This period is a time for self-referral and getting back to the source. During this time of transformation, Nature sheds the old and gets rejuvenated; animals hibernate and life emerges back afresh in the spring.
According to Vedic science, matter reverts back to its original form to recreate itself again and again. The creation is cyclical, not linear; everything is recycled by nature- a continuous process of rejuvenation. The human mind, however, lags behind in this routine cycle of creation. Navratri is a festival for one to take the mind back to its source.
The seeker gets back to the true source through fasting, prayer, silence and meditation. Night is also called ratri because it brings rejuvenation. It gives relief at the three levels of our existence -- physical, subtle and causal. While fasting detoxifies the body, silence purifies the speech and brings rest to the chattering mind, and meditation takes one deep into one's own being.
The inward journey nullifies our negative karmas. Navratri is a celebration of the spirit or prana which alone can destroy mahishasura (inertia), shumbha-nishumbha (pride and shame) and madhu-kaitabh (extreme forms of craving and aversion). They are completely opposites, yet complementary. Inertia, deeply ingrained negativities and obsessions (raktabeejasura), unreasonable logics (chanda-munda) and blurred vision (dhoomraloc- han) can be overcome only by raising the level of prana and shakti, the life-force energy.
The nine days of Navratri are also an opportunity to rejoice in the three primordial qualities that make up the universe. The first three days of Navratri are attributed to tamo guna, the second three to rajo guna and the last three to sattva guna. Our consciousness sails through the tamo and rajo gunas and blossoms in the satva guna of the last three days. Whenever sattva dominates in life, victory follows. The essence of this knowledge is honoured by celebrating the tenth day as Vijaydashmi.
By worshipping the Mother Divine during Navratri, we harmonise the three gunas and elevate sattva in the atmosphere. Though Navratri is celebrated as the victory of good over evil, the actual fight is not between good and evil. From the Vedantic point of view, the victory is of the absolute reality over the apparent duality.
The Mother Divine or the pure consciousness itself pervades all the forms and has all the names. Recognising the one divinity in every form and every name is the celebration of Navratri. Hence, special pujas honouring all aspects of life and nature are performed during the last three days.
