DURGA PUJA AND DASSAIN

Durga Puja

Vedas and Upanishads are grounded on the belief that Shiva is the Absolute Being and Shakti is the cosmic energy of Shiva.  With Shakti, the phenomenal world emerges from Shiva and dissolves back into Shiva. 

Shiva is impersonal inactive pure consciousness while Shakti is active power of pure consciousness.  The essential nature of Shiva and Shakti is formless.  In form, Shiva and Shakti are Mahadev and Parvati. 

The absolute primeval form of Shakti is Adi-Shakti.

Adi-Shakti first born in form as Goddess Sati, the daughter of Daktsa Prajapati, who is responsible to worldly norms, traditions, codes of conduct, and morality. 

Goddess Sati marries to Mahadev, but ends her life to destroy Daktsa Prajapati’s ego and attain higher perfection.

Goddess Sati is worshiped in her ten manifestations revered as Das Maha Vidya,  the ten wisdom Goddesses.

The ten wisdom Goddesses are:

1...Goddess Kali

Goddess Kali represents time.  She embodies both, the creative and destructive nature. 

Goddess Kali reflects attitude, intention, and emotion of the person who approaches her. 

If Goddess Kali is approached with love, she assumes the form of Goddess Laxmi.  If she is approached for knowledge and wisdom, she assumes the form of Goddess Saraswati. 

But Goddess Kali is approached with evil intension; she assumes the wrathful form and destroys the persons itself having evil intent.

2...Goddess Tara

Goddess Tara embodies protective qualities, loving kindness and compassion. 

Goddess Tara ferries her devotees cross Samsara -the ocean of physical and psychological world and guides us along the creative path like a guiding star of our aspiration. 

She removes ignorance that ties us to Samsara and obstacles that make us suffer.

Goddess Tara is savioress who saves us from Urga -radical dangers and unforeseen miseries, and hence she is revered as Ugra-Tara. 

In her manifestation as Nila Saraswati, she imparts Jnana -knowledge. 

Goddess Tara is Ek-Jata, the one who unites the beings with absolute. 

3...Goddess Tripur Sundari

Goddess Tripur Sundari, also known as Sodasi, embodies pure perception, compassion and knowledge.  She symbolizes the three-fold process of creation, sustenance and destruction which involves body, mind and consciousness.

Goddess Tripur Sundari shares her attributes with Goddess Saraswati. 

She represents Swaha –the life beyond all fallacies, thoughts and descriptions.

4...Goddess Bhuvaneswari

Goddess Bhuvaneswari is the Cosmic Mother of all existence and she resides in the heart of Shiva. 

In the vast expanse of space, Goddess Bhuvaneswari creates the myriad of primordial worlds, sustains them and nourishes them. 

Goddess Bhuvaneswari resides in our heart and constantly reminds us not to fall into illusions but see across and beyond to oneness among all beings. 

She bestows her divine blessing for equanimity and assists in connecting our heart and mind with the world of divinity.

5...Goddess Bhairavi

Goddess Bhairavi personifies fire that burns imperfections. 

She removes impediments to victory and successes. 

Goddess Bhairavi, in the form of Goddess Kali, destroys the demons Shumbha and Nishumbha -the embodiment of Ego and attachment.

Goddess Bhairavi is Chamundeshwari who kills the demons Chanda and Munda -the embodiment of psychic energies of aversion, lustfulness and unclear vision.

Goddess Bhairavi is the Goddess Kalratri, the fiercest wrathful form of Goddess Durga.  

6...Goddess Chinnamasta

Goddess Chinnamasta signifies that consciousness alone is absolute and all else is impermanent. 

Goddess Chinnamasta is the embodiment of rare courage needed to make highest sacrifice.

Goddess Chinnamasta, in a single frame, makes a stunning presentation of varying and conflicting aspects of life and death; the joy of transcending the body and not the pain of losing it; and the joy of giving up the ego to attain wisdom and freedom.  

She symbolizes self-control and the spirit of self-sacrifice, and the courage to face death without fear.  

7...Goddess Dhumavati

Goddess Dhumavati personifies extreme poverty, troubles and tribulations one may encounter in life.  

Goddess Dhumavati reminds us for being aware of potential extremes and signifies the importance of awareness and being mindful of negative forces. 

With the power of discriminating awareness, Goddess Dhumavati directs us to look beyond all desires and develop a sense of detachment.

Goddess Dhumavati guides us along the spiritual path and rescues from extreme ill fates.

8...Goddess Bagalamukhi

Goddess Bagalamukhi is the manifestation of divine speech. 

Goddess Bagalamukhi symbolizes the removal of impurities associated with speech and the tongue involved in telling lies or concealing the truth.  

She signifies failure hidden in success, death hidden in life, joy hidden in sorrow, and vice versa.  She is the secret presence of the opposites.

9...Goddess Mantangi

Goddess Mantangi is the embodiment of thought, talent and skills. 

Goddess Mantangi signifies the importance of inner purity over external cleanliness.  

Goddess Mantangi enables her devotees to discern purity and impurity; auspicious and inauspicious; and puritanical notion and unrestrained indulgence with sense objects. 

She instills faith that all existence is pervaded by the Supreme Being. 

10…Goddess Kamala

Goddess Kamala is the embodiment of prosperity and good luck.

Goddess Kamala shares her attributes with Goddess Laxmi.  

The benevolence Goddess Kamala is the removal of poverty, both material and spiritual.  She grants divine support for success on worldly activities and aspirations.  

Goddess Kamala tells us that the pursuit of material wealth and success should be for seeking divinity within us. 

Eons later Adi Shakti born as Goddess Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya. 

Goddess Parvati marries with Mahadev, and becomes eternal consort. 

Goddess Durga is the divine form of Goddess Parvati. 

In Goddess Durga all Goddesses of Hinduism are converged.

In Navaratri Durga Puja the nine manifestations of Goddess Durga are worshipped in the following sequential order. 

1…Shailputri Durga

Shailputri Durga is the embodiment of primeval purity.  She is inner consciousness, who is unborn and resides deep in our inner consciousness. 

Human consciousness is characterized by constantly outward flowing energy.  With deep dedication and concentration on Shailputri Durga, the out flowing energy turns inward in search of perfection and eventually gets stilled. 

By taking refuge is in Shailputri Durga, the devotees are able awaken her and with her begins the spiritual journey and progress through successive steps in pursuit of eternal peace and happiness. 

2…Brahmacharini Durga

Brahmacharini Durga is the embodiment of purity of mind. 

Brahmacharini Durga bestows self-confidence and resolute determination.  She is the giver of spiritual wisdom for moving into the boundless space of pure awareness.  She personifies love and loyalty, and provides knowledge and wisdom. 

With the blessing of Brahmacharini Durga our mind becomes pure and remains unshaken, and do not deviate from ethical conduct and duty even in the most critical periods of physical and mental pressures. 

With the purity of mind devoid of Ego, we are able accept things or situations as they are with humility. 

3…Chandraghanta Durga

Chandraghanta Durga is the embodiment of inner vibration of the accumulated energies.  She signifies the inner call for pure consciousness, the pure state of mind, peace, serenity and humility.

Chandraghanta Durga provides justice, protects from evil forces, removes obstacles on the spiritual path, and enables to cultivate courage and fearlessness. 

By contemplating on the divinity of Chandraghanta Durga, we are able to purify our body, speech, mind and action, and liberate from worldly sorrows. 

4…Kushmanda Durga

Kushmanda Durga is the core of our inner consciousness, referred as Surya Loka.  She is our deepest inner consciousness.  She embodies Sankalpa, the mental projection, and the underlying energy, and the phenomenon that continue without end.

Kushmanda Durga liberates from sorrows and bestows with long life, good health, name and fame, and strength. 

5…Skandamata Durga

Skandamata Durga is the embodiment of energy that accelerates the single-pointed yearning for liberation.  It is in this manifestation Parvati gives birth to Skanda or Kartikeya, who destroys the formidable demon Tarakasura -the impeder of liberation.

With the blessing of Skandamata Durga, our mind becomes pure, bereft of thought waves.  At the purest state of mind, the devotees of Skandamata Durga are liberated from illusion. 

6…Katyayani Durga

Katyayani Durga is the embodiment of faith and confidence. 

Katyayani Durga confers blessing for being confident in our own ‘self’ and decisive in our actions.  Being confident and decisive, we get rid of fear and doubt, the root causes of defeat and failure. 

Katyayani Durga is worshiped for self confidence and victory. 

7…Kalratri Durga

Kalratri Durga is the wrathful form of Goddess Durga.  She takes this wrathful form to eliminate evils which are otherwise difficult to destroy. 

Kalratri Durga destroys the demon Raktabija, the embodiment of fleeting thoughts and desire that remains dissatisfied even after fulfilling all the desires. 

Kalratri Durga is the embodiment of discerning wisdom.  She enables us to discern between the underlying truth and surface illusion.

With the blessings of Kalratri Durga, we become fit to earn virtues. 

8…Mahagauri Durga

Mahagauri Durga is the embodiment of the perfection, the purity of our inner consciousness and inherently resides in our heart. 

Mahagauri Durga signifies soaking our mind in the eternal light of Supreme Being after crossing over the utter darkness of the deepest level of our unconsciousness where our Ego in all its denominations are considered dead. 

It was in this form Goddess Parvati married Lord Shiva as her eternal consort. 

9…Siddhidhatri Durga

Siddhidhatri Durga is the ultimate form of Durga.  She is the embodiment of success.  She is the purest and absolute knowledge.

Siddhidhatri Durga is the wish fulfilling goddess and giver of all forms of successes.  She is the giver of Siddhi –perfections, and Riddhi –supernatural powers. 

With Siddhis and Riddhis bestowed by Siddhidhatri Durga, her devotees transcend all material desires and propensity.  The absolute nearness of the perfect Supreme Being becomes the only aim of her devotees. At that state, the only intension that remains is to help and free others from illusion and influence of negativities. 

Dassain

Dassain is celebrated on the tenth day of the autumn Navaratri Durga Puja.  It is the auspicious occasion of celebrating victory of good over evils. 

Dassain marks the victory of Goddess Durga, the ultimate divine power over demons, the evils; that manifest in our mind, speech, behavior and action. 

It was on this day Lord Ram; the incarnation of Lord Vishnu had subdued Ravan, the king of evils.

Dassain is the occasion to cherish harmony and happiness.  It provides the basis for embracing righteousness to live a meaningful life.

Dassain is an occasion to receive blessings of Goddess Durga, parents and elders of the family.  It is a festival of family get together and an occasion to rejuvenate hope and aspiration, self-confidence and instill values. 

Dassain begins with Ghata Sthapana which means consecration of Goddess Durga in a sacred sanctum for worshiping her for nine days.

Ghata Sthapana is done by placing a Kalash –a container filled with water, symbolizing Goddess Durga. 

Alongside seeds of coarse grains are sown in a container filled with clean sand.  The pot is kept covered to let the seeds grow into golden colored seedling, called Jamara.

A lamp is lit, which ought to continue burning throughout and the environment is kept clean for welcoming Goddess Durga.

Of the nine days, the seventh, eighth and ninth days are of special significance. 

The seventh day is called the Phul-Pati day.  On this day nine different flowers, shrubs and herbs symbolizing nine different forms of Goddess Durga are placed in a Kalash.  On this day, Goddess Durga is worshiped in her Kalratri form. 

On Phul-Pati day prayers are offered to Goddess Durga to reveal the true nature of ours by transcending the egoistic human nature. 

Phul-Pati day is a day of sacrifice, the day we sacrifice our ego and all its denominations.

The eighth day is called Durga Asthami.  On this day Goddess Durga in the form of Mahagauri is worshiped along with her eight companions called Asta-nayikas. 

The ninth day is called Maha Navami.  On Maha Navami, Goddess Durga is worshiped in the form of Siddhidhatri along with all her manifestations and all other denominations. 

On Maha Navami, Ista Devata –favorite personal deity, and Kul Devata –family deities are also specially worshiped.

On Maha Navami, Durga Puja culminates and Dassain festivities begin. 

Dassain is marked with a special Tika ceremony.  The Tika is of colored rice.  It is believed that each grain of rice carries the blessings of Goddess Durga, parents and elders of the family.   

Parents and elders offer Tika along with Jamara which signifies the symbolic blessing of Goddess Durga for wish fulfilling, good health, and happiness.

Dassain festival formally ends after four days on the ensuing full moon day.   

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Professionalism: A Perspective of an Agriculturist (3rd October 2008)

The concept of professionalism goes beyond one’s profession.  It intends to establish that every professional cultivate cardinal values and morality in their life. 

To qualify as a professional, one must suspend self-interest in the first place.  It is required to maintain integrity of the profession and win the trust and confidence of the clients and society as whole. 

While the professionals strive to know better and know what is best for their clients, they must enshrine morality and ethical values in discharging their responsibilities at a highest level of skill and knowledge.  On this subject, Winston Churchill once said; “You make a living by what you get.  You make a life by what you give”.

Professionalism is primarily an attitude towards one’s profession and not just a measure of formal educational level or competence requirement.  Professionals’ behavior that ignores basic goals of the profession only serve individual motives and cause organization and clients to lose confidence on the professionals.  Thus, the professionalism may be defined as behavior that builds trust of the society on the professionals and eventually to the organization in which they work. 

The esteem of a profession depends upon the willingness of the professionals to improve the ideals of the profession.  Besides being skilled and knowledgeable, the professionals are those people who are objective and ethical.  They discharge their duties in an objective manner and apply fundamental values of ethical behavior to their profession.  Integrity and equanimity in discharging the responsibility with equity, clear conscience, accountability and above all ethical behavior are some of basic elements of the professionalism. 

The professionalism demands that professionals must discharge their responsibility in the best interest of the society.  They must exercise their obligation equally to their profession, clients and institutions in an honest and ethical manner.  They must keep abreast of the expanding horizon of knowledge base and failing to do so, the time will leave the professionals behind and make them obsolete.  The professionals must know what they claim to know and maintain minimum essential level of competence. 

The basic philosophy of professionalism demands the following four essential qualities in a professional:

1.  Competence and expertise in a chosen field, 

2. Integrity in delivering the responsibilities by conferring accountability thereof, 

3.  Enshrine morality and ethical values in discharging the responsibilities entrusted upon, and 

4.  Uphold institutional responsibility, because the degree to which respect and trust are enjoyed within an organization, influences the efficiency and effectiveness in delivering the expected output. 

The ultimate goal of professionalism is to achieve the same degree of rigor and predictability of performance from every individual professional of the respective discipline. 

Professionalism indeed stems from a set of guiding principles of standards, work ethics and code of conducts to maintain or uphold the image of the profession being exercised by the professionals. 

In the field of agriculture, the profession of an agriculturist entails to development or acquisition of scientific knowledge and application of agricultural sciences to the business and arts of agriculture.  On this background a professional agriculturist is a person who demonstrates or performs any work or service in the field of agriculture. 

From the perspective of professional agriculturist, food is one of the most powerful currencies in the world today particularly in the developing world.  The echelon of a professional agriculturist is measured in terms of commitments and dedication leading to excellence combined with the dignified way of delivering the services.  The professional agriculturist primarily works for sustainable development and growth in the agriculture aiming for:

1.  A bountiful harvest through advances in agronomy and bio-technology, technology transfer, product development and quality assurance,

2.  Constantly higher environmental standards through sustainable farming practices, soil and water conservation, and health and safety measures, and

3.  More business opportunity and room for healthy economic growth.

  

To be graduated as a professional in agriculture in the Bhutanese context, the professionals must fulfill two basic requirements of professionalism:

1. They must have service motive, share their advances in knowledge and sustain professional integrity and ideals, and
2. They must recognize their obligation to the Bhutanese farming communities by living up to their expectations. 

Above all, Bhutanese professional agriculturists should have a mission of modernizing Bhutanese agriculture, which can be done with passion and professionalism.  The trend for knowledge-based development is set and it will only intensify in years ahead.

Striving to be a professional agriculturist is to exercise responsibility and accountability with a high level of performance observing ethical attitude towards one’s profession.  The three primary goals set for being a professional are:

1. Maintaining and operating out of one’s expertise; Competent individuals can be relied upon to do their job well, they maintain a professional edge, take responsibility for the quality of their work, and work within their limitation.
2. Self-control and respect for others; Self-controlled individuals know themselves, know their limits, and seek help when things get out of control in their lives.  They observe self-discipline, which allows for productivity and satisfaction while avoiding self-destructive and obsessive tendencies. 
3. Respecting others; Professionals treat other people as if they really matter.  Through empathy, they put themselves on the receiving end of their actions, creating a climate of respect and dignity, which allows every one a meaningful measure of satisfaction and success. 

The tips as checklist for attaining the goal of a professional agriculturist are:

To be observed	To be avoided
Maintaining and operating out of one’s expertise
Ø  Remaining aware of alternatives and new approaches,	Ø  Negligence (=neglecting duties or problems)
Ø  Keeping up to date with the changing environment and needs of the clients	Ø  Generating shoddy results and letting the task remain incomplete
Ø  Ensuring accuracy and precision, and stay with it until it is right	Ø  Continual postponing urgent tasks
Ø  Meeting dead line for accomplishing the assigned responsibility exercising full accountability	Ø  Reliance upon outdated methods and techniques
Ø  Exercising discipline, dedication, sincerity and self motivation towards delivering one’s services	Ø  Letting somebody do one’s job, taking up shaky ventures, and volunteering for what is beyond one’s ability
Ø  Exercise self-reliance, resourcefulness, willingness to accept and carry out the assigned task.	Ø  Coming to work high and hung-over
Self control and respect for oneself
Ø  Keeping cool, but focused	Ø  “Going off” on others even when they seem to deserve it
Ø  Knowing one’s identity and the limit	Ø  Relying upon intimidation
Ø  Keeping work schedule, showing up for work and actually working	Ø  Being a whiner, a slacker and a missing person
Ø  Getting help when things are getting out of control	Ø  Moving too fast and letting colleagues feel embarrassed
Respecting others
Ø  Keeping appointment and being punctual	Ø  Using others’ idea without giving credits
Ø  Respecting others’ private lives and personal preferences	Ø  Upbraiding subordinates in public
Ø  Giving credit to others’ idea and good work	Ø  Shifting the blame and backbiting
Ø  Exercising patience with others’ occasional bad days	Ø  Being a gossip-monger, a tyrant or a manipulator

Bhutanese agriculture is in the cross roads of tradition and modernization.  Elsewhere, fundamental shift has taken place from subsistence to profitable market-driven agriculture.  With changing time, modernization of Bhutanese agriculture is inevitable. 

In the modern market-driven agriculture, the consumers are in the driver’s seat and it is their directions must be clearly read by the farmers or else the income they receive from their small farms will be heavily discounted. 

In the new era of changing scenario, if there is one word to explain the requirements of the Bhutanese professional agriculturist, it is professionalism.  This implies to set of standards of performance across all parts of the system.  It implies willingness to take up responsibility and benchmark performance retaining appropriate ethics and values.  If Bhutanese agriculture is to be a sunrise industry in the new era, the role of fully professional agriculturists is critical.

To achieve a high standard of performance, the professional agriculturists have to balance their obligation to the farming communities, the organization and principles and standards of agricultural sciences that keep agriculture bountiful and sustainable.  The criteria against which the performance of the professional agriculturists may be measured are:

Ø  Whole-hearted commitment and involvement,

Ø  Full responsibility is assumed willingly,

Ø  Undiminished enthusiasm and high energy level,

Ø  Untarnished integrity at all times,

Ø  High degree of proficiency in skills and knowledge are demonstrated while performing the tasks,

Ø  Positive work values at all times,

Ø  Improvement in work methods is formulated and implemented,

Ø  Loyalty is rendered to respective organization and clients, and

Ø  Standards, rules and regulations are adhered and strictly complied.

For modernizing Bhutanese agriculture, every professional agriculturist, we believe, should establish a professional credo as outlined below:

Creed of a Bhutanese Professional Agriculturist

I am a professional agriculturist by choice and not by chance.

I believe in Bhutanese agriculture; I dedicate my life to the advancement of the livelihood and dignity of Bhutanese farming communities.

I will exercise my proficiency for sustainable development of Bhutanese agriculture.

I will continue to advance professionally with my clear conscience and hard work.

I will work in harmony to the interest of my organization, clients and interest groups working for the sustainable development of Bhutanese agriculture.

My love and respect for the Bhutanese farming communities will spur me on to impart something from my life that will continue to uphold the esteem of Bhutanese professional agriculturist.

 Tashi Delek

References:

Chismar D (-), Professionalism: Ethics in everyday business work place, Chowan College Center for Ethics.

Goodwin B (2000), Ethics at work, Kluwer Academic Publisher.

Ontario Institute of Agrology: Personal professionalism, Characteristics of Professionalism.

Napier R (2001), Global trends impacting farmers: implication for family farm management, Napier AgriFuture, Australia.

White J (1985), Professionalism and agrology: Is there a future.