Chaitra Navaratri Celebrates New Beginnings
The attitude of giving respect needs to be embedded in our character. Each of us is born from the womb of our mother, where she nourished us as a foetus for nine months. We are eternally indebted to our mothers for this and for giving birth to us.
Chaitra Navratri begins on 19th March, 2026. This marks the Pratipada (first day) of the Shukla Paksha (bright half) of the Chaitra month in the Lunar Hindu calendar. It commemorates the day when Lord Brahma began making the universe. The season is commensurate with new beginnings. We find new saplings sprouting, plants bearing new buds, trees dressed in new green leaves, birds singing and insects buzzing as winter is finally over and spring is here. Nature’s beauty is at its zenith. Contrary to the new year being celebrated on January 1st as per the Gregorian calendar, our ancestors celebrated it on the first day of the Chaitra month.
Our forefathers have been worshipping the Divine Mother in the forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati during the Navratri festival. Did you ever wonder about the inner significance of this worship?
Sri Sathya Sai Baba said, “The life of a man who cannot respect and love one’s mother is utterly useless. Recognising one's mother as the very embodiment of all divine forces, one must show reverence to her and treat her with love. This is the true message that this nine-night festival (Navaratri) gives us. The supreme Shakti manifests herself in the form of Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Durga grants us energy - physical, mental, and spiritual. Lakshmi bestows on us all forms of wealth - not just money but intellectual wealth, the wealth of character, and others. Even health is a kind of wealth. She grants untold riches to us. And Saraswati bestows intelligence, the capacity for intellectual inquiry, and the power of discrimination on us. The Navaratri festival is celebrated in order to proclaim the power of the Goddesses to the world. One's own mother is the combination of all these divine beings. She provides us with energy, wealth, and intelligence. She constantly desires our advancement in life. So she represents all the three goddesses that we worship during the Navaratri festival.”
Worshipping the Divine Mother is thus a way of leading us to value and revere the feminine aspect of God’s creation. This means respecting all women, including mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, granddaughters, colleagues, employees, etc. Our forefathers perhaps had an inkling that in times to come, the safety and respect of women would be in jeopardy. To remind us of the importance of respecting women, the practice of worshipping prepubescent girls on Asthami or Navami day was started as Kanya/Kanjak Poojan. The attitude of giving respect needs to be embedded in our character. Each of us is born from the womb of our mother, where she nourished us as a foetus for nine months. After going through the process of childbirth, mothers breastfeed their child. We are eternally indebted to our mothers for this and for giving birth to us. Being born a human is a huge blessing.
Humans are the only form of creation that have the power of discernment between good and bad or right and wrong. Human birth is precious because it is humans that we can find Nirvana or merge with God.
As we respect the feminine aspect of God’s creation, we realise that the forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati are manifest in them. They manifest in each one of us too! Durga manifests in all as energy and dynamism, Saraswati manifests as the power of speech, and Lakshmi as willpower.
How can we best celebrate the Navaratri festival? By channelling our energy, wealth and wisdom, through willpower and the power of discernment, into a surrendered yearning for God. Jai Mata ki!
This piece is published in the Indian Express on 02.02.2026 https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/timeless-tales-chaitra-navaratri-celebrates-new-beginnings-and-the-divine-feminine-10558895/
Comments ()