How to Celebrate Maha Shivaratri for Maximum Spiritual Blessings??
rAtri – night or stillness of dark..
shivarAtri – the stillness of dark that is graced by the eternal light; like a flame in the dark which symbolises “Atma darshana”.
This night of mahA shivarAtri was celebrated first by the shakti and then by brahma-vishNu dEvatAs.
This shivarAtri is of five types –
- nitya shivarAtri
- paksha shivarAtri
- mAsa shivarAtri
- yOga shivarAtri
- mahA shivarAtri
In an year, in all 12 months, if one worships the night of shukla-krshNa paksha caturdashi – which comes around the total of 24 nights – is nitya shivarAtri. Also, the siddha gaNa will worship him daily in a year on all 4 yAmAs of night.. This is also considered as nitya shivarAtri.
In the month of mAgha, if one worships swAmy during the night time from krshNa paksha pratipadA till krshNa paksha trayOdashi taking food once for a day and completes the vrata on that krshNa paksha caturdashi night, this is called as paksha shivarAtri.
If one worships swAmy in the nights of – krshNa paksha caturdashi in the month of mAgha, first trtIya in the month of phAlguna, krshNa paksha ashtami in the month of caitra, first ashtami in the month of vaishAkha (shukla-krshNa paksha has got no relevance in this case), shukla paksha caturthi in the month of jyEshTha, krshNa paksha paNcami in the month of AshADha, shukla paksha ashtami in the month of shrAvana, first tryOdashi in the month of bhAdrapada, shukla paksha dvAdashi in the month of Ashvina, first saptami & second ashtami in the month of kArttika, shukla-krshNa paksha caturdashi of mArgasIrsha and the shukla paksha trtIyai in the month of pausha are considered as mAsa shivarAtri. Or, the krshNa paksha caturdashi of every month also can be considered for easy reference.
If ArdrA nakshatra falls on the caturdashi of mArgasIrsha month and if the krshNa paksha caturdashi of mAgha month falls on Sunday or Tuesday – these nights are considered equal to the 3 crore shivarAtri.
If pUrNa amAvAsya falls on Monday or if the krshNa paksha caturdashi fills all 4 yAmAs and falls on Monday and if that 4th yAma meets with amAvAsya, then this night is called as yOga shivarAtri.
The night of krshNa paksha caturdashi of mAgha month is considered as the mahA shivarAtri.
This mahA shivarAtri vrata has to begin from the krshNa paksha tryOdashi onwards. Here one has to remain in vrata from the sunrise to sunset on this krshNa paksha tryOdashi and after the sunset, he is allowed to take food. Then, this vrata has to begin from the sunset of krshNa paksha caturdashi and if he continues till the next day sunset and worships swAmy during his vrata kAla, this shivarAtri will become uttamOttama (auspicious beyond the description) for such devotees.
People carrying the bad lifestyle howsoever outwardly devoted they are, atheists and shiva drOhi are not to be seen or talked on this auspicious night of mahA shivarAtri. This brings shiva shApa. This is the reason, it is said, worship swAmy in your home with the doors closed without any dambara or Adambara.
Let me tell you the gist of mahA shivarAtri pUjA –
One must take a bath in the afternoon itself and must wear the clean clothes (not unwashed ones however one may feel it clean. Then, the space where you would like to worship him has to be cleansed with the gO-mUtra and you shall work your shivarAtri preparations with the pushpa tOraNa, you shall even keep the full sugarcane on both his sides, you shall cook for bhakshaNa and all those things.
Then, on the evening, one must take a bath again and must place the swAmy in the cleaned-sacred space where you wished to worship him in your home. The pUjA in a way you know has to begin with shuddha bhakti and EkAgra cintana.
arghyam has to be offered upon the completion of each yAma for all four yAmAs with the prayer “Please accept this humble servant’s pUjA”. Here on this night, gaNapati has to get worshipped on all the 4 yAmAs along with swAmy. As usual, we must begin with the gaNapati pUjA.
During the first yAma of this mahA shivarAtri, swAmy has to get the abhishEkam done with paNcakavya and the vastra that we offer has to be of red colour.
For the second yAma of this mahA shivarAtri, swAmy has to get the abhishEkam done with the paNcAmirta and the vastra that we offer has to be of yellow colour.
For the third yAma of this mahA shivarAtri, swAmy has to get the abhishEkam done with the milk, honey & ghee and the vastra that we offer has to be of white colour.
For the fourth yAma of this mahA shivarAtri, swAmy has to get the abhishEkam done with the items that has got ABSOLUTELY ZERO smell and the vastra that we offer has to be of blue colour.
Or, one shall use the milk rice for first yAma abhishEka, honey & flowers for the second yAma abhishEka, sugarcane juice for the third yAma abhishEka and plain cooked white rice for the fourth yAma abhishEka.
swAmy is abhishEka priya and so, we have mentioned the abhishEka dravyAs that makes the swAmy happier if one follows.
pUjA, you shall do with whatever you have learnt from various people online or offline. Or else, if you wish to learn a proper pUjA adhering to the tradition, you are most welcome to learn from here as well.
We will sooner announce the dates to learn the mahA shivarAtri pUjA.
