The Essence Of Navratri & Vijayadashami

Vijayadashami, the day of victory, is an essential festival for Hindus worldwide and comes right after Navratri. People all over the world, especially in India, come together to celebrate the festival with utmost dedication and devotion. Only a few people know the classification of the nine days of Navratri.

Each day of Navratri along with Vijayadashami has reverence for each and every aspect of our life. The first three days of Navratri are related to Tamas i.e., anger. During these three days, the Goddess is believed to be fierce just like Kali and Durga. For the next three days, she is as generous and wish-fulfilling as Lakshmi thus, related to Rajas. During the last three days, the Goddess is in the form of Saraswati, also known as Sattva. 

Investing ourselves in Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva makes us powerful in three different ways. When we invest ourselves in all three qualities, we no longer strive for becoming powerful. In fact, we walk on the path of liberating ourselves by winning over all three of them. This is what Vijayadashami teaches us. One shouldn’t be invested in either Tamas, Rajas, or Sattva. The one who sees through all three qualities is the one who conquers everything.

This is one of the reasons why Vijayadashami is observed after Navratri. It emphasizes how important it is for us to maintain a balance between every quality. The moment we fail to maintain a balance, we lose control of ourselves. Eventually, we may find ourselves taking part in evil. Perhaps, therefore, it is said that Vijayadashami teaches us about conquering evils and following the path of righteousness. 

Apart from this, Vijayadashami is also about being grateful and having reverence towards everything that adds value to our life. 

Let’s start with our body. It is the first thing that contributes towards the making of our life and future. We use our body and each part of it while striving for success. Exploiting it or being unkind to it will lead us to the abyss. Cultivating unhealthy eating, smoking, and drinking habits, and not giving them sufficient rest, is letting evils conquer our bodies. Our body is one of the most important assets we own. Looking after it and being in reverence to it, should be our priority. 

Next comes the Earth. We walk upon the earth and use its resources to make the best out of our life. Yet we never leave a chance to exploit the land for our selfish acts. From cutting down trees to being a contributing factor to global warming, we always take the earth for granted. We forget that we are indebted to earth and everything that it provides to us.

Then comes the air we breathe in and the water we consume. Being in reverence towards each of these is what will help us move one step closer to liberation and achieving eternal peace. Not only this but having gratitude for every person that makes our life beautiful will push us towards positivity. 

When we have gratitude, respect, and kindness for people and things around us, we automatically leave behind negativity. This is what the festival teaches us but do we realize and incorporate the learnings in our lives? Bringing small changes in ourselves will help us bring a broader and wider change to society. So this Navratri, let us devote ourselves to attaining Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva in a balanced way. The significance and purpose of Vijayadashami will eventually find their way to us.

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