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Navratras  are the nine nights of devi. What is devi is beyond the scope of this article. It is a subject of lifelong sadhna under a guru... I will attempt here to throw light on just a small aspect of it. That devi, which resides in every being as shakti. Everything manifests as a union of Shiv and shakti. Shiv without shakti is a shav (corpse). Just like a car cannot run without fuel, no aspect of creation can run without shakti. Shakti is the propelling force, pure energy. Even gods cannot function without shakti. For Shiv, it is Parvati. For Vishnu, it is Lakshmi. For Brahma, it is Saraswati. First the shakti is invoked, then Shiv manifests. No event or anushthan is complete without invoking the shakti. In the battle between Lord Ram and Ravan, Ram invoked the shakti of Durga, Ravan invoked Kali. When Guru Gobind Singh created Khalsa, he performed a Chandi yagya. On the path of yog, the evolution of sadhak is impossible without the transference of s...

Navratras come twice a year and mark transition in seasons, winter-summer and summer-winter. According to ayurveda, during this time, one should consume nourishing foods and in minimal quantities to rid the body of the toxins collected during the rains. The nine nights and ten days of navratras hold within them the energy of ten forms of shakti– shailaputri, brahmcharini, chandrakanta, kushmanda, skandmata, katyayani, kaalratri, mahagauri, siddhidatri and aparajitha thus each navratra has a specific purpose. In the navratras weather changes, ie, various energies of this creation move from imbalance towards a new normalcy, including our body. In these nine days, the prana shakti inside our body undergoes a process of re-alignment, ie from imbalance to new balance for new season. For this re- aligning the body has to be kept light. Therefore our ancients prescribed fasting or upvaas in these nine days.Upavaas has a much greater connotation than what it is generally misunderstood as -...

Yogi Ji's article was published in Prahar newspaper, Mumbai

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the world is a family, are not mere words. Our culture—by ‘our’, I mean the universal culture of the world—did not discriminate on the basis of religion, birth, caste, social status or geography. The distinction was made between the civilised and uncivilised; in Vedic parlance, between surs and asurs respectively. Those who helped creation and lived for others were termed as surs and those who lived for themselves and did nothing for creation were called asurs. Consider this. Creation emerged from the thought of Brahma. Rishi Pulastya was born of Brahma, as was Rishi Marichi. Pulastya’s son Rishi Vishrava fathered Ravana. Marichi’s son Rishi Kashyap fathered Vivasvan (Sun God). From Vivasvan came Manu, the first human being of the 7th Manvantara, who gave birth to Ikshvaku from whom began the Ikshvaku dynasty, in whose line was born Lord Rama. Thus, Rama and Ravana were distant cousins. Rama annihilated Ravana because he trod on the path of adharma, guided ...

The essence of Diwali lies in the verse, ‘tamso ma jyotir gamaya’, that is, ‘take me from darkness to light’, light here referring to the light of internal knowledge —the glow of which attracts the Devi (Lakshmi) home. The energy of various nakshatras is focussed on earth on the night of Diwali making it conducive for the manifestation of gods in general, and Goddess Lakshmi in particular. It is a night to request the Goddess to give us wealth but also to treat it with detachment because it is physical and temporary. Sanatan Kriya details the shodakshri mantra, ‘ka ee ai la hreem ha sa ka ha la hreem sa ka la hreem’, which when channelised by one’s Guru and chanted in front of the Devi, bestows one with physical wealth as well as gives the route to exit maya. If one looks at one’s own life one will realise that there is pain in every aspect of pleasure — the pain of losing that pleasure. This is a trait of Lakshmi (maya), yet we run after that which is temporary and is sure to leave ...