The Tiger In The Ring

Navaratri is celebrated in honour of the victory that the Paraa-Shakti (the Goddess of Energy, immanent in the Microcosm and the Macrocosm) achieved over the Asura or Evil Forces, as described in the Devi Mahatmyam and Devi Bhagavatam. The Paraa-Shakti is in everyone as the Kundalini Shakti (dormant spiritual energy), which is able to destroy, when awakened, the evil tendencies inside the mind; so, the Navaratri is to be dedicated by all for the propitiation of the outer as well as the inner Divinity, in order that the outer and the inner worlds may have peace and joy. By means of systematic Sadhana, it is possible to tap the inner resources that God has endowed man with and elevate yourselves to the purer and happier realm of the Reality.

Look at the trainers of wild beasts. They bring the tiger, the most ferocious of animals, like a cat into the circus ring and make it jump through a hoop of fire or lap milk from a plate, face to face with a goat, sitting on a chair! They are able to subdue its ferocity and tame it, reduce it to the position of an unassuming toy! How could they do it? They did Sadhana, they made the tiger also go through a regimen of Sadhana, and they succeeded! If you could succeed with the tiger, can you not succeed with the ferocious denizens of your mind?

Three Aspects Of Shakti

You can. That is the message of Navaratri, the Nine Days’ Festival celebrating the victory of the Primal Energy.

That energy, when it is manifested in its Satwik (quiet) aspect is delineated as the Great Teacher and Inspirer, Mahasaraswati;
When it is Rajasic (active and potent), the great Provider and Sustainer, Mahalakshmi;
When it is Tamasic (dull and inactive), but latent and apparently quiet as the Great Dark Destroyer and Deluder, Mahakali.

Since Shakti is all-pervasive, omnipotent, infinitesimal as well as all-comprehensive, it can be contacted everywhere, in outer nature or inner consciousness. Prahlada told his doubting father: “Why doubt, discuss, and delay? Seek it anywhere; you can see it.” It is near and far, before, behind, beside, and inside everything, in the known and the unknown world.

People dare describe Her or Him as thus and thus; that reveals only their faculty to guess. No description can picture the portrait in full. When direct realisation is won, the tongue is rendered dumb; the portrait is infinite. It is beyond the reach of human intelligence or imagination. But, man seeks to picture the vast magnificence within a limited frame and locate it in Ayodhya, Dwaraka, Madurai, Kanyakumari, or some such spot and give it a Name and a Form, so that he can approach It and adore It. The Name and Form identify it, they do not limit It. When you dive into the sea at one place, you are diving into the Full, not a Fraction, for the ocean is the same everywhere. You cannot separate it into sections by drawing lines on it. Plunge anywhere; you are plunging into the self-same Bliss.

Prasanthi Nilayam, 4-10-1967