Om Namah Shivaaya

It has been more than a couple of days since I launched this blog and had started to wonder ‘what next?’ For a seasonal writer like me, finding topics are such a hurdle. Thanks to Shivarathri.

Wish you all a very happy Shivarathri.

As all festivals do have stories associated with them, Shivarathri too had a story – the day Shiva married Parvathi. That was all I had knew till today. I hadn’t ever wondered why we fast. I asked a few but didn’t get the answer. Since most of us don’t know (no one in my family knew!), I thought of sharing…

Well, here is the reason why. There was a hunter – Suswara - who had shot a deer and was returning from jungle. It was getting dark and he couldn’t make it to his village back. He got on top of a tree (bilwapatre) and tried to sleep. He couldn’t. His wife and children were starving back home – this pained the hunter. He cried the whole night. Since his family would be starving, he too didn’t eat anything. To pass time, he kept plucking the leaves. He then returned the next day. He sold the deer he had hunted and got food for his family. When he was about to have his part, a sanyasi happened to cross his house. There was nothing at home to offer – he gave his meal.

The day he had starved was Shivarathri. Incidentally there was a Shiva Linga beneath the tree and his tears had washed it. As a reward of unconscious worship of lord Shiva, he was sent to heaven after death. He was then reborn as king Chitrabhanu. The leaves he plucked were bilwapatre – now you know why we use them.