Home Features The Great Night of Shiva: Maha Shiva Ratri celebrated on February...
Prayer to Shiva
Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat
OM, we worship the three-eyed Lord Shiva, who is the fragrance of Life and the nourisher of our health. O Lord, just as a ripe cucumber is freed from its vine, release us from attachment and death; grant us the nectar of immortality.
Fritzof Capra describes the Dance of Shiva as symbolic of the dancing universe with a ceaseless flow of energy, mingling and meandering into the infinite cosmic soul. It is the dance of sub-atomic particles—the building blocks of creation. He says ((https://www.fritjofcapra.net/shivas-cosmic-dance-at-cern/),
“Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and death of all living creatures, but is also the very essence of inorganic matter,” and that, “For the modern physicists, then, Shiva’s dance is the dance of subatomic matter.” He concluded that, “Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.”
In the Hindu calendar, there are twelve Shivaratris (nights of Shiva) in every year – one per lunar month. There is one Great Shivaratri, called Maha Shivaratri, that falls somewhere between February and March, depending on the lunar calendar. It is a grand devotional event that celebrates the symbolic Dance of Shiva. The majority of Hindus in the Caribbean observe this most sacred day following a planned schedule of sadhana or personal spiritual exercises leading up to the great night of Shiva, called Shivaratri (Shiva = the One whose transformative power returns all of existence/creation to its original matter at the end of a cycle of existence/creation ; Ratri = Night; Maha=Great). So, it is Great Night of Shiva – once per year.
The Puranic Hindu traditions are rich in many sacred narratives of the emanation of the One Reality in Creation, Preservation and Dissolution of the universe in never-ending cycles of time. These rich narratives seek to lift the human mind from the concrete to the most abstract, subtle, and sublime. They span the realm of knowledge (material and cosmic), devotion, and rites and rituals in communing with the cosmic realities.
In one of the sacred narratives of Shiva, it is said that Parvati (his feminine half, or wife) once asked him which ritual of the devotee pleased him the most. And he said that “fasting” pleased him more than ceremonial offerings of flowers, sweets, ritual baths, etc. Devotees of Shiva observe strict rituals during the day, and worship Him in four different forms and in four periods (3-hour periods) of the night.
Yogis especially connect with Shiva as the Adiyogi and the Adiguru – the first yogi and the first guru. He is portrayed as combining renunciation and family life. His various symbols point to knowledge, mysticism, kundalini shakti, descent of the Ganga, the eye of wisdom, the one who absorbs the poisons for the protection of the world. He represents the three qualities of nature (sattwa, rajas and tamas). In the Hindu tradition, there are varied media for communicating the sacred through sacred symbols, sounds, language, poetry, art, and so on. Those who are reared in the tradition can readily connect with the diversity and meanings. Others who are new to the tradition need to spend some time to appreciate the Hindu aesthetic approaches to Divinity.
Shiva first passed on his wisdom to his Shakti, or wife, Parvati. He taught yoga to the ancient ones. Followers of this tradition focus on liberation, or breaking the cycle of birth and death, and they usually follow a guru-discipline method of acquiring the wisdom of the ancients.
Swami Dayananda Saraswatti was an Indian yogi who felt that too many persons were focused on the rituals of worshipping Shiva. He was motivated to recommend the path of nirguna Brahman, or God without form, as the highest understanding of that Highest Reality. He eventually formed the Arya Samaj as another way of seeing and communing with the Highest Reality.
At the end of the day, it is the direct perception through direct experience that makes the difference. And if the experience does not manifest in the external as a kinder, gentler person akin to divinity, then one would have failed to truly benefit from one’s worship. May all seek inspiration for reaching the Highest Divinity as per their path in the cosmic Dance of Shiva.
