The Holi tale

[Guest guest]

Long long ago there lived a demon king by the name Hiranyakashyapu.He had grown

so powerful that he wanted to defeat Lord Vishnu and rule the universe

[trilok]. To defeat Lord Vishnu, he decided to please Lord Brahma with a severe

show of penace and tapasya. Lord Brahma was pleased and granted him the unique

boon that he could not be killed by any man or beast, with or without a weapon,

during day or night , indoors or outdoors , on earth or in the sky..Strengthened

by his new found power Hiranyakashyapu declared, "There is no one stronger than

I.I am the lord of the three worlds.Everyone must worship me" ,and let loose a

reign of terror.

Unknown to him, however, his son Prahlad ,whom he loved very much was a great

devotee of Lord Vishnu. When he found this out, Hiranyakashyapu was very

furious. His hatred for Lord Vishnu was so great that he ordered his men to

kill his own son. They let loose deadly snakes on him, mighty elephants were

sent to trample Prahlad, he was even pushed off a high cliff but nothing could

touch him because he was protected by the powers of Lord Vishnu.

Finally his wicked aunt Holika was called to do the task. She had a boon that

fire could never burn her. But when she sat inside a roaring flame with Prahlad

on her lap, Holika herself was charred to death because she did not know that

her powers were only effective if she entered the fire alone.Prahlada, however,

chanted the names of Lord Vishnu and was saved and was left unscathed. And that

is how Holi got its name from Holika, meaning Fire.Symbolically on the full

moon night of Holi, a bonfire of Holika is made with everyone gathering around

it singing and clapping in joy at the destruction of evil. The next day people

play with colours and merriment is carried through the day.

Today Holi satnds for the burning of selfishness ,greed , lust and hatred -all

that is bad in man. Holi celebrates love , brotherhood and compassion- all that

is good in us..

 

According to another legend Holi is associated with Lord Krishna who is the 8th

incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It goes like this: Putana, a she-demon was sent by

the Lord's uncle, the cruel king Kansa, to kill the child Krishna. She took on

the guise of a beautiful woman and went about in the village of Nandgaon

suckling every child to death with her poison. But the infant Krishna suckled

at her breasts till blood started oozing resulting in her death. So on the full

moon night, bonfires are lighted to celebrate the victory of Krishna and the

death of Putana. In fact Holi, as it is played today, is more representative of

Lord Krishna's gregariousness turning it into a community festival of the

masses. The songs sung on this day describe his frolics with Radha and her

accompanying Gopis (as the young maidens of Vrindavan were known). He played

Holi with much exuberance spraying everyone with coloured water through the

pichkaris, a

tradition that has survived the passage of time.

In South India, especially in Tamilnadu and Kerala, the festival is celebrated

in remembrance of Kamdev, the Love-God who carries a bow made of sugarcane with

a line of humming bees as its string and the arrow-shafts topped with passion

that consumes the heart it pierces. His favourite pastime during the spring is

to move through woodlands hunting birds, beasts and men. Once vanity prevailed

and he committed the sin of aiming his arrow at Lord Shiva who was sitting in

deep meditation thus infuriating the Lord who then opened his third eye and

burnt Kamdev to ashes. Kamdev's grief-stricken wife Rati implored the Lord to

take pity on her and restore her husband to life. Shiva relented and granted

her the boon on condition that she would be able to see her husband but he

would remain anang (without the physical human form). Hence, the songs sung

during Holi tell the pathetic tale of Rati. Holi in these parts is known by

three different names - Kamavilas, Kaman Pandigai and Kama-dahanam. Over the

years the festival of Holi has acquired a new significance. Besides being a

spring festival it has also become the harvest festival. The winter crop of

Rabi ripens and the corns of wheat become golden. For farmers, therefore, Holi

is a joyful celebration of new harvest. With their hearts filled with joy and

excitement they offer their first crop to Agnidev (God of fire) who the Aryans

have always held in high esteem. Only after this offering do they start using

their crops of personal consumption or sell it in the markets.May the Merciful

Sri Sai Baba always shower His grace on us and our families and remove our

problems and anxieties by giving us all - strength , goodluck, success and

happiness with peace of mind.Sai bhakt,Deepa Hdebu7366