Dussehra – its Deeper Meaning

 

Photo Credit: YourFates

Dussehra – its Deeper Meaning

Dussehra, also called Dasara or Vijayadashami, is the day that marks the triumph of Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, over the 10-headed demon king Ravana, who abducted Rama’s wife, Sita. The festival’s name is derived from the Sanskrit words dasha (‘ten’) and hara (‘defeat’).

Dussehra signifies the victory of good over evil, truth over false and dharma over adharma. The Dussehra festival inspires us to follow the path of dharma (righteousness) and truth. it reminds us that in the end truth always triumphs.

Every year when we celebrate the Dussehra festival we have to remind ourselves to follow the path of righteousness and truth, we should not allow our ego to influence our decisions. Listen to our inner voice and follow the path shown by your living Guru – become introversive, turn inwards and search for one’s own truth.

At the spiritual level this festival is all about worshipping the nine forms of the female energy for the first nine days and on the tenth day conquering evil as represented by ten negative qualities, one each for Ravana’s ten heads - lust, anger, attachment, greed, excessive pride, jealousy, selfishness, injustice, cruelty and the greatest of all – EGO.

The teachings which this festival imbibes in us – No matter how powerful is the evil, it will come to an end one day. In the end, truth, justice and goodness prevails. This day marks the day when we burn the seeds of passion within us – the ten qualities represented by Ravana’s ten heads as given above – purify the inner core by burning away these qualities. When we side with truth, we always win in the end. At the most justice may appear to be delayed, but in the grand scheme of things, justice is done and seen to be done when the time is ripe for it. Have patience, don’t cheat and stick to the part of dharma.

Don’t become egoistic – Ravana was full of himself – he thought he could never be defeated because he had been bestowed with so many powers through his penance. But in the end his ego became too big and it had to be dealt with to maintain peace on earth. He was a tapasvi in all respects, but his ego got the better of him and he paid the price for it. If he had attained to inner mastery, his ego would not have got control over him – so keep the ego in check and listen to the inner voice.

Dussehra leads to Diwali – the festival of lights. The deeper significance of this, I feel, is that we should light the eternal lamp within us. The wick is there, the fuel is also there, we just have to light it and we will be filled with light. Remember darkness has always been there – it is light which removes darkness – so by lighting the eternal inner lamp, we become light and darkness evaporates for ever.