Holi is one of the most colourful and joyous of
Indian festivals. It is celebrated on the full moon day of the Hindu month of
Phalgun. It starts from the pournima or full moon day and the celebrations go
on till panchami or the fifth day. On
this day due to the particular confluence of the constellations- there are
waves of luminous radiance traversing the universe and the skies of earth. These
different waves of glowing vibrations cross each other and create various colours. These
colours are connected to the various elements present in the earth’s atmosphere
and they nourish and enhance them. Hence it is a festival of tej or brillance in
the universe.
Nature is colourful. Creation is colourful. The
grass is lushly green, the skies are sparkling blue, the earth is chocolaty
brown, fruits, flowers, birds and animals of bright reds, pinks, oranges,
yellows and purples. God has used a mighty palette and splashed colours across
Nature, creating beauty which is awesome. He has created people with a wide
range of colours of complexion, eyes, lips and hair. Our emotions and moods are
also colourful. We go red with rage, pale with fear and green with jealousy.
Happiness and energy are symbolised with yellow, orange and red with lust, pink
with innocent and sweet love, green with nurturing, blue with vastness, saffron with sacrifice and purple with
royalty. The chakras of the body also have the rainbow colours of violet,
indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Nature without colours is unimaginable
and Life without colours is dull and
depressing.
The showstopper of this festival is the burning of
the Holika. There is a colourful story
from the Puranas connected to it. Hiranyakashyap was a powerful demon king who
wanted to be God instead of God. He banned the name of Lord Narayan from his
kingdom and ordered that all should worship him. His son Prahlad was a devout
follower of Lord Narayan. Hiranyakashyap
was very angry with his son Prahlad and
tried his best to kill him by rolling him down the mountain, throwing him into
a pit of poisonous snakes, standing him in path of elephants on rampage and
dropping him into the ocean. But Prahlad survived all the ordeals as he was
always chanting the name of the Lord. Holika was the sister of Hiranyakashyap.
She saw the frustration of her brother and wanted to help him. She had a
special boon that she could not be burnt by fire. She sat on a burning pyre
with Prahlad on her lap. Prahlad came out unharmed and Holika was burnt to
death.
Hiranyakashyap symbolises rajas and tamas –action,
lower mental qualities and materialism. Prahlad represents bhakti- love of God,
faith, innocence and bliss. Holika is past burdens and attachment to material
world which are ultimately burnt off in the fire of faith, bhakti, innocence
and bliss. Hiranyakashyap wanted to deny the Supremacy of Divinity and be
rooted in material world. This is not possible as each atman or soul has to
move towards Divinity and ultimately merge with Divinity. Prahlad was always calling
upon Lord Narayana – doing the Naama Smaran . So he burnt off all his past
karmas and the Lord Himself had to come rushing to his rescue and protect him.
The next morning, after burning of Holika, is the
celebration by playing with colours. Men and women, boys and girls, young and
old – irrespective of religion play by throwing colour powders or colour waters
on each other. There is a lot of merriment and joy in the air. Friendships and
relationships are strengthened and old hurts are let gone in the play of colours.
When the past burdens are burnt off and the
protection of the Supreme is invoked and granted, the life of the bhakta is
very colourful and joyous. The devotees of God, the disciples of a ParamGuru
always feel protected and taken care of and in such state of mind, they are
always joyous and the world seems brighter and more colourful. It is only the
devotee who can really relish the beauties and colours of Life as only he has
the state of mind and levels of consciousness to do so.
