17
THE DIVINE SHAKTI IN US
NAVARATHRI
DATE: SATURDAY, 5TH OCTOBER 2013 Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
CONTENT
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
* Navarathri – What & Why
* Navarathri Practices
* Spiritual Aspect of Navarathri – Divine Shakthi
* Swami’s Quote
NAVARATHRI WHAT?
*The nine-day festival of Navarathri in Hindu religion is held in honour of the nine manifestations of Goddess Shakthi.
*Navarathri literally means ‘nine nights’ and is celebrated differently in different parts of India by Hindus.
*But in all places the victory of good over evil is celebrated and Goddess Shakti is propitiated. Such adoration to Mother Goddess is unique to Hinduism.
*The festival also marks the arrival of winter season, a period when Nature undergoes several changes.
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Why?
*The story associated with Navarathri and Durga Puja is found in the Markandeya Puranam. The chapters 81 to 93 in the Markandeya Puranam talks about the slaying of demon Mahishasura or Mahisha by Durga and it is referred as Devimahatmya and is recited during the Navarathri and Durga Puja. It symbolized the victory of good over evil.
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
*Devi-Mahatyma extols the greatness of Durga in 700 hymns grouped into 537 sections and therefore it is also known as Durga Sapta Sati. It details the exploits of the goddess in her three major forms: Kali, Lakshmi and Saraswati, representing the three fold energy: strength, wealth and wisdom. The most famous episode is Durga killing Mahishasura.
Practices
*Bommai Kolu or Bommala Koluvu is the artistic display of dolls by women during Navarathri
*Dusshera in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and among certain communities in Kerala.
*The dolls, called Kollu or Golu, represents the durbar or assembly of Goddess Shakthi.
*This assembly is held just before Mother Goddess ventures on her mission to slay Mahishasura, the buffalo-headed demon. Therefore when depicted along with the ‘kolu,’ Goddess Durga is also referred as Mahishasura-mardini.
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
Practices
*Navarathri fast or Navarathri Virutham is an important fast observed by Hindus.
*It is believed that those devotees who perform Navarathri fasting will find happiness on earth and will receive ‘moksha.’
*Legend has it that, how to observe the Navarathri Virutham was once narrated by Goddess Durga to one of her ardent devotee.
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
Practices
*The Virutham is observed by both men and women.
*The Navarathri fast is observed from the first day to the ninth day of Ashvin month.
*Most devotees take only a single meal during the day. Non-vegetarian food is totally avoided. Some people confine to milk and fruits during the nine days.
*Some devotees only observe fast during three days i.e., first fast during any one of the first three days and second fast during any one of the next three and last in any one of final three days.
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
Spiritual Aspect
*The word "Durga" in Sanskrit means a fort, or a place which is difficult to overrun.
*Another meaning of "Durga" is "Durgatinashini," which literally translates into "the one who eliminates sufferings." Thus, Hindus believe that goddess Durga protects her devotees from the evils of the world and at the same time removes their miseries.
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
Remove Our Miseries / Demonic Attributes
1. Lust
2. Gluttony
3. Greed
4. Sloth
5. Wrath – Rage - Anger
6. Envy
7. Pride
8. Health Issues
9. Financial Difficulties
Spiritual Aspect
*Lakshmi is depicted as a beautiful woman of golden complexion, with four hands, sitting or standing on a full-bloomed lotus and holding a lotus bud, which stands for beauty, purity and fertility. Her four hands represent the four ends of human life: dharma or righteousness, "kama" or desires, "artha" or wealth, and "moksha" or liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
4 Ends of Human Life
1. Dharma or Righteousness
2. “Kama” or Desires
3. “Artha” or Wealth
4. “Moksha” or Liberation from the cycle of birth and death
Spiritual Aspect
*Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and arts, represents the free flow of wisdom and consciousness. She is the mother of the Vedas.
*It is believed that goddess Saraswati endows human beings with the powers of speech, wisdom and learning. She has four hands representing four aspects of human personality in learning: mind, intellect, alertness and ego. She has sacred scriptures in one hand and a lotus – the symbol of true knowledge – in the second.
*With her other two hands she plays the music of love and life on a string instrument called the veena. She is dressed in white – the symbol of purity – and rides on a white swan – symbolizing Sattwa Guna or purity and discrimination.
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
NAVARATHRI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
4 Aspects of Human Personality in Learning
1. The Mind
2. The Intellect
3. Alertness
4. Ego
DIVINE SHAKTHI
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
IN EACH
OF
US
How To Celebrate Navaratri?
"The Navaratri festival should be used as an occasion to examine one's
own nature whether it is human, animal, or demonic, and strive to
transform the animal nature into the human, and divinise the human
nature. Wisdom cannot be acquired from outside. It has to be got
through inward Sadhana".
- Sai Baba, SS, 11/92, p. 271
SWAMI’S QUOTE
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
REFERENCE
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, Queenstown
*WEBSITES
• www.hindu-blog.com
• www.hinduism.about.com
• www.google.com (God images)
• www.wikipedia.com
• www.saibabaofindia.com
End of Presentation
A Presentation By,
Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre Queenstown
