Mahashivratri Celebrates Cosmic Night of Shiva
The Dakshinamurthy Stotram describes Him as the youthful Guru, facing southward, teaching his elderly disciples through gyana mudra. The Lingashtakam sings glories of Advaita Linga, symbol of the cosmos, Brahmananda. The Shiva Mahima Stotra of Pushpadanta sees Him as the inexpressible Truth which yogis realise by concentrating their minds on the Self. Shiva is the three-eyed One whose blue stained neck is a symbolic reminder of His capacity to remove toxins from the world. The Yajur Veda describes Him as the Master Yogin or Mahadeva, the great God. The panchakshara mantra, Om Namah Shivaye, is a timeless chant propitiating the inscrutable but easy to please Ashutosh. Bhishma in his discourse on Dharma to Yudhishthir in the Mahabharata, describes the observance of the Mahashivratri fast by King Chitrabhanu. In a previous birth the king was Suswara the hunter, who one night had to seek refuge atop a bilva tree. Не either cried or dropped the leaves down one by one to assuage his fear. By doing so, he unwittingly worshipped a linga that was embedded in the earth, with the bilva leaves sacred to Shiva, and thereby earned merit. This allegorical story represents everyman's journey into the Over self, passing through the jungle of the mind, with its conscious thinking and subconscious desires, where wild animals of lust, hatred, greed and jealousy roam, which have to be subdued by rising above them, as Suswara climbed up the tree. The bilva leaves, with three leaves on one stalk, represent the working and surrender of the ida, pingala and sushmna nadi to the higher self, Shiva, the tree representing the spinal column in Kundalini. His nightlong vigil is a call to alertness and viveka, his fast represents the ability and need to balance excesses with austerity, and the dawning of day symbolises the awakening into cosmic consciousness. To some Shiva is the embodiment of asceticism. In his fierce Rudra aspect, He releases men of bondage and wanders in cremation grounds. To others he is the Universal Father, Bhole Baba, who blesses all without prejudice or bias. From Lal-Ded or Lalleshwari in Kashmir to Karaikal Ammiyar and the Nayanars of Tamil Nadu, from Vivekananda who had a vision of Shiva at Amarnath to Ramana Maharishi who found Him at Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai, bhaktas and advaitists have all been drawn to the magnetic appeal of Shiva. Ananda Coomaraswamy sees Shiva as the fountainhead of all Indian dance and culture. Fritjof Capra views his tandava dance of primordial dissolution and creation as an allegory of the movement of subatomic particles. This interplay between his various aspects coalesce in the belief that He is anadi, without beginning, and ananth, without an end. Faith propels the devout to spend this 14th night of the dark half of Phalgun, Shivratri, in austerities and worship. Shiva's trishul represents the three gunas of sattva, rajas, tamas; his holding it indicating that he is beyond gunas. The linga signifies Advaita- non-dual, indivisible, non-doer, non-enjoyer, unattached, without qualities, I am that Shiva (Self) of knowledge and bliss. Shivratri is an occasion to retap these attributes of Shiva within ourselves.
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The views expressed in the Article above are Pranav khullar kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Pranav khullar Speaking Tree,Times of India
Mahashivratri Celebrates Cosmic Night of Shiva
The Dakshinamurthy Stotram describes Him as the youthful Guru, facing southward, teaching his elderly disciples through gyana mudra. The Lingashtakam sings glories of Advaita Linga, symbol of the cosmos, Brahmananda. The Shiva Mahima Stotra of Pushpadanta sees Him as the inexpressible Truth which yogis realise by concentrating their minds on the Self. Shiva is the three-eyed One whose blue stained neck is a symbolic reminder of His capacity to remove toxins from the world. The Yajur Veda describes Him as the Master Yogin or Mahadeva, the great God. The panchakshara mantra, Om Namah Shivaye, is a timeless chant propitiating the inscrutable but easy to please Ashutosh. Bhishma in his discourse on Dharma to Yudhishthir in the Mahabharata, describes the observance of the Mahashivratri fast by King Chitrabhanu. In a previous birth the king was Suswara the hunter, who one night had to seek refuge atop a bilva tree. Не either cried or dropped the leaves down one by one to assuage his fear. By doing so, he unwittingly worshipped a linga that was embedded in the earth, with the bilva leaves sacred to Shiva, and thereby earned merit. This allegorical story represents everyman's journey into the Over self, passing through the jungle of the mind, with its conscious thinking and subconscious desires, where wild animals of lust, hatred, greed and jealousy roam, which have to be subdued by rising above them, as Suswara climbed up the tree. The bilva leaves, with three leaves on one stalk, represent the working and surrender of the ida, pingala and sushmna nadi to the higher self, Shiva, the tree representing the spinal column in Kundalini. His nightlong vigil is a call to alertness and viveka, his fast represents the ability and need to balance excesses with austerity, and the dawning of day symbolises the awakening into cosmic consciousness. To some Shiva is the embodiment of asceticism. In his fierce Rudra aspect, He releases men of bondage and wanders in cremation grounds. To others he is the Universal Father, Bhole Baba, who blesses all without prejudice or bias. From Lal-Ded or Lalleshwari in Kashmir to Karaikal Ammiyar and the Nayanars of Tamil Nadu, from Vivekananda who had a vision of Shiva at Amarnath to Ramana Maharishi who found Him at Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai, bhaktas and advaitists have all been drawn to the magnetic appeal of Shiva. Ananda Coomaraswamy sees Shiva as the fountainhead of all Indian dance and culture. Fritjof Capra views his tandava dance of primordial dissolution and creation as an allegory of the movement of subatomic particles. This interplay between his various aspects coalesce in the belief that He is anadi, without beginning, and ananth, without an end. Faith propels the devout to spend this 14th night of the dark half of Phalgun, Shivratri, in austerities and worship. Shiva's trishul represents the three gunas of sattva, rajas, tamas; his holding it indicating that he is beyond gunas. The linga signifies Advaita- non-dual, indivisible, non-doer, non-enjoyer, unattached, without qualities, I am that Shiva (Self) of knowledge and bliss. Shivratri is an occasion to retap these attributes of Shiva within ourselves.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Pranav khullar kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Pranav khullar Speaking Tree,Times of India