SITA NAVAMI 14TH ND 15TH MAY 2016
Once again folks, iam writing this article on a very special event which is coming in May. I always try to write something about those festivals and events which are close to our hearts.
In this article I will discuss about :
1. Meaning of Sita Navami ,puranic myth behind this festival.
2. Spiritual ,karmic, astrological significance.
3. Holistic view based on our subtle body chakras
4. Ayurvedic significance.
5. Celebration in India : May 15th 2016 , puja muhurat starts at 10.56 am to 13.38 pm
6. Celebration in United States : May 14th 2016 ,puja muhurat 11.26 am to 14.18 pm
Sita Navami is celebrated all over India and different parts of the world with full faith and love. Sita Navami is also called as Janaki Navami. This festival is celebrated in observance of birth of goddess Sita . Sita was wife of God RAMA.On this day , ladies do fasting for long life of their husband.
This day is celebrated on 9th lunar day of waxing moon (Shukla paksha) in the month of vaisakh . According to hindu calender, vaisakh is considered as month of april/may.
Puranic myth : King Janak was ruling over Mithila . After many efforts, he couldn’t get a child. Also during that time Mithila was facing draught. There was no water and people were dying of thirst. Lands were unable to produce any food without water. King Janak decided to perform a big yagna and plough the fields himself with a golden plough. When he started ploughing, he came across a golden casket which had a baby wrapped in a cloth. He was shocked to see a baby girl alive under the ground. His fatherly feelings couldn’t stop him to adopt that baby girl. Since she came out while ploughing the land , king named her SITA. As soon as he gave her the name , Mithila got soaked in water with rains and land became fertile again. Sita is also called AYONIJA because she did not came out of a uterus. She is also known as Dharti Putri ie the daughter of mother earth. Other names are Vedavati (sita was Vedavati in past birth), Vishnupriya.
Karmic significance: This festival lights up the Deepak of keeping faith,love,devotion and loyality towards our life partner.
Spiritual significance : This story clearly indicates its spiritual meaning, that inspite of all odds , we should not stop progressing in life. If a king can plough the field like a farmer to save his residents from hunger, then we should also forget our ego and plough our path to sow the seeds of happiness,faith,love,trust, which will come out as blessings in the form a spiritual tree, same way the king Janak found blessing as SITA from under the ground after ploughing his fields.
Astrological significance:
1.Sun is transiting in KRITTIKA nakshatra whose ruler is ,Agni God and a hot blade.in vedic astrology , sun is our soul and during this transit, sun is imparting a message to us to kill our inner darkness, our inner demon with this fierce power of Agni and make our soul a pure soul.
sun is also significator of 10 th house of profession. Here it is indicating us to burn all old setbacks and our past mistakes, instead of carrying the weight of all debris , burn it down and recycle it into a new form of opportunity.
2. Moon is transiting in PURVA PHALGUNI nakshatra in leo sign.purva means east direction, phal means fruit, guni means good qualities. This nakshatra is ruled by venus and it represents comfort, happiness, desires, children etc.
Moon represents our mind and it indicates us to enjoy all materialistic life, have fun with family and kids but being in a leo sign like a king, we should not forget our duties and our efforts towards attaining our higher self by focusing on dharma and spiritual practices.
3. Mercury , Venus are transiting in Aries sign and in BHARANI nakshatra. Here mercury is retrograde and giving a sense of realizing your inner deep thoughts and ideas. It’s the time to sow the seeds of plans and ideas until they turn out to be a sibling, as soon as mercury retrograde is over , you can plant those siblings to make a tree of fruits.
venus is also in this nakshatra and indicating some nourishing energy to heal your creativity and divine sexuality to create a new life after death.yama indicates death of a being and venus is multiplier of communities by sowing seeds of life.
So see what you can sow as a seed to create a new thing in your life ?
4. Mars on this day is retrograde in scorpio in ANURADHA nakshatra. Mars is joined with Saturn. Saturn rules this nakshatra and here this nakshatra is indicating us to control our anger/ passion/desires and since mars is retrograde , it is making us think internally about our inner soul desires of getting higher self. Saturn is setting up the boundaries for mars to stay in control and not to act like a blind soldier.
Ask yourself that what you have to work on , either your anger, passion or desires ?
5. Saturn is transiting in scorpio in JYESHTHA nakshatra in retrograde motion. Saturn is our solitude,our sence of judgement,patience,spirituality.saturn is in scorpio sign of transformation , in this nakshatra, Saturn tries to detach us from materialistic world and progress towards spirituality. For those who seek higher wisdom, can use the energy of this nakshatra by opening the spiritual knot in this sign called GANDANTA. Opening this spiritual knot with the help of a spiritual teacher will lead you to another realm of higher consciousness .
6. Rahu is transiting in leo in PURVA PHALGUNI nakshatra. Ketu is transiting in aquarius in PURVA BHADRA nakshatra. Rahu is indicating you to open the gateway of destiny wisely.rahu is planet of illusion, we should decide whether to enjoy just material stuff or listen to the call of soul ?
Ketu is indicating here to remain detached from our desires and try to attain moksha by sharing experiences and flow help for others like flowing water.
Holistic perspective: The most important part of vedic study is being holistic. The more we connect ourselves to nature, more we stay healthy and tuned. Jupiter and moon are closer to each other this day and it’s a wonderful time to meditate on our swadishthana chakra. Moon is mind and related to agya chakra. Therefore intervening of agya chakra and swadishthana chakra brings our passions ,creativity and expansion in harmony with our sense of analyzing right and wrong things.
Beej mantra for swadishthana chakra(sacral chakra) is VAM
Beej mantra for agya chakra(third eye chakra) is OM
Our left nostril represents ida nadi and right nostril represent pingala nadi. Ida is moon and pingala is sun . doing controlled breathing through ida nadi, helps to bring body and mind in balance. It also helps in spinning of agya chakra.
Ayurvedic significance:
During this month, pitta prakriti(fire) is on the rise in our body, consumption of too much spicy food can create excess pitta which can disrupt digestive system like diarrhea . by consuming citrus fruits , lemon water, and also a wonderful sacred fruit called BHEL . BHEL is known as “ aegle marmelos”. Bhel fruit has great digestive properties. Also it is known as fruit of SHIVA. Bhel has great cooling effect on body.Doing cobra pose asana can control excess pitta problems.
Please note that all above remedies are suggestion, please consult a yoga teacher and ayurvedic doctor for more precise prescription depending on your body constitution.