Paramacharya of Swaha, Pt. Hardeo Persad
When Devi Maa is worshipped for Nau Raatri, we sacrifice the lower tendencies within us. We all possess negative qualities to some extent: hate, anger, lust, greed, jealousy, conceit and arrogance. Devi is purnataa, unaffected by this world, but in our quest to reach Her, we must purify ourselves from the negative tendencies. When we make progress in eliminating these qualities, Devi, in the form of Kundalini Shakti, is awakened.
After the spiritual sacrifices of Nau Raatri, on the last day, we celebrate Raam Naumi; Shree Raam is born. Shree Raam represents spiritual perfection. It is when we sacrifice the negative tendencies, that the perfection of true spirituality takes root in the heart. It is then that we experience the bliss and ecstasy of the Divine. Our objectives must be to eliminate our impurities and attain the state of perfection. It is a personal journey that we are on to lift ourselves to higher levels.
Shree Raam’s manifestation was a promise made by the Divine. It is said that the Devtas, the holy ones and the bhaktas (devotees) were terrorised by Ravan. Mother Earth herself was in distress. Bhagavan had given His word that he would manifest Himself for the sake of the cows, the holy ones and the Devtas, to re-establish dharma (righteous conduct) and to destroy adharma (unrighteous conduct). Mother Earth assumed the form of a cow, the Divine energy, and went to the Devtas for assistance but they were all in the same distress. The question was asked, where is Lord Vishnu, that Supreme aspect of Divinity? Some said, “He is in Vaikuntha.” Some said, “He is in the ocean of milk.” Others said, “He is in the temple.” A few said, “He is in the heart.”
Bhagavan Shankar, who symbolises the state of dispassion, said, “O Parvati, I was there, and that Lord pervades every single atom of creation. How do we find him? Only through love can he be attained.” If we have even an iota of hatred for anybody then that love is not pure. Where is it that the Lord does not exist? People like Surdas, Meera and Sutikshan Muni had that true love and devotion, received the darshan (blessing) from the Lord of seeing and experiencing Him. We must let love, understanding and straightforwardness be born in the heart. If we develop these attitudes, we will get closer and closer to Divinity. We will no longer worry about trivialities. We must stabilise, focus upon the Divine and let that love be in our hearts and we will reach Him.
Bramhaji was ecstatic when He heard this and He praised Bhagavan Shankar to the highest. The Devtas stayed in one place and stabilised the mind, body and senses. They prayed with genuine devotion and heard a celestial voice saying, “O Devtas, embody yourselves in the forms of monkeys and bears. In time I shall manifest myself in four forms (the sons of King Dashrath), and I shall remove the burdens of the earth to champion your cause.” Shree Raam manifested thousands of years ago, at midday on a Tuesday.
Symbolism in the Ramayan
Raja Dashrath had three queens, Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra, and putreshti yagya was performed so that they could have children. Kausalya Maa gave birth to Shree Raam, Kaikeyi Maa gave birth to Bharath; to Sumitra, Lakshman and Shatrughan were born. The kheer they were given to drink were divided into different fractions, Kausalya got half, Kaikeyi was given a quarter and Sumitra received two shares, one eighth each. Each of the four sons born to the queens symbolise one of the four pathways that lead us to the Divine: Shree Raam represents gyaan yoga (path of wisdom); Bharath, bhakti yoga (devotion); Lakshman, dhyana yoga (meditation) and Lakshman, karma yoga (path of action).
Shree Raam’s manifestation, as an avataar of the spiritual perfection that can be attained by humans, Maryada Purshottam, brought great joy to all. While he was manifested, Shree Raam removed all the negative forces and burdens of the earth. On the occasion of Raam Naumi, we should all aspire to remove our imperfections and progress towards the spiritual perfection of the Divine.
