Śrī Rāmacandra and Durgā-pūjā
By Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja
Traditionally, the first nine days of Caitra’s (March-April) śukla-pakṣa [bright fortnight] is the time to worship Durgā; however, modern day Durgā-pūjā is celebrated in Bengal with great fanfare during the month of Āśvina (September-October), from the seventh day of the bright fortnight to the ninth. Nowadays, this modern pūjā trend from Bengal has become popularized throughout India. Many people believe: “Śrī Rāmacandra worshipped Mahā-māyā Durgā in the autumn season to vanquish Rāvaṇa and, by her grace, killed Rāvaṇa on the tenth day [of that period]. This is why the śukla-daśamī [“bright tenth”] of Āśvina is called Vijayā Daśamī.” But their belief is completely mistaken, as there is no mention of it in any authoritative scripture such as the original Rāmāyaṇa by Vālmīki, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Padma Purāṇa. Popularization of said belief originates from a rather recent and concocted Upapurāṇa, the Kālkā Purāṇa, and the fabricated Bengali Rāmāyaṇa of a bigoted śākta named Kīrttivāsa. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa proves the above-mentioned notion to be completely false.
Knowing Śrī Rāmacandra to be worthy, and on the insistence of the citizens, Mahārāja Daśaratha makes a declaration about about coronating Him as the crown prince:
caitraḥ śrīmānathaṁ māsaḥ puṇya puṣpita kānanaḥ |
yauvarājyāya rāmasya sarvamevopakalpatām ||
śva eva puṣpo bhavitā śvo’bhiṣecyastu me sutaḥ || (Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Sarga 3-4)
"In this superb and holy month of Caitra, when the forests and gardens are blooming with beautiful flowers and becoming utterly enchanting, please prepare for the coronation of Śrī Rāmacandra as crown prince. Tomorrow, under the constellation Puṣyā, He will be crowned heir to the throne."
However, something else was destined to happen. The next day, Rāma was sent into exile in the forest for fourteen years, and so departed into the forest. Bharata went to the forest to bring Him back, but Rāma’s determination and irrefutable arguments compelled him to return to Ayodhyā, carrying Rāma’s sandals on his head. However, as he was poised to return, he also took a harsh vow: “Oh Raghu-nandana! I will keep managing the entire kingdom, offering all my kingly duties at your shoes. However, the day that fourteen years are over, if I do not see you in Ayodhyā, I will burn myself in a fire and become ash.”
As such, it was utterly imperative that Rāma return to Ayodhyā the very day that fourteen years were over. The day He was to be crowned heir was the day His exile to the forest started. That is, He was exiled during the puṣyā-nakṣatra period of the bright fortnight during the month of Caitra (March-April). So it was that He killed Rāvaṇa and returned to Ayodhya in March-April—there are no two ways about it. In the Yudha-kāṇḍa [“Battle Section”] it is further clarified that the battle was finished on fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of Caitra. The end of the battle means the killing of Rāvaṇa. After killing Rāvaṇa, Śrī Rāmacandra crowned Vibhiṣaṇa on the throne of Laṅkā and returned to Ayodhyā during the puṣyā nakṣatra of Caitra’s bright fortnight. Hence, Rāvaṇa was killed in month of Caitra and not in Āśvina (September-October).
Secondly, there is no mention of the worship of Durgā by Śrī Rāma in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Therefore, Śrī Rāmacandra’s worship of Devī during the month of Āśvina and the killing of Rāvaṇa on the śuklā-daśamī day of Āśvina is completely false, unsubstantiated, and concocted. This is the contribution of śākta poet Kṛtivāsa.
Kṛtivāsa was a leading śākta poet. To preach śākta philosophy to the susceptible and ignorant masses, he took the story of Rāma, for which they had utmost regard, cast it in the mould of his own contrived notions, and placed it back before them. He had the omnipotent Bhagavān Śrī Rāma worship His own threefold illusory energy—Durgā-devī. In other words, he attempted to establish the supremacy of Durgā over even Śrī Rāmacandra.
Mahā-māyā—Durgā is Bhagavān’s external potency. Her job is to delude the living entities and trap them in the prison of material existence. Her job is not appealing to Bhagavān, and she herself realizes this fact. It is for this reason that she is shy to come before Bhagavān.
vilajjamānayā yasya sthātumīkṣāpathe’muyā|
vimohitā vikatthānte mamāham-iti durdhiyaḥ || Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, 2.5.13
"Those bewildered by she who is ashamed to stand in the path of His gaze blather like idiots about what is theirs and who they are."
Considering this, how is it possible for that personified potency to receive the Lord's worship when she feels too shy to even face Him? More specifically, can a maidservant accept the worship of her master, a submissive wife the worship of her husband? Hence, the idea of Śrī Rāma performing Durgā-pūjā is not even credible, what to speak of substantiated.
History of modern Durgā-pūjā
The actual time for Durgā worship is in the month of Caitra. However, modern-day Durga-pūjā happens in Āśvina, a trend that originated from Bengal and spread all over India. There is a story behind this modern-day Durgā-pūjā:
During the rule of the Mughal Empire, King Kaṁsa-Nārāyaṇa, who was king of Tahirpur, part of the Rājaśāhī district of Bengal, was Subedar and Diwan. At one time, he invited all the leading smārta priests and asked their permission to organize the performance of a grand fire sacrifice. At that time, Śrī Rameśa Śāstrī of Vāsudeva-pura, which is close to Nāṭor, was the royal priest. He was considered to be the leading scholar of Bengal and Bihar at that time. He told the king:
"There were four yajñās that are considered mahā-yajñās: Viśvajita [world conquest sacrifice], Rājasuya [imperial sacrifice], Aśvamedha [horse sacrifice] and Gomedha [cow sacrifice]. Only a king of the whole planet is eligible to perform the Viśvajita and Rājasuya, and the Aśvamedha and Gomedha are prohibited in Kali-yuga. Secondly, only kṣatriya kings are qualified to perform these sacrifices. You are a brāhmaṇa. Therefore, it is not your duty to conduct these yajñās. In ancient times, King Suratha worshipped Durgā-devī and attained the result he so cherished. Hence, you should also worship Durgā-devī in this autumn season. With this, your desires of attaining the heavenly planets, etc. will be fulfilled.”
Accordingly, in the year 1580, the king spent a great amount of wealth and performed an untimely Durgā-pūjā. Instead of Caitra, it was during the month of Āśvina. That is why it is also called: “Akāla Bodhana – Untimely Awakening”. Gradually, this new form of Durgā-pūjā spread all over Bengal and then all over India. Rameśa Śāstrī was the initial proponent of this modern-day Durgā-pūjā; it cannot be considered authentic or in accordance with scriptural injunctions.
—translated from "The Mystery of Śakti-pūjā", Śrī Bhagavata Patrikā, Year–3, Issue–5 (1957-1958), pages 108-112.