Burst Fifty-Three :
The Soul’s Journey Of Evolution-1
Navarâtri means nine nights. Along with the tenth day of celebration of the good over the evil, the festivities came to be known as Dussera (dasha = ten, ahar = days). The observance of Dussera has a symbolic significance of throwing light on a soul’s journey from bondage to liberation.
The first three days of navarâtri are devoted to worship of Durgâ, the goddess of power. During the second set of three days, we give importance to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. The third and last set of three days is for adoration of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. Every one of us, due the delusory power of mâyâ that has its sway upon us right from the moment of our birth, has certain insecurity and therefore our first need is to feel protected. Worship of Durgâ thus symbolizes the natural need of every human being for safety and security. After feeling reasonably well-sheltered, we find we are in need of pleasures and comforts. Lakshmi provides us wealth which is the gateway to all the enjoyments of the world. As we get more mature, we realize the importance of knowledge and, no wonder, we worship Saraswati for that purpose. Pretty soon we become aware of the liberating nature of ‘spiritual knowledge’ and, attaining it, gain total freedom. The complete victory of the good over the evil, signified by the tenth day vijaya-dashami, is actually possible only in the transcendental wisdom of self-knowledge.
The Geetâ describes a soul’s evolution in another language and that is the idiom of gunas. Tamas, rajas and sattva are the three gunas in the order of increasing maturity. Tamas (tamo-guna) is characterized by dullness, darkness, insensitivity and inertia. As we grow out of it, upon learning lessons in life, rajas (rajo-guna) takes over and we are then very active, outgoing but restless and error-prone. We may apparently do a lot of good but in a deeper analysis we create new problems every time we solve some. Seeing the limitations of rajas thus, we calm down and take a more intelligent look at life as a whole. Sattva is born then. Sattva (sattva-guna) is marked by wisdom and peace. It is of the nature of light and knowledge. We are more balanced in our outlooks and we are equanimous in success and failure.
Staying in sattva for a long time, we are pushed beyond the realm of gunas by divine grace. Then there is total freedom. That is the happy end of the long journey of the soul.
Swami Chidananda
Varanasi
Monday, October 1st, 2007