20/10/2026
|| एको हि रुद्रो न द्वितीयाय तस्थुः ||
॥ श्री गुरुभ्यो नमः ॥
Vijayadashami: Victory of Awareness Over Ego
Every year on Vijayadashami, we celebrate Lord Ram’s victory over Ravan and the Divine Mother’s victory over Mahishasur. Effigies burn, prayers rise, and goodness is proclaimed victorious. Yet a question remains: if Ravan was destroyed long ago, why does he still seem so alive within us?
History is not merely a past; it is a mirror held before the human mind. Ravan had ten heads, but we may have a thousand tendencies anger, jealousy, greed, fear, resentment, pride, and the endless need to be right. Burning an effigy takes only a few minutes, but understanding the tendencies it represents may take a lifetime.
Ravan was learned, accomplished, and a devotee of Shiva, yet his knowledge could not free him from arrogance. This is an uncomfortable reminder that information is not transformation; we may know scriptures and still be unable to accept a simple criticism. Ego does not always announce, “I am superior.” It may quietly whisper, “Nobody respects me,” or “Why was I not appreciated?” Sometimes it even says, “Look how humble I have become.” Like Mahishasur, ego keeps changing forms—from pride to self-pity, from anger to wounded innocence. Durga represents the awakened Shakti that sees through these disguises, while Ram symbolises dharma: strength guided by wisdom, action rooted in responsibility, and power restrained by values.
The real victory of Vijayadashami is inner victory. It begins when we recognise our destructive tendencies, deepens when we refuse to identify with them, and matures when awareness no longer needs to advertise itself. Anger may arise, but must we become anger? Fear may visit, but must we build our home in fear? Each time understanding replaces resentment, compassion replaces hostility, and humility replaces pride, a little Vijayadashami happens within us.
