BRAHMACHARINI’S SECRET

Strip away what you think you are to become what you are meant to be.

Goddess Brahmacharini is the second form of Goddess Durga. She is the Goddess of devotion and penance. Born as the daughter of the Himalayan king, she renounced everything and took to deep ascetism and penance to marry her love, Lord Shiv. Her single minded dedication and devotion fueled her austerity.

This second Goddess is also associated with the second chakra, i.e., the Swadhisthana Chakra. This chakra commands our emotions, our desires and is also associated with the purity of our body. Probably the reason why she is associated with this chakra is because dedication, determination and devotion towards a cause demand control over our own mind, thoughts, emotions and senses and freedom from our preconceived notions and conditioned living. Just like our Mother Goddess Brahmacharini, let us all shun ourselves from all the negativities, grudges, ill intentions that reside within, and purify our soul and place another foot forward to becoming what we were always meant to be. Let us all muster the courage within ourselves to make sacrifices, if need be, for our callings, let us all be firm in our faith and instill patience within us and let us all be steadfast and perseverant in our respective paths even if the path demands us to burn in the fire of toils and pain. Let us all invoke the Brahmacharini within us and start our journeys with an unwavering faith.

CHANDRAGHANTA’S SECRET

Your path demands winning over yourself.

The third form of the Goddess is that of mother Chandraghanta. After Shailputri and Brahmacharini, Goddess Chandraghanta is the third most important manifestation of Goddess Durga. Her name “Chandra-Ghanta”, means the “one who has a half-moon shaped like a bell”  and is also known as Chandrakhanda, Chandrika or Rannchandi. When provoked she can be malevolent. Her malevolent form is said to be Chandi or Chamunda Devi. She is otherwise the very embodiment of serenity. Chandraghanta story goes as follows: After Lord Shiva agreed to marry Parvati, he came in a terrorizing form at Parvati’s place with the marriage procession, accompanied by gods, mortals, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, sages and ascetics. Parvati appears as Chandraghanta and persuades him to change his form to a more charming one so that her mother does not get scared.

The Goddess gracefully remains in the ‘Abhaymudra’ literally meaning ‘Fearless’ posture probably indicating us towards the reason why she is associated with the Manipur chakra; which is our power center and governs our self-esteem, power, gut feelings, ego, and confidence. I have always viewed this third Goddess as the embodiment of our inner strength. This inner strength that lies within each of us helps us to overcome the hindrances and walls we build for ourselves. These walls of our insecurities, our attachments and our ego need to be shattered and razed to the grounds in whichever form and manner the circumstance demands, either as the serene Chandraghanta or as the fierce Chamunda. So let us all invoke within ourselves Goddess Chandraghanta and win the battle within.

KUSHMANDA’S SECRET

Be a light unto yourself.

The fourth manifestation of Goddess Shakti, Goddess Kushmanda stands for all things healthy and divine. She is the carrier of light and illumination who guides those who tread on the path of darkness. Her divine smile is the source of the whole universe. This fourth form of the Goddess is of eternal bliss and peace which throws light on the association of this Goddess and the Anahata chakra. The Anahata chakra is associated with unconditional love, compassion, and joy. It is the source of deep and profound truths that cannot be expressed in words. Anahata is a bridge between the lower and upper chakras integrating the manifest with the spiritual. When you come to the Anahata, or when your energy is dominant in the Anahata, you will start to hear sounds that you could not hear till now. This Goddess enable each one of us to become our own alchemist, by empowering us to transform long cherished desires into reality. All that we need to do is to discover the Kushmanda within us, our source and respond to its calling. We have to let our soul guide us. Once we let our Kushmanda take the driving seat, we are sure to discover our own customized routes to our destination.

SKANDMATA’S SECRET

Help others recognize their own self.

The fifth form of the mother divine is known as Skandmata. Skand is the name of the son of Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiv. She is the source of grace in the universe. The motherly and compassionate form of nature is personified as Mother Skandmata. Being the epitome of motherly love, Skandmata bestows affection on all her devotees. She is associated with the Vishuddha chakra. The Vishuddha or pure energy calls upon our communication center to be one of authenticity and truth and in our lives.

On our paths to our destinations, one must help others along one’s way, take them along and help them recognize their own authenticity. One should share and disseminate the knowledge and love one gathers throughout their journey and add value to not just our lives but also to the whole world . Let us all invoke the Goddess within us to bring our compassionate and empathetic side to the forefront.

KATYAYNI’S SECRET

Tear down all the limiting beliefs and external pressure that hinder you.

On the sixth day of the auspicious festival of Navratri, Devi Katyayini is worshipped by her devotees. Mythology says that Mother Goddess Parvati took the form of Goddess Katyayini to annihilate the demon Mahishasura. And hence she represents the power that destroys evil. She is associated with the the Agya chakra which is the centre of clarity and wisdom. It forms the boundary between human and Divine consciousness. Wisdom and intuition is needed to differentiate between good and bad, be it in terms of peer pressure, physical touch or social norms and stigmas. After the battle within comes the battle without.

Let us all invoke Goddess Katyayini within ourselves when its us vs. the society. Invoke the Goddess when the society alienates one community and gives undue recognition to the other, invoke the Goddess when justice is not served. Fight and stand up for yourself as well as the world because if you won’t then who will.

KAALRATRI’S SECRET

Light loses its importance in the absence of darkness.

The seventh form of the Divine Mother is Goddess Kaalratri. She represents a belligerent, fearsome form of the goddess. She is a destroyer of negative energies, her very aspect inspires such terror that ghosts, spirits, djinns, demonic entities and any form of negative energies run away on her arrival. Though a destructive energy, she supports and protects the good in the universe by destroying the bad. Another name of this goddess is Shubhankari which means auspicious or doing good in Sanskrit, as it is believed she always provides auspicious results to her devotees. She is associated with the Sahasrara chakra, where the mind finally comes to complete stillness and finds fulfilment in the union of knowledge. Just as night disappears with the rising of the Sun, ignorance fades with the awakening of the Sahasrara Chakra. Only when an individual accepts both good and bad alike, dark and light alike and grows above the conditioned thoughts and differences created by the mind, does she/he attain true knowledge.

This Goddess shows us how destruction is vital for creation, similarly how darkness is important for the light to shine, and how among all the calm and serene Goddesses who radiate love and grace, a goddess who destroys is placed on a pedestal.

MAHAGAURI’S SECRET

What you love you become.

The 8th day of Navratri is dedicated to Goddess Mahagauri. Goddess Parvati in order to beget Lord Shiva as her husband underwent severe penance in the forest braving storms, drought, severe heat and cold. The ravages of nature made her complexion dark with time. Lord Shiva pleased with her austerity agreed to marry her. He unleashed the holy Ganges from his matted hair to wash all the accumulated dirt on her body. This caused her to become white-complexioned and luminous. Thus she came to be called Mahagauri (extremely fair).

For me, she unveils the most important secret of all, the secret of love as well as yoga. To love is to become one spiritually and physically, and this same concept is reiterated in the concepts of Dharana and Dhyan, the two features of ashtang yoga. In Dharana, we fix our soul on the other and find that we are them. In Dhyan, we are able to expand our love for the other and find that the other individual is not different to us. We find that the other individual is us.

SIDDHIDATRI’S SECRET

Everything that you seek is within you, is you.

The last day of Navratri is also known as Navami, and people worship Goddess Siddhidatri. Sitting on a lotus, she is believed to be the goddess who possesses and bestows all type of siddhis (enlightenments). Goddess Siddhidatri possesses eight supernatural powers, or the siddhis, namely Anima, Mahima, Garima, Laghima, Prapti, Prakambya, Ishitva and Vashitva. Each power has it’s special meaning:

It was because of Siddhidatri’s grace that the Ardhnarishwar Roop of Lord Shiv and Shakti came into existence. Goddess Siddhidatri reiterates the feature of Samadhi. Goddess Parvathi and Lord Shiva become one in soul and body. There’s no individual existence, they become nothing but also everything. The finite becomes infinite and the infinite takes a finite form.