Love has always been in the air, across beliefs
I started my career as a Hindi and Sanskrit literature teacher in 1983 and by 2003, I had spent almost 20 years teaching. In my education and teaching experience both in literature, poetry always fascinated me. Poets more often than not take beauty as their preferred subject of interest. Be it the beauty of nature or a fellow human. Be it Shakuntala, the heroine of Kalidas, or John Keats’ description of the beauty.
When we talk about beauty, it is our senses and emotions which attract us to the source. It comes to the natural beauty of a person as well, the beauty of nature, and above all the beauty in and of expression. Nature’s beauty can be felt in flowers and plants in full bloom and the butterflies over them.
We get such beauty of nature only and only in “Vasant Ritu” or the spring season. The Indian poet Shri Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena personified the spring season as a king by calling it ‘Ritu Raj’.
Now coming to the topic of Valentine’s Day – that is, the day when a person expresses his/her love for his/her beloved, or dear ones and expresses feelings with a beautiful gift, love to spend a day out with their loved ones. Is love such a feeling that can be shared or expressed in 1 day, No it is not.
My purpose in writing this article is to make a large section familiar with the fact that in our country Valentine’s Day is not meant to be a single-day event but it is a monthly celebration known as‘ Madhumas’. In ancient times, it was celebrated not for just 1 day but for 1 whole month. It was named Madnotsav, which is a celebration of emotions with the beauty of nature in the Spring season.
But when it took the form of a day i.e. Valentine’s Day, we suffered a great loss that we started restricting the expressions of our feelings to one single day limit. On the other hand, we helped businessmen make huge amounts of money by encashing upon the occasion. The concept of gifting on Valentine’s Day became the core of these businesses.
Madnotsav used to bring a sign of changing weather immediately after winter. The scientific fact behind this celebration is that the changed weather immediately after the winter season affects our daily life, and all living beings try to maintain their existence; an existence that is regulated by nature herself.
Scientists and science students are aware of the fact that in winter all cold-blooded creatures go into hibernation and some get buried in the ground. Our body’s metabolism adjusts to the falling temperature in winter. It is scientifically proven that there is a special kind of smell in the spring, due to which some vegetation that had gone under the ground, nature blooms back with it.
Apart from this, when the temperature of our body becomes normal, the hormones in our body also become active. We are filled with new enthusiasm. That means we are now full of joy and are ready to have to spend time in the lap of nature’s beauty. We are enthused with renewed spirits to express our joy and share our feelings.
The spring season is associated with Kamadeva,(The Kamana or the desire) who is said to be the God of beauty and love. Kamadeva is believed to be an incarnation of Krishna’s son Pradyumna. It is a surprising fact that Kamadeva is also known in other forms of Vishnu, Shiva, and Krishna.
In Rigveda, Kamadeva has been addressed by the name of Agni i.e. the fire of lust which affects feelings. The meaning of Kama is not restricted to sexual urges or sexual relations but is not only to have physical intercourse but also to express feelings and to have warmth in them. Kamadeva is depicted as a young man with a bow made of reed and a string made of bees and flowers, somewhat like cupid, both of whom are symbols of love and the feelings of the heart. The Romans believed Cupid to be the child of Venus and Mercury. Venus means love, and Mercury represents the verbal expression of emotions.
Marriage and Kamadeva
Kamadeva and Rati are considered equal to other supreme deities such as Shiva and Parvati. Desires remain within the limits of religion only by the grace of Kamadeva. Although today this trend has almost ended, earlier at the time of marriage, a parrot was used to mark the feet of the bride because the parrot is the ‘Wahan’ (vehicle) of Kamadeva. In many mythological stories, there is mention of praying to Kamadeva for the health, beauty, and happiness of husband-wife and children.
-Dr. Suman Sachdev is an Astrology And Vastu Consultant
Email id: [email protected]
