In the Indian culture, at one time, there used to be 365 festivals in a year. In other words, the people of India just needed an excuse to celebrate each day of the year. These 365 festivals were ascribed to different reasons and for different purpose of life. We celebrate to mark importance of historical events, victories, or certain situations in life, like harvesting, sowing, reaping. For every event of significance there is a festival. But Mahashivratri has a different significance.
The 14th day of every lunar month or the day before the new moon is known as Shivratri. Among all the 12 Shivratris that occur in a calendar year, Mahashivratri — the one that occurs in March — is of most spiritual significance.
On this night, the northern hemisphere of the planet is positioned in such a way that there is a natural upsurge of energy in human beings.
This is a day when nature is pushing us towards our spiritual peak. That is why we celebrate the festival for the entire night. One of the fundamentals of this night-long festival is to ensure that this natural upsurge of energies can find their way into our body and soul.
Mahashivratri is very significant for people who want to take the spiritual path. It’s importance is no less for those who live in a family and those who have ambitions in the world. People who follow grihasta and have a family observe Mahashivratri as Lord Shiva’s wedding anniversary. Those with worldly ambitions observe it as the day when Lord Shiva conquered all his enemies. For the ascetics, however, it is the day he became one with the Kailash, because he became like a mountain. Lord Shiva became still, absolutely still.
In yogic tradition, Lord Shiva is not worshipped as a God but is considered the Adi Guru, the first guru from whom knowledge originated. After many millennia in meditation, one day he became absolutely still; that day is Mahashivratri. All movement in him stopped and he became utterly still, so ascetics see Mahashivratri as the night of stillness.
Legends apart, the reason why this day is held in so much importance in the yogic traditions is because of the possibilities it presents to a spiritual seeker.
Modern science has gone through many phases and arrived at a point where they are out to prove that everything we know as life, everything that we know as matter and existence, everything that we know as the cosmos, as galaxies, is just one energy which manifests itself in millions and millions of ways.
This scientific fact is an experiential reality in every yogi. The word “yogi” means one who has realised the oneness of existence. When I say “yoga”, I’m not referring to any one particular practice or system; all longing to know the unbounded, all longing to know the oneness in the existence is yoga. The night of Mahashivratri offers a person an opportunity to experience this.
It is my wish and my blessing that all of us make use of this auspicious Mahashivratri to enhance our perception, to have a taste of a larger slice of life.
— Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a prominent spiritual leader, is a visionary, humanitarian, an author, poet and internationally-renowned speaker. He can be contacted at www.ishafoundation.org
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/sadhguru-jaggi-vasudev-622
