Goddess Durga took nine days to rest and on the tenth day was born pure love and devotion, with which she decimated inertia and dullness that Mahishasur symbolised, says Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Mother Divine symbolises the ultimate knowledge, knowledge of the ethereal universe. The universe we perceive is just a minuscule part of the entire creation that lies beyond. When we lift our eyes up from this perceivable creation to something vast, subtler and bigger, then we are able to feel the presence of Mother Divine and this can only happen in deep meditation.
The story goes that all devas, unable to defeat a demon called Mahishasur, approached the trinity — Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh — for help. The trinity then, meditated, and along with the prayers of all other devas and divine energies was born a pillar of pure, scintillating, flaming light, the summum bonum of all the energies, a feminine figure — Goddess Durga, the destroyer of the great demon. If you look a little deeper, Mahishasur represents lethargy and inertia. Even the best qualities within us don't manifest or don't get honed because of the presence of inertia and negativity. So, what can really destroy it? That energy, the inner force of Durga alone can destroy the inertia, lethargy and negative tendencies.
Just as a baby takes nine months to be born, the devi took nine days to rest and what was born on the tenth day was pure love and devotion, with which the devi conquered the inertia and dullness that Mahishasur symbolised.
Durg also means that which is difficult. Durga is one who can help you cross over whatever appears to be too big or impossible to handle. When you pray to her with a sense of surrender and devotion, she comes and uplifts you like a kind mother and takes you across the ocean of misery, ocean of maya, to your Self. To know the Self, you need enormous energy and that energy is Durga. When it is dark you don’t see anything around you, though everything is already present. But the power of light makes you realise the matter that is there. Similarly, though God is present around you, you cannot know unless there is divine energy and that is Mother Divine. It is about feeling the connection with the divine. When the power inside you wakes up, inertia dies down. So Mother Divine with her compassion helps you get over the darkness that is inertia, which is depicted through all these mythological stories, so that everyone gains some wisdom.
In fact, it is not something that happened at some point of time. It is something that continues to happen in the subtle world, the fight between good and the bad, right and wrong, or demons and angels. Ultimately it is the good that wins. It is usually celebrated as the victory of good over evil, but that is a limited way of looking at it. From the Vedantic point of view, victory is of the absolute reality over the apparent duality.
All aspects of divinity are present in Durga. Three shaktis, energies, are present in Mother Divine: Yog Shakti, Bhog Shakti and Swatantra Shakti. While Yog Shakti is the power that helps you get into a deeper state of awareness, higher consciousness, Bhog Shakti is our ability to relish materialism and Swatantra Shakti is the free spirit that liberates you from all types of illusions.
Durga is that energy.
When we make the omnipresent, personal, it brings wisdom, magnanimity and strength. When we make the personal, universal, it brings us love, compassion, gratitude and freedom. At the end of the battle with asuras, all devas gather to praise, glorify and thank Mother Divine. She asks them, “What is it that you want?” They say, “Mother, you have already given us everything. You have left nothing incomplete. We are simply filled with joy.” And she replies, “I will come in every age. I’m with everyone. I’ll take care of the whole universe. I’m there for anyone who asks for anything.”
Also see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az8SGiqk9-o
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/india-celebrates-durga-puja-amid-much-fanfare/videoshow/104632502.cms
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