Balinese Life
Shiva’s Night to Shimmer the Sinners

In the New Year 2005, Hindu devotees face a new moment to review their life through the celebration of Çiwaratri falling on 9 January 2005, just one day before the black moon in the seventh month of the Balinese lunar calendar.

Ciwaratri literally means the night of Shiva in which devotees perform holy contemplation. People celebrate it by worship, reading Holy Scripture, discussion and hymnal singing, that in Bali comprises kidung and kakawin. It mostly contains a moral message. This is not only intended for inner self review but also, in modern life where people live outside their home village due to their duties, so it becomes a reunion or social gathering. Here, they share various experiences pertaining to the implementation of religious teaching beneficial for their spiritual enhancement.
In relation to this festivity, there is a mythology quoted from the Puranic source that narrates to a hunter called Lubdhaka. Once upon a time, he went hunting into the dense forest. Unfortunately, he caught nothing that time. The more so he is overtaken by the night. It is said the darkest night of the year, namely one night before the black moon in the seventh month. He has no choice but stays overnight in the midst of the forest. To protect himself from attack from wild animals, he climbs a tree. He keeps awake all the night. All of a sudden on the ground under him, there is a Shiva lingam. In short, it means when he dies he will attain eternal bliss from Shiva. Soon after his death, the messenger of Yama comes to judge for killing so many animals, this tortures his soul.
Eternal the bliss of the ‘sinner’ Lubdhaka, basically, is not obtained on account of the amnesty of Shiva. Hindu’s has what is the so-called karmic law, or cause & effect law, as one of five basic principles, or Panca Srada. It is a natural law that created by God, and God himself stands outside the law. This aims at creating fairness and justice. Therefore, he can not interfere with one’s karma. Morgan KW in Bijayananda Kar (1985) states firmly, “The law of karma is a moral law corresponding to the physical law of causation. Just as the law of cause and effect works in the physical world, the law of karma works in the moral world.” Lubdhaka gets the boon, in essence, due to his good deed. Do not just think about overnights in the forest and keeping awake all night. But more than that, how he thinks about his family, unlucky works, why he does not find any animals in such a dense forest where he usually hunts. It must be the key point and that at the same time, no animals found in the dark night are signals of the creator to do a veneration. Coincidentally, it was the night of Shiva’s samadhi. He did a good deed at the right time. Perhaps, the ‘score’ of Lubdhaka could balance his evil deeds, or even exceed it. Since we are all not free from sin, it is the right time to add good deeds at this moment of contemplation.
Few Balinese older people may do not know the philosophy of this karmic law in detail, but in essence, they catch the point and do it well in practice. Through the ages they have a simple phrase “karmaphala”, meaning the doer of good becomes good, and the doer of evil becomes evil. This has reminded them of how to behave. They do not only consider it prevailing individually, but also collectively. (BTN/Punia)