Rama Worshipping Shiva

Lord Vishnu incarnated as Sri Rama in the Treta Yuga. During his life in the jungle, Ravan, the Asura King who ruled Lanka kidnapped Sita- wife of Sri Rama. To get her back and free the people of Lanka from the demon king, Rama reached the seashore(India and Lanka is separated by the sea) with the Vanaras(Army of monkeys) under the leadership of Sugreeva. This place is now the city of Rameswaram in the state of Tamil Nadu in India.

“How can I cross the ocean? How can I defear Ravan?” SriRam thought.

Suddenly, he felt thirsty. The vanaras brought sweet water to Ram. He had a vision of Lord Shiva while he was drinking happily.
He put down the bowl of water and started doing Poojas for Lord Shiva. His stotras made Lord Shiva contented. He appeared before Ram.
SriRama spoke with devotion.

“The Ever Great Maheswara! You are my Master and I am your servant. I can succeed only by your blessings. Ravan is ruthless yet he is your devotee as well. He is undefeatable because of the boon you granted him. His ego and pride made him confident even to conquer the three worlds. I can never be successful defeating him without your help.”

SriRama bowed down to Shiva after saying this. “Jai Shankara! Jai Shiva!” he repeatedly prayed.
After being please, Lord Shiva said,
“Rama, you will be prosperous. I’m contented by your devotion.”

Rama replied,” Oh Lord! SadaSiva! Please give me the power to win over Ravan in the war at Lanka.”

“Let it be.  You will emerge victorious as you wish.” Lord Shiva blessed Rama.

“Lord! If you are satisfied with me, please stay here so that everyone else can pray to you on this sacred spot.”

As per the request of Rama, Shiva turned into a Lingam at that spot which now is the famous temple of Rameswarm.

The Rameswaram Temple is one of the Twelve Jyothirlingam Temples of India.

 

Sakthi Sakthithasan

 

Thank you ---- http://sivapurana.blogspot.in

Siva the great teacher

Lord Bramha's four children who were sanaka, sanandana, sanAtana, sanat kumAra who carried out a lot of analysis and meditation but were unclear 0f Supreme truth.
 

They were puzzled and thought how best to overcome their doubts and thought that going to Lord Siva will be the best solution.

They went to Lord Siva and requested him to give answers for their doubts. Lord Siva smiled and sat under a banyan tree.

The four sages sat under the tree in front of him. Lord Siva has not spoken a single word and sat in front of then in Yoga in a posture with his one folded on top of the other.

In amazement the four sages had all their doubts cleared as the explanation for their doubts were explained in the posture that Lord Siva took is the form of  Dhakshanamoorthy who is also known as the Gurubaghavan who is one the Navagrahas also known as Jupiter.

The leg pressing over a demon, on the top of which the Embodiment of merits is sitting with one leg folded, the one who teaches difficult words (vedas) with ease, the sages enjoying (the teachings, sitting) on ground, with the (hand) posture of explaining, a fire pot, book and akshamAla in the four hands, Who trembles away my ignorance, to That dakshiNAmUrti (salutations).

The day Thursdays are the day for the prayer for "Dhakshanamoorthy". Who will grant us wisdom to analyse and pick the righteous path of our life.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

Shiva , Vishnu and the Chakkra

Lord Vishnu visited a temple called Thiruveelamilali while Lord Shiva and Devi Parvathi was there. Lord vishnu loved the beauty of the temple and the fact that Lord Shiva and Parvathi were there

In his devotion to Lord Shiva lord Vishnu made a request to Lord Shiva that he wants to worship Lord Shiva and Parvathi in that Temple.

Lord Shiva as usual agreed for this request and changed himself to the form of a Lingha.

Lord Vishnu started his prayers every day he visits the garden around there and pick 1000 flowers with which he worships Lord Shiva.

One day he was short of a flower. He was so worried that he would not be able to full fill his duties in the Worship of lord Shiva he digs one of his eyes and offer that as the 1000th flower to Lord Shiva/

Overwhelmed by the devotion of Lord Vishnu , lord Shiva offers a boon to Vishnu. He amalgamates all his powers together and instill them in a small wheel called Chakkra. And presents this to Lord Vishnu and requests him to protect the world by getting rid of evils with the help of this powerful wheel.

This is one of the weapons that Lord Vishnu carries in his one of the four hands all the time/ He also uses this wheel to get reed of the bad people who provoke evil deeds on the world.

The bond between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu is very strong they admire one another and worship one another. It is also said they both but one and is separated in different forms for the purpose of protecting the world.

Once when Lord Shiva was asked who he pray to while he meditates he smiles and says that he pray to Lord Narayana. On the same way when Lord Vishnu was asked who prays while he meditates his answer was Lord Shiva.

what we see in the form of gods are in fact our inner sense. It is very difficult for average person to look within him/herself to realise god resides within them. Hence several forms of gods were introduced explaining the different functions of a person and the purpose of living.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

An interesting event

Arjuna is a great warrior in Mahabharat. He is one of the five brothers of Panja Pandava . Arjuna is a great friend of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna is of course an avatar of the great lord of Maha Vishnu.

Arjuna was in a previous birth a close associate with Lord Krishna and they both have this bond with each other.

Krishna is a great manipulator of events but it always to give the just cause a chance to win. Krishna knew that Dhuriyothana the leader of the Gowrava`s and the eldest son of king Dhrutharastrishan will be leading his country in the path of destruction. By default it was King pandu`s eldest son  Dharmawho should have been the rightful aire to the throne.

Krishna has always on the side of Pandava`s whenever they need him. But each of the Pandav`s had a great bhoon that was second to none. And Arjuna was the greatest champion in the war using bow and arrow. There was no one in the world could be equal to him except Karna.

One day Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna was talking and Arjuna was asking Krishna if he could visit mount Kailash and prey to Lord Shiva in person. Krishna said why not get some fresh flowers and they both can go to mount Kailash and pray to Lord Shiva.

So prince Arjuna collect plenty of fresh flowers and both of them going towards mount Kaillash.

They reached mount kailash and was walking towards the place where lord Shiva was meditating. On the way they both lord Shivas devotees and the helpers who live in Kailash " Pootha kanagkal" was very busily carrying baskets full of flowers that were devoted to Lord Shiva after they were used to worship lord Shiva. And amazed with the amount of flowers that were returning from lord Shiva`s worship Arjuna asks Krishna " Krishna who would have been the person who devoted all these flowers to Lord Shiva? " with a smile Krishna replies " he is someone you know quiet well"  " is it my brother Dharma ?" Krishna said again with a smile "No"  Arjuna asks again " is it Sahadevan?" , No is the answer again

and he said " It was your brother Bheema " again with a smile. " Bheema?" Arjuna asked in amazement as he would have been the last person that he would have imagined devoting flowers to Lord Shiva.

Krishna carried on saying " When you five were living in hiding when ever Bheema saw any big flower gardens he would pray with in himself and say let all these flowers be devoted to Shiva " and since that time all flowers that he came across are being devoted to Lord Shiva.

At that point Arjuna realised it is only in your mind with pure thoughts you need to worship lord Shiva with and there is no need to make personal visit to see Lord Shiva in Person. Lord Krishna and Prince Arjuna both worshiped Lord Shiva and returned.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

Lord Shiva and Ravana a relationship between man and God

yes ! it is amazing the the legendary stories that govern Hindu religion. there are several versions of the same event depending upon through whom you hear this but in essence all of these try to give the same message.

Ravana who was a powerful king and the Step brother of the god of wealth Kuberan had ten heads according to the legend.

He wanted to get some boons from Lord Shiva started meditating towards lord Shiva for years. To get the attention of Shiva and to show his devotion to him he started to cut his heads one by one.When he came to his last remaining head Lord Shiva appeared before him and promised him that he would grant what ever he wanted.

Ravana asked that he wanted to have the privilege to be the most important and best devotee of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva also granted him his wish.

Ravana had great knowledge of "Vasthu" that the knowledge building castles according to the religious fundamentals. He wanted use this knowledge of his and build a grand castle for Lord Shiva in Kailash.

he creates a model and start his journey towards Kailash on the way all the prople whom he meets advises him that Lord Shiva will never agree to have a castle in kailash as he is a person who likes to have a simple way of life.

Ravana refusing to accept this fact on the grounds that he is the most important devotee of Lord Shiva and his devotion alone is that all he required to get his wish granted.

In the mean time as per Parvati`s wish Lord Ganesha and Lord Muruga are going round the world looking for a suitable design for a castle for Kailash.

as per guru Vashista`s advice they follow in the direction he said and meet up Ravana with his model.

They decide that that was the best model for a castle that could be built in kailash. looking at all these preparation with a smile Lord Shiva grants the permission to go ahead.

Ravana finishes his beautiful castle and also make Lord Shiva and the family attend the house warming ceremony with all the Devas.

that is when the greed and wisdom meets. Yes when asked by Lord Shiva  and Parvati what he expects to receive as a gift for his excellent construction. Ravana thinking that if he asks for the castle it self then he could take Lord Shiva and his family with him.

to his astonishment Lord Shiva and his family grants the castle to Ravana but insisted that it does not mean that they too go with him.

Disappointed Ravana returns home with the emty castle and an empty heart.

The storey explains few things without not refusing Parvati`s wish to have a castle and Ravana`s wish to build one Lord Shiva granted Ravana`s wish and made Parvati realise that the wish for a castle in Kailash is not a practicable one.

There have been lot of arguments saying all these are imaginative stories that are not useful. On the contrary every storey that we have has a hidden message in them. our wisdom is not to argue the negative side of the stories but to understand the positive message hidden in them.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

Shiva ..... Parvati ...... Ganesha , a steep ruthless lesson

Lord Ganesha ! famously known as the Elephant faced God . Many a times during my younger days I used to wonder why a god has a face of an Elephant ! Many a times my father has sort to explain this in the terms that he understood it. But the age and wisdom that I had that time did not make me understand the significance behind this.

Lord as he does at various times went on a meditation far away from mount Kailash ti find answers within himself for the troubles of the Universe. The Godess Parvati was on her own contemplating her life. There were lot trouble flaring up in this great Universe. During which time she was advised by the famous Rishi`s that there need to be a son born to Parvati for the Salvation of the earth.

Hence by creating a form of a son with the Haldi (Yellow powder) Parvati gives life ti Lord Ganesha known as Lord Vinayaga with the kelp of Karpaga Virutcham (Auspicious tree).

Lord Ganesh also known as Pilliar grows as a pet of his mother Parvati. He adores his mother having not seen his dad Lord Shiva as he is still meditating.
The world rejoices by the birth of Lord Ganesh who is a beautiful Chubby boy with a large tummy. He loves Mothga a form of Lattu which is famous sweet.

Years pass by Vinayaga grows to be a normal child but with great powers invested by Parvati. In addition to that he is the son of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva finishes his meditation and prepares to return to Kailash to be united with his wife Parvati. Lord Shiva is the protector of the Universe who knows the past, present and future. He clearly knows about the birth of his son Vinayaga but something is bothering him . Is it because that he knows what is going to happen ?

Having known that Shiva is about to return to Kailash Parvati wants to prepare herself to receive the Lord Shiva. She goes into a big pooja, In order for her to carry out the pooja without any disturbances she orders Lord Ganesha to protect the entrance of the cave even to Ganesha himself.

The trouble began. Lord Ganesha refuses Lord Shiva`s entry into the cave. All the rishi`s, saints, devarishi Naradha and other gods request Vinayaga to let Shiva enter but Lord Ganesha not only refuses but disrespecting everyone and attacks all with the great powers given to him by his mother Parvati.

The destroying form of Shiva is evoked to everybody`s fear Shiva decapitate his own son Vinayaga with greatest reluctance. Parvati who completed her pooja and came out at that point is incensed with this and argues with Lord Shiva .

Shiva explains " Even though lord ganesha was created by Parvati to save the Universe it was her own selfishness that had the inner motivation to create Lord ganesha. Hence Lord ganesha was filled with Ego who set about to disrespect the elders and saints including his own father Mahadevar. Shiva anything that is created or done for selfish motives will not yield good results " but a mother`s anger did not quench by Shiva`s explanations.

She turned into the most fear full form of "Aathi Shakti" and set about destroying the very universe that Lord Shiva was trying to protect.

All the gods begged Shiva to do something to calm Parvati down. Shiva asked his disciple Nandhi and Devendran to head North and bring the head of the first living being that is willing to sacrifice it`s head. Nandhi and Devendran encountered this elephant which explained to them that Lord Shiva himself has given a boon to him by previous meditation that he would be closer to Shiva.

They accepted the willing head of the elephant and Shiva placed that on Vinayaga`s decapitated body and performed it to be Lord Ganesha  . It is also said by Shiva that Lord Ganesha will have the uttermost wisdom and a kind heart.

Yes i can see that . everyone is exclaiming Oh ! this is only a myth. Yes it may be as with any stories associated to Shiva there is a strong morale philosophy behind it.

Ego, Selfishness these should not be the reason for Any creation that will only be leading to a path of destruction.

Ohm  Namashivaya

Sakthi Sakthithasan

Lord Shiva

 

Shiva, 
the great ascetic Yogi, is said to reside on Mountain Kailash in the Himalaya. This is highly symbolical. The state of meditation is the peak of human consciousness and enlightenment is the culmination point where meditator and meditation merge with God. 

And Pure Consciousness is Shivam or Shiva. Hence, Shiva in Kailash means that one experiences Shiva at the highest level of consciousness. Most pictures of Shiva depict him in a meditative posture. Shiva’s closed eyes symbolize that God sees nothing but Itself.

It is also an invitation for man to turn his gaze inwards. Indeed, by simply turning the gaze inwards, we can merge into the infinite ocean of love, freedom, power and bliss. Swami Paramananda leads us to discover the lofty truths that the images of Shiva, the Shiva Lingam and Ardhanareswar represent. He explains the profound esoteric significance of the Maha Shivaratri festival, which is celebrated by Hindus in honor of Shiva, and the symbolism of each rite involved. 

He reminds us that the pilgrimage and the rituals all point towards the inner pilgrimage and the realization that we are all Shiva in potential, for Shiva means nothing but pure consciousness. Any individual who has experienced his true self as pure consciousness or Shiva is an ocean of peace, bliss, freedom and love. 

He lives in unity with the whole existence and is a lamp to both himself and the world. We need many such lamps to bring about the greatest revolution possible, the global mind transformation. Now, imagine how the world will be if we all meditate! That will be the greatest revolution of all times.

Sakthi Sakthithasan

Thank you :  http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/8653/The-Truth-on-Lord-Shiva