Holi and the colours of life

Holi is a festival of colours. Two main rituals associated with Holi are the burning of Holika, which is also called Holika dahan and playing with colours the next day. King Hrinyakashyap, intoxicated on his own conceit, started considering himself God and wanted everyone to worship him. His son Prahlad, a true devotee of Lord Vishnu, did not accede to his commandments. Hrinyakashyap decided to kill Prahlad. Each time an attempt was made to kill Prahlad, the almighty saved him. Finally, Holika, Hrinyakashyap’s sister, who had a boon to never get burnt by fire, took little Prahlad in her lap and entered a pyre. The good still prevailed and Holika was burnt to ashes, while Prahlad remained scathed.

Since then, the ritual of Holika dahan came into practice.

The other aspect of Holi is to play with colours. White clothes represent the colour that encompasses all other colours. Likewise, God is within each one of us, and is the source of all creation, just as white is the source of all colours. There is a story of a newly married couple who were very much in love. However, as weeks and months passed, they started arguing and fighting. While the husband was trying to change the wife, the wife was trying to change the husband. One day, the mother-in-law decided to take the newlyweds to a park. They packed a picnic lunch of delicious food and beverages. They enjoyed the atmosphere in the park all day. Then, as the sun began to set, the parents asked the couple to sit peacefully and watch the sky. They all took positions where they could lean back and watch the colours of the sky change as the sun set lower and lower. There were luscious blues, pinks, oranges and yellows. There were patches of violet and shimmering flecks of gold. The girl’s mother-in-law, being wise said, “Isn’t this beautiful?” All agreed that the sight was fantastic. Then the mother-in-law said, “Now, I do not hear any of you saying to God, why not take some of this orange in the sky and move it to the right, or take some of the pink and move it more to the right. Why can’t we accept that we are good enough for each other?” The couple took the message and did not try to change each other.

Similarly, let us take this as a message to love and accept each other. Sant Rajinder Singhji, head of Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission, works towards promoting inner and outer peace. He can be

contacted at www.sos.org