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Siddha Sivarathri Vows
The Siddhas have prescribed a very potent form of Sivarathri worship for those of us who are truly
interested in spiritual upliftment:
Take a vow that you'll perform Sivarathri worship according to Siddha specifications
on 48 or 60 consecutive Paksha Sivarathris or Maasa Sivarathris.
Make sure that you keep this vow irrespective of any obstacles that may arise.
Ask the Sathguru and Siddhas for help that you may be able to keep up this vow.
Another variation is to
perform Sivarathri worship according to Siddha specification
on all Paksha Sivarathris or Maasa Sivarathris in a 12 or 21 year period.
Yet another variation is to
perform Sivarathri worship according to Siddha specification
on all Maha Sivarathris over a 60 year period.
This particualar worship procedure is a maha vratham (great vow) since it
covers all the years of a 60 year cycle.
One needs determination to follow through on these vows. This can only be gotten
by a complete surrender to the Divine Will. Without this kind of spiritual determination,
spiritual upliftment is not possible. The Siddhas say that we should give up our ego
involvement, surrender to the Divine and get started on these Siddha Sivarathri vows.
Great spiritual treasures await those who execute these Siddha worship vows.
In the Still of the Night...
Humans spend their lives in one of three states:
Jaagrath or the waking state,
Svapna or the dream state and
Sushupthi or the deep sleep state.
States beyond these (like Thuriya, Thuriyaatheetha, Bagudhootha and so on)
belong in the realms of the Siddhas and other realized beings.
We spend around one thirds of our lifetimes in the dream or deep sleep state.
But it can not be said that the hours spent in this state are totally free of karma accumulation.
The Siddhas say that the concrete activities conducted in the waking state
are in the realm of our concrete bodies (sthoola sareera) and the
subtle activities of the non waking state are conducted in our subtle bodies (sookshma sareera).
These subtle activities must be brought under control too, warn the Siddhas.
But to accomplish this, one needs the guidance of a Sathguru.
Sincere devotees can align the subtle activities of their sookshma sareera with the Divine,
but those who can't do it will accumulate negative karma just like they do in the waking state.
How can we neutralize this karma?
By performing Sivarathri pooja procedures, say the Siddhas.
Furthermore, performing Sivarathri worship procedures over many years regulates the subtle
activities of the dream and sleep states and thus elevates us to a higher spiritual plane.
Hence the importance of Sivarathri worship.
Never Take the Divine for Granted
There's another reason the Maha Sivarathri night is so special.
It's a night during which the peerless Universal Mother performs worship on our behalf.
Any worship performed during this time period is sanctified
since it is deemed to have been done in the august presence of the Universal Mother.
In other words, the ordinary worship of a human gets elevated to divine status
by the grace of the Universal Mother.
Hence the importance of worship performed during the Maha Sivarathri night.
The Universal Mother performs many intense worship procedures to gain the
right to manifest Herself as the Lord's consort every time He embarks on a
new divine incarnation. When He incarnated as Kapali, She performed austere
penance to gain the right to be His consort Karpagaambika. When He incarnated
as Ekambaresvara, She performed intense pooja to be His consort Kamakshi.
One of the important worship procedures that's part of the Mother's
repertoire is the Sivarathri pooja.
There are two important lessons that the Mother teaches us by Her own
actions: (1) Never take the Divine for granted. She doesn't assume that
the role of being His consort is Hers. Again and again she proves that
She's worthy of it through intense penance. This is the attitude we must
cultivate towards the Divine. We can never be complacent about our
spirituality. This is why the great devotees always feel that they are
unworthy of the divine grace that gets showered on them. This is the
attitude that every spiritual aspirant needs to cultivate. (2) The second
lesson that the Mother teaches us is the importance of Sivarathri pooja.
She uses it as part of Her intense penance to demonstrate Her suitability
to be the Lord's consort. If Sivarathri pooja is something the Mother
holds in high esteem, imagine how much we should value it! It's our
foremost duty to meditate on these two important lessons and put them
into practice in everyday life.
The Lord of Honor
On each Maha Sivarathri, the Universal Mother chooses a particular Siva shrine
and performs Sivarathri worship in that shrine in human form. To all other shrines,
She sends Her divine potencies in human form. The shrine chosen by the
Mother for the coming Maha Sivarathri
(Mar/4/2ØØØ) is the Thiru Kazhipaalai shrine
near the town of Chidambaram.
This shrine is half a kilometre from Thiru Nel Vaayili (Sivapuri)
which is a town near Chidambaram.
The Lord of Honor is Sri Paal Vanna Natha accompanied by His
divine consort Mother Veda Nayaki.
To celebrate Maha Sivarathri at this shrine on the night of
Mar/4/2ØØØ is a once in a lifetime spiritual opportunity.
Those who make use of it are truly blessed indeed, say the Siddhas.
What's the uniqueness of the Thiru Kazhipaalai shrine?
The Siddhas say that this shrine is a karma neutralization machine!
The Lord of Honor personally runs this machine on our behalf and gets rid of
our karma! Who else can get destroy our karma in one fell swoop but the
Lord Himself? And this He does at this shrine. Should we not give up the
ego that makes us think that we are working out our karma? Should we not
realize that it's the Lord who's working it out for us? This ego annihilation
can only be done by the Lord Himself. And this He does in this shrine.
The spiritual ripening of the human mind on the path to ego annihilation
is initiated at this shrine. It's this ripening that makes us not repeat
the same mistakes over and over again and thus not recreate the bad karma
tha the Lord has worked out for us. This is a blessing that can be gotten
only through divine grace.
The ripened mind meditates on the fact that the Lord is the doer and not the
individual soul. It realizes that unless the Lord makes us pure, we can't
become pure and unsullied. It makes us surrender to the Divine Will. The
ability to meditate reflect on spiritual realities (atma vichar) and surrender
to God is granted at this shrine.
As part of the karma neutralization process, we need to realize that we are
whatever pain we have to endure in life is because of our own bad karma;
it's not inflicted by others.
Why blame others when we should blame our own past actions, ask the Siddhas.
This erudite thinking process is initiated and nurtured at this shrine.
The Lord of Honor, Sri Paal Vanna Natha, is the destroyer of everyone's bad karma.
This He does with his white hot divine energy.
We know that unless our karma balance reaches zero, we can't see, know or merge with God.
To make this happen, we need the grace of
the Lord of Honor, Sri Paal Vanna Natha! And the best time to win this grace is during
the Pramaadhi Maha Sivarathri on the night of
Mar/4/2ØØØ. It's a once in a lifetime spiritual opportunity. Don't miss it!
The consort of the Lord of Honor, Mother Veda Nayaki,
is the protector of the Vedas. As a result of Her intensely sincere penance,
She married the Lord with white hot agni ceremonial fire as the witness.
This great event happened on the Pramaadhi Maha Sivarathri of a different era.
In grateful memory of that great event, the Mother will be present at this shrine
on the night of Mar/4/2ØØØ. On this night, She will personally
officiate the karma neutralization process of the devotees gathered there!
This is why the Siddhas tell us that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Many great Siddhas have been the beneficiaries of the divine grace of the Lord of Honor.
One of these is the great author of the Ramayana, Sri Valmeeki. This great rishi worked
out the karma of his previous births by the grace of the Lord of Honor, Sri Paal Vanna Natha.
To show his gratitude, He visits this site on every Maasa Siavarthri and Maha Sivarathri.
Why? Because this shrine is an ideal place to perform Paksha Sivarathri pooja, Maasa Sivarathri
pooja and Maha Sivarathri pooja. So if we don't have the good fortune of living near the
Lord of Honor, we should at least make it a point to visit His shrine many many times.
Siddha Worship Procedures
The Siddhas have specified Sivarathri pooja procedures to be followed at the Thiru Kazhipaalai
shrine on Mar/4/2ØØØ. While there's nothing quite like being there on
Mar/4/2ØØØ, we may also follow these procedures
during Paksha Sivarathri and Maasa Sivarathri worship at this shrine.
In the Lord's form, at the top, we can see a small depression.
The Siddhas refer to this as the Veda nexus.
Abishekam materials that flow or settle in this depression are particularly potent.
These abishekam materials that have come into contact with the Veda nexus
should be distributed to the poor.
In honor of the Veda nexus, it's ideal if we can offer food that's cooked in
utensils that have a depression as neivedyam, for example, the South Indian delicacy known as
idli, muffins, cupcakes and so on.
The Lord of Honor, Sri Paal Vanna Natha, specializes in offering relief to those devotees
who are suffering from diseases of the stomach and other organs in the abdominal cavity.
During Sivarathri, perform abishekam using pure cow's milk and offer sweetened cow's milk as neivedyam.
Distribute the same to a minimum of 50 people. Those who can't afford that should do what they can.
Start this pooja on Mar/4/2ØØØ and continue it on subsequent Paksha and Maasa Sivarathris.
This is a spiritual remedy for those ailing from stomach afflictions.
Why give thousands to the doctor?
Might as well give it to the Universal Doctor and His children, the poor and the needy.
There are those who are subject to frequent illnesses and frequent cash flow problems.
And then there are those who are wealthy but who seem to encounter a never ending stream of problems.
There are spiritual reasons behind these. These could be punishment meted out by the Pithrus.
These could also be the result of having split up couples and friends, of having caused disharmony
amongst those who were united. But the Lord of Honor, Sri Paal Vanna Natha, can solve these problems.
Perform abishekam for the Lord of Honor using pure cow's milk. Make sandalwood paste with your own hands
and mix honey with it. Apply this mixture to the Lord's form. Offer idlis and other eatables
mentioned above as neivedyam and distribute the same to the poor.
Start this pooja on Mar/4/2ØØØ and continue it on subsequent Paksha and Maasa Sivarathris.
Those who do this over the long haul will find a solution for business losses and family problems.
It's important that we treat the handicapped with respect and compassion.
But many of us don't. This has the unfortunate effect of making the handicapped
feel depressed and inferior. In addition to being physically handicapped, our
inconsiderate behavior makes them feel that they are mentally handicapped too.
But by the grace of the Lord of Honor, the handicapped do not have to feel inferior.
They should visit this shrine and perform abishekam for the Lord of Honor with pure cow's milk
and distribute the same to the poor. How much? As much as they can afford. If they do this
over the long term, the Lord will infuse them with great mental strength, confidence and the
ability to work hard and achieve their goals. Now, how about those of us who are not handicapped?
These people should help the poor and the handicapped visit this shrine; they should arrange
this trip for them especially on Mar/4/2ØØØ.
Since the Pramaadhi Maha Sivarathri occurs once in 60 years,
we should make sure that we don't miss this great spiritual event on
Mar/4/2ØØØ.
Recite the Vedas in honor of the Veda nexus and Mother Veda Nayaki and
worship the Lord of Honor, Sri Paal Vanna Natha.
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| Om Salutations to Sri Siva |
| Om Salutations to The Universal Mother |
| Om Salutations to Maha Guru Sri Agasthiar |
| Om Salutations to the Agasthiar Lineage |
| Om Salutations to the Siddhas |
| 
Pramaadhi Maha Sivarathri - Mar/4/2ØØØ
