Navaraatri Dasara

It’s good to have a balanced & unprejudiced self-evaluation of our body-mind-intellect (BMI) toolkit’s weaknesses & the tools at hand to address them: So, even before we appreciate the significance <mahātmyam̐> of the dēvī, we need to recognize the demons <asurās>‘ inner symbolism:

1. madhu-kaiṭabhā = rāga-dvēṣā;
2. mahiṣa-asurā = lethargic stagnation;
3. śumbhā-niśumbā = ālasya-ahaṁkārā;
4. dhūmra-lōcanā = unclear-perception;
5. rakta-bījā = desire-seed;
6. caṇḍā-muṇḍā = likes-dislikes...

Notice that these distractions from our path appear either as pairs of pseudo-warriors or self-replicating compound adjectives, if not as their own bandwagon of gathered armies.

The metaphysically-scientific play <līlā> of the various forms <rūpā> of our own inner primordial <ādi> energy <śakti> in the endless field of great <mahā> space-time <kāl̥ā> happens everywhere in🌌space & at every moment in🕰️time, but is best highlighted & spotlighted in🇮🇳bhārat, during the ongoing 9️⃣ nights of nava-rātrī + vi-jaya-daśami = daśa-harā. This involves, amongst other techniques <tantrās> of transformation invoking the holistic prosperity-inducing machinery <śrī-yantrā>, the chanting <bīja-mantra-japā> of various powerful vēdik sūktam̐s (8️⃣ most popular ones being durgā sūktam̐, śrī sūktam̐, bhū sūktam̐, nīlā sūktam̐, dēvī sūktam̐, mēdhā sūktam̐, sarasvatī sūktam̐ & rātrī sūktam̐). But for those amongst us not yet initiated into the orthodox nuances of vēdik chanting, an almost equally potent chant involves 700 ślōkās heralding the significance of  the feminine aspects of the gender-transcending divinity <dēvī mahātmyam̐>, also known as the unassailable 700 <durgā sapta-śati> or the ferocious lesson <caṇḍī paṭhaḥ>. Appearing as the 74th to 83rd chapters of the inimitable renewer, the mārkaṇḍēya purāṇā, the dēvī mahātmyam̐ is categorized into 3️⃣ sections with the number of chapters in each section being in the proportion of 1:3:9, depicting a mathematically-engrossing geometric progression in our perception of reality from the physical/materialistic realm to the metaphysical/spiritual realm.

1. 1️⃣ chapter devoted to mahā-kāli (our own subtler energy  <kuṇḍalini⚕️śaktī> when raised to our subtle pituitary-pineal glands <ajñā cakrā> creating a balance & equanimity which is symbolized by great <mahā> blackness <kāli>, implying that which is all-absorbing/accepting & non-reflecting/rejecting of anything whatsoever) defeats madhu🍯 (our own weakness/addiction) & kaiṭabha (our own bitterness/aversion) is the first step towards righteousness/responsibility <dharmā> & liberation from the seemingly endless cycles of birth, death & rebirth <mokṣā>, the 2️⃣ pursuits of life which should be the governing principles underlying the other 2️⃣ scripturally-valid pursuits & go beyond them too: mere material prosperity <arthā> & fulfilment of sensual/bodily/emotional/intellectual desires <kāmā>.
2. 3️⃣ chapters devoted to our own great targeted/purposeful activity <mahā-lakṣmī> defeating our own buffalo-headed🐃<mahiṣāsurā> stubbornness & its inertial army of our lethargic qualities <tāmasik guṇās>. Post this victory, our strategically- & tactically-sound surgical ability <mahā-lakṣmī> to strike on🎯target is being praised (in the last of this second set of 3️⃣ chapters) by our own passionate work ethics <devās>. Here, mahā-lakṣmīrepresents our own subtler energy <kuṇḍalini⚕️śaktī> when raised to our un-struck subtle heart <anāhata cakrā>.
3. 9️⃣ chapters devoted to our own phenomenally-liberal flow of creativity <mahā-sarasvati>, gained through wisdom & expressed through communication skills. These refined inner💠qualities are indeed required to vanquish our frequent oscillation between subtle self-conceit due to a superiority complex <śumbhā> & causal self-pity arising from an inferiority complex <ni-śumbhā>, both expressing themselves early on in a plethora of our undesirable qualities such as our arrogant messaging <dhūtā>, becoming ever more evident in many of our social media communications; our commanding yet smoky/unclear/distorted vision/perception <dhūmra-lōcana>; our short-temper/anger/rage <caṇḍā> & its associated quality of senselessness <muṇḍā>; & our mind, which is the unquenchable source of our endless desire, & is thus a self-replicating bloody 🩸 seed <rakta-bījā>. Here, mahā-sarasvati represents our own subtler energy <kuṇḍalini⚕️śaktī> when raised to our specially-purified subtle thyroid gland <vi-śuddhi cakrā>. 6️⃣ of the 9️⃣ chapters in this last set are dedicated to such inner battles that our creative spirit needs to engage in. The last one-third (3️⃣ chapters) once again are a festive celebration of such a series of victories in praise of the innovative energy field <sarasvati> which accomplished this daunting seemingly-insurmountable task with aplomb, when treated as the ultimate goal of humanity <nāra-āyanī>; blessed indeed are we to directly benefit from such an infinite ♾ energy field housed within our subtle body & indirectly from the infinitely-long ♾ lineage of explorers 🧭, pathfinders, navigators & essentially dispellers of the utterly-pitch darkness in our path of life, namely our omnipresent, omnipotent & omniscient gurus, including maha-r̥ṣī mārkaṇḍéyā & his newfound disciples, kṣatriyā su-rathā & vaishyā samādhī. vandē guru paramparām̐. vandē mātaram❣️