Durga Puja and Pitri Paksha

“Durga Puja Ke Shubha Avasar par Haardik Abhinandan!” Hearty Congratulations at the Auspicious
Occasion of Goddess Durga’s Worship. The month of Ashwin (September/October) is important in
the Hindu calendar. First fifteen days of the month is recognized as Remembrance Fortnight (Pitri
Paksha) when we fondly remember and pay homage to our departed ancestors; the next ten days of
the month, we celebrate Durga Puja (Navaratri and Vijayadashami). It should be noted that all the
Hindu festivals encourage divine love and peace among all mankind and help them to attain Self-
realization.

Pitri Paksha: During the auspicious fortnight, we express our gratitude to

a) Bhagavati and Bhagawan (Cosmic Consciousness in the form of Divine Mother and
Father: Saraswati / Brahma, Lakshmi / Vishnu, Parvati / Shiva) and Devas (Divine Power)
encompassing Sun (energy, light and heat), Wind (air we breathe), Fire, Water, Earth and
their Deities who selflessly provide us vital life-sustaining materials and enhance our
physical, mental and spiritual growth;
b) Our Sages (Rishis) and Great Social Reformers who have gifted us enlightening
scriptures, code of conduct, processes to realize our true identity (divinity) and ways to
translate our sublime thoughts into actions;
c) Our Parents and Forefathers who lovingly brought us up, provided us sustenance,
protection and education and
d) Our Relatives, Friends, All Others and Community who offered infrastructure and
environment for wholesome growth and opportunity for raising family and uplifting
ourselves.

Be assured that our good thoughts (vibrations) during worship and prayer reach our ancestors;
thereby they experience happiness and bless us with good health, joy and prosperity. Observance of
Pitri Paksha is a wonderful way of expressing our gratitude to all those who have contributed to our
existence and wellbeing. It is remarkable that our Sages allocated fifteen days (the longest period of
any functions) for Remembrance through worship, spiritual discussion, contemplation, prayer and
meditation. Although fifteen days are dedicated to observe Pitri Paksha (expression of gratitude),
our aim should be to practise it everyday. At the very least we should devote one day with the whole
family in recognizing the contributions of those who departed and those who are around us.

Gratitude is Divine; Ingratitude is Demonic.

Durga Puja (Navaratri and Vijayadashami):

Durga Puja (Dashara) is the celebration of the victory of virtue over vice. The purpose of such
festivals for us is to imbibe the inner meaning and to exemplify them in our daily living. Durga Puja
commemorates the victory of Mother Goddess Durga over a powerful demon Mahishasur. On
account of a boon granted to Mahishasur by Agni, the God of Fire, the demon conquered the
Universe and became its undisputed emperor. He ordered Indra to surrender the kingdom of
Heaven. Indra with the help of the Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) and all Devas declared war
on the demon but they could not defeat him. It was humiliating to Indra. He approached the Trinity
again and was told by Lord Vishnu that because of the boon granted to the demon, no Man was
capable of killing him. However, He said that if we can create a woman who is part of Devas with
their power and glory, she could kill the demon. A woman with dazzling effulgence was created by
the combined energy of the Trinity and Devas. This woman of exquisite beauty combining all the
powers and glories of the contributors was Devi, Mother Durga herself. Decked in all glories, armed
with all weapons of Devas and riding on a lion, she challenged the demon for a fight. A fierce fight
ensued and finally the Devi killed Mahishasur to the delight of Devas. This happened on the tenth
day of the battle and that is why it is called Vijayadashami (the victorious tenth).

Mahishasur (Buffalo Demon) is symbolic of ignorance. With the help of sublime quality (Devi), we
eradicate our ignorance. Thus, this day is considered very auspicious for new beginning. The
warriors place their weapons, students their books and musicians their musical instruments at the
feet of the Devi with devotion and receive them back on the Vijayadashami day for success in their
undertaking.

Goddess Durga has been worshipped as the Universal Mother for more than 4000 (four thousand)
years everywhere in India. She assumes different forms and attributes to protect and uplift us.
According to Hindu philosophy, the world is a manifestation of three Gunas (attributes). They are
Satwic (Purity), Rajasic (Action) and Tamasic (Inertia, Rage). These attributes are represented by
Goddess Saraswati, Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Kali, respectively. During Navaratri (Nine
nights), we worship Mother Durga as Kali for the first three nights. Mother Kali is known to assume
a dreadful form to destroy the wicked elements like demon Mahishasur who bring misery and pain
to us. Real demons are within us. They are Kama (lust), Krodha (anger), Lobha (greed), Mada
(ego), Moha (attachment) and Matsarya (malice). We overpower and transmute these enemies by
the grace of Mother Kali.

The next three nights we worship Mother Lakshmi who instills compassion, forbearance, love,
morality and spirit of selfless service within us and prepares us for practicing these sathwic
qualities. For the last three nights we pray to Mother Saraswati for bestowing upon us knowledge
and wisdom so that we could experience our divinity and attain Oneness with the Universal Mother.

Thus, three Mothers are part of One Universal Mother Durga who dwells in our hearts. They help us
at the physical, mental and spiritual level to realize our potential. Mother Kali helps us overcome
base qualities (tamasic), Mother Lakshmi instills in us the human qualities (rajasik) and Mother
Saraswati bestows wisdom upon us to experience our innate divinity (sathwic). Finally, on the tenth
day (Vijayadashami), we celebrate our successful journey from demon to Divinity. This is the inner
meaning of the Navaratri / Dashara / Vijayadashami festival. We wish you all the success in making
your life sublime.

Some sublime quotations of our sages for practice in our daily living:

LOVE ALL - SERVE ALL; HELP EVER - HURT NEVER

THERE IS ONLY ONE RELIGION, THE RELIGION OF LOVE

THERE IS ONLY ONE CASTE, THE CASTE OF HUMANITY
THERE IS ONLY ONE LANGUAGE, THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART
THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD AND HE IS OMNIPRESENT
 SELFLESS SERVICE SATURATED WITH LOVE IS
SPIRITUALITY IN ACTION

YOU CAN’T OBLIGE ALWAYS

BUT YOU CAN SPEAK OBLIGINGLY

THE HANDS THAT SERVE ARE

HOLIER THAN THE LIPS THAT PRAY

Compiled by Kamal Jha, Ph.D.

For more information, please contact at kjha@bell.net.