Maha Shivaraathri – Spiritual Significance

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MANY stories are told in the Shaasthras, to explain the origin and significance

of the Mahaashivaraathri Festival. Bhaarath, the name for this land used from

ancient times, means 'the land of those who have rathi (Love) towards Bha

(Light or Bhagavaan). So, for the people of this land, all days are sacred;

every moment is precious. The Ganga is holy from source to sea, but, yet there

are some places on its banks, associated with some sage or temple, the

confluence of a tributary, or a historical incident, which are revered more by

generations. Such places are Hardwar, Vaaraanasi, Prayaag, Rishikesh.

Similarly, among all the days of the year, some are marked out as holier, when

a special effort is made by aspirants to contact the Source and the Sea, the

Reality behind all this passing show. Some moments,

as that during which the Linga (Shiva representation in egg-shaped stone)

emerges from the Avathaar (divine incarnation), are held to be specially

significant for the individuals witnessing it and for the world which isthereby

blessed.

Some ascribe the holiness of the Day to the fact of its being the Birthday of

Shiva, as if Shiva has birth and death, like any mortal. The story that it

commemorates the salvation attained by a hunter who sat on a bilva tree on the

look-out for animals to kill, and without any intention to worship, unknowingly

dropped some of its leaves on a Linga that lay beneath, does not make clear why

this Day is specially sacred. Another story is that this is the Day on which

Shiva danced the Thaandava (Cosmic dance) in the ecstasy of His Innate Nature,

with all the Gods and Sages sharing and witnessing that Cosmic Consummation.

When He consumed the Haalahala poison that emerged from the churning of ocean

and that threatened to destroy the Universe, the heat of the fumes was

well-nigh unbearable, even for Him. So, Ganga

flowed uninterruptedly on His matted locks; but, that gave Him only partial

relief. The Moon was placed on the head. That was of great help. Then, Shiva

danced the Thaandava with all the Gods and Sages. All this they say, happened

on the same day and so, Shivaraathri, was held in commemoration of this

occasion.

Aim of all saadhana is to eliminate the mind

We have not only the Mahaashivaraathri once a year, we have a Shivaraathri every

month, dedicated to the worship of Shiva. And, why is the Raathri (the Night),

so important? The night is dominated by the Moon. The Moon has 16 kalas

(fractions of divine glory), and each day or rather night, during the dark

fortnight, one fraction is reduced, until the entire Moon is annihilated on New

Moon night. From then on, each night, a fraction is added, until the Moon is

full circle on Full Moon Night. The Chandra (Moon) is the presiding deity of

the mind; the mind waxes and wanes, like the Moon. Chandramaa-manaso

jaathah--Out of the manas of the Purusha (Supreme Being), the Moon was born.

It must be remembered that the chief aim of all saadhana (spiritual striving) is

to eliminate the mind, to become A-manaska. Then only can maayaa (illusion) be

rent asunder and the Reality revealed. During the dark fortnight of the month,

saadhana has to be done to eliminate each day a fraction of the mind, for,

every day, a fraction of the Moon too is being taken out of cognisance. On the

night of Chathurdhasi, the 14th day, the night of Shiva, only a fraction

remains. If some special effort is made that night, through more intensive and

vigilant saadhana, like puuja or japam or dhyaana (ritual worship, one-pointed

repetition & holy names, and meditation), success is ensured. Shiva alone has

to be meditated upon that night without the mind straying towards thoughts of

sleep or food. This has

to be done every month; once a year, on Mahaa-Shivaraathri a special spurt of

spiritual activity is recommended, so that what is shavam (corpse) can become

Shivam (God), by the perpetual awareness of its Divine Indweller.

This is the purpose of Shivaraathri and so it is foolish and even harmful deceit

to imagine that "keeping awake" is the essential thing in its observance. People

try to escape sleep on this night by playing cards, attending non-stop cinema

shows or watching plays or dramas. That is not the saadhana which should be

intensified on Shivaraathri. That is a travesty of the vow of 'sleeplessness.'

It vulgarises you and encourages evil and sloth, wickedness and hypocrisy.

On Shivaraathri, the mind must become laya (reduced into nothing). Lingam means

that in which this Jagath attains laya---leeyathe; that into which this Jagath

goes---gamyathe. Examine the Linga; the three gunas (primordial qualities) are

represented by the three-tiered Peetha (platform); the Lingam above symbolises

the goal of life. Lingam means "a symbol", the symbol of creation, the result

of the activity of the three gunas and of the Brahman (Supreme Reality) which

permeates and gives it meaning and value.

When you worship the Lingam, you should do so with faith in this symbolic

significance. Every word, every Form used in the Shaasthras has a symbolic

meaning, which gives it value. The word "prapancha" which you use so freely to

indicate this "created world" means, "that which is composed of the

panchabhuuthaas---the five elements of earth, fire, water, wind and ether."

Take the word 'hrudhayam' used for "the heart". It means hrudhi (in the heart)

ayam (He). That is to say, it means not the organ that pumps blood to all parts

or the body, but the seat of God, the altar where Shiva is installed, the niche

where the lamp of jnaana is lit. Again, Shiva does not ride on an animal called

in human language, a "bull!" The bull is only a symbol of Dharma standing on the

four legs of Sathya, Dharma, Shaanthi and Prema.

Lingam is the symbolic form of the Godhead

Lingam means simply "the sign,the symbol"; it is just a mark, which indicates

merging (laya); that is to say, the passing away of the mind and all mental

agitations and all mental pictures, which means, this objective world.

Shivaraathri is the day on which the Moon, the presiding deity of the mind, is

as near laya as possible and so, just a little extra effort that day leads to

full success: the saadhaka can thereby achieve complete Manonaashana

(destruction of the mind).

The realisation is that everything is subsumed in the Lingam (the symbol of the Formless).

The three eyes of Shiva are the eyes which reveal the Past, Present and the

Future. Shiva alone has all three. The elephant skin which forms His cloak is

just a symbol for the elemental bestial primitive traits which His Grace

destroys; He makes them powerless and harmless; in fact, he tears them to

pieces, skins them so to say, and makes them ineffective. His four Faces

symbolise Shaantham, Roudhram, Mangalam and Uthsaaham (Peace, Fierceness,

Auspiciousness, Determination). In this way, realise while worshipping the

Lingam, the inner sense of the many attributes of Shiva. Meditate thus on Shiva

this day, so that you may get rid of the last lingering

vestiges of delusion.

Just as Om is the verbal symbol of God, the Lingam is the symbolic form of the

Godhead. It is just a form. Everything is maayaa (delusion) and to grasp it,

you must deal with maayaa. Otherwise you cannot realise the Maayaa Shakthi

(Deluding Power). God is as immanent in the Universe as life is immanent in the

egg. The chicken is in every part of the egg; so too, God is

in every part of the world. I prefer the description Sarvaantharyaami (inner

ruler of all) to the description, Sarvabhuutha antharaathma (Inmost soul of all

beings). All are in this Hall, each one has no Hall in him, is it not? In the

same way, all are in Him; which is better than saying, He is in all. It is

Maayaa which binds and limits man; all saadhana is to conquer maayaa. A bit of

iron will sink in water but if beaten and made hollow, it will float. So beat

the mind and make it hollow. Then it will float on

the sea of samsaara (worldly life). Above all, have viveka and do not be led

into taking any false step.

The manifestation of the Linga is a part of My Nature. These Pandiths (scholars

of spirituality) explain it as reminiscent of an epochal event in the past when

Shiva challenged Brahma and Vishnu to gauge the height and depth of the Linga

Form He assumed. They failed and had to accept defeat. But, the Linga emerges,

as a result of prayer and Grace. You have to recognise in this event a glimpse

of Divinity, a sign of infinite Grace. Just as Om is the sound symbol of God,

the Linga is the Form symbol or the visible symbol of God, the most meaningful,

the simplest and the least endowed with the appendages of attributes. Lingam

means, that in which this jagath (world of change) attains laya (mergence or

dissolution), Leeyathe. All Forms merge in the Formless at last. Shiva is

the Principle of the Destruction of all Names and Forms, of all entities and

individuals. So, the Linga is the simplest sign of emergence and mergence.

People ask, "Why does Swaami produce the Lingam (Formless Form of God) from

within himself on this day?" But, let Me tell you, it is impossible for you to

understand the attributes of the Divine and to measure its potentialities, or,

to gauge the significance of the manifestation of Divinity. It is agamya

(unreachable) and agochara (un-understandable, mysterious). Therefore, in order

to bear witness to the fact that the Divinity is amidst you, it becomes

necessary to express this attribute. Or else, the atmosphere of hatred, greed,

cruelty, violence and irreverence will overwhelm the good, the humble and the

pious.

The Linga is just a symbol, a sign, an illustration, of the beginningless, the

endless, the limitless- --for it has no limbs, no face, no feet, no front or

back, no beginning or end. Its shape is like the picture one imagines the

Niraakaara (Formless) to be. As a matter of fact, linga means--- leeyathe (that

in which all forms and names merge) and gamyathe (that towards which all names

and forms are proceeding, to attain fulfilment). It is the fittest symbol of

the All-pervasive, the All-knowing, the All-powerful. Everything is subsumed in

it; everything starts from it; from the Lingam arises Jangam (Universe), from

the Jangam arises sangam (association, attachment, activity) and as a result of

the sangam, one realises the lingam (attributeless Aathma). Thus, the circle

is completed--from the beginningless to the Beginningless. This is the lesson

that Lingobdhavam (emergence of the Linga) teaches. The lingashareera (the

physical body) that is inhabited by the Aathma is but a vesture worn for this

particular sojourn! Many a vesture has this soul worn, though its reality is

eternal!

The Shiva in all

Shivoham, Shivoham---was the exclamation that rose from the souls that knew the

Truth in a flash of illumination, after long years of cleansing the mind

through the process of thapas (penance). I am Shiva; Shiva am I---Though

denoted by many names and recognised in many forms, the Divine Principle is

One, without a second. It is Shivam and it is latent in each being, including

man. Holy days are to be spent in the contemplation of this Truth and in

special exercises to make oneself fully conscious of one's Divinity. God is the

seed, which has expressed itself as all this. But, this fact, so deeply

implanted in the hearts of every Indian for centuries, has been overlaid by

veils of doubt and man has lost the courage and the energy that the faith had

given him so long. This

was the very core of Indian culture, but, children of India have neglected and

very nearly lost this precious heritage. The fascination for Western fashions

of thought weakened the belief in one's religion; that led to the giving up of

the disciplines which shaped one's daily life; this in turn led to

deterioration in moral standards; this has bred misery, disunity, hatred and

disgrace. It is time to open one's eyes to the tragedy and retrace the steps.

Shiva is eternally auspicious

Shiva is known also as Eeshwara, the 'repository of all the resources essential

for Prosperity. The most important resource is Jnaana (Spiritual Wisdom). Three

kinds of Jnaana are demarcated: Jeevaprajna (concerning the individualised

Divine), Eeshwaraprajna (concerning the Cosmic- Manifestation of the Divine)

and the Aathmaprajna (Concerning the Universal Absolute of which the individual

is the temporary-particular). This is also mentioned in some other texts as

Delta-prajna, Jeeva-prajna and Aathma- prajna, but, the meaning of the words is

the same as in the other list. Eeshwara confers the Aishwarya of Jnaana. He is

also known as Shankara, and sages have experienced Shiva as conferring Sam or

auspiciousness of all kinds, Happiness in all ways. Shiva is

eternally auspicious; He does not come embodied in other forms, with other

names, as often as Vishnu. So, He is not described as Shri Shiva or Shri

Shankara or Shri Eeshwara. Shri is inherent in His very Person and so it is

superfluous to add Shri to His Name.

When you realise Shivoham (I am Shiva), then, you have all the happiness, all

the auspiciousness that there is. Shiva is not to be sought on the peak of a

distant range of mountains, or in some other special place. You must have heard

that sin and merit are inherent in the acts that men do; so too, Shiva is

inherent in every thought, word and deed, for He is the Energy, the Power, the

Intelligence that is behind each of them. All energy, power and intelligence

are in you; you need not search for them outside yourselves.

God who is manifesting as time, space and causation is in you; why then do you

feel weak and helpless? Man is tossed about by his ambitions and the craving to

fulfil them. But, he must first know where he stands and where he should decide

to reach. Now, his efforts are wanton and wasteful. He is an expert in

mathematics, but, unable to do a small sum in arithmetic. He has mastered

algebra, but unable to measure the area of his home. He knows botany, with all

its Latin names; but, ask him about the uses to which the common thulasi plant

and its leaves can be put; he has no answer. He has mastered all the physical

exercises taught to him; but, he is helpless when asked to sit in Padhmaasana.

He can talk loud and long on Moksha and of its being the final goal; but, he

does not know that he 'is already free; he imagines himself

as bound and.behaves as such.

Do not get too bound with, or give up, the world

Attachments to illusory objects bind him. When the illusory nature of the

objects is revealed, the attachment falls off and he is free. These attachments

persuade him to tarnish the acts of worship also; for, he prays to God for

granting him trivial boons. Pray to God for God; do not use Truth to achieve

Untruth. Have the inner vision, not the outer. Do not be attracted by the

objective world; concentrate on the subjective world. You do not scatter seeds

on the surface; you plant them deep enough for the roots to get a foothold.

Do not dig the seeds into the soil too deep. Follow the middle path. Do not

tighten the strings of the violin or veena too much; nor leave them loose. Do

not get too bound with the world; do not also give it up.

The Shivam night

Embodiments of Love! This day is reckoned holy all over this land. It is named

Mahaa-Shivaraathri. 'Raathri' means 'darkness-filled'. Of every twenty-four

hours, we are experiencing this half the time. But this night is Shiva Night,

the Night of Shiva, the Night that grants Mangala--- the boon of blessedness.

And, the Mangala is Mahaa, great, unlimited. Mahaa or limitless blessedness can

be conferred only by the Divine Source; it cannot be acquired from

worldlyachievements and triumphs. It is dependent on the Immutable Triad, on

Sathyam, Shivam, Sundaram.

It assumes all forms, this Shantham!

It assumes all names, this Shivam!

It is Sath-Chith-Aaanandh, this Only One!

It is Sath yam-Shivam-Sundaram!

The Shivaraathri Festival, as celebrated here, is an example for you. You might

ask, "Swaami has often declared that all days are holy days, that there is no

special rite or ritual that has to be observed on any single day; but, Swaami

Himself is pouting vibhuuthi (holy ash) on the Idol and calling it abhisheka

(anointing the idol); is this right?" Swaami is doing so, to teach you a

lesson.

When desire is destroyed, Love reigns supreme

The Vibhuuthi Abhisheka has a potent inner meaning which Swaami wants you to

grasp. The Vibhuuthi is the most precious object, in the truly spiritual sense.

You know that Shiva burnt the God of Desire or Kaama, called Manmatha (for he

agitates the mind and confounds the confusion already existing there) into a

heap of ashes. Shiva adorned Himself with that ash, and thus He shone in His

Glory, as the Conqueror of Desire. When Kaama was destroyed, Prema (Love)

reigned supreme. When there is no desire to warp the mind, Love could be true

and full.

What greater offering can you give God to glorify Him than the ash signifying

your triumph over tantalising Desire? Ash is the ultimate condition of things;

it cannot undergo any further change. The Abhisheka with Vibhuuthi is done to

inspire you to give up desire and offer Shiva the ashes of its destruction as

the most valuable of all the articles you have earned. Ash cannot fade as

flowers do in a day or two; it does not dry and disappear or get soiled and

unpotable as water does; it will not lose colour as leaves do, in a few hours;

it does not rot as fruits do in a few days.Ash is ash for ever and ever. So,

burn your viles, your vices, your bad habits; worship Shiva, rendering

yourselves pure in thought and word and deed.

Shiva is the source of Bliss

Shiva is worshipped with the three-leaved bilva, for, He is immanent in the

three worlds, in the three phases of Time, in the three attributes of Nature.

He removes the three types of grief; He has no basis outside Him; He is the

source of Bliss; He is the embodiment of the sweetness and efficacy of Nectar.

Since every being is Shiva- Swaruupa (of the nature of Shiva)---for without

Shiva, it is mere 'shava' (corpse)---man has to live up to that Divine status.

Scholars and Pandiths who propagate Dharma (right action) in our country are

doing great disservice, for, they cast doubts on the very majesty of Godhead.

Swaami

Live in the constant presence of Shiva

Every form conceived in the Shaasthras and scriptures has a deep significance.

Shiva does not ride an animal called in human language, a bull. The bull is the

symbol of Stability standing on four legs, Sathya, Dharma, Shaanthi and Prema

(Truth, Virtue, Peace and Love). Shiva is described as having three eyes, eyes

that see the Past, the Present and the Future. The elephant skin which forms

His cloak is a symbol of the bestial primitive traits which His Grace destroys.

In fact, He tears them to pieces, skin them, and they become totally

ineffective. His Four Faces symbolise Shantham (Equanimity), Roudhram (Terror),

Mangalam (Grace) and Uthsaaham (elevating energy).

While adoring the Lingam on this Lingodhbhava Day, you must contemplate on these

truths of Shiva that the Linga represents. It is not this night alone that you

should spend in the thought of Shiva; your whole life must be lived in the

constant presence of the Lord.

Endeavour: that is the main thing; that is the inescapable consummation for all

mortals. Even those who deny God will have to tread the pilgrim road, melting

their hearts out in tears of travail. If you make the slightest effort to move

along the Path of your own liberation, the Lord will help you a hundred-fold.

That is the hope that Mahaashivaraathri conveys to you. Man is called so,

because he has the skill to do manana ; manana means inner meditation on the

meaning and significance of what one has heard. But, you have not yet emerged

out of the stage of Shraoanam (listening) ! All the joy you crave for is in

you. But, like a man who has vast riches in the iron chest, but, who has no

idea where the key is, you suffer. Hear properly the instructions, dwell upon

them in the silence of meditation, practise what has

been made clear therein; then, you can secure the key, open the chest and be rich in Joy.

Visualise Shiva as the inner power of all

You have given up even the little saadhana that Shivaraathri demands. In olden

times, people will not put even a drop of water on their tongues, this day.

Now, that rigour is gone. They used to keep vigil at night, the entire night,

without a wink of sleep, repeating Om Namasshivaaya without intermission. Now,

the name Shiva, is on no one's tongue. But, those who deny God are only denying

themselves and their glory. All have Love in them, in some form or other,

towards some one or other or their work or goal. That Love is God, a spark of

the God in them. They have Aanandha (bliss) however small or temporary and that

is another spark of the Divine. They have inner peace, detachment,

discrimination, sympathy, the spirit of service. These are Divine in the mirror

of their minds.

Resolve, on this Holy Shivaraathri, in the Presence of Shiva Sai, to visualise

the Shiva as the inner power of all. With each breath, you are even now,

asserting "Soham,I am He," not only you, but, every being that breathes,

every being that lives, everything that exists. It is a fact which you have

ignored so long. Believe it from now on. When you watch your breath and

meditate on that magnificent Truth, slowly, the I and the He (the Sah and the

Aham) will draw nearer and closer, until the feeling of separateness will fade

away---and the Soham will be transformed into OM, the Pranava, the Primal

Sound, the Fundamental Formula for God. That OM is the Swaswaruupa---the

Reality behind this "relative reality."

Shivaraathri is an auspicious night

Man is endowed with infinite potencies. All that you experience by way of

seeing, hearing and the like are reflections of the inner being. The

significance of this experience has to be properly understood. For instance,

today is Shivaraathri day. You experience the night every day. These are

ordinary nights. They are nights of darkness. But Shivaraathri is an auspicious

night. How is it auspicious? There are sixteen aspects for the mind. The moon is

the presiding deity for the mind. Of the sixteen phases of the moon, today in

the fourteenth day of Maargasheersha month, fifteen of the phases are absent.

On this day it is possible to get full control of one's mental faculties. Hence

it is considered an auspicious day.

The night of goodness and Godliness

The Shivarathri, the Rathri (night) of Shivam (Goodness, Godliness, Good

Fortune). It is an auspicious Night because the mind can be made to lose its

hold on man by devoting the night to prayer. The Moon is the presiding deity of

the mind, according to the scriptures. The mind is kindred to the Moon as the

Eyes are to the Sun. Shivarathri is prescribed for the fourteenth night of the

dark half of the month, the night previous to the New Moon when the Moon

suffers from total blackout. The Moon and the mind which it rules over are

drastically reduced every month on the fourteenth night. When that night is

devoted to vigilant adoration of God, the remnant of the wayward mind is

overcome and victory ensured. This month's Shivarathri is holier than the rest

and so, it is called

Mahashivarathri.

With firm faith and a cleansed heart, the night should be spent in glorifying

God. No moment should be wasted in other thoughts. Time flees fast. Like a

block of ice, it melts soon and flows away; like water held in a leaky pot, it

disappears drop by drop. The time allotted for one's life ticks off quite soon,

and the span ends sometime somehow. So, be vigilant. Be warned. Be alert and

aware. Seek the shelter of the Lord and transform every moment into a sacred

celebration.

Auspiciousness consists in diverting the mind towards God. This calls for

getting rid of the inherited animal tendencies in man. This is the occasion to

recognise the omnipresence of the Divine in all beings and in all objects. It

follows that whomsoever you adore or condemn, you are adoring or condemning

God. You must follow the injunction: Help ever, hurt never. Every human being

has sacred qualities, based on his Shivathvam (Divine essence). Hence man

should realise his inherent divinity, though his body is made up of the five

elements. Thereby humanness is transformed into divinity. The human birth is

intended for the pursuit of Dharma. Dharma implies harmony in thought, word and

deed. When every person realises his essential divine nature, the entire world

will be transformed. The body and the mind are mere instruments.

Man's reality is the Aathma (Self). Man should use the instruments given to him

to perform his duties well and realise his oneness with God.

References:

Sri Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 1 Chapter 19Sri Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 2

Chapter 31Sri Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 3 Chapter 7Sri Sathya Sai Speaks Volume

4 Chapter 4Sri Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 5 Chapter 8Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Volume 7 Chapter 6Sri Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 11 Chapter 13Sri Sathya Sai

Speaks Volume 12 Chapter 27Sri Sathya Sai Speaks Volume 15 Chapter 38Sri Sathya

Sai Speaks Volume 20 Chapter 5Sri Sathya Sai Speaks

Volume 29 Chapter 5

Source: http://www.geocities.com/devi_maa108/Mahashiv/Mahashiv.htmSai Ram Web

site: http://web1.mtnl.net.in/~sairam/

 

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