Vijayadashami

After the three stages of worshipping Goddesses are gone through, on the last Vijaya Dasami day the devil is burnt down indicating the transcendence of the ego, when man attains the great victory – Vijaya – over his sense-life and revels in the ecstatic experience of the Transcendental Reality. (Swami Chinmayananda)

The Goddess is never idle. She is always busy in the destruction of evil in the world. As we vow to remove the evil from our own hearts and our own lives on Vijayadasami, we must be just as vigilant, just as active and just as conscientious. We must never become complacent; for anger, greed, ego, and lust are always present, always lurking, and always ready to make home in welcoming hearts. (Swami Chidanand Saraswati)

Though normally Vijayadasami is understood as the tenth culminating day of the Navaratri festival it can be interpreted in various ways. The word Vijayadasami can be split as 'Vijayata' and 'Sami' when it gives the meaning that victory comes to one who worships the Sami tree (a holy tree whose wood when struck to gether produces fire necessary for the performance of Yajna. In Mahabharatha there is mention of the Pandavas hiding their weapons in the Sami tree during the year they had to remain incognito during their exile, so that they could emerge victorious later.

Another important point that has to be remembered is the firmness necessary to succeed in any enterprise. So victory being synonymous with this day, those who succeeded in their lives is especially worshipped on Vijayadasami, like Indra, Arjuna, Hanuman and Durga. (Sugunendra Theertha Swami of Puthige Math)