Navratri-Rasa Dance

Saturday, October 16, 2010, 12:06

The Rasa dance (the dance of joy) of Lord Krishna and the gopis is also performed during Navratri. As the mind becomes purer, calmer, quieter and more cheerful, and greater understanding is gained, do we not feel happier? Similarly, the Rasa is the dance of joy - the joy of realisation. But nowadays, the theme of Sri Krishna and the gopis dancing the Rasa has been lost in our society. Today the true meaning and purpose of the ritual is -forgotten, as more importance is given to other types of dancing.

Why is the Navratri festival celebrated at night rather than in the daytime? This is another interesting question. Night time is generally the time when we go to sleep, so the spiritual message of nighttime worship is: " You have lived long enough in the sleepy ignorance of Tamoguna. It is time to get up now. Please, wake up!" For a puja, unfortunately, we are never willing to stay up late and so we ask, "What time will it end?" For a party, we never ask this question. If the party ends at 10.00 pm we say, "What! The party is finished?!

What kind of a party is that?! " Yet we find it difficult to stay awake for a puja!

Swami Tejomayananda

Swami Tejomayananda the Chairman and spiritual head of Chinmaya Mission worldwide, is one of the foremost disciples of Swami Chinmayananda. This article is an excerpt from His Navratri-Symbolic Significance. In this article Swamiji talks about the significance of the Rasa dance after having dealt with the significance of Goddess Saraswati worship during Navratri, significance of Goddess Lakshmi and significance of Goddess Durga in the previous articles.