Shubo Navaratri

[Eva Libre]

Artist: Avinab Mukherjee

Courtesy of Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati ;

Shubo Navaratri

देव्युवाच
एकैवाहं जगत्यत्र द्वितीया का ममापरा

devyuvāca
ekaivāhaṁ jagatyatra dvitīyā kā mamāparā

The Goddess said:
"I am alone here in the world. Who else is there besides Me. "

~ Devi Mahatmya ( Ch. 10, verse 4 & first half of 5)

"Everything comes into existence in time and disappears in time. Kali, the Mother of the Universe is the Mother of all. It is She alone that has begotten both good and evil. Everything has come out of Her womb."

~ Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi

"God has crated the world in play, as it were. This is called Mahamaya, the Great Illusion. Therefore one must take refuge in the Divine Mother, the Cosmic Power Itself. It is She who has bound us with the shackles of illusion. The realization of God is possible only when those shackles are severed. One must propitiate the Divine Mother, the Primal Energy, in order to obtain God’s grace. God Herself is Mahamaya, who deludes the world with Her illusion and conjures up the magic of creation, preservation, and destruction. She has spread this veil of ignorance before our eyes. We can go into the inner chamber only when She lets us pass through the door. Living outside, we see only outer objects, but not that Eternal Being, Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. Therefore it is stated in the Puranas that deities like Brahma praised Mahamaya for destruction of the demons Madhu and Kaitabha. Shakti alone is the root of the universe. That Primal Energy has two aspects: vidya and avidya. Avidya deludes. Avidya conjures up “lust and greed”. Which cast the spell. Vidya begets devotion, kindness, wisdom, and love, which lead one to God. This avidya must be propitiated, and that is the purpose of the rites of Shakti worship. The worship of Shakti is extremely difficult. It is no joke. I passed two years as the handmaid and companion of the Divine Mother. But my natural attitude has always been that of a child toward its mother. I regard the breasts of any woman as those of my own mother. Women are, all of them, the veritable images of Shakti."

~ Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
(Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, pg.116)