Goddess Durga is the divine mother - she protects mankind from evil and misery by destroying sinister forces such as selfishness, jealousy, prejudice, hatred, anger and ego. She is often stated to be the most beautiful manifestation of Devi and has gained her might through different Gods.
Durga, possessed with invincible powers to destroy evil was created to kill the buffalo-demon Mahishasur. Unable to kill the demon, gods thought of creating a powerful goddess who would be able to demolish Mahishasur.
With all powers of Gods brought together, there emerged Goddess Durga or Chandi, who was beautiful, serene and strong.
As per mythology, Lord Rama invoked Goddess Durga and chanted the Chandi path, describing the supreme power and creation of Goddess Durga to fight the demons or asuras.
The Chandi Path also depicts the majestic battle between Goddess Durga and the demon king Mahishasura, who had been tormenting the Gods. Gods then appealed to the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara, and they all came together to create a powerful female form with 10 arms---Maa Durga or Mahamaya. Maa Durga is the Mother of the Universe who embodies primeval source of all power.
The trinity bestowed their individual powers upon this supreme creation, and it is symbolized by different weapons in hands of Goddess Durga or Chandi. Armed like a warrior, Goddess rides a Lion to battle with Mahishasura and following a fierce combat, Mother Goddess who is also called Durgatinashini or Mahishamardini is able to slay the Asura King with her trident. Heaven and earth sighed with relief. Peace and Prosperity was restored on the earth.
There are different forms of the Goddess and in each form, she emerges as the winner. She is the one who helps us during the time of need. Praying to her in different forms gives us the courage to face any situation.
Only through her blessing can we gain material as well as spiritual comfort. She is the Shakti that Brahma uses to create the world.
It is said that chanting of Chandi path during the negative phase of life invokes Goddess Durga to bestow you with power to overcome all your difficulties and negative factors.
Devi Mahatmyam, also known as Durga Saptasati or Chandi Path is of great significance for all spiritual aspirants. All spiritual aspirants, irrespective of age, gender or caste, can chant the 700 sacred verses of the Chandi.
When chanted with proper pronunciation and one-pointed concentration, or listened to with an intensely prayerful attitude, we can overcome all obstacles and difficulties that may be troubling us in worldly or spiritual affairs.
It is particularly auspicious to chant the Durga Saptasati or Chandi path during Chaitra month or in Sharad (Ashwin) month, especially during Navaratri, as per Hindu calendar.
Chandi path is recommended for anyone who is suffering from negativity of black magic, bhoomi dosha (Vastu-Chandi Hom) etc. It helps us attain success in business by overcoming cut throat competition, and eliminates our enemies.
Let us know in more of a detail about what a Homam is
Homam is also known as Homa, Havana or a Yajna. It may be described as a fire ritual of sacrifice.
As a matter of practice, when one performs a homam, certain procedures are followed so as to invoke a divine presence within the fire.
Following this, certain auspicious materials are sacrificed into fire while the devotees chant sacred mantras. It is believed that the sacrifices made reach the gods.
WHY DOES ONE PERFORM A HOMAM?
Homam is believed to open up the path towards spiritual progress. As one chants Mantras when seated before a fire while offering material substances, it has a deep calming and cleansing effect on one's mind.
The psyche then attains the next level of mental focus, and peace of mind follows suit.
Homam is a spiritual practice which has been mentioned in a host of scriptures, and these include the Yajurveda and the Bhagwat Gita. People knowledgeable about faith perform homams regularly and with commitment.
Performing a homam definitely yields outcomes positive in nature. Perform homams, and over duration of time, positive outcomes are sure to follow.
BUT YOU DO HAVE REASONS TO HEED WITH CAUTION
Chandi is a deity powerful and fierce; it is primordial energy that she is the source of. She is the one who takes care of every one of the divine functionalities of the universe, including creation, sustenance and destruction.
Chandi homam is correspondingly a very powerful form of worship. It is performed so as to let the worshipper attain success in worldly matters, and also attaining wealth and good health.
Performing the Chandi Homam nevertheless requires a certain degree of spiritual energy. Some of the basics which are essential include a perfect pronunciation, the proper procedure and perfect materials.
When one plans to go ahead with performing Chandi Homam, he must do so for the purpose of attaining spiritual enlightenment. He must consider the Goddess Chandi or the divine mother as his own mother, and must visualize himself as a child who desperately wants to improve.
But there are still reasons to believe that you shall find material success in life, even as with the Chandi Homam, you discover a significant spiritual upliftment. This shall occur, even as you are able to detach yourself from the success that you find in the material life and make a progress in the spiritual sphere.
HOW DOES A HOMAM WORK?
To understand and recognize how a homam operates, let us first understand the concept of bhootagni.
We are comprised of the sthool sareera, which is the gross body and it is comprised of the gross matter.
But beyond this, we also have with us the subtle body, which is the sookshma sareer, and this has been formed using the subtle matter.
The 'sookshma sareer' that we posses is beyond perception of the senses attached to the gross body, I.e eyes, ears, nose etc.
Thousand of naadis or elusive channels for flow of energy comprise this sookshma sareer. And a fire which is called the Bhootagni or the existential fire burns in the sookshma sareer.
In a subtle way, it the Bhootagni form the basis of one's entire life and existence. From the subtle body, the Bhootagni manifests itself into the gross body.
The manifestation takes many forms. As an example, the fire in the stomach enables us to digest the food that we eat. And with the fire that prevails in the brain, we are able to digest the senses and experiences that we come across in our life.
For existence, the Bhootagni is essential. But we still come to realize that for some people, the Bhootagni is weak. The reason for the same is impurities, or maybe even obstruction in the naadis. And due to this, the Bhootagni does not burn strongly so as to comprehensively energise one's being.
If one's bhootagni burns low, the divine presence can still enter one's being, but the magnitude nevertheless could be limited.
HOW DOES ONE ENSURE THAT THE BHOOTAGNI BURNS STRONG IN ONE'S BEING?
For the Bhootagni to prevail strongly in one's living, one must let go of the internal weaknesses, which include anger, greed, lacking restrain, false prestige and jealousy as well. So one must develop compassion and a devotion which is one pointed. The detachment would facilitate one to overcome ego and delusion at successive levels.
As the process sets into motion, impurities of naadis would be cleared, so as to make sure that the Bhootagni can burn strong.
But this is a process which could be time consuming, and maybe even difficult.
It is for this reason that one is required to take aid of an external fire.
So when one lights up an external fire for performing the homam, the deity of the homam enters the fire. And as resulting from the divine presence which prevails nearby, the impurities in the naadis are done away with.
This is attained by doing away with the past karmas, and as this works towards benefiting the Karana Sareera (casual body), it works towards benefiting the Bhootagni as well.
And on performing the homam,
- Naadis are cleared of obstruction.
- The Bhootagni burns brightly
- Every Saadhana which one performs, including meditation becomes more effective, especially because the bhootagni can accommodate the divine presence to a much greater degree.
HOMAM BURNS THE KARMAS WHICH BLOCK SPIRITUAL PROGRESS
On following spiritual practices sincerely and with devotion, one comes to realize that each of the spiritual practice is intended to cleanse and allow one to overcome internal impurities.
Kaarana sareera is the casual body of an individual.
Karmas from our previous lives adhere to the casual body, as a result, making it heavy.
These in turn manifest themselves to the sookshama sareera or the subtle body. The effect is impurities in various nadis, and this causes the free flow of energy through the nadis to block.
The effect is often seen on the sthool sareera or the gross body, in the form of problems which intrigue the body and mind.
As a result, deep conditioning of the mind finds a place in one's consciousness.
This creates an ocean of delusion, and the underlying cause may also be seen as one's previous karmas.
This is also known as MAAYA.
When one is deep down in this delusion or MAAYA, he is beaten down by six of the internal enemies.
1. Kaama (desire)
2. Krodha (anger)
3. Lobha (greed)
4. Moha (delusion)
5. Mada (wantonness) and
6. Maatsarya (jealosy)
ONE OVERCOMES THESE INTERNAL ENEMIES UPON MAKING SPIRITUAL PROGRESS
Upon making spiritual progress,
Bad Karmas from previous birth leave the Kaarana Sareera.
One overcomes the impurities in the naadis.
MAAYA or the delusion formed by internal enemies becomes weaker.
And one is empowered to resist the internal enemies.
One then begins to see all as God.
At this stage, nothing can make one angry or jealous, or deluded. There is nothing which excites one or causes sadness.
This is a state of bliss.
External work or appearance may still transition, but internally, one stays in constant state.
THIS IS THE UNDERLYING PURPOSE OF EVERY SAADHANA
The saadhana could take the form of
- Jnaana (knowledge and wisdom)
- Or it could be in the form of Bhakti (devotion)
Every saadhana is intended towards allowing one to let go of one's ego such that the self merges with divinity.
Letting go of MAAYA fills a vacuum within the self, and this vacuum can then be filled with divinity. This brings one to a deep state of divine bliss.
Homam too is a saadhana which facilitates this state quickly, such that the various Karmas which are blocking spiritual progress are burnt off. One is then able to overcome the deep conditioning of MAAYA, and attain divine bliss.
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Harshad has been into freelance writing for some time now. Some of the topics he loves to write about are health, wellness, life & lifestyle, fitness & spirituality.