Navratri is time when one sees long queues of people outside temples waiting for their turn to make their request before God. Whenever we pray, we ask for pleasure, how many of us ask for pain? Pleasure and pain go hand in hand.
Every pleasure comes with a pain and pain comes with pleasure. Usually we only indulge in pleasure, because of which pain is forced upon us in the form of disease and financial and relationship troubles. Earlier generations understood this dynamic and therefore used to inflict pain upon themselves to compensate for the pleasures they had indulged in. This pain usually comes in the form of service, charity and tapa.
So, what is tapa? It is one of the five niyamas prescribed in Ashthang Yoga, where you heat the body by giving it pain. A basic purification, it is a means to throw out your negative karmas and expedite evolution. Fasting or upavaas done during the nine days of Navratri is a form of tapa. Do remember bhoga is a never-ending process; there is nobody who can ever be satisfied with it. One tends to get stuck in bhoga whereas tapa will make you move ahead, to a higher dimension. The nine days of Navratri are very powerful days, but this does not mean that during these nine days, goddesses will come to your home and fulfil all your wishes. Each of these nine days has a specific purpose. During Navratri the weather changes, that is, various energies of this creation move from imbalances towards a new equilibrium. Since a human being is a poorna ansh of this creation, every object and energy of the creation resides in you as well. Thus, during these nine days you too move towards a new equilibrium, the prana shakti in your body undergoes a process of re-alignment, that is from imbalance to new balance for the new season. For this re-aligning the body has to be kept light.
Sadhaks observe upavaas in its authentic sense, that is, giving up pleasure to observe austerities during sadhana. This is done by observing celibacy, eating food for energy, not sensual pleasure, following a niyama of the sadhana your guru has given you — a mantra, dhyan or a tantric practice where senses are kept under strict control and the focus is your ishta devata and all your thoughts and actions during those days are devoted to the ishta devata. Charity and service are an intrinsic part of such sadhanas.
Most people lighten their bodies by fasting for nine days, only to make it heavy on the 10th day by trooping to restaurants and liquor shops. It is something like you clean your room and after that you bring all the garbage back to the room. Fasting or any such technique will bear fruits only if carried out with a sense of detachment, for the purpose of evolution. The guru knows the capacity of a shishya and prescribes a fast depending upon his/her requirements. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to observe fasts in tandem with yogic practices such as the Sanatan Kriya under the sanidhya of a guru to reap maximum benefits.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/yogi-ashwini-632
