Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Happy Vijaya Dasami

అందరికీ విజయదశమి శుభాకాంక్షలు

Festive wishes to all of you on the happy occasion of Vijaya Dasami, which means Victorious 10th. My interpretation of Vijaya Dasami, however, is Victory over the 10 senses. The festival symbolizes the destruction of tamo guna that feeds into the senses. What is the most tempting sensation to a man (these days, to some women as well), that even sage Viswamitra, with his severe penance and determination, could not overcome? It is the female form. What better entity can we propitiate to conquer this sensation than the female form of divinity itself?

When i was small, my grandmother used to call Dasara as an essentially boys' festival and always insisted that i celebrate it as much as i can - wear new clothes and recite hymns in praise of the goddesses, at least. i didn't understand then, but it does make sense now. Not that only boys need to conquer the 10 senses, but they do need it more, at least in this context :).

Durga, the goddess who is worshiped for the festival, means unattainable - cannot be reached. As long as we have a terrestrial form, absolute victory over the senses is unattainable. But the festival symbolizes the goal that we should try to achieve, even if it is unattainable in this birth. It reminds us of the need to keep trying to detach from worldly matters by practice, devotion and dispassion. 

When we see divinity in the objects of desire like food and opposite sex, the lowly basic need that lets the senses loose, transforms into a want of the higher plane of love and devotion. Festive food is deliberately rich and delicious - not to be hogged and consumed to satisfy a basic need, but enjoyed as a divine blessing at a much higher plane. Easier said than done though, but worth every minute of trying.