P C K Prem’s As I Know The Lord of the Mountains Shiva Purana: A Unique
Religious Text
Prof.
(Dr.) Sagar Mal Gupta
Abstract:
A religious text is a document that conveys
spiritual truth, establishment of a connection with the divine, encouragement
of communal identity and imparting of mystical experiences and spiritual
practices. The sacred books are used for spiritual guidance and practical
advice. They help the readers to understand
their religion through stories and encourage them to follow their
heroes. Shiva Purana contains Shiva-centered mythology, relationship between
gods, ethics, bhakti, geography and other topics. It guides the readers to
follow the path of righteousness, non-tolerance to evil and pursuit of calmness
and concentration.
Keywords: Mystical experiences, Non-tolerance
of evil, Path of righteousness, Spiritual truth
India has a glorious past. Our rishis, sages composed unparalleled
religious, spiritual and medical texts that illumined the minds of the
hearers/readers. They composed Vedas,
Upnishads and Puranas the main difference between Vedas and Upnishads is
that the Vedas were written to
safeguard the information about religious practices, traditions and
philosophical thoughts whereas Upnishads are
written philosophical thoughts of men and women that mainly focus on spiritual
enlightenment.
Upnishads are a subcategory of a Veda. Vedas are subcategorized
into four major text types: Samhitas (Mantras),
Aranyakas (Texts on rituals,
sacrifices, ceremonies), Brahmanas (giving
explanation of sacred knowledge, they also expound scientific knowledge of
Vedic Period. The fourth type of text is Upnishads.
Puranas, on the other hand, are
stories of religious legends. Vedas are shruti
scriptures, which means scriptures prepared in accordance with what was heard.
In comparison, Puranas are Smriti, which means what is remembered.
There are four Vedas: Rigveda,Yajurveda,
Samaveda and Atharaveda.
The Vedas
passed down orally for thousands of years before Veda Vyas compiled them in written form. There are thirteen Upnishads, which are Katha, Kena, Isa, Mundaka, Prasna,
Taittriya, Chhandogya, Brihadaranyaka, Mandukya, Aitareya, Kaushitaki,
Svetavatara and Maitrayani.
Folktales, pilgrimages, theology, medicine, temples, grammar,
philosophy, astronomy as also the genealogies of gods, goddesses, kings,
heroes, sages and demigods form integral parts of the great Puranas. There are eighteen
main Puranas and eighteen minor Puranas. The first Purana was compiled between
the third and the tenth centuries CE. Together they contain four lac verses
(slokas). Six Puranas are satvic
which glorify Lord Brahma, six are rajsic
which glorify Lord Vishnu and the remaining six are tamsic which glorify Lord Shiva.
The writer of Shiva Purana is P C K Prem, who
is a renowned contemporary poet, critic, short story writer, novelist both in
Hindi and English. He has produced eleven books of poetry; six books of novels;
four short story books and six books of criticism, five miscellaneous books and
thirty books in Hindi and six books have been produced on his works.
Lord Shiva is not only the Lord of mountains
but also a god of gods. It would not be out of place to start this article with
my poem on the highest statue of Lord Shiva, known as Statue of Belief at Nathadwara, in Udaipur District of
Rajasthan:
The Statue of Liberty
personification of liberty
holding a torch in her raised right hand
and clutching a tablet in the left.
When Musk laser light falls on the statue,
it makes a beautiful reflection
in the clouds above.
The idol of Lord Shiva
351 foot high, weighing 3000 tons,
symbol of religious sacredness and devotion
stands grandiosely near
Nathadwara Temple.
When Musk laser light falls on it ,
it forms a reflection
of Lord Shiva on the gathering
of dark clouds with a trail
of matted hair surrounded by
a sudden burst of
a
flash of lightening.
Thousands of devotees
assemble on
Monday,
in Shravan
Month,
a favourite month of Lord Shiva
to worship with offerings of
milk, honey and vilva
patra
and chanting ‘Om
Namah Shivah’.
Welcome those
who come here with their hearts
soaked in unflinching devotion.
‘Give milk and honey
to the poor and deprived
who, though do not come to the temple
but bear me in their hearts
day and night’, says Lord Shiva.
Shiva’s statue is marching
towards becoming
a national monument
like that of the Taj
Mahal
and the Qutab Minar.
The book “As I Know: The Lord of Mountains:
Shiva Purana” runs into 606 pages, published by Authors Press, New Delhi.
The book opens with a ‘Thank You’ note, the
beginning and contents. The contents contain the beginning divided into six
parts and then further divided into twelve codified segments called samhitas. Each samhita is further sub-divided into subsections. The details of the
samhitas are given both in contents
and chapters. The book ends with a glossary.
This
division is scientific and makes it easy for the reader to read and read only
what he intends to read first. Shiva Purana has almost 24000 verses. It forms
a part of the Shaivism literature
corpus. It focuses on the Hindu God Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Veda Vyasa
is the author of Shiva Purana as he is also an author of the other Puranas.
Now coming to the
critical analysis of Shiva Purana written by P C K Prem, I would like to say
that the writer has earlier presented an outstanding introduction of Shiva
Purana under the title ‘Shiva Purana and Glimpses of Ancient Wisdom’ in
Contemporary Vibes (64:16, 49-52). Dr Suresh Chandra Pande has presented and
will present an admirable critical analysis of P C K Prem’s Shiva Purana in
Poetcrit (36:1, 2023 pp 111-119). It would be superfluous on my part to present
another summary.
I will therefore,
take up main events and legends from Shiva Purana and mention interesting facts
about them.
Everybody is curious
to know the origin of the universe. There are two theories about it: religious
theory and scientific theory. Shiva Purana mentions religious theory. Brahma
tells Narada that in the beginning of the creation nothing existed except
water. Vishnu manifested ‘the self’ and relaxed on the water. When he was sleeping,
a lotus flower of many petals took birth from the navel. Lotus flower’s stem
glistened and from the core of the lotus, Brahma took birth, wandered around
and witnessed a vast and unfathomed ocean. Brahma wanted to know the source of
his origin and for this he travelled through the stem of the lotus flower but
could not find the centre and the roots of the lotus flower and so he returned
to the little cell from where he had emerged.
Brahma was exhausted
and he thought of meditating and lost in intense tap for twelve years. Vishnu with four hands appeared before Brahma
holding a conch shell, a discus, a mace and a lotus flower. Brahma was
surprised to see that stranger.
While engaged in a
serious dialogue, they noticed a luminously elegant lingam (Shiva’s image)
before them. It had no beginning or end. Vishnu transformed into a boar and
Brahma into a swan to find out the lowest and highest point of the lingam.
Their search even for four thousand years yielded no results. It was true for
them to pray and so they spent another hundred years in prayers. After the long
prayer, they heard the sound of aum,
and soon an amazing being turned up with five faces and ten arms. It was
Mahadeva –Shiva. Shiva said gently, “We are one with one entity and here we are
in three components. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver and I am
the destroyer. Another being will take birth from their body and he will be
Rudra. Rudra and I are one”.
Vishnu created a huge
egg in the vast limitless deep-sea and entered the egg and in the meantime
Brahma began to pray. He gained immense power through tapa and meditation and created many holy men and sages.
Thereafter, the process of creation began. Brahma decided to create male and
female components for an innovative process- a sacred creative act through the
union of male and female constituents. The supreme lord assigned this function to Prajapati Daksa,
who very devotedly performed this divine duty.
Compare and contrast
this religious theory with the scientific theory about the origin of the
universe. In this respect, it would not be out of place to discuss The Big Bang
Theory.
There was an
infinitely dense, tiny ball of matter. Then it all went bang, giving rise to
the atoms, molecules, stars and galaxies about 15 billion years ago. Starting
from extremely high density and temperature, space expanded, the universe
cooled and the simplest elements formed. Gravity gradually drew matter together
to form the first stars and the first galaxies. Charles Darwin in his famous
book ‘ The Origin of Species’ (1859) posits the evolutionary theory which
states that new species come from pre-existing species and that all species
share a common ancestor. They multiplied through natural selection, mutation,
gene flow, and genetic drift. There was RNA , the first molecule on earth to
self-replicate and begin the process of evolution that led to move advanced
form of life including human beings. Notice a similarity between the concept of
common ancestor in the religious theory (union of male and female constituents)
and the scientific theory.
Sage Saunaka wishes to know the essence of
Puranic tales and its relevance and the great sage satisfies his
inquisitiveness. In Vidyeisvara Samhita, the monks suggest means of getting rid
of sins. Singing and listening of Shiva hymns and the worship of Shiva in the image
of lingam lead to moksa. The
application of holy ashes (bhasm),
wearing of rudraksha and chanting of
Shiva’s name ensures a sinner’s abolition of sins and liberation from worldly
attachments.
Rudra Samhita
(Segment II) narrates the story of Sati.
Brahma’s son
Prajapati Daksh married Prasuti and they gave birth to Sati. Sati, right from
her childhood became an ardent devotee of Shiva. Through the penance and
worship of Shiva, she was able to win the heart of Shiva and despite her
father’s unwillingness, she married Shiva. Daksha
organized a yajna to which all the
deities except Sati and Shiva were invited. But thinking that such formality
was not necessary for a member of the family, she sought Shiva’s permission to
go. Shiva tried to stop her as he knew that her father would humiliate her but
she insisted to go. He sent her with his ganas.
Sati was received by her mother and sisters but Daksha was furious at her uninvited arrival and humiliated her and
mocked Shiva. Wanting to break all ties with her father and to uphold the
honour of her husband, Sati self-immolated.
Deeply hurt by the
death of his wife, Shiva performed the destructive tandava dance. He created two ferocious deities Virabhadra and Bhadarakali,
who, wrecked mayhem at the sacrificial place. Nearly all were killed. Virabhadra decapitated Daksha. After
that night Shiva, who is considered the all forgiving God restored the slain to
life and granted them his blessings. Sati took birth through the womb of Maina
in the kingdom of Himavana as Uma. She undertook austere tapa and became the holy spouse of Shiva.
Notice Shiva Purana
does not narrate the formation of Shakti Peethas from the corpse of Sati.
There are two stories about this. It is believed that enraged Shiva performed
the tandava dance with the Sati’s
charred body, which led her body to come apart and the pieces fell at different
places on earth. Another version is that Shiva razed with grief roamed with
Sati’s corpse throughout the universe, causing imbalance. The divinities called
upon Vishnu to restore Shiva to normalcy and calm. Vishnu used his Sudarshana chakra to dismantle Sati’s
cadaver into 5 pieces which fell at different places in India and these places
are known as Shakti peethas.
Goddess takes birth
as Uma in the house of Himalaya and Maina.
Narada speaks of the qualities of Uma, who would free human beings and gods
from suffering and Shiva from worries in the absence of Sati.
Mighty demon Tarakasura creates troubles for gods by
extending his territory due to the boon of Lord Brahma. Brahma advises Taraka to leave heaven and he does so. Kamadeva assures Lord Indra of all possible help along with
his spouse Rati and he goes to
Himalaya where Shiva was engaged in austere penance. He disturbs his penance
which makes Shiva angry and he reduces the lord of love to ashes with blazing
ferocity. This tormented Rati. Gods
prayed to Lord Shiva to restore Kamdev’s
life. Shiva was pleased and told gods and Rati
that Kamadeva would live without
body and later he would be born as son of Rukmani
and Krishna named Pradyumana. As per
the advice of gods, Rati went to the
city of Sambara and waited for the
arrival of her husband.
Parvati worries at
the fate of Kamadeva and the anger of
Shiva. She is advised by Narada to do
austere penance. Severe tapa of
Paravti creates upheaval. Gods appear before Vishnu and then before Shiva to
seek relief.
After the departure
of gods and seven sages, Shiva wished to test the intensity of the penance of
Paravti and therefore sat in deep meditation. Severe penance of Parvati
surprised Shiva. Lord Shiva arrived at the
ashrama of Paravti and the attendants of goddess observed a jetted-hair
Brahmin with an aura of immense brightness. Parvati admired the virtues of
Shiva and said that if one worshipped Shiva, one acquired great prosperity and
purity of soul and body. Parvati got angry at Brahmin’s condemnatory tone and
thus Shiva came to know the intents of Parvati and then appeared before Parvati in person. After his departure, she
concentrated on him and returned to her father’s palace. Shiva appeared in her
father’s court as a Brahmin and spoke ill of Shiva. Parvati’s mother was
against Parvati’s marriage to Shiva. Seven sages arrived at the advice of Shiva
to the palace. They offered some persuasive arguments which made Himavana agree
to the marriage of Parvati to Shiva.
Rudra Samhita (Segment IV)
describes the birth of Kumara Kartikeya
and Ganesh on the one hand and the marriage of Ganesh and the story of Kartikeya
remaining a celibate on the other.
Taraka was a powerful
demon equipped with the blessings of Supreme Lord and was a cause of sufferings
to gods and human beings. A moment of celebration arrived when Kumara Kartikeya was born to Paravti. Shankara
came to know about the birth of Kumara from the Ganges. As Kritikas reared up the child, Kumara was named Kartikeya. The gods of heaven were very happy and provided comforts
and precious articles of enjoyment to the child. They also imparted different
kinds of knowledge and knowledge of weapons.
In the meantime, the
gods of heaven arrived at Kailash and
told Shiva that Kumara was destined to kill Taraka.
Shiva did not object and allowed Kumara to fight against Taraka. A fierce war ensued between gods and Taraka. Virabhadra, the chief of Shiva’s ganas challenged Taraka.
After sometime, Sri Hari released the divine weapon Sudershana chakra and attacked Taraka.
Taraka was hurt grievously and fell unconscious on the ground. Thus, a vicious
fight between Lord Vishnu and mighty demons continued. Brahma knew the truth
that Vishnu would not be able to kill Taraka.
Therefore ,Kumara should not delay to slaughter the powerful demon. Kumara
thought of the holy feet of Shiva and resolved to kill the demon. Kumara hit
the demon with the divine weapon Kantimati
and he collapsed on the ground. Shankara and Parvati were extremely happy
at Kartikeya’s victory. The gods of
heaven felt relived from the terror of demons.
Jaya and Vijaya, intimate friends of
Parvati advised her that privacy of the palace was not secure. Hence, at their
counsel, she first deputed Nandi to guard the entrance. But he did not succeed
in stopping Shiva to enter. Hence, Parvati created Ganesh (gan+ish) to guard the entry of the palace especially when
she was taking a bath; Ganesh was
born of flow or emission of Parvati’s body. She also gave him a stick. He also
forbade Shiva to enter and Shiva outraged, picked up the divine trident and cut
off Ganesh’s head. The unfortunate
incident of Ganesh’s death shocked Parvati. In great fury, she asked the forces
to destroy everything. Feeling panicky, Brahma, Vishnu, all the gods and sages
felt distressed and apologised to goddess Parvati and the goddess relented and
said, ‘If Ganesh gets back life and a promise of being worshipped, only
then destruction would stop’. Shiva, at the request of gods asked them to bring
the body of the creature whom they met for the first time. They captured an
elephant cut off its head, which was placed on the body of Ganesh. A divine aura spread in all directions.
The
divine couple thought of the marriage of their sons as they were grown up now.
Who should marry first was the question. Either of them wanted to marry first.
The divine couple laid down the condition that one, who completed the
circumambulation of the world, would be married first. Th mighty Kartikeya began the journey to complete the round first. Ganesh, on the other hand, said that my
father and my mother are the temples of worship for me and he circled them.
They had no alternative but to marry him first to Siddhi and Buddhi, the most beautiful daughters of Prajapati
Visvarupa .Later Ksema
took birth from the womb of Siddhi and
Buddhi gave birth to Laabha and
so the couple continued to live a blissful married life.
When Kartikeya
learnt about the marriage of Ganesh, he
was distressed and went to mountain Krauncha
and lived a life of a celibate and became famous.
Rudra Samhita Segment
V describes another war between sons of Taraka and gods, who went to Shiva
tried to fight but Shiva refused because they became his devotees. Then through
the illusory power of Vishnu, the demons abandoned their erstwhile law of
dharma, on which Shiva agreed to destroy the daityas. He released a fire arrow
which reduced the daityas and other animate and in animate beings to ashes
except for Vishvakarma and Mayei, who survived. The lord blessed Mayei and
asked him to live happily.
Gods and demons were
always at loggerheads. Dambha, son of Viprachiti was a devotee of Vishnu.
Dambha had no issue, he began penance and meditation for ten thousand years.
Because of this, a great illuminating energy emerged from his forehead which
frightened gods, monks and other holy souls. They appeared before Brahma to
find a solution to this thorny problem and to seek blessings.
Brahma advised them to go to Vishnu to seek
relief. Vishnu told them that Dambha performed great penance to get a son.” I
will bless him with a boon and he will be happy”, said Vishnu. For the prayer
of Dambha, Vishnu granted him his cherished wish.Because of the blessings of
Lord Vishnu, Sankhachuda (Sudama in his previous life) takes birth from the
wife of Dambha. Sankhachuda is a person of a religious mind and he knows the
scriptures. Sankhachuda performed intense meditation which made Brahma appear
before him. He asked for a boon to the effect that he would remain
unconquerable and no god would be able to touch him.Brahma granted him this
boon and asked him to marry Dharmdwaja’s Daughter Tulsi, who was also engaged
in deep penance. Sankhachuda felt attracted to the extraordinary beauty of
Tulsi, who tried to dissuade him from marriage but Sankhachuda was steadfast
and ultimately through the intervention of Brahma, Tulsi agreed to marry
Sankhachuda. Later, Sankhachuda became the King; he expanded his land and
kingdom and vanquished the gods of heaven. Once again Brahma, Vishnu and other
gods sought the help of Lord Shiva to defeat Sankhachuda. As usual, Shiva tried
to dissuade Sankhachuda through an envoy from war and at his refusal; he asked
Virbhadra and Bhairavas to teach a lesson to that arrogant demon. Sankhachuda
too through an emissary tried to dissuade Shiva to engage in a war. Shiva could
not do so because he was obliged to honor the wishes of his devotees.
The war began, during the war Vishnu played a
trick, he appeared on the battlefield as an old
Brahmin beggar and asked for the divine armor
which Sankhachuda gave him and then Vishnu hrough his illusionary power in the
guise of Sankhachuda violated the modesty of sacred and loyal woman Tulsi. He
narrated everything to Shambhu and then Shambhu took the divine trident and
released it at Sankhachuda which killed him.
The legend of Tulsi and Sankachuda entails a
great message to humanity in that if a man combines religion with passion for
power, splendor and glory, he is sure to lose. Only righteousness and truth win
in the world.
Then comes the story of Asura Andhaka. There are two views about his
birth; one is that he emerged out of Shiva’s perspiration. Another is that he
is an adopted son of Hirayanaska, a devotee of Shiva because Shiva gave his son
Andhaka to him.
Once again, the same story repeats itself.
The powerful demons achieved victory over the gods. Vishnu in the incarnation
of Varaha killed Hirayanaksa which enraged Hiranyakasipu. He too became
invincible through penance and meditation to Brahma. Hirayanakasipu started his
reign of terror and Vishnu incarnated himself as Nrisimha (half man and half
lion), killed Hirayanakasipu and rescued Prahlada, a devotee of Vishnu.We
celebrate Holi on this occasion.
Brothers of Andhaka made fun of his blindness and deformed body. Andhaka performed intense penance and as
a result, Lord Brahma appeared before him, who gave him the boon of being
strong and handsome. As he lost his blindness, his brother relinquished him the
kingdom. He defeated the gods and extended the boundaries of his kingdom.
Because of a lot of power, he gave up the path of righteousness. At the advice
of his ministers, he thought of marrying himself to the most beautiful woman.
He found Parvati most beautiful and wanted to possess her. He sent the message
to Parvati, who refused the proposal. Feeling angry, Andhaka started a fierce
war between gods and demons. Shukracharya,
the guru of daityas, had the power of
bringing the dead back to life. Shiva by exercising his illusionary powers
first became a woman who drank the blood of demons and later devoured
Shukracharya ,who felt distressed in his stomach. He remembered a mantra and
repeated it several times and came out of the lingam.
He saluted Shiva and Gauri and they accepted
him as a son. Later Andhaka started
meditating on Shiva. Shiva was delighted at Andhaka’s
devotion, fortitude, courage, and discipline and the lord blessed him. Shiva
forgives even sinners if they correct their vicious ways and worship him.
Vana belonged to the dynasty of Sage Kasyapa. He was a legitimate son of
Bali. He was a devotee of Shiva enjoyed his blessings. Vana, the king of daityas, in due course of
time, launched a fierce campaign, took possession of the guardians of the world
and forced all to accept his sovereignty. Vana also annoyed Shiva when he
expressed his desire to put to use his thousand arms because he did not find an
equal to fight.Once, the great daitya, Vana wanted to please Shiva so he
clapped noisily with his thousand hands.
He also danced and applauded the virtues of
the Lord. He asked for a boon from Shiva. I want a thousand arms to clash.
Either the arms may fall on the ground when the enemy strikes or arms must
sever the arms of enemies. I wish to put my arms into action. As per the
prophecy of Shiva, the great Kaal
(the lord of death) arrived. He was not aware that it was the illusionary power
of the great lord.
Then comes the story of Vana’s daughter
Usha’s marriage to Krishna’s grandson Anirudha.
Usha sees Anirudha in a dream and reveals her dream to her friend Chitralekha, who kidnaps him and brings
him to the palace. Vana comes to know
of the secret and after a fight takes Anirudha into custody. Anirudha prayed to
the goddess Durga, who blessed him;
broke the prison cell into little fragments and freed Anirudha. The arrest of Anirudha
enraged Krishna and a war between Krishna and Vana became inevitable but
Krishna knew that Vana was a devotee of Lord Shiva and therefore he sought the
blessings of Lord Shiva to eliminate the wicked Vana. A fierce war ensued
between Krishna and Vana. Krishna used the powerful disc and cut off the arms
of Vana. Then Krishna was ready to cut off the king’s head. At that time Shiva
intervened and asked Krishna not to do so on the advice of Nandi, Vana began tapa and meditation. It was an expression
of ecstasy amidst music, dance and song in praise of Shiva. Shiva blessed
devotee Vana and disappeared.
Devotion to Lord Shiva is a blessing. If a
man is a sinner but later regrets it, the great lord forgives him. Shat Rudra
Samhita narrates the story of the demon Gaja, a son of Mahishsura. The concept
of Rudrasrsti can be traced to the Vedic literatures. According to YV16.4, one
Rudra created many Rudras out of his own body. The present Samhita describes
one hundred incarnations of Shiva and is therefore called Shatrudra. Sage Suta
on persistent pleas told Saunaka about the five incarnations of Lord Shiva. The
question got the answer from Nandishwara, who spoke of many different
incarnations in different ages. In the 19th Kalpa-
called Swetalohita, Shiva took birth
as Sadyojaata. Brahma was in deep meditation, at that time a baby boy with
white and red complexion took birth. Brahma meditated ;a son appeared, adorned
with a red rosary and red clothes with red eyes and red ornaments. He was Vamdeva Shiva. The third incarnation was
Tatpurusa, who had a yellow complexion and propounded the path of yoga. Brahma
once again wanted a creature and so meditated for a long and thereafter, a
child with divine brilliance of dark complexion took birth and he thought of him
as Aghora, the fourth incarnation, who spread the concept of aghora yoga. A
little time later, Brahma thought of a son as he meditated on Shiva and then
with immense roaring a cosmic vision of Saraswati astounded everybody and then
it was the divine coming of Ishana.
Later, the holy gana of Shiva narrated the
wonderful birth of the image of the Lord as Ardhanirishwara –half man half
woman. This fulfilled the wishes of Brahma. Brahma created different beings but
the creation never increased. This worried him. At that time, a voice from
above said, ‘O Brahma, create the world through love which meant the physical
union of male and female constituents. Brahma performed rigorous penance. Shiva
separated himself from the left half of the body named goddess Shiva. Goddess
accepted the request of Prajapati Daksa.
Then comes the story of Nandi. Monk Shilaada
undertook great penance on Shiva and prayed to lord Shiva to grant him a son
born without yoni. Shiva was pleased
with his tapa and said that he would
be born as his son without yoni and
people would call him Nandi.
The birth of Nandi- who evinced a marvelously
spiritual and intellectual knowledge through his knowledge of scriptures became
the cause of anguish to the monk Shilaada.
Seeing him distressed, the child Nandi told the monk Shilaada that his idea of imminent death would be cured by the singing of songs for the glory of Lord
Shiva.
Nandi performed intense tapa which pleased Shiva and he gave him the boon of being immortal
and appointed him the chief of his ganas.
Later Shiva married Nandi to a divine girl Suyasha, a daughter of Maruta and
the couple lived near goddess Parvati and lord Shiva.Nandi narrated the legends
of Kaal-Bhairava, Virbharda, Monk
Visvanara and Agni Dev and later spoke feelingly about the incarnations- Mahakaal, Tara, Bala Bhuvanesi, Shiva,
Shodsa, Srividyesha,Bhairava, Chhinmastaka, Dhumvana, Banglamukh, Matanga and
Kamal.
Later, he narrated the story of the birth of
Hanuman. Feeling enamored at the beauty of Mohini, Shiva shed divine energy
which the sages saved and placed in the womb of Anjani through the pathway of ears. This led to the birth of
Hanuman in the image of Shiva with the body of a monkey.Nandi also narrated the
legend of Sage Piplada- an
incarnation of Shiva. Sage Dadhichi gave
his bones to Indra, who used them to
make his divine weapon Thunderbolt and he used that weapon to destroy demon Vritasursa.
Nandi narrates that the story ofAhuk and Ahuka
demonstrates that Shiva showers blessings on his devotees.. Lord Shiva once
went to the house of Ahuk as a
recluse and stayed there for a night. Ahuk
protected his guest and his wife as a guard from the beasts and stood outside.
But at night the beasts killed him. Ahuka
requested the guest to prepare a pyre and entered it. At that time Shiva
appeared in person and asked her for a boon. But she did not ask for anything
but was happy. Shiva told her, ‘I will take birth in the image of Hansa and
help you to unite with Ahuk’. Later Ahuk took birth as Nala and Ahuka as Damyanti and lord Shiva developed in the image of
Hansa. Later Nandi tells the story of
Satyartha, a devotee of Shiva.
Then comes the incarnation of Shiva as Sureshwara. Upamanyu went to the Himalayas
and performed severe penance; built a small temple with eight bricks,
established lingam and invoked the presence of goddess Parvati and began
meditation and chanted the mantra of five letters: ‘Om Namoh Shivaya’ Later Shiva and Parvati
appeared before the devotee. They blessed Upamanyu
and said they were his parents and Shiva said that he would live in the
ashram forever.Nandi further told the story of Durvasa. Durvasa came to the ashrama
of Pandavas with ten thousand disciples and asked them to arrange food for
them. Krishna came to help.Pasupaatastra is
associated with Shiva. Shiva once gave this weapon to Arjuna being happy with
his penance. Krishna advised Pandavas
to meditate on Shiva. Arjuna’s
intense penance disturbed gods and Indra,
a demon Mooka appeared to disturb his tapa
but Shiva protected his devotee. Pleased, Shiva bestowed the divine Pasupaata weapon on him and said that
Krishna would help him in the war and the Pandavas
in the war.
Nandishwara continued to sing the hymns of the glories of
Shiva, the creator of the guardians of devotees. He later spoke of the
omnipresent incarnations of lord Shiva. He feelingly spoke on theilluminating
lingam established and situated at Somnath
(Gujrat), Mallikarjuna at Srishail, Mahakaal (Ujjain), Amareshwara at Onkara, Kedarnatha, Bheemsanakra at Dakini,
Triyaamkeshwara at a river bank Gautami,
Vaidyanath at Chintabhumi, Vishvanatha at Varanasi, Ghumeshwara at Shivalaya,
Rameshwara at Setu. A devotee who
worships lingam at these jyotirligams has
his desires fulfilled, achieves freedom from danger, and attainment of moksha. The last two jyotirlingams are Nageshwara and Ghumeshwara worshipping Shiva in these jyotirlingams liberate human beings from
sins.
Koti
Rudra Samhita starts
with the story of the emergence of tirtha
Atrishwara because of the blessings of lord Shiva, Parvati and Ganga; The story of another, tirtha Nandikesa, is the outcome of the
devotion of a pious woman Riska, her
deliverance from the clutches of demon Moodh
by Shiva and Ganga’s offer to visit
the place once a month makes the place a sacred place to wash off sins of the
evil people and bless the devotees.
The story of Somnath jyotirlingam is very interesting. Ages back, Prajapati Daksa married his twenty-seven
daughters to Chandrama. Among the
wives, Chandrama loved Rohini more than others. This infuriated
Daksa, who cursed him to suffer death
because of a lethal disease. He developed the disease and on the advice of
Brahma he went to Prabhasa;
established a lingam at the place and performed penance and chanted Mahamrityunjaya mantra which pleased the
lord. The gods gave it the name of Someshwara and later people knew it as Somnath with the blessings of gods a
divine pond came up and its water assuaged the disease of Chandrama.
The origin of the illuminated lingam- Mallikarjuna and Mahakaala exercise
blissful influence on devotees and ward off evil forces and liberate a man from
suffering and sins. Mallikarjuna is
situated on Krauncha Mountain; the
other tirtha is situated at Ujjaini.
Then comes the tale of Onkareshwaara Jyotirlingam. Monk Gokarna with deep dedication began
to serve Shiva. He came to mountain Vindhya.
Mountain Vindya felt low because he
had nothing to offer to the sage. So he
meditated on Shiva, who agreed to stay on the mountain. This became to be known
as Onkareshwara. A person who
worships at this sacred place attains his objectives and frees himself from the cycle of birth and death.
Vishnu’s incarnations Nara and Narayana used to worship ‘Shivalingam’ situated at
Badrikaashram. Shiva regularly came there to accept prayers and later he
transferred himself to Kedar Mountain
and became famous as Kedarnath Tirtha.
The story of Bheem Sankara goes like
this. A demon known as Bheem lived in
Kamarupa. He was the son of the demon
Kumbhakaran. Through his tapa and devotion to Brahma, he got
immense strength and defeated gods and even Vishu.
He abandoned the path of righteousness and he even defeated King Sudiksna, a devotee of Shiva. So Shiva
scorched the whole army and Bheem to death. He decided to stay there and
devotees called it Bheem-Sankara illuminated lingam. This Jyotirlingam is situated at Bheemshakra village in Maharastra. The
devotees learnt about the illuminated lingam at Visveswara, the image of the eternal and the frameless divine lord bereft of duality.
Varanasi is another holy place that grants moksa to human beings if they observe
utmost discipline. If anybody dies here, he attains salvation. He does not
require knowledge, bhakti or karma or
charity, Punya, cultural traditions, dharma, hymns, prayer and higher caste.
This holy place is famous as Abhimukta
region.Then comes the story of Shri Trimbakeshwara Jyotirlingam, located at a
distance of about 28km from Nashik,
Maharashtra near the Mountain named Brahamgiri
from which the river Godavari flows.Here the image has three faces
embodying Braham, Lord Vishnu and Lord Rudra. Because of the excessive use of
water, the lingam has started to erode.
We should now know about the establishment of
Vaidanatheshwara. King Ravan of Lanka
made Shiva happy through his tapa and
hence Shiva permitted him to take the lingam home on the condition that he wouldn’t stay anywhere. Ravan wanted to ease himself so he gave
the lingam to a shepherd boy but he failed to hold it, so the lingam situated
itself there. Later Sage Narada
provoked Ravana and so the mighty
king went to mountain Kailasha and
then annoyed goddess Parvati and suffered a curse from the goddess and after
ages died at the hands of Rama.
Koti
Rudra Samhita ends
with the story of how lord Shiva gave Sudarshan
Chakra to Vishnu for the destruction of demons, Sage Suta also mentioned the
observance of ten fasts, the most important being the observance of a fast on Shivratri. Lord Shiva appeared on this
earth for happiness and protection of devotees on ardent appeals; and situates
‘the self’ at the place of devotee’s choice that ultimately becomes a tirtha, a path of deliverance.
Uma
Samhita narrates the
heroic deeds of Uma/Parvati/Ambika,
who ensures the deliverance of atrocities to devotees from demons.The Legendary
tale of Shumbha and Nisumbha is
relevant to the contemporary man. It has been observed that wealth and supremacy drive a man mad and
love for woman and beauty equally drives
a loss of prudence and understanding. The mighty demons Shumbha and Nisumbha not only
extended their territory but also
defeated gods and goddesses. They created a panic all around when they learnt from their messengers about the
beauty of Matangi (an image of Uma) .They sent a proposal to her for
the marriage. A fierce war broke out between the demons and Matangi, in which both the demons were
killed. This demonstrates that wickedness does not last long. Demons like
violence, sins and brutality and gods
love peace and harmony and are engaged in righteousness and devotion to the Lord Shiva and Parvati which makes
their life happy.
Next comes the Kailash Samhita. It contains the teachings of Shaivism. Pranava is the
origin of the Vedas, Pranava is
Shiva. Shiva is Pranava and Pranava is
Shiva and so Om is Shiva and Pranava is the cause of everything- the Nirguna Parameswara Para Brahma. The right conduct of a recluse is
also mentioned. He should get up early and perform all the rituals to begin
prayer and worship as per the dictates of
the scriptures, Sage Vyasa speaks
respectfully about Shiva-tattva in this
Samhita. When a person learns about Jnana
yoga, Kriya yoga and Bhakti yoga, he comprehends the Pranava, the fundamental constituent of creation, its
meaning and essence and the outcome of deep reflection on Aum,
an image of Shiva. Concentration frees a man from sufferings.
The last section of Shiva Purana- Vayaveeya Samhita narrates the glory of
Shiva; Vayudev spoke on the
importance and real meaning of Maheshwara.
Brahma eulogized Lord Mahadeva, this
praise helped Brahma to fulfill his
objective of the creation of prajas.
A devotee of Shiva ought to live a life of discipline, restraint, and right
conduct with a purity of mind and heart, meditate on the great lord, seek grace
and approach knowledge of the lord in humility and also respect the laws of the scriptures. The chanting of
five-syllable mantra entails salvation for a true devotee.
Shiva is the lord beyond beginning and end.
Nothing is outside lingam, the image of the lord. Lingam is the cosmos, the
entire universe for the creatures. Meditation is tirtha, tapa and yojna. A man should meditate to achieve
liberation. Sage Vyasa ends the
discourse on Shiva Purana with the words that one who reads or hears it five
times with a fixed and pure heart would attain salvation, a man who hears and
reads it with devotion; he gets joy and later attains liberation. It is a very
sacred book on par with the Vedas and helps attain moksa.
Internationally renowned poet PCK Prem has
presented the sacred text Shiva Purana
in a language and style that is flawless and attention-catching. He has used
all religious words in their Sanskrit form such as tapa, Yajna, lokapalas, kama, yogin, daityas, bhakti, Jetha, Krishna
paksa, dharma,moksa, karma, artha, samarpriya, yoga, sudra, jalauni (timber
wood), asura, Kaal (the lord of death),Prajapati,
punyas, Brahmin, ashrama of Siddhas, lakh etc. to evoke religious feelings
associated with them. The English translation falls short of their full import,
Take for example ‘religion’ for ‘dharma’;‘deliverance’
for ‘moksa’; ‘recluse’ for ‘yogi/yogini’; ‘monk’s shelter’ for ‘ashrama’.Another problem with English
translation is that it becomes controversial. For example the use of ‘flow or
emission’ for grime or layer of dirt on the body. Some may say that an
‘exfoliating substance’ would be better. Other words that may invite
controversy are: ‘delusory powers’ for ‘maaya’;
‘divine energy’ for ‘semen’; ‘rites’ or ‘tarpan’;
thunderbolt’ for ‘vajra’ and ‘missile’ for ‘ulka’.
Some
of the happenings in Puranas have to be interpreted symbolically and not
literally to comprehend the full
meaning. For example, Vana is said to
have one thousand arms suggests that he had
extraordinary strength. There are many examples where the participants
in Shiva Purana performed penance for a thousand years which indicates a long
time. Undergoing ‘tapa’ suggests a
concentration of mind or meditation. It is mentioned in the text that Prajapati
Daksa married his twenty-seven daughters to Chanrama. It is not an example of polygamy but as per astrology,
there are twenty-seven nakshatras to
the moon. This term is used for the lunar mansion. According to Vedic
astrology, lunar constellations form an association with the natal symbols of
the moon.
Shiva Purana is replete with several
teachings for human beings. We find that asuras
and gods are always at war, one war ends, and another begins. This shows evil
and good are two perennial aspects of life. There will always be evil forces
that have to be destroyed by following the path of righteousness. To achieve
one’s objective, the concentration of mind and hard work are necessary, one may
call it penance, tapa and meditation. To get something done, one has to be very
polite and has to follow the rules of communication. That is the reason why
gods including Brahma and Vishnu are very polite and submissive when they pray to Shiva to do
something for them. Shiva gets angry when something wrong is done but he also forgives if the supplicant
regrets it. Forgiveness is a great virtue.
In marriage, the consent of the girl is very
important. Shiva disguised as a Brahmin tests Parvati on her attitude towards
him before marriage. When Gods like Vishnu and Shiva disguise themselves as
men, they demonstrate that to expect perfection from a man is not necessary.
That’s why we notice that Vishnu disguising himself as Sankchuda violated the chastity of Tulsi, upon which Tulsi cursed him to become a stone. This
shows that even gods have to suffer for the violation of ethical principles and
deceit . Bad deeds never go unpunished.
Seeing the Mohini, an image of Vishnu, Shiva felt attracted. His divine energy
was placed in Anjani’s ear which
reached her womb and a boy with a monkey face took birth. This shows even in
ancient times our sages knew of IVF
technique and the production of issues through this technique.
In the recent war between Ukraine and Russia,
Russia used deadly missiles. It is a matter of pride that in the war with Shumba, goddess Ambika
released a huge missile-‘Ulka’, a
bunch of dazzling light, which caused him to fall to the ground.
Thus Shiva Purana is a marvelous religious
text which through stories encourages the reader to follow the path of ethical
principles and righteousness. One who worships Shiva with great devotion
attains salvation and achieves moksa.PCK
Prem has done a yeoman’s service by writing Shiva Purana Inlucid English and
comprehensible style for those readers wwhose mother tongue is not Hindi. This
text would inspire them to read it and benefit from its teachings.
Works Cited
Pande, Suresh Chandra. A Review of “As I know The Lord of Mountains: Shiva Purana”. Poetcrit
6:1, 2023, 111-
Prem, PCK. As I know The Lord of Mountains- Shiva Purana. New Delhi: Authors
Press, 2021.
Prem, PCK. Shiva Purana and Glimpses of “Ancient Wisdom”. Contemporary Vibes 64: 16 September 2021, 49-52.119.