Goddess Kaalratri – Seventh Day Of Navratri

Goddess Kaalrati And Her Values From Divine Perspective

Origin of seventh Goddess Maa Kalaratri Day 7

For the protection of dharma and for the destruction of the demons, whenever sages and noblemen have prayed to the god, he has time and again incarnated on the earth as a divine power to save the living beings. In the same way, Goddess kaalratri manifested out of the energies of all the gods for the very same reason. The seventh form of Goddess Durga manifested on the seventh day of Navaratri Nav Durga Pujan and she is known as “Kaala-raatri”. She manifested for the welfare of devas and human beings of the earth. Because puranas speak of the legend that in the ancient times, when demons like Mahishasura, Shumbha, Nishumbha etc. after obtaining boons, dominates and tortures the beings of earth and heavens, the religion or dharma starts to get diminished on the earth. Humans on the earth started forgetting their human values and righteousness and demonic energies started spreading everywhere. Noble qualities like yajnas, charity, social service, dharma, kindness, forgiveness etc. started disappearing. When god worship was abandoned and gods, parents, gurus were not respected. During such darkness in the world when the whole of humanity was sinking deep in the demonic qualities, goddess Kalaratri incarnated to save humanity from the oppression of the demons. She is the embodiment of auspiciousness and is the destroyer of demons and evils of the earth. She is the giver of fearlessness to the whole of humanity and celestial beings. Goddess Kali is known by this name due to her powers. Because she is the energy which even transcends the death and time, meaning even death is helpless in front of her. She was known as “Kaala- raatri” by her devotees because she is the end of even the kaala (death). The word “Kaala” literally means time and time is also known with respect to death and hence “kaala” also means death.

Kaala is the destroyer of everything. Kaala engulfs everyone at right time. Goddess Kali is even more fierce and intense than the kaala. In front of her, no demons or even kaala can stand. Thus, Sri Kaali is the savior of this world and heavens. She saves her devotees from ghosts, demons, fears, sorrow, poverty, diseases, pains etc. and grants them fearlessness. She blesses the devotees with peace and prosperity. The seventh form of Durga is known as Kalaratri which is famous since the ancient times. Even though her appearance is very frightening, but she is the source of eternal light and wisdom and takes such fierce form only for the welfare of her devotees. The form of the goddess has four arms and in the upper right hand, she holds the boon gesture as she blesses her devotees with the desired results. In the lower right hand, she holds the fearlessness gesture which ensures the protection of her devotees. She holds the mighty sword in the upper left hand and a trident in the lower left hand. Her hair is dense, black and is scattered which makes her look very fierce. She has three eyes which are round as the shape of the universe and are extremely fearsome. It has the luster of the lightning thunder and also appears like extreme darkness at the same time. She exhales heavy flames of fire as her exhalation. She is having a great garland around her neck and she has a mule as her vehicle. All kinds of troubles and diseases are taken away by her worship and one gets back the peace and happiness in his life.

Protocol for the worship of goddess Kalaratri

Goddess Adi Shakti Durga is well known in the world as Kalaratri as her seventh manifestation. There is a custom of performing poojas and vrata on the seventh day of the Navaratri. She is believed to be the savior of the devotees from danger and dispeller of various fears and every kind of obstacles just by faithful remembrance. She is always engaged in the welfare of her dear children. Even though her form is very fierce and frightening, she is the embodiment of kindness and mercy.  No one should fear from the divine form because she is the giver of boons. For obtaining her grace, devotes should complete all the domestic chores in the morning like the previous days and sit for pooja with purity. One should then carefully collect the pooja material like perfumed water, sacred rivers water, a variety of dry fruits, panchamrita, flowers, lamp, incense, rice etc. and do the poojan as per the procedure. This pooja definitely cures all fears, sorrows, pains, and diseases. There is nothing in the world which the devotee cannot achieve by her grace. All the enemies (including hidden enemies) are destroyed. During the pooja, one has to follow abstinence, celibacy, and truthfulness as much as possible. While doing the pooja one should have faith and purity of thoughts. One should try to avoid greed, ego, falsehood, and anger during the pooja. Anyone who does injustice and wrong deeds faces the wrath of the goddess. Because she is omnipresent in the whole world even today. If her sadhana is done by the process mentioned in the Shastras, one gets instant results for sure. Who does not know the great saying of “kaali Kalkatte wali”? She is the similar form of goddess Kali. She is especially worshiped in the Bengal region of east India. In this part of the country, her pooja is done in a very grand manner.

A peculiar tale of goddess Kalaratri

Mother Kalaratri is always compassionate towards all of her devotees. We find several instances in puranas goddess Kalaratri. Among the scriptures, Durga Saptashati is the foremost which gives a detailed account of nine forms of Durga in an authentic manner. Apart from this, some portions of the stories are also found in Devi Bhagavata and related puranas. It is believed that Kalaratri is a form of goddess Kali only. She is the giver of visible results in the age of Kaliyuga. Because Maa Kali, Lord Hanuman, and Lord Bhairava are gods which can be invoked easily and grants the desired fruits to the devotees. There are several names and forms of goddess Kali but by her devotees, she is called by the names like Bhadrakali, Dakshina Kali, Matra Kali, and Maha kali. All these forms are equally powerful and auspicious hence she is also known as Shubhankari which means the one who always does welfare of the people. In Durga Saptashati there is a mention of Goddess Bhadrakali slaying the demon Mahishasura. It is mentioned that during the battle, as the demons approached near the goddess with their mighty army, they showered so many arrows on the goddess as if clouds are pouring the raindrops on the peak of Mount Meru. In return, goddess broke these arrows with her giant arrows in an effortless manner and also killed the chariot riders and horses as well. Apart from that, she also destroyed their bows and their military flags. After cutting their bows, she pierced them with her mighty arrows. Then Sri Bhadrakali threw the “shola” weapon which destroyed their weapons and the demons including great Mahishasura lost their lives.

In the same manner, goddess Kali, whose face is very fierce, incarnated for the destruction of demons named Chanda and Munda. Some portion of her story is as follows Sages says that– Meanwhile, after getting the orders from Shumbha, demons like Chanda and Munda departed with their great Chaturangini army and mighty weapons. After reaching the golden peak of the Himalayas, they saw the goddess sitting on the lion. Soon they started struggling to get hold of the devi. During this time, goddess showed anger towards the demons due to which her face got darkened. Her eyebrows got frowned and from her kali emerged with a terrifying face and form who was holding pasha and sword. She is holding a strange khatvanga weapon and wearing the garments of leopard’s skin. She was also wearing a garland of skulls as an ornament. Her body was slim with less flesh she was looking horrific due to her body which as nearly a skeleton. Her face was very big and she further looked fearsome due to her moving tongue. She was making a great roaring sound which was resonating in all the directions. By slaying the demons she soon broke up on to the army of demons and destroyed everyone with her mighty power. Ashwin Navaratri, a golden opportunity for Durga devotees. Register today and get your free gift. 

Mantra of goddess Kalaratri

Many of the useful mantras of Devi Kalaratri are found in the agamic scriptures. Every mantra has its own significance and purpose. These mantras are powerful cures for many of fears and dangers like those of enemies, water, diseases, misfortunes etc. Goddess always bestows her devotees with fulfilling their desires. We are giving some of the important mantras of Kalaratri to be used in the worship:

दंष्ट्राकरालवदने   शिरोमालाविभूषणे।  चामुण्डे मुण्डमथने  नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते।।

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु दयारूपेण संस्थिता।  नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः।।           

Danstra-karala-vadane siromala-vibhusane | 

Chamunde munda-mathane narayani namo stute ||

Ya devi sarvabhuteshu daya – rupena samsthita |

Namas tasyai, namas tasyai, namas tasyai namo namah ||

Significance of Kalaratri

In authentic scriptures like Durga Saptashati, we find the significance of the goddess at regular intervals throughout the text. Shastras glorify the greatness of goddess Kalaratri who is the giver of fearlessness to the devotees and dispeller of various kinds of fears and pains. Hence all the devotees should perform the Puja And Anushthan of Sri Kalaratri as per the Vedic procedure. One should conduct the Vrata and worship with utmost belief and devotion.

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Don’t forget to read:  Goddess Mahagauri – Eighth Day Of Navratri and  Goddess Siddhidatri – Ninth Day Of Navratri

HAPPY  NAVRATRI