HAPPY HOLI ALL MY FRIENDS! Holi is more than just a festival of colours. It is a festival of faith ! Absolute FAITH !! Once upon a time, a young boy was called to give test of his faith. Did he really believe that God was omnipresent and omnipotent ? Did he just think it as a philosophical ideal or did he actually, truly, absolutely believe it ? He did. His name was Prahalada !! He believed in the absolute reality of GOD ! Not just believe, experience it. He was strong enough, charismatic enough and enthusiastic enough for the king, his own father, to fear him. His father feared not the man, but more importantly his ideals. He knew that if people believe in Prahalad’s ideals, if people actually grasped the idea of omnipresence of GOD, his own hold on terrestrial power would be doomed. He tried to dislodge Prahlad’s faith in any number of ways. When all covert and overt methods failed, he tried to have him burnt by having him sit in a raging fire with his own sister who had fire retardant clothes (what else would you call her shawl blessed by the gods so that it would not burn !?!). Even this failed to kill him. Eventually, Hrianyakashap had to confront the matter head on, in full view of his subjects, no longer covert, but as public as it could get. He asked Prahalad to prove his faith or renounce it. Prahalad proved it !! After a lengthy discussion, Hiranyakashap asked him if God existed in animate or inanimate objects only. The young boy’s emphatic answer was, GOD existed everywhere, at all times, and at once ! Frustrated, the king pointed to a pillar and asked, “Is he in this pillar ?” Without a shadow of doubt, the young prince said “YES !” This is a path of the fearless. You have to be willing to do or die for GOD !! Prhalada left his father, Bharat left his mother. (there is a bhajan by Narsi Mehta and Meera bai that eloquently describes this.) To be a vaishnav is not an easy road to God. Those who see it as such are greatly mistaken. To love God as intensly as these great vaishnavs takes courage, great amount of courage. Sati (one of the forms of the great goddess) had this kind of fierce love. She died rather than see her Lord disgraced. If India had a few more dedicated people like Sati, India may never have been desecrated by the muslims. The Lord appeared from a pillar as Narsinha and killed the evil king. That was the first holi played, and it was played with blood ! We may play with colour today, but, we must remember the blood that our ancestors have shed for our faith. From the time of Prahalad, vaishnavs have been called on to play holi with their blood to protect Dharma. Eg - Vanars died for Rama / Sita, Arjun and the Pandavas fought with their own relatives for Dharma, PrithviRaj Chauhan died to keep India independent, Rana Pratap, Raja Raja Chola, ChatraPati Shivaji - they all played holi with their own blood to protect our Vedic dharma. Just as the warriors shed their blood, sages like Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhvacharya and others spent their energy to keep our society on the path of Dharma. The endless rounds of pilgrimages Shri Vallabh, Gopinathji, Vitthal, Gokulnathji, Hariraiji and others have undertaken to safeguard our sacred religion. Countless others who have died, rather than convert to the religions of those who came to conquer us. These are the great souls who have died for their faith, for us, so that we can play the holi with abil and gulal !! Other legends include: Holi Legend based on Krishna and Radha Holi is also associated with the evergreen love of Krishna and Radha. Krishna was jealous of Radha’s fair color and asked mother Yashoda for the reason for Radha’s fair color. Yashoda jokingly said if you are so jealous change her complexion by smearing color. Naughty young Krishna was waiting for an idea for a prank and did exactly as his mother suggested Holi Myth based on Kamdev and Lord Shiva Another important Holi legend is associated with Kamdev, the god of love. After the death of Sati, Lord Shiva took to severe meditation. Sati took rebirth as Parvati and tried to impress Lord Shiva. When her feminine charms failed, she took the help of Kamdev. Not knowing the seriousness of Lord Shiva’s meditation, Kamdev used his arrow of love on Shiva. The infuriated Shiva opened his third eye and turned Kamdev into ashes. This happened on the Holi day Holi Story based on Demon Dhundi Another myth revolves around the demon Dhundi. She had received several boons through intense penance. Soon, she became arrogant and started killing children and eating them. But once Lord Shiva cursed her that she will be helpless before the pranks of young boys. One day a few boys in an intoxicated state took on her and started hurling abuses. The pranks of the boys increased as time went by and she could no longer tolerate it. Finally, she ran away from the area. Enjoy my friend, and HAPPY HOLI!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy Hai!!!!
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 14:17:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015