BY: Kumar Punithavel
[monsoonjournal.com] This year the Maha Sivarathiri festival falls on the 15th of February. The Hindu belief is that when the creation was completed, Lord Siva and Parvathi Devi went to live on summit of Mount Kailas. Parvathi Devi asked, “Oh venerable Lord! Which of the many rituals observed in thy honor pleases you most?”
The Lord replied, “The 14th night of the new moon, in the dark fortnight during the month of Masi, is my favorite day. It is known as Sivarathiri. My devotees give me more happiness by mere fasting and observing vigil than by ceremonial baths and offerings of flowers, sweets and incense.
“The devotee observes strict spiritual discipline in the day and worships me in four different forms during each of the four successive three-hour periods of the night. The offering of a few Beal leaves is more precious to me than the precious jewels and flowers. My devotee should bathe me in milk at the first period, in curd at the second, in Ghee at the third, and in honey at the forth and last. Next morning, the observer should feed the poor first and, after performing the prescribed ceremonies, can break the fast. Oh Devi! There is no ritual which can please me more than this simple routine of sanctity.”
Parvathi Devi was deeply moved by what the Great Lord said. She repeated it to her celestial friends who in their turn passed it on to the ruling princesses on earth. Thus was the sanctity of Sivarathiri broadcast all over the world.
[”Somaskanda Moortham”, means the Sivan family together: Thirukoneswaram - HA]
There are three natural gunas or characters in human being. They are Rajes (the quality of passionate activity to posses all) Thamas (that of inactivity), and the last is Sathviha (the quality of saintly activity of righteousness). When one guna dominates, the other two subsides. The Sivarathiri viratha aims to control the first two so that the last one will dominate. The entire day is spent at the feet of Lord Siva. Continuous worship of the lord necessitates the devotee’s presence in the place of worship. The passionate activity of the human nature is controlled by this. Evils like lust, anger, and jealousy, born out of Rajes guna are ignored and subdued. The devotee observes vigil throughout the night and thus conquers Thamas guna. Constant vigilance is imposed on the mind. Every three hours a round of worship of the Shiva Lingam is conducted. Sivarathiri is a perfect viratham (penance) where, mans in-born good nature, is brought to the surface.
The formal worship consists of bathing the lord. Lord Siva is considered to be of the form of Glow (which the Shiva Lingam represents). He is eternally glowing with the fire of austerity. He is therefore best propitiated with cool bathing. While bathing the lingam the devotee prays, “Oh Lord! I will bathe thee with water, milk, etc. Do thou kindly bathe me with the milk of wisdom, do thou kindly wash me of all my sins, so that the fire of worldliness which is scorching me may be put out once and for all, so that I may be one with thee- the one without a second. In the great legend Mahabaratha, Bhishma, while resting on the bed of arrows awaiting for the time of his demise, and conducting discourse on Dharma, refers to the observance of Maha Sivarathiri by King Chithirabanu.
This story is frequently explained mistakenly to mean that, even if some one unknowingly keeps vigil on Sivarathiri will be blessed by God. Nothing is further from truth and foolish to believe God bestows ignorance. The Hindu mythology has deep meaning and only a serious seeker of truth will find it unfolding. Let us see the story and its true meaning.
Once upon a time while King Chithirabanu was observing the Maha Sivarathiri penance with his wife, the Sage Ashtavakra came to visit the court of the king.
On arrival, the sage asked: “O King! Why are you observing a fast today?” The king who had the gift of remembering incidents from his previous births answered the sage.
In his past birth, the king said, he was born a hunter in Varnasi and his name was Saswara. His livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. One day he got lost in the forest and was overtaken by nightfall. Unable to return home, he climbed a tree for safety and shelter. This happened to be a Beal tree. Earlier he had shot a deer and he bundled the carcass and tied it to a branch far above the ground.
Since he was concerned that he may fall down, he kept himself awake the whole night. Whenever he thought of his wife and children going hungry that night, he shed profuse tears. In order to pass the night away, he engaged himself by plucking the Beal leaves and dropping them down.
When day dawned, on his way home he sold the deer and bought some food for the family and himself. But while he was about to break his fast, a stranger came begging for food. He served him first and then took his food.
At the time of his death in the past birth, he saw two messengers of Lord Siva who had come to take him to the abode of Lord Siva. It was then he learnt he had earned great merit by unconsciously worshiping Lord Siva on Sivarathiri, for there was a Siva Lingam buried at the foot of the tree.
The leaves he had dropped had fallen on the Lingam. The tears he shed out of pure sorrow for his family fell on the Lingam and had washed it. He had also on fast the whole day and night. Later, even before breaking his fast, he had fed a poor man. Thus he had unconsciously worshiped the Lord with all the required rules of rituals and thus gained merit. After living in the abode of the Lord for a very long time he was now born as King Chithrabanu.
This story may appear as a simple one. It says that even if one does the ritual of worship by accident, Lord Shiva will bless him. This story is a metaphor; it has deeper and profound meanings. It is an allegory, which is explained in the scriptures of the Hindu faith.
The wild animals the hunter fought and killed are conceived as evils like lust, anger, greed, jealousy and so forth. The jungle was nothing but his mind! It is in the mind these wild animals roam freely. A person pursuing a spiritual path must first destroy these evil tendencies.
The name of the hunter in this story was Suswara. The word itself means “melodious”. A person practicing the said path in spiritual life will develop certain external signs of a yogi. The first marks are lightness of the body, health, and clearness, of countenance and pleasant voice. This is clearly portrayed in the swetaswatara Upanishad book 2 verse 13.
Lightness, freedom from disease, steadiness,
Clarity of complexion, sweetness of voice,
A pleasant smell, little urine or excrement
Tell of the first arising of yoga
The hunter himself has practiced yoga for many years and had reached the first stage; thus the name Suswara is given to the hunter.
The point midway between the eyebrows is called Ajna charka by yogis. It is regarded as the meeting place of the three nerve currents {nadis}, namely the Ida, Pingala and Sushuma. An aspiring yogi is instructed to focus and concentrate on this point. This will help him to conquer his desires and evil qualities like anger and other shortcomings.
It is here that he will get a vision of the Divine Light within himself. The tree represents the spinal column of the yogi. The climbing of the tree is meant to represent the ascension of the Kundalini Shakti, the serpentine power from the lowest nerve centre called the Muladhara to Ajna Chakra; that is the goal of a Yogi.
By The reason to select a Beal tree has been clearly explained by the fact that the leaves of Beal tree are three folds. They represent the Ida, Pingala, and Sushuma nadis, which are the regions for the activity of the moon, the sun, and fire respectively, or which may be thought of as the three eyes of Lord Siva.
The Yogi was in the waking state when he began his meditation. He bundled up the birds and the animals he had slain and tied them on the branch of the tree before he rested. By this act, he had fully conquered his thoughts and rendered them inactive. He had gone through various steps and was practicing concentration and meditation. When he felt sleepy, it meant he was about to lose consciousness and go into deep sleep.
In this story, his wife and children is none other than the world. One who seeks the Grace of God must become an embodiment of love. He must have an all-embracing sympathy. His shedding of tears is symbolic of his universal love. In yoga also, one cannot have illumination without Divine Grace; without practicing universal love, one cannot obtain that Grace.
One must perceive one’s own self everywhere. The preliminary stage is to identify one’s own mind with the minds of all created beings after which, he should rise above the limitations of the mind and merge it in the Self. That happens only in the stage of Samadi, not earlier.
The dropping of the leaves from the tree shows that all his activities were confined to the three nadis. The leaves of the Beal tree, as explained earlier, represent the three nadis. The vigil he kept the whole night means he passed the deep Sleep State successfully.
The dawning of the day symbolizes the entrance into the state of super consciousness. When he came down and had a vision of Siva Lingam, he had reached the super consciousness stage. He had seen the Siva Lingam or the icon of Siva in the form of the inner lights. It was the vision of the Lord.
Stories of the Hindu faith have profound meanings. One should go deep and study to be exalted by them.