Siva give blessings to Sati

Siva give blessings to Sati

Sati was continuously praying to Lord Siva, focusing only in Siva and concentrating in the meditation. After a long time, Lord Siva appeared before her. He was very satisfied and happy. Sati looked Siva with great respect. Sati got excited seeing Siva. She understood that all her hard work in meditation had payed off.
He said,"Hey beautiful! You have successfully made me fall in to you. I am very much happy with your work. Tell me your wish without any hesitation and I will be glad to grant it for you."

She replied after a long interval of silence,"Hey Maheswar! I followed this meditation and all these prayers to be your wife. Please accept me as your wife."
Siva replied,"To be your husband is my wish too. I will make our wish possible immediately."
After saying this, Siva blessed Sati and disappeared. Sati went to Daksha's palace and told her mother what had happened. Sati's mother was happy to see her daughter successful in her meditation. Meanwhile, Siva went to Kailas and prayed to BrahmaDev. He came immediately and asked what happened. Siva said,"I have found the perfect girl. She was meditating for years. I decided to marry her."By hearing this BrahmaDev became very happy and said,"This is what me,Vishnu and every other Devas having waited for. I will arrange the marriage as soon as possible".

BrahmaDev went to Daksha's palace. Daksha welcomed him and asked,"Father, you seems to be very happy. What is the happy news?"
BrahmaDev replied,"Hey Daksha, Your daughter Sati had meditated for years to get Siva as her husband and she got successful in her meditation. Lord Mahadeva wants your daughter to be his wife. I came here to know how you feels. Do you agree?"

"Is this true? I have no objections with it. Its my happiness too. Lord Mahadeva being the husband of my daughter is a great honor. I am in support of this marriage. I will do the arrangements immediately."

After hearing Daksha's opinion BrahmaDev went to Kailas to convey Lord Siva.

The Birth of Sati

The Birth of Sati

Once, Lord Siva was involved in a tough meditation. At that time, BrahmaDev appeared where Siva was meditating. KamDev was also there. Brahmav said, " Son, don't you see Siva is concentrating in this mediatation for years. You should find a way to make him retreat from the meditation." KamDev replied,"Father, Even my job is that. But you should do a help for me. Please create a beautiful girl. I will do the rest of the job."

Brahmav created Vasanth and Malayanil. They both became KamDev's assistants. With the assistance of Vasanth and Malayanil, KamDev tried to wake Siva up. But all the efforts were in vain.
Finally, depressed Malayanil withdrawn from the operation. BrahmaDev went sad hearing this. The air which came from the depressed face of BrahmaDev turned into arrows. He gave all those arrows to KamDev to use it as weapon of love and adviced him to use it to wake Siva.
KamDev with his new weapons came near Lord Siva. He started to shoot arrows one by one. Yet, nothing happened. Defeated and resigned, KamDev went to BrahmaDev and conveyed his apologies.

Being lost to all chances, sad BrahmaDev started to pray Hari. At that very moment, Hari appeared in front of BrahmaDev.
"Hey BrahmaDev ! What made you this much unhappy? What made you pray me? Why is your face so depressed? I will do what is necessary."
BrahmaDev requested," Oh Vishnu Deva ! Lord Siva is deep meditating, unaware of what happening outside. The only way to wake him up is by making him fall in love with anyone. I done my best to do that with the help of my son. But all our efforts didn't payed off. That made me unhappy. I will be glad if you somehow do the job successfully."
Vishnu smiled and said,"Hey BrahmaDev ! I only see one way to complete your wish. You should pray to Lord Siva himself. If you pray him, he will be very happy and will be glad to grant your wish. Furthermore, with that wish is in your mind, pray Devi Para Sakti. She will born as a daughter of anyone in the earth and she will marry Lord Siva. It will not end with this. You should motivate Daksha too in this matter. Tell him to meditate to get Devi Para Sakti as daughter." Lord Vishnu disappeared after saying all these. BrahmaDev being satisfied, went to visit Daksha immideatly. While Emperor Daksha was sitting in the throne of his palace, BrahmaDev appeared.

"Son Daksha ! You have to meditate immediately to Devi Para Sakti to be born as your daughter."BrahmaDev said. By hearing this, Daksha with his wife prayed to only Devi ParaSakti in mind while deep meditating. Their meditation lasted for 3000 years. Satisfied by the couple's deep meditation, Devi ParaSakti appeared before them.

Daksha said,"Mother of the Universe ! Grant us a wish"
Devi replied," Daksha ! I am very much happy with your meditation. Do you have any wish? Ask for what you want."
Daksha with his wife said,"Incredible Devi ! My Dev Lord Siva incarnated from BrahmaDev in the name of Rudra. You haven't made any incarnation yet. Therefore, Lord Siva is without a wife. So, can you be born as my daughter in earth. This is not my wish only. Every Devas and Rishis are wishing for this too. Therefore, Devi Mother ! I request you to grand our wish and bless us."
After listening to what Daksha had to say, Devi replied," I will be born as your daughter as you wish. Then I'll be in a long and tough meditation and after that I'll accept Siva as my husband. But all this under one condition. You should listen it carefully"
" When you loose the respect on me, on that very moment, I will pass away from my body and join Parabrahma. You should always remember this."After saying all this, Devi ParaSakti blessed Daksha and his wife and disappeared.

60 daughters were born to Daksha and his wife. All of them were married to the deserved men. 10 of his daughters were married to Dharman, 13 were married to Kashyap, 27 were married to Chandra(Moon), Bhootan, Anguirass, Krishashwan were married to two each. The 4 daughters left were married to Tarkshya. Their generations were later became the population in the earth.Then, Daksha with his wife prayed for Devi ParaSakti again and as a result Sati was born.
After many years, BrahmaDev with Narada visited Daksha's palace to see Sati. Daksha was glad to see his father and brother. Sati came and respectfully bowed her head and touched the feet of her grandfather BrahmaDev. He raised her up and said," Hey Sati ! The secret wish that you hidden in your mind for all these years is going to happen. LokNath Lord Mahadeva will become your husband. He will not accept anyone else than you to be his wife. He is waiting for you right now. Therefore my child ! There is no need to be anxious." After a while, BrahmaDev and Narada left the palace. Hearing all these, Daksha and Sati was very happy.
Many years has passed. Sati became a beautiful teenager. By witnessing her beauty, Daksha thought," How can i allow this world beautiful girl, Sati to marry a man always wearing tiger's fur and looks like an animal. He is no match for my daughter." Daksha became anxious. By knowing her father's wish, Sati told her mother," Mother! Being a Lord ShivaSankar devotee, i wish to meditate to charm Mahadeva. Please give me the permission to do this." Her mother allowed her to meditate after confirming that Lord Siva is the perfect husband for Sati.

By getting the permission of her mother, Sati prayed Lord Siva and started to meditate. Sati spend her time day and night by doing puja to Lord Siva. People from different places came to see her praying to Mahadeva. But Sati didn't know anything happening outside. She was always concentrating on the prayer and meditation. By seeing this, all Devas went to Kailas to visit Lord Siva. After that, everyone said," Namo Namastey Lord Mahadeva ! We pray to you." After listening to what all Devas have to say including Brahmav and Vishnu, Lord Siva replied," Hey Hare ! Hey Vidhatave ! Hey Devas ! What is the reason behind the visit of all of you. I see something special in this visit. Tell me the reason behind your visit."
As Mahadev asked for the reason, Brahmav replied," Hey LokNath ! We all came here to remind you about an important thing. As I do my duty of creation with the help of Hari, the number of Asuras in the world is now expanding. Their sins are now increasing. Without destroying them imagine what happens. You are the only person who can carry on with that duty. There is no one to help you. There should be someone with the power of destruction after you. Even though we are all one, we have different duties. I look after creation and Vishnu look after protection after your suggestion. We both have wives. But you should not live alone like this. It is not apropriate. So, to make all Devas and living beings happy you should be married. Therfore, please accept a beautiful girl as your wife."
After listening to BrahmaDev, Siva smiled and replied," Hey Vishnu, BrahmaDev ! You two are my favorites. What you have said was very important. I will do what you said. But, it is not appropriate to a man like me to marry. I am always meditating. So what is the point in having a wife? I have no interest in marriage but for the world's sake I will marry.

I am ready to be married. But under one condition. I will only marry to a women who can incarnate into different persons. Whenever I meditate, she should also meditate. She should also not become a disturbance to my ideals. If anything like that happens, she will not live any more. Therefore, give me a bride who supports my ideals and follow my words."

Vishnu and Brahmav became happy by hearing this. BrahmaDev said," Oh Mahadeva! We have already found a suitable bride for you. She is the incarnation of Devi ParaSakti. Her name is Sati. She is the perfect match for you. She is now meditating to be your wife. Therefore Sada Siva ! You should bless her and marry. Her wish should be granted. This is what we all Devas wish for. So, there should be happiness in the three worlds."

Vishnu also conveyed the same opinion. Siva understood the importance of this matter. He blessed all Devas and decided to marry Sati.

How did Siva got the name Rudra?

How did Siva got the name Rudra?

At the time when Narayan was a child, he was sleeping on a leaf over the water which created the five senses. At sometime, the child opened his eyes. The universe which was all around him started to shrink and he started to grow. Suddenly, a lotus came from Vishnu's navel. From that BrahmaDev was born. Para Sakti gave the duty of creation to BrahmaDev. BrahmaDev's dearest children, the Sanal Kumarans, didn't appreciate his duty of creation. They started to rouse against it. BrahmaDev considered his children's behaviour as a disturbance. He became very very angry. He started to meditate inside the lotus. That meditation had only one thought.

" Someone should be born to help creation" that was the only thought going on in BrahmaDev's mind. Suddenly it happened. A light of the color blue and white started to spread in the middle of BrahmaDev who was deep meditating. A child was born from that unearthly light. He had the brightness and charm that would challenge the multimillion suns. The child rested on BrahmaDev's chest.

Suddenly the child started to cry. By saying "maruda.....maruda" BrahmaDev tried to stop the cry. The child stopped crying and asked.

"Lord, What is my name?"," You have born as a mighty God like me. Your should be named 'Rudra'. You will make everything fine and u will be also named as 'Siva'."BrahmaDev said.

By hearing these words, the child cried seven times more. BrahmaDev, again tried to calm him and said," Child, u again cried. You cried seven times more, therefore I am giving you seven more names. Bhavan, Sarvan, Eeshanan, Pashupati, Bhiman, Ugran, Mahadevan. By these names you will become famous". From that day on Siva became the third most powerful and the looked after the duty of destruction.

Nemesis of Rudra

Nemesis of Rudra

There are different stories of the coming of Lord Mahadeva.

At the beginning of the universe, Lord Vishnu was sleeping on water. At that time a lotus came from his navel. When the lotus's petals opened, BrahmaDev was born. During his sleep, two Asuras were born from the ears of Lord Vishnu. There name was Madhu and Kaidabhan. They wondered. They didn't see anything in the universe. Water was everywhere. They had a doubt in mind "How did we born?", "Who created us?".

They questioned each other. Suddenly, Devi Ma Sakti appeared in front of them. She asked them if they had any wish. They said that " We only want to die when we want to". Devi Sakti granted their wish and disappeared. They were anxious and curious to find out that there were no other in the universe of water to challenge them. While searching for someone above the water, a lotus came into their attention. Where did that came from? To find out where it's top situated, they started to climb upward to the peak of the lotus. They saw BrahmaDev on top of the lotus. To threaten him, they went closer to him. They tortured BrahmaDev in different ways. Frightened BrahmaDev escaped from the lotus and started to scream loud. At that moment, from the anxiousness and rage of BrahmaDev a incredible form was born. This form was believed to be Rudra.

As I said there are different kinds of stories about the birth of Rudra. This is one of them.

Daksha insults Siva

Daksha insults Siva

Once Durvasav Rishi meditated, praying to Devi Jagatambika. She became very satisfied with this that she gave him a flower chain necklace from her body to him. One day, he went to the palace of Daksha wearing this flower necklace. Daksha was very much fond of this necklace that he let know Durvasav his wish to own it. Thus, Durvasav gave him the necklace without any hesitation. With extreme happiness, Daksha took the necklace and placed it inside his bedroom. But one night he performed sex with his wife in front of the holy necklace thus making it polluted. Lord Siva came to know about this incident and  he scolded Daksha immediately. Being humiliated by Siva, Daksha developed an anger against Siva and swore revenge against him.

Later, several saints decided to conduct a grand Yajna. They selected a place called Prayaga as a venue for it. Several important personnel such as BrahmaDev, Sanatanists, scholars, devas, kings. Pundits etc gathered to take part in it.  There were many competitions and debates going on in the venue. Most of them were related to science, mathematics, art, dance and music. 

Lord Siva arrived there with his wife Sati. Everyone stood up in respect to the Lord of All and sat back discussing how lucky they are to have Lord Siva with them . At that time, unexpectedly, Daksha arrived . Everyone came to him to show gratitude and respect whereas Lord Siva didn't move from his seat knowing that Daksha is an egoist having pride to own all the luck and fortune without deserving it. Whereas Daksha seeing that Lord Siva immobile became angry.

"See his pride. Claiming to be a great person. Always hanging out with ghosts and demons while residing in a graveyard, yet he don't have respect towards me. This is adharma. Everyone walking, talking, sitting, befriending you will become sinners. You will become a transgender. I'm cursing you. From this day forward you will be kicked out of all four casts. You will become terribly ugly and won't have a proper life. " By hearing Daksha's words all those saints present there agreed to his opinion. They misunderstood Rudra as a cruel. Devas joined with Daksha and began insulting Siva. But Siva didn't sat silently hearing all this without any reply.

Being a witness to the insult of Daksha and others towards Siva, Nandi became very angry. His eyes turned red. He shouted out," Insulting the person who balances creation,protection and destruction you fool? What do you have to insult my master like this? You are attacking against the person who is the main cause of this Yajna to be successful. How dare you make fun of him?"

Daksha became uncontrollable hearing the words from Nandi. He once again started to insult and curse Siva. Nandi replied with equal force and cursed all Brahmins including Daksha as an anger towards him. Lord Siva cracked a smile seeing Nandi's aggression towards Daksha. He calmed Nandi and said,"Hey Nandi, you are a scholar. Therefore, aggression is not appropriate for you. You have just cursed Brahmins because of slight misunderstanding. Whoever can curse us but that will not affect us. Daksha's curse will never do a slight harm to us ever. You can believe me. Therefore, be cool.". Nandi turned calm hearing Siva's philosophy. They went back to Kailas.

Angry Daksha returned to his palace yet he had his aggression towards Siva building up in his mind. He spent most of his time planning to take revenge on Siva. He even started to insult those who pray to Lord Siva. He thus became a arch enemy of Siva. Thus he decided to conduct a grand Yaga and swore not to invite Siva and Sati to it.

 

The Evolution of the Universe

In the beginning, the Universe was covered with darkness, the universe was filled with darkness, the universe was only darkness. There were no sun,no moon ,no stars nor anything at that time. No little patch of fire, air, water, ether existed at that time. There was only emptiness. Emptiness everywhere. At that time 'sath' existed. Sath had no shape, no color, no personality. It was neither big nor small. Briefly, Sath is Satyam(the truth). It is the knowledge, happiness and other emotions.

The shapeless Brahma evolved according to the wishes. It turned into a Jyothirlingam. This Lingam was known as the Brahmandam(the Universe). This andam split and then began the nemesis of the nondestructive 'Virat Pursh'. He/she was the only thing existed at that time. He/she existed everywhere. He/she had many faces and eyes in every direction. He/she could see without eyes and hear without ears. It was impossible to see him/her in full form.

This NirakaraRupa(formless) ParaBrahma, after many yugas, wished for something else. He/she wished for the evolution of millions from one. At that moment, he/she decided to be in a form by using his/her own powers. That idol was with all greatness, all knowledge and was a Godfigure for everyone. Parabrahma without a body-and that idol is Lord 'SadaSiva'.
At one time, Siva and ParaSakti became close as husband and wife. Being happy, they wished for something. To create someone to do the job of 'Creation'. With these thoughts Siva with Sakti applied Amritam on the ten organs of the left side of his own body. After sometime, from that part, born a person who is handsome of all three worlds and with the goodness of million suns.

That great man worn a crown of gold. The beauty of his body was challenging to all ruby and emeralds. Covered with jewelery and ornaments,he worn a robe made up of gold. He has strong hands and eyes resembling to lotus. He existed everywhere, therefore he came to be known as Vishnu.

At the time of creation, nature entered Vishnu. Greatness was made and pride evolved from it. Pride split into Emotions, Brilliance and Anger. From the anger, sky was evolved, from the sky air was evolved, from the air fire was evolved and from the fire water was evolved. Vishnu brought consciousness to the five elements. Vishnu's vigor was thrown out in water. This vigor is known to be the 'Life'.

From the pride brilliance evolved all senses and from pride emotions evolved ten emotional Devas and the eleventh sense the mind.

The Vigor which was thrown out by Vishnu evolved and became an andam. That andam gave the birth of BrahmaDev. Vishnu broke that andam into two. He made one part as Heaven and the other as Earth.
After that, Lord Vishnu meditated for a very long time. Because of the impact of the mediation, fountains were started to appear in different parts of his body.

That water filled the empty sky. At that time, being tired, Lord Vishnu fell asleep. He slept there for very long time, satisfied. Because of sleeping in water(Nara), Lord Vishnu got the name 'Narayan'.

At that time, there were no elements in nature except Narayan. While he was sleeping on water, a lotus began to grow from his navel. The lotus was full of beautiful petals and appeared as bright as the sun.
After that, Maheswar created BrahmaDev from the left side of his body. By the wishes of illusion BrahmaDev sat on the lotus which came from the navel of Lord Vishnu. BrahmaDev meditated and earned power. BrahmaDev, with his power continued the creation process and life began on the Universe.

 

Stories Of Shiva

There are a number of mythological tales and legends surrounding Lord Shiva. Here're a few popular ones

Ganga Comes Down to Earth

A legend from the Ramayana speaks of King Bhagirath who once meditated before Lord Brahma for a thousand years for the salvation of the souls of his ancestors. Pleased with his devotion Brahma granted him a wish. He requested the Lord to send the river Ganges down to earth from heaven so that she could flow over his ancestors' ashes and wash their curse away and allow them to go to heaven. Brahma granted his wish but asked him to pray to Shiva, for he alone could support the weight of her descent. Accordingly he prayed to Shiva and he allowed the Ganges to descend on his head, and after meandering through his thick matted locks, the holy river reached the earth. This story is re-enacted by bathing the 'linga'.

The Tiger & the Leaves

Once a hunter while chasing a deer wandered into a dense forest and found himself on the banks of river Kolidum when he heard the growl of a tiger. To protect himself from the beast he climbed up a tree nearby. The tiger pitched itself on the ground below the tree fostering no intention to leave. The hunter stayed up in the tree all night and to keep himself from falling asleep, he gently plucked one leaf after another from the tree and threw it down.

 

Under the tree was a Shiva Linga and the tree blessedly turned out to be a bilva tree. Unknowingly the man had pleased the deity with bilva leaves. At sunrise, the hunter looked down to find the tiger gone, and in its place stood Lord Shiva. He prostrated before the Lord and attained salvation from the cycle of birth and death.

 

Why Shiva is Worshipped in His Phallic Form

 

According to another legend, once Brahma and Vishnu, two other deities of the holy Trinity, had an argument as to their supremacy. Brahma being the Creator declared himself to be more revered, while Vishnu, the Preserver, pronounced that he commanded more respect.

 

Just then a colossal 'lingam', known as Jyotirlinga, blanketed in flames, appeared before them. Both Brahma and Vishnu were awestruck by its rapidly increasing size. They forgot their quarrel and decided to determine its size. Vishnu assuming the form of a boar went to the netherworld and Brahma as a swan flew to the skies. But both of them failed to accomplish the self-assumed tasks. Then, Shiva appeared out of the 'lingam' and stated that he was the progenitor of them both and that henceforth he should be worshiped in his phallic form, the 'lingam', and not in his anthropomorphic form.

Shiva Ratri

Nepal is the only Hindu kingdom in the world and thus the land of Lord Shiva, Lord of all Lords, for here you can feel his presence everywhere. Even in the sacred texts of the Hindus it has been stated that Mt. Kailash in the Himalayas is the abode of Lord Shiva or Mahadeva as he is also known. Shiva the Destroyer of Evil is among the most praised and worshipped of all the gods in the Hindu religion. Hindus all over the world know him through different names and forms. The country has thousands of idols and monuments, which glorify his name, the most common one being the Shiva Linga or the phallus of Shiva that represents him. For it is the Shiva linga that Hindus regard as the symbol of creation, the beginning of everything.
Shiva Ratri is the night of Lord Shiva when He himself was created by His own Divine Grace and Hindus all over the world celebrate this day with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm. Shiva Ratri literally means ' the night consecrated to Shiva'. This auspicious festival falls on the fourteenth day of the waning moon in the month of Falgun, (February - March in the Gregorian calendar ). The temple of Pashupatinath in Kathmandu which is considered as one of the holiest shrines of the Hindus, glorifying Lord Shiva, thus receives more than 100,000 worshippers during the festival of Shiva Ratri. These worshippers come from far and wide to pay their respects and homage to Mahadev on his sacred day.
Pashupatinath temple is located at the eastern part of the Kathmandu valley on the banks of the holy river Bagmati. Pashupatinath, which literally means ‘the Lord of animals’, is one of the many forms of the Lord. He is the guardian deity, protector of our Hindu Kingdom of Nepal, thus Shiva Ratri is one of the major festivals of Nepal. Pilgrims from all over Nepal as Pashupatinath Temple well as India come to Pashupatinath to worship and pray to the deity on his birthday and wash away all the sins committed by them. Only Hindus are allowed inside the temple and tourists are only permitted to observe the festival from across the Bagmati river.
Shiva Ratri is a much anticipated festival by all Hindus. Pilgrims and yogis (holy men), from all over Southeast Asia come to Kathmandu weeks before the festival. On this holy day people fast through out the day. At dawn, worshippers take a holy bath or dip in the river and go to the temple to worship.
One of the interesting aspects of Shiva Ratri is that on this day devotees and non-devotees alike freely indulge in smoking intoxicating substances such as marijuana and bhang for it is the only day in the annual calendar when marijuana is legal. Many people take these intoxicants in the belief that it pleases Lord Shiva for he too is said to be fond of it. Thus marijuana is taken as prasad, holy food blessed by the Gods and one can see eager tourists and faithful Nepalese flocking around the temple complex of the Ram Janaki Mandir across the Bagmati river opposite to the main temple complex of Pashupatinath lingering around sadhus and babas in the hope for some prasad from them.
The Puran, one of the many holy texts of the Hindus, tells us that if you worship Lord Shiva on this day all your sins will be forgiven. Giving an examle the puran talks about an event that occurred ages before about a hunter from Benares. This man worshipped Lord Shiva unknowingly on Shiva Ratri and he was forgiven for all his sins.
On Shiva Ratri the temple of Pashupatinath is filled with worshippers. Devotees are not distinguished as poor or rich but treated equally for Lord Shiva treats us all equally. Even the King of Nepal and the royal family pay homage to the Pashupatunath on this day along with the thousands that gather to celebrate the festival. Thus the festival of Shiva Ratri shows the devotion and faith Nepalese have towards the Hindu religion.
Article by Avigya Karki
Photographs collected from Deependra Bajracharya and Madhup Mangal.