NAVARATRI :NINE FACES OF A MOTHER ...!!

I am pleasantly surprised to receive a few mails from quite a few discerning ['non-Hindu'] Friends from across the world outside India seeking guidance on the way and manner of celebrating Dasshera [or as it also called ,NAVARATHRI ]Festival ,one of the foremost Festivals of the sub-continent [and in recent decades,of those living abroad too]...!!

I was reminded that I last wrote of this wondrous topic last year on Vijayadasami Day [The Day Of Victory of Good Over The Evil One].Even as I was feeling good ,I was struck by the friendly 'accusation' that it wasn't informed in advance to facilitate adequate preparation of Mind as well as Body in going about the Celebrations...I decided I must make amends by focussing on the Avatar [Form ] in which the Divine Mother of the Whole Universe should be worshipped during the ten-day long Festival of Humanity ...!!

Here We Go...I beg your pardon for being unwilling to go into the actual ritual,procedural formalities but shall certainly be delighted to seek to throw light humbly on such a singularly [hotly-debated order by Scholars in the know - from times immemorial]...I am nevertheless going into the actual FORMS and SIGNIFICANCE OF FORMATION OF WORSHIPPING THE DIVINE MOTHER GODDESS IN HER RESPECTIVE AVATARS[' ROOPAS ' OR 'FORMS']...!!

List and Order in Which the various Avatars of DeviMaa[The Divine Mother] ought to be celebrated this year around :-

1st day : 19th September (Saturday) : SHAKHAMBARI DEVI -

2nd day : 20th September(Sunday) : BALA TRIPURASUNDARI DEVI -

3rd day : 21st September(Monday) : GAYATHRI DEVI -

4th day : 22nd September(Tuesday) : ANNAPOORNA DEVI -

5th day : 23rd September(Wednesday) :LALITHA PARAMESHWARI DEVI -

6th day : 24th September( Thursday ) : MAHALAKSHMI DEVI -

7th day : 25th September( Friday ) : SARASWATHI DEVI -

8th day : 26th September( Saturday ) : KANAKA DURGA DEVI -

9th day : 27th September( Sunday ) : MAHISHASURAMARDINI DEVI -

10th day : 28th September( Monday ) : RAJA RAJESWARI DEVI -

VIJAYADASAMI DAY .

( DAY OF VICTORIOUS ).

11th day : 29th September( Tuesday ) : ANNASANTHARPANA(day of inviting as many Friends,

Well-wishers,Devotees & anybody in general to partake
in a 'grand' Feast and Gaiety fostering a sense of
'bon-homie'amongst all of Humanity [ more importantly reminding themselves of the GREATNESS OF GODDDESS MOTHER IN helping us all BY HER GRACE ,to be alive ,happy and joyous sharing the BLESSING OF LIFE in spite of all the waywardness,anarchy ,chaos,confusion,conflicts and insanity prevailing all around us ,day in and day out : REMINDING ONESELF & ALL THAT GOD IS GREAT ; GOD IS ALMIGHTY ; GOD IS GODDESS ,especially in the Absolute,Divine Self...!!!



ps: Owing to paucity of time ,I just cannot dare to proceed with elaborating ,depicting,describing the detailed manner in which each of HER SINGULAR FORMS ought to be worshipped and exalted but I shall endeavour to write to those who are interested in truly understanding the Realized Sublime Soul : a solemn Word.

HAPPY DASSHERA FRIENDS...!!!

LIGHT THE FLAME...!!!

Teachers are taught throughout their teaching lives to unlearn their learning as well as re-learn all that they seek to teach to the 'taught' pupils ...Whatever be the stream ,whichever be the stage of education ,the Teachers find that Education is a continuously continuing continuous process ...I for one have always been privileged to be taught 'well' by teachers throughout my Academic career and to be regarded in high esteem by all those I impart my 'teachings'...One's best teachers of course are one's parents [in the formative years ,especially] as in my instance and then as one steps into the wide real world outside , it is the World itself which teaches the entrant of the 'harsh','bitter' realities of the true and unfair-seeming universal ways of thoughts, life and styles which prevail outside and away from one's home domain ...!!

As one grows wiser in life with the passage of Time , one discovers that the World is itself the best teacher of all while Life itself becomes the real Workshop of learning-processes...To ones whose Mind evolves fairly ahead of others,GOD ALMIGHTY is the Master Teacher indeed...I attest to this testimony of Mankind...!!

Child they say is the father of Man but I would say that the Father [and the Mother]of a Child is indeed the one who ought to behave as the Father and Teacher of the child rather than follow the trend of most unwitting folk in recent times to be led and swayed by the fanciful whims and fanciful notions of the 'unlearned' innocent [and often ignorant] child 's demands - indeed,wild demands invariably lead to perilous results...!!

I would however step a plane higher and submit that one's bestest and constantly concerned Teacher is one's own Self .Irrespective of what is one's orientation ,bearings and 'take' on Life as well as the goals ought to be accomplished in a lifetime,each and every one of us sane,sensible and thinking minds should introspect ,think ,evaluate as well as analyze the role,responsibilities and duties of Oneself towards different relationships in the World we live in and lead an ever Happy, Humble and Fruitful life filled with Learning and Luminosity .Only such an endeavour would make our sojourn meaningful and human.Or else, we are as anonymous in our existence as the fruitfly or the cactus plant in the wild desertland...!1

Teachers are noble ; Nobility is a virtue of all Teachers .But ,can all be teachers or are indeed all teachers noble? - it is the moot question over which one and all of us ought to give adequate thought with a cool and dispassionate sense of purpose in order to ensure that the Flame of Learning be passed on to future generations failing which the extermination of all Mankind is a definite event ,sooner than later ,in a world bereft of Religion and Wisdom ;Patience or Tolerance ;Compassion and Missionary-zeal...!!

Light the Flame ; do not douse the zest for Learning in Life...!!!