Mahashivaratri: The spiritual Significance of the Night of Goodness and Godliness Compiled by TUMULURU KRISHNA MURTY DESARAJU SRI SAI LAKSHMI © Tumuluru Krishna Murty ‘Anasuya’ C-66 Durgabai Deshmukh Colony Ahobil Mutt Road Hyderabad 500007 Ph: +91 (40) 2742 7083/ 8904 Typeset and formatted by: Desaraju Sri Sai Lakshmi Figure 1: Lingodbhava Significance of Lingodbhava Understand the true meaning and inner significance of Shivaratri. Hiranyagarbha Lingam is present in everybody’s hridaya (spiritual heart) and is on the right side of the body. The principle of Hiranyagarbha permeates My whole body. It assumes a form when I will it. Whoever has seen this Lingam at the time of its emergence will not have rebirth. One should see its form as it emerges. In order to sanctify your lives, such sacred manifestations have to be shown to you every now and then. Only then can you understand the divinity in humanity. This Lingam will not break even if it is dropped from a height with force. This is amruthatwam (symbol of immortality). It is changeless. You cannot see such a manifestation anywhere else in the world. It is possible only with Divinity. This is the manifestation of changeless Divinity. Three types of Lingams emerge. They are bhur, bhuvah, and suvaha. Bhur refers to materialisation (body), bhuvah to vibration (prana), and suvaha to radiation (Atma). I often say, you are not one, but three: The one you think you are (physical body), the one others think you are (mental body), the one you really are (Atma). - Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba Table of Contents Mahashivaratri ............................................................................................. 11 Seasonal festivals ....................................................................................... 12 Inner Significance of Festivals .............................................................. 13 Festivals mark the destruction of demonic forces ................................. 14 Shivaratri ................................................................................................... 14 What is the significance of Ratri? .............................................................. 16 Shivaratri is an auspicious night ............................................................ 17 Shiva .............................................................................................................. 19 Who is Shiva? ............................................................................................ 20 Shiva is all Graciousness, ever Auspicious ........................................... 21 Form of Shiva ............................................................................................ 24 Linga is the Form in which all forms merge ......................................... 26 Man has to realise that he is Shivam ...................................................... 30 Smog of hatred and greed tarnish the temple towers ............................. 30 Siva Consciouness Is Transcendental .................................................... 31 God Is Attributeless, Realise His Oneness ................................................. 33 The Trinity and Omkaara ...................................................................... 35 Significance of Cosmic dance of Lord Shiva ............................................. 36 Role of Rudras in man's life .................................................................. 37 Rudras and sense-control ...................................................................... 38 Terrible and tender ................................................................................ 40 It is the mind that decides the desire ..................................................... 41 Ardhanareeswara: Shiva-Shakti Principle ................................................ 42 Recognise the Principle of Ardhanareeswara ........................................ 43 Stories of Shiva ............................................................................................. 45 Unity of Purusha and Prakrithi ................................................................. 45 7 Parents Are Living Divinities ..................................................................... 50 The story of a Divine Plan .......................................................................... 52 The role of a tool in the Divine Plan ...................................................... 53 Traditional legend connected with Mahashivaratri ................................... 54 Every experience is a lesson, every loss a gain ...................................... 55 The yaga performed by sage Bharadwaja .................................................. 56 All past assurances accomplished by one incident ................................. 57 Purity and Truth alone can open the gates of Bliss .................................... 58 A story of Shivaratri festival at Srisailam .................................................. 60 How Shiva accepted Parvathi as Ardha ..................................................... 62 The Story of Markandeya ........................................................................... 64 One Can Achieve Anything With God’s Grace ..................................... 65 Forms of Worship and Sadhana .................................................................. 67 Vedas lead man into Vision of Truth .......................................................... 67 The three forms of worship Shiva likes ....................................................... 72 Few forms of worship: ........................................................................... 73 The proper way to observe Shivaratri ........................................................ 75 The night of goodness and Godliness ......................................................... 77 Symbol of Time-Space manifestation of divinity .................................. 77 Awareness of Divinity ........................................................................... 78 Six mental states ................................................................................ 79 The evolutionary process ................................................................... 79 The most effective form of meditation ........................................................ 81 Visualise God in the all-pervasive Light ................................................ 82 Advanced Meditation on Soham ............................................................ 83 The Shiva in all ...................................................................................... 83 Meaning of worship of the Snake .......................................................... 84 Every appellation of God has deep significance .................................... 85 Strengthen the belief that all objects belong to God .............................. 86 Sadhana ...................................................................................................... 88 8 Peace Brings Love ................................................................................. 91 Do Not Indulge In Excessive Talk ........................................................ 92 The Message of Mahashivaratri ................................................................. 93 The Message of Shivaratri ......................................................................... 93 Prayers should rise from the heart, not from the lips ............................. 94 The three criteria for the Saathwik quality ............................................ 95 Purpose of fast and vigil on holy days ................................................... 96 Know the purpose of fasting ............................................................. 97 Understand the main purpose of holy days ....................................... 98 Do not allow the mind to dwell on others' faults ................................... 99 Mind of man should undergo transformation ...................................... 100 Cultivate love, faith and humility ........................................................ 101 Get rid of action and be freed from Maya ........................................... 102 Cure the boil of "I" in the body ........................................................... 103 Conduct yourselves as true human beings ........................................... 104 Wisdom exists in the midst of ignorance ............................................ 105 Develop purity and sacredness ............................................................ 106 Spiritual significance of Shivaratri .......................................................... 107 Duality in life cannot be escaped......................................................... 108 The cosmic process ............................................................................. 109 The trinity in man ................................................................................ 110 Unity in diversity ................................................................................. 111 Concord ........................................................................................... 112 Index ............................................................................................................ 115 Bibliography ............................................................................................... 117 Mahashivaratri A festival or gala is an event ordinarily staged by a local community, which centres on and celebrates some unique aspect of that