Night that shows us the path to light

Mahashivaratri, the great night of Shiv, marks annihilation of the darkness of ignorance and vices from our minds, by Supreme Soul Shiv.

The root cause of pervasiveness of evil and ignorance is lust, desire for worldly pleasures and powers. It can destroy true knowledge and realisation. The Gita says it is all-sinful and all-devouring.

The Shiv Puran talks about Shiv destroying this evil by incinerating lust, personified by Kamadev. Bhagwan Shiv is said to have done this by opening his third eye. God is incorporeal, so is his 'eye', the eye of wisdom.

The Gita says wisdom is enveloped by the constant enemy of the wise in the form of sensual desires, which are ever unappeasable as fire. Overcoming lust is necessary for self-realisation and for having a loving relationship with God, because indulgence in gross, physical pleasures destroys the soul's ability to appreciate and experience subtle truths.

Many of us forget that underlying the physical reality is the subtle, invisible realm of consciousness. 'Who am I, beneath all the labels that describe my physical identity and roles - labels of gender, nationality, religion, profession?' The ignorance of our true identity that we are souls, children of God, is the basic cause of suffering.

When we identify ourselves with our body, we look at the labels it carries. Then we look at the labels of other people and compare them with ours. Instead of seeing the self and others as souls, who are all originally pure, sentient beings, divine light, and part of one spiritual family, we get stuck on the labels. This generates feelings of 'mine' and 'thine', activating one or more vices - lust, ego, fear, anger, jealousy, and attachments.

Attachment to our labels and the consequent desire to boost and defend them leads to constant conflicts, strife, and suffering. Shiv ji opens our eye of wisdom to the basic truth that we are souls. Just as without the sun no amount of light, stars, or even the full moon can turn night into day. The darkness of spiritual night can be dispelled only by the spiritual light of God, the sun of knowledge. And Shivaratri commemorates the divine descent of Supreme Light Shiv to perform this task.

That Supreme Soul Shiv can bring this enlightenment is indicated in the prayer underlining his pre-eminent place in the Hindu pantheon: 'Brahma devay namah, Vishnu devay namah, Shiv parmatmane namah' - Salutations to the deity Brahma, salutations to the deity Vishnu, salutations to the Supreme Being Shiv.

True, there are numerous deities, however, the Supreme Soul is one. And unlike deities who have a physical or subtle body, Shiv is incorporeal, hence, is worshipped in the form of the lingam, an oval-shaped stone that does not have any limbs or human features. The jyotirlingam Shiv temples, such as Somnath, Vishwanath, Mahakaleshwar and Rameshwaram, are dedicated to the nirakaar, incorporeal light form of Shiv.

Shivaratri celebrates the world renewal of character as mentioned in the Gita, in which the Divine says that whenever there is a decline in righteousness, He manifests Himself for the protection of the good, destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of a righteous, golden age world order.

Authored by: BK Brij MohanThe writer is chief spokesperson for Brahma Kumaris OrganisationMarch 8 is Mahashivaratri

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