Vijaya dashami celebrations in the USA, in the divine presence of His Holiness Bhagwan Sri Sri Sri Viswayogi Viswamjee Maharaj.

Navarathri and Vijaya Dashami were celebrated with great devotion and splendor in various parts of USA in divine presence of Swamiji. For the first four days of Navarathri Swamiji was in Virginia. The next 3 days till Durgasthami Swamiji was in Seattle and Swamiji was in New Jersey on the Navami and Vijaya Dashami Day. 

On all the days Swamiji was worshipped by the devotees as the embodiment of  Supreme Mother. Devotees offered worship by chanting Lalitha Sahasranamam, Khadagam, Lakshmi Asthottaram, Lalitha Asthotarram and Saraswathi Asthotarram and kumkum archana. In addition Baala pooja was performed during Navarathri. on the first day “Baala pooja” was performed to one year old girls, on the second day to two year old girls and so on. In Seattle on Saraswathi Pooja day the children offered worship to Swamiji while the Saraswathi Asthotarram was chanted. Swamiji then distributed pens and pencils to the children and blessed them with good education and knowledge. In addition Suvasini pooja was also performed and Sarees were distributed to all the married women. On the ocassion of Saraswathi Pooja and Durgaasthami Swmaiji said that it is the day to worship Goddess Lakshmi the bestower of prosperity, Goddess Durga who destroys misfortune and Goddess Saraswathi who is embodiment knowledge. With the grace of Goddess Saraswathi we have to get the knowledge and use it for the welfare of society and make the world an abode of peace.

On the Vijaya dashami day in the Shirdi Sai Cultural centre of the Nori Foundation in Iselin, New Jersey, Vijaya dashami celebrations were held with Shami pooja and Ayudha pooja. The function was well attended by people from all over the USA. Swamiji shot arrows in all the 11 directions symbolizing the spreading of love and peace in all directions to transform the negative and evil forces coming from all directions into positive forces. Swamiji also released a book on Adhyatma Ramayana by Mr. Goteti Srirama Rao garu. Swamiji commended Dr. Nori for building the Sai Mandir in the New Jersey area and creating the same environment as in Shirdi, for the people in the area. Swamiji said that in years to come it will become another Shirdi.

Swamiji also delivered a divine discourse on this occasion. Swamiji said that it is the yogic power that is protecting the world from natural calamities that are occurring due to our polluting the five elements and creating an imbalance. It is the yogic power that has protected Japan after the earthquake and Tsunami. It is the yogic power that has reduced the intensity of the recent hurricane in the east coast and the Earth quake in the Richmond, Virginia area and minimized the damages. That is the reason why our ancient sages spoke worked tirelessly for the peace of the five elements. Swamiji said that it is the yogic responsibility to protect America which is like the head of the body if the world be compared to a human body. For the prosperity of the world and peace in the world America has to be protected Swamiji said,. Also America is a nation that trusts in God, and it is the duty of God to protect those who trust in God.

Swamiji also spoke on the Sai philosophy on occasion of Maha Samadhi day of Shirdi Sai Baba which falls on the Vijaya dashami day. Swamiji said that Shirdi Sai embraced all the religions and his path was acceptable to all and that is what we need to follow today. We need to understand Shirdi Sai’s message of religious harmony and walk in his footsteps and transform ourselves into cultured individuals and thereby transform the world into an abode of peace. That is the real way of expressing our devotion to Sai. Swamiji said that there is no end to incarnation of Datta and they are eternal and they are only changing forms to protect the world. Swamiji said that Shirdi Sai has transformed his body into a homa kunda to bring peace and harmony in the world. It is our duty to work together to make this world a peaceful place.

In other places on various occasions during the Navarathri celebrations Swamiji said : During Navarathri it is customary to worship the supreme Mother who is endowed with the 16 kalas or attributes. The supreme mother has to be worshipped in the five mothers namely Mother Universe, Mother Earth, mother land, the Mother who has given us birth, and the Mother Cow. It is the duty of each one of us to worship these five Mothers and this is the message of Navarathri.

The victory of Divine forces over the demonic forces is what Vijaya Dashami is all about. Fighting those demonic forces which harm the society, cause turmoil in the society and cause pain to the humanity and bring peace to the society and to bring about love, kindness and compassion in the society is the aim of the Navarathri festival and Vijaya Dashami.

That Divine Mother, whom we have given a form, is in reality the Divine power, the all pervading Universal Cosmo electric power that has created the universe and sustains it, and also destroys those forces that are trying to harm this universe. This power we call Adi Parashakti is the unified power, of the power of Will (Ichha Shakti), power of knowledge (Gyana shakti) and power of Action (Kriya shakti) which transmits a part of itself in every human being and strengthens the person, especially she endows the righteous person with much strength and through that person accomplishes the task she has to accomplish.

This entire infinite Universe made up of infinite nebulas and solar systems, was at one time a single point. Due to Divine will, first the primordial sound OM emanated, and immediately came the power of Will (Lakshmi), followed by power of Knowledge (Saraswati) and immediately followed by power of Action (Parvathi) and this entire Universe came into existence. This is the real truth and even scientists accept it as the Big Bang theory and the ancient Rishies have been propounding it. If you observe the infinite universe you will be surprised. If we go up and look at the earth we live on, it will appear as a planet, and there are many such planets going around the sun, the solar system is a part of the nebula and there are many such solar systems. The whole of this universe is being governed by the Cosmo electromagnetic power, which we call Adi Parashakti out of devotion, and scientists call it the universal power. This universe is really infinite. If this infinite divine universal power has to do good through a human form, then it has to make that person powerful, and through the person sees that there is righteousness and goodness in the society. During this Navarathri, this Mother takes different forms and kills the demons Chanda and Munda and Mahishasura and we worship her as Mahishasura Mardhini.

Before the Navarathri, the fortnight of Mahalaya Paksha is the time for us to offer respect to our ancestors (Pitru Devatas). There is a great need to pay our gratitude to our parents, grandparents and other who have given us this body and are responsible for our existence, and seek their blessings. Before we receive the divine power during Navarathri, it is our duty to pay respect to our ancestors, so we observe the Mahalaya paksha to become competent to receive the Divine Energy.

Though we observe Navarathri for nine days, in reality we have to worship Shakti from Padyami of Aswija Month to Poornima, for fifteen days. The divine power has sixteen kalas (Facets), so on each day we have to worship these sixteen facets and through proper worship endow ourselves with these kalas, and enlighten the divine power in us; this is the method of the Shakti worship. From Padyami to Poornima, we have to worship one kala on each day, and on the Poornima we have to worship the 16^th kala, and make the 16 kalas our own. On the midnight of Poornima, we have to receive the sushmna ray, the 16^th kala which comes from the moon into our body and strengthen ourselves. We have three nerve currents in the spinal cord our body, the ida, pingala and sushmanna. From the sushmana nerve, the kundalini power goes up when it is enlightened, the aim of the sushmanna nerve is to pull that sushumna ray from the mooladhara to the sahasraram in the head. The rays from the other planets are pulled into our body through the sahasraram which acts as a dish, and we transform into an embodiment of power. This is the philosophy of Shakti worship and goal of the Navarathri worship. The methods of worship may be different, forms may be different, names may be different but the aim and goal is the same, to transform us into centers of power and journey from humanity to divinity and transform ourselves into embodiments of divinity, to transform our normal body to a cosmic body, in other words transform man into God. This is the real truth.

Body is the temple, and heart is the altar of the Lord. This body is the boon bestowed on us by the Lord to put it to proper use and do something good. “Sareera madhyam, khalu dharma sadhanam”. This body is an instrument given to us by the Lord to do our duty in this world. So use the body properly. Realize the truth that this body and mind are gift of the Lord and remember the proclamation of Sanaatana Dharma namely “Deho Devalaya Prokthaha” i.e. Body is the temple of the Lord, and “jeeva bhootha sanaatana” i.e the jeeva in this body is the Lord, and put this body to proper use and march forward putting these proclamations into practice, thereby transform into embodiments of love and peace and reach a state where you move from mortality to immortality, move from darkness to light, from untruth to truth, and transform into embodiments of divine power. This is the goal of the Navarathri or Vijaya Dashami.