Author: Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Demonic traits, even if they are deep inside us, are eliminated when we awaken our spiritual energy. There is a very interesting story of Rakta Bijasur. When a drop of him fell on the ground, it gave rise to a hundred other Rakta Bijasurs. In every strand of our DNA, all our traits are embedded, as science has shown today. The Asuric or negative traits in us simply need to be transformed. Darkness doesn’t really exist. It is simply the absence of light. Once you light up a room the darkness disappears. Mother Divine helps us do that.
Mother Divine comes with a trident. The trident represents three things: wisdom, love, and action. Wisdom, love, and action alone free us from negative traits. It isn’t just on the thought level. It is on the existential level where the transformation occurs. The energy of the Mother Divine transforms negative qualities into positive ones, and Navratri is the best time of the year to awaken this energy.
‘Nav’ means nine and it also means new. Just as we reside in our mother’s womb for nine months before we are born, we take this journey within these nine days of Navratri to go back to our source. This period should ideally be spent in meditation, chanting mantras, satsangs, silence, and knowledge. Each day has special implications, and so specific yajnas and poojas are performed on these days.
Vedic pandits bring 108 different types of herbs, and with the chanting of mantras, they put those herbs into the yajna fire and perform the ceremony. This is called dravya yajna.
Yajnas are performed to uplift the energy levels, to bring the ‘prana’ up. Yajnas, chanting of mantras, and meditation are all practices to raise the prana. First, seeds are sown in the area surrounding the yajna mantap. A seed stored in a cupboard also has life, but life hasn’t manifested in it. When we sow it in the ground and put some water in it, the seed sprouts. It manifests life. This is the beginning of yajna. Yajna is done by manifesting prana through seeds.
Women play an important role in this tradition. Five women sow seeds and put water on them.
As yajnas proceed through nine days of Navratri, the prana moves up in the seeds and in the surrounding atmosphere. Prana is hidden in space. Yajnas manifest prana in the rest of the four elements. Positive and negative, both types of emotions come from the space element. Yajnas sow the seeds of bliss in space.
Bliss sprouts in the whole atmosphere with the chants of mantras, the bhajans, and dance. Life becomes a celebration. This is what the Art of Living is. It is about celebrating life.
But yajna isn’t merely about the rituals performed or the offerings made into the sacred fire. It is also about bringing every aspect of our being together. To bring together the body, mind, and spirit is yajna.
When we sing and chant, it is kirtan yajna. Only the song exists. The rest of the things are obliterated. The song takes over our whole being. In Japa yajna, everyone discusses, understands, listens, and digests knowledge together. And then meditation is another type of yajna.
Yajna comprises 3 things. First is ‘Devapuja’, honoring the divine qualities, the divinities, and the divine energies.
Second is ‘Sangatikarna’, the process of everyone moving together. Yajna cannot happen alone. One person cannot perform a yajna, because we aren’t isolated beings. We are connected with everybody. If one is affected, to some degree it affects others too.
The third element of yajna is ‘Dana’, that is to give and share.
Mantras chanted during Navratri also uplift our energy levels. They connect us with our subtle level of spiritual existence. Mantras are specific vibrations that hold immense power. They are the links between the material world and the subtle levels of spiritual existence. The irony is that mantras have power only in silence. Many people simply chant mantras. It doesn’t produce the desired results because it is on the surface. And so mantras chanted with a meditative mind make them more powerful.
There may be numerous lightning flashes in the sky during a thunderstorm, but they won’t help us generate electricity in our homes because they aren’t connected to the electrical wires in our homes. If an electrical appliance isn’t plugged into the source, it doesn’t run. Similarly, a mantra remains dormant unless and until it is connected with the ‘Spanda’, the deeper vibrations of the being, the self. When we meditate, we bring harmony within ourselves. Our vibrations become positive. So meditation is absolutely fundamental for mantras to work. Like the presence of life force makes us move our limbs, so does the power of Spanda help the mantra bring about the desired results, the desired fruits. Unfortunately, today, many people chant mantras without making meditation a part of their practice. They are far away from meditation. It undermines the power of mantras. But people who meditate attract divine qualities and infuse these divine qualities into the mantras.
The underlying principle of performing yajnas, chanting mantras, and practising meditation is to connect the microcosm within us with the macrocosm of the universe, wherein every aspect of life is involved. Yajnas are performed for the welfare of the whole world. The procedures are laid down in the scriptures, such as how many herbs should be bought, what materials should be used, and what mantras should be chanted. It is all very precise, and when it is done the way it should be done, the effect is very imminent.
Quantum mechanics says this whole universe is just made up of one wave function; Vedanta says the same thing- the whole universe comprises vibrations, spandana, or pulsation. And the vibrations in its many manifestations have formed this multitude of universes; and that One Vibration has manifested as millions of names and forms. That is what the verses chanted in Navratri are about: how the Divine Mother is manifested everywhere — all the qualities are Her; she is present in every atom of this creation, in the animals, trees, insects, galaxies, and in many worlds and planets. Devi Mahatmyam invokes the Mother Divine in various forms, such as shakti or power, buddhi or intellect, chetana or consciousness, nidra or sleep, and ksudha or hunger. So all these qualities, whether negative or positive, aren’t devoid of divinity. Mother Divine’s glory is spread from an atom to the cosmos. So we adore her in all forms and experience her energy in these 9 days of Navratri.