Mar 29, 2002, 12.18am IST
SEEMA BURMAN.
Celebrated since the vedic period during phalgun poornima, especially in north india, holi is a festival that bids farewell to winter and welcomes summer. this is the time when nature is at its radiant best with bright flowers blossoming all around. the same is reflected in holi when everyone splashes colour at each other and feels one with nature. this splashing of colour was a famous leela in sri krishna’s life. in ancient times when the fields were ready with new crops of wheat, barley, gram etc yagnas were performed in which the spikes of the grain were offered to the fire-god, symbolising the fact that all food was god’s prasad and ought to be consumed with humility. ashes of the burnt spikes were applied on foreheads as mark of respect to mother earth for providing humankind with a new harvest. this process was termed dhulihari — dust of the crops — which got corrupted to dhulendi. burnt grain is called holka in sanskrit and this could be one reason why lighting of the fire was called holika dahan. several other meanings attached themselves to holi, widening its significance and popularity. according to narada purana, holi signifies the victory of good over evil. six-year-old prahlad’s extreme devotion to lord vishnu enraged his father — the demon king hiranyakashipu — who wanted his subjects to worship him instead as god. to his shock, his own son prahlad rebelled openly. prahlad was subjected to numerous tortures. he was thrown from the mountains, drowned in the sea, bitten by poisonous snakes, trodden down upon by wild elephants but refused to worship his father. his inner strength enraged the king. a poised prahlad explained to his father that every soul had to undergo an arduous journey till it attained a human form, the ultimate goal of which was self-realisation. the human form was thus a rare blessing. was he to waste it for the sake of his father’s delusions? mad with rage, hiranyakashipu ordered his sister holika, who had the boon of being immune to fire, to sit in the fire with prahlad on her lap so that others dare not emulate his son. to the astonishment of all, he emerged unscathed while holika got burnt. nature changed its course. it was a day of celebration. this could be another reason why the term holika dahan — the burning of holika — came into being. symbolically, prahlad is one who can face the obstacles of life without losing either focus or peace of mind. hiranyakashipu stands for ambition at the cost of values while holika implies ignorance, the kind that makes the soul go up in flames in the fire of worldly desires. if the soul surrenders completely to the supreme soul and sadguru, then such a soul of nature is not bound by the laws. those who dwell at the level of senses are ruined ultimately. from the point of view of ayurveda too, holi is significant. this is the time when a change in weather gives rise to cough, asthma, cold and other contagious diseases. playing with natural colours in the sun during holi helps in clearing cough and cold. the air too gets cleared of germs that have been lying dormant in the winters by the fire that is lit at night. colours extracted from the flowers of dhak (jungle fire) act like armour against skin diseases. other flower-extracts used for colouring are water-chestnut (singhada) flour, sandalwood paste, abeer etc as these too are beneficial for both mind and body. summer brings with it aggression, mental tension, anger, intolerance. colours extracted from flowers help to cool down tempers. the colours of holi represent the worldly desires in which we are all immersed. swayed by different emotions like anger, lust, attachment, greed, pride we are unable to experience divine bliss. many waste their entire lives trying to satiate their senses. this takes a toll on one’s physical and mental strength and by the time man realises his folly his body has no strength and mind no inclination to pursue the path of self-realisation. a sadguru alone can spray the satvik colours of divine consciousness on our souls. once the soul has sipped the supreme love it remains immersed in it forever. perhaps it is a reflection on our times that today many of us are seeking a sadguru who will reveal the divine truth hidden within us: whether through the colour of bhakti, karma, raj or gyan yoga.
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