Mahashivratri with Sri M

Shiva is the symbol of all that we can think of on our spiritual journey to perfection. Shivam is the all-pervading Supreme reality whose qualities are consciousness, bliss and auspiciousness.

Therefore, when it is said, “Chidananda roopam, shivoham shivoham”, it means that that Supreme reality, whose spark is inside me, is Supreme auspiciousness. I am of the real form of Shiva, which is auspicious all-pervading reality.

When Nataraja, who is the representative form of that Supreme Being, dances the Taandava Nritya, it is said that the entire Universe shakes and shivers and everything falls to pieces, creating space for the new. This is the destructive and renewing aspect of divinity that we see in the outside world and the inner world. When this turmoil takes places within us, aspects of the ego are churned up and broken to bits, being replaced by peace and blissfulness, the essence of consciousness. When one enters through that, one comes face to face with that which we call Shivam – the lingam. In the highest state of meditation, amrita (divine nectar) drips on to that lingam constantly, and what the yogi tastes is the nectar that flows down. The yogi can continue to be in the world but with the realisation that (s)he is free of this and is a part of that all-pervading Shivam.

This is the inner significance of Shivaratri, the Shivam that we seek, and the destruction of our connection to the outward. This is the dance of Shiva.

This MahaShivaratri celebration at the MahaKumbh creates an opportunity to experience the divine bliss of Shivam at the confluence of the three great rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati, that also signify the three great nadis (channels) within the human system, Ida, Pingala and Sushumna for yogis.