MAA CHANDRAGHANTA ( THIRD DAY OF NAVRATRI )

Maa Chandraghanta is the third manifestation of Devi Durga and is worshipped on the 3rd of Navratri. Since she has a Chandra or half moon, in the shape of a Ghanta (bell), on her forehead, she is addressed as Chandraghanta. A symbol of peace, serenity and prosperity, Maa Chandraghanta has three eyes and ten hands holding ten types of swords, weapons and arrows. She establishes justice and gives Her devotees the courage and strength to fight challenges.

Her appearance may be of a source of power which is always busy killing and suppressing the bad and wicked. However, for her devotees, Maa is serene, gentle and peaceful. By worshipping Maa Chrandraghanta, you will open the doors to great respect, fame and glory. Maa also helps you attain spiritual enlightenment. Her idol, which symbolises both beauty and bravery, gives you the strength the keep the negative energy away and repels all the troubles from your life.

You need to follow simple rituals to worship Goddess Chandraghanta. You should first worship all the Gods, Goddesses and Planets in the Kalash and then offer prayer to Lord Ganesha and Kartikeya and Goddess Saraswati, Lakshmi, Vijaya, Jaya – the family members of Goddess Durga. The pooja should be concluded by worshipping Goddess Chandraghanta followed by a heartfelt prayer to Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma.

पिण्डज प्रवरारुढ़ा चण्डकोपास्त्र कैर्युता |
प्रसादं तनुते मह्यं चंद्र घंष्टेति विश्रुता ||

Piṇḍaja pravarāruṛhā caṇḍakōpāstra kairyutā |
prasādaṁ tanutē mahyaṁ candra ghanṣṭēti viśrutā ||

MAA BRAHMACHARINI ( SECOND DAY OF " NAVRATRI " )

" MAA BRAHMACHARINI " ( 14 oct ,2015 )
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Dadhana Karpadma abhyamaksh Mala kamandalu|
Devi Prasidatu Mayi Brahmacharinya Nuttama ||

Devi Brahmacharini is second beautiful form of Goddess Durga who is Worshiped on the second day of Navratri. As her name denotes 'Brahmacharini', she addresses 'Brahma' (penance) or strong influencing tapasya. She is symbolized as the Goddess who performs Tapa or hard penance. She holds Kamandal in her left hand and Japani (Rosary) in right. She wears white Saree of bright-orange border and Rudraksh as ornament. When Shail Putri awoke about her essence love toward Lord Shiva, she decided to perform the strict Tapasya or Yoga Sadhna to delight Mahadev. She is the Goddess of wisdom and knowledge. Admiring Goddess Brahmacharini, the Rishi-Muni, disciples and devotees of Durga accomplishes their Yog-Sadhna, Pooja and penance. Solar radiations behind her head glorify her luster.

"The Legend behind naming Goddess Durga as Bhramacharini" :-

It is believed that Brahmacharini is the true example of a goddess who performed extreme hard penance to obtain Lord Shiva. When Parvati realized about her divine love toward Mahadev, she was advised by Rishi Narad to follow customs and rituals of rigid Tapasya of long eras. While performing Tapasya, she suffered painful torments of nature like extremely biting cold, intense flames of Sun, and hammering of rain. It is also believed that she continued that of her hard penance till thousands of years and ate only bilva leaves to survive. Till many hundreds of years, she abstained from water and food. And this way, she devoted herself completely in worship of Lord Shiva. This great Tapa made her glorified with name 'Brahmacharini' and pleased Lord Shiva to be her divine consort.

On the second auspicious day of Navratri Pooja, Durga devotees worship Brahmacharini devi to acquire power of abstaining food and water till nine days of fasting. They chant mantras and offer Stuti (invocation) to Devi Brahmacharini to get her immense blessings and grace. By heartily worshipping Goddess Brahmacharini, devotees can enhance their metabolism, stamina and can live without meals without much effect on health. It is not just a miraculous, but the grace and grandeur of Devi Brahmacharini who bestows her devotees the great strength to endure unexpected torment of nature. Second day of Navratri Pooja is solely dedicated to Devi Brahmacharini, so worship this almighty on this propitious day and obtain her enormous grace. Jai Devi Brahmacharini

FIRST DAY OF NAVRATRI ( MAA SHAILAPUTRI )

WORSHIP OF  " MAA SHAILAPUTRI "

Vande Vanchhitalabhay chandrardhakritshekharam |
Vrisharudham Shooldharam Shailputreem Yashasvineem ||

Almighty Durga is glorified with name 'Shailputri' as her first form. Navratri begins with worship of devi Shailputri. As she is the daughter of Parvat Raj Himalya (King of mountains), she is admired with name 'Shail Putri'.

Goddess Durga is personification of Shakti (power) and manifests herself in nine forms. These nine forms of Durga are religiously Worshiped one by one during nine days and nights of Navratri. Devi Shailputri is first among nine embodiments of Goddess Durga and is worshiped first during first day of Navratri. Her glory is incredible. She is the Goddess of purity. With her veneration, Navratri is given an auspicious start. She is also a form of Mother Nature (Prakriti). Worshiping this Goddess on the first day of Navratri Pooja, devotees enters in Moolchakra.

Devi Shailputri is worshiped along with Mahadev, as she is the consort (wife) of Lord Shiva. She is also the mother of Kumar Kartikeya and Ganesha. As she is Prakriti, she looks after all living organisms including human beings, animals, trees, shrubs, plants and even tiny living things on Earth. She holds a lotus flower in her left hand and a Trishul (trident) in her right hand. A half moon decorates her forehead. Parvati and Hemavati are other names of Goddess Shailputri. She rides on Vrishabha (a bull), the procession of this Goddess.

Legend behind incarnation of Devi Shail Putri
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According to Shiv Mahapuran and other Hindu mythologies, Devi Sati, daughter of Prajapati Daksha, was got married with Mahadev. But King Daksha was completely not in favor of this marriage. One day, he organized a Maha Yagya. All deities and near dear ones were invited except Shiv and Sati. Finding this, Sati got deeply hurt and realized that her father was only insulting her husband Shiva. In this intolerable situation, she scarified her body burnt in fire of yogic Yagya. This sight was extremely painful for Mahadev. He made himself isolated from all and went for a penance of long eras. Without him the whole universe was in disorder. But, re-birth of Sati with name Parvati at home of King Himalaya nurtured rays of hope.

However, it was very difficult for Parvati to get her Lord Shiva, as Mahadev lost himself in densest of Sadhna.
With mammoth efforts and immense devotion, Devi Parvati began her search and journey toward Lord Shiva. After many endeavors, she blessed with a re-chance to marry with Mahadev. Thereby, Shailputri symbolized herself as a true Goddess of root chakra. Her awakening was toward establishing universal love with Lord Shiva that glorified her as the Goddess of awareness.
On the first day of Navratri, devotees place enters in Moolchakra and worship Goddess Shailputri to establish dedication keeping Mooladhar in mind, and commence Durga pooja auspiciously. Jai Devi Shailputri.

SIGNIFICANCE OF NAVRATRI...

Navaratri signifies the progress of a spiritual aspirant. During this spiritual journey, the aspirant has to pass three stages personified by Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Then, he or she enters into the realm of the infinite, wherein one realises one's Self. Navaratri, which literally means 'nine nights,' dedicates three days each to worshipping the Divine in the forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. The tenth day, though, is the most important; it is known as Vijayadashami, the 'tenth day of victory.'

The reason behind the worshipping of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati lies rooted in the philosophy that the attributeless absolute can only be known through the world of attributes—the journey is from the known to the unknown. Hence it is said that Shiva, who symbolises pure consciousness, can only be known through Shakti, who represents divine energy. That is why people worship Shakti, also known as Devi, in Her various manifestations.

The different stages of spiritual progress are reflected in the sequence of celebrations during Navaratri. During the first three days, Durga is worshipped. She personifies that aspect of shakti which destroys our negative tendencies. The process of trying to control our senses is akin to a war for the mind which resists all attempts at control. So the stories in the Puranas symbolically depict Devi in the form of Durga as waging war and destroying the asuras.

However, getting temporary relief from the clutches of vasanas does not guarantee permanent liberation from them. The seeds of the vasanas will remain within in latent form. Therefore, we should supplant them with positive qualities. The Bhagavad Gita refers to these qualities as daivi-sampat, literally "Divine wealth." Correspondingly, we worship Lakshmi during the next three days. Lakshmi is not just the giver of gross wealth or prosperity; She is the Mother who gives according to the needs of Her children.

Only one endowed with daivi-sampat is fit to receive the knowledge of the Supreme. Accordingly, the last three days of Navaratri are dedicated to worshipping Saraswati, the embodiment of Knowledge. She is depicted as wearing a pure-white sari, which symbolises the illumination of the Supreme Truth.

The tenth day is Vijaya Dashami, or the festival of victory, symbolising the moment when Truth dawns within.

Thus, the significance of each stage of worship has clear parallels in the different stages of sadhana (spiritual practices): first, negative tendencies need to be controlled; second, virtues need to be ingrained; third, after gaining the necessary mental purity, spiritual knowledge needs to be acquired. Only then will the sadhak (spiritual aspirant) attain spiritual illumination. It is significant that Vijaya Dashami is considered auspicious for mantra initiation; advanced spiritual aspirants are also initiated into Sannyasa (vow of renunciation) on this day.

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THE ESSENCE OF GURU-SHISHYA PARAMPARA IN SPIRITUAL GROWTH

THE Guru is the religious teacher and spiritual guide to whose direction orthodox Hindus of all divisions of worshippers submit themselves. There is in reality but one Guru. The word GURU  has many meanings in literature.The ordinary human Guru is but the manifestation on the phenomenal plane of the Ādināthā Mahā-kāla, the Supreme Guru abiding in Kailāsa.He it is who enters into and speaks with the voice of the earthly  Guru at the time of giving mantra. Guru is the root  (mūla) of dikṣha (initiation). Dikṣha is the root of mantra. Mantra is the root of Devatā; and Devatāis the root of siddhi. The Munda-mālā-Tantra says that mantra is born of Guru and Devatāof mantra, so that the Guru occupies the position of a grandfather to the Iṣ ṭa-devatā. It is the Guru who initiates and helps, and the relationship between him and the disciple (śiṣ ya) continues until The perfect sādhāka who is entitled to the knowledge of all Śāstras is he who is pure-minded, whose senses are controlled (jitendriyah), who is ever engaged in doing good to all beings, free from false notions , the attainment of monistic siddhi.

This knowledge is not like a discrete academic subject that you can learn simply by  reading a textbook. It is a complete unfoldment and the teacher-student connection is necessary

in order to make the knowledge work for the student. It is similar to a relationship with a

therapist in which trust and a certain amount of time are necessary.The guru is more like a

super-therapist. He must re-orient the student overa period of time, directly or indirectly, so the

student sees through ingrained self-beliefs.  But what makes the extraordinary difference is that

the guruis also the one who opens up your heart and gives you aninsight about yourself, a self

that is totally acceptable. There is no other relationship that will do that.Guru is father, mother, and Brahman. Guru, it is said, can save from the wrath of Śiva but none can save from the wrath of the Guru. Attached to this greatness there is however, responsibility; for the sins of the disciple recoil upon him.

the final definition OF guru: maha vakya-upadesha-karta, the one who teachesthe statement revealing the identityof the individual and the Lord, the whole.

The guru is a human being. When the guru is praised, however, gurur brahma gurur

vishnu gurur devo maheshwara, “The guru is Brahma, the guru is Vishu, the guru is shiva,” the

human element is not taken into account.

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