MAHASHIVRATRI is made of three distinct words MAHA means Great or big or critical, Shiv refers to Lord Shiva and also means auspicious and the third part is Ratri or night. So MahaShivRatri means the Great Auspicious Night of Lord Shiva.
There are 12 Shivratri in a year. They all fall on the 14th day of the lunar month. The day before the dark nights of no moon- Amavasya*. In the Phalguna month, falling in February and March, the Shivratri is considered of great significance and celebrated as MahaShivRatri.
UNDERSTANDING SHIVA
I read this at the art of living site. The site tells us, ‘Shiva is nothing but that deep state of peace, calmness and inner stability. The word Shiva simply means Mangalam (auspicious). In fact, the term Shiva has a much larger connotation which includes: having the potential, being capable of, boding well, and being favourable or promising.
Shiva can be split into: Sha + ee + Va. Sha stands for shareeram or body. ee stands for eeshwari or life-giving energy. Va stands for vayu or motion.
If the ‘ee’ is removed from Shiva, it gets reduced to sha+va or shava, which means a lifeless body. Like Shavasana in yoga, where one is motionless and in an absolute state of rest.
While Shava is motionless or lifeless, Shiva is with the potential of life. Anything with Shiva is with life, and anything without Shiva is shava: lifeless.
So, Shiva is auspicious, Shiva is life, and Shiva is potential. Shiva is all-encompassing – the universal soul or consciousness. This realization of the eternal fact that Shiva is energy, tattva, leads to ananda, bliss.
Why is MahaShivratri celebrated?
The most strongly associated mythological story with the celebration of MahaShivratri is of Halahala. During Samudra Manthan (churning of the milk ocean), one of the outcomes was halahala / kalakuta poison. Neither the Gods nor the asura’s wanted this poison. On the other hand, this poison was so powerful that it could have destroyed the whole cosmic world. The untamed poison, after coming out of Samudra, was spreading fast. Seeing Deva’s and Asura’s distress, Lord Shiva compressed the spreading poison into a small state and drank it. And then held it within his throat. It turned his neck blue for which he is also called Neelkanth. As it was the 14th day of the lunar month of Phalguna when Shiva Drank the position, and hence this night is celebrated as MAHASHIVRATRI.
It was the most compassionate act, and hence while celebrating MahaShivRatri, reflect on this selfless act of lord Shiva and learn from it to be compassionate to other beings.
OTHER STORIES ASSOCIATED WITH MAHASHIVRATRI.
Two other important events are cited for celebrating MahaShivRatri. One iThe marriage of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati. The second – shiva danced the cosmic Dance- Tandav.
In an agricultural society, this is the time that declares the onset of spring. The time when we feel the fertility of mother earth again. This is the time when we witness the regeneration of flowers and leaves.
And here is a beautiful purpose as laid out in the art of living site. “… MahaShivRatri is meant to wake up every particle of your body. The festival is a wake-up call to move away from conflicts and move towards truth, beauty, peace, and benevolence – the ethereal qualities of Shiva.”
How is Maha Shivaratri celebrated?
People fast through the day. They pour milk, symbolically cooling Shiva Linga from the effect of the poison. In many temples pouring milk is a continuous process.
People offer Bilva (stone apple), which has three leaves- denoting creation-administration and destruction. People sing various bhakti songs. They chant the shiva mantra- “Om Namah Shivaya”, and “Mahamritunjaya mantra” continuously. In certain parts of the country, Shiv Bhakt remain awake through the night.
Though Shiva Bhakt observes Shivratri, the Vaishnava, and Vishnu followers also celebrate Shivratri. They ask for a blessing from the very first Vaishnava, Shiva, and for strength and capability of higher-level devotion to the supreme Vaishnav- Krishna.
Shivaratri is not just a festival of celebration but also an occasion to glorify the compassion of the greatest devotee of Lord Shiva in saving the existence by drinking the poison and expressing our gratitude to him. We must also pray to the Lord to help us develop a drop of such compassion by which we may also dedicate our lives for the welfare of the world, following his example.
SHIVA A REFLECTION.
Shiva has many names and is one of the Adi-Purusha. Another is SWAYUMBU, self-created. Shiva was there when there was nothing. He is who created himself. We have no idea about his parents.
MORE NAMES.
- Mahadeva, Maha and Deva (God), meaning the supreme God.
- Mahesha, Mahesh and Ishwara ( God), meaning the great god or the great lord.
- Nataraja. The cosmic dancer.
- Shambhu the Benign.
- Bholenath. Because it is easy to please him.
- TriNetra. Because of his third eye.
- Shankara one who helps others.
- Adiyogi. the God of yoga and meditation- one who has been practising yoga and meditation from time immemorial.
- Ardhanarishvara. The androgynous union of Half male and half female, Shiva and his consort, one depicts that only when Nar ( male ) and Nari ( female ) come together as complementary to each other, they make it whole. The master of fertility, the master of both poison and medicine.
- Pashupata– the god of cattle.
- Kala Bhairav – the Lord of times- who controls time.
- Rudra is the one who destroys evil and sorrow.
Project Ignorant Hindu
#IgnorantHindu is a project of collation and sharing of information on Indian festivals and God, episodes and incidents. Some of the festivals and episodes covered are Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Antim Sanskar, Yama- the lord of death, Baishakhi and Bihu, Holi, Makar Sankranti, Assthmangal Prasanam- the way of predicting future, Rahu-Ketu– the shadow planets, the 12 houses of horoscope, Maa NarmadaParikrama, Mahashivratri, BhaiDooj, Navratri, Diwali, Dhanteras, Karva Chauth, Dussehra or Vijyadashmi, Ram Navami, Adhik Mass– the Hindu leap year and Shradh And Pitra Shradh.
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*Thank you, Alok Lahoti, for catching the error and raising the flag. Yes, it is Amavasya and not a full-moon night. It is because of readers like you I blog on the subject.
