Glory of Mahashivaratri

Of all the Hindu festivals, Mahashivaratri is my favorite. There is something profoundly holy about this special time of the year. My first trip to Swami, in 1991, was during Mahashivaratri. The place was extremely crowded; there wasn’t any shelter to sit under, like there is now while waiting for darshan. Sai Kulwant Hall had not yet been built.

We sat in the hot sand and under an even hotter sun. Of course, I was new to the world of tokens and my first darshan was a novel experience. But much to my utter surprise and chagrin, by the time the third token line had filed into the mandir, the crowds became so unruly and people just started charging the gate. I addressed Baba in my heart, telling Him that I was not going to act like a maniac even if I couldn’t get into the Mandir on this most auspicious day of Mahashivaratri.

I walked over to a wall that had three openings carved at the top and I was able to squeeze into one of the portals and get a clear view of the inside of the mandir; two other ladies followed suit and we three waited there for darshan to begin.

Some time passed then lo and behold! Swami came within  six feet of us. We all waved excitedly. Our Lord looked at us with such intense compassion and love and then did the incredibly unexpected, He tenderly blew a kiss in our direction. One lady called adoringly, “Senor, Senor.” Another looked at me in wide-eyed wonder and said, “He never does that!”

We were all totally blissed out; just thinking about that nectarine episode brings tears. Our Lord Shiva heard our prayers and felt our longing to be close to Him on that precious day.

Sathya Sai Baba emphasizes the importance of Mahashivaratri. The following excerpts are from the book, “Sadhana the Inward Path” and “The Sathya Sai Compendium”:

“Without the motivator, nature is helpless. Appearance is but a reflection of reality; Easwara (God) is but a reflection of Brahman, the intelligence behind the awareness of all. Shivaratri inspires us to learn this basic truth and shape our lives in the light of that illumination.

The God’s grace cannot be won through the gymnastics of reason, the contortions of Yoga or the denials of asceticism. Love alone can win it, love that needs no requital, love that knows no bargaining, love that is paid gladly, as tribute to the All Loving. Love that is unwavering; love alone can overcome obstacles, however, many and mighty. There is no strength more effective than purity, no bliss more satisfying than love, no joy more restoring than bhakti, no triumph more praiseworthy than surrender.

Right living, balanced living, true living is the prescription of Vedanta (scriptures). The fair face of Vedanta has been disfigured by fanatics and false interpreters. Love should not be rationed on the basis of caste, creed, economic status, or intellectual attainment of the recipient.

Whatever the handicap, however you are tempted to loosen the grip, hold on to God; there is always calm after the storm—passion, agitation, anxiety—these degrade human nature. You become what you yourself feel. Making or marring is the activity of your own mind. Cultivate the attitude of observing everyone as the “I” of which it is but a wave. Then you can rid your mind of prejudices. God is the chauffeur, the sarathi (charioteer). Surrender to Him and be rid of further bother. Travel safe and arrive happy.

Shivaratri is observed every month on the fourteenth night of the dark half, for the moon which is the presiding deity of the human mind, has only one night more to be a non-entity, with no influence on the agitations of the mind.

In the month of Magha, the fourteenth night is named Maha (great) Shivaratri. It is sacred for it is the day on which Shiva takes linga form for the benefit of seekers. Shiva is revered as the form which is to be adored for the acquisition of jnana or wisdom. Contemplate this day and this night on the atma linga, the jyoti linga, the symbol of the supreme light of wisdom, and be convinced that Shiva is in every one of you; let that vision illumine your inner consciousness. Outer ritual is prescribed to make the inner message explicit. But human nature prefers the easier path of outer formality to the path of inner discipline and direct experiencing. These are not quite relevant to the real purpose of the festival.

Mahashivaratri is dedicated to the disintegration of the aberrations of the mind, and so, of the mind itself by dedicating oneself to Shiva, God.

The moon as well as the mind whose deity it is, has 16 phases. On the Shivaratri, fifteen of these have disappeared; and, there is just a streak of moon in the sky. New moon that follows will have not even that streak visible. The mind too must be mastered every day until, on the fifteenth day, fifteen phases have disintegrated and only a streak remains to be removed by a final flourish of effort.”

Sadhana the Inward Path, p. 247-254.

“It must be remembered that the chief aim of all sadhana is to eliminate the mind… then only can maya [illusion] be rent asunder and the reality revealed… On the night of Shiva…only a fraction remains. If some special effort is made that night, through more intensive and vigilant sadhana…, success is ensured. Shiva alone has to be meditated upon that night without the mind straying towards thoughts of sleep or food. (Sathya Sai Speaks, IX, 3:12-13).

For many years one of the more spectacular and significant of Baba’s miracles was the annual production from His own body of a large oval Shiva lingam. The occasion for this was Mahashivaratri and since he performed the act in front of large crowds of devotees there are many accounts and films of the awesome event.”

“Baba knows that we know the lingam to be the cosmic egg symbol, the sphere which the breath of God inflates and deflates. What Baba does is to will these symbols to form in him so that we could visualize the power that projected the Universe and enlarge the range of our consciousness thereby. This miracle makes all minds one in Sai.” (K2, 183)

“Sri Sathya Sai Baba has brought out lingams of stone, metal and crystal. Often the translucent lingams have an inner light that glows and changes colors. Sometimes, only one lingam emerges from Him, at other times a pair, and there have been occasions when a whole stream of them are regurgitated, in gold, silver, jade, and crystal.” (SB, 128)

The lingam is the symbolic representation of Shiva-Shakti. Worship of the lingam is one of the highest forms of prayer. Most Shiva temples have only this form of God in the inner sanctum.” (SB 128)

“It is not possible for you to understand the divine purpose and gauge its potential or to know the significance of its manifestation. In order to bear witness to the fact that Divinity is among you, it becomes necessary for me to express this attitude of mine. Otherwise the atmosphere of hatred, greed, envy, cruelty, violence, and irreverence will overwhelm the good, the humble, and the pious. The lingam is the symbol of the omnipresent and omnipotent Lord. Everything starts from it and is subsumed in it.” (M2, 17)

My last visit to Prasanthi Nilayam was the sonum bonum of all my trips to Baba.  It was during this past Mahashivaratri 2006 that the Divine Lord allowed myself and throngs of other devotees to witness this miracle of miracles. The lingam that Sai Avatar manifested was something so completely out of our ordinary range of consciousness it is difficult to describe this moment of splendor. It was as if Swami had literally reached up into the sky and broken off a piece of the sun. The lingam was so luminous we all sat transfixed, wonder struck by its’ radiance and otherworldly effulgence.

Even though the darkness of the Kali Yuga can appear overwhelming to us, and the pain and suffering humanity is undergoing seems so horrific and bleak we must realize that we are living in incredible times. God, Sri Sathya Sai Baba is walking the earth and gracing us with His Divine presence. He is teaching us the way of truth, love, right action, peace, and non-violence. Hold tight to His lotus feet. Don’t give up; keep your faith in God and goodness in the golden age is certain to come.

~Sonya Ki