Navratri’s point is simple: what is beyond form is reached only by going through form. The task, then, is to meet life as it comes, without shortcuts or avoidance. In these nine nights, the real ‘vrat’ should be simple and exact: approach the Durga Saptashati with your whole heart, as a ‘sankalp’ not to remain as you currently are.
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Originally published in The Sunday Guardian on 28 sep '25.
Saptashati reveals freedom comes by meeting life fully, not bypassing form.
Navratri returns each year to remind us of something both simple and profound: the formless is reached only through form. The scriptures speak of the formless; we, meanwhile, often either cling to rituals or treat life as something to step over. The result is predictable: religion risks becoming an abstraction, and ordinary life is left outside its gates. But we do not live in abstractions; we live in form.
Navratri’s point is simple: what is beyond form is reached only by going through form. The task, then, is to meet life as it comes, without shortcuts or avoidance. In these nine nights, the real ‘vrat’ should be simple and exact: approach the Durga Saptashati with your whole heart, as a ‘sankalp’ not to remain as you currently are.
