Previous Story
Message from the Leader of the Opposition on the occasion of Maha Shivrathri
Posted On 04 Mar 2019
Hinduism acknowledges three important principles. These are creation, sustenance and dissolution. The creator is known as Lord Bramhadev, the one who sustains and maintains that which has been created is Lord Vishnu whilst the principle of dissolution is the function of Lord Shiva.
At a personal, community and national levels, we too perform these three functions. However, there is a necessity to recognize that not all that is created remains useful and should be sustained. Many aspects of existence should be dissolved. Change is necessary. Lord Shiva reminds us of the necessity for dissolution and renewal for transformation. Without change, renewal and transformation, people and nations may regress.
Maha Shivrathri is an invitation to spend the night in the temple in the company of Lord Shiva. It is a night when we reflect on our existences, identifying those aspects of our lives that require renewal.
The devotee enters at the time of sunset and emerges with the break of dawn, committed to removing the negative influences and adopting a path that is spiritually enlightening, supported by positive values.
It is a night of rebirth, a night of personal reflection and identification of more positive pathways to improving one’s life.
In a similar manner, a nation must also undergo reflection of where it is as a nation, of the progress it is making for human happiness. Nations must also transform. But nations transform through their individual citizens and the ways in which they improve their collective consciousness about their fellow human beings.
Maha Shivrathri is an annual opportunity for such resolve. Nothing is possible without God’s will. Tonight, we pray for the intervention of Shiva in our personal lives and in our nation’s future. There is much that needs to be dissolved and much to change.
May our prayers to Shiva, whose very name means auspiciousness, bless us all with peace, prosperity and success.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP
Leader of the Opposition
