Shivaratri Festival
The following excerpts from Swami’s discourses explain the significance of this festival.
“Let me tell you why this day is considered holy. Today is the fourteenth day of the dark half of the month, when the moon is all but invisible; just a minute fraction remains visible to man. The moon is the presiding deity of the mind, which is the source of all the entangling desires and emotions. This day, the mind is almost powerless. If this night is spent in vigil and in the presence of the Divine, it [the mind] can be fully conquered and man can realize his freedom. So, every month, the fourteenth day of the dark half of the month is prescribed for more intense sadhana(spiritual discipline) and once a year, this Mahashivaratri is laid down for the great consummation. Vigilance this night is to be secured by sadhana—that is by means of bhajan or reading of sacred texts or listening to the reading of such texts—not by attending films or playing cards. Be engaged in seeing good, listening to good, speaking good, thinking good, doing good—that is the program for the vigil tonight. Make it also the program for your entire life.”
“Angam and Lingam,” Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 6
“Today is Shivaratri. Take the ideal of Shiva. When the devastating poison (halahala) emerged from the ocean, life on earth was threatened with immediate and total destruction. Shiva offered to drink the poison and save the world. His throat has been blue ever since, for the poison has pervaded the area. Be eager to serve, to help, to come to the rescue of others. For this, you must cultivate fortitude and equanimity. Otherwise, life will be miserable, like resting in the thick shade of a tree infested with red ants. If impatience, anger, hatred and pride overcome a person, of what avail are other accomplishments? In the firmament of the heart, the names of God must shine as stars and the confidence arising out of the knowledge of atma (the soul) must shine like the moon when it is full and bright.”
“No Mirror, No Image,” Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 6
“Do not treat this day lightly or reduce the disciplines prescribed by the sages for its celebration…into a routine ritual. A fence is necessary to protect growing crops, but when no crop is growing, why spend time and money on a fence? A rind, that is not very tasty, covers the orange to protect it from premature consumption. Outer rituals are prescribed to shelter the inner message. Shivaratri, like all other holy days…has many such outer ceremonial observances, as well as a deep core of inner significance. But human nature prefers the easier path of outer formality to the path of inner discipline and direct experience.
“Visiting Shiva shrines, arranging for worship… and other such activities are done on this day. But they are not quite relevant to the real purpose of the festival. To fulfill the rites and vows, one need not wait a full year. Man takes in food four times a day in order that his body may keep functioning efficiently. Is it too much to ask him to feed the mind with good thoughts and godly acts at least once every day? The mind, too, needs clean and sustaining food.
“Shiva lives in the burial ground and the cremation ground. The place is not an area of dread; it is an auspicious area, because all people have to end their lives there when the time comes, in this life or in a few more lives. Shiva is teaching you that death cannot be shunned or frightened away. It needs to be gladly and bravely met.
“Again Shiva is said to go about with a begging bowl. He teaches renunciation, detachment and indifference to good or bad fortune. These are the paths to attain Him. Shiva is known as one who vanquishes death and as the destroyer of desire. These two names show that he who destroys desire can conquer death, because desire breeds activity, activity breeds consequences, consequences breed bondage, bondage results in birth, and birth involves death.
“Shiva is adored as the teacher of teachers. The form of Shiva is itself a great lesson in tolerance and forbearance. The poison is hidden by Him in the throat; the beneficent moon, which all welcome is worn by Him on His head. This [placement] is a lesson for man to keep away from others all his harmful tendencies and to apply for their benefit all useful tendencies he can. If he uses his skills for his own advancement and his evil propensities for putting down others, he is only taking the road to ruin.
“There are some who declare glibly, ’Oh, I have surrendered my body, mind, intellect—my everything—to God.’ These people have no control over their minds and the emotions and passions they are filled with. They have no mastery over their reason. They are not even able to regulate their bodies. So it is indeed ridiculous for them to claim that they have offered themselves to God. How can they give to God what is not theirs? What right have they? How can anyone accept the gift of something that does not belong to the giver?
In fact, you need not surrender anything at all. Love all beings—that is enough. Love with no expectation of return; love for the sake of love; love because your very nature is love; love because that is the form of worship you know and like. When others are happy, be happy likewise. When others are in misery, try to alleviate their lot to the best of your ability. Practice love through seva (service). By this means, you will realize unity and get rid of the ego that harms.”
“Teacher of Teachers,” Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 8
