It is a plethora of stories and fiction around the divine concepts that has led to a transformation in human souls and a loss of connection between nations and religions, says Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj Ji
Truth, they say, is stranger than fiction. This seems to apply fairly well to Lord Shiva, the truth personified, whose symbol is Shivlinga and whose divine ‘birth night’ is commemorated as Shivratri in India. A lot of myth, fiction and legend has been built up around Shivlinga. The truth — it is the symbol of the Supreme soul and that Shivratri is the festival in lieu of God’s divine and supernatural birth — appears to people as stranger than fiction today. If we ponder over the meaning of ‘Shiva’, the word means: One whose every act is aimed at benefaction of the mankind. Hence, undeniably, Shiva is an attributive name of the Almighty. But there are such stories woven around his name that they make him appear as an embodied being who lived on Mount Kailash in the days of yore. Again, research indicated that Shivlinga was once held in great esteem in all religions, including the Judaic family of religions and Adi Sanatan Dharma.
This universal acceptance of the symbol also tries to show that it must then have been regarded as a symbol of the ‘Father of the universe.’ Furthermore, if we study the spectrum of forms of various deities, we will find out that Shivlinga stands apart from others because it is neither male nor female form like the other idols. This, too, shows that it represents the incorporeal God. However, through the course of time, this truth also got lost in myth and fiction just like Shakesphere’s “two grains of wheat in two bushels of chaff.”
As time passed, people began to believe that God, being the greatest power, must be macrocosmic in expansion; they paid scant regard to the testimony that he is microcosmic or is just a point-of-light, even as Shiva Puran itself says, that he is minuter than the minutest. Thus the truth about Shivlinga, which solved the ultimate mystery of God’s incorporeal form, was also considered stranger than fiction. It began with the festival of Shivratri.
God has said that when the righteousness declines and the evil ascends, he descends to take a supernatural birth and redeem the world and to re-establish the Dharma (law). Shivratri is, in fact, commemorative of that birth. It is celebrated on the 14th dark night of the month of Phagun (February to March) every year. Phagun is the last month according to the Indian calendar. Hence, it is symbolic of God’s descent in this world — at the end of every world cycle or at the end of every Kali Yug, the allegorical night, which is when the darkness of ignorance prevails in the world to re-establish the Golden Age. But in the course of time, this truth about his ‘divine birth’ has also got lost to mankind in a plethora of myth and fiction that has grown around him.
The result — one of the most important truths which could have made us the inheritor of God’s patrimony of total purity, peace and prosperity, has been lost. It has also lead to a loss of an important connection between various nations and religions. People are unable to appreciate the truth that in the present fag-end of Iron Age (Kali Yug), Godfather Shiva has reincarnated to re-establish the Golden Age. Shiva is the incorporeal Supreme soul — Father of all souls. He imparts the truth about soul, God and the Creation, inspiring humans to purify themselves by linking their heart and mind with him and by doing pure deeds. Unlike humans, he does not live, eat, or indulge in sensual experiences. He never comes in the bondage of actions and their resultant fruits. The Supreme soul is present in all religions as Shiva, God, Allah, Jehovah, Ishwar and by many other names. He is praised as the Almighty and omnipotent being that can liberate human beings from the cycle of sin and suffering. The best thing is that humans can now experience God’s wisdom and blessings as never before since the time has come for him to guide the process of the transformation of the world from Kali Yug (Iron Age) to Sata Yug (Golden Age). So what are we waiting for? We should join him and be a part of great transformation of the old world into a new one and become golden again.
