Salil Pandey
In Sanatan culture, women have been given a special place because they shape the child by keeping it in the womb for nine months. During this period, his/her every activity affects the child to be born. The fetus is affected by everything from morals to diet. During this period, the lifelong impact of the mother’s lifestyle on the child is visible in some form or the other. Therefore, many pre-birth rituals have been prescribed in the religious scriptures, so that the child born can be made capable through those rituals. Often quoting the Mahabharata period, it is mentioned about Abhimanyu that father Arjun imparted the knowledge of penetrating the six gates of Chakravyuh to Abhimanyu through pregnant Subhadra, but Subhadra fell asleep before knowing the method of the last seventh gate. Due to these reasons, Abhimanyu could not acquire the knowledge of penetrating the last gate and he was killed by the enemy army.
Story: Ashtavakra had said from the womb – ‘You are speaking wrong father’
There is a story that in ancient times, when Rishi Kohan was imparting higher knowledge to his wife and some mistake happened, Ashtavakra spoke from his mother’s womb itself – ‘Father, you are speaking wrong.’ On this, the great Pandit father’s ego got hurt and in anger he cursed his son that ‘When you are born, you will be crooked with eight limbs’.
Logicians may not believe in the story of the baby speaking from the mother’s womb, but when a wrong method is adopted in the modern instruments of physics, then the instrument itself starts giving indications of the wrong method. The sages and Maharishis of ancient times were well aware of both the methods of Mantra Shakti and Yantra Shakti. Along with this, the fact also cannot be denied that Maharishi Kohan might have introduced the knowledge of Ashtanga Yoga to his wife during pregnancy and the pregnant Ashtavakra might have got the knowledge of Kundalini awakening at the same time. After Kundalini awakening, common people start looking at a Siddhapurush with surprise, because a Siddhapurush knows how to reject the material resources that common people run after.
What is the significance of the number nine
In contrast to the prosperity of Ayodhya, Lord Shri Ram went to the dense forest, while the founder of Buddhism, Gautam Buddha also left the kingdom and set out to serve the public interest. This is the reason that the time to imbue the existence received in the mother’s womb with divine powers is only nine months of pregnancy. For these reasons, whenever the topic of gratitude towards mother power comes up, the number nine is mentioned.
The date of Navami is fixed in Pitru Paksha, while during Navratri nine days of worship is done for the blessings of maternal powers. Actually, in Shrimaddevi Bhagwat Mahapuran, there is mention of 9 Navratri festivals in a solar year, in which apart from Sharadiya, Vasantik, Ashadh, Shravan (Saavan), Bhadrapada, Kartik, Margashirsha (Agrahayan), Magh and Phalgun from Pratipada of Shukla Paksha till Navami Tithi. Along with fasting, the worshiper receives power from Mother Durga, this is described as Navaha Yagya.