On Chhath Puja, predominantly, the Sun is revered and worshipped. There are various rituals and customs of revering and worshipping Sun around the world. Various people in the various parts of the world express their gratitude to the god Sun in various ways. Mostly, rising sun is worshipped in the world. But, Chhath Puja is the only festival in this world where both rising and setting sun is worshipped equally.
This festival has a very powerful and profound spiritual meaning. This festival and its rituals are so profound that this single festival is sufficient enough to teach us the entire essence of life and existence if its essence is properly understood rather than doing it mechanically.
The rising and sinking sun are the symbolism of birth and death of the living beings on this planet. Birth and death is the reality of this existence. There is no new birth without death and there is no death if there is no birth. If there is no birth and death, the rhythmic movement of the universe will cease to exist. If there is birth, then there would be a certain death. No one has the power to delay or stop it. It is going to happen at its course of time. Birth and death are the two edges between which the river of life flows. Eventually, the river merges with a great ocean where it leaves all its name and form and become one with the source.
Generally, people celebrate birth but fear death. We forget that without understanding the death, life can neither be understood nor can be enjoyed. In the state of fear, no one can enjoy his life to the fullest. Life is not for fear, sorrow or suffering, it is for living and it must be lived meaningfully before it is engulfed by the deep trench of death. It is possible only when we understand and accept the reality of death.
On Chhath day, the setting sun is worshipped first and the next day the rising sun is worshipped. This ritual gives the importance of death over birth. And death is not the permanent cessation of the soul. After some time, the same soul manifests again in other forms like rising sun. And in this way, the soul gets one more opportunity to live the life piously with right conduct like the radiant sun by remembering the reality of death ahead.
It is said that –Sun provided the knowledge of Veda to the Yagnavalkya who was a great Rishi and has been mentioned in Upanishads. The Sun bestowed the knowledge of Veda to Lord Hanuman. Due to this knowledge, Lord Hanuman is called Gyan Gun Sagar (Ocean of knowledge and quality). God Sun is the first person who got the first knowledge of Bhagavad Gita by the supreme personality of Godhead. Later he passed the knowledge to the world through his lineage.
The Sun is considered as a symbol of knowledge that dissipates the darkness of the world when he rises. We see the things clearly. Similarly, when the sun of knowledge rises inside us the darkness of ignorance disappears from our life. All our doubts and confusion vanished. We see the things as it is. We get the Atma-Gyan, the self-knowledge. In the presence of the sun of knowledge, nothing can deviate us. We illuminate like the sun and help others also to remove the darkness of their life by spreading the light of knowledge. The way sunlight never discriminates anything, he falls equally on all the objects – good, evil, ugly. He falls on every object, but not attached or contaminated by anyone or anything. Similarly, the person who has the light of knowledge, never discriminate anything or anyone, he throws his light of knowledge everywhere for the welfare of humanity. This is shown by distributing the home-made Prasdam to the people.
Life is not possible without the presence of the sun. There would be no any possibility of food on this planet. There would be no plants and trees that make their foods from the sun. If the sun does not rise for someday, the earth will freeze, and all creatures will die.
Sunrise, sunset, day and night all are equally important for the subsistence of the earth. If there is only day, not night in some particular area, there would be scorching heat and creatures will burn to death. If there is night in some particular area and not day, then that area will freeze and creatures will die out of the cold. To make the life possible on this planet, the sun rises at one place and set at another place. The rise and set of the sun happen because of the rhythmic rotation of the earth.
Sunrise is the birth, sunset is the death, day and night are the two aspects of life. Ups and downs of life like day and night are important to make the vehicle of life move ahead. The ritual of this festival teaches us that - every aspect of existence is important and it is directly associated with our lives and it must be understood, respected and valued.
Sun burns himself first to generate light and heat before providing that light and heat to the world. Before generating the light of knowledge, like the sun, we have to burn ourselves in the fire of Tap (Penance), only then the sun of knowledge will rise within and remove the darkness of our life. That is why, on that day, an arduous fasting is done. Fasting and remembering god or goddesses is one of the ways of Tap by which the impurities of body and mind is burned.
The purity of body and mind is the first step towards the journey of spirituality. That day, Nirjal Upvas is done, meaning – fasting without taking even a drop of water for a longer time. During the fasting and Puja, they kindle Diya. This is symbolism of kindling the light of spirituality and knowledge within to remove the darkness and malign from our existence. For this festival and ritual, no priest is required. This can be done by anyone for kindling the light of knowledge and spirituality within.
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