Today is the second day of the Navaratri celebrations which are held for nine days. All festivals are meant to remind mankind that they should cultivate noble qualities by engaging themselves in activities beneficial to one’s own self and society. Sai Baba made this reference to Navaratri and the Nine Planets:
As part of Navaratri celebrations, people worship different forms of divinity. You should develop sacred feelings and experience divinity. What is the inner meaning of Navaratri celebrations? These nine nights represent nine planets. Each planet has its own significance. However, these planets are not outside, they are within. If your feelings are impure and unsacred, the result also will be the same. You are responsible for the good and bad you think and experience.
As the nine nights represent the nine planets, we will be focussing on Navaratri and the nine planets with an account of one or another the planets for nine nights. The second planet is The Moon. The second day of Navratri is Chandra darshan, darshan of the Moon. The colour for the second day of Navaratri is WHITE, so we will write in white for this second day observance of Navaratri (albeit with a temporary background so that white is actually visible!) .
Chandra Darshan (sighting, viewing of the Moon) is celebrated on the appearance of Moon after Amavasya (New Moon Day) in every month. Chandra darshan is viewing of the moon and worshiping it. People observe Chandra (Darshan) Vrat or Chandroday Vrat on this day.
Chandra Darshan is prat of the second day in Navratri. Navaratri is dedicated to godess Durga (Shakthi). In 2013, Chandra Darshan is on Monday, October 7. Chandra Darshan is observed with great importance in Northern parts India, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Chandra, (lit. “shining one”) The Moon, is one of the Gods and a most important planet in Vedic Astrology. He is described as young, beautiful, fair; two-armed and having in his hands a club and a lotus. He rides his chariot (the moon) across the sky every night, pulled by ten white horses or an antelope. Although the antelope is the animal most commonly depicted with Him in iconography, the rabbit is also particularly sacred to him and all rabbits are under his protection. He is connected with dew, and as such, is one of the gods of fertility. As Soma, He presides over Somvar or Monday.
As the Sun (Surya) represents the Self and its goal of no rebirth, the Moon represents the Mind and where we have come from. The Sun is the God or Deva, the Moon is the Goddess or Devi; the Sun is Shiva, the Moon is Shakti. Together they represent the duality of masculine and feminine, mind and body, day and night, will and love. The Sun is Divine Father and Creator; the Moon is Divine Mother and Creatrix. As the Sun rules Time, the Moon governs Space; the Sun rules Fire, the Moon rules Water.
The Moon is the Lord of the Mind, closely aligned to the senses and the emotions, and those who worship him assiduously lose their diseases and become happy. Lord Shiva wears the moon on his forehead, and some say this makes the Moon a one-eight incarnation of Lord Shiva. The Moon is the father of Mercury, and Mercury is the father of a prestigious lineage of innumerable kings and warriors, which includes Lord Krishna.
Sai Baba said that The Moon is the presiding deity of the mind. In elaborating further on The Moon, in 1958 Sai Baba said the following:~
First and foremost, control your thoughts. The clouds of these thoughts are moving about in the sky of your heart. The clouds, as they move, will cover the sun called the intellect and the moon called the mind. It is said, Chandrama manaso jataha (the moon was born out of the mind). The moon reflects the mind’s nature. The intellect is the reflection of the sun. Both of them move about in the sky of the heart.
Sometimes, our own thoughts form “dark clouds” – more so in the youthful stage. The “dark clouds” are water-borne, meaning they are associated with desires. When such “dark clouds” gather, the sun and the moon are hidden by them.
It is only in the youthful stage you are troubled by an excess of thoughts. You will be drowned in them, literally, and will forget your very humanness. Hence, first and foremost, you have to remove those “clouds”.
From where do these “clouds” come? They are formed on account of your sankalpas (resolutions) and vikalpas (indecisiveness). Hence, first and foremost, you have to control your thoughts. If you are able to do it, then your mind and intellect will shine brightly.
The mind is a bundle of thoughts. When the thoughts and resolutions are controlled, it will be clean, like a placid lake.
Light is the dominant force in the Universe; the moon reflects the light of the Sun. The forces of the Sun and the Moon or solar and lunar energies indicate the broader powers of light in projection and reflection, for all light comes from the Central Sun of all the Universes. Solar and lunar energies relate to the powers of the day and the night, which can stand for light and dark phases of all time cycles.
Lunar energy reflects the magnetic or attractive power of ligth and is cooling, nourishing and calming. It is symbolised by the Goddess Lakshmi. Lunar energy in the mind in the broader sense represents the capacity for contemplation, reflection, feeling and attaction.
The Moon plays a significant role in Vedic Astrology. The goal of all incarnations is to ascend in consciousness so we may perceive our ultimate goal, awareness of our divinity within, moksha. An afflicted or debilitated moon cannnot ascend in such manner and is restricted in its capacity to function. The moon is also used as an ascendant (Chandra lagna) for verification of chart readings, and readings where certain houses are found to be vacant. This is also used for marriage calculations and resolving dosha of Mars in matters pertinent to marriages. Unlike other planets in the birth chart, the Sun and Moon own one sign only (Cancer) and is Lord of the Fourth house.
The Moon is a most significant planet as it signifies the inherent capacity of the mind to use light in a constructive manner so that one may progress forward in life, meet and surmount challenges, delay and reversals in life. The Moon – Lord Chandra – is the presiding deity of the mind. He rules over the element water, journeys, manual arts, novelists, liquid-related businesses, matters related with maternity, agriculture, illnesses of the stomach and of the brain. He also rules over psychic ability and spiritual sensitivity. With the return of the 4th and 5th Dimensions, the Moon will play a significant role in the progress of humanity via reflection of the light of the Sun.
What is the role of the Moon in the Fourth Dimension? The moon will provide coolness and serenity to the mind as the new psychic aspects and unused capacity of the mind is activated with the raising of energies, accompanying the 4th and 5th Dimensons. Just as people say “Don’t lose your cool”, so also, we need to keep cool in our minds when these hidden, unknown faculties of mind – all relevant and part of the 4th Dimension and 5th Dimensions are brought back into usage.
The Moon is the presiding deity of the mind.
