Notes by Vastavi Choudhari
Review of last week.
Om Vinoda Priya Namah- I admire the one who loves humor.
This Week:
Navaratri- Navaratri means 9 days or nights
Why do we celebrate Navratri?
We celebrate Navratri to honor the devis( Laxmi, Durga, Paravati, and Ambika). So on each of the nine days of Navratri we celebrate a different Devi. On the 10th day we celebrate Vijaya Dashami.
Why do we celebrate Vijaya Dashami?
On the 10 and last day of Navratri it is known that we celebrate Vijaya Dashami. We celebrate Vijaya Dashami for two reasons. First reason is, when Lord Rama came back to Ayodhya from Sri Lanka is one reason we celebrate Vijaya Dashami. Second reason is, when Devi killed the demon Mahsahsur, which was a war that lasted for 10 days.
How powerful is Devi?
Devi is the embodiment of shakti or power.
What kind of power is it physical or mental?
Devi has the power of transformation to change things.
Story
Once upon a time, long ago, Mahisasura the demon king attacked the gods. He fought with them and then he finally took victory. After he took victory he made them leave their home, Swarga. So all the gods like, Indra, Agni and many others went to the three divine gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. After telling them what happened a blinding light was there and out of that light came Devi. She was made up of all the gods. For example, she had the face of Shiva, hands of Vishnu, and hair like Yama. After she was “born” all the gods gave her gifts like Shiva gave her his trident and Vishnu gave her his Chakra, they were all gifts to help her in the war. The Devi went and battled the demon army. She made it past the army, and then she started fighting Mahishasura. Mahishasura was a giant bull who used his horns to uproot mountains and his tail to swish water at Devi. After fighting for a long time 9 days to be exact on the 10 day she finally killed Mahishasura. When she went back to all the gods they asked her for a boon or wish they said “Oh Devi whenever I think of you, you should take away all the negative thoughts in my mind and change me.
Moral: The demon army is all our negative thoughts, and devi is the power to overcome all those negative thoughts.
RAW (Reflection Adventure of the Week)
In the week your family has to sit and do a puja together.
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Notes by Vishva Sachania
Story
A very long time ago there was a war between the demons and gods. The King of Demons, Mahishasura destroyed and bullied the Gods.
The Gods needed desperate help to defeat Mahishasura. They prayed, and then Mother Devi appeared. Each of the gods gifted Devi, and Devi was determined to kill the King of Demons. And Mother Devi succeeded and killed Mahishasura.
Practice
Do a mental pooja as a class.
Meaning of Practice
There are three reasons of doing pooja, helps us have better thoughts, improve concentration, and to be closer with god.
R.A.W.Hh Sr Class Notes
Our R.A.W. this week is to do any pooja at least once this week.