wonderful detail. I was not disappointed for he turned, faced me directly, and began.“In the famous Indian epic “Ramanaya”, Lord Rama had to fight with King Ravana. King Ravana is portrayed as a demonic character having ten heads.
The ten heads symbolize the scattered nature of our minds and our thoughts. Each emotion and/or quality drags a person in different directions. The result is people today live with a conflicted mind. This is true whether a person succumbs to ordinary life and stresses or split personalities. However, Lord Rama, a single-headed or unified sacred man fought with Ravana and established the coherent Self-nature that symbolizes our Natural State.
So, you see that the above information and the Dasahara festival of Navaratri have symbolized the purpose of mediation. “Beautiful, Sir,” was all I could muster at the time.
Then he handed me a small slip of paper on which he had written:
May we all be free from
the conflicts and realize
our true self through
mindful meditation and
complete surrender
towards the Divine.
Stephen Grissom