Sankranti is so called because the day takes you from darkness to increasing light; the path of Light is open from this day. The Sun enters upon the Uttarayanam this day; it moves from the Makararekha in the Madhyarekha. Bhishma waited for the day, spending 56 days on of pain, because he felt that death when the Sun starts north is auspicious. He wanted to offer his life at the Feet of the Lord at an auspicious moment. (SSS Vol.3, p. 143)
The Sun appeared serenely peaceful. The days started to get shorter. And the chill wind blew fiercely. The fields were ripe with the golden crop. The farmers rejoiced in singing. The buds of flowers blossomed on the banks of rivers like garlands. Farmers were bringing home the newly harvested grain. And hailed the arrival of the sweet Festival of Sankranti. (SSS Vol.25, p.30)
The Sankranti festival was thus designed to promote harmony and love in the family, to make people realise the unity of the Creator and creation, to teach the people their obligation to instil heroism in them by making the Sun God their example, and, above all, to make them realise their inherent Divinity. This is sacred purpose of the Sankranti festival. (SSS Vol.25, p.38)
Today is called Sankranti, the day when the Sun starts on its northward journey by entering the Makara sign of the Zodiac. Samyak Kranti iti Sankranti (change for the good is Sankranti). We must transform ourselves completely. Sankranti reveals not only the beauty of Nature but also the resplendent beauty of the Divine. (SSS Vol.17, p. 5)
Sankranti is the foremost among all the festivals of India. It is a festival of gaiety and rejoicing as the farmers bring home the harvested crop and perform acts of charity to help the poor and needy. It fills the heart of all with liveliness and enthusiasm. On this occasion, Vedic scholars get up at Brahmamuhurtha (early morning time), chant the Vedic Mantras to purify their hearts and realise the Supreme Being.
The festival has a special significance even for householders. They invite their newly married son-in-law to their house and offer gifts and new clothes to them, filling the entire house with mirth and joy. In this context, there is a Telugu folk song:
As Sankranti is the festival of festivals,
Oh newly married bridegroom, visit your in law’s house,
Come, spend your time in fun and frolic
with your brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law,
The entire household and the neighbourhood will honour
with love and affection.
It is also an occasion when the bullocks are decorated elaborately and taken to various houses in the village. The bullocks are worshipped and fed sumptuously as an expression of gratitude for all the hard work they do in the fields. Even the bovine members of the household are feted, a symbolic marriage is performed between and a cow, naming them as Rama and Sita. They are taken along streets amidst rejoicing and dancing. People address their bullocks as Ramudu, Bhimudu, etc. Similarly, cows are named after Sita, Gowri, Lakshmi, etc. The inner meaning of this that even animals are treated with the same concern and care as human beings. They decorate the cows and bullocks with Saris and Dhotis and take them out in a procession. In this manner, the festival of Sankranti bestows great joy and auspiciousness of the farmers, householders, priests and children.
Not only the human beings, even the birds and animals rejoice with the arrival of the sacred Sankranti festival. At sunset, it is a wonderful sight to the birds flying back to their nests chirping merrily in their own language, filling the air with their joyous, loud singing. It is an equally delightful sight to see the cows rushing back from grazing fields to fend their calves who crave for their caresses of their mothers, mooing loudly. Sankranti festival is so sweet and endearing to one and all. Cool winds, mellifluous songs of birds of sweet sugarcane crop herald the arrival of Sankranti. People celebrate this festival by preparing and distributing sweets and rice puddings. The festival drives away all disappointments and despair and fills our hearts with hope and enthusiasm. People get up early in the morning, have a sacred bath and worship their chosen deities as Ganapati, Subrahmanya and Lord Ishvara. However, nowadays people are not celebrating Sankranti in its true spirit. Their celebrati0n is confined to mere performance of rituals. They lack purity and sanctity. They are unable to enjoy the bliss of Sankranti because of hatred, jealousy and conflicts.
On this auspicious occasion of Sankranti, children aged five years are initiated into the process of learning with the chanting of sacred Vedic Mantras. Our ancient sages declared, Vedahametam Purusham mahantam Aditya varnam tamasah parastat (I have visualised the Supreme Being who shines with the effulgence of a billion suns and who is beyond Tamas – the darkness of ignorance). The Vedas extol the Supreme Being in manifold ways. The Rig Veda contains Mantras extolling God and His blissful form which attracts one and all and fills their hearts with bliss.
Birds and animals lead their lives happily in accordance with their natural qualities. But man has forgotten his true nature and is consequently leading a miserable life. Birds and animals lead a better life because they live in unity and harmony. But due to the impact of modern education, man has degenerated to a level lower than that of an animal. He has lost the virtues of honesty and integrity. Birds and animals have a reason but man has no reason or season. Go to any house, go to any street, see any human endeavour, you will find that money is given the utmost priority. People are ready to stoop down to any level for money. They even barter their honour for the sake of money. Animals are satisfied once their hunger is satisfied. But man has no sense of satisfaction; he goes on eating endlessly even when he has no appetite. When a dog is sick, it stops eating food. If you have a pet dog, you might have observed this. Even if you forcibly feed it with milk, it refuses to drink. It likes to remain without food. . But man observes no such restraint with regard to diet when he is sick. Even when he runs a high temperature of 101, he likes to eat sweets like Mysorepak, Burfi, Gulab Jamoon, etc, which will only aggravate his sickness.
Thus, animals are observing dietary discipline as man should do while man is behaving more like animals in his eating habits. When a person misbehaves, the elders reprimand him by asking,’Why do you behave like an animal? It is under the impacts of modern education that man is behaving in this perverted manner. He prides over high qualifications like B.A. and M.A. but what is the use when he is adding dirty qualities (signified by the letter D) to his qualifications, thus becoming Bad, and Mad? This type of perceived behaviour is unbecoming of a human being. Man should good thoughts, good thoughts, good qualities, good conduct and good character. But man’s craving for money has become so great that he does not hesitate to use unfair means to earn money. He even barriers unfair means to earn money. He even barters away his morality for the sake of money. Money comes and goes, morality comes and grows.
The festival of Sanskranti exhorts us cultivate noble qualities. ‘Kranti’ means transformation. Therefore, the festival of Sankranti is celebrated to remind us that we should bring about transformation in our life. But, how are we reacting to this? Are we able to achieve transformation in our life? No. The purpose of celebrating festivals is to get rid of bad qualities and cultivate good qualities. This is the significance of all festivals of India. But people today are not realising the inner meaning of the festivals. (SSS Vol.37, p.28)
From this day of the Tropic of Capricorn, Makara Sankramana as it is called, the Sun appears to move from South to North, and so, this Summer Solstice day is celebrated as an auspicious festival since ages. But, you are concerned more with your own journey that is nearing its end with every sunrise.
Sankramana is the time when the inward journey towards a pure and unsullied heart is made). Just as the sun embarks on his northward journey, Sankranti is the day on which the intellect should be turned towards the atma for Self – realisation. You celebrate the Sankranti with a feast, where you prepare dish out of green –gram, rice and jaggery. The gram is Lord Vishnu, the rice is His Consort (Shri or Plenty and Prosperity), and jaggery is the principle of Divine Love. So, it is not that dish that marks the festival, it is the contemplation of the Divine that has to be established in the wayward mind. (NNSG Vol.7, pp. 7-9)