The story behind the festival
of Holi is familiar to us all.
It begins with Holika, the
sister of Hiranyakashyap, who was the father of Prahalad. Hiranyakashyap had
declared himself as God and wanted his son Prahalad to worship him and not
Vishnu. When Prahalad refused to do the same, he was made to sit with Holika in
an open fire. Holika had been granted a boon that she could not be burned even
if she was on live fire. When she was made to sit with Prahalad on the live
fire, the opposite happened. She burned to death but Prahalad came out unharmed
and alive from the fire.
This is not just a story; it
has a deep spiritual meaning.
Hiranyakashyap represents
“ego”, which when takes control, makes one forget about his own
consciousness, so that the person starts thinking himself as the supreme
power. The same symbolic representation is seen with Ravana in Ramayana
and Kansa in Mahabharata.
Prahalad represents a person
with self-realization, who is in touch with his consciousness. The
consciousness cannot be burned, cut, dried or made wet by anything. It is
imperishable and everlasting.
All those people who have
acquired self-realization via Bhakti, Karma or Gnana path are in a state of God
acquaintance and nothing can destroy them.
The obstacles to the pathway
of self-realization are “attachment, anger, desire, greed and ego”. When all
these negative factors overpower any individual, it leads one away from
self-realization or away from consciousness.
Holika represents the sum
total of the negative forces in the body, which can kill you or harm you, if
not controlled in time.
Getting attached to any of the
five senses results in a vicious cycle and one can get burnt in this
‘chakravyuha’ of attachments. If you are truthful, and have attained a state of
one-point contemplation on a known truth, all the negative forces will stay
away. All such negative forces if repressed within the body can burn you out
over a period of time and this is one reason why all negative emotions should
never be suppressed or repressed.
The practice of burning Holi a
day before the festival of color signifies burning of all negative thoughts or
emotions embedded in the mind and also to neutralize all the poison arising due
to the negative feelings.
As soon as the negativity is
removed from the mind, the spiritual vision opens up or the knowledge of the
consciousness is attained. Once this is done, only the positive thoughts
remain, which is celebrated as sharing and loving each other, the next day.
Sharing love is most important
in removing all the above mentioned five obstacles to self-realization.
Spreading love reduces anger as well as desires, detaches one from various
attachments, reduces greed, and brings humility in a person. Burning ego and
other negative qualities also burns the ill feeling amongst each other and
makes everybody a friend.
During Holi, the practice
therefore, is to visit and meet not only your friends but also those who you
are not friendly with. The festival therefore, is an opportunity to spread
brotherhood and happiness in the society.
WHO defines health as not mere
absence of disease but a state of physical, mental, spiritual, social and
environmental well-being?
Holi, therefore, is a classic
example or a custom to create “social healthiness” amongst the general society.
Playing Holi with water also
has a deep spiritual meaning. It basically means removing dirt from each other.
Dirt here does not mean bodily dirt but mental dirt, which once removed leads
to spiritual cleanliness.
When you lovingly smear
‘gulal’ (colored powder) on others, they reciprocate with doubled love and
affection.
Similarly, always think of
good things about people. Express your positive thoughts about these friends
loudly, not only in front of them but also in their absence.
Therefore, the entire essence
of the festival of Holi is not to just play Holi superficially or meet each
other at a superficial level but to get rid of the negativity at the level of
the mind as well.
There is no point in
celebrating Holi and meeting people unless you remove your negative thoughts
about them from the mind
Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri
Awardee
President Elect Confederation of
Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania
(CMAAO)
Group
Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications
President Heart
Care Foundation of India
Past National President
IMA
