The significance of Mahashivaratri

The significance of Mahashivaratri

BureauUpdated: Saturday, June 01, 2019, 04:03 AM IST
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The Shivaites observe this day by keeping fasts and vigil the whole night to get Lord Shiva’s blessings, writes Meera S. Sashital

On 17th of February we will find people flocking o the temple of Lord Shiva. To the devotees of Shiva this is a great day as it is Mahashivaratri. The light half of 13th of each month is called Pradosha (late evening) and is sacred to Lord Shiva. The evening is sacred to Shiva and a fast is kept till night. The dark half thirteenth is called Shivaratri (Shiva’s night) and is a day of fast too.

But the Shivaratri which falls in the month of Magh (January-February) is considered especially sacred to Shiva. It is the most important day of the year for his worship and is therefore called Mahashivaratri (the great night of Shiva). The Shivaites observe this day by keeping fasts and vigil the whole night to get Lord Shiva’s blessings.

In connection with this festival there is an interesting legend too. It seems there lived a hunter named Ludhaka who earned his living by killing animals with his bow and arrow. One day, which happened to be Magh Krishna thirteenth, that is, the Mahashivaratri day, his creditors arrest him and confine him in a Shiva temple. Without food he was compelled to fast. Again, he had the fortune to have the ‘darshan’ of Lord Shiva in the form of ‘Linga’ in the temple and, moreover he hears the words ‘Shiva Shiva’ uttered by the devotees who visit the temple.

Some people out of generosity release Ludhaka by pooling money and paying his creditor. Immediately, Ludhaka being free sets off to the forest for hunting. On his way hearing everybody chant ‘Shiva’ ‘Shiva’ he repeats the words mockingly. The day was almost over and he was hungry. To get some game and to protect himself from wild beasts he climbs a tree which happens to be a Bel tree (Aegle Marmelo), the trifoliate tree which is deeply sacred to Lord Shiva.

Due to cold and hunger he was unable to sleep, thus keeping an involuntary vigil. To pass his time he plucks the leaves of the branches and throws them down. To his luck, below the tree there was a hidden (gupta) limgam, Guptesvar on which the bel

leaves dropped by the hunter fall. Having starved the whole day, chanting the holy name of Shiva, keeping vigil whole night and dropping bel leaves , all these acts though subconsciously done, adds to his atonement and reduces his sins.

After waiting the whole night for preys a big doe in labour appears near the pool. Just as the hunter took his aim to kill the doe pleads to be spared promising to return after its delivery. Out of pity Ludhaka allows the doe to go. Immediately another doe comes which too pleads to be spared and promises to return with her mate. Next a black buck is spotted which too promises to return with its mate and thus spared. To his surprise the doe with its young and the black buck with its entire family return as promised and offer themselves to be killed.

The hunter is extremely moved by this pathetic scene and determines never to kill any animals in future. By now the hunter had attained full salvation and was pardoned for his sins. Lord Shiva appears and takes Ludhaka to heaven along with the black buck and it family.

On Mahashivaratri day thus devotees of Lord Shiva keep awake the whole night chanting his name and observing fasts to attain prosperity and heavenly bliss. We can imagine how if a hunter involuntarily observes these penance and gains heavenly abode, surely how much more will a person gain ‘punya’ or merit by his voluntary acts.

The great Bhisma of epic Mahabharata, while lying on his death bed of arrows, had referred to King Chitrabhanu of the Ikshvaku dynasty who had attained salvation by observing Mahashivaratri. Once king Chitrabhanu while observing the fast with his wife was asked by the sage Ashtavakra when he visited the king as to why he was keeping a fast. Thereupon the king tells him how in his past birth he was a hunter named Suswara and repeats the same incidents experienced by Ludhaka. As a result, he had lived in the abode of the Lord happily for ages and that now he was reborn as Chitrabhanu.

The above story is viewed allegorically in the scriptures through the dialogue between Sister and Atmanathan. The Sastri explains that the wild animals that the hunter fought are lust, anger, greed and all the baser qualities of a person. The jungle is the fourfold mind, consisting of the subconscious mind, the intellect, the ego and the conscious mind. Our mind is filled with these ‘wild animals’ and they must be overcome or’ killed’ like the hunter who acquires the virtues of a yogi by doing penance etc.

The three leaves on the stalk of the Bel are said to represent Ida, Pingala and Sushumna Nadis which are the regions for the activity of the moon, the sun and the fire, or represent the three eyes of Shiva. The climbing of the tree means the ascension of the Kundalini Shakti, the serpentine power, from the lowest nerve called the Muladhara to the Ajna Chakra. Keeping vigil the whole night signifies the hunter’s passing through the deep sleep state and finally reaching the Turiya state which led him to self-realization and being blessed with the vision of God.

Lord Shiva Himself is said to have told Parvati that the thirteenth nigh in the dark fortnight of Magh was His favourite day. Lord Shiva preferred fasts, bel leaves,c urd, clarified and honey more than flowers, sweets and other rituals. It seems, Parvati repeated these words to all and thus the sanctity of Mahashivaratri spread in the world.

In South India five temples of Lord Shiva are held to be particularly important as being manifestations of Him in the five elemental substances, viz. Jambukeshwar as water in Tiruchinapalli, Arunachaleshwar as Fire in Tirunavallai, Kalahastishwar as Air in Srikalahasti (Andhra Pradesh), Nataraja as sky in Chidambaram and Ekambareshwar as Earth in Kanchipuram.

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