Water plays a crucial role in daily life and holds profound significance for the Balinese. In Hindu beliefs, water is not just a source of physical life but also holds a sacred function in various religious ceremonies known as Tirta or holy water.
Luh Sonia Candra Juwita, a Hindu Religion Counsellor at the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Tabanan Regency, explains that in the holy scripture Bhagavad Gita, this holy water is referred to as Toyam or Toya, and it possesses magical and religious powers originating from The Divine Order, Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa.
Sonia also emphasizes the importance of water in Yadnya Ceremonies (offerings to the gods). The Hindu community in Bali believes in Tirta or Toya as sacred water primarily used in religious ceremonies.
Water and Nature
The Bhagavad Gita also mentions that living beings exist because of food, and food exists because of rain, and rain exists because of yadnya, and yadnya exists because of karma. This indicates that water is a vital medium in yadnya, where humans seek blessings in the form of rainwater for their health and safety.
The significance of Tirta is closely related to prayer. After offering prayers, Hindu devotees proceed with seeking Tirta. This process involves sprinkling Tirta three times, consuming Tirta three times, and dipping hands into Tirta three times. These three acts symbolize the purification of Sabda (speech), bayu (breath), and idep (mind).
Sprinkling Tirta on the human body signifies the purification of the physical body or sthula sarira with Tirta kundalini. Drinking Tirta symbolizes the purification from impurities and words, known as suksma sarira (Tirta Kamandalu).
Meanwhile, dipping hands into Tirta signifies purity in the power of life (Tirta Pawitra Jati). These three stages of Tirta sprinkling aim to provide purity to human beings. This belief reflects the close relationship of the Balinese people with water resources.
Water for Soul Cleansing
Water also serves as a symbol of purification or cleaning. In yadnya ceremonies, all offerings must be purified first to be accepted with purity. Holy water or Tirta is usually used as a means to perform this purification.
Furthermore, Tirta is considered as the enlivener of nature because dispersing it on a yadnya makes the offering spiritually valuable and pure. Tirta is also believed to be able to give life to the offerings presented and possess magical elements.
Moreover, Tirta acts as a preserver. In the view of Trimurti, Lord Vishnu as the ruler of water is responsible for preserving all of God's creations, while Lord Indra as the ruler of rain provides life-giving water and fertility to all living beings.