Satyam Shivam Sundaram!

One day, Lord Brahma & Lord Vishnu were quarrelling. Lord Brahma claimed, “I created the world. I must be God”. Lord Vishnu retorted, “That you seek validation means you cannot be God.”.   “Then who is God?” Lord Brahma demanded to know. In response, a pillar of fire appeared between them. It stretched up beyond the dome of the sky and down the foundations of the earth. And the fire seemed to be burning without any fuel. Both Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu decided to look for the ends of this pillar of fire.

Lord Brahma took the form of a swan and flew up to find its top. Lord Vishnu took the form of a boar and dug his way down, determined to find its base. Lord Brahma flew for months and years but there was no sign of the tip of the fiery pillar. Finally exhausted, the two returned to share their findings. “This pillar of fire has no base.” admitted Lord Vishnu. “It is endless and infinite.” Lord Brahma, however, lied  “I found the tip. I even found Ketaki flowers on it. I have done what you could not do. I am greater than you”. I must therefore be God.’

As soon as Lord Brahma said this, the pillar of fire burst open and out came another God, who looked like a mendicant, smeared with ash and wrapped in animal skins. “Liar”, he shouted pointing to Brahma.’ You lie so that you can delude the world with your lies so as to dominate everyone around you and feel powerful. You are not God then. He then turned to Lord Vishnu and smiled, ”You admit the truth. You are humble enough to accept limitations. You are curious to know what lies beyond the horizon. You are not intimated by uncertainty or afraid of ignorance. You are in the process of becoming God.” Lord Brahma trembled and bowed to this self-assured being. Lord Vishnu watched him in awe. The mendicant identified him, “If the formless can be given a form then I am he. I am God, I am Shiva.’  Since then the stone pillar or linga is worshipped by all, a reminder of the pillar of flames that appeared between Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu.

• Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
• Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
• Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
• Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat

Which means in English:

• We meditate on the Three-eyed reality
• Which permeates and nourishes all like a fragrance.
• May we be liberated from death for the sake of immortality
• Even as the cucumber is severed from bondage to the creeper.

• AUM/OM: Absolute reality. That which encompasses the three states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep, represented by AUM, the three levels of gross, subtle, causal, the three levels of conscious, unconscious, subconscious, and the three universal processes of coming, being, and going. Absolute silence beyond the three levels is the silence after AUM.
• Tryambakam: Trya means three. Ambakam means eyes. It means the three eyes of the Absolute, which are the processes of creation, existence, and dissolution, as well as the other triads, which are part of AUM. The three "eyes" means experiencing these three stages and triads at one time, from the higher, all pervasive vantage point of the Absolute.
• Yajamahe: We rejoice in meditation on all of this.
• Sugandhim: Means fragrance. Like a spreading fragrance, all of this permeates the whole of existence, while at the same time being that existence
• Pushtivardhanam: Means that which sustains and nourishes all. Thus, the fragrance that permeates all is the sustainer of all beings, while also the essence of all beings.
• Urvarukamiva: Urva means big and powerful. Arukam means disease, like the spiritual diseases of ignorance and untruth, which are like the death of Wisdom or Truth.
• Bandhanan: Means bound down, as in bound down to the ignorance and untruth.
• Mrityor: Means ignorance and untruth.
• Mukshiya: Means liberation from the cycles of physical, mental, and spiritual death.
• Maamritat: Means please give me rejuvenating nectar, so as to have this liberation, like the process of severing the cucumber from the creeping vine.

Maha Shivaratri  is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in reverence of the God Shiva. It is the day Shiva was married to the Goddess Parvati. The Maha Shivaratri festival, also popularly known as 'Shivaratri' (spelt as Sivaratri, Shivaratri, Sivarathri, and Shivarathri) or 'Great Night of Shiva', marks the convergence of Shiva and Shakti.

On this very auspicious occasion; I wish all of us a very blissful and peaceful Maha Shivratri. I shall be fasting all day tomorrow, without water, without food, for all of us and our planet, our safety and our life. Om Namoh Sivaya…Satyam...Shivam…Sundaram, Sristhi, Sampoorn, Shada-Shiv, Mere Pabhu, Mera Marg Darshak, Mere Bholenath…Jo hein saab se Sundar…Saab se Dayalu…Saab se Gyani, Muniyo mein Muni, Dhyan-raat,   Bhakt Batchal…Nirbhik…Nirakaar…Neelkanth…Devon ke Dev…Mahadev…Hum saab ka bhala karein…udhar karein…marg darshan karein.Goodnight.