The nine nights steeped in legends
Sujata Tiwari

THE nine nights preceding Dasehra are regarded as the most auspicious on the Hindu calendar. This period is a harbinger of good beginnings, marked by a fresh cropping season for the agrarian community as also an occasion of thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest.

For city slickers though, Navratras (as the "nine auspicious nights" are known) are popularly celebrated with garba and dandiya ras in honour of the Mother Goddess who descends to earth on her annual sojourn for the well-being of humankind and upholding the principles of self-preservation and righteousness.

For Bengalis, this is the occasion for celebrating Durga Puja. In north India, Ramlila is staged through the nine nights, culminating in the burning of the 10-headed effigy of the demon king, Ravana. And in the South, wherever the Sakti cult prevails, it is time to celebrate the classic "triumph of good over evil". But why particularly, nine days of celebration?

According to religious scholars, the number nine is closely associated with the process of life in the cosmic time cycle. It essentially constitutes three phases — creation, preservation and regeneration. Each of these phases can be split into triads to produce the numerical order of nine.

Adi Sankaracharya, the eighth century seer had interpreted the significance of this number in the 11th verse of the Soundaryalahiri: "The four Siva chakras and five Sakti chakras create the nine Mula prakratis (basic manifestations) representing the source substance of the whole cosmos."

Consequently, much is made of the nine cosmic wombs (nava-yoni), the nine months of gestation before childbirth, nine planets (nava-graha), nine gems (nava-dhatu), nine divisions of time, nine psychic centres, nine moods (navaras), nine apertures of the human body... Quoting the santi-path mantra of the Upanishads, Ajay Joshi, a numerologist, says that nine is puran: "It is a complete number, as any number multiplied by nine gives a figure that totals to nine. Likewise, nine added to or deducted from any number gives an unchanged numerical total. This makes it so auspicious."

As for ratra or night, the Rig Veda is quoted to establish that before creation began, the universe was cloaked in the darkness of night and from it, emerged, light and life. The same idea finds echo in yet another ancient text, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

"The nine nights occur on equinoxes or equal nights when the sun is vertically overhead at the equator," informs Joshi. "In such a situation, the human body is supposed to attain equilibrium with nature and the worship of Sakti with beej mantras revitalises the body."

The cult of Shakti (as distinct from Shaivism and Vaishnavism, involving the worship of Shiva and Vishnu, respectively) celebrates the feminine force of regeneration — be it in the form of reaping the bounties of the earth or else, through procreative rituals. As the Mother Goddess is believed to reside on earth during the Navratra period, many rural households in northern India sow barley seeds in their compound. The ceremony is accompanied by the worship of little girls dressed as the Goddess, particularly on the eighth or ashtami day.

The dandiya or garba dances highlight the procreative aspect of the festival — the word garba being derived from garbh or womb. This is symbolised by an earthen pitcher or urn (adorned with flowers and vermilion) around which young men and women dance in the honour of the goddess.

The Durga, worshipped by Bengalis, is a manifestation of the same Mother Goddess, but in its fierce form. Here, she assumes the form of the 10-armed mahishasura-mardini — slayer of the buffalo demon, who had tormented heaven and earth in the belief that he was invincible.

A typical Durga effigy put up during the festival, has her flanked by her children — Ganesha and Lakshmi on the left and Kartikeya and Saraswati on the right — as she rides to victory astride a lion. The mustachioed demon is shown to be emerging from the belly of a buffalo, only to meet his death at Durga’s spear!

This victory of virtue over vice becomes a recurrent theme in the countless legends narrated during the celebrations of Navaratra. Some, like the Ramlila, are enacted on stage over the nine nights and is today, regarded an important constituent of India’s theatre tradition.— MF

Need to kill the "real" Ravanas!
Ramesh K. Dhiman

AMONGST the countless colourful fairs and festivals celebrated across the country with gay abandon, Dasehra stands out in its striking relevance to the present social milieu.

Celebrated as Vijaya Dashmi, this festival recounts the saga of sustained struggle of the entire human race to "resurrect" the 'real' Rama, the personification of probity, piety and compassion, by killing the 'real' Ravanas representing all that is profane, evil and unvirtuous. Legend has it that Shakti, the goddess of power, beheaded Mahishasur, a dreaded demon in the battle lasting nine days, which later came to known as 'navrataras'. The goddess succeeded in establishing the rule of 'dharma' by drubbing the devilish forces. The 10th day was observed as a day of deliverance from the evil forces, which became an annual feature.

Another popular belief recalls the rare gestures of charity of king Raghu, a descendant of Lord Rama. The king, known for his passion for providing succour to suffering humanity, was caught up in a predicament when Rishi Kotsya called on him for 'alms'. Left with nothing to proffer ever after he performed 'vishvajit yagna', he prayed to Lord Kavera, the god of wealth, to come to his rescue. Taking pity on the king, he threw open his coffers. The Rishi vanished after accepting the 'alms' from the king. This again happened to be the 10th day of Aashvin month. Most popular of these legends recalls how the demon king Ravana, his sibling Kumbhkarna and son Meghanatha were killed by Lord Rama in a long-drawn battle. Ironically, the battle between the Ramas and the Ravanas continues still, while we all watch it as mute witnesses.

To commemorate the victory of good over evil, colourful functions are organised in different parts of the country, marked by joie de vivre . The festal spirit reins high lasting nine days during which Ramalilas are staged. The 10th day marks the fiery end to the demon trio.

We have been performing the perfunctory ritual — setting ablaze the effigies of demon trimvurate since time immemorial, oblivious of the motive behind this ritualistic razzle-dazzle. We have not learnt anything out of this senseless ritual. The burgeoning of Ravana clan and the dwindling of Rama clan are the explicit pointers to the fact that the age-old battle between the evil and the good forces goes on unabated. The blatant corruption reaching a new high; the denigration of moral and ethical values; the growing cult of casteism, colour and, to cap it all, the communal frenzy assuming throbbing proportions, have shaken the very cosmopolitan fabric of the country.

Have we been able to achieve something out of the mumbo-jumbo of the ritual that we have been going through down the ages? Have we learnt any good lessons from our glorious past? Why such a senseless extravaganza if we have decided not to learn anything out of it? Have we ever pondered over and done a precious little to save the honour of countless of our sobbing "Sitas" from the Ravanas of our times? Did we ever cry out on hearing the heart-rending wailings of those teeming millions who fall easy prey to their insatiable libido, day in and day out? Did we ever shed a tear for those thousands of innocent 'Sitas' who are consigned to flames daily for bringing 'meagre' dowry? To cap it all, the tainted tribe of politicians, embroiled in serious scams and scandals, are ruling the roost. The Laloos and Lalithas are a dime a dozen, who make mockery of our tardy judicial system.

A serious introspection in this regard would go a long way in visualising a dream — to establish the rule of 'dharma' — by killing the 'real' Ravanas!