Yesterday, we celebrated what most of us call Dussehra. Streets lit up with Ravana Dahan, fireworks cracked the night sky and giant effigies of the ten-headed demon were set ablaze. Yet every year as I watch this ritual, I pause and wonder:

👉 When did Vijaydashami, the sacred 10th day become “Dussehra”?

👉 What exactly are we celebrating?

👉 Is burning an effigy truly connected to Vijaydashami?

If we go back to our scriptures, nowhere is it written that after Shri Ram killed Ravana people rejoiced by burning his effigy.

🔍 What Really Happened After Ravana’s Fall?

The truth is far more profound. When Ravana fell, there was no festival of fire. There was silence. There was grief.

Ravana was not just an enemy. He was a scholar, a master of the Vedas, who had woven the knowledge of all the Vedas into the songs & hymns and a man of immense wisdom. Yet all this brilliance was clouded by ego, arrogance and lust for power.

His death was not celebrated as the destruction of a man. It was seen as the liberation of a soul freed from pride, lust and injustice. When Ram’s arrow pierced him, even Ravana folded his hands in surrender, released at last from the weight of his sins.

Shri Ram did not rejoice. He acted out of dharma fulfilling his duty to restore balance. He did not burn Ravana’s body, destroy Lanka in rage or dishonor anyone. Instead, he gave the throne to Vibhishan ensuring the people of Lanka could live in peace. That was Ram’s victory – restoration, not destruction.

So again, I ask if there was no Ravana Dahan, how did this practice get attached to Vijaydashami? The honest answer: no one really knows. It is a ritual that crept in over time, blindly followed without scriptural foundation.

🌺 Navratri: The Inner Journey Before the Victory

The 10th day is not Dussehra, It is Vijaydashami. The word itself reveals its essence:

• Vijaya = victory
• Dashami = the tenth day

Vijaydashami is the culmination of a nine-day inner journey – Navratri where each day awakens deeper layers of consciousness through the nine forms of Maa Durga. These nine days are not mere rituals, they are steps of inner transformation:

• Maa Shailputri(Day 1): We begin by grounding ourselves, drawing strength from simplicity and finding stability in our roots
• Maa Brahmacharini(Day 2): We learn patience, devotion and the power of unwavering faith – the courage to walk barefoot in tapasya
• Maa Chandraghanta(Day 3): We awaken balance and composure embracing calmness amidst chaos and struggle
• Maa Kushmanda(Day 4): We receive vitality, creative energy and inner radiance filling our lives with light
• Maa Skandamata(Day 5): We understand selfless love, nurturing and protection embodying the grace of a mother
• Maa Katyayani(Day 6): We awaken the warrior spirit within, learning righteous anger, fearlessness and the strength to fight for dharma
• Maa Kalaratri(Day 7): We confront our deepest fears and darkness realizing that true strength comes only from facing our shadows
• Maa Mahagauri(Day 8): We purify, forgive and let go washing away impurities and attachments that no longer serve us
• Maa Siddhidatri(Day 9): We attain completeness, uniting wisdom, devotion and divine siddhi – the state of inner perfection

Each day purifies the soul, dissolving ego, anger, greed, fear and attachments preparing us for the ultimate victory on the 10th day.

✨ The Culmination: The 10th Day – Vijaydashami

And then comes the 10th day – Vijaydashami.

For nine nights, the soul undergoes tapasya, cleansing layer after layer of ego, anger, greed, fear and arrogance. Each day is a chisel that shapes us, a flame that burns away what holds us back.

The 10th day is not about destruction – it is about completion. It is the day when the journey bears fruit:

• The victory of light over inner darkness
• The triumph of truth over lies
• The rise of humility over ego
• The strength of courage over fear

This is the essence of Vijaydashami. It is not about destruction but about burning the weaknesses within us. The Ravana outside is symbolic, the real Ravana lives within in arrogance, greed, anger and fear. Only by overcoming these in nine days we can we truly honor the day.

What our sages and ancestors truly intended was this: That after nine days of self-purification, we celebrate the victory of tapasya, the sacrifice of the ego, the courage earned and the wisdom attained. Vijaydashami was meant to be the recognition of this inner triumph not the external spectacle of burning effigy.

🌸 That is why the 10th day is not Dussehra. It is Vijaydashami – the day of true victory, the day the soul awakens to its own light.

🌺 The Asuras Maa Durga Defeated and Their Symbolism

Navratri is not just a festival of worship, it’s a reminder of the inner battles we fight. Each asura that Maa Durga defeated represents a negative quality or weakness within us. Here are some of the most prominent:

• Mahishasura – The buffalo demon representing ego and pride. Mahishasura’s strength came from arrogance and Maa Durga’s victory symbolizes humility overcoming pride.
• Dhumralochan – The smoky-eyed demon representing ignorance and illusion. By defeating him, Maa Durga reminds us to see clearly and rise above confusion.
• Chand and Mund – Twin demons representing anger and aggression. Their defeat shows the power of controlled strength and righteous action over uncontrolled rage.
• Raktabeej – The blood-seeding demon whose spilled drops created more demons symbolizes destructive habits, addictions and negative patterns that multiply if unchecked. Maa Durga’s victory reminds us that discipline and vigilance are needed to overcome recurring negativity.
• Shumbh and Nishumbh – The arrogant kings of the demon realm representing greed, selfishness and oppression. Their defeat signifies the triumph of justice, selflessness and dharma over tyranny.

Each asura is not just a mythological figure, but a mirror of our inner weaknesses. Navratri and Vijaydashami teach us that the battle is within.

🔥 What Should We Really Burn on Vijaydashami?

Setting fire to paper is not what Vijaydashmi represent. It’s a day where we should ask the question to ourselves whether we have killed the darkness, negativity, anger, lust and ego in those nine days

• Have I burned my ego that blinds me? That voice inside that convinces me I am always right, that resists correction, that keeps me from bowing in humility – have I set that ablaze?
• Have I turned to ashes the anger that consumes me? The fire of resentment that destroys peace within and poisons relationships outside – have I learned to transform that anger into courage and compassion?
• Have I destroyed the fear that chains me? The fear of failure, of judgment, of losing control, the fear that stops me from living fully and walking the path of truth – have I had the strength to face it?
• Have I ended the lies I live with? The excuses I tell myself, the masks I wear before others, the false stories that keep me comfortable in illusion – have I dared to put them to rest?
• Have I surrendered the arrogance that distances me from humility? The pride that makes me forget gratitude, the superiority that blinds me to others’ worth – have I truly laid it down before the Divine?
• Have I released the attachments that keep me bound? To possessions, to praise, to power, to relationships that do not serve my growth – have I loosened those chains so my soul can be free?

Don’t burn the truth, embody it. Don’t fight others, master yourself

🌸 The Deeper Meaning of Vijaydashami

Vijaydashami is not truly about celebrating the end of Ravana’s life. If it were, then the people of Ayodhya would have rejoiced at his death. The sages and our ancestors intended this day to be a mirror, a reminder and a renewal.

It is not about burning an effigy of paper and bamboo but about awakening the inner fire of transformation. It is about celebrating:

✨ Tapasya – the penance and discipline that cleanse the heart : For nine nights of Navratri, we fast(not eating tamsik food – onion, garlic, non-veg etc), we pray, we meditate and we restrain our senses. This is not ritual for ritual’s sake – it is tapasya, the fire of discipline that melts away the layers of ego, impurities and distractions. Vijaydashami celebrates the fruit of that effort – the purified self.

✨ Courage – to fight against one’s own demons before pointing at others: It is easy to see Ravana in the world outside – in corruption, injustice or violence. But the harder battle is within: the anger that blinds us, the jealousy that eats us, the laziness that binds us. Vijaydashami honors the courage it takes to face these shadows without fear or denial.

✨ Wisdom – to see that victory is not over someone else but over the self : The true battle of Ramayana is not Ram versus Ravana but Dharma versus Adharma both within the same human heart. Victory is not about humiliating another but about rising above our own ignorance. Vijaydashami teaches us that wisdom is not conquest but surrender of ego before truth.

✨ Light – that emerges only after we burn the darkness within : Just as a lamp shines brightest in the night, our inner light awakens only when we dare to burn away greed, pride, hatred and falsehood. The fire of Vijaydashami is not outside, it is inside when the darkness dissolves, the soul shines.

In truth, Vijaydashami is not about defeating an external enemy at all. It is about conquering the most difficult and subtle enemy – our own ego, greed, fear and pride.

The 10th day calls us to celebrate our inner triumph, our mastery over self and our alignment with higher principles.

Next Vijaydashami, let us pause and reflect: Are we honoring the day by merely burning an effigy outside or are we awakening the light within?

The real Vijaya (true victory) is not in destruction but in transformation. It is the triumph of light over darkness, truth over falsehood, courage over fear and the soul over its limitations 🌸 Vijaydashami is the day the soul awakens to its own light. It is the day we celebrate not the death of a demon but the liberation of the self.