THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
What makes Shivaratri a special occasion, and how can we truly make it sacred? Bhagawan gives us His benediction on the holy occasion of Maha Shivaratri.
Shivaratri has a variety of meanings. Ratri implies the darkness of night. But, Shivaratri connotes not darkness but the special sacredness of this night. There is darkness in this night also. But this darkness is invested with auspiciousness. The reason is on this Chaturdashi day (14th day after the full moon), the moon, who is the presiding deity for the mind, has shed fifteen of his sixteen digits. This is an auspicious time for having proximity to God. “The days when good people gather to meditate on God, when kith and kin fraternise in the home, when hospitality is extended to strangers and when the needy are helped - these alone are real days, all other days are indeed days of mourning” (Telugu Poem). Plato regarded Truth, Goodness, and Beauty as the attributes of the Divine. The Upanishads refer to the same as Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram. Shivam represents the principle of auspiciousness. It is associated with Truth on the one side and Beauty on the other. Shivaratri was regarded as a sacred day by the ancients.
- Divine Discourse, Mar 07, 1997
