Dusshera is one of the most important festivals of India and is celebrated across the country. In Sanskrit ‘Dasha’ means situation, condition, fate, time and ‘Hara’ means one who wins over. Dusshera literally means ‘The winner of one’s own fate’ or ‘The winner of one’s own bad aspects’.

Dusshera commemorates the triumph of good over evil. On this day lord Rama killed the demon king Ravana and Goddess Durga killed the mighty demon Mahisasur. Ravana and Mahisasur basically represent the negative and destructive aspects of human minds. The ten heads or Ravana represent lust, anger, greed, delusion, violence, envy, revenge, hatred, arrogance and Ego. Anyone who possess one or more of these evil qualities is said to be possessing Ravana within him. As lord Rama killed Ravana, everyone must kill these negative(demonly) aspects within them and take control of their lives. This is what would mean triumph of good over evil, triumph of positivity over negativity, triumph of willpower over weakness, triumph of forgiveness over enmity, triumph of contentment over greed, triumph of love over hatred.

With best wishes for a happy Dusshera.

- Ramesh Jain

Q: What is the significance of rituals such as pooja, homa, aarti, yagna, fasting etc. during religious festivals?

A: Rituals are designed to help invoke the power of our emotions during various festivals as on those particular days (days of festivals), the whole universe is in a particular format and our rishis and munis have devised rituals so as to format our emotions and synchronize them with the format of the universe. If one is able to emanate required emotions with required intensity then one need not really follow any rituals.