MahaShivaratri
(The Great Night of Shiva)
In India’s spiritual calendar, ‘Mahashivratri’
is one of the most significant event that falls on 24th February,
i.e. today. Festivals are scribed to different reasons and purposes of life.
Lord Shiva is Adi Yogi (yogi means one who has realised the oneness of
existence) i.e. Lord Shiva is the first yogi. Spiritual practices are a path to
self-realization. Lord Shiva is the embodiment of non-duality. He is the cosmic
dancer often portrayed as yogi deep in blissful meditation. Shiva symbolises
pure consciousness.
According to Hindu mythology Parvathi
(symbolising Shakti, energy) did intense penance to please Shiva. Shiva
eventually weds Parvathi. MahaShivratri is the great occasion to celebrate
their wedding. This occasion is shivrati(the great night of Shiva). This
symbolic union is a merge of Shiva and Shakti.
Shiva is all pervading, formless yet in
every form, the source and also the one who annihilates (all forms). In the
trinity of creation, sustenance and destruction, Shiva is called as the force
of destruction of all manifestations. Shiva is the lord of time, vanquisher of
death and the ever blissful eternal one. This is why he is Adi Yogi.
The fourteenth day of every lunar month or
the day before new moon is known as Shivaratri. Among all twelve Shivaratris,
Maha Shivaratri that occurs in February-march of every year is the most
spiritually significant one. Shiva is also adored as the epitome of compassion
and quintessence of love. He is the cosmic dancer, the supreme fountain head from
where flows all knowledge of dance, music and art.
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