In plain words
As you go on with this inquiry, the mind, the Buddhi, the antaḥkaraṇa are all separate from you. All these are yours. You are the master. All these are instruments. Master the mind – be a master mind. When you think you are the master, you must be a master mind. Only then will you understand what oneness is, what divinity is. You think “I am the master” in name only. There is no master mind in you. You must be a master mind. That is true sādhana. In this way every festival of Bhārata, as our VC said, is a path that brings man to divinity. They are festivals for contemplating divinity. But today, giving up reflection on divinity, they enjoy the festivals with food and drink. Today a festival means making pāyasam and sweet rice and eating them. That is not what a festival means. A festival is to contemplate divinity, enter into that divinity, and attain divinity. Śivarātri. Rātri means darkness. Śivarātri means what is auspicious within the darkness. At least on this one night, keep vigil with the name of Śiva. At least on one day in the year, utter the name of God for 24 hours. But they think, “On the festival we must stay awake.” How must one stay awake through the night? One must stay awake contemplating God. That and nothing else: going to 3 cinemas, switching on TVs and watching for four hours, this is not vigil. “Spending that night playing cards with relish, does that alone make a vigil?” If you stay awake all night playing Cards, does that become a vigil? This is not vigil. Man has 16 kalās. Of these 16 kalās, 15 have dissolved, and today only one kalā remains. On this day of Śivarātri, when one spends the whole night with the name of God, in whatever way, that one kalā merges. Today is a very easy day. Its inner meaning is that when one keeps vigil all night and makes the time sacred, life itself becomes sacred. Śivarātri. Of all nights this night is the most auspicious. Through what? One must make time worthwhile by contemplating God. Though the inner meaning of these festivals is something else, when we take it into view we can inquire even into a small matter. Rātri means darkness.