The Supreme Joy of Shivarathri
On March 6 this year falls one of the most sacred festivals in the Indian calendar, Maha Shivarathri. Why is this day celebrated? And what is the real significance of this occasion? Swami elaborated on these questions in great detail in a beautiful Message on this festival day in 1969. Here are a few excerpts from that revealing discourse:
Many stories are told in the Shastras, to explain the origin and significance of the Mahaa Shivaraatri Festival. Bharat, the name for this land (India) 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…
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 especially sacred. Another story is that this is the Day on which Shiva danced the Taandava (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 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.
