Spiritual Significance of Makar Sankranti, Spiritual : Today Indya

Spiritual Significance of Makar Sankranti

Spiritual

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Makar Sankranti is India’s major festival. This day, sun moves from Tropic of Capricorn(Dakhshinayan) to Tropic of Cancer(Uttarayana). Makar Sankranti is celebrated in different states of nation with different names. In Tamil Nadu it is called Pongal. In Assam it is celebrated as Magh Bihu and Bhogal Bihu. In states of Punjab and Haryana it is celebrated as Lohri festival. In Uttar Pradesh it is celebrated as Khichdi or Donation festival. In Bihar it is known as Til Sankranti or Khichdi festival.

Spiritual Significance of Makar Sankranti

Makar Sankranti and religious beliefs: The way Makar Sankranti is celebrated in every state of India with faith and joy, it can be guessed that the festival has some religious beliefs. This festival is mentioned in many of our religious text which enlighten about the festival’s religious significance. The religious scripture, “Gita” which is known as the voice of Lord Krishna, illustrates that six months of Uttarayan is the day time of deity.

And, the 6 months of Dakhshinayan is the night for Gods. It is believed that person who scarifies his body(dies) in Uttarayan get a position in ‘Krishna Lok’.

That person gets liberation, whereas, the one who dies in Dakhshinayan, has to be reborn.

In the era of Mahabharata, Bhishma Pithama had a blessing of wish death. Although lying on the bed of arrows, he did not sacrifice his life in the Dakhsinayan, and waited for the Sun to go in Uttarayan. It is believed that on the day of Makar Sankranti, when sun entered in the Uttarayan, Bhishma Pithama, discarded his body.

In the case of Makar Sankranti, there is one more religious story which states that, Yashoda Mata kept fast to have Lord Krishna as her son. The story of Gangawatran is also linked with Makar Sankranti. It is said that on the day of Makar Sankranti, Ganga followed Bhagirath Muni and met the ocean. Conjunction of Ganga and ocean is the reason behind crowd of devotees taking bath in Ganagasagar on Makar Sankranti.

Capricorn is a sign of Saturn. On the day of Makar Sankranti, sun enters into the sign of Saturn.Sun God is the father of Saturn. Father goes to meet his son in his home. Saturn and Sun, both are might planets, who's auspicious blessings can make humans achieve great success. Hence, on the holy festival of Makar Sankranti people delight sun and Saturn.

Makar Sankranti: The Festival of Truth, Virtue and Religion

Night is considered as the symbol of sin, false and wrong doings, whereas, day is regarded as the symbol of truth, virtue and religion. So, when it is day for Gods, all work of virtue are performed. The fruit of work is also good. On the day of Makar Sankrati when sun enters the Uttarayan, days become long and night becomes shorter. From this day the doors of Heaven are opened, so people celebrate the auspicious occasion.

Makar Sankranti: The Festival of Blessings

From the day of Makar Sankranti, the sun enters in Uttarayan resulting in long days. Married women pray to Sun God for long life of their husbands and give gifts to their elders, in return take blessing that the way days are getting longer, similarly, the life of their husbands also keep increasing.

Inspired by all these beliefs and feelings people celebrate the festival of Makar Sankranti.

Article Original Source : https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/spiritual-significance-of-makar-sankranti

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Decoding Makar Sankranti

Spiritual

speakingtree

Our entire life is linked to two energies – that of sun (surya) and of moon (chandra). Surya is the devta of gyan. Its shaktiis Gayatri ji, the source of all other shaktis in Creation. Sanatan Kriya details the Surya sadhna, through which one experiences the energy of sun and its true character is revealed to the practitioner. For general understanding, it is enough to know that the sun is closely linked to our lives.

The importance of sun can be gauged to an extent from the role it plays in the physical creation – plants use sunlight to make food and in turn provide nourishment to all beings on earth, the water cycle, the winds, the ocean currents all are regulated by the heating effect of the sun, the planets are held in their respective orbits because of attraction of the sun, it is sun that brings the change in day and season.

Having studied the sun for many years now, I can say with certainty that Surya sadhna is a highly potent practice, which if performed properly, under the guidance of a Guru, bestows a practitioner with phenomenal glow and attraction of the sun, reveals to him/her the deepest secrets of creation and unlocks the doorways for interaction with devs and devis.

Youth, beauty, radiant body and complexion and magnetism to draw all that one is desirous of towards him/her, are just some of the by-products that come with regular practice.The Vedic rishis would perform penance for decades together to achieve this state, the process has been simplified in the kaliyug, given the deterioration of human beings. It is the easiest for a being of kaliyug to access these energies, for in present times, even small acts of sadhna and seva bear manifold results.

With every change in yug, there is a shift in the tilt of earth’s axis. As a result, there is also change in the various shaktisgoverning creation. It is the tilt in earth’s axis that causes the apparent movement of sun from north to south (solistices) crossing the equator twice in a year (equinoxes). Makar Sankranti marks the day when sun appears to enter the zodiac of makar (Capricorn). Traditionally, the day coincided with the northward movement of sun having reached its southern most point, the phenomenon known as uttarayan in Vedic philosophy. It was an extremely potent day, marking a transition in energy. According to Vedic tradition the six months of uttarayan are a single day of the gods; the six months of dakshinayan are a single night of the gods. In Mahabharata, Bheeshma Pitamaha, chose to leave his body for the heavenly abode on it this day since it marks the onset of auspicious time.

However due to the change in yugas, there has been a shift in date. While Makar Sankranti has moved to January 14th – 15th, uttarayan is observed on earth close to December 21st-22nd, as experienced by surya sadhaks at Dhyan Ashramacross the world. The science of Yog is a science of experience, the vedic seer had experienced the shakti of sun and so gave us the relevance of Makar Sankranti. In the absence of Guru and gyan, one often takes to rituals and customs having little or no understanding of the science behind them. It’s a very powerful science based on Vedic principles, correct practice of which gives phenomenal glow and siddhis to the practitioner.

Article Original Source : https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/decoding-makar-sankranti