Happy Navaratri!

Via The Hindu, photo from Thiruvananthapuram

In the latest yatra newsletter we received, our trip’s leader, Namarupa’s Robert Moses, noted that today is the start of Navaratri (or Navratri). It is the nine (you recognize nava, right?) night festial dedicated to the Divine Mother in, as Robert put it, “her triple nature as Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.”

Robert encouraged us to find a nearby Hindu Temple or even a yoga center that is observing the festival and attend as many nights as possible, as part of our preparation for the yatra (keeping in mind that Sadhana Yatra means “to exert and go to that which saves,” roughly).

Lacking a temple or yoga center, he also pointed us to the Chandi — the hymn to the Divine Mother — or to this Sanskrit chanting of it. Here’s a little taste:

Who is capable of praising You,
Who have made all of us Vishnu, myself and Shiva
Take our embodied forms?

Oh Devi, being lauded thus,
Bewitch these two unassailable asuras

Let Vishnu, the master of the world
Be quickly awakened from sleep

Now, you can consider yourself pointed, as well.

Update: The next of the Urban Yogis videos featuring Eddie Stern is up. I simply cannot get it to embed, but this should be the link.

Posted by Steve