Maha Shivaraatri

Shiva is the auspicious one.  Among the trinity he is in-charge of the portfolio of destruction.  What does he destroy?  He destroys ignorance - this is the reason he is also prayed to for knowledge.  Adi Shankara said, "ज्ञानमिच्छेत्  महेश्वरात्; मोक्षमिच्छेत् जनार्दनात्".  

What is knowledge but the removal of ignorance.  We arise out of an innate intelligence and this intelligence is built into our body-mind.  There is a great intelligence at play in the natural universe and every living being other than the human being exhibits this intelligence intuitively and naturally.  It is spring time now and birds know to build their nests and hatch the young.  There are many trees that know that it is time to let their leaves fall away and cover  themselves with incredibly coloured and gentle blossoms.  Intelligence is embedded everywhere in nature.  It is only man who has lost touch with nature that has to make an effort to acquire knowledge and destroy ignorance.  With the very first breath, the consciousness of the newborn is overtaken by the power of an illusion - a veil of unconsciousness.  And it then becomes our aim to educate the child, remove the ignorance and expressly reveal the knowledge that is known only intuitively.  

​Every animal is bound by the limitations of its body-mind apparatus.  It has no option but to be bound by its general destiny.  There is no past that is recalled and plays havoc on its present life.  There is no future to plan and hoard for.  Every creature other than the human being lives in the present and forms the body of mother nature, of what we call Goddess Parvati or Uma.  And their lord is Pashupati, Parvatipati, Umapati - Shiva.  He is always with Uma - so he is called Soma.  He is the embedded consciousness and she is the form.  Together they are in equal proportion only in the human form - as indicated by the Ardhanareeshwara deity. 

As our mother, Annapoorna, she provides food for all of her children.  And this food is provided so that we may be blessed by our parents and with Her blessings obtain वैराग्य and with His blessings, obtain ज्ञान.  And it is on this day, the day of Mahashivaraatri that the divine couple comes down to earth to bless their children.  It is not that they come once a year - in fact they come every day - but one day of the devas is one year for us - so they come once a year.  And it is therefore a very auspicious day for meditation, to seek their presence, to seek their blessings.  

It is also a day when one's consciousness can more easily rise above the strong human body-mind identity into which we are born and lift ourselves from the entangling world of thought into the freeing world of consciousness.  The whole of human life and endeavour is a battle between thought and consciousness.  The forces of thought and emotion are constantly trying to occupy our space, control our actions and keep our lives endlessly mired in the cycles of pain and pleasure, in the cycle of life and death.  

At the time of death, when the layers of the body and the mind are being separated from our subtle bodies, it is Lord Shiva who presides and must be prayed to for a smooth deliverance from earthly bonds.  As a scientific and objective culture, we have never shirked from trying to penetrate our understanding into the layer of death.  

Our aim has always been threefold - dharma, karma and moksha.  In Dharma - we are bound to abide, since we are made up of it, constituted by it, governed by it and our body mind complex shall once again merge into elements by it's laws.  Dharma is the universal constitutive law and there is nothing we can do but understand it and obey it.  Karma is the transformational law that can convert material work into energy, that can convert our work that flows through our instruments into an energy that will make our subtle body light or dark.  Light is consciousness, darkness is unconsciousness.  Light is freedom and darkness is bondage.  Freedom is moksha, bondage is samsaara.  तत् ते कर्म प्रवक्ष्यामि यत् ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेषुभात - says Krishna in the bhagavadgeeta.  Only that is karma knowing which we attain freedom.  This discretion as to what karma leads to freedom and what leads to bondage is jnaana or knowledge.  

As far as Dharma is concerned we have no option but to abide by it - बद्धते is the only option.  As far as Karma is concerned, we have to do that which are capable and eligible to do - in the field of work and professionalism, the concepts of ability and expertise come into play.  Everyone is not equally suited for every work.  Work must be done by each according to his own capabilities, according to the expertise he has earned.  It is not a matter of right - but a matter of eligibility - of अधिकार.  As far as Moksha is concerned everyone has an equal right - only he has to make up his mind that he wants Moksha and nothing else.  The field has to be cleaned of all other thoughts, emotions and desires.  Then anyone can enter Moksha as each is equidistant from this parallel realm. 

Therefore the jnaana that we seek today from Lord Shiva is that which enables us to abide by Dharma, that which enables us to work wholeheartedly according to the karma for which we are eligible, and finally to seek and obtain liberation in this birth itself.  I place my head at the lotus feet of our parents, Lord Shiva and Parvati and seek their blessings to lead a wholesome and liberating life.  

A very happy Maha shivaratri to all!