|
Holi is a festival of colours. This whole world is so colourfu=
l.
Just like nature there are different colours associated with our feel=
ings
and emotions: anger with red, jealousy with green, vibrancy and happi=
ness
with yellow, love with pink, vastness with blue, peace with white,
sacrifice with saffron and knowledge with violet. Each person is a
fountain of colours which keep changing.
Puranas are full of colourful illustrations and stories and th=
ere
is a story related to Holi. An asura king, Hiranyakashyap, wanted
everyone to worship him. But his son Prahlad was a devotee of Lord
Narayana, the king's sworn enemy. Angry, the king wanted Holika, his
sister, to get rid of Prahlad. Empowered to withstand fire, Holika sa=
t on
a burning pyre holding Prahlad on her lap. But it was Holika who was
burnt, Prahlad came out unharmed. Hiranyakashyap symbolises one who is
gross. Prahlad embodies innocence, faith and bliss. The spirit cannot=
be
confined to matter, only love. Hiranyakashyap wanted all joy to come =
from
the material world. It did not happen that way. The individual jivatma
cannot be bound to the material forever. It's natural to eventually m=
ove
towards Narayana, one's higher Self. Holika symbolises past burdens t=
hat
try to burn Prahlad's innocence.. But Prahlad, so deeply rooted in
Narayana Bhakti, could burn all past impressions (sanskaras).
For one who is deep in bhakti, joy springs up with new colours=
and
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, emoti=
ons
are a bother; in knowledge, the same emotions add colour. Like Holi, =
life
should be colourful, 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. Emotional confusion creates problems. When you are a
father, you have to play the part of a father. You can't be a father =
at
office. When you mix the roles in your life, you start making mistake=
s.
Whatever role you play in life, give yourself fully to it. Harmony in
diversity makes life vibrant, joyful and more colourful.
&nb=
sp; =
&nb=
sp; =
&nb=
sp; =
&nb=
sp;
----Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
|
![3DBackgnd](3D"march2009_files/image002.jpg")