DASEERA - VIJYA DASHMI & DIWALI

Dussera/Vijya Dashmi

When Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman were fulfilling the promise given to His mother Kaikeyi, demon Ravan kidnapped Sita. The battle between the armies of Lord Ram and Ravan ensued. This battle lasted 9 days without any conclusive result. On the tenth day, Lord Ram killed Ravan. This day is celebrated as "Vijya Dasmi" - the victory day. It signifies the victory of good over evil. After losing everything in the game of dice, Pandavs have taken shelter, in disguise in the Kingdom of Virat. Duryodhan was trying his best to unmask the Pandavs. He declared war on kingdom of Virat in the hope that Pandavs will come to assist the king of Virat and in doing so, they would be recognised. Arjun took up the challenge and went to fight. Before going to the battlefield, he retrieved his weapons from a secret hideout and performed the Puja of his weapons. This day also happened to be Dussera. On this day warriors worship their weapons.

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Diwali

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DhanTeras: Many of India's festival are based on and have significance in agriculture. Cattle are very important part of agriculture. On DhanTeras farmers worship their cattle. The horns of cattle and oxen are coloured red and prashad made from sesame seeds is distributed as sesame symbolises the productivity.

Kali Chaudas: Kali Chaudas is known as NarkiChaturdashi. Lord Krishna killed demon Narkasur today and liberated 16,100 maidens from his prison. To save their honour, Lord Krishna later married all these maidens and took them to Dwarika. In verse 127 of Shishapatri, Lord Swaminarayan has asked Acharya MaharajShree to perform ritual worship of Hanuman on this day. To keep this in mind, Hanumanji is worshipped in all our temples on this day. Legend has it that on the eve of the first anniversary of His coronation, Lord Ram was giving appropriate and suitable gifts to all who helped Him in the battle against demon Ravan. Lord Ram gave a very expensive pearl necklace to Hanuman. On receiving the necklace, Hanumanji started breaking open all the pearls. On being asked why, he said he is looking for Lord Ram in each pearl as he did not want anything which is devoid of Lord Ram. Sitaji asked him if his body has Lord Ram in it. Hanuman opened his chest by his hands and showed Lord Ram in his heart. Lord Ram was very pleased with this devotion and asked hanuman for a boon. Hanuman asked to be always present wherever and whenever the Leelas of Lord Ram are being sung. As people are still singing Lord Ram's Leela till today, Hanuman has become immortal. This day is considered the second birth of Hanuman as a great devotee. Since then Hanumanji is worshipped on the day Kali Chaudas.

Diwali: This is the day when Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya from 14 years of exile in forest. Residents of Ayodhya decorated their homes and city with lights. They let go of fireworks in pleasure. Since that day we celebrate Diwali in similar fashion. The darkness of moonless night of Diwali symbolises our ignorance and lightening of lamps the knowledge. We should look inwards in our hearts and remove our ignorance. On this day we also worship Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. Traders do symbolic Puja of their account books.

New Years Day: This day marks Lord Ram's coronation after His triumphant return to Ayodhya. We greet each other and wish them a happy and prosperous New Year. Children like receiving monetary gifts today. To show the gratitude towards mountain, which sustains rural agricultural society, Lord Krishna organised special Puja of Govardhan Mountain. The mountain of different varieties of food was offered in worship. The word "AnnaKoot" literally means the mountain of food. Today, we offer food to God as a thanksgiving service.

What is the Meaning of the GOD - HAR HAR MAHADEV

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Har Har Mahadev - Bam Bam Bhole - Om Namah Shivay
Har Har Mahadev - Bam Bam Bhole - Om Namah Shivay

What is means of God?

Everybody knows that what is means of God, somebody knows that God means BHAGWAAN but I want to explain something different about it.

If Brahma is the creator, Vishnu the preserver, Shiva is the quintessential destroyer. His duty is to destroy all the world at the end of creation and dissolve them into nothingness.

G:- Generation of Universe ( Lord Brahma )

O:- Operator of Universe ( Lord Vishnu )

D:- Destroy of Universe ( Lord Shiva )

Powerful God( Lord Shiva ):

Shiva is 'shakti' or power, Shiva is the destroyer, the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godheads in the Hindu Trinity. Known by many names - Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath.

None gave him birth, He knows no Lord. None rules Him in the world, nor yet controls. No features mark Him out, yet cause He is. Prime cause of that which steers, the senses five, the soul within.” Shvetashvattara Upanishad.

Shiva! The name, the word itself seems to come with so much aplomb to the Hindu mind. Images flood the mind’ eye. The savage one; The handsome one. The fierce one; The ardent lover of Parvati. One who wears snakes for ornaments; One who holds the Ganges on his head. One who destroys; One who dances. Wearer of leopard skin; Wielder of cymbals. One with long matted hair; One who wears the moon on his head! Worshipped in the form of a phallic symbol; Worshipped for the power of his third eye…

Shiva is one of the Hindu trinity that comprises the creator Brahma, the protector Mahavishnu, and the godhead Shiva whose primary responsibility is maintaining the life cycle. Shiva is the only godhead who is forever in deep meditation, totally absorbed in contemplation in His abode, Kailaasa mountain in the great Himaalaya.

On the other hand Shiva is all compassion when it came to saving the world from the serpent Vaasuki’s poison during the amritamanthana. Vaasuki, used as a churning rope, was so tired and sick from the repeated action of churning that he vomited the most potent poison into the ocean of milk.

Fearing the destruction of the world through this poisoning, Shiva immediately drank the poison. He Himself would have succumbed to the poison were it not for the timely intervention by Paarvati, His consort. Paarvati held Shiva’s throat tightly preventing entry of the poison into His body.

Shiva is worshipped as a lingam to help us contemplate the need to think of Him as the most basic and essentially formless one. Shiva is commonly portrayed as an ascetic with a serpent around His neck, vibhooti (sacred ash) adorning His face and His essentially bare body, a trishul (trident) in one of His hands and a kamandalu (container of water for use in religious practices) in an other hand, and a damaruga (small drum) in yet another hand.

The 12 Jyotirlinga of Shiva

1. Somnath is the foremost of the 12 jyotirlinga of Shiva, held in reverence throughout India and is rich in legend, traditions and history. It is located at Prabhas Patan in Saurashtra in Gujarat.

2. Ujjain - Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga The ancient and historic city of Ujjain or Avanti in Madhya Pradesh is home to the Jyotirlinga of Mahakaleshwer.

3. Bhimashankar - Jyotirlinga is associated with the legend of Shiva destroying the demon Tripurasura. Bhimashankar is located in the Sahyadri hills of Maharashtra, accessed from Pune.

4. Tryambakeshwar - The origin of the river Godavari is intimately linked with this Jyotirlinga near Nasik in Maharashtra.

5. Rameswaram This vast temple in the island of Rameshwaram in Southern Tamilnadu enshrines Ramalingeswarar, and is revered as the southernmost of the 12 Jyotirlinga of India.

6. Omkareshwar an island in the course of the river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh is home to the Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga and the Amareshwar temple.

7. Vaidyanath temple at Deogarh The ancient pilgrimage town of Deogarh in the Santal Parganas area of Bihar is revered as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Shiva.

8. Mallikarjuna - Mallikarjuna in an ancient temple rich in architectural and sculptural wealth. Aadi Sankaracharya composed his Sivanandalahiri here.

9. Kedarnath - the Northernmost of the Jyotirlingas.Kedarnath nestled in the snow clad Himalayas is an ancient shrine rich in legend and tradition.

10. Varanasi - The most celebrated pilgrimage site in India The Vishwanath temple in Benares in Uttar Pradesh is the goal of the thousands of pilgrims that visit this ancient city. The Vishwanath Jyotirlinga is revered as one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva.

11. Nageshwar near Dwarka in Gujarat is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga of Shiva.

12. Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga is a temple located in the vicinity of the tourist town of Ellora, which has several rock cut monuments from the 1st millennium CE.

Tale & Legend of Lord Shiva

There are a number of mythological tales and legends surrounding Lord Shiva. Here're a few popular ones:

Ganga Comes Down to Earth :

A legend from the Ramayana speaks of King Bhagirath who once meditated before Lord Brahma for a thousand years for the salvation of the souls of his ancestors. Pleased with his devotion Brahma granted him a wish. He requested the Lord to send the river Ganges down to earth from heaven so that she could flow over his ancestors' ashes and wash their curse away and allow them to go to heaven.

Brahma granted his wish but asked him to pray to Shiva, for he alone could support the weight of her descent. Accordingly he prayed to Shiva and he allowed the Ganges to descend on his head, and after meandering through his thick matted locks, the holy river reached the earth. This story is re-enacted by bathing the 'linga'.

The Tiger & the Leaves:

Once a hunter while chasing a deer wandered into a dense forest and found himself on the banks of river Kolidum when he heard the growl of a tiger. To protect himself from the beast he climbed up a tree nearby. The tiger pitched itself on the ground below the tree fostering no intention to leave. The hunter stayed up in the tree all night and to keep himself from falling asleep, he gently plucked one leaf after another from the tree and threw it down.

Under the tree was a Shiva Linga and the tree blessedly turned out to be a bilva tree. Unknowingly the man had pleased the deity with bilva leaves. At sunrise, the hunter looked down to find the tiger gone, and in its place stood Lord Shiva. He prostrated before the Lord and attained salvation from the cycle of birth and death.

Why Shiva is Worshipped in His Phallic Form:

According to another legend, once Brahma and Vishnu, two other deities of the holy Trinity, had an argument as to their supremacy. Brahma being the Creator declared himself to be more revered, while Vishnu, the Preserver, pronounced that he commanded more respect.Just then a colossal 'lingam', known as Jyotirlinga, blanketed in flames, appeared before them. Both Brahma and Vishnu were awestruck by its rapidly increasing size. They forgot their quarrel and decided to determine its size. Vishnu assuming the form of a boar went to the netherworld and Brahma as a swan flew to the skies. But both of them failed to accomplish the self-assumed tasks. Then, Shiva appeared out of the 'lingam' and stated that he was the progenitor of them both and that henceforth he should be worshiped in his phallic form, the 'lingam', and not in his anthropomorphic form.

NAVRATRI

Navratri is the nine night celebrations of worshiping Mother Goddess Shakti. It begins on the first day of the month of Ashwin (October) and culminates on the tenth day of the month.

There are three basic forms of the Feminine aspect of God: Maha Durga, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Saraswati, corresponding to Shiva, Visnu and Brahma respectively. Each of the three deities gave rise to three more forms representing the finer meaning of each form. Hence in all, these nine forms are known as Navdurga.

Maha Durga:

First three days corresponds to worship of Durga in three forms: Shailputri, Brahmacharini and Chandraghanta. Durga literally means one who has qualities to accomplish the highest (durg). A human being cannot achieve anything if he has tamoguna. Tamoguna means laziness, darkness, ignorance and inertia. Durga represents the power that removes the tamoguna and makes one qualify for Lakshmi. Worshiping Durga invokes the power within the worshiper and destroys all the evil and lethargic tendencies of the human being.

The three aspects Shailputri, Brahmacharini and Chandraghanta signifies the qualities of determination, austerity and fearlessness respectively. These three qualities are essential to destroy the animalistic tendencies in the human being.

Maha Lakshmi:

From third day to the sixth day of Navratri one should worship Goddess Lakshmi. Three forms worshiped in these days are Kushmanda, Skandamata and Katyayani. Lakshmi signifies spiritual wealth. As it is important for a person to get rid of negative qualities, it is equally important for the person to acquire positive qualities. Lakshmi signifies the positive qualities to acquire knowledge or to prosper.

Lakshmi does not mean only material money, rupees or dollars. These are only representations. Real wealth is the purified mind. Unless one has the qualities of self-discipline, kindness, respect and sincerity, all the material wealth cannot stand by his side and in no time all the material wealth slip away without trace just as water slips away from a slippery mountain-side. The Deity of Lakshmi resides in water and holds a lotus flower. She signifies the purity of the mind to keep secure the Divine wealth.

Maha Saraswati:

The last three days of Navratri are dedicated to the worship of Saraswati. Mother Saraswati is worshiped to seek the spiritual knowledge. Knowledge of the Supreme is the ultimate goal of the human life. One can get the spiritual knowledge by virtue of the good qualities achieved by Lakshmi. The most important thing to acquire knowledge is surrendering to a spiritual master. Unless there is a master there is no knowledge. Lord Brahma is representation of the Supreme Knowledge and Saraswati is his consort who represents surrender and submission to the possessor of Knowledge.

Supreme Knowledge is knowledge of the self. One may have knowledge of many subjects and sciences like phonetics, economics, archery, astronomy etc, but if one do not know who he is and what is the ultimate goal of the human life then all other knowledge is considered to be a knowledge of a play game, in other words, it is useless. Thus by worshiping Goddess Saraswati one can surrender to the Supreme master and acquire the transcendental knowledge that can release the soul from bondages.

Vijaya Dashami Representing Victory:

All these nine days culminate to Vijaya Dashami. Vijaya Dashami signifies the victory of good over the evil. It represents the victory of purpose of human life. On the whole Navratri holds lot of meaning and purpose which, if seen from the spiritual point of view, can lead to ultimate salvation of the human life.