Video summary
Navratri is fundamentally a spiritual discipline dedicated to the nine forms of Devi, representing the three fundamental qualities of power, knowledge, and wealth. While these attributes offer great possibilities for empowerment, they often become sources of ignorance and poison when individuals become enslaved by them. Sadhguru illustrates this danger with an analogy from Allama Mahaprabhu, noting that while one can still speak to a drowning man or someone bitten by a cobra, once a person is filled with wealth, power, or knowledge, communication becomes impossible because these things distort their perception and ego. He observes how people frequently mistake minor responsibilities or small amounts of information for great power, leading to arrogant behavior rather than genuine service.
The core lesson of Navratri is that true victory lies in transcending attachment to these three qualities rather than accumulating them. Sadhguru emphasizes holding wealth, power, and knowledge in trust for the greater well-being instead of treating them as personal possessions that enhance one's ego. He points out that even those with very few material belongings can manage vast resources if they view them as a responsibility rather than an ownership right. The essence of this practice is to remain constantly aware of one's mortal nature; forgetting this mortality is the root cause of ignorance, whereas remembering it ensures that power and wealth remain tools for empowerment rather than sources of delusion.
The festival culminates on the tenth day, Vijayadashami, which signifies victory not through the acquisition of more resources but through rising above them entirely. This concept is visually represented by the fierce imagery of Goddess Durga wielding weapons and shedding blood, serving as a stark reminder of life's impermanence and the necessity of confronting mortality. Sadhguru critiques the futile efforts of some to preserve their bodies against death, arguing that true freedom comes from accepting our mortal condition rather than trying to cheat it. Ultimately, Navratri is a celebration of life at its most exuberant best, urging participants to live fully in the present moment without wasting time on false notions of permanence or superiority.
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Namaskaram, Sadhguru. Uh Sadhguru, my
name is Jagrati. And I have a question
about Navratri.
>> How are you?
>> No, not yet.
Um Sadhguru, I have a question about
Navratri. So, there are so many ways to
celebrate Navratri in India, like Garba
and all. So, I want to understand which
one are just social occasions and which
one are relevant spiritually. And how
can we make use of Navratri for our
spiritual growth and
realization?
>> At least Navratri is about fasting.
It's not a feasting thing, except on the
10th day.
Other days, it's supposed to be fasting.
Apart from that, Navratri or the nine
nights are dedicated
to the nine forms of Devi.
Three into three. So, three forms of
Devi,
each one three nights.
Durga
or Parvati and Durga, all that.
Saraswati and Lakshmi.
These three Devis represent three
fundamental qualities.
Power,
knowledge, and wealth.
These three,
power,
knowledge, and wealth, all of them are
great possibilities,
and they're also great poisons.
Most people use them as poison in their
life.
They They poisoned with power.
They get poisoned by knowledge.
They get poisoned by wealth.
Well,
about everything things have been said.
I have repeatedly quoted Allama
Mahaprabhu.
Kannada people are there?
>> Yes.
>> Okay, I thought you were all in
Chikkaballapur.
So,
uh
Allama said,
"If a man is drowning in a lake,
you can still talk to him.
If a cobra has bitten him and he's
frothing in his mouth, you can still
talk to him.
But once a man is full of wealth, you
cannot talk to him."
Well, Jesus went out to say you can't
sow me and mama at the same time.
So,
unfortunately, wealth turns into poison,
power turns into poison, knowledge turns
into poison. These are all great
possibilities.
But
they are also the source of ignorance.
They can be great empowerment.
But unfortunately,
most people get enslaved to these things
and they make it the source of ignorance
in their life.
I have seen
um
you know,
way back when we started teaching, when
I started teaching rather,
I used to carry the carpets from place
to place. I arranged it myself, then I
put the name tags. I write the name tags
and put everything.
Then one or two volunteers come. Then I
say, "Okay, you put the name tags."
And suddenly the guy puts the name tags
towards strutting around.
You sit here.
Hey, oh man.
Putting a stupid name tag.
Somehow you think it's a great power.
Unfortunately, you see this all the
time.
That security guy,
not necessarily ours, but
that security guard,
he thinks because he can stop you, he
thinks it's power.
This is a stupid thing. I see
repeatedly, you give somebody one simple
responsibility.
So,
the same thing goes for knowledge.
Little they know something.
Today, of course, it's anthropic, but
they know something that you don't know,
they suddenly
act like that.
Wealth, of course, you know how they
behave.
Well, you can carry all these things
as a trust.
Knowledge is not yours, power is not
yours, wealth is not yours.
If you hold it in trust for larger
well-being,
then it's a tremendous empowerment.
Here I must say,
there are even
brahmacharis who have only four pairs of
clothes, I believe. Maybe five or six
max because they're traveling.
Well, many of them signing checks for
crores of rupees.
They're handling property worth multiple
crores of rupees.
But in trust,
not as some kind of possession.
There's a huge difference how you hold
wealth.
Are you holding it in trust?
Or you think it's yours and it enhances
you.
What you possess should never enhance
you. What you can do in the world and
what you have in the world should never
enhance you.
You understand what I'm saying?
You can do something that other people
cannot do. This should not enhance you.
You have something that other people
don't have. This should not enhance you.
You must hold it in trust.
You can see that what you hold in trust
can be of
immense use.
But a little bit I've seen small things
people possess and act so stupid.
So all these three things are great
possibilities,
at the same time source of great
ignorance.
So what is the cure?
So the stories are all around this. Lot
of it has been, you know,
recrafted and distorted by many people,
but essentially
when it comes to power, it's about
killing. Durga is always killing
somebody.
Yes?
You've seen she's she's a killer.
She has sword in her hand and every kind
of weapon, blood spilling out
everywhere.
This is to show that
if you want to I'm constantly reminding
you
even when you say somebody dear to you
is lost, I won't miss that opportunity
and I go at it to remind you of your
mortal nature. This is the simplest way
of being free
from power, wealth, and knowledge,
whatever you may possess.
It means nothing because you know
this is mortal.
It's not forever. When you have money,
you think you'll live forever or you
start making efforts to live forever.
There are many idiots on this planet who
are dead
and they're preserving their body in
some
stupid way which costs millions of
dollars per year
because they think they will come back.
Like the pharaohs of Egypt, they kept
their body hoping one day they will come
and live again.
Nobody came back, believe me.
Hello?
Your grandfather came back, is it?
No.
Nobody came back.
This is
the
the most basic ignorance in life is not
knowing that I'm mortal.
If you're aware of it every moment,
doesn't matter how much wealth, how much
power, how much knowledge you have, it
will remain empowerment.
The moment you forget that you're
mortal, suddenly it'll become
enhancement.
So if
these three days we used to be
worshipping and doing various things, if
you look at the Navaratri processes, you
will see
it is not about attaining to knowledge,
it is not about attaining to wealth or
power.
It's about transcending. That's why the
10th day is Vijayadashami, victory.
Victory is not because you got wealth,
not because you got knowledge, not
because you got power.
You're above it.
You are victorious. Vijaya.
So,
Navaratri
is a discipline.
And also celebration because
we did not make anything in this
culture, in this civilization, which is
not celebratory. Every aspect has been
made celebratory because
the fundamental ethos
of this civilization is
always reminding ourselves we are
mortal.
There is no time to waste.
There is not a moment
that should go without life being in its
exuberant best. Celebration does not
mean eating, drinking this one, that
one. Celebration means life is at its
best, exuberant best.
So, Navaratri is about that.
And you, when you fast, you're very
aware that you are mortal. When stomach
is full,
you know.