Navaratri - another perspective

[Guest guest]

>From our archives - an old post by SRIGANT - _/\_

<br>---------------------------<br>There are two Navrathry - Vasantha Navrathry

& Sharadha

Navrathry. Before Rama's birth, only Vasantha Navrathry,

which comes in summer (9 days before Rama Navami) was

celebrated. But, during Sharada Navrathry Rama did Pooja to

ParaDevatha (Goddess for all) or Durga for nine days & won

the 10 headed Ravana in the war, which is signified

by Vijaya Dashami (Victorious 10th day). Usually

Navrathry Pooja is done to MahaKali, MahaLakshmi & Maha

Saraswathy or Duraga ,Lakshmi & Saraswathy. But, Lalitha

Sahasranama archana is done.<br><br>But, actually the concept

of Narathry is based upon the 9 chakras, which start

from Mooladhara & end in the Srava AnandaMaya Chakra

or the Saharadhara Chakra. (1000 petalled Lotus) It

symbolically represents the raising of our Kundalini Shakthy

gradually raising from one Chakra to other (there are

totally 9 chakras) & finally reaching the Sahasrara Padma

when we are enlightened or get wisdom or Gnanam as

Buddha got under the Bodhi Tree. So, the demolition of

Ravana or Mahisasura (bufallo headed demon), represents

the victory of our mind over our physical senses

(Pancha Indriyam - seeing, tasting, smelling, hearing &

our body (kayam)). So, this is of great spiritual

importance.<br>It is also associated with SriChakra Aradhana in the

SriVidya procedure. Representing the 9 chakras in our

body, SriChakra also has 9 regions or Avarnas. So, each

Avarna is being worshipped on each day. <br><br>The

various regions or Avarnas are : <br>1. ThriLokyaMohana

Chakra (rep. Mooladhara) <br>2. Sarva Ashaparipooraka

Chakra (16 petalled Lotus) <br>3. Sarva Samkshobana

Chakram (8 petalled Lotus) <br>4. Sarva SoubagyaDayaka

Chakram <br>5. Sarvartha Sadhaka Chakram <br>6. Sarva

Rakshakara Chakram <br>7. Sarva Roghara Chakram <br>8. Sarva

Sidhipratha Chakram <br>9. Sarva Anandamaya Chakram (rep.

Sahradhara Padmam)<br><br>Practising Kundalini or meditating

with the Kundalini in different Chakras results in

different effects like attaining the 8 siddhis etc,... But,

the purest way or the best one is practicing it in

the Sahradhara Padmam, which corresponds to

SarvaAnandamaya Chakram, of Sri Chakra. Great Yogis have their

Kundalini in their Sahasradhara, magicians or siddhars have

them in the intermediate chakras like Swadistana. But

doing magic or using Kundalini for commercial purposes

is a sin. Infact SriVidya Aradanam is the essence of

Advaitham. Navavarna pooja includes the aradhana of

Srichakra , in the above mentioned nine regions. It is very

complex & should be done with great involvement &

reverence. It should be done only after initiation from

Guru. As, it is not possible for everyone to practice

that, great musicians like oothukadu VenkataSubbu Iyer

& Muthuswamy Dikshatar have written Navavarna

Keerthanas. They are so blessed that, singing those

keerthanas is equivalent to doing pooja to the corresponding

Avarna. On each day of Navrathry, apart from pooja in the

mornings, we have to sing the corresponding Avarna

keerthanas (either of the

author's).<br><br>-------------contd

[Guest guest]

Durga Sapthashathi or Chandipatam is also very

important in Navrathry Pooja. To destroy the demons Madhu &

Gaidapa, even Maha Vishnu meditated on the MahaMaya or the

JaganMatha. When he wanted to take the Mohini Avatharam, he

meditated on Matha only. The whole epic is made up of 700

slokas & occurs as a conversation between Markandeya

Muni & a King. This includes the demolition of

Mahishura - the bufallo-headed king. Infact, to kill him,

all the Devas gathered & the power from the middle of

their eyebrews, gathered & Durga Devi was born. So, she

represents all the Devathas. Different people(devas) gifted

different weapons to her. Himavan or the king of Himalayas,

gave her the Simham or lion which is her vehicle,

Vishnu gave her the Shankam & Chakram, Bhramha gave her

the Gadha(mace),Shiva gave her the

Thrishoolam(trident)& Pinakam(his bow) , Pashupatam (his arrow),

ViswaKarma gave her a Ratham or Ornamental Car & so on. She

went on her lion & fought with Mahishura & won over

him. Apart from Mahisura, Devi also fought with

several other demons like Sumba, Nisumba, Raktha Bheeja

etc.. The war with these demons was even more

ferocious. It was during this war that, the shakthy in all

devas bodies, took feminine form like, Bhramhi

(Bhramha), Vaishvani (Vishnu), Makeshwari (Shiva), Goumari

(Shanmuka), Vinayaki (Ganesha), Varahi (Varaha), Narasimhi

(Nrusim ha) etc.. & so on. The above dieties are revered

as Saptha Kanyas. Raktha Beeja - means a man (demon)

with his blood as as the Bheeja or seed. Each drop of

his blood will give rise to 100 more demons. As,

Matha was not able to handle him, her she gave rise to

MahaKali, who is again ParaBhramha swaroopini & is black in

color (Mashee Varnam or black ink colored). Kali fought

ferociously, with raktha Bheeja & destroyed him. Then Devi

sent Lord Shiva as an ambassador to the Asura. So, she

is celebrated as "Shiva Dhuthi". Finally after the

war, Matha granted boons to everyone & was praised by

Devas with flower showers. Anyone, who reads or hears

the divine deeds of Matha will come out of the cycles

of birth & death.<br><br>This discussion would not

be complete, if we dont discuss about the divinity,

siginificance & greatness of Lalitha Sahasranama. Agasthya

wanted to save the people of KaliYuga & he started doing

Thapas , meditating on ParaDevatha. As a result of that,

Lord Hayagreeva (horse-faced form of Vishnu) appeared

before him & told the greatness of ParaDevatha. Then, he

told various Sahasranamams & finally Agasthy was

curious to know about Laitha Sahasranamam & Hayagreeva

blessd Agasthya with that. All this is found in

Bhramanda Puranam. It elaborates the importance of Lalitha

Matha. The divine graces of the Matha are so great that,

Manmatha - son of MahaVishnu, was burnt to ashes by Shiva.

By doing pooja to Lalithamba , she got the boon

that, he will be visible only to her eyes, which is

beautifully depicted in Laltiha Sahasranama as, <br>Hara

Nethra Agni Santhaktha Kama Sanjevana

Oushadihi<br><br>Then, when she fought with Bandasura, she sent all the

asuras like Hiranyaksha, Hiranya Kasipu, Ravana, Kamsa

etc.. Lalithamba showed her fingers staring from the

small finger of right hand that in the left had & it

gave birth to the 10 avathars of Vishnu starting from

Matsya or fish. This is again depicted in Lalitha

Sahasranama as,<br>Kara Anguli Naka Uthpanna Narayana Dasha

Ahruthihi<br><br>Then, Matha is like Sun light, to destroy the ignorance

& she brings us all our of the endless cycles of

birth & death, which is said as,<br>Janma Mruthyu Jara

Vyadi Taptha Jana Vishranti Dhayini<br><br>Again

Lalithamba likes, any one who is good at heart & chants her

name<br>Nama Parayana Preetha<br><br>& she represents all the

Devas. Worshipping Lalithamba, will bring us wisdom,

education (Gananam) & wealth. <br><br>-------------contd

[Guest guest]

post by SRIGANT

contd....<br>---------------------------<br>sa Scamara Rama Vani Savya dakshina

Sevitha<br><br>which, means that, Lakshmi & Sarasvathy are doing Chamra

Veejana Seva to Matha on the righthand & lefthad sided

respectively. So, worshipping her automatically means that, we

worship also Lakshmi & Sarasvathy as they themselves

opted to do seva for the Mother. Also, without the

graces of Matha pancha Bhramhas (Bhramha, Vishnu, Shiva,

Rudra & Ishana) will become Prethas or dead bodies. A

person, who worships lalithamba directly goes to Mukthi

without any intermediate stages like Vaikuntam or

Kailasam or Sathyalokam. SHe is the mother of all the

creatures in the Universes. She treats all the creatures

(not only hum beings) equally. She is so kind that,

she gave Mahishura "Paragathy" & she also stated

that, Duga Pooja will be incomplete if anyone does not

do pooja for Mahishasura. She gave such a high

status for such a cruel demon. Anything, which we can

never dream of in this birth - like a blind man getting

eyes or a dead person getting life is also possible

just by her divine grace. She understands our wants &

will just by seeing us. As, in the case of other

Gods/Godesses we need not show a list of things we want to her.

So, only she is called as "Kamakshi" , meaning the

one with eyes, which can understand our kamam or

desire. There is no Manthra beyond Lalitha Sahasranama &

no Diety beyond lalitha Matha & she is the ultimate

wisdom & her worship what is called Kundalini Upasana.

So, only she is called as, "dakshinamurthy Roopini".

None other than, Vag Devatha, who is the owner of all

the words in this Universe, composed her divine 1000

names. Merely chanting her 1000 names, removes ignorance

or 'Avidhya" & initiates one into Gnana Marga &

makes one understand the complex Thathva of "Advaitham"

as Lalitha Sahasranamam says her as "Dvaitha

Varjitha" - one who destrys dualism .<br><br>Taking into

account the various "Saguna" features of Matha various

offerings & flowers are prescribed for her. they are

<br>· Kadamba Kusuma Priya - she likes Kadambam(mixed fragrant

flowers) <br>· Patali Kusume Priya - she likes Pathiri

flower. <br>· Mandara Kusuma Priya - she likes Mandara

flower. <br>· Champaka Asoka Punnaka Sougandhi Kusuma

Priya - Her hair is decorated with

Sehnbakam,Asokam,Peepal & Javanthee flowers.<br>Then the food she likes

are, <br>· Mudgoudana Saktha Chitha - she likes

Mudgannam <br>· Snigdoudana Preetha Chitha - she likes ghee

rice <br>· Dadhyanna Shaktha Hrudaya - she likes curd

rice <br>· Payasanna Priya - she like guda(jaggery)

payasaannam <br>· Sarvoudhana Preetha Chtitha - she likes all

kinds of Chitrannam(variety rice) <br>Usually 9 types

of variety rice, each one corresponding to each

avarnam of Sri Chakram is offered to her. Then,

<br>Karpoora Veedika Amoda samakarsha

Digandhara<br>Lalithamba's Karpoora Veedika is made up of kasthuri, Jathi

kai, Kukkuma poo, Jathy pathry, cardamom & gorochana.

She keeps chewing that & it's fragrance attracts all

the directions equally itsems. It is very very

important to offer her that & then distribute it to kanyas

or Suvasinis. Matha's glories are so great that, we

dont find words to describe them. <br>Lalitha matha

protects her devotees(who practise Sri Vidya Upasana or

chant lalitha Sahasranama) from jealousy people & from

people who do Abichara Homam by sending, Prathyankara

Devi. Prathyankara is a fierceful form of Kali(Thillai

Kali), as she is in the temple of Chidambaram with lion

face & 2 wings. After Hiranya Vatham, Narasimha's

atrocious deeds were endless & to pacify him ,Shiva sent

Prathyankara who has a lion body & 2 wings, which are

Sarabeshwara & Kala Bhairava. So, Lalithamba automatically

protects her devotees. This depicted in Lalitha

Sahasranama as, "Durgama Durga", one who protects her

devotees like a fort. Durgam in Sanskrit means

fort.<br><br><br>_/\_