Navratri - Goddess Durga and Symbolic Significance

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Navratri is here again and the first three days are dedicated to Goddess Durga. Read about the symbolism of Durga (Divine power), Mahishasura (animalistic qualities in man) and more.

Goddess Durga

To gain noble virtues, all evil tendencies in the mind, must be destroyed. This destruction is represented by Goddess Durga, Durga is durgati harini; " She who removes our evil tendencies". This is why She is called Mahishasura Mardini, the destroyer of Mahisa asura (demon), mahisa meaning "buffalo". Isn't there a buffalo in our minds as well?

The buffalo stands for Tamoguna, the quality of laziness, darkness, ignorance, and inertia. We too have all these qualities of laziness. We love to sleep. Although we may have a lot of energy and potential inside us, we prefer to do nothing - just like the buffalo that loves only to lie in pools of water.

In the Puranic story(of Navratri), Goddess Durga Devi's killing of the Mahisha demon is, symbolically, the destruction of the Tamoguna within us that is very difficult to destroy. In the Durga Devi Havana (sacrifice) during Navratri, we invoke that Divine Power within us to destroy our animalistic tendencies.

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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 Navaratri, He talks about the symbolic significance of Goddess Durga.

To be continued