Nine forms of Devi during Navaratri

Navaratri literally means nine divine nights of Goddess. Each day different form of Goddess is worshiped with different offerings.

Below is a chart that describes various forms of Goddess, goal of her each incarnation, power that is predominant in that incarnation, her appearance and benefits of worshiping that form and offerings prescribed for each day.

The source of these details is Srimad Devi Bhagwatam

Day	Avatar of Devi	Shakti	Goal	Devi's Form	Devi's appearance	Benefits of worshiping Devi on this day
1	Durga	Icchashakti	Vadha of demons Madhu and  Kaitabha	Maheshwari	Abhaya hasta, varada hasta, book, akshamala (kumari durga bearing akshamala)	Get rid of poverty Increase in the life span
2	Durga	Icchashakti	Begins the journey for killing Mahishasura	Kaumari	Rajeshwari holding sugarcane, bow, flower and parashu	Get rid of diseases and improvement in health
3	Durga	Icchashakti	Vadha of demon Mahishasura	Vaaraahi	Kalyaan Durga having  trishula and standing on the  head of Mahishasura	Increase in the wealth and food grain
4	Lakshmi	Kriyashakti	She accepts the various obeisances paid by Devas	Mahalakshmi	She is sitting on lion as Jai Durga	Getting rid of enmity
5	Lakshmi	Kriyashakti	Hears the message from messenger Sugriva	Vaishnavi	Kali Durga	Achieving the desired wealth
6	Lakshmi	Kriyashakti	Vadha of demon  Dhumralochana	Indrayani	Chandika Devi with a serpent, akshamala,  skull,  and lotus flower	Win in disputes. Prosperity
7	Saraswati	Dnyanashakti	Vadha of demons Chanda and  Munda	Brahmi	She is in the form of Shambhavi Durga, sitting on  diamond throne   with one leg on lotus flower and  playing veena	Will get mukti and siddhi
8	Saraswati	Dnyanashakti	Vadha of demon Raktabija	Narasimhi	Karuna Durga with a sugarcane bow, surrounded by  ashta maha shakti	Will get all boons that you ask for
9	Saraswati	Dnyanashakti	Vadha of demons Shumbha and  Nishumbha	Chamundeshwari	She is in the form of Subhadra Devi having  bow and arrow, trishula and  ankusha  in her hand	Will get desired siddhi
10	Mahashakti (Mahisha-sur-mardini)	Mahashakti (Ambika)	The day on which she wins	Shivashakti	In the form of sthoola rupa	Get all the happiness and wealth etc

Details about flowers, saree and naivedya to be offered for each day.

Day	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Flower	Mogara	Jai-Juee	Chapha	Double Mogara (Double layered mogara)	Lata Kanheri Phul	Jaswand	Ketaki	Gulab	Lotus	Lotus
Saree	Green	Green	Yellow	Blue	Indigo or Navy blue	Red	Tarrot Green	Red or Orange	Green with Dark Border	Pale Pink
Naivedya	Khara Pongal (Ven Pongal)	Green Gram (Matki Usal)	Sweet Pongal	Sambar Rice	Curd Rice	Coconut Rice	Lemon Rice	Milk and Rice Kheer	Payasam (Kheer)	Milk Payasam (Pudding)

Why Naamahasmarnaa? (Chanting of the Name!)

Preface:

This is seemingly an Eternal Question, even asked by the Eternal Purusha/Nara  - ShreeKrishna - Himself. Of course the answer was provided Him by the Eternal Stree/Naari Herself.

Would like to share some stories heard and inferences drawn on this seemingly Eternal Question.

Hopefully, the core message comes across in the narrative below. Here goes:

A.

ShreeKrishna met ShreeRadhe before the start of the Epic War Mahabharata. During that meeting, He handed over His Murali (Flute) to ShreeRadhe for safe-keeping and only adorned His ShreeChakra. (Well, all resorts to avoid the war had been exhausted - as if the song of His Murali had fallen on deaf ears. What else could possibly lead to the declaration of war?)

After the war, ShreeKrishna again met ShreeRadhe and received His Murali back. As He simply blew some air in, the Murali emitted the chant of His Name seeped in love. ShreeKrishna was spellbound by this divine phenomenon. He inquired of ShreeRadhe - Why do you chant my name incessantly? Doing so, what do you find that is so irresistible? What is the bliss, the allure in the chanting of the Name?

ShreeRadhe replied simply - This cannot be explained. Only doing so - chanting of the Name - can help You understand this phenomenon.

Now, ShreeKrishnaa had to action His own mantra of "karma".

Following this lead from ShreeRadhe, a guidance/directive actually, to satiate His own curiosity, ShreeKrishna reincarnated Himself has Chaitanya MahaPrabhu in Bengal. He indulged Himself with His own Naamahasmarnaa to realize the Truth, the bliss hidden in unconditional love -- the Name is inseparable from the person when remembered with unconditional love!

Thus through incessant Naamahasmarnaa, ShreeRadhe ensured that She was never separable from ShreeKrishnaa! Forever with Him!

Her Karma = Her Choice.

And chanting in the form of Chaitanya MahaPrabhu, ShreeKrishna became ShreeRadhe and again all duality ceased to exist!

Chanting helps elevate one to Bliss! It all becomes One! Or more correctly, Non-dual!

One could also use the term non-duel, but with caution! When there is no duel between the material and the spiritual... all layers of existence, verily, non-duel elevates to Non-dual!

Thus, when all duels cease to exist, one attains Bliss!

If the Lord Himself could not understand or be explained, and had to resort to doing His karma, how can one be helped to understand without one doing their karma? The taste of the pudding is in ...! Thus the revelation is in self-experience; self-purification through chanting/ doing one's karma!

Further:

B.

In recent past, when a devotee asked Gondavalekar Maharaj about the way of Naamahasmarnaa, its effect or outcome, Maharaj offered his finger to be taken close to the ear of the curious devotee. The devotee heard the incessant chant/Naamahasmarnaa  of "Ram" emanating from the finger!

C.

Once it so transpired that being fed up of the incessant ill-treatment by certain members of the Gondavale village, and seemingly all prayers to Lord Rama to intervene being ineffective; Gondavalekar Maharaj started on his exit journey, as if to a place where his Lord Rama would allow him to do His Naamahasmarnaa in peace. He had not even reached the outskirts when the very same members who were rejoicing their success on his departure came rushing to plead for forgiveness and implore him to come back. Their gross folly was revealed to them when they saw tears roll down Lord Rama eyes in the temple sanctum sanctorum!

Verily, there was no such place as the Lord is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.

Also, may one elevate their surrender to the Lord (Bhakti) to a level where not only the Lord may perform a test but the Lord surrenders too, as if to a test by the Bhakta! (Gondavalekar Maharaj would not have started leaving had he not equated the idea to leave the village and his worship there as Lord Rama's will.)

His (Gondavalekar Maharaj's) Surrender = His (Lord Rama's) Surrender.

D.

Reportedly, the city officials of San Francisco supported the ISKCON movement and its chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra - where all else was failing to solve the problem of (LSD) drug-addiction and similar social issues, the chanting of the Mahamantra was leading to an unimaginable, unforeseen, fundamentally positive transformation. It was alleviating human suffering and bringing peace back to individuals and the city.