Durga Puja/The Worship
THE WORSHIP.
In the autumn of every year is to be celebrated the Mahapuja, is the injunction of the Markandeya Purana. It is not optional, it is indeed a commandment, and it has what the Smarthas would call a Nityatva i. e., the omission is a sin, but it lias also a Kamyatva in it, i. e., if performed it is meritorious and may be performed with some object in view. The Kalika Purana says, whoever in the great festival of Durga does not worship the Devi whether from ignorance, vanity, or jealousy, or from any other cause, the wrath of the Goddess falls on him and destroys all his wishes. The Bhavishyottara Purana says, the gratification of Bhavani is the assurance of happiness for the whole year, is for the destruction of the spirits, goblins and ghosts, and also for the sake of festivity. The Devi Purana says, the meritorious effects of gratifying Durga even for half a minute, cannot be described by Mabesa, the five-faced, in a hundred years. Indeed, the Durgotsava is of all Hindu festivals, the most solemn and the most popular. Every Hindu, who can afford to enjoy the luxury of celebrating the festival, begins to make preparations for it from the commencement of the year. So dear is the festival to the Hindus of Bengal that few forego the pleasure of worshipping the autumnal Goddess. Should not the circumstances of any person permit him to worship the Goddess in the idols, in his own house, he worships her in paintings or in the Ghata (an earthen pot of a peculiar form), or he sends his free-will and devotional offerings to the idols of his neighbours or relatives. On the eighth day of the moon i. e. on the second day of the Durgotsava offerings of rice, sugar, cocoanut, and various other fruits and flowers are made by every Hindu in Bengal. The Devi Purana says, this is a ceremony that can be celebrated by Brahmanas, Kshatrias, Vaisyas, Sudras, and by other slaves, also by various Mlechchhas, and Dasyus. Indeed, it is a national festival, and no native of any caste or creed can avoid the contagion of the jubilee. In the North-West, in the Punjab and in the Southern Presidency it is observed as a Navaratri (nine nights) festival.
The festival is celebrated according to the text of three Puranas viz., the Kalika Purana, the Devi Purana, and the Vrhannandikesvara Purana; the most elaborate of these is the last. There are three times of commencing the ceremony. From the waning ekadasi of Ashadha to the waxing ekadasi of Kartika the gods are said to sleep, this period is called the Dakshinayana, the night of the Gods, when the sun proceeds towards the south. Before the goddess is worshipped she has to be awakened. Indra is said to rise about the time of the new moon of Asvina, and from time immemorial the Sakrotthana or the rising of Indra has been observed as an agricultural festival. The Devi Purana says, in the month of Isha i.e. Asvina, in the waning fortnight, when the sun enters the sign Virgo, on the ninth day, the Goddess is to be roused with sport, pleasure, and prosperity. On the sixth day, with the asterism Jyaishtha (R and T, Scorpionis) the Vel tree is to be invited; on the seventh, with the asterism Mula, the entrance of the patricas is to be celebrated; on the eighth day, with Purvashadha asterism are to be performed with fast the puja and the homas; on the ninth day, with the asterism Uttarashadha, Siva is to be worshipped with balis; and on the tenth day, with the asterism Sravana the goddess being homaged is to be consigned to water. In the Kamakhya Panchamurti Prakrana, it is stated, that as long as there are the earth, the air, the heavens, water, fire, the moon, and the planets, so long shall the worship of Chandica be observed on the earth, for in ancient days on the eighth and ninth days of Asvina used to be celebrated with great eclat, the autumnal festival. It is added that in ancient times on the ninth day in autumn the goddess used to be awakened, the ceremony has accordingly been known as the great Autumnal Festival. The Linga Purana says, after worship, on the ninth day of the dark fortnight of Asvina the Devi is to be awakened with great pomp and eclat. This is called the Bodhana or the arousing. The Bodhana may also be commenced on the sixth day of the waxing moon of Asvina. The Bhavishya Purana says, on the sixth the goddess is to be aroused in the Vel tree, and the evening prayer offered with devotion. The Kalika Purana says, on the sixth, the Devi is to be awakened on a branch of the Vel tree and on a pair of its fruits, on the seventh, the same being collected She is to be worshipped thereon; on the eighth, on the same twig She is to be worshipped with some peculiar ceremonies, and the worshipper is to watch the whole night with vigilance, and in the dead of night to offer a sacrifice; on the ninth, with numerous sacrifices She is to be worshipped and to be meditated with the Durga mantra; and on the tenth the idol is to be consigned to water, and the jubilee concluded with the time-honored custom of kolakuli or embracing. From the above it would appear, that the commencement of the ceremony of arousing the goddess may be deserved on either the ninth day of the dark fortnight preceding the Durgotsava, or on the sixth day of the waxing fortnight. These two are the days of Bodhana or arousing, but the Kalpa or the resolution to worship the Goddess may be commenced on the first day after the new moon preceding the Durgotsava, this is called the Pratipadadikalpa.