Navaratri is the festival to worship nine forms of shaktis, the primordial energy, which is the cause of creation and is the sustainer of the same creation. Shakti is the dynamic aspect of Shiva, the super consciousness.
From Shiva, when the shakti manifests to in turn manifest the universe, he takes the form of Ardhnareshwari, that is of half male and half female. He projects his two aspects, which were hidden under one broad Sat Chit Anand aspect. His male aspect is the static consciousness and the female aspect is dynamic consciousness aspect.
The whole universe is said to be operating in the womb of the divine mother, the shakti aspect of Shiva and we are all enjoying our lives within the womb of the divine mother. Even though it appears to us that we are independent entities and operating outside in the universe but yet the fact is that we are within the invisible womb of the mother.
In the womb of the divine mother we are fed through the invisible umbilical cord but we think we feed ourselves through our own mouths. Like a small cell grows into a baby in the nine-month pregnancy of a woman, we also grow from a small baby to an old person within the womb of the divine mother. We are fed, protected, sheltered and eventually merged back in the same mother’s womb.
Once, two twin babies in the womb of a mother were talking to each other. First baby asked the second baby as to how she is feeling in the womb and the second baby replied saying she is enjoying her life. The first baby said that after few months we will be out of the womb and we will see light. To this the second baby asked as to what is this coming out and what is light?
The first baby said right now we are inside the womb of our mother and we will be out of this womb wherein we will have independent entity and there will be bright light all around. We will be able to see everything clearly on our own.
The second baby was not convinced as to what there could be anything like outside and inside. She said we are here to live our life and eventually die here itself to this first baby replied that what you think is death, is actually a new birth outside.
Not convinced of this theory of a mother and outside, the second baby said I don’t agree to any concept of being inside the womb of a mother and taking birth outside the womb. How can you prove that we are in the womb of a mother and who is taking care of us?
The first baby said, whenever we are calm and peaceful we can hear the mother whispering divine hymns and we can feel her love whenever she touches the womb. But the second baby never had these experienced and seeing her astonished, the first baby made the second baby close her eyes and made her feel the love of the mother and listen to her sweet voice. She was awed with this experience and blissfully acknowledged the presence of a mother in whose womb they were living.
All of us, in the same way, exist and live in the womb of the divine mother. The whole universe operates within the womb of the divine mother. She feeds the universe through her prakriti, sustains the universe with her prana, loves the universe with her divya sparsh, sees the universe with her divya drishti and enlightens the souls in the universe with her divya gyana.
Whenever we meditate and bring ourselves to a peaceful mode we can feel her karuna, listen to her divya swar and see her divya roopa.
During Navaratri, the divine mother enjoys her blissful state and showers love on all her children. She is ready to forgive her children’s misconduct during this period if they pray to her and worship her with pure bhava.
Nine days represent our nine negative aspects such as kaam, krodh, moh, lobh, ahankar, bhay, irsha, dushmani and vasana. Winning over these nine negative aspects, the inner rakshasas, is the main objective of worshipping the divine mother during Navaratri.
Asatomaa Sadgamaya, Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Mrutyorma Amritangamaya.
