There are many stories associated with Mahashivaratri.
One says that today was the day Shiva and Parvati got married.
Another says that this was the day when Shiva opened his third eye and burnt the God of Love, Kamadeva for daring to disturb his tapas.
Another story says that it was the day when Shiva performed the Tandava, the cosmic dance.
Whichever story we follow, one thing is clear — Shiva is worshipped as a tapasvi. The worship is also in line with how he is seen.
If one goes to Chidambaram, many artists arrive there to offer their song, dance and martial art as he is the Lord of all Arts. Yogis also worship him as he is considered the Adi Yogi.
Spiritual aspirants see him as the one who gives the knowledge of Moksha, who gives complete fulfillment in lives. Hence today becomes an important day in ashrams as well as wherever spiritual students are.
One spends the whole night contemplating on and worshipping Shiva so that the mind can be fully absorbed in the source of the self. If one is considering physical worship, an important dimension is to offer abhisheka, which involves pouring different liquids on the linga. The substances offered are water, milk, curd, honey and ghee.
All these are collected as prasada and distributed to people. Let us stop giving into the propaganda that offering these substances is a wasteful exercise. All that we receive is prasada from Shiva.
Let us all worship Shiva for spiritual growth and fulfillment.
The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com
