Navratri - Goddess Lakshmi's Symbolic Significance

It is imperative to know the symbolic significance of Goddess Lakshmi worship during Navratri. Let us delve into the essence of Goddess Lakshmi worship, practised after the first three days, for the next three days of Navratri as elucidated by Swami Tejomayananda.

Goddess Lakshmi

For knowledge to dawn within us, we have to prepare our minds. The mind must be pure, concentrated, and single-pointed; this purification of the mind is obtained through worship of Goddess Lakshmi Devi (especially during Navratri)

In our society today, however, when we think of Lakshmi , we think only of money - counting gold and dollar bills! This is why if one goes to a Lakshmi temple, one will find a crowd. Everybody likes Lakshmi Puja (Goddess Lakshmi worship, especially during Navratri) because they think She represents material wealth. But what is real wealth? Even if we have material wealth but have no self-discipline or self-control, nor the values of love, kindness, respect and sincerity all our material wealth will be lost or destroyed.

The real wealth is the inner wealth of spiritual values that we practise in our lives, by which our minds become purified. Only when we have these noble values will we be able to preserve our material wealth and make good use of it. Otherwise, money itself becomes a problem.

In the Upanishads, the Rishis never asked for material wealth only. In the mantras of the Taittirya Upanishad, they first asked to have all the noble virtues fully developed in themselves, "Having gained the noble virtues, thereafter, Lord! please bring wealth to us". The Rishis express here that in the absence of right values and good qualities, all their money would be wasted. We know this is true because, for example, if we give money to a drug addict or an alcoholic, he will drink or smoke it away in no time.

Our wealth of virtues is our true Lakshmi. Its importance is shown by the fact that Adi Shankaracharya himself, in Vivekachudamani describes the shad sampatti, or six forms of wealth (calmness of mind, self-control, self-withdrawal, forbearance, faith, and single-pointedness) that are to be cultivated to attain wisdom. These virtues are important because our goal is victory over the mind - a victory which is such that we do not get disturbed by every change that takes place in our lives. This victory comes only when the mind is prepared, and this mental preparation is the symbolism of the Goddess Lakshmi Puja (especially during Navratri)

To be continued

Swami Tejomayananda

Swami Tejomayananda, the Chairman and spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission worldwide, is one of the foremost disciples of Swami Chinmayananda. In this article about Navratri, He talks about the symbolic significance of the worship of Goddess Lakshmi.

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