What is the significance of shivratri

When you are asked what happened at Prasanthi Nilayam, tell them that your life's mission has been fulfilled, that you were able to witness the Lingodhbhavam , see the Linga which emerged during the auspicious hour. All these Mahavakyas sacred statements of Supreme Truth relate to the glory of the One, which is a veritable Ocean of Grace. Siva means, Graciousness, Auspiciousness, Mangalam.

He is all Graciousness, ever Auspicious, Sarva Mangalam. That is the reason why the epithet, Sri, which indicates these qualities, is not added to the name Siva, Shankara , Easwara , etc.

It is added to the number of Avatars Divine Incarnations , for they have taken on perishable bodies for a specific purpose. They have to be distinguished from other humans, by the epithet, but Siva is eternally gracious, auspicious, mangala and so the epithet is superfluous. Siva is adored as the Teacher of Teachers, Dakshinamurthy. The Form of Siva is itself a great lesson in tolerance and forbearance.

The secret of Creation is evident from the description of the form of Siva. The crescent moon on Siva's head symbolises the consciousness in human beings, the Ganga symbolises the Life-Force and the snakes on Siva's body represent the myriads of living beings.

He resides on a silver mountain. His dearest friend is Kubera, the Lord of Wealth. Despite being endowed with all these, why was He obliged to carry the begging bowl? To demonstrate to the world that every kind of wealth is a hindrance to spiritual advancement, Siva renounced everything.

It is through renunciation Siva became the eternal embodiment of supreme bliss. The Lord has another name. It is only when the love principle underlying this name is rightly understood, the real form of the cosmos can be recognised. That name is "Sambasiva". Saa means divinity. Amba refers to the cosmos. Siva means Purusha the Supreme Person. Easwara has yet another name, Yogasikha.

The sky is His blue form. The dik directions are His garments. Hence He is known as Digambara. The five are: Earth, water, fire, air and space. His five heads represent the panchabhutas five basic elements. Consider the significance of the form that Siva has assumed for human adoration: In His throat, He has the holocaust-producing poison, halahala , that can destroy all life in a trice.

On His head, He has the sacred Ganga river, whose waters can cure all ills, here and hereafter. On His forehead, He has the eye of Fire.

On His head, He has the cool comforting Moon. On His wrists, ankles, shoulders and neck He wears deadly cobras, which live in life-giving breath of air. The place, is no area of dread; it is an auspicious area, for all have to end their lives there, at the close of this life or a few more lives. Siva is teaching you that death cannot be shunned or frightened away. It has to be gladly and bravely met.

Siva, again, is said to go about with a begging bowl. He teaches that renunciation, detachment, indifference to good fortune or bad, are the paths to attain Him. Siva is known as Mrthyunjaya He who vanquishes death. And, He is also the Kamari the destroyer of Desire. These two names show that he who destroys desire can conquer death, for desire breeds activity, activity breeds consequence, consequence breeds bondage, bondage results in birth and birth involves death.

In temples of Easwara or Siva , you find Nandi image of bull in front of the deity. What is the inner significance of this? The usual reply you get is that Nandi is the vahana vehicle of Easwara; as if He could not afford to have a better vehicle than a bull.

This is a wrong idea. The truth is that just as the Lingam is the symbol of the Lord Easwara , Nandi bull is the symbol for jiva individual soul. Therefore, just like the Nandi, man should turn away from Prakruthi and direct all his attention towards Easwara only.

There are some more meanings for this symbolism. For instance, it is said that no one should stand between Easwara and Nandi. One should have the vision of Easwara by looking through the space in between the two ears of Nandi. The underlying idea is that through the sadhana of using its ears to listen about Easwara alone, the animality in the bull becomes transformed into divinity and because of its merger with Easwara it is called Nandeeshwara Bull-God.

Thus the lesson of the symbolism is that man should also try to merge with God, by following the example of the Nandi. Every form conceived in the shastras and scriptures has a deep significance. Siva does not ride an animal called in human language, a bull. Siva 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. While adoring the Lingam on this Lingodhbhava Day, you must contemplate on these truths of Siva that the Linga represents. Siva is worshipped with the three-leaved bilwa , 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. The Sivarathri Festival, as celebrated here, is an example for you. You might ask, "Swami 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, Swami Himself is pouring vibhuthi holy ash on the Idol and calling it abhisheka anointing the idol ; is this right?

The Vibhuthi Abhisheka has a potent inner meaning which Swami wants you to grasp. The Vibhuthi is the most precious object, in the truly spiritual sense.

You know that Siva burnt the God of Desire or Kama , called Manmatha for he agitates the mind and confounds the confusion already existing there into a heap of ash. When Kama was destroyed, Prema Love reigned supreme. When there is no desire to warp the mind, Love could be true and full.

Another significance of Sivarathri is this: Siva, or the Paramapurusha the Eternal Absolute Person , in His desire to attract prakrithi objective world , engages Himself in the thandava the Cosmic dance.

The thandava dance is so fast that fire emanates from Siva's body because of the heat generated by activity. In order to cool Siva and comfort him, Parvathi, his consort, places the Ganga on his head, makes the crescent Moon rest amidst the coils of his hair, applies cold sandalwood paste all over his body, winds round the joints of his hands and feet cold-blooded snakes, and finally, being herself the daughter of the Himalayas, she sits on his lap and becomes a part of Him.

At this Siva rises, and both Purusha and Prakrithi dance together to the immense delight of the Gods and of all creation. This happens, according to the Puranas mythological legends , on the Sivarathri day. It is Sivam 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. The significance of Sivarathri is that it is a time when one can get closest to Bhagawan, because the moon, which represents the mind, has shed fifteen of its phases kalas and is about to shed the last sixteenth phase. The ancient sages, who explored the link between numbers and the Divine, found that the letters in the name of Sivarathri amounted to a total of eleven, which was the number of the dark forces called Rudras those who make people cry.

After many millennia in meditation, one day he became absolutely still. That day is Mahashivratri. All movement in him stopped and he became utterly still, so ascetics see Mahashivratri as the night of stillness. Legends apart, why this day and night are held with such importance in the yogic traditions is because of the possibilities it presents to a spiritual seeker.

Modern science has gone through many phases and arrived at a point today where they are out to prove to you that everything that you know as life, everything that you know as matter and existence, everything that you know as the cosmos and galaxies, is just one energy which manifests itself in millions of ways. This scientific fact is an experiential reality in every yogi.

All longing to know the unbounded, all longing to know the oneness in the existence is yoga. The night of Mahashivratri offers a person an opportunity to experience this. Shivratri, is the darkest day of the month. Celebrating Shivratri on a monthly basis, and the particular day, Mahashivratri, almost seems like celebration of darkness. Any logical mind would resist darkness and naturally opt for light.

If your vision is really looking for big things, you will see the biggest presence in the existence is a vast emptiness. This vastness, this unbounded emptiness, is what is referred to as Shiva. Today, modern science also proves that everything comes from nothing and goes back to nothing. It is in this context that Shiva, the vast emptiness or nothingness, is referred to as the great lord, or Mahadeva. Every religion, every culture on this planet has always been talking about the omnipresent, all-pervading nature of the divine.

Due to this, his throat becomes blue and so he is also known as Neelakantha. Shivratri is celebrated as an event due to which Shiva saved the world. Another story which is mentioned in the Shiv Purana is: Once upon a time Brahma and Vishnu were fighting among themselves that who is superior among the two.

Other Gods were terrified and so they went to Lord Shiva to intervene in the war. To make them realise the futility of their fight, Shiva took the form of a massive fire that spread across the length of the universe. By seeing the magnitude, both the Gods decided to find one end each to establish supremacy over the other. So, for this Brahma assumed the form of a swan and went upwards on the other hand Vishnu assumed as Varaha and went into the earth.

But the fire has no limit and they searched thousands of miles but couldn't found the end. On the journey upwards, Brahma came across a Ketaki flower. He asked Ketaki from where she had come; Ketaki replied that she had been placed at the top of the fiery column as an offering.

Brahma could not find the upper limit and took the flower as a witness and came. At this, Shiva revealed the true form and became angry. Brahma did not find the uppermost limit and told lie. So, he was punished by Shiva for telling a lie and cursed that no one will pray for him.

Even Ketaki flower was banned from being used as an offering for any worship. Since it was on the 14th day in the dark half month of Phalguna when Shiva first manifested himself in the form of a Linga, the day is especially auspicious and is celebrated as Maha Shivratri. By hindustantimes. History And Significance Of the 12 Shivratris observed in any given year, Maha Shivratri is considered especially auspicious.

Celebration Unlike a lot of Hindu festivals, Maha Shivratri is not an overtly joyous festival. Topics maha shivratri. Get our Daily News Capsule Subscribe. Thank you for subscribing to our Daily News Capsule newsletter. Whatsapp Twitter Facebook Linkedin.