DAY 1 SHAILAPUTRI: The First Worship Is to Stand Somewhere
A mountain appears still, but physics tells a more interesting story. Deep beneath its slopes, rock remains under pressure. Tectonic forces push upward, gravity pulls downward, rain cuts valleys and wind wears away stone. Its silence is not the absence of movement. It is equilibrium: many forces held in balance.
That makes Shailaputri , daughter of the mountain, a compelling form with which to begin Navaratri . Before seeking power, vision or victory, she asks us to discover our centre.
Even the simple act of standing contains a lesson. The body remains upright when the line of gravity through its centre of mass falls within its base of support. Yet balance is never completely motionless. Muscles make countless tiny corrections every moment. A rigid body topples easily; a living body adjusts. Spiritual steadiness is much the same. It is not stubbornness. It is the ability to meet change without allowing every change to rearrange our values.
Modern life constantly pulls at this inner centre. A headline lends us its anger, a crowd lends us its opinion, and a screen lends us an urgency that may not belong to our lives. We keep moving, yet feel strangely displaced.
The Rigveda speaks of rita, the order that holds the moving universe together: dawn returns, seasons turn and life participates in a larger rhythm. Physics uses another language, but it too reveals a universe shaped by dependable relationships. Their languages are different, yet both invite wonder: beneath ceaseless change, there is order.
In the Devi Suktam , the Goddess declares, “I have entered heaven and earth.” She is not merely placed within creation; her presence runs through seeing, breathing, hearing and life itself. The Durga Saptashati offers another luminous image: the scattered radiance of the devas converges and assumes the form of the Goddess. Energy that was dispersed finds a centre and becomes purposeful strength.
A mountain offers one more lesson from physics. Water held at a height possesses potential energy . When released, it descends to nourish fields, turn wheels and sustain valleys. True groundedness does not hoard power. It gathers strength so that strength may become service.
On the first day, stand quietly and feel gravity holding you to the earth. Then ask: what is the moral centre around which my life must remain balanced? Truth, compassion, courage or restraint may be that centre today.
Shailaputri does not teach us to resist every wind. She teaches us to make the small corrections that preserve what is essential. Before climbing, find your centre. Before asking the Goddess to enter your home, recognise the earth already holding you as her first altar.
Authored by: Dr Shambo Samrat Samajdar and Dr Shashank R Joshi
That makes Shailaputri , daughter of the mountain, a compelling form with which to begin Navaratri . Before seeking power, vision or victory, she asks us to discover our centre.
Even the simple act of standing contains a lesson. The body remains upright when the line of gravity through its centre of mass falls within its base of support. Yet balance is never completely motionless. Muscles make countless tiny corrections every moment. A rigid body topples easily; a living body adjusts. Spiritual steadiness is much the same. It is not stubbornness. It is the ability to meet change without allowing every change to rearrange our values.
Modern life constantly pulls at this inner centre. A headline lends us its anger, a crowd lends us its opinion, and a screen lends us an urgency that may not belong to our lives. We keep moving, yet feel strangely displaced.
The Rigveda speaks of rita, the order that holds the moving universe together: dawn returns, seasons turn and life participates in a larger rhythm. Physics uses another language, but it too reveals a universe shaped by dependable relationships. Their languages are different, yet both invite wonder: beneath ceaseless change, there is order.
In the Devi Suktam , the Goddess declares, “I have entered heaven and earth.” She is not merely placed within creation; her presence runs through seeing, breathing, hearing and life itself. The Durga Saptashati offers another luminous image: the scattered radiance of the devas converges and assumes the form of the Goddess. Energy that was dispersed finds a centre and becomes purposeful strength.
A mountain offers one more lesson from physics. Water held at a height possesses potential energy . When released, it descends to nourish fields, turn wheels and sustain valleys. True groundedness does not hoard power. It gathers strength so that strength may become service.
On the first day, stand quietly and feel gravity holding you to the earth. Then ask: what is the moral centre around which my life must remain balanced? Truth, compassion, courage or restraint may be that centre today.
Shailaputri does not teach us to resist every wind. She teaches us to make the small corrections that preserve what is essential. Before climbing, find your centre. Before asking the Goddess to enter your home, recognise the earth already holding you as her first altar.
Authored by: Dr Shambo Samrat Samajdar and Dr Shashank R Joshi
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