Maha Shivarathri

ThiruGnanaSampandar	ThiruNavukkuArasar	Sundaramurthy Nayanar	Manickka Vachagar

MahaShivaRathri is one of the most delighted occasions of every Indian. As the name suggests it is an auspiscious night(Shiva = auspiscious, rathri = night). Right from Nepal to Kanyakumari, it is celebtrated by all Indians, in a Unique manner. There are lots of legends associated with MahaShivarathri. Astrologically, it is the 14th day or thithi from newmoonday or fullmoon day. It's called Chathurdashi is Sanskrit. The day before NoMoonday or Amavasya, is considered to be more auspiscious. The KrishnaPaksha Chathurdashi, in the month of "Mashi", when day time happens to be a Thriyodashi & night time happens to be a Chathurdashi, is consodered to be most auspiscious. Fasting on Maha Shivarathri gives us the effect of fasting on 108 Ekadashis(11th day). Usually, fasting includes pooja, doing smaranam.. & avoiding rice, salt, any tamasic foods(like onion,egg....)

1. It was the night when Parameshwara (Shiva) married Parvatha Raja Kumari(Daughter of the King of the Himalaya Mountains orHaimavathy or daughter of Himavan).(Shiva Puranam)
2.It was the night when Shiva took the form of Linga(Lingodhbava).ShivaLingam represents the Nirguna Bhramhan or the formless God as revered by the vedas & Advaithins.(Linga Puranam)

Shaiva Agamas are considered to be older than the Vedas. Agamas mostly insist on Idol worship, temple construction... , while Vedas concentrate on Yagnas or fire worship.Vedas also praise Shiva. In Sri Rudram or Namakam, there are 300 names of Lord Shiva, which are much revered.(Rudra Thrishathy). Bilvastakam is supposed to have originated from Adharvana Veda. Sama Veda pleases & praises Shiva. Ravana used to sing Samaganam, & get the graces of Shiva. Yajurveda & Rig Veda also have most of their verses in praise of Parameswara. Sadyojadham, in Krishna YajurVeda, is very rythmic & tells the glories of Shiva Lingam.

Sadyojatham : "Ishana Sarva Vidyanam Ishvara Sarva Bhuthanam Bhramhadipathir Bhramhanodhipathir Bhramha Shivome Asthu Sadashiva Om!!"
Meaning : Ishana is present in the form of all the Vidyas or knowledge & Ishvara is present in all the things of this Universe & he is the head of Bhramha "

Agamas(& hence Shaivam or Shiva worship) are said to have originated from Nepal. PashupathyNath at Nepal is considered to be MahaPurusha & even MahaVishnu or Purushothama beocmes a female(Mohini) beofre him!!! MahaVishnu is said to have originated from the "Vama Bhagam" or the left part of Shiva as shown in his " ShankaraNarayana" form.Usually in all Shivalayam or Shiva temples, there would be a place or Sannidhi for "Vishnu", in the left part of Shiva's Sannidhi, near Matha or Ambal's Sannidhi. So, both Vishnu & Matha are Shakthy(s) of Shiva. That's why Gowri Matha is called the sister of MahaVishnu.

Agamas, give about 25 forms of Lord Shiva in which Shiva's idols are decorated the Bhramostavams of all the Shaivite temples(mosty in Tamilnadu).More details about Shaivam can be found out from Shaivam Homepage .

Although Shaivam originated in the North it got established & lives in Southern part of our Bharatha Desham. Great Shiva Bakthas starting from Markandeya Maharishi to Appaiya Dikshatar have been from Tamilnad!!! Although Adi Shankara was from Kerala his major Yathra or journey was in & around the Tamilnad's famous Shiva temples & ofcourse in the North. It was in a place called "Thiru Vidai Maruthur" that Shiva acknowledged Adi Shakara's Advaitha philosophy by showing his hand & greeting him.

Various things that takes ue close to Shiva or makes us an amsham of Shiva are:

1. Panchakshara Japam (Chanting the holy 5 lettered name of Lord)
2. Basma Dharanam (Wearing or smearing the holy ashes got by burning the cowdung).
3. Rudraksha Dharanam (Wearing the holy Rudraksha seeds)

Panchakshara Japam, should be done after taking the Upadesham from a suitable Guru. It's the essence of all the Vedas & Upanishads. In Krishna Yajur Veda, Namakam or Sri Rudram is found in the midlle & it consists of seven chapters. In the 4th chapter, "Om Nama Shivaya" or the PanchaAksharam is found in the middle. While Vedas describe various dieties like Vishnu, Agni... only Parameshwara is being praised explicitly as seen in Namakam. Various Puranas describe him as the most powerful one. Panchaksharam is nothing different from the Lord. It is the sound form of Lord Shiva!!

Shiva is the diety responsible for Samharam or destruction. So Basmam or ashes is the left over after his Samhara karyam. The ashes are supposed to destroy our ego,lust& desires. Usually it is being worn with chants of specified verses from Namakam or SriRudram & Panchakshara japam.

Sri Rudram : "Thrayampakam Yajamahe Suganthim Pusti Vardhanam
Urvakukamiva Bandhanan Mruthyor Muksheeya Mamthrutat"

Meaning : Let the lord remove all my bonds & give me salvation like a Urvaka palam or cucumber fruit. Unlike all other fruits cucumber fruit does not fall from the tree or get dispersed from the plant after it gets ripened.Cucumber fruit remains in it's own position for ever!! So, this prayer from Sri Rudram asks Shiva to grant Mukthy or salvation from the existing state like the cucumber which gets ripened in it's own position!!

Basma Dharanam is an integral part of all the Yajnas & even Sri Vaishnavites or Madhvas should do it(& ofcorse offer salutations to Parameshwara!!)!! The greatness of Basmam or the holy ashes or "Thiruneeru" in Tamil has been elaborated by ThiruGnanaSampanda Swaigal in his Tamil literary work called "ThiruNeetruPathikam". ThiruGnanaSampandar was an incoronation of Sanath Kumara or Lord Shanmuka. GnanaSampandar started singing hymns on Shiva right from his age of three after having the "Gnana Pal" or the milk of wisdom from ThripuraSundari. Gnana Sampandar is also being celebrated by AdiShankara as "DravidaShishu" in his SoundaryaLahari. Once Buddhism & Jainism were predominant in Tamilnad & the Vedic Shaivite religion was considered to be less dignified & obselete. It was at that time that great people like Appar,Sundarar,Gnana Sampandar & ManickaVachakar were born & revived the Vedic Shaivism. The city of Madhurapuri or Madurai was the most ancient Tamil city, where Matha's commander in chief, Manthrini was born as Meenakshi & married Lord Sundareshwara. In this sacred Shaivite city Jainism was flourishing & the Pandya king did not have any concern for Shaivam. So GnanaSampandar visited that city to show him the truth of Shiavam - the original religion of the Vedas. But the wicked Jains set fire to the house, where GanaSampandar was sleeping. Gnana Sampandar said "Let the fire go to the leader of the people who set this fire!!". So the Pandya king got severe pains & burning sensation. The Jains came with peacock feathers & started chanting Manthras. At that time GnanaSampandar chanted Panchaksharam & applied the ashes from the kitchen of Sundareshwara & the king got releived & the king also punished the Jains for their wicked deeds. Such is the greatness of Bhasmam. Bhasmam is supposed to be the "Pada Dhuli" or the particles from Mathaji's feet, as Soundarya Lahari tells.

"Hara Sam Shuddhyanam Bajadi Basitho Dhulana Vidim"- II sloka of Soundarya Lahari.
Meaning: Shiva preserves the particles from Mathajis' feet for doing the SamahraKaryam.

Rudraksham is supposed to be the tears from the eyes of Rudra or Lord Shiva. After churning the MilkyOcean(Ksheera Sagara Dhamanam) Devas got the Amrutham or the medicine that makes one immortal. They got the Amrutham on Ekadashi or the 11th day. They forgot the Omnipresent Parameshwara & consumed the Amrutha on 12th day or Dwadashi. So their sins came out as "Hala Hala Visham" or tremendous poison from the Celestial Snake Vasuki on the 12th day or Dwadashi. They found no one other than Parameshwara to protect them & they did Charanagthy to him. So he drank that poison which became Amrutham just by Uma Devi's touch below his neck.The time, when Shiva consumed the posion & blessed the Devas by dancing inbetween the horns of Nandhi, is called as Pradosham(13th day or Thrayodashi). When he had that poison it produced blue coloured tears from Parameshwara's eyes. Those tears fell down on Bhoolokam which later grew into Rudraksha trees producing blue colored fruits. Anyone who wears Rudraksham, becomes "Rudramsham " or a part of Parameshwara. Such is it's greatness.

There are more than 275 Shaivite temples, in & around Tamilnadu, which were sung by the 63 devotees called Nayanmars. Chitambaram is the foremost among them. Almost all the Nayanmars have visited Chitambaram. Here Shiva, does Natyam or dance & hence he is called Natraja or master of Dance. That's why, all Shiva Pujas start with the chanting of the word, "Thiru Citrambalam", which means Chtiambaram in Tamil.The matter in this Universe is Shiva & the energy or movement is Shakthy. So Shaivites see everything in this Universe as a combination of Shiva & Shakthy. There are more than one thousand shrines in Tamilnad, devoted to Lord Shiva. It is believed that the some of the literary works of the Nayanmars have been lost due to the ruins of nature due to which we dont find the hymns on various other shrines in Tamilnadu. Nayanmars were belonging to all the 5 Varnashramas & also all the 4 Castes & both the sexes. Among them, Appar or ThirunNavukkarasar(King of Words), Sundarar, Gnana Sampandar & ManickkaVachakar are considered to be the Kings of Shaivam. They have travelled in the lengths & breadths of our country & re-established the Vedic Religion.95% of the people in Tamilnadu follow Shaivam directly or indirectly!!! It is with these Nayanmars in mind that Shankara Bagavadpada says,

"Matha Cha Parvathy Devi pitha Devo Maheshwarah
Bandava cha Shiva Bakthasya Swadesho Buvanathrayam"!!!!

Meaning: Parvathy is our mother & Maheshwara is our father , all the three worlds are our native place & all Shiva Bakthas are our relatives.

Such is the greatness of Shaivam. To be a Shiva Baktha we need not do anything special other than doing "Nirguna Upasana" or meditating on te Formless Bhramhan.To be a Sri Vaishnavite one has to wear ThriPundram or ThiruNamam & take Pancha Samaskaram.Infact one of the Nayanmars(Shakya Nayanar) used to throw stones on Shiva, which Shiva accepted as Flowers!! Shiaivam continues to live as a Perennial riverin the minds of all the Sadhakas(Shaivas).
There are totally 12 texts written by these 63 saints, which are revered more than vedas by Saivites. Manickka Vachagar's Thiru Vachagam is supposed to be a direct conversation between Lord & man. That's why they say

"Thiru vachagathirku Urukadar Oru Vachagathirkum Urugar"
Meaning: One who,(heart) does not melt for Thiru Vachagam will not melt for any other Saying or Vachagam.

ThiruMathiram is considered to be the most revered Tamil text.ThiruMoolar, who composed ThiruManthiram lived for 3000 years & each year he composed a verse out of his penance!! Such was his Sadhna. He lived at Chidambaram & attained Mukthy there.

Apart from these people Ramalinga Adikalar, TayumAnavar... are great gems of Shaivam. Just seeing people who have their bodies smeared with the holy ashes & wearing Rudraksham will clear all our sins. Parameshwara get pleased much by the services done to his bakthas than to himself!! Such is the grace of Parameshwara.It was Ramalinga Vallalar, who said

" Vadiya payirai Kandu Manam Vaduthe"
Meaning : My heart burns, on the sight of a dieng plant.(due to lack of water)

Such is the kindness of Shaivites.Shiva came in the disguise of a lady's mother to help her in the labor pains. The child was named "Thayumanavar" or "MathruBhuteshwara" meaning the Lord who is our father also becomes our Mother when there is a need!!! Lateron, Thayumanavar became a great Shaivite scholar.

Let us all meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord who destroys all our bad thoughts & feelings & gives us salvation or Mukthy.