true devi puja is the observance of trikarana...

Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas, Punjab

Devi Navaratri Version : 1.0

Prepared By: Prachi A Mahajan

True Devi Puja is the observance of TrikaranaShuddhi

The Devi Navaratri or the Sharad Navaratri is one of the most importantfestivals observed in the Bharatiya tradition. Different regions of thesubcontinent celebrate it in their own unique ways, but it goes withoutsaying that this indeed is an auspicious nine-day period for all. Bhagawan

Copyright. SSSBV Punjab


explained lucidly what is the true worship we must offer during this sacredNavaratri festival, during a discourse delivered on 27 Sep 1992. Interestingly,Swami speaks of the importance of Nature.

First and foremost, one should worship nature (Prakruti) and then receivethe blessings of the Lord (Paramatma). The former is PurushaPrayatnam (Man’s effort) and the latter is Daiva anugraham (God’sgrace). Prakruti and Paramatma are like negative and positive. God(Paramatma) who is all powerful may be positive, but if there is noinvolvement of negative - Nature i.e., (Prakruti), there would be no creation.The basis for the whole creation is - Nature (Prakruti). If we want theseeds to bear the fruits in future, we ought to sow them in the ground. It isEarth which makes the seed grow into a tree and later on bear the fruits forus. So for all the existence, earth is the basis. So, if man has to remove hisignorance, he has to worship the nature. We should worship the nature andreceive the grace of the lord. For anything to be successful, one needs bothhuman effort and Divine Grace.

Prakruti (Nature) is made up of the three qualities, Satwa,Rajas and Tamas. Lakshmi represents the Satwa Guna. Saraswathirepresents the Rajo Guna and Parvathi represents the Tamo Guna.As Prakruti (Nature) is made up of these three qualities (Satwa,Rajas and Tamas), to get control over Nature and to receive grace fromNature, man has been offering worship to Durga, Lakshmi andSaraswathi. These are not goddesses but deified symbols of the threequalities. This Prakruti is made of these three qualities, and the worship ofthis Prakruti is the very purpose of human life. To receive the permission(anumathi) from nature, we need to have the grace of the Lord(anugraha) too. If we forget the grace of God and want to experience andbenefit from nature alone, our lives would become like that of Ravana. Whatfate did Ravana go through by forgetting Paramathma (Lord Rama) andwanting to experience Prakruti (Mother Sita)? If only he could haveearned the grace of Rama, he could have got Sita's grace easily. So one mustworship Nature, in order to earn the grace of the Lord. That’s whyUpanishads declared and paid their obeisance to actions (Tasmainamaha karmane). It declared,

“First and foremost, my obeisance (Namaskar) to nature (which isan embodiment of incessant karma)”.

Offering Namaskar also signifies, doing good deeds. The inner significancebehind the worship of nature consisting of thethree gunas - Satwa, Rajo and Tamo is that Heart, words and actions



should be pure. These three Gunas are also called the three instruments(Trikarnamulu). Purity of thought, word and deed would enable one toreceive the grace of God. Only the one who has the unity of thought, wordand deed is said be a true Human being.

Lakshmi, who is the embodiment of all prosperity, is represented by theheart. The spoken word represents Saraswathi. Kriyaa Shakthi (action)is represented by Durga. That is why it is said, a person who has the unity ofthought, word and deed is a Mahatma or a Noble man. Therefore, forinspiring this unity of thought, word and deed, to enable man to lead alife as a human, and to dispel ignorance, the observance of this festivalof Devi Navaratri was begun.

The festival of Navratri is celebrated with prayers and gaiety in thebeginning of the Ashwin (autumn) and the beginning of Chatira (spring).This period is a time for self-referral and getting back to the source. Duringthis time of transformation, Nature sheds the old and gets rejuvenated;animals hibernate and life emerges back afresh in the spring. According toVedic science, matter reverts back to its original form to recreate itself againand again. The creation is cyclical, not linear; everything is recycled bynature- a continuous process of rejuvenation. The human mind, however,lags behind in this routine cycle of creation. Navratri is a festival for one totake the mind back to its source. The seeker gets back to the true sourcethrough fasting, prayer, silence and meditation. Night is also called ratribecause it brings rejuvenation. It gives relief at the three levels of ourexistence -- physical, subtle and causal. While fasting detoxifies the body,silence purifies the speech and brings rest to the chattering mind, andmeditation takes one deep into one's own being. The inward journey nullifiesour negative karmas.

Navratri is a celebration of the spirit or prana which alone can destroymahsihsasura (inertia), shumbha-nishumbha (pride and shame) andmadhu-kaitabh (extreme forms of craving and aversion). They arecompletely opposites, yet complementary. Inertia, deeply ingrainednegativities and obsessions (raktabeejasura), unreasonable logics (chanda-munda) and blurred vision (dhoomralochan) can be overcome only by raisingthe level of prana and shakti, the life-force energy. The nine days of Navratriare also an opportunity to rejoice in the three primordial qualities that makeup the universe. Though our life is governed by the three gunas, we seldomrecognize and reflect on them.

The first three days of Navratri are attributed to tamo guna, the secondthree to rajo guna and the last three to sattva guna. Our consciousnesssails through the tamo and rajo, gunas and blossoms in the sattva guna of



the last three days. Whenever sattva dominates in life, victory follows. Theessence of this knowledge is honoured by celebrating the tenth day asVijaydashmi. The three primordial gunas are considered as the feminineforce of our magnificent universe.

By worshiping the Mother Divine during Navratri, we harmonize the threegunas and elevate sattva in the atmosphere. The nine days of navratrasare the days when the energies of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati aremost accessible to us. Shaktis or energy centres are instrumental inopening the three knots — rudra granthi, vishnu granthi and brahma granthi— corresponding to the upper, middle and lower regions of the bodyrespectively, to aid you in your purpose. The most important thing in DeviNavaratri is to worship Nature, verily a form of Devi (Bhudevi). Weworship nature which is, the manifest form of Durga, Lakshmi andSaraswati. The cumulative effect of self-purification through fasting andaccessing these energies through Sanatan Kriya under the guidance of anable guru is the free upward movement of prana or life energy in thesushumna nadi by overcoming basic sensual desires and pleasures. Thisopens the door to the inner world and enables you to realize the divinitywithin. The tenth or the final day, Dussehra, marks the ultimate triumph,and hence it is called Vijayadashami.

So, True Devi Puja is the observance of Trikarana Shuddhi (Unity andPurity of thought, word and deed).

The Navaratri has been observed for this purpose of leading man on to thesacred path and transforming human nature into divine nature; to attainpurity of heart and destroying ego and ignorance. Navaratri signifies,worshipping nature and protecting all that is given to us. We should notwaste or misuse things available in nature. Let this be the grand Navaratrimessage for all of us –

True worship of the Divine Mother can be performed only when onerespects Nature with an attitude of gratitude. And within us,

The three Mothers are manifest as Iccha Shakti, Vak Shakti andKriya Shakti (thought, word and deed) and endeavouring to purifythese, pleases the Lord more than all the ritualistic worships we canoffer.


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