Extract taken from (Maha shivaratri: The spiritual Significance of the Night of Goodness and Godliness)
Shivaratri, the Night of Fearlessness, of Auspiciousness, of mangalam.
Many stories are told in the Shastras, to explain the origin and significance of the Maha Shivaratri Festival (the night of the emergence of Linga form of Shiva).Bharat, the name for this land used from ancient times, means the land of those who have rati (Love) towards Bha (Light or Bhagavan). So, for the people of this land, all days are sacred; every moment is precious. The Ganga is holy from source to sea, but, yet there are some places on its banks, associated with some sage or temple, the confluence of a tributary, or a historical incident, which are revered more by generations. Such places are Haridwar, Varanasi, Prayag, and Rishikesh. (SSS Vol.9) So too, among the days of the year, some are treated as holier, when a special effort is made by the devotees to approach God through special puja (ritual worship) or japa (pious repetition of holy names or sacred formula) or dhyana (meditation). Shivaratri is such a day. (SSS Vol.6)
The proper way to observe Shivaratri
Festivals like Shivaratri are intended to make people cultivate auspicious and Godly qualities. To listen to a Divine discourse on Shivaratri day and forget all about its message after leaving the hall is not the way to observe Shivaratri. It may well be called ‘Shavaratri’ (a Night of Death).
The difference between ‘Shiva‘ (what is auspicious) and ‘Shava’ (a lifeless corpse) can be understood from the process of breathing and cessation of breathing. The process of inhaling and exhaling conveys the message of union with God -- Soham (He is I). It is the consciousness of this oneness that is auspicious. When this consciousness is absent, inauspiciousness (or death) sets in.
There has to be a complete absence of body consciousness. It was by forgetting the body completely while chanting the Name of Rama that Ratnakara, the dacoit, became Valmiki the supreme poet (who gave the Ramayana to the world). He was so completely absorbed in chanting the name that he was oblivious to the anthill that had grown over him.
Shivaratri is the day that is devoted to the contemplation of God. It does not come only once a year. Every night can be a Shivaratri. Even if you are not able to contemplate on God all through the night, it is enough if you think of God before going to bed and when you wake up in the morning.
Again, whatever manner in which you may think of God, the results will be good. There is a story to illustrate this. Once a father took his son to the temple and advised him to keep vigil all night in the sanctum sanctorum. After some time, both the priest and the father dozed off. But the young lad, who was keeping vigil, observed a mouse repeatedly nibbling at the fruit and other edibles kept as offering to the deity. He felt sad that the mouse should be nibbling away at what was intended for God. Because he was thinking in this manner about God all night his life became sanctified. But neither the priest nor the others in the temple got the benefit of Divine grace. What is important is that devotion should be expressed in some form.
Different devotees are bound to differ in their ways of worshipping God. But whatever the method of worship, there must be one-pointed devotion. Develop the love of God. Love towards God is devotion. Love towards the world is attachment. Devote this entire night to chanting the name of God. Life can be immensely sanctified through Bhajans. (SSS Vol.25),
The night of goodness and Godliness
Shivaratri is the ratri (night) of Shivam (Goodness, Godliness, and Good Fortune). It is an auspicious Night because the mind can be made to lose its hold on man by devoting the night to prayer. The Moon is the presiding deity of the mind, according to the scriptures. The mind is kindred to the Moon as the Eyes are to the Sun. Shivaratri is prescribed for the fourteenth night of the dark half of the month, the night previous to the New Moon when the Moon suffers from total blackout. The Moon and the mind which it rules over are drastically reduced every month on the fourteenth night. When that night is devoted to vigilant adoration of God, the remnant of the wayward mind is overcome and victory ensured. This month s Shivaratri is holier than the rest and so, it is called Maha Shivaratri. (SSS Vol.20)
Maha Shivaratri is dedicated to the disintegration of the aberrations of the mind, and so, of the mind itself - through the worship of Shiva, God. It falls on the eve of the smallest moon of the year, as the waning of the moon is the symbol for the waning of the mind.
The moon as well as the mind whose deity it is, each have sixteen phases. On Maha Shivaratri, fifteen of these have disappeared, and there is just a streak of the moon in the sky. The new moon that follows will not even have a streak visible.
The pull of the mind must also be reduced, controlled and finally destroyed so delusion may be rent asunder and reality revealed. It must be mastered every day until, on the fifteenth day, fifteen phases have disintegrated and only a streak remains. Then on Maha Shivaratri, a special spurt of spiritual activity is undertaken to reduce the fickle mind to nothing, in order to overcome deluding desire and attachment to the changing, tempting world of illusion – in order to win the holy vision, to achieve moksha (liberation). By undergoing the rigours of sleeplessness, by fasting, prayer and song, the devotee cries out to Shiva to destroy the obstacles in the way inner contentment, to grant liberation from bondage to the trivial and temporary, to reveal the vision of the highest self, the basis of all this appearance. (S&M, pp. 144-145)
Some ascribe the holiness of the Day to the fact of its being the Birthday of Shiva, as if Shiva has birth and death, like any mortal.
The story that it commemorates the salvation attained by a hunter who sat on a bilva tree on the look-out for animals to kill, and without any intention to worship, unknowingly dropped some of its leaves on a Linga that lay beneath, does not make clear why this Day is especially sacred. (SSS Vol.9)
Another story is that this is the day on which Shiva danced the Tandava (cosmic dance) in His Ecstasy, with all the Gods and Sages taking part in the Cosmic Event. When He consumed the Halahala (death-dealing) poison that emanated from the ocean of Milk, in response to the prayers of the Worlds, which it threatened to destroy, the heat of the fumes was well-nigh unbearable, even for Him. So, it is said, Ganga was poured uninterruptedly on His matted locks---this is the explanation for the Abhisheka (ceremony of pouring consecrated water, oil, milk, etc., on the idol) which is offered in all Shiva temples for hours on end, and in some places, uninterruptedly---but Shiva was only partly relieved. So the cool Moon was placed on the head; that gave some relief. Then, Ganga was placed on the matted locks. That was of great help. After this, Shiva danced with all the Gods, the Tandava dance. That is the story but all this did not happen on a particular day and so Shivaratri cannot be said to commemorate that day. (SSS Vol.1)
What is the significance of Ratri?
We have not only the Maha Shivaratri once a year; we have a Shivaratri every month, dedicated to the worship of Shiva. And, why is the ratri (the Night), so important? The night is dominated by the Moon. The Moon has 16 kalas (fractions of divine glory), and each day or rather night, during the dark fortnight, one fraction is reduced, until the entire Moon is annihilated on New Moon night. From then on, each night, a fraction is added, until the Moon is full circle on Full Moon Night. The Chandra (Moon) is the presiding deity of the mind; the mind waxes and wanes, like the Moon.
chandrama manaso jataha
chakshoh suryo ajayata
mukhad indrash chagnishcha
pranadvayur ajayata
Chandrama manaso jataha -- out of the manas of the Purusha (Supreme Being), the Moon was born.
(Moon as it cycles through its phases)
The chief aim of all sadhana (spiritual striving) is to eliminate the mind, to become amanaska. Then only can maya (illusion) be rent asunder and the Reality revealed. During the dark fortnight of the month, sadhana has to be done to eliminate each day, a fraction of the mind, for, every day, a fraction of the Moon too is being taken out of cognisance. On the night of Chaturdashi, the 14th day, the night of Shiva, only a fraction remains. If some special effort is made that night, through more intensive and vigilant sadhana, like puja or japam or dhyana (ritual worship, one-pointed repetition of holy names, and meditation), success is ensured. Shiva alone has to be meditated upon that night without the mind straying towards thoughts of sleep or food. This has to be done every month; once a year, on Maha Shivaratri, a special spurt of spiritual activity is recommended, so that what is shavam (corpse) can become Shivam (God), by the perpetual awareness of its Divine In-dweller. (SSS Vol.9)
In fact, every moment in our life can be taken to be Shivaratri. We need not wait for Shivaratri on a particular day in a year. (SSS Vol.38, p. 28)
Shivaratri is an auspicious night
Shivaratri is an auspicious night. How is it auspicious? There are sixteen aspects for the mind. The moon is the presiding deity for the mind. Of the sixteen phases of the moon, today in the fourteenth day of Magha month, fifteen of the phases are absent. On this day it is possible to get full control of one s mental faculties. Hence it is considered an auspicious day. Auspiciousness consists in diverting the mind towards God. This calls for getting rid of the inherited animal tendencies in man. This is the occasion to recognise the omnipresence of the Divine in all beings and in all objects. It follows that whomsoever you adore or condemn, you are adoring or condemning God. You must follow the injunction: Help ever, hurt never.
Every human being has sacred qualities, based on his Shiva tattvam (Divine essence). Hence man should realise his inherent divinity, though his body is made up of the five elements. Thereby humanness is transformed into divinity. The human birth is intended for the pursuit of Dharma.
Dharma implies harmony in thought, word and deed. When every person realises his essential divine nature, the entire world will be transformed. The body and the mind are mere instruments. Man s reality is the Atma (Self). Man should use the instruments given to him to perform his duties well and realise his oneness with God. (SSS Vol.29)
Shivaratri is a word that connotes the dual nature of man and his duty to discriminate between the higher and the lower. Shiva means Jnana (the Higher Wisdom, the Unifying Universal Vision); it also means, the lasting, the timeless, and the beneficial, the holy, the auspicious. And the second word, ratri, means darkness of ignorance, the blind pursuit of tawdry pleasures, the bewildering will-o-the-wisp of sensory joys. It also means the transitory, the fleeting; it connotes the maleficent, the inauspicious, the sacrilegious. So, the message of Shivaratri is: discriminate between Shiva and ratri---the Prana (life energy) and the Body, the dehi (indwelling of spirit) and the deha (body), the spiritual and the material, the Kshetrajna and Kshetra, called in the Gita as Vibhaga Yoga (the yoga of discrimination between matter and spirit). (SSS Vol.9), 15-2-1969
In Shivaratri, Ratri means night. What is the significance of night? Night is another word for darkness. Shiva means auspiciousness. So, Shivaratri speaks of an auspiciousness which is inherent in darkness. It refers to the wisdom which exists in the midst of ignorance. Ignorance and wisdom are not two different things; they are basically the same. They are associated with Dvaita; they are the opposite polarities of the same underlying principle. The state that transcends both wisdom and ignorance is Para tattva. It is a stage which is not associated with any comings or goings, where birth and death do not occur. So long as there is birth for the body, death has to follow. What is it that has taken birth? Is it the Atma? No. It is only the body which has taken birth. You are Atma. You are the permanent entity. We consider this body as inert, but truly speaking, this body is not inert. Even in the physical matter making up this body there is the Divine Consciousness.
The form of the body is constantly changing. That is why the phenomenal world is described as Jagat. In the word Jagat, Ja means taking birth; Gat means dying. ‘Jagat’ means that which has birth and death, a process which repeats itself over and over again. In this world there is nothing which is free from this birth and death, be it a body, any object or thing. All are continually undergoing changes. (SSS Vol.18)
Shivaratri is a day when one tries to establish friendship between mind and God. Shivaratri makes one aware of the fact that the same Divinity is all-pervasive and is to be found everywhere. It is said that Shiva lives in Kailash. But where is Kailash? Kailash is our own joy, our own bliss. It means that Ishvara lives in the Kailash of delight. If we can develop that sense of joy and delight in our mind, that itself is Kailash. How can one get this joy? It comes when we develop purity and steadiness and sacredness. Then the heart becomes filled with peace and bliss.
Then your heart itself will be Kailash and Shiva will be there in the sanctum sanctorum of your heart, within the temple which is your body. At first look, everyone appears to be a devotee, but individuals respond differently to different circumstances. If you keep a ball of iron and dry leaf side by side, when there is no wind both of them will be firm and steady. But when a breeze blows the dry leaf will be carried away for miles together. The iron ball will remain firm and steady. If one has true love and firm faith in God, one will be like an iron ball, steady and undisturbed. If one is like a leaf running away on account of difficulties and problems, it is a travesty to call such a person a devotee. We should develop pure and steady love and faith. (SSS Vol.18)
It is not this night alone that you should spend in the thought of Shiva; your whole life must be lived in the constant presence of the Lord. Endeavour: that is the main thing; that is the inescapable consummation for all mortals. Even those who deny God will have to tread the pilgrim road, melting their hearts out in tears of travail. If you make the slightest effort to move along the Path of your own liberation, the Lord will help you a hundred-fold. That is the hope that Maha Shivaratri conveys to you. Man is called so, because he has the skill to do manana; manana means inner meditation on the meaning and significance of what one has heard. But, you have not yet emerged out of the stage of Shravanam (listening)! All the joy you crave for is in you. But, like a man who has vast riches in the iron chest, but, who has no idea where the key is, you suffer. Hear properly the instructions, dwell upon them in the silence of meditation, practise what has been made clear therein; then, you can secure the key, open the chest and be rich in Joy. (SSS Vol.9)
Spiritual significance of Shivaratri
Moham hitva priyo bhavati
Krodham hitva na shochati
Kamam hitva arthavan bhavati
Lobham hitva sukhi bhavati.
Moham hitva priyo bhavati (As long as one is proud, men will not like him). Only when he suppresses his pride will he be liked by one and all. Krodham hitva na sochathi (The man filled with anger will have no happiness). He will be immersed in misery. When he subdues his anger, he will be free from grief. Kamam hitva arthavan bhavati (When a man has insatiable desires he will never feel contented). When he controls his desires, he will be truly rich. Lobham hitva sukhi bhavati (A miserly person will never feel happy). When he gives up greed he will realise happiness. Divinity is not easily perceived or realised. It is easy to talk about the Divine. It is easy to comment on the miracles and sports of the Divine. But to understand them in their fullness is very difficult. To look at something evil and shout about it like crows is not a good thing. It is better to sing like the cuckoo over something good. Tastes differ from person to person. One man s sweet is another man s poison. With such diverse tendencies, how can men recognise the Divine?
The ancient sages of Bharat carried out many spiritual investigations and through the study of the scriptures proclaimed their experience of the Divine. The Upanishads declared: ‘Raso vai saha.’ That is, the Divine is present in all things as their essence like sugar in sugarcane and butter in milk. God is present both in the good and the bad, in truth and untruth, in merit and sin.
That being the case, how is one to determine what is false and what is unrighteous? The Gita declares: ‘My Spirit is the indwelling spirit in all beings.’ The individual who realises this truth will experience samatvam (equal-mindedness). (SSS Vol.29)
Duality in life cannot be escaped
But, for people living in the mundane world and concerned with worldly affairs, right and wrong, truth and untruth and similar opposites are unavoidable. Hence, as long as one is involved in leading a worldly life one cannot escape from duality. One s peace and security have to be found in the context of pleasure and pain. One s joy is linked with suffering. Pleasure is an interval between two pains. Life is a combination of light and shadow. Without sorrow there can be no happiness. Only when you walk in the hot sun can you experience the pleasure of a shady place. In such a life, it is not possible to experience pleasure alone all the time. (SSS Vol.29)
Importance of Shivaratri
Among these festival days, Maha Shivaratri is of exceptional importance. Today God is in close proximity to man. At midnight (on Shivaratri), Divine vibrations are close to every human heart. At such a time, when people are engaged in holy tasks, they get suffused with the Divine vibrations.
People should realise that there is nothing closer to them than the Divine. Even one s mother may occasionally be remote from the child, but the Divine is never far from anyone at any time. This means that everyone is Divine. But each one must strive to recognise this indwelling Divinity that is the eternal Reality. Most people waste their lives in the observance of external rituals and forms of worship. Together with external observances, people should also try to achieve internal purity. How long should one waste his life in external forms? All knowledge and skills are of superficial value and effect no internal change. (SSS Vol.27)
Shivaratri is observed every month, on the fourteenth night of the dark half; for the moon which is the presiding deity of the human mind, has only just one night more to be a non-entity, with no influence on the agitations of the mind. In the month of Magha, the fourteenth night is named Maha (Great) Shivaratri, for it is sacred for another reason too. It is the day on which Shiva takes the Linga Form for the benefit of seekers. Shiva is revered in the Form, which is to be adored for the acquisition of Jnana or Wisdom. Jnana Mahehwarat Icched, as the Vedas advice. Pray to Shiva for enlightenment through Wisdom. (SSS Vol.8, p. 154)
The mind too, must be mastered every day until, on the fifteenth day, fifteen phases have disintegrated and only a streak remains to be removed by a final flourish of effort. That is the Sadhana that you did throughout the night, bhajan, vigil, fast. When the mind goes, there is no more Moha (deluding desire and attachment) and the Kshaya (decline) of Moha is Moksha (Liberation). (SSS Vol.9, p. 42)
According to numerology, the first three letters of the word, Shiva and Ra connote the numbers 5, 4 and 2 and the fourth syllable, Tri means ‘three’. 5, 4 and 2 make one whole, one composite picture of the eleven rudras. ‘Rudra’ means the one who makes man weep. The eleven rudras are: the 5 senses of perception, the 5 senses of action, and the mind. These, by leading him astray in pursuit of trivial and transitory pleasures, ruin him and make him weep. But, the Atman, if it is sought after and relied upon, sheds its rays on the eleven and makes them meaningful partners in the progress of man towards self-realisation. The rays from the Atman illumine the intelligence, the illumined intelligence alerts the mind and the alerted mind gets control of the senses, making the path clear for the person to proceed through knowledge to wisdom.
Another significance of Shivaratri is this: Shiva, or the ‘Parama purusha’, the Eternal Absolute Person, in His desire to attract ‘Prakriti’ engages Himself in the ‘Tandava’, the Cosmic Dance. The Dance is a Divine Plan to attract the material creation, for all Divine miracles like those of Rama (He who pleases and delights) and Krishna (He who attracts), are for drawing people to the Divine Presence for the purpose of correcting or cleansing them, or confirming their faith and then leading them on to the sadhana of service, so that they may merge in ecstasy, in the Source of all ecstasy - ‘chamatkara’ resulting in ‘samskara’, samskara leading to ‘paropakara’ and paropakara conferring ‘sakshatkara’.
The Tandava dance is so fast that fire emanates from Shiva’s body because of the heat generated by activity. In order to cool Shiva and comfort Him, Parvati the Consort, places the Ganga on His head, makes the crescent moon rest amidst the coils of his hair, applies cold sandalwood paste all over His body, winds round the joints of His hands and feet cold-blooded snakes, and finally, being Herself the Daughter of the Himalayas (the mountains with eternal snow), she sat on His lap and became a part of Him. At this Shiva rose, and both Purusha and Prakriti danced together to the immense delight of the Gods and of all creation. This happens, according to the Puranas, on the Shivaratri day. (SSS Vol. 10, pp. 159-160)