NAVARATRI : DEVI MAHATMYAM - EIGHTH NIGHT : THE GODDESS OF SUCCESS - SWAMI SRI CHIDANANDA

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Monday, October 03. 2022. 07:00.
EIGHTH NIGHT : THE GODDESS OF SUCCESS.

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Supreme Divine Mother, who is the substratum and the ultimate goal of all this universe. Salutations to 

the Mother, the Brahma Rupini, who is the mysterious indescribable power of the Transcendent Reality. 

Our adorations again and again to Her, the Supreme Shakti, the Adi Shakti, the Para Shakti, who 

manifests as Saraswati, grants us all release from this phenomenal existence of pain and death by 

upon us the Supreme Knowledge of Para Brahman.

The entire visible creation, all phenomena, Anantakoti Brahmandas, beyond human ken are

all the wondrous and glorious manifestations of Mother Saraswati. She is the Primal Power aspect

of the Supreme Being, who is beyond all comprehension, and it is She that first manifests Herself as

the mysterious Nada, and is, therefore, worshipped as Nadarupini Saraswati. She is Chidrupini or

Shabdarupini also, because She is the very embodiment of the Supreme Pranava. The

Transcendental Existence is pure Consciousness. It is motionless, actionless, Nishkriya. There is

not the least movement or vibration. It is Nishpanda and there arises no sound, no action, no

movement in it. It is Ashabda, Nishpanda, Nishkriya. In this infinite mass of consciousness,

Ananda Ghana, the Vedas declare how there first manifests one point of primal stress. This point of

stress in the mass of consciousness is the mysterious Bindu, the origin of all things that are and the

Bindu expresses itself as the Nada. The Adi-spanda manifesting as the point of stress in the mass of

infinite consciousness expresses itself as Nada, and this is the great Mother Saraswati. And

therefore it is, as we saw, that the Mother is conceived of as the pure, spotless Being clad in white,

where there is no variation of any colour and bearing the Veena which embodies, as it were, the

force of all Nada. From Nada, which is the primal sound, in the form of pure Dhvani, gradually the

entire manifestation starts as articulate sound. The articulate sound is Vak, and Vak is expressed as

the Varna or the letter, and combinations of letter-sounds go to form the word or the Nama, and the

Artha of this Nama, the meaning embodied in the name becomes expressed as the form. Whatever

we see in this phenomenal universe is of the nature of formfulness. This phenomenon, which is

Ananta-rupa is ultimately in the nature of infinite effects of the Primal Shabda Brahman, or Mother

Saraswati, having gradually progressed through these various phases as Dhvani, Vak, Varna, Nama

and then Rupa. And this Transcendental Essence of all manifested creation is also speciall

manifest in this world of men and things. This is what we shall see today. For, when we had the

occasion during the previous days of adoring the Mother in Her aspects as Durga, the powerful, the

dissolver of Namarupa, and as Lakshmi, the preserver, protector and sustainer of all Namarupa in

Trikala, we referred to Them not only in Their original cosmic aspects but also in their manifest

aspects upon this plane of man and his activities in this Vyavaharic world, and also as they were

inwardly manifest in the consciousness and in the personality of the seeker, Jiva, progressing upon

the inner path of Yoga Sadhana towards the goal of perfection and reunion with the Supreme Soul

called Para Brahman. Even so when we come to consider the Mother as She may be manifest in this

world of men and things we find that the Goddess Saraswati though manifest upon this external

world of Vyavahara and the various activities of man, yet She is not quite so much manifest as the

Supreme Para Shakti as Durga and Lakshmi, and there is a reason for this, for the Mother is, as it

were, at the two terminals of the cyclic process of involution and evolution back down to the Primal

Sours. We have seen how Mother is the creative impulse. She is the one who presides over the

coming into manifestation of the unmanifest Transcendent, and as such in the world Her function is

primary and then She withdraws into the background. Once things have come into manifestation

and the Nameless has taken Namarupa, then She recedes, handing over the further processes to Her

other aspects manifest through the Goddess Lakshmi and the Goddess Durga. Therefore it is that we

are more aware—our notice is more drawn towards the play of Shakti in Its preservative aspect; for

this is spread over the field of time, for we find this is a continuous process. Therefore naturally the

attention of man is more fixed upon this aspect and also upon the final play of the Mother as the

dispassionate dissolver of all names and forms. And there is this very natural and understandable

reason for this state of affairs, i.e., for the other two aspects being more in the attention and

consciousness of man, and the reason is that due to the Mamata or ‘mineness’ and the intense

attachment born out of mineness that man has towards Namarupa, towards the objects of this

universe, he is specially interested in their sustenance, in their continuing in existence, and his

attention is especially shocked and is arrested by their going out of existence. His intense

attachment due to mineness does not like the idea of its dissolution. He is grieved and his attraction,

therefore, brings the process of dissolution to loom very large in his mind. He is always aware of it

and fears it and therefore it occupies his mind. He actively participates in this function of Mother as

Lakshmi, in preserving things which he feels to be ‘mine’. But, the creativity of thing which

spontaneously springs from Mother Saraswati, once it is done, it is taken for granted and it does not

occupy the positive attention of man, and therefore, the presence of the Mother as Saraswati-Tattva

is not so much recognised. But it stands to reason that She is indispensably there. Because, but for

creation, things will not exist to get attached to. From the very nature of things the Mother who is

taken for granted is an indispensable factor for everything which has come into being.

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The Secret of Success :

She is not only the outflow of the process of creativity, She is also all commencement,

because commencement is that point from which creativity starts; and therefore in Hindu society

the Mother is worshipped as all Arambha. Everything that starts is attributed to the grace Of

Goddess Saraswati. It is a very peculiar factor that side by side with Mother as Saraswati, presiding

over all Arambha or beginning, the devout Hindu also worships the special aspect of the Deity as

Ganapathy. But here Ganapathy too is an aspect—but a negative one—of Arambha. For, He also

represents Wisdom, but Mother represents creative aspect of wisdom and the special worship of

Ganapathy, which is more known than the worship of Saraswati, is done more with the intention of

warding off obstacles, whereas the positive aspect of worship that She may bestow by Her grace

success on all things started is always centralised upon the adoration of Mother Saraswati. Let us

consider how in this aspect Mother is manifest in this visible universe of man. Day after tomorrow

for instance, we will see a special occasion when Mother is invoked and adored as the Deity

presiding over all commencement. For, it has come down through holy tradition that

Vijaya-Dasami is set apart for Vidyarambha—commencement of studies whether science or arts,

on this day of Vijaya-Dasami is considered extremely auspicious and conducive to fruition. All

musical instruments, and everything connected with creative art, all things connected with these

creative processes in the communal life of man, is the object of adoration and worship on this

Vijaya Dasami Day, and we find that the manifest form of the word, of the letter, as embodied in

books, is decorated and it is worshipped in the traditional form, and after adoring Mother on the 9th,

on the 10th day at a proper Muhurtha these books are taken out and the Vidyarambha commences.

This is upon the plane of the external activities of man; side by side we will find, and

especially in this Ashram, that the inward commencement of spiritual life also is signified on this

day by the spiritual aspect of this Arambha in the form of Upadesha. As you know, the mystic sound

takes the form of Vak, Varna. All Mantras are mysterious occult combinations of these Varnas. A

Mantra is a mass of localised Saraswati-Sakti and the Japa of the Mantra bestows transcendental

knowledge upon the Sadhaka. This aspect of Saraswati is given to all seekers in the form of Mantra

Upadesha. This is also the starting point of the inner spiritual evolution in the Sadhaka. The pure

Spatika Mala which She holds stands for the practice of the Vedic knowledge which She holds in

the form of the Pustaka in the other hand.

In the wider life of mankind in this world, when we view it through his understanding of the

play of the Para Sakti in Her aspect as Saraswati, we will find that whatever creative activity goes

on in this world is ultimately an attribute of Mother Saraswati. Therefore, the scientific researches

carried on both here and in the super-scientific Occident, and discoveries that result from these

scientific researches and the inventions which they make out of the discoveries of scientific laws

and all the applications of such inventions are therefore the play of Divine Mother Saraswati.

Scientific researches, discoveries, inventions and the manufacture of various appliances based on

such inventions—these are the direct manifestations of Mother Saraswati.

We have also said that side by side, Mother is there as commencement, and therefore, She is

the supreme spiritual point of commencement of the day; that is, when the four Praharas of the night

are ended and night recedes and a fresh new day commences in the solemn moment of the sacred

Brahma-Muhurtha. There you have the fullest manifestation of Saraswati. It is permeated by the

spiritualising power of Jnanadayini Saraswati. The new year also for this selfsame reason is an

auspicious moment pervaded with the Spiritual Power of the Divine Sakti in Her aspect as

Saraswati. The commencement of any new business, for instance, should he done with the devout

adoration of Mother Saraswati. For then, She will out of Her grace bestow success on the new

enterprise. It is only Her play that makes possible the founding of any new institution or

commencement of any new enterprise. This is also a manifestation of Mother Saraswati, and it is a

very common sight particularly here, at Ananda Kutir, that any commencement is first of all

solemnised by invoking the blessings of Mother Saraswati. Also the commencement of every new

phase, during the process of the construction for instance, the digging of the foundation-laying of

the corner-stone, is preceded by the worship of Mother Saraswati.

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Similarly, all trades and all activities are to be done in a spirit of devout worshipfulness and

in a spirit of Puja of the Mother as Saraswati, and to a great extent this practice is followed, at least

to my knowledge, in almost all the business houses in South India. I have noted it is the other aspect

of the resultant money that is more remembered and regarded in the Maharashtra state, where

business people are more the votaries of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, rather than of Saraswati.

But either way, the worship goes to the Supreme Deity. But we must realise that all these

movements in human activity are but the play of Para Shakti in Her Various forms, be it Lakshmi,

Durga or Saraswati. Realising this, we must approach all activity and we must engage in all activity

in a devout spirit, in a solemn and devout Bhava, of pure Puja of Parashakti and thus alone we shall

he able to utilise even the activities of Vyavahara for the evolution of our spiritual life. If this is

done, we shall find that we shall not have much room to complain about the lack of opportunity and

the absence of enough time for the man of the world to engage in worship, meditation and Yoga

Sadhana, because it is a failure to recognise the spiritual nature of all activities and to perceive the

Hand of Mother in all activities.

It is this that makes man to think that he cannot do Spiritual Sadhana and there are no hopes

of his Spiritual Illumination. This is a sad mistake, for the devout Hindu and the Indian genius

conceives all life as a means to the Supreme end of Self-realisation. To the devout Hindu, life has no

greater meaning than that of an opportunity afforded to the Jiva to quickly finish his evolution and

reach the goal of human life, viz., Self-realisation. Therefore we must try to live as such, for there is

nothing secular to the Hindu, and to him all movements are the manifestations of the Divine Mother

and activities are a continuous worship of Para Shakti, and realising this, we must change our entire

attitude towards activity. We should not feel that we are fallen, or we are far from the spiritual

Reality, in our secular activities, and spend the life regretting for the lack of opportunity for

Sadhana. On the other hand, all work should be done in a spirit of joy, in a spirit of enthusiasm, and

in an elevated state of mind, for one must know all is Matri Puja. Therefore one should do it in a

spirit of inspired worshipfulness and we will find that there is no need for man either to change his

profession or place or to run away to a forest and try to live an exclusive life of the conventional

mode of Nivritti. If the time comes for a life of seclusion and meditation, well and good, but if this is

not possible, as is the case with the vast majority, there need be no regret, for, indirectly, everything

is Yoga, and everything is spiritual Sadhana, once the correct attitude is adopted and the proper

view of things is accepted. This is the special truth which we may find revealed through the nine

days’ adoration of the Divine Mother. If the hand works, eyes see, nose smells, ears hear and tongue

utters—all these movements are the worship of the Mother in Her Dynamic aspect. And to remind

us of this, our wise ancients have given us this rare blessing, privilege of the Navaratra Puja of the

Blessed Divine Mother. Therefore it is the primary duty of all mankind, the children of the Divine

Mother, not to forget this great privilege conferred upon them of continually worshipping the

Mother in and through all life’s activities.

Let us rejoice in having this gift of human birth and in having this gift of capacity to act and

move for the glorification of the Mother. We have in our hand a rare opportunity for attaining the

highest goal of Self-realisation and if we make use of this outer form of Mother’s Worship in the

form of spiritualised activity, later on we shall be graced by the Mother; She will bestow upon us the

inner form of this worship in the form of contact with sages and in the form of their grace, Upadesha

and Diksha. She will come in the form of Mantra, and as we progress, She will manifest Herself as

the supreme Dhyana, which is the gateway to illumination and ultimately She will illumine our

consciousness as Samadhi, for Her ultimate manifestation in the individual is as Samadhi and

Self-Knowledge. When thus She manifests Herself, the goal of life is achieved, our life’s work is

done, our worship of Mother is complete and then we shall have no more to do but to enjoy the

Supreme Perennial Bliss of the Para-Brahman, this mysterious Shakti that the Mother is.

O Mother! Who meditates on you together with Vashini and others who bestow eloquence

and who are like the fissure of moon-stone (Sasimani) in lustre, he becomes the author of great

literary master-pieces, which are charming in their expressions and whose words are sweet due to

the fragrance of the lotus of Saraswati’s mouth.

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Next-

NINTH NIGHT

THE PATH TO FINAL LIBERATION

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