The name, Mahashivratri, itself translates to – ‘The Night of Shiva’. As per a legend, it is on this day that Shiva appeared in the Linga form. It is also believed that Shiva and Shakti, i.e. Parvati, united together on this auspicious day. Parvati had observed hard core penance for a number of years before she could have Shiva as her husband. Hence, this day is considered auspicious when unmarried women observe a rigorous fast to find a life-partner. Mahashivratri is also observed to remember Lord’s Shiva’s selfless sacrifice during Samudra Manthan, when he gulped a pot full of poison to save the Trilokas.
Lord Shiva represents a perfect balance between material and spiritual world. Similarly every human possesses both, Tamas Guna(inertia) and Rajas Guna(passionate quality). It is believed that observing Mahashivratri Vrat enables a person to control both tendencies from swaying to extreme, thus safeguarding from extreme inertia and extreme passionate or negative thoughts like lust, jealousy, anger, spite etc. Also as per Vedas, spiritual energies generated by planetary movements are at the highest on Mahashivratri and hence prayers offered to Supreme god are bound to have a profound impact on this day.
