After Shiva appeared as the pillar of fire, the creation of life forms began. He was the catalyst for the creation of life forms in the universe where no life forms had previously existed. He became the first pranic power.
Shiva appeared twelve more times. His appearance coincided with the day of Sivaratri. Whenever he appeared these twelve times, he became the self-effulgent jyotirlinga, the twelve jyotirlingas. These twelve jyotirlingas represent the manifestation of Shiva at different times, in different ages, to fulfil one purpose of dharma. Whenever they appeared, that night was called Sivaratri.
The third incident of Sivaratri is the marriage of Shiva and Shakti, which is a paradox in itself. Shiva was a renunciate. He used to live in the smashan, cremation ground. His ornaments were snakes and scorpions and the animals that crawl in the cremation ground. His powder was the ash of the bodies burnt in the cremation ground. An introvert who has rejected the world, attachments and associations, suddenly marries a woman of great beauty, the Cosmic Mother, Parvati, and is united with her.
It is a big paradox in the history, the philosophy, or the tradition of Shiva. The same idea is reflected in kundalini yoga too. When kundalini rises to sahasrara and unites with Shiva, it is known as the marriage of Shiva and Shakti. Both become one and are united. Just as kundalini unites with Shiva in sahasrara, the cosmic principle of shakti unites with the cosmic principle of sentient consciousness in the night of Sivaratri.
This was the first Big Bang. When Shiva and Shakti came together, the explosion happened, the Big Bang. The marriage and union of Shiva and Shakti, is the cosmic Big Bang.
In life, the spiritual force is the force of faith. The only thing that negates faith is doubt. In spirituality, there is always a conflict between doubt and faith. They always are at logger heads.
Disciples say that they have faith in their guru, they also say that they doubt the guru’. Disciples say, ‘I surrender myself to my guru’; and disciples also say, ‘Don’t tell my shortcomings to the guru, he will get angry with me. Hide my shortcomings from the guru’.
There is a play of doubt and faith, acceptance and non-acceptance. Due to this game which goes on continuously in ourselves, we are not able to connect with the true spirit of Shiva. This connection allows us to experience openness, clarity, creativity and shanti, peace. We are always doubting our faith, and consequently we are actually moving further away from that spiritual force of faith to which we should be moving.
On Sivaratri, you need to be aware of how to cultivate faith and remove doubts, and how to connect with the strength of this spiritual power and spiritual experience. The more faith increases, the closer you are to experiencing divinity, as it allows you to transcend your limitations.
If you read the story of the marriage of Shiva with Shakti, you will see that it is also a game that Shiva plays with Shakti, a game of doubt and faith. Shiva tries to create doubt in the mind of Shakti, but Shakti remains firm. She is ready to curse Shiva for creating doubt, for making the effort to create doubt in her mind. When you are totally identified with faith and are unshakable in that, then Shiva comes to you. The biggest obstacle in spiritual life is doubt, so make an effort to avoid it. The biggest strength of spiritual life is faith, so make an effort to protect it. That is the story of Sivaratri.
Extract from the book “Shiva Charitra Narratives of Shiva”, Sw Niranjanananda Saraswati