9 Days of Navratri ... !

First day of Navratri – Kalasha Sthapana (Kalasha Pooja) or Ghata Sthapana – Shailaputri Puja
Second day of Navratri – Preeti Dwitiya – Brahmacharini Puja
Third day of Navaratri – Chandrakanta pooja or Chandraghanta puja
Fourth day of Navaratri – Kushmanda pooja
Fifth day of Navratri – Skandamata Puja – Lalitha Panchami
Sixth day of Navratri – Katyayani Puja – Maha Shashti or Durga Shashti
Seventh day of Navratri – Kaalratri Pooja – Durga Saptami or Maha Sapthami
Eighth day of Navaratri – Maha Gauri Pooja – (Durgashtami Puja/Maha Ashtami/Veerashtami)
Ninth day of Navaratri – Siddhidatri Puja – (Mahanavami/Maharnavami or Durga Navami)
Tenth day of Navratri – Aparajitha Puja or Shami Pooja – Vijaya Dashami or Dasara



Nine Forms Of MAA Durga Devi:
Mata Shailputri – First Avatara of Durga :Mata Shailputri is a daughter of ‘Parvata raju’ (mountain king) – Himalaya / Himvanth. She is the first among nine avatars of Durga and worshiped on the First day of Navaratri . In her previous birth, she was ‘Sati Bhavani Mata’, the daughter of King Daksha. Mata Shailputri, also known as Parvati got married with Lord Shiva. On the first day of Durga Navratri,  Paravathi Devi she is worshipped. Mata Shailputri holds a ‘Trishul’, a weapon, in her right hand and a lotus in her left hand. She rides on bull. She has pleasant smile and blissful looks.



Mata Brahmacharini – Second Avatara of Durga :
Mata Brahmacharini is worshipped on second day of Navarathri.  Brahmacharini is the goddess who performed ‘Tapa’ (penance) (Brahma – Tapa , Charini - Performer ). Mata personifies love and loyalty. She holds  japa mala in her right hand and Kamandal in left hand. She is also called as ‘Uma’ and ‘Tapacharini’ and provides knowledge and wisdom to her devotees.






Mata Chandraghanta – Third Durga :Mata Chadraghanta is worshipped on the thrid day of Navratri. She is very bright and charming. Durga Maa is astride a tiger, displays a golden hue to HER skin, possesses ten hands and 3 eyes. Eight of HER hands display weapons while the remaining two are respectively in the mudras of gestures of boon giving and stopping harm. Chandra + Ghanta, meaning supreme bliss and knowledge, showering peace and serenity, like cool breeze in a moonlit night.









Mata Kushmanda – Fourth Durga :Mata Kushmanda is worshipped on the fourth day of Navrathri. . She shines brightly with a laughing face in all ten directions as the Sun. She controls whole Solar system. In her eight hands, she holds several types of weapons in six hands and a rosary and a lotus in remaining hands. She rides on Lion. She likes offerings of ‘Kumhde’, hence her name ‘Kushmanda’ has become popular.





Ma Skanda Mata – Fifth Durga :Skanda Mata is worshipped on the fifth Day of Navratri.  She had a son ‘Skandaa and holds him on her lap . She has  three eyes and  four hands; two hands hold lotuses while the other 2 hands respectively display defending and granting gestures. Its said, by the mercy of Skandmata, even the idiot becomes an ocean of knowledge. The great and legendary Sanskrit Scholar Kalidas created his two masterpieces works  “Raghuvansh Maha Kavya” and “Meghdoot” by the grace of  Skandmata. Mata is considered as a deity of fire. She rides on Lion.





Mata Katyayani – Sixth Durga :Mata Katyayani is worshippedon the the Sixth Day of Navratri. Rishi Katyayan observed a penance to get Jaganmata as his daughter. She blessed him and took birth as his daughter on the bank of river Jamuna for getting Lord Krishna as a husband. She is considered as prime deity of Vraj mandal. Ma Katyayani has three eyes and four hands. . One left hand holds a weapon and the other a lotus She rides on Lion.



Mata Kalratri – Seventh Durga :Mata Kalaratri is worshipped on the Seventh Day of Navratri .  She is dark and black like night, hence she is called as ‘Kalratri’. Her hairs are unlocked and has three eyes and four hands.while the remaining 2 are in the mudras of “giving” and “protecting”. HER vahana is a faithful donkey. The destroyer of darkness and ignorance.  She spills out fire from her nostrils. She holds a sharp Sword in her right hand and blesses her devotees with her lower hand. As she blesses her devotees with prosperity, she is also called as ‘Shubhamkari’.





Mata Maha Gauri – Eighth Durga :Mata Maha Gowri is worshipped on the Eight Day of Navratri. Maha Gauri looks as white as moon and jasmine. She has three Eyes and four hands. Peace and compassion radiate from HER being and SHE is often dressed in a white or green sari. SHE holds a drum and a trident and is often depicted riding a bull . Her above left hand is in fearless pose and she holds ‘Trishul’ in her lower left hand. Her above right hand has tambourine and lower right hand is in blessing mudra.





Mata Siddhidatri – Ninth Durga :Mata Siddhidatri is the worshipped on the Ninth Day of Navratri. Maha Shakti gives all the eight siddhis – Anima, Mahima, Garima, Laghima, Prapti, Prakamya, Iishitva and Vashitva. According to ‘Devi Puran’, the supreme God Shiva got all these siddhis by worshipping the supreme Goddess Maha Shakti. With her gratitude, his half body has become of Goddess, hence Lord Shiva’s name ‘Ardhanarishvar’ has become famous. According to some sources she drives on Lion. Other sources say, she is seated on lotus. Siddhidatri Devi is worshipped by all Gods, Rushis, Muniswaras, Siddha yogis, and all common devotees who want to attain the religious asset.



Happy Navratra's to you all !!

People with Plastic and changing Faces ..... !!!

 

Most of the people who meet me for the first time may not like my upfront nature. At the same time I am a very closed person when it comes to talking about personal stuff.
In today's corporate world it is more about how much personal stuff you share with your peers or seniors. In a way the bosses expect you to be there second wife who will share everything that happens in your life and they don't even think before disclosing them in the team meetings or leadership meets etc. One of my very good friends once told me that people always warned her about me. They said to her that I am very political and double faced, that I am very dishonest etc.


Not to forget they are the same people I helped once, and they don't like me because of whatever they tried to put me down I came back up double faster.Sometimes I feel that I don't know human behavior as it always surprises me and make me feel that I am just a beginner.

It is kind of hard for me to grasp the notion of being extra sweet and accepting what happens around me with ease. In this materialistic butt kissing world, people surprise me with their actions. It has nothing to do with respect or manners as opposed to doing the right thing. I don’t like someone, I am not going to waste my energy or wave away my principles to wear a fake smile on my face just to appear sweet and be good in their eyes. In today’s world people wear more plastic on their faces than the Tupperware Company has globally. 

I hate two faced people, It's hard to decide which face to slap first. We go through life and meet a lot of people. Some make you happy, some make you smile, some can be counted and then there are some whom you would rather not have ever met. There are lots of reasons that would make you want to avoid meeting certain people like they are mean or evil. Mainly though I am talking about personality types which are difficult to deal with and just better to be avoided all together. Sometimes it takes some time before we realize a person we know is on the bad list. Some of us take longer than others to connect the dots.

Like the two faces of a coin we come across the double faced people in our lives. They are nice to you and then turn around and say the worse things ever about. We all are polite to most people and might be inclined to say mean things when we are with people whom we trust but such people usually do this all the time and have another agenda.

Over the time I learned that the best way to deal with them is to stay away from them. The problem is that sometimes you might not have that option. Once you have been back stabbed or betrayed, you always have the option of confrontation, people who feel the need to act that way are usually cowards and can be scared off by just telling them that you know what they’re doing, of course they will deny but it will stop them for some time.

I have now after suffering with being so close to some of them found that the best way is to not tell them anything, not to get close and to keep all conversations to a minimum of small talk. Never ever go down to their level and do what they usually have a habit to do. Avoid private time with them if you can too, be cordial and polite but don’t get sucked into the little soap operas that seem to always unfold around them. Stay away from situations where they gossip and make it clear that you are nice enough to deal with everyone. If you can’t stay away ignore them and never agree with them or offer your opinion on someone else or they will turn around, twist your words and use them against you somehow, they are double crosser by definition.

After coming across some of them, the ones that were once so close and dear to me that i still sometimes feel the same love and respect for them but I guess that is me not them,one faced the same me who never changed or will change being myself or the true self. It really annoys me and I never really understand how they are like that. They were talking to me and being openly friendly the whole time to my face. I am a very honest and sincere and have been true to everyone in my life. I may say I am not perfect but I'm not rude, cruel and diplomat like them and if I have an issue with someone I will prefer to tell them. We have to accept that we are all hypocrites to some degree. It is only natural for everyone to put their own interests first. We must trust others in order to survive but that trust must be tempered with good judgment. Often our expectations of others are not realistic and we end up hurt. So it is better if we accept the least and I would appreciate if even others try to be honest with me .Do not allow the lies and filth that spew from the mouths of the uneducated and cruel garner your spirit, allow no pain from those that are of mean and devious mind. Feel only pity and contempt for them .In this way they will be diminished and vanquished.

The Law of Karma

The law of Karma is a fundamental spiritual law in eastern spiritual teachings. Most people would have heard of the term Karma. Karma basically stands for action, and also the fruits of action. In other words, it stands for both cause and effect. The basic idea of karma is that of personal responsibility for one’s actions - that we are creators of our life. Whatever is currently manifesting in our life has been created by us, with or without awareness, by our past actions. Thus the law of karma basically says that man is the product of his past. Righteous actions bring favorable results, and unrighteous actions bring unfavorable results. Karma can be done with our mind - manifesting as emotions, with our intellect manifesting as thoughts and through our body manifesting as actions/words.




Karma is often misunderstood to only mean the law of destiny. When something unfavorable happens, people say with “It’s only karma”, meaning we are powerless to do anything about it. Some others condemn the law as being overly pessimistic, as it seems to say that many things are predestined thanks to our past, of which we have no control over. It is true that man’s present is the consequence of the past, and in this sense, the present has been destined by past actions. However karma goes beyond destiny. Although there is a price to pay for past actions, man also has been blessed with the capacity to choose his actions. The past actions creates in him a tendency by which he will act. However by being aware of those tendencies, he can consciously choose how to act in the present, and thereby begin to change his karma. Thus the future is a continuation of the past, unless modified by the present, with self-effort.


Although we enjoy freedom to choose our actions, our present actions are mixed with the tendencies that are created by our past. Greater the tendencies, harder it is to change our actions. This is why people find self-improvement difficult. Knowing what to do and being able to do it are two different things, as change involves fighting our tendencies that we ourselves created by our past actions. Thus looking back at the past, man is the product of it. Looking into the future, man is the creator of it. Looking into the present moment, he is both a product as well as a creator. In unawareness, he becomes more of a victim, and in awareness, he becomes more of a creator.


One may wonder how all our actions are kept track of and bear the fruits of pleasure and pain. Is there some God that keeps track of all this? It can seem very mystical at first. In reality, it is very much scientifically explained. Each time a person does an action with a sense of doer-ship (ego), impressions are created in his mind. Every impression is a karma. Stronger the impression, more likely it is to manifest. All habits are nothing but karmas. Whether it is a good or habit, the person keeps doing it without having to put too much effort. All addictions are nothing but very strong mental impressions, and thus part of the person’s karma. A person who has an addiction has a pattern of behavior that he is very likely to repeat, that is not easy to change.



Karma is classified into the following three types:

1) Sanchita karma:

This is the total of our karmas. The set of arrows that an archer carries on his quiver is an example of sanchita karma. This is the sum total of karmic possibilities that are currently unmanifest. Since this is unmanifest, we have the option to burn these karmas by right action. All spiritual practices such as meditation, being in devotion/prayer, doing self-less service burns sanchita karma. In the above example of the archer, it is making sure the archer drops the arrows on the ground so he no longer has the possibility of firing them.

2) Prarabdha Karma:
Karma that is currently bearing fruit is called prarabdha karma. In the example of the archer, the arrow that the archer has already shot is his prarabdha karma. The archer has already done the action, and he has to face the consequences of them, good or bad. Practically speaking, the life that we are experiencing in the present moment is our prarabdha. This includes the type of body we have, the environment around us, the type of people we are with etc. Prarabdha karma is thus that portion of our karma that may be called destiny.

A common question people ask is “Why do bad things happen to good people”? Prarabdha karma is the answer. A person may be good today, but he is paying a karmic debt for his past actions. Another question that lead to doubt/reject the law is "How come some people who perform bad deeds seem to have a good time:?" Again the answer is prarabdha karma. The person who is doing the bad deeds is currently experiencing the fruits of past deeds, which was good. Eventually he will have to pay the price for the actions done today as well. The effect of karma spans multiple life-times, and thus the law seems to be not working only because we are limiting our observation to a very short time period.

3) Agami Karma:

This is future karma - actions that we are likely to do in future. In the example of the archer, this is the arrow which the archer is about to shoot. Mental impressions that are very strong form agami karma. If a person drinks alcohol regularly, this is his agami karma. It is very likely that he would drink today, given that he has acquired that strong tendency by regularly drinking.


The three practical takeaways are:

Prarabdha karma, in other words destiny, makes man a victim of his past. There is nothing a person can do about consequences from his past - he has to endure them. If he endures them without reacting to them, then he does not accumuate further karma.

At the same time, the law of karma encourages that man can change his future by present actions. With self-effort, man can burn off his sanchita and agami karma, while still enduring his pradabdha karma. With consistent effort, man become more of a master of his own destiny, and less a victim of the past.

Finally, lest man not be discouraged by the lack of results from his effort in the short term, the law of karma explains that the lack of results could be due to an opposing force - his own prarabdha karma, which determines the level of effort required to bring about positive change in his life.



in  the words of Sudhir Krishnan