Navaratri – Mars

mars

Today is the third day of the Navaratri celebrations which are held for nine nights. 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. For the third night of Navaratri, we will take the planet Mars. The third day of Navratri is Sindoor Tritya. The colour for the third day of Navaratri is RED, so we scribe in RED for this third day observance of Navaratri.

Sindoor Tritiya is observed on the third day of the 9-day Navartri festival. On this day Maa Chandraghanta is worshiped. This day is of great significance in North India. This is a ritual during Navratri, which is closely associated with Sindoor – the red powder or Vermilion – which is an essential part of Hindu ritual and closely associated with Mother Goddess worship.

The day also marks the end of the first three days of Navratri, especially in South India. The first three days of Navratri is here dedicated to Goddess Durga. The next three days are dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi.

The Planet Mars is known in Vedic Astrology as Lord Kuja, the Commander in Chief, son of Bhumi, Mother Earth, (var, Bhoodevi), and is dispositor or karaka of shakti in the form of energy, will, power and strength. Mars is a planet of strength. The sloka for Mars describes this planetary deity has having the (weapon or instrument) Shakti in his hand. So we may take strength, power, energy and force as signatures of the planet Mars.

So we understand that Mars, with the instrument of Shakti, has power, energy and will. Application of will to physical energy and efforts gives rise to power, concentration and success in the formation of discipline to create human order in human society. Mars, with its command of energy for repetition, practice, drill, gives penetration of mind and intellect to efficient decisions, which create order where disorder and chaos exist.

There are five elements: earth, air, fire, water and ether (space). These represent the different layers of manifestation from the subtle universe to the material, 3 dimensional world. The three gunas (impulses, drives to action or inaction) work through the five elements to form the outer world and sustain the bodies of the individual souls that take birth. There are shaktis of space, air, fire, water and earth within our bodies. Fire, which Mars is a signficator of, has the powers to create great heat in furnaces and foundaries, to controlled heat in turbines and kitchen stoves, to ripen and to impart colour. It represents electrical energy inherent in space, activated by the air element and gaining luminosity, and thus giving forth the power of light.

The prayer to Mars is as follows:

dharani-garbha-sambhutham vidyut-kanti-samaprabha
kumaram shakti-hastam cha mangalam pranamam yaham

I offer my obeisances to Sri Mangala, god of the planet Mars, who was born from the womb of the Earth goddess. His brilliant effulgence is like that of lightning, and he appears as a youth carrying a spear in his hand.”

As an energetic force, Shakti is referred to as vidyut-shakti, literally, lightning. This indicates the energy that is like electricity – we may see this flashing through the skies as lightning with millions of volts – it is also the same electrical energy that animates and vivifies matter, life, mind and consciousness. We can identify the lightning aspect of Shakti as electromagnetic force, cosmic force and the root of all powers in the Universe. Parashakti is the supreme electro-magnetic force in operation in all things.

Mars signifies the generative and procreative principles. If we look to the story of the birth of Mars, we find that Mars is born from the Kundalini Shakti flowing down Lord Shiva, and the sreyas manifest as fire – such a burning fire that nothing could nurture it; so the Earth Mother consented to nurture it, hence Mars is known as Bhumiputra, son of the Earth. Mars is the secret flame hidden in matter. This secret energy demands manifestation in material form. Mars can also bring out negativity and the dark side of Earth’s energy, the primordial powers, the abyss of tsunami, earthquake, the return of prakriti (nature) to raw chaos.

On the higher level, Mars directs us to the yogas of knowledge and energy and gives self-discipline and asceticism. A strong and spiritual Mars is good for the practice of rituals and yogic techniques, methods of directing psychic and spiritual energies. Mars guides goal-oriented action, and as one’s ultimate goal is the highest value in life, so action may have a lofty goal in view, holding in equanimity the four goals of life, artha, kama, dharma and moksha (wealth, needs, right-conduct and liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth).

Consider the image and reflect about the 4th Dimension; that which is unknown, becomes known. What does Mars reveal, to what new activity does Mars apply the Shakti energy of the Mother?

Mars

What does Mars reveal, to what new activity does Mars apply the Shakti energy of the Mother?

What is the role of the Mars in the Fourth Dimension? The Earth is at present adjusting to the new energy that it is coming into alignment with. The movement of this planet and the energy upon it is changing. It will move into an energy that is uplifting. It is raising consciousness of everything upon the planet; so the energy, will, power and force which Mars generates within may be profitably directed towards assisting the transformation of this planet and its inhabitants.

The uplifting force coming from the Cosmos will result in a reduction of clashes, negativity, wars, conflicts, suffering. It is these incidents, accidents and events Mars is known for bringing about. The role of shakti which Mars has, as Son of the Earth Mother, becomes more directed towards transformation. Force, Power and Command may be directed towards understanding, collaboration, devising alternate strategies to negativity, wars and conflicts. Where in the past, energy was applied to lifting of weapons one against another, the Shakti of Mars will transform compassion, caring for the other from the womb of the heart. This is ParaShakti, the Mother Goddess, in action.

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