From: Bhattathity M P Mailing-List: list vediculture@yahoogroups.com Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2003 04:09:26 +0530 Subject: [world-vedic] Maha Shiv Ratri Mahashivaratri is observed on the 14th day of the dark fortnight of Phalgun month in the Hindu calendar. This year it is on the first march of 2003. This holy event is dedicated to pray Lord Shiva. A Hindu devotee ascribes every deity some special day in the year to be treated as holy and to be celebrated with offering favourite things for that god or goddess. Being engaged in Lord Shiva's prayers, fasting the whole day and waking up throughout the night constitutes the services. Shiva, as the god of destroying evil, is the third among the divine trinity of Hindu mythology. The five-syllables' holy mantra "Namah Shivaya" in praise of Lord Shiva is chanted incessantly on special occasions like Shivaratri. His thousands of names, each of which describe His greatness, may also be cited. Shiva means auspicious. As Shankara, He is the giver of happiness to all. Nataraja (the king of dancers) is His favourite idol adored by dancers and musicians. There is a special mantra in the Veda (the most ancient scripture in the history of human race and which forms the fountain-head of the Hindu culture) - Rudra Sukta - which is recited by pundits while they offer holy bath to Lord Shiva by way of washing a Shiva-linga or a Shaligrama which are the symbols of god with the waters of sacred rivers like the Ganges. This ritual is known as "Rudrabhisheka". A Shaligrama constitutes a sacred pebble that often conceals ammonite fossils within. Such precious stones are brought from the river Gandaki at the frozen summits of the Himalayas. Washing the Shaligrama as a part of Shiva-puja symbolises the removal of impurities from our mind. It also means washing off false ego. Unless we attain self-realization, we all become the victims of a false-self or an ego. False-self is due to an illusion (or ignorance), a covering upon our real soul, of our mind, which then acts from mistaken identity. According to Vedanta (philosophical doctrines), this accumulation of false-self upon our real Self is often the root cause of our bondage and sufferings in life. This notion of purification (of Shaligram stone by holy waters) also symbolises at the philosophical level, the eradication of the accumulated material interests (of us) which often blur the inherent spiritual hard core or Reality. Kailasa peak on the Himalayas is the abode of Shiva and He bears Ganges on His head. As the Lord of creatures, He is metaphorically called as Pashupathi (with Nandi, the bull, His favourite animal) and His fearful nature is euphemised as Sarpabhushana. Shiva's posture in the meditation is ascribed to Him as the head of Yogis who practise various spiritual feats to attain salvation. Lord Shiva's divine consort, goddess Parvati (who is also the daughter of Himalaya), is the deity of strength. Numerous stories in mythology describe the births of their two sons, - Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya (or Guha or Shanmukha or Skanda or Murugha) and their various significances. The above-said Rudra mantra is a very powerful mystic chant often used by the spiritual healers to eradicate the fear of diseases, pain, sufferings and death. The concluding part of Rudra mantra is also popular as the Mrtyunjaya-maha-mantra. Mahaa Mrityunjaya Mantra Om Trayambakam Yajaamahe Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam Urvaaru Kamiva Bandhanaan Mrityor Muksheeya Maamritaat Usually mrityunjaya Homam is conducted on the birthday of a devotee for a healthy and peaceful long life. Devotees in Kerala are really proud that Sri Sankaracharya who codified the rituals of Guruvayoor Temple is an incarnation of Lord Shiva. The philosophy of Tantra is based on the concept of dual nature of everything. Nothing is single, but everything is bi-polar. Humans are a result of the coming together of two forces, Shiva and Shakti, and also can be said as the positive and the negative poles. In the beginning of time there was a universal Uni-Cell, as it were, known as the Brahmanda, which split into two, one the Cosmic Woman and the other the Cosmic Man. The behaviour of the two parts of any single organism seems to be a double attitude of the consciousness of duality and unity at the same time. While the concept of Shiva (Man) and Shakti (Female), in its highest essence, represents the Supreme Cosmic Duality, one can imagine only attraction and love operating there, so that Shiva and Shakti are considered as inseparable facets of a unitary reality some time known as Ardhanareesvara, the Cosmic Androgyny. The same is with human, who are both male and female, the left being the female and the male being the right side of the being. Humans are the only species who find it hard to live in harmony within the unitary reality, and are caught up with the principle of repulsion, Viz., dislike going with like, hatred going with love, which is the lower level where the bi-polar unit cannot tolerate the interference or sometimes even the presence of another such bi-polar unity. This subtle operation can be seen manifest in its grosser forms when one family group finds it difficult to appreciate another family group and bestow equal love upon it, one organization, one social group, and even one bi-polar individual, cannot look upon another such without some suspicion and reservation. All this is so because humans of modern time a reliving a life of duality, and not one of unity from within.