NAVA-RAATRI: NINE SACRED NIGHTS OF WORSHIP AND REFLECTION

NAVA-RAATRI—the nine sacred and auspicious nights of worship is regarded in the Hindu calendar, a time of immense reflection and to strive to commune with God. Hindus would strive to attain purity and cleanliness—purity in thoughts, words and actions. During these nights, Hindus engage in prayers, worship, fasts and devotion to God in the feminine aspect—as the Universal Mother or Goddess. THE MOTHERHOOD AND FATHERHOOD OF GOD
The conception and reference of God as Father first emerged among the Aryans of ancient Bharata (India), and not by anyone else or at any other place; not by any Semitic tribe, race, cult or religion.
The concept of God as Mother and Father emerged among the Aryans of ancient Bharata (India) with one goal—for man to easily connect with the Supreme through a unique concept or relationship. It is hardly possible to approach, worship and serve God without the medium of a relationship. By the medium of a relationship, the bond of attraction and togetherness is felt greater. When such is felt, man has really become cognizant of the Supreme. In fact, that is the union; the bond; the state all aspire for—to become one with the master (God).  By the medium of a relationship, one gets to God. The Aryans, the Hindus have realized and established this concept of the Supreme long before anyone else. In fact, those of latter days came and picked up this idea and emphasized it very strongly in their teachings.
The supreme is referred to as a Mother because He acts as a Mother—he performs the function as what an earthly mother would do. He (God) creates—an earthly mother would create; He sustains—an earthly mother would sustain— He protects—an earthly mother would do likewise, and so on. So for these reasons, Hindus attributed female qualities, names and ideas to the one unchangeable, Supreme and Divine called God, even though that God remains formless, attribute -less and nameless. What really He is, is beyond the range of the human mind and speech. “The light of the sun, moon, stars or fire does not reach It; It shining, all three luminaries shine; by its light, the universe is illumined.”(Upanishad)
Nevertheless, a lot of people have always been referring to God as ‘He’. Perhaps they felt that for some reason or the other, God must be like a man, for in ancient times a man was the head and breadwinner of the family.
In the Vedas, God is called ‘Aditi’. The word Aditi conveys that which is of Mother or feminine qualities. Hence God became attributed and named as a Mother—one who creates, sustains and protects. Since a mother creates, sustains and protects; the eternal energies of God became a Mother (Goddess)—Shakti—Divine energy. So, for this reason again, God is called upon and worshipped as a Universal Mother. Power is God. A creator deprived of Power, is not a creator. Thus, from this Shakti (Divine Energy), the world is born. This Universal Mother was later referred and worshipped in manifold names and is represented by numerous Goddesses in mythology of which three names are commonly known. These are:
1)      Durgaa
2)      Lakshmee
3)      Sarasvatee
MOTHER DURGAA
Goddess Durgaa represents ‘Shakti’—divine energy or power. She is the power that fights against evil; the destroyer of negative forces of the human mind. In her mythological portrayal, she is seen with eight arms, each holding a weapon symbolizing that man or worshippers of Her must destroy the eight evils of the mind, which are lust, anger, greed, hate, jealousy, illusion, pride and contempt in order to live and enjoy peace and happiness.
Also in another mythological work, she is seen with a sword piercing a buffalo-shaped demon. The buffalo demon represents demonic and impure forces and vices. The purpose of the piercing portrayal is to remind man that every time he attempts to worship God, he must use spiritual powers to destroy the diseases of his mind and make his character pure; endowed in truth and virtues. Man needs to make his mind pure so that he can unravel the Divinity that is within. Hence, Goddess Durgaa plays a vital role in constantly reminding all of the Divinity that lies within, and that in order to unravel that Divinity, the presence God or spiritual power is essential.
MOTHER LAKSHMEE
‘Lakshmee’ means impeccable, good fortune or auspiciousness. She represents wealth, light, beauty, compassion, peace, prosperity, purity. The Hindus adore her to be blessed with wealth, not necessarily material, but wealth in qualities (virtues). They worship her so that their lives can become pure, thereby craving a path for God’s realization.
In mythological works, Goddess Lakshmee is shown either sitting or standing in a lotus. This has a powerful message for man. The lotus grows in murky, stagnant and polluted water, and yet it never comes in contact with the unclean water. It always grows and blossoms above the water. This tells that despite man is born and grows in a world filled with negative influences and impurities, he must somehow be like a lotus to detach himself from the impurities and illusions of the world and live a life of purity; harbour pure thoughts and do good actions. He must be non-violent in his thoughts, words and deeds.
MOTHER SARASVATEE
Thirdly, is Goddess Sarasvatee. Goddess Sarasvatee represents learning, knowledge and speech. For this reason, she is called ‘Gyaan Shakti’ – the power of speech and wisdom. Goddess Sarasvatee stands out very distinguished as the representation of discrimination. This is demonstrated when She is seen portrayed in mythology sitting on a swan.
The swan can separate water from milk which shows the strong power of discrimination. So the message here is that man must somehow or the other separate ignorance from knowledge. He must use his thinking power to discriminate between truth and untruth; righteousness and unrighteousness; virtues and vices; reality and unreality. He must not let delusion deceive him.
MOTHER WORSHIP LONG-LIVED IN HINDUISM
Today, only in Hinduism, there is a widespread worship of God as a Mother, but history has it that the worship and reference of God as a Mother existed in the religions of most of the ancient world—the Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks. In fact, the earliest icon of the Divine was a female. Also, there were many civilizations that had Mother Deities and systems of worship, but were swept away by other religions, while Hinduism, despite suffering much wear and tear (invasions) kept on existing. Thus Hinduism is known as ‘Sanatan Dharma’—Eternal Way of Life.
DIVISIONS OF NAVA-RAATRI
This festival, Nava- Raatri, as mentioned earlier, lasts for nine nights in which Hindus rever God mostly in the feminine aspect; in the three main names; Durgaa, Lakshmee, and Sarasvatee. These nine nights are divided into three sections, each comprising of three nights.
It is really a spiritual journey for man. For the first three nights, the focus is on the worship of Goddess Durgaa, which means to destroy the evil (vices) from the mind; the second three nights, Goddess Lakshmee is honoured to be blessed with good attributes and to allow light to permeate life; the final three nights, worship is done to the Goddess in the name Sarasvatee for Divine Knowledge and realization.
Nava-Raatri occurs twice annually. The first is called Vasant nava-raatri and the second, Sharad Nava-raatri.

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