Sri Sathya Sai Balvikas, Punjab

Vijayadashami Version : 1.0

Prepared By: Prachi A Mahajan

Vijayadashami; a Conquest of the inward Demons

As per Hindu religion, on this day in the Treta Yug, King Rama, also calledShri Ram, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, killed Ravana who hadabducted Rama's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. Rama, hisbrother Lakshmana, their follower Hanuman and an army fought a greatbattle to rescue Sita. The entire narrative is recorded in the epic Ramayana,a Hindu scripture. Rama had performed "Chandi Homa" and invoked theblessings of Durga, who blessed Rama with secret knowledge of the way tokill Ravana. On the day of Ashvin Shukla Dashami, Rama defeated Ravanaand rescued Sita. Thus it is termed as Vijaya Dashami. This day falls in themonth of September or October. The day culminates a 9 day fastingperiod of Navratri in the Hindu culture. The day also coincides withimmersion of the idol of Goddess Durga. The day is celebrated tocommemorate the killing of Ravana by Lord Rama. The day alsocelebrates the killing of demon Mahishasur by Goddess Durga.

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Dussehra celebration spreads the message of the victory of good oversin.

It is believed that the celebration of Dussehra started in the 17th century,when the king of Mysore ordered the celebration of the day on a grandscale. Today, Ramayana, the great epic is associated more with religion thanphilosophy. Discourses on the Ramayana are most often coloured with areligious perspective:

"Rama was Vishnu-incarnate who appeared on Earth to kill evilRavana to establish righteousness"

In debates, Rama is praised in all his glory but the philosophy part is seldomtouched. In essence, the Ramayana is all about the mind. Rama is pureconsciousness, Sita is the mind-stuf and Ravana, the ego. Whathappens in the Ramayana is what happens to us in everyday life. Ego is all-powerful but weak with lust. Mind is weak with materialism. All-powerful Ravana who manages to keep all the worlds under control,abducts Rama's wife Sita, impelled by lust. Sita, knowing that the goldendeer is not real, falls prey to the unreal and impermanent materialpossession. She persuades Rama to get it for her and thereby getsabducted by Ravana. Rama who loses his wife Sita swayed by split-secondignorance has to make great effort with others' help to recover her by killingRavana. To rescue the distracted mind, ego is to be killed and to dothis, one needs help. Rama's brother Lakshman symbolises the fivesenses and Hanuman, the physical body. They join Rama in the search forSita. This indicates that our senses and physical body can also playimportant roles in the process of killing our ego. But they should beused wisely, keeping them constantly under control. Ego is the trouble-maker. The degree of effort to stop the mind varies depending on where weare. The Vijnana-bhairava Tantra says "fuse the mind with limitlessspace and achieve eternal bliss".Ravana is depicted as the king of Raakshasas. He is said to have tenheads. He was not born with ten heads. Who is this Ravana and what are histen heads?

Kama (lust), Krodha (anger), Moha (delusion), Lobha (greed), Mada(pride), Maatsyasya (envy), Manas (mind), Buddhi (intellect), Chitta(will) and Ahamkara (the ego) -all these ten constitute the tenheads.

Ravana is of all the ten qualities. Each one can decide for himself whetherhe is a Ravana or Rama according to his qualities. Ravana was one who wasendowed with all wealth and prosperity. He lacked nothing in terms of

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comforts and luxuries. He had mastered the 64 categories ofknowledge. His capital, Lanka, rivalled Swarga (heaven) itself in itsgrandeur.

Instead of showing regard for Ravana, Valmiki extolled Rama, who gaveup the kingdom, donned the robes of an ascetic and lived a simple life in theforest. What is the reason? It was because Rama was the very embodimentof Dharma. Everyone of his actions stemmed from Dharma. Every word hespoke was truth. Every step he trod was based on Dharma. Hence, Ramahas been described as the very image of Dharma. When Ravana laydying, Rama directed his brother, Lakshamana, to go to him and learn fromhim the secrets of successful statecraft. Ravana taught him that a kingwho is eager to win glory must suppress greed as soon as it lifts its head, andwelcome the smallest chance to do good to others, without the slightestprocrastination. He (Ravana) had learnt the lesson through bitterexperience.

Greed arises from attachment to the senses and catering tothem. Put them in their proper place; they are windows forknowledge, not channels of contamination.

Rama is the destroyer of the bad qualities. When engaged in this act ofdestruction of bad qualities. He manifests his Rajo-guna. But his Rajasicquality is associated with his Satvic quality. Even in cutting off Ravana's tenheads, Rama showed his love. This was the only way that Ravana couldbe redeemed.

Bengalis celebrate Dusshera as a part of their main festival - Durga Puja.This day marks the end of Durga Pooja celebrations, the preceding nine daysbeing collectively referred to as 'Navratri'. Vijayadashmi is dedicated toMother Goddess Shakti, who incarnated in the form of Goddess Durga, acombined manifestation of the divine energies of the Holy Trinity -Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and all the other devatas, when theysummoned her to kill the mighty demon known as Mahishasura and freedthe world from his terror.

The Devas joined their energies into Shakti, a single mass of incandescentenergy and a very powerful band of lightning emerged from the mouthsof Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and a young, beautiful female virginwith ten hands appeared. All the Gods gave their special weapons to her.This Shakti coalesced to form the goddess Durga. Riding on a lion, whoassisted her, Durga fought Mahishasura. The battle raged for nine daysand nights. On Vijayadashmi, the idols of Goddess Durga are immersed

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into water, after the nine days of festivities. It is said that the people of theearth in the eastern state of West Bengal adopted Durga as theirdaughter and thus, she visits the home of her parents every year,during the last four days of Navratri, along with her sons Ganesha andKartikeya, and daughters Lakshmi and Saraswati. She finally leaves for herhusband's place on Vijayadashmi. Hence Dasha-Hara is also known asDurgotsav and is a celebration of Durga's victory.

The Ram-Ravan or Durga-Mahishasura conquest is an eternal war, ifwe choose positivity, evolution, service and the righteous way of life,Dussehra/Vijayadashami/Durgotsav is a day that marks your overcomingso many facets of evil, including maya or illusion, which dominate us. Theuniverse exists inside us, and the outside is only its reflection. So weneed to go inwards if we choose to fathom it. Or else, the reflection wouldfool us into wasting our life. For a spiritual seeker,

“Vijaydashami is the culmination of mantra sadhana and havanto invoke these energies to aid creation and, in the process,realise the divinity within to help slay our demons.”

That is our Vijayadashami. Each one of us is a divine being going through ahuman experience.

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