Goddess Durga is worshiped all over the world and wherever there're Bengalis and it has been global now, not only confined to the Eastern part of India.
Goddess Durga was assigned by the gods to fight with the "Mahishashura" (the demon with a buffalo head) because he had been a menace and invincible by the gods. After days of fighting Goddess Durga was able to defeat the demon today. Victory of the divine power over the evil.
Ravana, the King of Sri Lanka, had kidnapped Sita, wife of Rama and kept her confined in the garden of his royal palace. Rama invaded Sri Lanka and after days of war he was able to behead this ten headed King. Again the victory of the good over the bad.
Well all these are known things and since the realization of the right and wrong by the human kind everyone is talking about it. Do good. Be good. Fight the evil. Don't be lured by the evil. So on and so forth. All these advices are same.
When our forefathers used to live in the caves then they had no sense of right or wrong. Because they had to fight for their existence all the time and to multiply themselves for increasing their tribes. At that time they had to fight with animals and predators for their self defence, food and warm clothes to be made from the hides. They had also to fight with other tribes who tried to rob them of their material possessions and women. They had no feelings if they were doing something wrong.
These continued for milleniums.
Then appeared the prophets who told their folks what is wrong and what is right. The concept of state was in its early stages.
The members of the tribes were designated as citizens and some among them were chosen as their head. Generally the stronger, the intelligent and the clever one adorned those posts of ruling their fellow men.
Moses came with his decree of "Ten Commandments" and codified conduct of human kind came into force. People were made aware that they've some rights and responsibilities. They're entitled to do something and forbidden from doing something which the State thought as "wrong", breach of which warranted punishment.
With education and development of knowledge we became more conscious of the concept of right and wrong.
This fight of the good with the bad and victory over the bad has been depicted in all the epics, history, literatures and scriptures of the world.
But a tendency is being noticed. Which was considered as wrong in the past is no longer bad or a crime. Again some of the things which were considered as good is now being considered as bad or crime.
Sodomy or homo-sexuality was considered as a crime and it has also been stated in the Old Testament. But its a legal thing to have sexual relation between the same sex. The Lady Prime Minister of Ice Land has married her long time female friend and she's ruling a whole country.
Previously men could take multiple wives but now its a crime to have more than one wife at a time.
So concepts and beliefs are changing.
But inspite of all these the human value is still some what intact and being stronger day by day.
In every religion it is stated "Know Thyself" or know yourself; know who you are; know what is your actual strength; know your prowess!
Evolve yourself all the time to refine yourself as a human being. Fight with your inner evil and wage war against it.
Now the question arises; what is our inner evil or evils?
These inner evils are our vices which, if not tamed or controlled, can make us stoop below the level of human being. These vices are also called bestial indulgence, which means doing things which a beast does usually. So if we let it loose uncontrolled then we'll be at par with wild beasts in a society inhibited by human beings.
From time immemorial or thousands of years, the wise men, the philosophers, the law makers are telling, "He, who can control his own mind is more powerful than the King, who wins a battle"!
Now you can realize how important it is to win over the evils which are harboured in our own selves!!!
Its a continuous inner battle. Because by nature or one can say by genetically men had a tendency of acting like animals. They're polygamous by nature. They'd steal things which they find adorable. They'd fight with each other for acquiring properties, chattels, material possessions and even their females.
We've to control this "not so holy" urges to make this world a better place to live. We've to set examples before others what an ideal human being should be.
We fast a month as its our religious dictum. But if we analyse the inner meaning of it then it goes further beyond what the eyes can meet. Fasting means not only restraining our palates from eating within the prescribed time but to purify our innerself. Restrain our feet from visiting wrong places. Forbid our hands from committing sin. Control our eyes from seeing which we'd not look into.
Purifying self is an ever evolving process. Whole the world is now engaged in this process of self-evolution or purification by their own methods and ways. Some practice "Vipassana" some "Tantra" some again "Yoga" and some "Pranayama" (controlling of the breath). Methods can be different but their aim is one and identical; make the human being a better one by self-realization, self-purification and sele-evolution.
Durga, Mahishasura, Rama, Ravana or others are just an allegory or analogy.
The main principle is to fight with the self and emerge victorious.
Take it as a universal truth that evil, bad, wrong and all that are not good will be there so long this earth will exist. And we've to take the advantage of the situation so that we can achieve our purpose easily.
There's darkness so we know how important light is to us. Had there been no darkness then we won't be able to realize the value of light in our life.
There's ink so we know why there're papers. Ink as a substance has no use unless its used for writing or drawing upon a paper.
So there'd be bad things all the time otherwise how we'd know how it feels to be a good?
In every such occasions which celebrates the victory of the good over the bad, divinity over evil, it teaches us to look deep into ourselves and be victorious over all the bad, all the negativity, all the harmful factors which are inside us.
Lets join our hands together and take the oath that we'll fight with us to make us good and at the same time to make this earth a better place to live.
We'll really know the significance of the Dussera only on that day when we'll complete our victory over our vices.
So help us God!
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