When the creation had been completed, Lord Shiva and Parvati
had been living on top of Kailas.
Parvati asked: “O Venerable Lord, which of the many rituals observed in
Thy honour, pleases Thee the most?” Lord
Shiva replied, “The fourteenth night of the new moon, Krishna Paksha, in the
month of Phalguna(February-March) is known as Shivaratri, my favourite
Tithi. I am highly pleased with those
who fast on that day and are awake the whole night, worshipping me with bilva
leaves. Just hear my Beloved, of an
episode which will give you an idea of the glory and power of this ritual.
Once, a hunter named Suswara from Varanasi went for the kill, in the
forest. He killed many animals and birds
during the day. While returning home, he
felt tired and sat under a tree, to rest. But, he fell asleep. It was already late evening when he
woke-up. It was very dark and he could
not find his way back home. So he
decided to spend the night in the forest.
Fearing wild animals, he climbed up the tree. He could not sleep, out of fear of falling
down. To keep awake, he started plucking
the leaves of the tree, which had moistened with dew, and started throwing them
down. The leaves fell on a shivalinga
which was below the tree. The tree was a
bilva tree. That night was
Shivaratri. He had not eaten the entire
day because he was busy in chasing and hunting the animals. Thus, fasting also happened accidently. Though done, unconsciously, I was pleased
with this act. Due to the merit that he
gained by performing all these acts, unconsciously, at the time of death, when
Lord Yama’s messengers came, they could not capture the hunters’ soul because
my ganas came there and brought him to Me.”
Symbolically, the hunter represents the Jiva whose job is to
hunt pleasures. With the arrows of
sense-organs, he ‘shoots’ the animals, the sense objects. When a Jiva is tired of such a life, the Jiva
starts offering all the actions to the Lord.
The body is the Bilva Tree and each bilva leaf represents the three
gunas which influence the Jiva’s life.
The Jiva offers these Guna-coloured-actions to the Gunatita – The Lord
in the form of Shiva-Linga. Thus, he
becomes free of attachment and at the death of the body-identification, unites
with Shiva – Pure Consciousness.
Fasting and keeping awake are the main rituals to be done for Shivaratri. Let us see their symbolism:
Upavasa is defined as ‘aahaara nivrittihi.’ Not
eating any food is Upavasa.
That which is consumed, collected by us through the senses,
mind and intellect is called Food or Ahara. “aahriyate manasaa budhyaa
indriyairvaa iti aahaarah.”
Not to indulge with these is Upavasa. Then what is to be done?
Upavasa means staying near.
In this context, it means staying near Lord Shiva by worship,
meditation, japa of Lord Shiva.
Keeping awake is symbolic of ‘being awake to the Self’ and
asleep to the world of sense-pleasures.
Otherwise, night is symbolic of carnal pleasures. But, on Shivaratri, one must perform
Shiva-Pooja with the desire to unite with Lord Shiva – Ones’ Own Self.
If the unconscious acts of the hunter could gain the grace
of Lord Shiva, how much more grace and blessings will be experienced by us if
we fast, keep vigil and worship Lord Shiva, with devotion!
Let us invoke His Mighty Grace and realize that we are Shiva
– Satyam Shivam Sundaram and not the miserable Jiva.
!! Om Namah Shivaya !!
