Maha Shivaratri
Maha Shivratri or Maha Sivaratri or Shivaratri or Sivaratri (Night of Shiva or "Great Night of Shiva") is a Hindu festival celebrated every year on the 13th night/14th day in the Krishna Paksha (waning moon) of the month of Maagha (as per Shalivahana) or Phalguna (as per Vikrama) in the Hindu Calendar (that is, the night before and day of the new moon). The festival is principally celebrated by offerings of Bael (Bilva) leaves to the Lord Shiva, all day fasting and an all night long vigil.
The deeper yogic meaning and objective within Mahasivrathri is:
Mahasivrathri is the day & night of the yogi. Mahasivrathri is a once a year celebration of Lord Siva, the awake Spirit within each of us. For several thousands of years, yogis and nearly 60% of all householders, i.e, ordinary people in India, observe this auspicious day by staying up all night chanting and singing to Lord Siva. Mahasivrathri is the gift of realized Sages to enable everyone experience turiya, the state of higher consciousness.
Observing Mahasivrathri is transforming as we awaken to whom we truly are. Lord Siva, the dissolver of ego enables clearance of past karmic negatives that have blocked us from our true potentials. Mahasivrathri is rejuvenative as we tune into the eternal yogi within ourselves as the surrender of our body consciousness to the awake soul, the eternal yogi. The objective of Mahasivrathri is to experience turiya, the realm of enlightenment. Proximity of the mind with Source does align our thoughts to be empowered as we are in touch with our inner wisdom of calm, serenity, inspiration, abundance and knowing.
Preparing for Mahasivrathri in a yogic manner:
Mahasivrathri is the celebration of the Spirit by the Spirit. Empowered worship of Source is from the intent of wanting to be Source.
- In our inner journey of meditation; "fasting"- fruits, nuts and juice diet intake that is gradually reduced; and puja we transform be Lord Siva. These are moments for detox and cleansing of mind and body.
- Jump into your personal Mother Ganga each morning! By slipping into a cold water shower each morning, we are dissolving our primal bond to the body and thus are born again. If getting into the cold water shower in the morning is difficult- do yoga and through yoga dissolve into lord siva of five elements and the body becomes easier to surrender into the cold water.
- It is normal for humanity to experience turbulence and upheavals just before Mahasivrathri and then after Mahasivrathri, the calm and inspired realities that unfold. The mind readily plunges within when ever there is hardship in our external realities. After Mahasivrathri is observed and complete, it is normal to witness a huge blessing or blessings in our external reality.
- Light a lamp at least once a day and meditate, chant and pray. If this is not possible, still the mind and visualize the lamp within and experience Source as the joys within the stillness of a mind without thoughts. The stillness of mind is Lord Siva, the experience of being the Self, the soul.
- Pilgrimages to sacred places during this period helps the inner journey. Being aware of each thought and setting the mind alight through mantra chanting creates the inner lamp of awareness that gradually shines 24/7.
- Do dharma. The effective form of dharma is to feed the hungry while we are fasting and in satisfying other hunger, we are divinely fed with the subtle energy of Source. Dharma done during this sacred period magnifies. Dharma done in random kindness going beyond our own suffering and discomfort enables the realization of Oneness, the essence of Source.
- Climb within each day and go further beyond the mind into the vibrant light within! Lift our consciousness from the muladhara chakra (root chakra) above to the Guru chakra (above the navel). We transcend the body consciousness of heat and cold, hunger etc through the shift in our consciousness.
- Climb above to the third eye and watch the vibrant light of the mantra dance. In bringing this light in the third eye to stillness, the mind transcends to the mindless realm of joy that Sages call, the sleepless sleep, turiya.
- On the day/night of Mahasivrathri, be the pillar of light, Lord Siva.
May humanity arise in the awake consciousness of wisdom that enables each of us to be the prophets and masters of higher consciousness! May each of us be instruments of Source and in our breath, the ascendance of collective consciousness.
In North India and Nepal, many people consume bhang (Cannabis sativa) , which is believed to be Lord Shiva's favourite drink
Legends
There are many stories associated with Shivaratri and its origins.
Samudra manthan (the Churning of the Ocean)
During the samudra manthan (the churning of the ocean) by the Gods and demons, haalaa-hala, a poison, came out of the ocean. It was so toxic, it could have wiped out the entire creation. At this juncture, on the advice of Vishnu, the gods approached Mahadev and prayed to him to protect their lives by consuming this poison. Pleased with their prayers, out of compassion for living beings, Lord Shiva drank the poison and held it in his throat by binding it with a snake. The throat became blue due to the poison (thus Lord Shiva is also known as Neelakantha) and Shiva remained unharmed. The incident shows that Shiva, who may be seen as the divine Destroyer, is also the Protector.
Pralaya (the Deluge)
In another version, it is believed that the whole world was once facing destruction and the Goddess Parvati worshiped her husband Shiva to save it. She prayed for the Jivas (living souls) remaining in space – like particles of gold dust in a lump of wax – during that long period of pralaya (deluge) night, should, upon becoming active again, have his blessings, but only if they worshiped him just as she did then. Her prayer was granted. Parvati named the night for the worship of Ishwara by mortals Maha-Sivaratri, or the great night of Shiva, since Pralaya is brought about by him.
Shiva's Favourite Day
After creation was complete, Parvati asked Lord Shiva which rituals pleased him the most. The Lord replied that the 13th night of the new moon, during the month of Maagha, is his most favourite day. Parvati repeated these words to her friends, from whom the word spread over all creation.
The Story Of King Chitrabhanu
In the Shanti Parva (chapter) of the Mahabharata epic, Bhishma, whilst resting on the bed of arrows and discoursing on Dharma (righteousness), refers to the observance of Maha Shivaratri by King Chitrabhanu. The story goes as follows:
Once upon a time King Chitrabhanu of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who ruled over the whole of Jambudvipa (the earth), was observing a fast with his wife, it being the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage Ashtavakra came on a visit to the court of the king.
The lord asked the king the purpose of his observing the fast. King Chitrabhanu explained that he had a gift of remembering the incidents of his past birth, and in his previous life he had been a hunter in Varanasi and his name was Suswara. His only livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. The day before the new moon, while roaming through forests in search of animals, he saw a deer, but before his arrow flew he noticed the deer's family and their sadness at its impending death. So he let it live. He had still not caught anything when he was overtaken by nightfall and climbed a tree for shelter. It happened to be a Bael tree. His canteen leaked water, so he was both hungry and thirsty. These two torments kept him awake throughout the night, thinking of his poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously waiting for his return. To pass away the time he engaged himself in plucking the Bael leaves and dropping them down onto the ground.
The next day he returned home and bought some food for himself and his family. The moment he was about to break his fast a stranger came to him, begging for food. He served the food first to stranger and then had his own.
At the time of his death, he saw two messengers of Lord Shiva, sent to conduct his soul to the abode of Lord Shiva. He learnt then for the first time of the great merit he had earned by unconscious worship of Lord Shiva during the night of Shivaratri. The messengers told him that there had been a Lingam (a symbol for the worship of Shiva) at the bottom of the tree. The leaves he dropped had fallen on the Lingam, in imitation of its ritual worship. The water from his leaky canteen had washed the Lingam (also a ritual action), and he had fasted all day and all night. Thus, he unconsciously had worshipped the Lord.
As the conclusion of the tale the King said that he had lived in the abode of the Lord and enjoyed divine bliss for long ages and now he was reborn as Chitrabhanu.
This story is also told in the Garuda Purana
Rituals of Maha Shivratri
Tripundra refers to the three horizontal stripes of holy ash applied to the forehead by worshippers of Lord Shiva. These stripes symbolise spiritual knowledge, purity and penance (spiritual practice of Yoga), so also they represent the three eyes of Lord Shiva.
Wearing a rudraksha seed of the rudraksha tree, said to have sprung from the tears of Lord Shiva) when worshipping Lord Shiva is ideal. A rudraksha is reddish in colour with yellow stripes.
On Shivaratri, only cold water and bael leaves are offered to the Lingam. Other traditional offerings, such as bathing it in milk and Panchamruta (a mixture of milk, curds, ghee, sugar and honey) (symbols of sustenance), or annointing it with vermilion (kumkum) or white consecrated rice (Akshata) (symbols of fertility, or creation), are not done on this day, when Lord Shiva is worshipped as the deity of dissolution