Navarātra Vrata

Navarātra (often called Navarātri) means “nine nights”. The Navarātra Vrata is the nine-night vow and festival of the Parādevī, the Supreme Devī (divine Mother). The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa describes it in detail and calls it the highest of all vratas (sacred vows). Veda Vyāsa teaches it to King Janamejaya right after telling the story of King Sudarśana, who established the pūjā of the Devī in Kośala and Kāśī.

The Devī Bhāgavata prescribes the vrata for the months of Caitra (spring) and Āśvayuja (autumn). It explains how to build the maṇḍapa (pavilion), how to worship the nine forms of the Devī, how to honour young girls as the Devī (kumārikā-pūjā), the daily homa (fire offering), and the reading of the Devī Bhāgavata itself. It also declares that Śrī Rāma kept this vrata before defeating Rāvaṇa.

The Setting

Sudarśana had established the pūjā of the Devī in both Ayodhyā and Kāśī, and at Subāhu’s request Devī Durgā made Kāśī her permanent home. After hearing this, King Janamejaya asked Veda Vyāsa to explain the Navarātra vrata: its proper procedure, the particular rules for the two seasonal Navarātras, and the fruits of keeping it. Vyāsa’s answer, in Chapters 26 and 27, is the Devī Bhāgavata’s authoritative method for performing Navarātra.

The Two Navarātras

Vyāsa teaches that there are two main Navarātra periods each year:

• Vasanta Navarātra (spring), in the month of Caitra (March–April)
• Śarad Navarātra (autumn), in the month of Āśvayuja (September–October)

These two seasons, spring and autumn, are described as “like the teeth of Yama” (yama-daṃshṭra-vat) for human beings, because they are the times when illness and the risk of death are highest. To protect oneself in these changing seasons, the vrata should be kept with full devotion. Āshāḍha and Māgha are also months of great festivals of the Devī (Devī Mahotsava), when her pūjā should be done with special enthusiasm.

Preparation and Building the Maṇḍapa

On the new-moon day (amāvāsyā) before Navarātra, the sādhaka (the one keeping the vow) should eat only once (ekabhukta), taking only havishyānna (pure, simple food fit for offering), and gather everything needed. On the pratipad (first day), after the morning bath and daily duties, the following are done:

1. Inviting brāhmaṇas (brāhmaṇa-varaṇa): learned brāhmaṇas who know the truth of the Devī, the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas (the sciences that support the Vedas) are invited
2. The maṇḍapa: a pavilion sixteen hastas (cubits) wide is built with pillars and decorated with flags, on flat, clean ground
3. Preparing the ground: the ground is smeared with clean earth and cow-dung (ālepana), and decorative patterns (raṅgavallikā) are drawn on it
4. The altar: a raised vedi (platform) is made, with a pīṭha (seat) four aratnis square and one aratni high, decorated with toraṇas (arches) of mango leaves and flower garlands
5. The throne: a siṃhāsana (lion throne) is placed on the vedi and covered with white cloth
6. Installing the Devī (Devī-vigraha pratishṭhā): the image of the Devī is installed. She is described as dressed in white, four-armed, holding the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (disc), gadā (mace) and padma (lotus), seated on a lion, with eighteen arms in her fuller form. If no image is available, the navārṇa yantra (the sacred diagram of the nine-syllable mantra) may be installed instead
7. Installing the kalaśa (kalaśa-sthāpana): beside the yantra, a kalaśa (sacred water pot) is set up, filled with water from a tīrtha (holy place) and five auspicious sprigs: mango, aśvattha, plaksha, udumbara and vetasa

Daily Practice

On each of the nine days:

• Pūjā three times a day with camphor, sandal paste and fragrant garlands (mandāra, karavīra, campaka, mālatī, bilva leaves and brāhmī flowers)
• Offerings of dhūpa (incense) and dīpa (lamps)
• Naivedya (food offering): coconuts, bananas, pomegranates, jackfruit, oranges and other sweet fruits
• Feeding brāhmaṇas (brāhmaṇa-bhojana)
• The sādhaka sleeps on the ground and keeps brahmacarya (celibacy)
• Daily reading (pārāyaṇa) of the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa by one or more brāhmaṇas
• Śānti-mantras and svastivācana (blessing chants) are recited with Vedic chanting

For those who eat meat, bali (animal offering) of a mahisha (buffalo), ajā (goat) or varāha (boar) may be offered before the Devī. Animals offered in a Devī-yāga (a yajña for the Devī) are said to reach svarga.

Kumārikā-pūjā: Honouring Young Girls

A central part of the Navarātra vrata is the daily pūjā of a kumārikā, a young girl honoured as a living form of the Devī. The Devī Bhāgavata gives a name to each age:

Girls younger than two or older than ten are not chosen. Girls with physical illness, daughters of widows, and girls born to unmarried mothers are also not chosen. The kumārikā, pure, healthy and of good birth, is bathed, dressed in clean clothes, decorated with ornaments and fed amṛtānna (sweet, nectar-like food).

Fruits of the Vrata

Vyāsa declares the Navarātra vrata higher than every other vrata on earth:

• It gives wealth every day, grain, children, health, long life, svarga and moksha (liberation)
• Those who did not keep it in earlier lives are born in this life into poverty, illness, childlessness or widowhood
• Even the mahāpāpī, the worst wrongdoer, who keeps it is freed from all gathered pāpa
• One who has lost his kingdom (rājya-bhrashṭa) wins it back; Sudarśana is named as living proof
• The student gains all knowledge (vidyā), those seeking victory gain victory, and those seeking children are blessed with them

An example is given. A poor vaiśya (merchant) of Kośala suffered great poverty even though he lived by dharma. A wise brāhmaṇa told him to keep the Devī Navarātra with japa (repetition) of the Māyā-bīja, the seed mantra of Bhuvaneśvarī, “Hrīṃ”. The vaiśya kept it with full faith for nine years. On the great Ashṭamī (eighth day) of the ninth year, Śrī Maheśvarī appeared to him at midnight and granted all his wishes.

Śrī Rāma’s Navarātra Pūjā

The Devī Bhāgavata declares that Śrī Rāmacandra himself kept the Devī Navarātra vrata at Kishkindhā, during his stay at Mālyavān before the battle of Laṅkā, when he was grieving over his separation from Sītā. By the power of this vrata Rāma was able to build the Setubandha (the bridge over the ocean), kill Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarṇa and Meghanāda, set up Vibhīshaṇa, and return to Ayodhyā to rule according to dharma. This is presented as the model royal performance of Navarātra. It supports the tradition that the kings of Kośala, from Rāma to Sudarśana, were devotees of the Parādevī.

Sources

• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapters 25–27