Mahashivarathri Celebrations: 8th and 9th March, 2005

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Mahashivarathri Celebrations8th and 9th March, 2005

The festival of Mahashivarathri is one of the most important festivals in India.

It falls on the 14th day of the (Krishna Paksha) dark fortnight of the Magha

month of the Hindu calendar. The very word 'Shivarathri' means auspicious

night. All over the country, people throng Shiva temples and spend the night in

worship and contemplation of the Divine. Lord Shiva is worshipped as Yogiswara

and is regarded as an ideal Yogi and renunciant. Hence, on this day, His

devotees join Him, as it were, in His austerities and forego food and sleep as

homage to this prince among Yogis.

Bhagawan arriving in Sai Kulwant Hall

The Mahashivrathri celebrations at Prasanthi Nilayam commenced on the morning of

8th March. Bhagawan filled the hearts of the thousands who had gathered in Sai

Kulwant hall with the joy of beholding His divine form on this auspicious day.

After ascending the dais, Bhagawan blessed Prof. Anil Kumar, lecturer at the

Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, to address the gathering.

Prof. Anil Kumar began by narrating an incident that took place when he was with

Bhagawan in Kodaikanal. On this occasion, he was seated close to Bhagawan when,

to his surprise, He noticed what seemed to be the imprint left by an anklet

around Swami's left foot. He was even more puzzled to see that His right foot

did not have a similar mark. Mystified, he prayed to Bhagawan to reveal the

significance of this. Bhagawan explained that what he was witnessing was the

vision of Bhagawan as Lord Ardhanareeswara, the divine principle in which both

Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati are present, Lord Shiva forming the right half of

the body and Mother Parvati or Shakti being the left part. Bhagawan had revealed

many years ago that He is the manifestation of Shiva-Shakti, and Prof. Anil

Kumar was privileged to experience the truth of that declaration for himself.

Prof. Anil Kumar's talk was followed by speeches by Dr.

Narendranath Reddy and Sri G.K.Raman, who shared their experiences with the assembly of devotees.

Dr. Narendranath Reddy addressing the gathering

Bhagawan, in His divine discourse, explained the meaning of Shivarathri, saying

that the word Shiva signifies auspiciousness. Thus, the night of Shivarathri is

one that is spiritually beneficial to devotees. He also stated that the

principle of Shiva is present in everyone and pervades the entire universe.

After Bhagawan concluded His discourse, He sat down and then with a wave of His

hand he materialized a gold chain. He asked the students, "What does this

contain?" The students replied, "Gold". He waved His hand again and, to

everyone's surprise and wonder, there was a gold ring in His hand in place of

the chain. This time too, Bhagawan asked what the ring was made of, and the

students answered in one voice, "Gold, Swami". He called one of the students to

the dais and inserted the ring into his finger. Again there was the circular

motion of His hand and a gold chain appeared. It was indeed an awe-inspiring

sight to see Bhagawan create and

recreate matter in so casual a manner. But, there seemed to be a deeper

significance to His actions; Bhagawan was demonstrating what He had just

mentioned in the discourse, that the same divine principle is present in all.

The ornaments may all appear different, yet they are all made from the same

material, gold. Similarly, though names and forms may vary, the Atma (Self) is

the same in everyone. After Bhagawan's discourse, the students of Bhagawan's

school and university sang stotrams (hymns) like Vishwanathashtakam and

Bilvashtakam and devotional songs propitiating Lord Shiva.

Shri S.V.Giri addressing the gathering

In the afternoon, two eminent speakers addressed the gathering at Sai Kulwant

hall. The first speaker was Sri S.V.Giri, former Vice-Chancellor of Sri Sathya

Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He spoke on the significance of the various

names of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is known as Ardhanareeswara i.e. both the

masculine and feminine principles are equally present in Him. This truth is

evident in Bhagawan's life too, for He treats men and women equally, and

exhorts that women should be given their due respect by society. The

appellation Neelakanta that is given to Lord Shiva is equally applicable to

Bhagawan, for just as Lord Shiva swallowed the poison Halahala to save the

world from its noxious fumes, Bhagawan too is prepared to undergo any amount of

physical hardship to protect His devotees and ensure their welfare. After the

erudite exposition by Sri S.V.Giri, Bhagawan blessed Sri A.V. Gokak, who

recently assumed

the office of the Vice-Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher

Learning, to speak. Sri Gokak stated that the Lingam, the symbol of Lord Shiva,

signifies that divine consciousness from which all has emerged and into which

everything shall finally merge. In the very same way, he said, the various

faiths and religions of the world find their consummation at the Lotus Feet of

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. He concluded by saying that people should abandon

narrow mindedness and intolerance of other religions and progress towards that

ultimate state where the one who meditates realizes that he is one with the

object of his meditation.

Shri A. V. Gokhak, Vice Chancellor, SSSIHL

Bhagawan, in His discourse, elaborated on various aspects of Lord Shiva. He said

that the glory of God is beyond comprehension and cannot be adequately described

by words. Bhagawan exhorted everyone to spend the auspicious night of Shivaratri

in contemplation of God through the singing of Bhajans, instead of whiling it

away in idle pastimes. After the discourse, Bhagawan permitted the bhajans to

commence. The bhajans continued uninterrupted through the night. Bhajan groups

from Sai centers in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai as well as from overseas too

joined in leading the bhajans. Sai Kulwant hall reverberated to this outpouring

of devotion that filled the atmosphere with sacred vibrations. Ekadasha Rudra

Parayana, where the Rudram, the Vedic mantra in praise of Lord Shiva is chanted

eleven times interspersed by stanzas from Chamakam, was also performed.On the

morning of 9th at 6.30 a.m., Bhagawan entered Sai Kulwant hall allowing

everyone to feast their eyes on the beautiful form of their Lord. At about 7.00

a.m. Bhagawan accepted arati thus bringing the bhajans to a close. Bhagawan

graciously permitted the prasadam (sacramental food) of pulihora (tamarind

rice) and laddus to be distributed to the gathering. It was a heart-warming

sight to watch all members of the Sai family, without distinction of class,

race or nation, sitting under one roof and relishing the prasadam provided by

their beloved Mother Sai.

The Divine Discourse

That evening, Bhagawan granted His divine discourse, in which He spoke about the

devotion of Karnam Subbamma, who had recognised Bhagawan's divinity even when He

was still a young boy. She was the wife of the Karnam (landlord) of Puttaparthi

village and was very fond of young Sathya. As more and more people began to

recognise Bhagawan's divinity and began flocking to Puttaparthi, she would

lovingly look after their welfare and serve them. She had prayed to Bhagawan to

satisfy her one desire - to receive sanctified water from His hands during her

final moments, and Bhagawan gave her His word. Many years later, Subbamma was

on her deathbed, but Bhagawan was in faraway Madras. By the time Bhagawan

returned to Puttaparthi, she had already breathed her last and the corpse had

begun to decay. But, Bhagawan's word is Truth and has to be fulfilled. Bhagawan

rushed to her bedside, and softly called out to her, "Subbamma,

Subbamma". Wonder of wonders! the eyes flew open and they beheld the form of her

Lord. From His hands poured the sacred water into her lips and Subbamma joined

the ranks of the released. Bhagawan narrated some more incidents from His

childhood in His enchanting voice and filled the gathering with bliss.At the

conclusion of the discourse, arati was offered to Bhagawan and thus the

Mahashivarathri celebrations drew to a close.Jai Sai Ram!

Source: http://www.srisathyasai.org.in/pages/shivarathri_05_report.htm