The Legend Of Holika Dahan

The festival of holi marks the end of Shishir ritu (winter) and beginning of Vasanta ritu (Spring).  The celebration of holi is marked by lighting a bonfire to commemorate the legend of Holika dahan and to celebrate the victory of good over evil.

Holika dahan is one of the popular stories from the legend of Bhakta Prahalad.  Prahalad was the son of the demon king Hiranyakashyap.  Hiranyakashyap, after a long penance, extracted five boons from Lord Brahma.  They were:

• Neither a human nor an animal would be able to kill him.
• He would not be killed inside the door nor outside the door
• He would not be killed during the day nor at night.
• He would not be killed by any weapon.
• He would not be killed on the land, in water nor in the air.

After receiving these boons, Hiranyakashyap deemed himself to be immortal and no less than a God.  He forbade his subjects from worshipping Lord Vishnu or any other God.  When he was undertaking penance, Indra and the other devas had attacked his home.  His pregnant wife was then protected by Sage Narada as he deemed her to be sinless.  The unborn child, Prahalad, was thus exposed to chants of "Narayana, Narayana" and stories of Lord Vishnu as narrated by the sage.  Prahalad later became a devoted follower of the Lord.  This angered Hiranyakashyap to the extent of filicide.  After many unsuccessful attempts at killing his son, Hiranyakashyap enlisted the help of his sister, Holika, who after a penance, had received a robe from Lord Brahma that would protect her from fire.  Hiranyakashyap requested his sister to sit on a pyre covered in the robe and challenged Prahalad to accompany her on the pyre and pray to Lord Vishnu to save him from the fire.  It is said that, as soon as the pyre was lit, a gust of wind blew the robe from Holika to Prahalad and saved him while Holika burned to death.  Some legends claim that Holika knew what she was doing was a sin and covered Prahalad with her robe to protect him, signifying the triumph of the good in her over the evil within herself.  Hiranyakashyap was later killed by Vishnu in the Narasimha (half lion, half man) Avatar.

Thus while following the tradition of Holika dahan, we must resolve to kill the evil in us and to live virtuously.

Image credit:  Mithila

What Lakshmi thinks about International Women’s Day

It was 8^th March yesterday.  I spent the whole day taking calls and replying to messages.  I could not put my phone down for a few seconds without it buzzing or ringing again. 

“So many calls today didi (sister),” said my maid, Lakshmi, after about ten minutes of watching the goings on.   “Is it your birthday?”                                                                                                                                 

“No, Lakshmi…its Women’s Day”.  “Happy Women’s Day!” I smiled at her.   

                 

She looked at me doubtfully.  “Like how there is a special Teacher’s Day for teachers and Children’s Day for children in school?” “Yes, Lakshmi,” I said busy typing a reply to a friend on Whatsapp.                                                                                                                      

“Who makes it special for women, didi?” she asked, stirring the dal.                                             

“All those around the women, their children, their husbands, family members, all those who work with them in their workplace…….”                                                                                     

“Oh that way…….but that is almost every day didi, why a particular day?” 

                                         

“Your family makes it special for you every day?  Lucky you, Lakshmi!” I laughed.      

                  

“They don’t wish me didi, but they praise something I have done for them, and that makes me happy beyond words.”  Her face lighted up.     

                                                             

Such as?  “The children’s teacher praised the white covers I put on their exercise books using last year’s calendars… I used the transparent plastic bags you gave me last month to put over the white sheets,” she grinned.   “The children were over the moon and came home and told me.  It made me feel like Women’s Day.”   

                                             

“That’s Mother’s Day,” I corrected her.  “But I am both didi…….woman and mother?  If I feel happy as a mother, the woman in me does not feel overjoyed?”    

                                                      

Yes, I thought ….. we are inseparable.  It’s difficult to make out where the woman ends and where the mother begins.    

                                                                                                          

“When my husband asks for a second helping of the chutney that I woke up at four o’clock to make….. that makes it Women’s Day for me too.”        

                                                                

“That should be Wife’s Day, third Sunday in September…… or Housewives Day, November 3,” I said, consulting Google quickly.  I was beginning to enjoy this.     

             

“There are all these days?  No one told me,” she said.        

                                                        

“It’s news to me too……..I didn’t know either,” I told her.     

                                                          

“But no matter didi, all days are ours,” she replied, in a very self-satisfied tone.  “Last week, my brother came and told me how Iife-saving the money had been that I lent him out of my savings……..he was able to pay my nephew’s fees.  He wished God would give a sister like me to every brother…….There were tears of happiness in my eyes.  It felt like Women’s Day didi,” the tears beginning to well up again in her eyes at the memory.  “I praised him too, he is such a good brother, for saying that to me.  Whose brother will come to their house to say “Tu sachmuch Lakshmi hai re!” (You really are Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth)                                                                                                                         

Happy Sister’s Day, Lakshmi, I thought (First Sunday in August).  

                                          

“Didi, do you have a brother?  Yes, you do.  I remember seeing him at Rakshabandhan last year… you told me to make puranpoli, because it’s his favourite” she reminisced.  He loved it and you praised me….you even shared the money he gave you as a gift….Women’s Day didi?”                                                                                                                

“No Lakshmi, Rakshabandhan.”       

                                                                                                     

“No, Women’s Day didi…sisters are not women?  You are not like a sister to me?” She was getting a bit mixed up and so was I.  But no arguing about that definitely, sisters are women too.  

  

She got ready to leave, her work done.  But quite obviously, this Women’s Day business had set the ball rolling.  Adjusting her sari and checking her bindi in the mirror, she continued, “My neighbour Gowri, you know the one whose husband works in the hospital, she wants to marry off her daughter as soon as that girl passes school.  I am convincing her to let her finish college………I have promised to help find an educated groom for her, who will appreciate the girl, not her dowry.  You know what?  Her daughter is so grateful, she told me “Even my real aunt would not have done as much………you are more than an aunt to me!  If only my female relatives could say things like this to my mother like you did, mausi (aunt)…….  See, you are calling me mausi, I told her.  Her name is also Lakshmi, by the way.”     

                                                                           

“You did your duty as a woman towards her, Lakshmi,” I said, my heart welling up with pride.                                                                                                                                                          

“But check your phone, didi (Google, she meant).  I am sure it will call it Aunt’s Day didi, not Women’s Day!” she beamed.  She knew she had me there.

Women’s Day, anyone?   For that matter, why leave International Men’s Day, Father’s Day, Husband’s Day, Brother’s Day and Uncle’s Day aside? As Lakshmi would say, “Men are not fathers, husbands, brothers and/or uncles didi?  Not all, but some of them at least are all or some (of the above).”  So where does a father end and a husband begin?  

It’s time to take a leaf out of Lakshmi’s book, I think.  Question ourselves. Separate the hype from the reality, the empty show from true appreciation...and above all, respect.  All days of the year.  Any takers?                

Image credits: usnoeticgroup.com 

Maha Shivaratri

Today, on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, I feel inclined to talk about Shivaratri;' the legends behind its celebration and its significance. Ratri means night, Shivaratri is the night intervening the 13th and 14th day of the krishna paksha (waning phase of the moon) of every month of the lunar calendar.  Maha Shivaratri is the Shivaratri occurring  in the month of Magha(Phalgun in North India).

The Concept of Shivam

Shivam is a supreme important concept spread all over the universe or cosmos. Shivam or the Divine principle is present in everything animate; from the tiniest micro-organism, to the largest animal. Shivam is the sign of life (vitality) within us.  Our existence is defined by the Shivam in us.  We are active, smart, smiling, and healthy because of Shivam. Once this Shivam, this Divinity is gone, we are reduced to dust.  The recognition of Shivam, the life and vitality within onself, the celebration of that awareness is Shivaratri. Thus, Shivaratri is the celebration of life and the experience of Divinity is the purpose of Shivaratri.

Why Night?

Now, one might ask, when all festivals are celebrated at sunrise or during the day, why is Shivaratri celebrated all night?  The moon is considered to be the presiding deity of the mind. The moon, in Hindu astronomy, has 16 phases. When all 16 phases or aspects are there, the moon shines; the moon has visible light, culminating in the full moon. The full moon starts losing one phase after another. After 15 phases are gone, the last phase leads to amavasya (darkness). On Shivaratri, only one phase, or kala, is left. By constant meditation on the Divine, even the last trace of the moon disappears, leading to a fully dark night.  A moon that shines brilliantly is like the mind filled with all its emotions, desires and worldly involvements. Moon in its fullness stands for all that is worldly and sensual. During the waning phase, the moon starts losing one aspect after another until the last trace or sliver is left.  Symbolically, this represents the passionate, emotional, sentimental, and fully desire-laden mind becoming less active as Shivaratri approaches. By and by, the mind slowly becomes withdrawn, annihilated. Therefore the waning of the moon phases symbolises the annihilation of the qualities of mind. When the mind is withdrawn in such a manner, you will notice that you are God. That which separates you from God is your mind. When the mind is withdrawn, human becomes one with God. The consciousness of the Supreme Self in us is the celebration of Shivaratri, because Shiva is also Kamahari (the destroyer of desire/lust) and when we are lusting for worldly pleasures, we lose consciousness of the Supreme Self.

Legends

There are many legends about Maha Shivaratri.  While one states it is the wedding anniversary of Shiva and Parvati, another states it is the anniversary of the day Shiva saved the world by consuming the poison that emerged from the ocean during samudra manthan and slept through the night; hence the jagran (staying awake all night to keep a watch while the Lord slept). Yet another states that on this night, a thief climbed a Bilva tree, which is sacred to Shiva, to give his pursuers the slip. He spent the whole night on the tree, plucking leaves that – unknown to him – fell on a Shiva-linga. This act of unintended piety earned the thief an eternal place in the Lord’s heart and so people stay awake all night worshipping  the Lord.  A different legend states that it was on this night that Lord Shiva performed the Rudra Tandav (the cosmic dance of creation, preservation and destruction).  There is one more legend that states offering icons such as the Linga to Shiva is an annual occasion to absolve past sins and gain entry into Mount Kailash and be liberated from the cycle of rebirths.

Significance

The significance of Maha Shivaratri varies from person to person.  For one living in a family situation, it is the wedding anniversary of Lord Shiva and Shakti (Parvati).  For a person with worldly ambitions, it is the night that Shiva conquered the mountains and for a Yogi, it is the night that the Lord became one with Mount Kailash; that is, he became absolutely still (conquered his mind) and came to be known as Adiyogi.  Lord Shiva is known to be easily angered and compassionate at the same time.  Hence, Maha Shivaratri is an occasion to please Him and for receiving his blessings.


Picture credits:   Sinchita Ganguly.

THE POTENTIAL AND THE SPARK

Of the little that I can presume to know about Shiva, one representation has always intrigued me. It is the androgynous form, more popularly known as the Ardhanarishvara.

On the auspicious occasion of Shivaratri, I would love to start my blogging journey by explaining my understanding of the significance of this unique deity – not the religious legends but how it reflects the futuristic, scientific nature of the Indian school of thought.

Among its numerous interpretations, the word ‘shiva’ can also be split into three parts:

Sha - shareeram (body)

Ee - eeshwari (life-giving/creative force)

Va - vayu (motion)

Shiva is, therefore, body that has life and motion. Reinforcing this, we can simply remove the ee when shiva becomes shava or body without life and motion. Shiva is thus life, and in an extended understanding, all-embracing universal consciousness and potential.

Now let’s ponder over what sparks this potential, the source that causes it to spring into life. What turns the magnificent abstinent yogi into the householder – the supreme force of creation, procreation, and re-creation?

The answer is Shakti. We may call her Parvati, Devi, or Uma.

When Shiva and Shakti unite, we see Srishti, or creation.

The Ardha-Nari represents this idea perfectly.

From the Westerners, we have learnt that there is a woman behind every successful man. Ancient Indian wisdom, however, has given the woman a position of equality. Shakti doesn’t hide in Shiva’s shadow propelling him to glory. She stands shoulder to shoulder with him as his complement, saha dharmini. Joined indivisibly, Shiva is Shakti and Shakti is Shiva.

The idea of the two entwined entities giving life is also evident in the double-helical structure of the DNA! It’s notable that a child inherits 50% of DNA from each parent. And have some of us not seen childless couples praying to stone tablets embossed with double-helical snakes enshrined under trees in many regions of India?

Another interesting fact about the deity is that most representations show Shiva on the right and Shakti on the left. Some sects believe this is because the right ‘dominates’ the left and the male principle is depicted as more powerful. It may not be so. It may be a simple representation of human biology.

Scientifically, we know the right brain controls the left side of the body and vice-versa. Those who practice yoga know that breathing through the left (Chandra Nadi) slows metabolism, soothing and cooling the body – calm implying the female. Conversely, breathing through the right (Surya Nadi) increases pranic/physical energy and produces heat - activity implying the male. Scientific studies have also proven that a female brain is equally stimulated on both sides while processing information but the right side is more active in men in similar contexts. On the left also resides the heart! In sum, the so-called female qualities are contained on the left and the male qualities on the right, and they are ultimately equal and interdependent.

Thus, whether you follow the Shaiva tradition when Parvati merges with Shiva, making the basically male god, half female; or follow the Shakta tradition when the female god divides into two halves, the end result is the same. The all-pervasive God – Ardha-Nari - representing the seamless union of the dual forces of the universe - the ascetic, passive, quintessentially masculine Shiva (Purusha) and the homely, active, supremely feminine Parvati (Prakriti). One is the foundation, the other the spring. Without their union, there is no creation, no growth.

Going beyond the gender connotations, it is only when an individual – woman or man- discovers and nurtures within herself/himself both the heart and the brain, compassion and action, the subtle and the elemental, the soul and the body can she/he hope to evolve into a complete human being. In our social structure too, it is the harmonizing of these apparently contrasting principles and values that can bring balance.

It is unfortunate that the patriarchal forces of today’s ‘progressive’ civilizations have relegated the Ardha-Nari to merely an iconography in Shiva temples. There are only a few temples where this deity is worshipped. The real strengths of the female principle are now seen as undesirable ‘weaknesses.’ No wonder, therefore, that most of our social evils and personal discontentment stem from this lack of balance between the fundamental energies of nature that were meant to reside in unison both within and outside us.

On this day, today, let’s go back to what our ancestors taught us – find the totality in the duality. Let’s all nurture the Shiva and the Shakti within us and extend it to the world around us.

The Nataraja Dances to Apna Time Aayega

On this Shivaratri, come trace with me the common thread that runs through Nataraja, the rasa theory, Apna Time Aayega and Bharat Natyam. 

‘Nataraja’ is a Sanskrit term translated as Lord of Dance or King of Dancers. According to some scholars, the name is related to Shiva's fame as the "Lord of Dancers" or "King of Actors". He is sometimes also referred to as Nateshvara (from Nata which means "stage performer", and Ishvara or "lord")
‘Nataraja’ symbolises the connection between religion and the arts, and it represents Shiva as the lord of dance performing the Ananda Tandava or the dance of bliss. The purpose of this dance is to focus on self-realisation, releasing the soul from maya or illusion. This dance is said to be performed within his heart.

It is a fearless celebration while being surrounded by fire, the matted locks of his hair flying in wild, ecstatic energy. Whenever I look at Shiva in the Natraja pose, I always feel he is immersed in rasa, an emotion or feeling that moves the heart but cannot be described.

According to the Rasa theory of the Natya Shastra (the Book of Performance Arts written by Bharat Muni, wherein he gave us Bharat Natyam) entertainment is a desired effect of performance arts, but not the primary goal. The primary goal is to transport the individual in the audience into another parallel reality, full of wonder and bliss, where he experiences the essence of his own consciousness, realises who he is, plumbs the depths of his feelings that help him to understand his own reality better. 
Listen to the rap in Apna Time Aayega…..at once you understand what rasa is all about, how ageless yet contemporary it is.

Rasas are created through a wide range of means, and the ancient Indian texts discuss many such means. For example, one way is through the use of gestures and facial expressions of the actors. Expressing Rasa in classical Indian dance form is referred to as Rasa-abhinaya.

The theory of rasas forms the aesthetic base of all Indian classical dance and theatre, such as Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Kudiyattam and others
Watch a young contestant and her guru give expression to Apna Time Aayega in Bharat Natyam on the sets of a popular reality show. (0:59:25 to 1:02:16)

https://www.sonyliv.com/…/Ep.14---Please-Welcome-Ranveer-An… 
My apologies if you cannot stand Ranveer or Alia or both of them. But I am sure at the end of it, you will be quite speechless, and moved “into another parallel reality, full of wonder and bliss.” 

This Shivaratri take a few minutes off your routine and think -- We must be the only people in the world to have concepts and beliefs, forms of expression like this …. that take the shape of our heart, whatever is deep within………..that refuse to grow old, that are just as we are!
(Image credits: Wikipedia) 
Links courtesy youtube and www.sonyliv.com (my live-in partner)