Maha Shiva Ratri 12th Feb 2010
Shiva (Lord Shiva) and Ratri (night), so Shivaratri means the night of Lord Shiva. Every lunar month on the 14th day of the dark half of the moon phase there is a Shivaratri but in the Vedic month of Phalgun (February-March) there is a Maha Shivaratri. This year it falls on the 12th February. The ceremony takes place mainly at night. This festival observed in the honour of Lord Shiva, who was married to Mother Parvati (Mother Durga/Mother Gauri) on this day.
Devotees observe a strict fast on this day. Some really strict devotees perform a nirjal fast i.e. they do not even have a sip of water. They keep virgil the entire night. The Shiva lingam is worshipped throughout the night by washing it every three hours with milk, yogurt, ghee, honey and so forth, whilst chanting of the mantra “Om namah shivaya”, continues. Offering of bael leaves are made to the Lingam. Bael leaves are very sacred (as Tulsi to Lord Vishnu and dhar to Mother Durga are very pleasing to Them) and Lord Shiva becomes pleased with that offering. Many different hymns glorifying Lord Shiva are sung with intense fervour and devotion. Aspirants perform japa of the Panchakshara mantra “Om namah Shivaya” (At the end of this article there is a very detail explanation of each syllable of this mantra.)
He who utters the names of Lord Shiva during Shivaratri with perfect devotion and concentration is freed from all sins that he/she have committed. He/she reaches the abode of Lord Shiva and resides very happily there.
In the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, Maharaja Bhishma, whilst resting on a bed of arrows and discoursing on Dharma, refers to the observance of Maha Shivaratri by King Chitrabhanu. The story goes as follows.
Once, King Chitrabhanu was observing a fast with his wife, and it was the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage Ashtavakra came on a visit to the king’s court. The sage asked, “O king why are you observing a fast today?” King Chitrabhanu explained the reason, as he had the gift of remembering the incidents of his previous birth. The king said to the sage, “In my past birth I was a hunter in Varanasi Dham (Kashi). My name was Suswara. My livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. One day, I was overtaken by the darkness of night. Unable to return home, I climbed a tree for shelter. It happened to be a bael tree. I had shot a deer that day, but I did not have time to take it home. I bundled it up and tied it to a branch on the tree. As I was tormented by hunger and thirst, I kept awake throughout the night. I shed profuse tears when I thought of my poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously awaiting my return. To pass away time that night I engaged myself in plucking bael leaves and dropping them down onto the ground. “The day dawned and I returned home and sold the deer. I bought some food for myself and for my family. I was about to break my fast when a stranger came to me, begging for food. I served him first and then took my food.”
“At the time of death, I saw two messengers of Lord Shiva, they were sent down to take my soul to his abode. I then learnt for the first time of the great merit I had earned but the unconscious worship of Lord Shiva during the night of Shivaratri. They told me that there was a lingam under that tree and that I had dropped the leaves on that Lingam. My tears, which I had shed out of pure sorrow for my family, fell onto the Lingam and washed it. And I had fasted all day and all night. Thus, I unconsciously worshipped Lord Shiva on that most auspicious day.” “I lived in the abode of the Lord and enjoyed divine bliss for long ages. And now I am reborn as Chitrabhanu.”
When creation was completed Lord Shiva and Parvati Mata went to live on the top of Mount Kailash. Mother Parvati asked, “O adorable lord, which of the many rituals observed in your honour pleases you the most.” The Lord replied, “The fourteenth night of the new moon in the dark fortnight during the month of Phalgun, is my favorite day. It is called Maha Shivaratri. My devotees give me great joy and happiness by mere fasting than by ceremonial baths and offerings of flower, sweets and incense.”
“The devotee observes strict spiritual discipline in the day and worships me in four different forms during each of the four successive three hour periods of the night. The offering of a few bael leaves is more precious to me than precious jewels and flowers. My devotee should bath me in milk in the first period, in yogurt in the second period, in ghee in the third, and in honey in the fourth and the last. In the morning he should feed Brahmins (that is if this is possible), and after doing that he/she breaks his/her fast. No ritual can compare with this simple routine in sanctity.” Mother Parvati was deeply impressed by the words of her husband. She repeated this to her friends, who in turn passed it on to everyone else. Thus the sanctity of Maha Shivaratri was broadcast all over the world.
The Shivaratri fast is aimed at controlling a persons two great vices (rajas – the quality of passionate activity) and (tamas - that of inertia). The entire day is spent on worshipping Lord Shiva. Continuous worship of the Lord necessitates the devotee’s constant presence in the place of worship. Ones motion is controlled and evils like lust, anger and jealousy, born of Rajas, are ignored and subdued. The devotee observes virgil throughout the night and thus conquers tamas also. Constant control is exercised over the mind. Every three hours a round of worship of the Shiva lingam is conducted and thus Shivaratri is the perfect vrat.
At many ashrams around the world Maha Shivaratri is celebrated in the following manner. Aspirants fast the whole day, many of them without taking a single drop of water. Some ashrams perform a grand havan to Lord Shiva for peace and welfare of all. The whole day is spent in chanting of the mantra “Om namah Shivaya” and in meditation upon the Lord. At night all assemble in the temple and chant this mantra and during the four quarters of the night the Shiva lingam is worshipped with intense devotion.
The rasa-lila was performed during the autumn, and after that the next big ceremony is Holi or the Dolayatra ceremony. Between the Dolayatra ceremony and the rasa-lila ceremony there is one important ceremony, which is called Shivaratri, which is especially observed by the Saivites, or devotees of Lord Shiva. But sometimes the Vaishnavas (devotees of Lord Vishnu) also observe this ceremony because they accept Lord Shiva as the foremost Vaishnava. Nanda Maharaja and the other cowherd men desired to go to Ambikavana for Shivaratri. Ambikavana is situated somewhere in the Gujarat province. They very devotedly began to worship the deity of Lord Siva and Ambika (another name for Ma Durga). It is the general practice that wherever there is a temple of Lord Shiva, there must be another temple of Ambika because Ambika is the wife of Lord Shiva and is the most exalted of chaste women. She doesn't live outside the association of her husband. After reaching Ambikavana, the cowherd men of Vrindavan first bathed themselves in the river Sarasvati. If one goes to any place of pilgrimage, his/her first duty is to take a bath and sometimes to shave his head. That is the first business. After taking bath, they worshiped the deities and then distributed charity in the holy places. The cowherd men who had come to execute the ritualistic function of worshiping Lord Shiva and Mother Ambika finished their business and prepared to return to Vrindavan. Similarly, the gopis also worshiped goddess Katyayani (Durga Devi) to become more and more attached to Lord Krsna. Bathing and staying clean the worship of Lord Shiva in the form of Shiva lingam is done in the four jamuns (four equal time intervals) of the night. Firstly perform Ganapati puja praying for no hurdles to the puja. Simply have a murti of Lord Ganesh and offer him incense, lamp and flowers. Before the prayer starts make sure that you wash the lingam properly with water. Now place the lingam on a tray. You can perform the abhishekam in your prayer room. Also you should have made during the day 4 flower garlands. Many use cloths to dress the linga after each abhishekam. (But this is optional). Also make sure that you have at least 4-incense stick, 4 camphor and 4 whole flowers for the arati. Get from a temple lots of Bael leaves. Then at 18h00 the first abhishek is performed. While chanting mantras of Lord Shiva bath the Linga with milk (which should be in a lota/pot). Then after offering the milk with one lota of water bath the lingam. Then with a clean cloth only used for the prayer dab the lingam to remove the excess liquids. Now place bael leaves on top of the Lingam and with chandan paste with the ring finger of your right hand draw three lines on the lingam and on the centre line dot it with kum-kum. Then garland the lingam and now offer arati with incense, lamp and flower 7 times around the Lingam. This is the end of the first Jamun. At 21h00 the 2nd Jamun is performed. Please replace the Milk above with yoghurt and the procedure is the same. At 00h00 the 3rd Jamun is performed. Please replace Milk above with ghee and the procedure is the same. Do not use one lota of ghee, rather in a lota add ¼ teaspoon of ghee and add luke warm water to it. At around 3h00 - 4h00 the 4th and last Jamun is performed. Please replace Milk above with honey and the procedure is the same. Do not use one lota of honey, rather in a lota add ¼ teaspoon of honey and add luke warm water to it. If you so desire the different colour clothes you can use for the different jamuns are as follows… 1st jamun: - RED 2nd jamun: - YELLOW 3rd jamun: - WHITE 4th jamun: - BLUE Thank you for taking time to read this article. We are trying to reach out not only to Hindus but to others of other faiths as well. By compiling and publishing these articles we hope that others will understand what a beautiful and diversified way of life Hinduism (Sanathan Dharma) really is. Please alert your friends and family of this website. You may pass these articles to friends and family who do not have access to the Internet or even print them and keep them in a file. These articles are published so that it will be a reference to you and your family when you need clarification of certain topics. Jai Shree Mahadevji
