The festivals are celebrated to prove the immanent divinity in humanity. The festivals of India are pregnant with spiritual significance. Unfortunately, people today give importance to only external rituals and observances, ingnoring their inner meaning and eternal values. Here I have written about some of our Hindu festivals and their significance, the knowledge from great books and websites.
GANESH CHATURTHI
o Ganesha has many names, Ganapathi, Vighneshwara, Vinanyaka, Gajaanana, Lambodara and Ekdanta. The main name is Ganapathi.o What does the term "Ganapathi" signify? "Ga" means "Buddhi"(Intellect), "Na" means "Jnana"(Wisdom).
o He is the Lord of the "Ganas"(Spiritual entities). The Ganas are the embodiment of the "Jnanendriyas"(the organs of perception) and of "Karmendriyas"(action). The mind is the master of these "Indriyas" senses. The master over the mind is the "Buddhi" (intellect) and "Siddhi"(achievement or Self-Realisation). Hence, every human being should acquire control over the mind.
o The elephant-head of Ganesha is a symbol of wisdom, understanding, and a discrminating intellect that one must possess to attain perfection in life.
o The elephant is a symbol of might and magnitude. The elephant is highly intelligent. The elephant is also known for its fidelity and gratitude.
o The "Mooshika"(mouse) is also a symbol of the sense of smell. The mouse moves about following the direction of the "Vaasana"(smell-desire). Ganesha is the one who has the mastery over "vaasanas" (desires and ignorance). Mooshika is also a sign of night, which signifies darkness. The mouse is a symbol of darkness. Because Ganesha has control over darkness, he is described as the rider on a Mooshika. He is the one dispels darkness ans shed light on the world. The darkness is nothing but the ignorance. Without recognising this underlying significance of Ganesha's mastery over ignorance and desires, people merely wonder how a large being like Ganesha could ride on a tiny creature like a mouse.
o Ganesha is the master of every kind of knowledge. "Vidhya" (learning) is related to the "Buddhi"(intellect). It is not mere scholarship. Familiarity with book is not knowledge. One's entire life is a continuous process of learning. Any process of inquiry is related to learning. But, basically our inquire should be concerned with finding out what is transient and what is permanent. This is true knowledge.
o Ganesha was born on the fourth day of the month of Bhadrapad, the sixth month of the Hindu lunar calendar. There is also astronomical support, the constellation with the appearance of the elephant head is brightly visible on this very night.
o Holy days like Ganesha Chaturthi should be celebrated only to remind ourselves of sacred truths and to sanctify our minds and time accordingly.
o If we want to lead a life of happiness, free from troubles and difficulties, and to be successful we have to make proper use of our inherent intelligence and wisdom. Realise that we have a conscience that is our guide in acquiring mastery over the senses.
o Ganesh Chaturthi also gives health significance. People make some special offerings to Ganesha as food offerings. These preparations are made entirely by using steam instead of heat from a burning stove. Combining rice flour with jaggery and til seeds, balls are prepared which are cooked in steam. In Ayurveda this edible is accorded a high place for its curative properties. The jaggery in the eddible is a remedy for various ailments. The til seeds serve to purify the ahrteries. It also helps to improve the vision. These edibles cooked in steam are also easy to digest.
o Ganesh Chaturthi, symbolises health, bliss, peace, wisdom, prosperity and many other things. Unfortunately, this truth is not recognised by most people.
DURGA PUJA
o Durga Puja is the greatest Hindu festival in which God is adored as Mother. Hinduism is the only religion in the world which has emphasised to such an extent the motherhood of God. It is proper to look upon God as mother.
o Durga represents the Divine Mother. She is the energy aspect of the Lord. Without Durga, Shiva has no expression and without Shiva, Durga has no existence. Shiva is the soul of Durga; Durga is identical with Shiva. Lord Shiva is only the silent witness. He is motionless, absolutely changeless. He is not affected by the cosmic play. It is Durga who does everything.
o Approach Her with an open heart. Lay bare your heart to Her with frankness and humility. Be as simple as a child. Kill ruthlessly the enemies of egoism, cunningness, selfishness and crookedness. Make a total, unreserved, and ungrudging self-surrender to Her. Sing Her praise. Repeat Her Name.
o Worship Her with faith and unflinching devotion. Perform special worship on the Navaratri days. Navaratri is the most suitable occasion for doing intense spiritual practices. These nine days are very sacred to the Divine Mother. Plunge yourself in Her worship.
o In Devi Sukta of the Rig Veda and the Kena Upanishad, you will find the details of the Divine Mother.
o The worship of Devi, the universal Mother, leads to the attainment of knowledge of the Self. The story in the Kena Upanishad known as the "Yaksha Prasna", supports this view. Goddess Shakti thus sheds wisdom on Her devotees.
o Truly speaking, all beings in the universe are Shakti-worshippers, whether they are aware of it or not, for there is no one who does not love and long for power in some form or other. Physicists and scientists have now proved that everything is pure, imperishable energy. This energy is only a form of divine Shakti which exists in every form.
o The Divine Mother fought with him for nine nights (the demons have extraordinary strength during the night), and killed him on the evening of the tenth day, known as the Vijaya Dasami. The learning of any science is begun on this highly auspicious day.
o It was on this day that Arjuna worshipped Devi, before starting the battle against the Kauravas on the field of Kurukshetra. Sri Rama worshipped Durga at the time of the fight with Ravana, to invoke Her aid the war. This was on the days preceding the Vijaya Dasami day. He fought and won through Her Grace.
o Right way to celebrate the Dussera is to make honest efforts to destroy the demon of our ego, and radiate peace and love wherever we go. Let us all resolve to become men of sterling character. Let us resolve and act. The story of Sri Rama is known in almost all parts of the globe, and if we but succeed in following even a hundredth part of His teachings, we shall make our lives more fragrant than the rose and more lustrous than gold!
o The first three days, which mark the first stage or the destruction of impurity and determined effort and struggle to root out the evil tendencies in your mind, are set apart for the worship of the destructive aspect of the Mother. Once you have accomplished your task on the negative side, that of breaking down the impure propensities and old vicious habits, the next step is to build up a sublime spiritual personality, to acquire positive qualities in place of the eliminated demoniacal qualities.
o This pleasanter side of the aspirant's Sadhana is depicted by the worship of Mother Lakshmi. She bestows on Her devotees the inexhaustible divine wealth or Deivi Sampath. Lakshmi is the wealth-giving aspect of God. She is purity itself. Thus the worship of Goddess Lakshmi is performed during the second set of three days.
o Once the aspirant succeeds in routing out the evil propensities, and develops Sattwic or pure, divine qualities, he becomes competent to attain wisdom. He is now ready to receive the light of supreme wisdom. He is fit to receive divine knowledge. Therefore, to propitiate Saraswathi, the giver of knowledge, is the third stage.
o Nowadays many ignorant seekers aim straight at the cultivation of knowledge without the preliminaries of purification and acquisition of the divine qualities. They then complain that they are not progressing on the path. How can they? Knowledge will not descend until the impurities have been washed out, and purity is developed. How can the pure plant grow in impure soil?
o Therefore adhere to this arrangement; your efforts will be crowned with sure success. This is your path. As you destroy one evil quality, develop the virtue opposite to it. By this process you will soon bring yourself up to that perfection which will culminate in identity with the Self which is your goal.Then all knowledge will be yours: you will be omniscient, omnipotent and you will feel your omnipresence. You will see your Self in all. You will have achieved eternal victory over the wheel of births and deaths, over the demon of worldliness. No more pain, no more misery, Victory, victory be yours!
DEEPAVALI
o The festival, Deepavali(“Deepa” meaning light and “Avali”, meaning a row) teaches a sacred inner meaning to humanity. No other element in this world is as significant as light. It is the light that shows us the way dispelling the darkness. It is because of the light that man is able to attend to his daily duties.
o The flame of a lamp has two significant qualities. One is to banish darkness; the other is a continuous upward movement. Even if a lamp is kept in a pit, the flame is directed upwards. The ancients have taught that the upward movement of the flame denotes the path to wisdom and the path to divinity. However, the external light can dispel only the external darkness, but not the darkness of ignorance in man.
o If you want to light a lamp, you need a container. You have to fill it with oil and place a wick in it. You need a matchbox to light the wick. Only when you have all the four accessories, can you light the lamp. This lamp dispels the external darkness. Similarly to dispel the darkness of ignorance, you need to have 'vairagya' (renunciation), the container; Love, the oil; one pointed concentration, the wick and 'tattwajnana' (spiritual wisdom), the matchbox. Only when you have all these four can you light the lamp of wisdom.
o What is the inner significance of Deepavali? The capital of the kingdom ruled by Narakasura was known as 'Praagjyotisha Puram'. The name consists of four syllables: Praag, Jyothi Sha, and Puram. Praag means before, Jyothi means light, Sha refers to forgetting. The inner meaning of this name is that the inhabitants of this city had forgotten the ancient and eternal light (Atma Jyothi).
o Narakasura, the king of Praagjyotisha Puram had totally forgotten the Atmic principle, identifying himself with the body, leading a life in darkness of ignorance. One has to develop attachment to the Self, not to the body. Attachment to the body is the main cause for all sufferings. One who travels towards ignorance is 'Naraka' and the one who travels towards wisdom is Nara, the human.
o To travel along the path of wisdom one needs to develop sacred thoughts, sacred words and sacred actions. Lord Krishna does not like to kill the wicked Himself. So Krishna devised a master plan to kill Narakasura. As Narakasura was very strong both physically and mentally, Krishna decided to weaken him gradually by subjecting him to fits of anger. The modus operandi was to provoke Narakasura and when he would come chasing in a fit of anger, Krishna would withdraw.
o Anger is the main cause for man to lose his physical and mental powers. If one gets angry, one loses the energy obtained from the food partaken over a period of three months. When Narakasura lost all his strength due to his anger, Krishna made Sathyabhama kill him. God has His own master plan for everything because He is the master of everything.
o When Narakasura was killed all those who suffered under him were overjoyed. Having led a life of darkness till then, both internally and externally, they celebrated the occasion by lighting lamps.
o There is significance in lighting lamps. The flame of one lamp can light the whole array of lamps. That one lamp symbolizes the 'paramjyothi '(supreme effulgence.) The others symbolize the 'jivana jyothis' (light in individual selves). Deepavali is celebrated in order to teach this truth to the world.
o People celebrate this festival by bursting firecrackers signifying the victory of good over evil. People go from house to house to exchange gifts and sweets. They try to forget old grudges and wipe the slate clean.
o The inner meaning underlying the festivals should be rightly understood. On each festival day people have a sacred bath early in the morning and wear new clothes, keep their houses and surroundings clean. Thus the festivals teach us the importance of internal and external cleanliness.
o The Vedas declare, 'Anthar Bahischa Tat Sarvam Vyapya Narayana Stithaha' (God is present within and around). So one has to be pure both internally and externally. It is the water that helps to keep our body clean. But its love that keeps our heart clean. We should celebrate the festivals in full realization of their inner significance.
o Life without the knowledge of Self is useless, just as a tree without root, a tree without fruit and a fruit without juice. If we do not know our true identity, what is the use of taking a human birth?
o 'Know thyself and you will know everything'. This is the most sacred teaching of all the festivals. Think of God. Constant contemplation on the Divine will free you from all worries.
MAHA SIVARATHRI
o The festival Sivarathri(“Siva” means auspicious and "Rathri" is night/darkness) is observed on the night of the fourteenth day of the dark half of the moon in the month of Magha, in Tamil Masi.
o It is said that, on Sivarathri, it is possible to get full control over the mind by contemplating on God.
o The moon is the presiding deity of the mind. There are sixteen aspects for the moon or the mind. Of the sixteen aspects of the moon, on Shivarathri, fifteen are absent. The remaining one aspect can be merged in the Divine by diverting the mind towards God. If you sing his Glory throughout the night wholeheartedly, even the remaining one aspect can also be merged with the Divine. On this day it is possible to get full control over the mind by contemplating on God. It is a night where bad qualities are discarded and divine love is cultivated. Hence it is considered as an auspicious day.
o It is on Sivaratri, when Siva, the Supreme Wisdom, takes the Linga form for the benefit of the seekers.
PONGAL
The word “Pongal” means a “special dish” and "Ponga" means “boiling” or “overflowing”. Pongal is celebrated for three days. This festival is celebrated in South India, a major festival of Tamil Nadu. It is a Harvest festival or a thanks-giving festival. People thank the nature such as rain, sun and the cattle.
Bhogi Pongal: On this day before sunrise a bonfire is lit in front of the houses and old, worn-out, dirty things and all the useless household things are thrown into the fire. The burning of all that is old is symbolic of the starting of a fresh new year. At the spiritual point of view, it is to the cleansing our mind of materialistic thoughts and to tread the path of truth, love and purity from this holy day onwards. This day is celebrated in honor of Lord Indra, the ruler of clouds and giver of rains.
Surya Pongal: On this day, the sun is worshipped and thanked for its kindness. The sun, symbolizes wisdom, divine knowledge and spiritual light. We should realize this and come out of the darkness of ignorance and delusion.
On this day, the special dish, “Pongal” is prepared. The pot in which it is cooked is beautifully adorned with turmeric leaves and roots, the symbols of auspiciousness. When the milk and jaggery, in which the rice is being cooked boils over, everyone at home stands round the pot and shout “Pongalo Pongal!” with joy. The cooked Pongal, along with Sugarcane is offered to the Sun God as a Thanksgiving gift.
Mattu Pongal: On this day, the cattle, especially the cows are honored and worshipped for giving milk. The cattle are given bath, their horns are painted and decorated with beads and bells. And flower garlands around their neck. Some sport events takes place on this day. The game called "Manji Virattu" in which groups of young men chase the running bulls and the "Jallikattu" in which money bags are tied to the horns of ferocious bulls and the young men are asked to wrest them from the bull's horns are famous.
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