DEVI AND NAVRATRI

Hinduism, staunchly rooted in polytheism, envisages the Divine in both male and female forms. The Divine Devi takes many forms: as Parvati, She is married to Shiva and this union is held as the ideal. She is a benevolent Mother, devoted to her husband and her children. As Lakshmi, She is the wife of Vishnu and the Goddess of fortune. She is Saraswati, the wife of Brahma, and the Goddess of learning and music. Devi is manifest in all other Goddesses, as well as in village deities. As such Devi can be a generic name for any goddess, and to some she is known as The Great Goddess or Mahadevi. This is the female counterpart of Mahadeva. When the Devi manifests in Her gentle maternal manner called saumya, She becomes the ideal of all women. She is the Mother or Maa. It does not permit the Devi an identity separate from her husband. 

The unmarried form of Devi leads to an independent, fiercely untamed, and angry embodiment called the ugra form that battles the forces of evil. In doing so She powerfully challenges male stereotypes. One may interpret the strong, angry form of Devi as a pushback against a patriarchal, misogynist society that projects a male fear of female sexuality vis-a-vis an unmarried Goddess. But it is the male who is at the core of violence and disruption in society, and it is the Devi who is out to restore order to allow society to function. Hence the bali or sacrificial animal that is offered to placate Her is always a male.

Mahadevi is the form of Shakti, and to her followers constitutes a major tradition in Hinduism. The celebration of the Devi in which nine forms are worshipped is called Navratri; Durga Pooja is an integral part of Her celebrations and is incorporated into these nine days.

The raison d'etre for Navratras is to let the sattvic elements supersede and overcome the tamasic and rajasic gunas in the human makeup. Thus the demons - Mahisa, Shumbh, Nashumbh, Madhu, Kaitabh, Chanda, Munda Raktabeeja, Dumralochan - are manifestations of the negative traits that are cloaked in Maya or illusion. Victory in overcoming these is what Navratri is all about. She strengthens the resolve of her devotee to battle the forces that keep him down - anger, greed, pride, jealousy, procrastination, dishonesty, disloyalty, overthinking, perfectionism, poor time management, impatience, resistance to change. These are modern weaknesses and the messages, cloaked in spirituality are timeless. Nine forms of the Mahadevi are worshipped during Navratri Incorporated in this is Durga Puja which is pan India now, but is a must in the eastern states of India.