#154 Learning Durga's Invocation During Navratri
On divine timing, chanting, and the mysterious ways God shows up in our lives
On Monday morning, I started practicing Krishna Das’ invocation to Durga (Sri Argala Stotram).
I had never learned this mantra before, even though I love it. It’s not because the chord progression is hard (it’s a very simple progression). I hadn’t learned it because the invocation itself is challenging - a true tongue twister. It’s about eleven minutes of continuous Sanskrit, and my mind always resisted.
But this week when I started learning it, I started researching the meaning behind the mantra. I thought, if I understand what I’m chanting, maybe the words will come alive in a deeper way.
Here’s what I learned…
The Meaning of the Invocation
Om Namaś Chaṇḍikāyai
Om, I bow to the Goddess Chaṇḍikā
Jayanti Maṅgalā Kālī Bhadrakālī Kapālinī
Durgā Kṣamā Śivā Dhātrī Svāhā Svadhā namo’stu te
She Who Conquers Over All. The remover of darkness. Forgiveness itself. The supporter of the Universe. You who receive all offerings to the Gods and Ancestors. I bow to you.
Jaya tvaṁ Devi chāmuṇḍe jaya bhūtārti-hāriṇi
Jaya sarvagate Devi kāla-rātrī namo’stu te
Victory to you, Supreme Goddess. Slayer of passion and anger. Remover of troubles. Destroyer of darkness. I bow to you.
Madhu-Kaiṭabha-vidrāvi vidhātṛ varade namaḥ
To you who defeated “Too Little” and “Too Much,” Giver of creative blessings, I bow.
Rūpaṃ dehi jayaṃ dehi yaśo dehi dviṣo jahi
Grant us your form (Liberation), victory, welfare, and the removal of hostility.
(This line repeats throughout the prayer.)
Mahiṣāsura-nirṇāśi bhaktānāṁ sukhade namaḥ
You who destroyed the demon of Great Ego, Giver of happiness to devotees - I bow.
And so it continues, naming demons like conceit, self-deprecation, and ignorance, and calling on the Goddess to liberate us. The invocation ends in a most unexpected way - woven together with the lyrics of Foreigner’s song:
“I wanna know what love is… I want you to show me…”
The Perfect Timing
The day I began learning this chant, a friend DM’d me and said: “Perfect time for Navratri.”
I hadn’t even realized it was the first day of the nine-night festival devoted to Durga.
Navratri means “nine nights” and honors the Goddess in her many forms - first Durga (protection, removal of negativity), then Lakshmi (abundance, prosperity), and finally Saraswati (wisdom, knowledge). The tenth day, Vijayadashami, celebrates the ultimate victory of good over evil.
To me, it felt like God’s hand. The fact that I picked up this chant, on that day, without knowing the timing - what else could it be but divine orchestration?
God’s Signs Along the Way
This week, synchronicities keep unfolding:
Business flow: My mom commented on how well my business is going. I told her it’s because I’m chanting. Chanting opens the heart and teaches us surrender (īśvara praṇidhāna). When we release control of how things will unfold, the path opens naturally.
Justice moving forward: Out of nowhere, I met someone who could push forward my assault case to the sex crimes unit in the country in with my assailant comes from. It probably still won’t go to trial, but a door opened for me to finally give information to the authorities, which I think might help a woman in the future when she reports this - that this report is in their system.
Permanent residency: A woman casually told me I could apply for permanent residency in Bali after five years - I had no idea this even existed, but learned I am actually very close to being able to apply for this, which is amazing!
Perfect song, in the perfect class: I chanted Sri Argala Stotram in my gentle flow class, and a student told me it was the same chant that played in his first yoga class in Bali three years ago. Fittingly, it was his last class before leaving Bali.
It felt like threads weaving together in one great tapestry. That’s God’s Grace.
At the close of the mantra, the lyrics rises again: “I wanna know what love is…”
After class, a student told me, “If you keep singing like that, a man will come into your life and show you what love is.”
I smiled and replied, “That will be God.”
Because love is never something we acquire from the outside. The source of love is always within - flowing through our own heart and our connection to the higher power that sustains us. Other people may arrive as mirrors, reflecting back our radiance and our shadows. But the wellspring itself - the endless, unconditional love we long for - can only be found in God, and in the depths of our own being.
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