We observed the auspicious Chaitra Navratri last week. What possibly could be the message that the festival of Navratri brings to us?
For many of us, it’s a time for restraint and discipline, even penance. We give up several things that we usually like. We also follow during this period, a life style different from the usual. We, or many of us, are also variously consumed by rituals of fasting, prayers, meditation and the like. At a physical level, all these things help.
But this festival surely must offer more than merely an occasion to observe rituals. Rituals do command a salience of their own, but surely they could not be the core purpose of this great festival. They may at best provide an ostensible purpose for observing them, but, there has to be a deeper meaning to it. A meaning that one must attempt to decipher, discover, understand and imbibe.
‘Durga Saptashati’, comprising of 700 mantras and 567 shlokas spread over 13 chapters, is an ancient and well regarded spiritual text. During these nine days, many people go through this holy book on a daily basis. Written in praise of Goddess Durga, it provides some clue to the dilemmas of our existence. On the face of it, the stories contained within its beautifully crafted poetry, concern the various incarnations of Goddess Durga and her victory over the demon kings. But the real purpose behind the narration must lie beneath these stories. Explained through the life experiences of a king and a tradesman, Surath and Samadhi, it deals with the deeper questions of human existence and the tribulations that unfailingly accompany such a life. The stories of Mahishasur, and Shumbh-Nishumbh merely illustrate the omnipotence of the divine power, to who we must submit to conquer the weaknesses that enslave us. The characters of Surath and Samadhi demonstrate that sorrow, agony, failures are an inseparable part of human lives, and yet one seeks the wisdom and the will to cope with it without wallowing in them. To accept that life is essentially sorrowful, and yet live it with full energy and involvement, is a progression in our quest for salvation.
Sorrow, ‘dukkha’, is the essential nature of human life. Pleasure and happiness are nothing but another form of sorrow. In a beautiful verse in Savitri, Sri Aurobindo describes human happiness as a “mutilated statue of ecstasy” and “a wounded happiness that cannot live.” Behind the superficial smile, laughter and humour of man there is hidden sorrow. And one does not carry only one’s own share of sorrow. There are some who shoulder the sorrows of those who surround them. Sri Aurobindo says that when you advance spiritually your consciousness widens beyond your body and personality, and begins to embrace, penetrate or identify with the surrounding humanity, which is mostly sorrowful. We, then, take on the sorrow of that humanity. Our integration with the surroundings, then, becomes manifest in this enlarged suffering.
Gautam Buddha has perhaps best demonstrated it and therefore he is worshipped as an Avatar.
One messages that clearly springs on you as you read Durga Saptashati, is that our lives are lived according to the attitudes formed within us over several births. We live a happy or unhappy life according to the attitudes that control us in dealing with the challenges of life. Several times, even after realizing the fault or futility of our actions we helplessly continue to do so. This happens because the divine power makes us do by clouding our minds and thinking. We can get over that stupor or inertia only by praying to Her to free us from the bondage that compels us to do what we do. A total surrender to this divine entity can guide us to overcome the weaknesses of our conduct and lead us to a life free of misery and mistakes. Both Surath and Samadhi were aware of the trap, their minds and actions were ensnared in, yet they were unable to get over the illusion, till they surrendered to the Goddess and prayed for her grace.
Why it is that we behave in a manner we do knowing full well the futility of our actions and feel an attachment with others that often remains unrequited. This attachment or Moha persists because the Goddess has put us in that state. A deliverance from this illusion is possible only through submitting to her completely, unreservedly and unconditionally. The salvation, then, is sure to follow.
Most of us are trapped in the maya of our existence. We live and act according to the dictates of our gross senses. Freedom from this trap is possible only when She wants it and motivates us to seek it. In this sense, we are completely dependent on her and therefore, surrendering to Her is the only way out of the miseries of life. The quest to seek this realization should be the essence of our prayers and penance during the Navratri.
And yet this quest has to be through action and not through imagination. To seek and know the purpose of our life must constitute the constant desire as we pray and meditate.
Life becomes a celebration if we know for what purpose we are born. Then, pursuing this purpose could become an uncomplicated and straightforward objective of life. All our thoughts and actions then can get directed to this objective. There is no confusion, no tentativeness, no uncertainty and no distractions. But how many of us really know the purpose for which we have been born. To understand the purpose of life is the most intractable challenge that we face in our lives. It may take several births to obtain this realization.
Even knowing what one enjoys in one’s life is not that facile, nor clear. One of the greatest exultations of life is to know honestly what one enjoys doing in life and the good fortune of getting opportunities to realize such pursuits. This is perhaps the highest fulfilment of life. And this sense of living a purposeful, meaningful life giving joy and excitement is what each one of us seeks, whether one is a king or a pauper. All endeavors of our lives, all our efforts, the focus of all our energy is essentially directed to such a goal. And yet, this seemingly simple thing is one that eludes most of us. The key to happiness lies in this consistently elusive aspect of our lives. Those who have grasped this simple calculus of life, are likely to evade trappings of misery and unhappiness.
A set of cards has been dealt to us. We have no way to alter what has been given to us by way of our births, families, physical and mental endowments. But what to do with the lot that has come our way is surely to a large extent within our reach. Blaming the circumstances or the station that one has been given, does not help us. But making the best of whatever has come our way, is something that is worth pursuing. How to play the cards that have been dealt to us, as best as we can, is what is in our hand. We must not turn away this opportunity.
In essence, life needs to be lived. We must do so by involvement and action not through withdrawal or renunciation. Action and a sincere sensitivity to follow the righteous path in pursuit of life, is the mantra that may guide us. The consequences of our actions will be varied and quite often inconsistent with our intention, effort or expectation. It is this divergence that needs to be recognized as the will of Goddess and accepted as such. Every consequence has to be accepted with the same sense of resignation and equanimity.
It is possible, because there are living examples around us who have lived life like this. But its acceptance is inseparably anchored in the faith that Goddess is there to guide us, as She is ceaselessly watching us, protecting us. The day this faith becomes unshakable, we have learnt to live life. We have become “Budhha”.
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