Dispelling Darkness On Shivaratri

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February 16, 2007: The 14th day of every [lunar] month, which is the

darkest night, is known as Shivaratri. Mahashivaratri is the most

powerful among the 12 Shivaratris in the year and celebrates the

grace of Lord Shiva.

 

According to the "Isana Samhitha," Lord Shiva manifested himself in

the form of a huge jyotirlinga, to confound the pretensions of both

Brahma and Vishnu, who were disputing as to who among the three was

the greater divinity. To decide the quarrel, both agreed that the

one who first found the end of the blazing column of fire which

appeared before them would be greatest. Vishnu undertook to reach

the base. Brahma the top. After thousands of years of search the end

seemed to be as remote as ever. Discomfited and humiliated, they

confessed the great superiority of Lord Shiva.

 

The three lines marked on the Shivalinga, tripundi, symbolize the

three-fold characteristic of the Trimurti or the Lord of three

deities. Trinetry or the one with the third eye of wisdom,

trikaldarshi or the one who purveys the three aspects of time and

triloknath or the lord of three worlds. He is also known as Shambhu

or Swayambhu and Sadashiva meaning that he is the supreme soul.

 

Legends tell us that Lord Rama invoked Shiva at Rameshwaram and Lord

Krishna offered his prayers to Lord Shiva at Gopeshwar in Brindavan.

Memorials to these events stand there even today. These legends also

indicate that Lord Shiva is worshipped the supreme father of all

deities. Lord Shiva praised as creator, sustainer and destroyer. But

what does he create, sustain and destroy? If He is the sustainer,

then what accounts for the scourge of poverty, hunger and sickness

in the world? Does He cause for the destruction and death of His

creations? The trinity or the divine triad in many faiths symbolizes

these three roles of God.

 

God does not create the elements and all the constituents of nature

nor does. He creates human beings or human souls. Matter souls and

god are neither created nor destroyed; they are eternal. The drama

of the world is an eternal interplay of these three forces. So what

does god create? In reality, god does not create a new world out of

nothing; Lord Shiva rejuvenates wisdom, imparted through Lord

Brahma, who along with Lord Vishnu and Lord Shankar, make up the

trinity. The literal meaning of the word 'Shiva' is benefactor.

Supreme soul Shiva brings benefit to all souls by performing the

divine functions of creations a new pure world where righteous,

divine and happy human beings live, destroying all vice and evil

from the old, impure world.

 

In Shivaratri, the night symbolizes the darkness of ignorance. Lord

Shiva carries out his task of transformation when human beings, lost

in the night of ignorance, touch the nadir of moral degradation. The

process of renewal implies destruction of the old. So Shivashankar

symbolizes the annihilation of all that is bad. Once the process of

destruction completes, an era of purity, peace and prosperity called

Satyayuga or golden age dawns.

 

The names of those Shiva temples define His various divine

functions, exalting Him as the supreme soul. The linga is worshipped

as the very image of Lord Shiva. The Linga, popularly known as

Shivalinga, has neither male nor female human form like do the other

deities; the Shiva is incorporeal point of light.

 

The festival has significance in Kathmandu, as it is famous for its

Holy temple Pashupatinath. Pashupathinath temple, one of the most

sacrosanct of all Hindu shrines in the world, has made Nepal forever

hallowed. Just as Shiva embraced Nepal, so have her millions of

Hindus and Buddhists accepted this Lord as their guardian deity.

 

Thousands and thousands of pilgrims stream into the valley from all

over Nepal and India, arriving days in advance. There is a pulsing

of drum and wail of flutes in the incense-filled atmosphere, while

the multitudes surge as one living entity.

 

Around the valley, in city and village courtyards and at crossroads,

bonfires are built and family groups keep all night vigil to glorify

the supreme Lord of creation, preservation and destruction.

 

SOURCE: The Rising Nepal. By P. Gopakumar

URL: http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=12734