What is the purpose of staying up or fasting during this festival? Is it possible for everyone to follow? Is it practical ? How can we start this if we have never done so before? Some of these questions are answered here.

Feb 15th is Mahashivratri in this year 2026.

Water is used as a sanctifier of mind and body. I have explored why and how water can perfrom such a function and the logic behind this tradition.An early mornig bath on the eve of Deepavali, a dip in holy rivers, a sprinkle of water or a sip of water are all considered ways to purify ourselves using water. Why is water considered a purifier? Let us explore.0:10 Gange cha Yamune chaiva0:45 Meaning of shloka1:08 Introduction1:30 Water and Sanatana Dharma1:56 Sanctifying water3:01 Intention (sankalpa)4:15 Holy water in Kumbha7:14 Kumbh Mela holy dip7:54 Ganga snanam- deepavali bath

I am honoured to have had this journey of explaining the Argala stotram in detail. I have learnt a lot during this journey and I thank the Mother for her infinite grace.Agala stotram is one of deep philosophical and devotional meanings. While I have explained some amount in detail, there are many more verses which could benefit from more explanation. But, having gone through he other verse explanations, I hop you as readers have got n idea of how symbolically many meanings are woven into our stotrams. In fact almost all important texts in all subjects have been written in peotical format in samskrtam. Even astronomy, maths and and all scientific etc used poetic form. So we need to learn the basics of each subject before understanding the meanings. Literal translations may seem like stories and imaginations, but our ancestors were very well versed in myriad subjects and therefore were able to compose poetry as means of encryption of information, making sure there is no distortion or misinterpretation. And being poetic it was easy to by heart complete texts. We are deeply indebted to them for handing down this amazing tradition.The story of Navaratri, the nine days of war between asuras and the Devi. The episode 7B was a symbolism of the process of evolution of the human mind. From the delusion of the world, the mind can be lead slowly towards clarity and the unveiling of Devi within each of us. This process is shown as a fight between the Devi and various Asuras, who are just the different stumbling blocks in our path to realisation. I have isolated each story and explained the symbolism within each verse.00: Introduction01:03 Rupam dehi 02:04 Jayam dehi03:08 Yasho dehi04:06 Dvishi jahi (internal enemies)09:01 Verse 809:49 Verse 910:35 Verse 1011:28 Verse 1112:18 Verse 1212:57 Verse 1313:56 Verse 1414:42 Verse 1515:27 Verse 1616:29 Verse 1717:19 Verse 1818:15 Verse 1918:56 Verse 2019:40 Verse 2120:20 Verse 2221:02 Verse 2321:40 Verse 2422:31 Verse 2523:16 Verse 2624:00 Verse 27About Argala Stotram:Dedicated to the Mother Goddess Durga, Argala Stotram is a powerful Chant. It praises the Devi Who defeats and destroys all the Asuras and Who, as the Protector, takes care of All Creation. Asuras are not just external forces, they are also representative of our own internal negative tendencies, which need to be defeated if we are to experience the beauty of our inner god.The internal enemies to be defeated are explained in this episode.The chant in script with meanings can be found here:https://vedikheritageblog.wordpress.com/argala-stotram-the-chant/The meanings in detail can be found here:https://vedikheritageblog.wordpress.com/argala-stotram-meanings-in-detail/The link to the complete chant is given here: https://youtu.be/tvp31sOnz8gThe podcast link to the complete chant is given here:https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/dncCwJ4BfNbReference links:The reference for detailed meaning has been taken from the discourse by this swamiji on the Pithrukam Channel : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZEjEHGtvcc ( meaning in Malayalam)https://devimahatmya.com/understanding-the-devi-mahatmyas-esoteric-hidden-meaning-knowing-chanda-and-munda/