The Powers of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati

 

"The life of a man who cannot respect and love such a venerable mother, is utterly useless. Recognising one's mother as the very embodiment of all divine forces, one must show reverence to her and treat her with love. This is the true message that the Navaratri, the nine-night festival gives us. 

The supreme Shakti manifests herself in the form of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. Durga grants to us energy - physical, mental and spiritual. Lakshmi bestows on us wealth of many kind - not just money but intellectual wealth, the wealth of character and others. Even health is a kind of wealth. She grants untold riches to us. And Saraswati bestows on us intelligence, the capacity for intellectual enquiry and the power of discrimination. 

The Navaratri festival is celebrated in order to proclaim to the world the power of the goddesses. One's own mother is the combination of all these Divine beings. She provides us energy, wealth and intelligence. She constantly desires our advancement in life. So she represents all the three goddesses that we worship during the Navaratri festival."

~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba

(Divine Discourse - 14.10.1988)