Once Sri Sri beautifully related the deeper meaning of the story behind Holi: The story goes that a demon king, Hiranyakashyap, wanted everyone to worship him. But his son Prahlad was a devotee of Lord Narayana, the kings sworn enemy. The angry king wanted Holika, his sister, to get rid of Prahlad. Empowered to withstand the fire, Holika sat on a burning pyre holding Prahlad in her lap. But it was Holika who was burnt, and Prahlad came out unharmed. Hiranyakashyap symbolizes one who is gross. Prahlad embodies innocence, faith and bliss and joy. The spirit cannot be confined to love of the material only. Hiranyakashyap wanted all joy to come from the material world. It did not happen that way. The individual jivatma (soul) cannot be bound to the material forever. Its natural to eventually move towards Narayana, ones higher Self. Holika stands for the past burdens or impressions that try to burn Prahlads innocence. But Prahlad, so deeply rooted in Narayana Bhakti, could burn all past impressions (samskaras) and joy springs up with new colours. Life becomes a celebration. Burning the past, you gear up for a new beginning. Your emotions, like fire, burn you. But when they are a fountain of colours, they add charm to your life. In ignorance, emotions are a bother; in knowledge, the same emotions add colour. Each emotion is associated with a colour - anger with red, jealousy with green, vibrancy and happiness with yellow, love with pink, vastness with blue, peace with white, sacrifice with saffron and knowledge with violet. So Holi should be colourful and not boring. When each colour is seen clearly, it is colourful. When all the colours get mixed, you end up with black. So also in life, we play different roles. Each role and emotion needs to be clearly defined. So like Prahlad, go through life, one day at a time, celebrating the different emotions and situations that come up in our life... when you are able to see them as a play and display of the One consciousness that forms the basis of this Creation, none of them can touch you or hurt you, and you are liberated here and now... || Happy Holi ||
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 06:20:20 +0000