Skip to main content

Maha Shivarathri for the spiritual seeker

The highest state of meditation experience are the symbolized expressions in the festival Mahashivarathri.
The Indian mind from time memorable has mastered the art of symbolism.  In the age where there were no printed publications it was natural for the sages to develop their own specialized methods of preserving their spiritual wealth.  Symbolism in Indian spirituality took shape and all the ritual a Hindu follows has the essence of symbolism in them. 

One of the most symbolic festivals is the Maha Shivarathri. 

It is a day full of beautiful events and if a sadak understands the symbolism and follow should ultimately culminate in a state of bliss, let me list the events being followed on this day.


  The day starts with fasting, visiting shiva temples offering his prayers and should spend the entire day in solitude.  Evening during the sandhya time one should do the shiva pooja and offer his ego as a sacrifice. And remain in waking state all the night.

These acts have a profound meaning seldom thought about, which I shall try to explore.

The shiva consciousness sheathed in the pancha koshas, the Annamaya kosha, Pranamaya kosha, Manomaya kosha, Vignanamaya and Anandamaya kosha, presumes that it is dependent on the prakruthi and undergoes all the turmoil, leading a helpless state of being.  The great saints of Bharath dissected these five koshas and experienced the beauty of the divine state. They exclaimed  ‘Sathyam Sivam Sundaram” in that state of joy.  

The annamaya kosha need the food and when it is deprived weakens allowing the sadak to cross this sheath.

The Pramamaya kosha depends on breathing.

When the ‘Rechaka’ and ‘Pooraka’ are balance equally on the ‘Eda’ and ‘Pingala’ the sheath of Prana is crossed and the manomaya kosha, the mind becomes quite.

The sandya time represents the union between the day and night, as Sri. Ramana Maharishi explains, the state of consciousness between the waker and dreamer is the state when the shiva pooja or Yoga should happen. His is a mystique state which has to be experienced to understand, during this period the Vignanamaya and Anandamaya kosha are crossed.

The five kosha represents the Prakruthi, the ever changing power also called the world.  When this ‘world’ in us sleeps, the shiva consciousness should be awake and be a witness on to itself.

If one is successful, that is Shiva Rathri celebration, Shiva Tatva dances in joy.

The great Mystique Allama Prabhu of Karnataka surmise in his vachanas;

In that great mansion of empty space

I saw an un-manifested, unborn child

With love and surprise I tried to touch

But! Alas I do not know, I drowned or that child swallowed me!

I never touched, neither saw, no poojas offered


Yet became one in that great space !

Jai Guru Dev

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Achala Siddhānta in the Context of Indian and South Indian Philosophical Traditions A Comparative Study of Its Distinctive Ontology, Yeruka, and the Medieval South Indian Intellectual Milieu Dr. Gururaj Guruji Abstract Achala Siddhānta is a South Indian philosophical tradition whose principal literature is preserved predominantly in Telugu and whose conceptual vocabulary includes Paripūrṇa Para Brahma, Bayalu, Yeruka, Mūla Māyā, Prakruthi and Ajāti. This study examines Achala not as a derivative of any single earlier school, but as a distinct philosophical formulation within the wider history of Indian and South Indian intellectual inquiry. Beginning with the Ṣaḍ-darśana, it considers the diversification of philosophical thought into Vedānta, Śhaiva, Veeraśhaiva, Yogic, Siddha and vernacular traditions, with particular attention to the broad period from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries. The central methodological proposition is that similarity does not establish depend...
Post a Comment
Read more

A tribute to my Christian Saint Father Ronnie Prabhu

I was fortunate being associated with Fr. Ronnie Prabhu. He was a catholic priest but had crosses all the religious dogmas and was more a spiritual saint who understood the real purpose of religion and saw the same message in all religions.  It was because of this spiritual growth he played an important role in bringing all religions on one platform. His work for inter-religious faith is commendable.   Living in public life, one is bound to experience success, failure, gain or loss. One may be very popular and powerful or his work and services may go unnoticed. These experiences are absorbed by man in many ways; one may resist and fight to win over the circumstances or one may simply yield. He may become bitter and harsh to the world and deeply resentful. But there are very few who become compassionate and develop wisdom and become loving to all the people around. Fr. Ronnie Prabhu was one of these few. Ever loving, ever compassionate and ever accommodative. I r...
Post a Comment
Read more