HOLI : a celebration of life, love, happiness and good spirits
Long long ago there lived a demon king by the name Hiranyakashyapu.He had grown so powerful that he wanted to defeat Lord Vishnu and rule the universe [trilok]. To defeat Lord Vishnu, he decided to please Lord Brahma with a severe show of penace and tapasya. Lord Brahma was pleased and granted him the unique boon that he could not be killed by any man or beast, with or without a weapon, during day or night , indoors or outdoors , on earth or in the sky..Strengthened by his new found power Hiranyakashyapu declared, "There is no one stronger than I.I am the lord of the three worlds.Everyone must worship me" ,and let loose a reign of terror.
Unknown to him, however, his son Prahlad ,whom he loved very much was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. When he found this out, Hiranyakashyapu was very furious. His hatred for Lord Vishnu was so great that he ordered his men to kill his own son. They let loose deadly snakes on him, mighty elephants were sent to trample Prahlad, he was even pushed off a high cliff but nothing could touch him because he was protected by the powers of Lord Vishnu.
Finally his wicked aunt Holika was called to do the task. She had a boon that fire could never burn her. But when she sat inside a roaring flame with Prahlad on her lap, Holika herself was charred to death because she did not know that her powers were only effective if she entered the fire alone.Prahlada, however, chanted the names of Lord Vishnu and was saved and was left unscathed. And that is how Holi got its name from Holika, meaning Fire.Symbolically on the full moon night of Holi, a bonfire of Holika is made with everyone gathering around it singing and clapping in joy at the destruction of evil. The next day people play with colours and merriment is carried through the day.
Today Holi satnds for the burning of selfishness ,greed , lust and hatred -all that is bad in man. Holi celebrates love , brotherhood and compassion- all that is good in us..
According to another legend Holi is associated with Lord Krishna who is the 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It goes like this: Putana, a she-demon was sent by the Lord's uncle, the cruel king Kansa, to kill the child Krishna. She took on the guise of a beautiful woman and went about in the village of Nandgaon suckling every child to death with her poison. But the infant Krishna suckled at her breasts till blood started oozing resulting in her death. So on the full moon night, bonfires are lighted to celebrate the victory of Krishna and the death of Putana. In fact Holi, as it is played today, is more representative of Lord Krishna's gregariousness turning it into a community festival of the masses. The songs sung on this day describe his frolics with Radha and her accompanying Gopis (as the young maidens of Vrindavan were known). He played Holi with much exuberance spraying everyone with coloured water through the pichkaris, a tradition that has survived the passage of time.
In South India, especially in Tamilnadu and Kerala, the festival is celebrated in remembrance of Kamdev, the Love-God who carries a bow made of sugarcane with a line of humming bees as its string and the arrow-shafts topped with passion that consumes the heart it pierces. His favourite pastime during the spring is to move through woodlands hunting birds, beasts and men. Once vanity prevailed and he committed the sin of aiming his arrow at Lord Shiva who was sitting in deep meditation thus infuriating the Lord who then opened his third eye and burnt Kamdev to ashes. Kamdev's grief-stricken wife Rati implored the Lord to take pity on her and restore her husband to life. Shiva relented and granted her the boon on condition that she would be able to see her husband but he would remain anang (without the physical human form). Hence, the songs sung during Holi tell the pathetic tale of Rati. Holi in these parts is known by three different names - Kamavilas, Kaman Pandigai and Kama-dahanam.
Over the years the festival of Holi has acquired a new significance. Besides being a spring festival it has also become the harvest festival. The winter crop of Rabi ripens and the corns of wheat become golden. For farmers, therefore, Holi is a joyful celebration of new harvest. With their hearts filled with joy and excitement they offer their first crop to Agnidev (God of fire) who the Aryans have always held in high esteem. Only after this offering do they start using their crops of personal consumption or sell it in the markets.
courtesy Deepa from sabkamalikek group
OM SAI SRI SAI JAYA JAYA SAI!!!
Let us pray at the feet of Sai Baba who is the incarnation of all gods and protector of all, to show mercy on us, and increase our devotion towards him.
Topic: Holi Tale (Read 1384 times)