Navratri is devoted to the worship of the divine Mother in various forms under different names. This nine-day festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil and awakens us from the slumber of ignorance, remove all negativities, purify the mind and cultivate positive virtues. This alone can help one gain the necessary spiritual knowledge to transcend all earthly limitations and achieve salvation. This in fact, is the underlying theme of Vedas. During the nine-night long festival Goddess Shakti is worshipped in her various as Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati. All three Goddess are the incarnations of Goddess Shakti. The festival signifies power, wealth, prosperity and knowledge.
On the first three nights Durga is invoked for her strength and ferocity which are required to cut out from the mind it's strong rooted, deep-seated negative tendencies. Noble virtues and the knowledge of self can only be gained when all evil tendencies in the mind are destroyed. The killing of Mahishashura (Mahisha demon) by Durga Devi actually symbolizes the destruction of the evil tendencies of the mind. To destroy our innate evil tendencies is very difficult. The buffalo stands for the malefic qualities in everyone of us. It reminds us that despite having a lot of energy and potential inside us, we prefer to do nothing for our spiritual emancipation, just as the buffalo that likes to lie in pools of water, we too like to rest and waste our time and energy in worthless pastimes.Thus worship of Goddess Durga during first three nights is actually our invocation to the Divine Power within us to assist us in destroying our animalistic tendencies.
On the next three nights, Goddess Laxmi is worshipped. For the knowledge of self-realization to dawn on us, we have to first prepare our minds. Our worship of Goddess Lakshmi is actually our attempt to seek the spiritual wealth i.e. the divine blessings to help us in purification of mind. We mistake Goddess Lakshmi for material wealth. But material wealth without self discipline, respect, sincerity, kindness and love can make our life miserable. The real wealth is the spiritual wealth that we can gain by the practice of the right values in our lives, which purifies our minds and takes us closer towards self-realization. By our worship, we invite her to bring into our homes her wealth of noble values to purify our minds. The final three nights are spent in the invocation of Goddess Saraswati. Victory over the mind can be gained only through the proper knowledge and thorough understanding; Goddess Saraswati symbolizes this highest knowledge of the Self.
During Navratri, the Raasa (dance of joy) of Shree Krishna and the Gopis is also enacted. This dance symbolizes the happiness of the mind that becomes purer and calmer due to greater understanding of the nature of the Inner Self. The Ninth day is celebrated as Ayudha pooja day when the Pandavas retrieved their weapons that they had stashed in a Shami tree during the last year of their 13 year exile. On this day, all articles used for progress and prosperity of mankind are worshipped. People worship their work-tools, household appliances and their vehicles. The festival concludes in Dusshera or Vijayadasami. Dussehra celebrates the victory of Goddess Durga over the wicked demon Mahishasura, and its execution is a symbol of the destruction of the evil that resides within our mind. Navaratri thus represents the triumph of good over evil
