1. For Siva-ratri

    Lord Siva is not connected with anyone, nor is anyone his enemy. Since he is one of the three controllers of the universal affairs, he is equal to everyone. His greatness is incomparable because he is a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is said that among all the devotees of the Personality of Godhead, Lord Siva is the greatest. Thus the remnants of foodstuff left by him are accepted by other devotees as maha-prasada, or great spiritual foodstuff. The remnants of foodstuff offered to Lord Krsna are called prasada, but when the same prasada is eaten by a great devotee like Lord Siva, it is called maha-prasada. Lord Siva is so great that he does not care for the material prosperity for which every one of us is so eager. Parvati, who is the powerful material nature personified, is under his full control as his wife, yet he does not use her even to build a residential house. He prefers to remain without shelter, and his great wife also agrees to live with him humbly. People in general worship goddess Durga, the wife of Lord Siva, for material prosperity, but Lord Siva engages her in his service without material desire. He simply advises his great wife that of all kinds of worship, the worship of Visnu is the highest, and greater than that is the worship of a great devotee or anything in relation with Visnu.

    From Srila Prabhupada’s purport to SB 3.14.26