Pranams. Of late, I have not been consistent in my blogging due to changes in my work and family life and the resulting interruptions. However I did continue with my ‘Svadyaya’ (स्वाध्याय -study) as well as ‘Sravanam’ (श्रवणं - hearing) of the scriptures, ‘Mananam’ (मननं) or contemplation of the knowledge gained as well as ‘Dhyanam’ (ध्यानं)or Meditation on the principles of the scriptures as regularly as possible. Every reading, especially by Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda has been a revealing knowledge for me on various aspects. Hindus all over the world have been attending and celebrating many festivals the past few months and one of them is the Dussehra or the Navarathri festival celebrated in a large scale in Bharat (India). I read a wonderful commentary by Gurudev on the significance of this festival which has been frankly an eye-opener for me. Dussehra comes from the Sanksrit word ‘Dasa papa hara’ or ending of the 10 sins. The 10 sins signify the 10 senses (5 Jnana-indriyas and 5 Karma-indriyas) that humans depend on to receive the various stimuli from the external world and to react to those stimuli. These are the BMI layers in a human being. An average person is engrossed on these BMI layers most of the time that he is pulled into the materialistic comfort zones thereby forgetting the divinity within himself. The celebration of Dussehra or Navarathri (9 nights) is an opportunity for many such people to return to their roots of spirituality. The first three days are for invoking Durga to help in annihilating the negative tendencies within a person, so as to create a channel for absorbing all good and positive knowledge. The next three days are for invoking Goddess Lakshmi so as to get the necessary resources needed to start on a spiritual journey and avoid any interruptions. The last three days are surrendering to the Goddess Saraswati to gain the knowledge of the Ultimate Supreme Power (USP) – the Brahman as advised in the Upanishads. The final 10th day is the Vijayadasami – the day of Vijaya or success wherein the person has returned back to his roots of being a divine in a human form on the 10th day. The celebration of Dussehra, therefore, is giving up the negative materialistic way of life and return to the spiritual way of life through Karma, Bhakthi or Jnana margas (ways) and selfless activities in this birth as a human being. Only humans have this amazing blessing of self introspection, knowledge, contemplation and ability to evolve into a higher living being. This is also the Thanksgiving season in the US and let us all be thankful to that Almighty to have been blessed with the physical, mental and intellectual capabilities that we need to discover the divinity within ourselves and evolve into a supreme being in this planet.
Hari Om.