The power of Durga Saptasati

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely this is a popular saying which has a strong element of truth in it. In every sphere we come across powerful and corrupt people who, to serve their own interests, stoop to any extent. They could threaten a vulnerable, honest person to implicate him in a case of corruption. Often, even if the actual culprit happens to get caught, the umbrella of power is there to provide protection. Power begets power. As happened in case of Baba Ramdev at Ramlila Ground in Delhi.

The most dangerous are those who are powerful and corrupt as well as intelligent. Intellect is a double-edged sword it can cut either way. It could even justify a wrong-doing. Articulation and skilful presentation could make untruth appear like truth. As in our Indian Government some of the Ministers do that.

Yes, the socially relevant forms of 'power' in humans are characterized by physical prowess and health, knowledge and professional skill, beauty, wealth and property, social status in terms of caste, priestly or princely authority and the status in the governance of the day. The positive march of socio-biological evolution demands a fair use of these powers for the benefit of the self and the society. When an individual starts misusing his/her powers and starts ill-treating the others, the weak, only option left with them is collective power to beat the rogue. SANGHA SHAKTI must be invoked and we are evolutionary empowered to that unified thinking and action. The oppressed people elect a leader and strengthen his/her hands to lead. The gods and God are born!

That is why Ramakrishna did not give much importance to a learned person; he respected realised souls. A pundit might be capable of engaging in any discussion relentlessly. However, from the spiritual point of view, this is of no consequence. A realised soul talks less, but in his deliberation there is strength because it is not based on what he has memorised or the information he has gathered.

Since there will always be powerful and corrupt persons in life, the crucial question is, how should we handle them?

Two paths are before us. One is to unite ourself with others as per the old saying united we stand divided we fall. It will be possible to find like-minded people who have respect for truth and ethical values. It is not as though society is full of corrupt people; they are fewer in number but they seem to dominate because of the strong nexus they have with the powerful. If only the honest ones keep their ego under check and come together to overthrow the corrupt, the problem of corruption can be overcome.

This is the simple and only reality. Let us judge our performance based on how well we listen to our conscience. In the here and in the now.

As far as the India is concerned, what exactly is happening at present. There may be many more but 3 faces are very prominent in this fight against corruption Baba Ramdev, Anna Hazare and Subramanian Swamy (SS). Out of these 3, SS is doing his fight on his own as he knows in and outs having been Cabinet Minister himself. He is carrying on his fight as he does not need crowds; at the same time, his is not a mass movement. Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare have mass movements but these can't be maintained forever. So, best scenario will be for Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare to put their energies behind SS.

Here is an example from the Durga Saptasati. As long as Devtas fought Mahisasura individually, none could defeat him. The moment they came out of their individual ego and decided to act together, the result was tremendous it led to the arising of the eternal Goddess Durga. Each Devta empowered her with the strength that they had individually. That collective force rose up to meet the challenge posed by negativity.

The message is clear: Evil cannot be destroyed completely, but it can be kept under control. It's important not to remain indifferent when faced with corruption but to speak out and do what one can to make a difference.

Several temptations will come your way that could distract you from the task at hand. These offers are likely to be substantial in terms of the material. However, the need is to cultivate equipoise and not surrender to temptation. Not even a few of us might have the resilience and strength of a Gandhi or have the will to follow in the footsteps of a Christ. But one can try, and perhaps make a difference, however small, so that eventually, taken in the collective, there comes a time when the force of honesty and goodness gathers sufficient momentum to root out corruption wherever possible.

Every one of us can contribute a bit of ourselves to strengthen the efforts of the more forthcoming among us and who knows, just as the Devtas put in their mite to raise the eternal Durga, we too could find ourselves raising a strong force that will help cleanse the system.

The fight between the Good and the Evil appears to be an endless one apparently-this is reflected in many of the stories narrated in our Ithihasas (History) and puranas; it is not that God has created Good and the evil for human race alone; Good and evil exist among the Devas- eg., Devas and asuras-How many times Lord Indira had to leave his abode and live in exile in hiding, when chased by the mighty asuras who gained power by performing most difficult tapas and yagnas, ultimately to be helped by the Trinity (Vishnu-Shiva-Brahma) to overcome the asuras and regain his kingdom- therefore our plight against human asuras in our world can very well be gauged! It is impossible to fight out corruption, violence etc., individually and the need of the hour is alignment of like-minded good people to fight it out and this may lead to controlling corruption and similar evils but may not lead to total annihilation of evil! Evil seems to be existing side by side with Good and I wonder why God has created evil at all and He alone can weed it out totally. We sometime shudder to think of corruption in our society in the present world where it becomes often difficult to distinguish between the evil-minded and the Good- as more often we see the Fence devouring the grain it is supposed to protect! (Jab baad hi fasal ko Khane lage to Uski Raksha kaun karega) The law makers are law breakers and therefore whom do we approach to contain this corruption in society. Self -introspection and Realization alone seem to be the answer.

"If only the honest ones keep their ego under check and come together to overthrow the corrupt, the problem of corruption can be overcome".......The past victims of the corrupted evil ones who let fear and emotional threat to come forward are indeed allowing their ego to take over. Inferior ego and superior ego is one of the same. If only they can come forward " TO-GET-HER", the resplendent Divine Mother in all glory will arise as ONE ENERGY to vanquish any evil that befalls her children.

As in case of Mahisasura "The moment they came out of their individual ego and decided to act together, the result was tremendous it led to the arising of the eternal Goddess Durga. Each Devta empowered her with the strength that they had individually. That collective force rose up to meet the challenge posed by negativity."

People today confine to themselves and their family and feel that so long they have escaped from the grip of the evil they should be happy and thank their lucky stars. They say if someone else becomes the next victim, it is their karma. Can you imagine if all Devtas have thought the same in the past, today we will be in absolute rule Mahisasuran. The victims of the past no matter where they should give support to those who lead the fight so that the next victim is spared from the touch of the known evil.

Even media is also blamed for this. For media, dog bites man is no news; they want sensational man bites dog news. Even when little facts gathered and sent to them, they still do not take action or work hand in hand with the evil force to strengthen the evil even further. They someone to go down in a big way and then they can go with the camera and sensational the news. What is the point, if investigation is really made to smoke out the truth, some lives could have been spared from better damage.

Yes, we the society have to come hand in hand “TO-GET-HER" divine energy to vanquish the evil in whatever forms that engulfs the light of the hearts.

As we are well aware our scriptures use symbolism very well to convey a message. The crucial bit is the 'means' not the 'end'. The crucial bit is how I responded to a situation not whether I got rid of corruption or any other vice. It is the worry about 'securing the right end' or 'winning' or 'overthrowing' the corrupt one that actually weakens us. Our job should be to follow our conscience, nothing less nothing more. Let us not worry about the end result because that is not in our gift. If each one of us does our bit, the end will sort itself out.