Guest guest Report post Posted February 15, 2007 Our Beloved Bholenath ( the innocent Lord Shiva) is very easy to please !(Ashutosh- easy to please) ! Lord Shiva is fond Fond of ABHISEKHA ( offerings) just as lord Vishnu is fond of Alankara ! Here is one of the legends surrounding the celebration of Mahashivaratri! On the day of Shivaratri, a hunter, who had killed many birds in a forest, was chased by a hungry lion. The hunter climbed a Bilva tree to save himself from the lion's attack. The lion waited throughout the entire night at the bottom of the tree for its prey. In order to stay awake to avoid falling from the tree, the hunter kept plucking the leaves of the Bilva tree and dropping them below. The leaves fell on a Shiva Linga that happened to be located at the bottom of the tree. Shiva was pleased by the offering of the Bilva leaves by the hunter, although inadvertently, and saved the hunter in spite of all the sin the hunter had committed by killing the birds. This story emphasizes the auspiciousness of worshipping Shiva with Bilva leaves on Shivaratri. THERE IS AN ESOTERIC MEANING TO THE ABOVE STORY! The story above is an allegory. Just as the hunter sought to kill wild animals, the spiritual seeker tries to overcome lust, anger, greed, infatuation, jealousy and hatred. The jungle is the mind where all these negativities roam about. A spiritual aspirant must kill these "animals" to be free. The name of the hunter was Suswara, which means "one of melodious voice." This indicates the purity of intent and speech, which, in turn, imply a level of mental purity. The hunter was born in Varanasi. Vara refers to the forehead while nasi is the nose. The point where both meet is Varanasi, in other words, the point midway between the eyebrows. This point is also called the ajna chakra and is regarded as a nexus of the three nadis: ida, pingala and sushumna. A spiritual aspirant who concentrates his or her mind on this point gains concentration and gradual control over his senses. The killing of the animals thus indicates control over one's vasanas [latent tendencies]. The bilva tree corresponds to the spinal column. The tree's leaves are special: each stalk has three leaflets. The three leaflets represent the three nadis mentioned above. The climbing of the tree represents the ascent of the kundalini shakti from the muladhara to the ajna chakra. Keeping awake is symbolic of the kind of awareness and oneness of purpose that a spiritual aspirant needs to reach the goal. He cannot afford to be slack even for a moment. Shiva is the Supreme Consciousness that illuminates the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep. Offering the threefold bilva leaves to the Shivalinga heralds the return to a level of consciousness beyond the three states, which is the fourth state, turiya. The dawning of that state is consonant with the awakening of the individual. http://www.amritapuri.org © Mata Amritanandamayi Math, Kerala, India 690525. Tridalam trigunakaram trinetram cha triyayudham Trijanmapapasamharam ekabilvam shivarpanam .. Offer a trifoliate Bilva leaf to Lord Siva, the three-eyed Lord having a trident in His hand which destroys the sins of three births ! Every year i attend the mahashivaratri function at the local SSVT temple in Lanham, md ... not even the inclement weather can prevent me from attending that lovely satsangha on this holy night! Bolo Bholenath ki jai ! please visit http://www.astrojyoti.com and listen to Shiva stotras all day long!BE A BHAJANANDI! how i miss my subbuji today ! He would have come up with such a devotional post today on this auspicious day ! Om Namaha Shivaye! ps: on another note , why would a beautiful Goddess like Parvati be attracted to an Aghori , an ascetic yogi , roaming in cremation grounds , wearing serpants around his neck , a renunciate and a vairagi? answer in my next post ... after tonight's chanting .... AT THE LOTUS FEET OF SHAMBUNATH! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
