Navratri is celebrated in different parts of India in many beautiful ways — through puja, rituals, music, dance, and cultural and social celebrations. At its heart, however, Navratri is a celebration of God as the Divine Mother, worshipped in Her nine magnificent forms.
The Sanskrit word Navratri means “nine nights.” These nine nights symbolise the fierce battle between Goddess Durga, riding majestically on Her lion, and the powerful demon Mahishasura. The tenth day is celebrated as Vijaya Dashami — the day of victory, commemorating Durga’s triumph over Mahishasura, and symbolising the eternal victory of good over evil.
But this battle is not merely a historical or religious event. It represents an eternal inner battle that each one of us must face — the battle between our lower, material tendencies and our higher spiritual aspirations, which ultimately lead us towards Self-realisation.
Mahishasura represents ignorance — the ego and tamasic tendencies that pull our consciousness downward. Like Mahishasura, who constantly changed his form during the battle, our inner enemies too can appear in different forms. Anger may disguise itself as righteousness, greed as ambition, jealousy as comparison, and delusion as attachment.
Durga represents the Divine Mother, the Kundalini Shakti within us — the awakened power of divine consciousness. She is said to have been created from the combined cosmic energies of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva — the Divine Trinity — together with the powers of the other deities. It is a beautiful reminder that transformation requires the gathering and directing of all our energies towards one divine purpose.
In our own spiritual journey, we too must gather our scattered energies and turn them towards God. Through meditation, Kriya Yoga, devotion, right living and sincere spiritual effort, we gradually purify the body, mind and heart. We become more aware of our thoughts and tendencies, and less controlled by them.
Paramhansa Yogananda explained the principle of spiritual effort beautifully: 25% comes from our own effort, 25% from the effort and blessings of the Guru, and 50% from the grace of God.
The grace of God is ever-present, and the Guru is always there to guide and uplift us. But the journey must begin with our own effort. We have to take the first step. We have to put forth the energy.
Every time we sit to meditate, every time we choose love over anger, selflessness over ego, truth over convenience, and devotion over distraction, we are participating in this inner battle.
And slowly, through persistent sadhana, the Divine Mother awakens within us.
The victory of Durga over Mahishasura then becomes our own victory — the victory of consciousness over ignorance, of soul over ego, of light over darkness.
As we celebrate these nine sacred nights, may we remember that the real Navratri is also taking place within us.
May we invoke the Divine Mother, awaken the Durga Shakti within, and with Her grace, courage and guidance, overcome the forces that keep us from knowing our true divine nature.
May this Navratri bring us closer to the ultimate victory — Self-realisation.
– Jayanti Natrajan
