An Ayudha Pooja & Vijayadashami Reflection

Every year, during Ayudha Pooja, we clean, decorate, and worship the tools and instruments that support our lives.

From the simplest household tool to sophisticated machinery, from a musician’s instrument to a soldier’s weapon, we bow before the things that empower us to work, create, protect, and serve.

But this year, a thought has been lingering in my mind.

What about the weapons we carry within ourselves?

A sword can wound the body. A harsh word can wound the soul.

A physical weapon may strike once, but a sentence spoken in anger can echo in someone’s heart for years.

Our tongue has no sharp edges, yet it can cut deeper than a blade.

Our words carry no visible ammunition, yet they can destroy someone’s confidence, dignity, relationships, and peace.

And our behavior? Sometimes, it can inflict wounds that even an apology cannot completely erase.

We may never have raised a weapon against another human being. Yet how many times have we weaponized our words, our anger, our ego, our authority, or even our silence?

How often have we spoken without considering the consequences?

How often have we justified our cruelty because we believed we were right?

How often have we hurt the very people we claim to love?

I ask these questions not to judge anyone, but because I must ask them of myself first.

I have made mistakes. I have spoken words I should never have spoken. I have allowed frustration, pride, and emotion to influence my behavior. I may have hurt people without even realizing the depth of that hurt.

And perhaps, at times, I knew my words could hurt, yet spoke them anyway.

That is something I cannot excuse merely by saying, “I didn’t mean it.”

Because intention matters, but so does impact.

The Ravana Within Us

As we celebrate Vijayadashami and remember the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana, I find myself reflecting on a different battlefield.

The one within me.

Ravana was a figure of immense knowledge, devotion, capability, and power. Yet his ego, desires, and choices ultimately led to his downfall.

Isn’t there a lesson for all of us in that?

We may be educated, successful, talented, respected, or spiritually inclined. But none of these qualities automatically makes us kind, humble, or compassionate.

What is the value of knowledge if we use it to belittle someone?

What is the value of strength if we use it to intimidate?

What is the value of devotion if we cannot respect the people around us?

And what is the value of worshipping the Divine Mother if our words and behavior wound the women—and others—in our lives?

The Ravana within us does not always appear as an obvious villain.

Sometimes, he appears as our ego when we refuse to apologize.

Sometimes, as anger when we lose control of our tongue.

Sometimes, as jealousy when we cannot celebrate another person’s success.

Sometimes, as arrogance when we believe our position gives us the right to humiliate others.

Sometimes, as selfishness when our needs become more important than another person’s pain.

And sometimes, as the dangerous belief that because we are right, we are entitled to be cruel.

Defeating this inner Ravana may be far more difficult than celebrating the defeat of the Ravana in the epic.

This Ayudha Pooja, Let Me Worship Differently

As I bow before the tools that help me earn, create, and live, I also want to acknowledge the responsibility that comes with the powers I possess.

May my tongue become an instrument of kindness, not cruelty.

May my words offer encouragement instead of humiliation.

May my knowledge bring understanding instead of arrogance.

May my strength protect rather than intimidate.

May my silence be thoughtful, not a means of punishment.

May my actions reflect the respect I expect from others.

And when I fail—as I inevitably will at times—may I have the humility to recognize it, apologize sincerely, and change my behavior.

Because self-control is not the absence of anger. It is the ability to choose what we do with it.

The Victory I Seek This Vijayadashami

Perhaps the greatest victory is not defeating someone who has wronged us.

Perhaps it is defeating the urge to hurt them in return.

Perhaps true strength is not having the last word, but knowing when a word should never be spoken.

Perhaps true wisdom is recognizing that winning an argument is meaningless if we lose someone’s trust, dignity, or love in the process.

This Ayudha Pooja, I pray not merely for the strength of my tools, but for the restraint to use every form of power responsibly.

This Vijayadashami, I pray not merely for the victory of good over evil in the world, but for the courage to confront the ego, anger, jealousy, and cruelty within myself.

Before we ask the world to change, perhaps we must begin with the person we see in the mirror.

And before we worship the weapons in our hands, perhaps we must learn to control the ones hidden in our words, thoughts, and behavior.

May the weapons we carry within become instruments of healing rather than harm.

Wishing everyone a meaningful Ayudha Pooja and Vijayadashami.

“The greatest victory is not over an enemy standing before us, but over the anger, ego, and cruelty living within us.”

— Dr.S2M2