By: BK Surya
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2076/the-daily-guardian%09/15
Dated: February 22nd, 2025

In Indian mythology, night is associated with several divine figures, including Shiva (Mahashivratri), Brahma (Brahma’s day and night), and the goddesses worshipped during the Navratri festival. Mahashivratri, which will be celebrated on February 26 this year, is the most significant of these nights as it commemorates the divine incarnation of God Shiva.

Among all the members of the Hindu pantheon, Shiva is referred to as the Supreme Soul, while the others are called deities. This is reflected in the prayer, ‘Brahma devaya namah, Vishnu devaya namah...’ (Salutations to the deities Brahma and Vishnu). Shiva, on the other hand, is referred to as the Supreme Soul, as in the prayer, ‘Shiv paramatmane namah’. Sanyasis and spiritual seekers say ‘Shivoham’  (I am Shiva) to affirm the idea of the self being one with the divine; they do not refer to any of the deities to make this affirmation.

The deities are the highest creations of God and are worshipped alongside Him by virtue of their divine qualities, but they take birth in the corporeal world while God never does so, since He is beyond the cycle of birth and death. For this reason, Shiva is depicted in the incorporeal form of the lingam, unlike the deities, who are worshipped in the form of idols. 

Shiva and Shankar are separate entities. Shankar is a deity shown in human form, often seated in a meditative state, with a Shivling before him. He is one of the creations of the Creator, God Shiva. Notably, Shivratri is never called Shankar-ratri, because Shiva and Shankar are two different figures.

God Shiva incarnates Himself in this world when it is enveloped in the darkness of evil and ignorance, when unrighteousness prevails, to re-establish a righteous world order. He does this by reawakening human souls to their true identity – that they are immortal souls, not perishable bodies – and their filial bond with Him. He teaches them Rajyoga meditation —loving remembrance by which they can connect with Him mentally, draw His powers,  become whole and healthy again, and overcome their weaknesses.

The light of spiritual knowledge imparted by God dispels the darkness of ignorance that prevails in the world. Self-realisation, the renewed connection with God, and rediscovery of their virtues and powers transforms the thinking, outlook, and behaviour of souls. This change of consciousness is the basis of turning Brahma’s night, which is another name for Kaliyug, or the Iron Age, when the world is akin to hell, into Brahma’s day or Satyug, the Golden Age, which is remembered in various religious traditions as paradise, or heaven.

When a critical number of souls recognise the truth of their spiritual identity and begin to live according to God’s teachings, the world begins to change, whereby selfish and harmful ways of thinking and behaviour are discarded and replaced by an enlightened world view, leading to the eventual dawn of the Golden Age. In this process of change, all souls are liberated from their sorrows. Shivratri thus holds meaning for people of all faiths across the world.

BK Surya is a Rajyoga teacher 
at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.