Saundarya Lahari, the thirty-two names of Durga and all the other Navaratri chants and practices are designed to awaken the human psyche. Just as there is a mental level, an emotional level, a pranic level and a physical level, so there is a vibratory level to our life as well. This vibratory level is the most subtle of the bodies and the only thing it responds to is frequency. Mantras create such frequencies in the body, in the personality, which stimulate and awaken the subtle personality.
This opening up of the subtle personality is also opening up of the heart. Logic governs life up to a point. After logic, buddhi, comes faith, bhavana, and after faith comes fusion, tadatmya. When this fusion takes place in us at a subtle psychic level, a spiritual level, we become more sensitive to the universe, life, spirit, creation. We learn to live life in a more responsible way, appreciating and applying the wisdom that has been gained through the ages. Mantras are definitely the keys to finding this inner awakening.

Durga Saptashati
The Durga mantras are very powerful tantric mantras. In the Hindu tradition, Durga Saptashati is chanted during Navaratri. It is a tantric work that describes the awakening or coming alive of Durga. Once upon a time there was a major war between the gods and the demons. The demons had gained the upper hand and the gods were losing. Instead of peace and harmony, chaos and struggle prevailed. The gods went to the trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, and told them of their woe. The three gods became very angry and from each of their bodies emerged a point of light, a flame of light, which fused and became one. From that luminosity Devi emerged in the form of Durga. The name ‘Durga’ means remover of durgati, the negative states and conditions in life. Durga fought the demons, as atmashakti, the force of the spirit, and was victorious, establishing a kingdom of peace, prosperity, joy, well-being and happiness.
So Durga Saptashati is a narrative of the history of Durga, of the Cosmic Mother who manifested in order to destroy evil. It is a symbol of the war between good and bad that is fought in everyone’s life, with the truth always prevailing. Tantra is a subject in which every kind of thought exists, accepting and rejecting at the same time. Tantra always pushes one to go beyond logic and beyond feeling. The Durga mantras evoke that kind of inner response, filling you with courage and inner strength to overcome and transform the negative, restricting, limiting destructive forces in your life.

Rama and Navaratri
Navaratri is also associated with Rama. Rama personified the highest ideals that an individual can attain. The story of Rama is contained in the Ramayana, written by Valmiki, and the Ramacharitamanas, by Tulsidas. Rama was an historical figure, a reality which later became a myth.
According to the myth, the birth of Rama, the cosmic consciousness, takes place on Ramanavami, the ninth day of Chaitra Navaratri (March/April). On Vijaya Dashami, the last day of Ashwin Navaratri (September/October), Rama is victorious over Ravana, and he is able to reclaim and become one with the individual self. These two events are an indication of what we can aspire for.
So Navaratri is connected with Rama as well as with Devi, the Cosmic Mother. Navaratri is an attempt to reconnect with the underlying reality within, to tune the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness, to redirect life towards the goal of positive evolution.

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, Yoga Magazine , October 2004