Lord Shiva Stories – Lord Shiva and Ganga

Once, there was a king named Sagara who was very mighty and powerful. He wanted to claim his rule over the Gods and hence decided to conduct the Ashwamedha Yagna. He instructed to release the horse of the yagna and whatever land it would be riding over, those would have to accept his obedience. If they didn’t wish to abide, they may hold the horse and call for a war. Sagara sent his 60,000 sons with the horse to save it from protesters.

The king of heaven, Lord Indra was jealous of Sagara’s power. He thought he needs to teach Sagara a lesson and destroy his Ashwamedha Yagna. He took the horse and tied it to the hut of the great sage Kapila who had been meditating for a long time. The 60,000 sons of Sagara came searching for the horse and found it tied at Kapila’s hut and thought that the great sage had stolen the horse. Thinking so, they started insulting the sage. Kapila opened his eyes in several years and looked at the sons of Sagara. With this glance, all sixty thousand were burnt to death.

Angshumana, the grandson of King Sagara went to the sage begging for mercy. Kapila told him that he cannot reverse the curse but if the sacred Ganga flows down to earth and touch their ashes; she will purify their souls and give them salvation. After this, many years passed by and eventually King Sagara died. It was King Dilipa, the son of King Angshumana who went to pursue Lord Brahma to help him bring goddess Ganga down to the earth. But he ended up in a debacle. He passed on the task to his son, Bhagiratha. With Bhagiratha’s continuous prayer, Brahma was pleased and he granted his wish. He ordered Ganga to descend to the earth. But who would contain the force of her stream? Bhagiratha then prayed Lord Shiva so that he holds the stream of Ganga. Lord Shiva agreed.

Ganga, with Brahma’s boon descended on Earth and the indomitably powerful Lord Shiva contained her fierce stream in his matted locks and Ganga lost her ways helplessly. Later, he released her in 7 different streams named: Bhagirathi, Janhvi, Bhilangana, Mandakini, Rishiganga, Saraswati and Alaknanda. Learning Lord Shiva’s lesson,

Ganga became very calm and she followed Bhagiratha without creating further problems. Bhagiratha led her to his ancestors and with the help of her holy water, those 60,000 sons of King Sagara were revived and their souls were freed from the curse.

This is how the Ganga came down to the earth and flowed through India. Today, we see many devotees bathing in the water of the holy river. It is believed that whoever takes a holy dip in this river gets rid of the sins of this birth.

Source: https://www.wheresmypandit.com/blog/lord-shiva-stories-lord-shiva-and-ganga

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Shiva Puja

Kalaatitata-kalyaana-kalpanta-kaari, Sadaa sajjanaa-nanda-daataa purarih

Chidaananda-sandoha-mohaapahaari, Prasida praslda prabho manmathaarih

‘Hei Shiva, you are without parts and blessed. You are but the cause of universal destruction and the conception. Hei Shiva, you are of purest heart. A slayer Tripura, you rule the conscious and unconscious with eternal bliss.  A dispeller of illusion and enemy of lust, Hei Shiva, please have mercy on my soul.’

He is known by many names like Rudra, Bholenath – the kind hearted, Mahadev – the greatest Lord and even Mahakaal – Lord of eternal time. Shiva is the essential power of the transformer in the kaal-chakra of Trimurti that drives the cosmos. He is the Adiyogi- the first yogic guru, leading the path of spiritual discovery.

Many of us pray to Lord Shiva for marital bliss, financial stability and success. But even beyond that, worshipping Lord Shiva leads us on a path of salvation from worldly desires through self awakening that transcends our souls in perpetual bliss. While Monday is a dedicated day for Shiv puja, it can still be offered any day.

Lord Shiva is usually worshipped in a linga form with ancient Hindu rites and rituals. Puja rituals as described in Puranas involve six broad stages – Dhyaana, Asanam, Achamaniyaan, Abhishekam, Deepam with Naivaidyam and Aarti. Of all, abhishekam is of prime importance in Shiva Puja. It is said that after Shiva gulped all the poison that emerged out of the ‘Samudra-manthan’ and did not calm down due to the intense burning sensation in his throat, the only respite he got was from a stream of continuous water the gods poured over his body to soothe him. Hence, in any Puja or religious offering, abhishekam is dearest to Lord Shiva.

One of the commonly performed puja for Shiva – Rudra Abhishekam, is of paramount significance. It is believed to help us rid our souls of past sins along with its bad afflictions and bring in peace, wealth and success to our lives. It mimes the puja performed by Lord Rama by establishing Shiva Linga at Rameshwaram before crossing the seas to bring back his beloved Sita.

The more elaborate form of Rudra Abhishekam is Ekadasha Rudra Abhishekam – the one performed with eleven Shiva Lingas. The puja is performed by eleven pandits – one consort for each Shiva Linga, as they each recite Shri Rudrastak or Rudra Sukta eleven times. That makes the total recitals of Shri Rudrastak 121 times while performing continuous abhishek with eleven different ingredients like Curd, Honey, Milk, Panchamruta, Ghee, Sugar, Water, Haldi, Sandal wood, Vibhuti and Bael Patra, each symbolising our prayers for things we want.

An elaborate, once-in-a-lifetime Yagna, Ati Maha Rudra Yagna is also performed by firm devotees, seeking Lord Shiva’s blessings to remove all horoscope or planetary hindrances like Rahu Dosha, Nag Dosha and Visha Dosha, apart from bringing other material benefits. This Yagna is considered most sacred and a challenging task for pandits and devotees alike. It is an important form of reverence of Lord Shiva as a source of the cosmic energy and creation. The Yagna involves extensive recitations of religious and other texts including all four vedas, Ramayana, excerpts from Shrimad Bhagwat, Nava Graha Japa, ShivPuran and others. A Vedic yagna accompanies the continuous abhishek performed on Shiva Linga. Ati Maha Rudra Yagna is performed by 108 scholarly pandits for 11 continuous days. All the while, Shri Rudrastak is chanted to invoke all the avataars of Shiva for worship.

Shiva Puja, in any form, is believed to grace us with his blessings for a happy content life filled with internal accord and worldly success apart from freeing our souls from the past misdeeds.

Om tryambakam yajaamahe, sugandhim pushthivardhanam

Urvaarukamiva bandhanaan, Mrityormuksheeya maamritaat

I worship you Lord Shiva, O’ the three-eyed one, who is in the state of supreme bliss as fragrance and sustains one and all. Please free us from the shackles of endless cycle of birth and death and show us the path to immortality.

Source: https://www.wheresmypandit.com/blog/shiva-puja

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The Story behind Shiva Linga

Lord Shiva, also known as Mahadev, is one of the supreme gods in the Trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh. Unlike other gods, whose temples house their idols for worship, Shiva temple houses his representation – Shiva Linga. The word linga in Sanskrit means the mark, symbol or emblem; hence Shiva Linga literally means the symbol of Shiva.

The appearance of Shiva Linga epitomizes symbols of the transformational energy of yin and yang. At the very top is a cylindrical round structure which is often compared with the erect male reproductive organ, which resides on top of a circular structure at the base which signifies a yoni. These are the symbols of male and female creative energies which together is said to have created the Brahmand – the whole universe. It represents the energy in indivisible space and time, having no beginning and no end, from which everything is said to have been born.

The oldest mention of anything similar to Shiva Linga is found in Arthrvaveda. A hymn in the Veda praises a yupa sthambh – a sacrificial post, which seems to have no beginning or an end – resembling the eternal universe. Once the yagna (sacrifice) was over, its ashes, smoke along with the ox that carried the wood for sacrificial fire flames transformed into the brightness of Shiva’s body riding on the bull. Hence the Yupa sthambh eventually has been replaced by Shiva-Linga.

There is also another story mentioned in Shiva Purana. Once Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu got into an argument over who is superior. Both gods fought in vain trying to prove their supremacy over other. When the intensity of the battle grew, other gods approached Lord Shiva asking him to arbitrate. Lord Shiva assumed the form of a blazing fire pillar which appeared in front of them. He challenged both Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu to find the beginning and an end of the pillar. Arbitrarily both Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu decided to find each end. Hence Lord Brahma went to skies looking for a beginning and Lord Vishnu went to the underworld trying to look for an end but both were disappointed not to find it. Exhausted in his journey, Lord Brahma met Ketaki (a flower) and made her his ally in the false claim that he had indeed found a beginning. When he returned and declared this false claim, the fire pillar split open and Lord Shiva stepped out in his magnificence. Humbled with this vision both Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu accepted Lord Shiva’s supremacy. Angry at Lord Brahma for lying, he cursed him that no one will worship him, hence there are barely any temples dedicated to Lord Brahma. He cursed Ketaki too, rendering her unfit to be used in puja. The eternal fire pillar is symbolised with the conical oval shape of Shiva Linga as a formless universe bearer which radiates with all the celestial energy and provides focus for meditation.

It is believed that Shiva manifested himself in the form of Shiva Linga on the fourteenth day of Krishna paksha (dark side of the moon) in the Phalgun month as per Hindu calendar. This auspicious day is also celebrated as Mahashivratri by Hindus. Devotees offer prayers along with bel-patra and abhishek of milk to Shiva-Linga for happiness and prosperity.

Source: https://www.wheresmypandit.com/blog/the-story-behind-shiva-linga

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Why Lord Ganesha Has An Elephant Head?

There are as many as 330 million gods in Hindu mythology. But the one who is always worshipped before reminiscing others is Lord Ganesha. He is considered as the one who brings auspicious fortunes and a remover of obstacles. With his soft looks and wisdom, Lord Ganesha is ever so popular and loved by all. He looks all cute and cuddly bearing an elephant head, a long trunk, two large ears, four hands, round big belly with snake tied around and riding his mouse. Each of his physical attributes signifies something important.

There are versions of stories explaining why Lord Ganesha bears an elephant head. It is said that both Lord Shiva and Parvati would now and then observe long episodes of meditation and penance which would last months. Once Lord Shiva went away for dhyana (meditation) and Goddess Parvati was left alone in Mount Kailash. She wanted to go off for a bath but was anxious as she was alone. She scrubbed off her skin of dirt and oil and created a young human form figure. Blowing a soft breath over it, Goddess Parvati brought the young child to life. She considered him as her own son. Goddess Parvati asked him to guard the entrance door and not let anyone pass it as she went inside to bathe.

In the meanwhile Lord Shiva returned home. While entering the house he saw this young child at the door who stopped him from going in. At first Lord Shiva reasoned with the young child that he was Goddess Parvati’s husband and Mount Kailash was his home, hence he had every right to enter his own home. However, the young child, loyal to Parvati and abiding her instructions stopped Lord Shiva in his tracks again saying that he is only performing his duty to Mother Parvati. Furious with rage Lord Shiva challenged the young child to battle and beheaded him with his trident. Hearing the cry of the young kid, Goddess Parvati rushed outside and was stunned by the horrifying sight of her young son lying in pool of blood and decapitated. She lost control of her rage and vowed to destroy all of the earth and heaven. This is when Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva tried to pacify her. Goddess Parvati agreed on two conditions. One – her son should be brought back to life and another – her son should be prayed first before prayers are offered to other deities. Lord Shiva sent his clan with specific instructions to bring back the head of the first living creature found in the north direction (as it is associated with wisdom). His ganas brought back the head of a young elephant they found sleeping with his head in north direction. Lord Shiva placed the elephants head on the body and breathed life into him. He also announced him as a leader of all Ganas (tribes and classes) hence naming him ‘Ganapati’. Lord Brahma blessed him with vardaan that Lord Ganesha will always be remembered before commencing any puja or new ventures for bringing in luck and removing hurdles. 

Source: https://www.wheresmypandit.com/blog/why-lord-ganesha-has-an-elephant-head

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