Lord Shiva Family

Lord shiva full family pic...with Doughter... I heard from my Grand parents told me Narmada River also Doughter...
The appearance of Ashoka Sundari in a popular teleserial has prompted many to wonder, ‘When did Shiva father daughters?’ Everyone has heard of his famous sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya...but daughters? Ashoka Sundari? Where did she come from? The whole idea of the Shiva Purana is to describe the gradual socialisation of Shiva, from hermit to householder. This also means becoming a father and taking responsibility for fatherhood. As hermit, Shiva is detached and disengaged with the world. But Shiva’s consort, Parvati, is determined to make him participate. In that, she is helped by Vishnu and all the other gods. In Tamil temple lore, Vishnu is Parvati’s brother and Brahma is her father. Together, they want the ascetic Shiva to make a home. Only then will his great wisdom and powers benefit the world. Children are part of a householder’s life. Thus, sons are born. Notice how the two popular sons take care of humanity’s most basic needs. Ganesha is associated with food that helps us cope with our fear of starvation. Kartikeya is associated with warfare that is necessary to defend ourselves from predators. Through his two sons, Shiva provides and protects.
There is reference to other sons of Shiva: Aiyyappa and Aiyanar, ascetic warlords popular in South India; Andhaka, the asura, who was born from Parvati’s perspiration when she covered Shiva’s eyes with them; even Hanuman, in some versions. This ‘male preference’ has not been unnoticed by devotees and sages. Across folk traditions, there are references to Shiva’s daughters.
The story of Ashoka Sundari is found in Padma Purana. She is born when Shiva and Parvati encounter the wish-fulfilling tree and Parvati asks for a daughter, who will give her company when she is alone in Kailash. The wish is instantly granted. She is called Ashoka as she got rid of Parvati’s shok or sorrow and Sundari because she is beautiful.
Ashoka Sundari was destined to marry Nahusha, grandson of Yayati of the lunar dynasty. There is reference to a demon who tries to abduct her but she escapes and curses the demon that he will be killed by her husband. Ashoka Sundari and Nahusha marry in the hermitage of Sage Vashisht.
Ashoka Sundari’s story also comes from the vrat-kathas of Gujarat. She was present at the time Ganesha was beheaded and she hid behind a sack of salt in fear, and was later pacified by her father. Hence, she is associated with salt, the ingredient without which life is unsavoury. She is often called Okha and salt is not purchased in the month of Chaitra in her memory. The local tale sounds very much like the story of Bana’s daughter, Usha, who abducted Krishna’s grandson, Anirudh. Bana, an asura, was a great devotee of Shiva. In deference to his wish for a child, Shiva gave him Okha, Usha or Ashoka Sundari.
In Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, one occasionally comes across Jyoti, the goddess of light, who emerges from Shiva’s halo and who is the physical manifestation of his grace. She is commonly associated with Kartikeya.
In Bengali folk tales, Mansa, the goddess who cures one of snakebites, is the sister of Vasuki, king of snakes. She was born when Shiva’s semen touched a statue of Kadru, mother of snakes. Therefore, she was Shiva’s daughter, but not Parvati’s child.
Parvati, known in the folktales as Chandi, does not like Mansa and is even jealous of her, suspecting she may be Shiva’s secret wife. It is Mansa who saves Shiva when he drinks the poison that emerges during the churning of the ocean. But Chandi is so jealous that she blinds Mansa in one eye. Tired of household quarrels, Shiva abandons Mansa but gives her a companion called Neta. Later, when Mansa gets married, Chandi tells her to go into the bridal chamber wearing snakes as ornaments, frightening her husband, who runs away. Abandoned by father and husband, the unhappy Mansa becomes an angry goddess who has to be appeased.

Shiva Ratri Article

Introduction:

This falls on the 13th (or 14th) day of the dark half of Phalgun (February-March). The name means "the night of Shiva". The ceremonies take place chiefly at night. This is a festival observed in honour of Lord Shiva. Shiva was married to Parvati on this day.

People observe a strict fast on this day. Some devotees do not even take a drop of water. They keep vigil all night. The Shiva Lingam is worshipped throughout the night by washing it every three hours with milk, curd, honey, rose water, etc., whilst the chanting of the Mantra Om Namah Shivaya continues. Offerings of bael leaves are made to the Lingam. Bael leaves are very sacred as, it is said, Lakshmi resides in them.

Hymns in praise of Lord Shiva, such as the Shiva Mahimna Stotra of Pushpadanta or Ravana's Shiva Tandava Stotra are sung with great fervour and devotion. People repeat the Panchakshara Mantra, Om Namah Shivaya. He who utters the Names of Shiva during Shivaratri, with perfect devotion and concentration, is freed from all sins. He reaches the abode of Shiva and lives there happily. He is liberated from the wheel of births and deaths. Many pilgrims flock to the places where there are Shiva temples.

The Story of King Chitrabhanu :

In the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, Bhishma, whilst resting on the bed of arrows and discoursing on Dharma, refers to the observance of Maha Shivaratri by King Chitrabhanu. The story goes as follows.

Once upon a time King Chitrabhanu of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who ruled over the whole of Jambudvipa, was observing a fast with his wife, it being the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage Ashtavakra came on a visit to the court of the king.

The sage asked, "O king! why are you observing a fast today?"

King Chitrabhanu explained why. He had the gift of remembering the incidents of his previous birth.

The king said to the sage: "In my past birth I was a hunter in Varanasi. My name was Suswara. My livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. One day I was roaming the forests in search of animals. I was overtaken by the darkness of night. Unable to return home, I climbed a tree for shelter. It happened to be a bael tree. I had shot a deer that day but I had no time to take it home. I bundled it up and tied it to a branch on the tree. As I was tormented by hunger and thirst, I kept awake throughout the night. I shed profuse tears when I thought of my poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously awaiting my return. To pass away the time that night I engaged myself in plucking the bael leaves and dropping them down onto the ground.

"The day dawned. I returned home and sold the deer. I bought some food for myself and for my family. I was about to break my fast when a stranger came to me, begging for food. I served him first and then took my food.

"At the time of death, I saw two messengers of Lord Shiva. They were sent down to conduct my soul to the abode of Lord Shiva. I learnt then for the first time of the great merit I had earned by the unconscious worship of Lord Shiva during the night of Shivaratri. They told me that there was a Lingam at the bottom of the tree. The leaves I dropped fell on the Lingam. My tears which I had shed out of pure sorrow for my family fell onto the Lingam and washed it. And I had fasted all day and all night. Thus did I unconsciously worship the Lord.

"I lived in the abode of the Lord and enjoyed divine bliss for long ages. I am now reborn as Chitrabhanu."

Spiritual Significance of the Ritual :

The Scriptures record the following dialogue between Sastri and Atmanathan, giving the inner meaning of the above story.

Sastri: It is an allegory. The wild animals that the hunter fought with are lust, anger, greed, infatuation, jealousy and hatred. The jungle is the fourfold mind, consisting of the subconscious mind, the intellect, the ego and the conscious mind. It is in the mind that these "wild animals" roam about freely. They must be killed. Our hunter was pursuing them because he was a Yogi. If you want to be a real Yogi you have to conquer these evil tendencies. Do you remember the name of the hunter in the story?

Atmanathan: Yes, he was called Suswara.

Sastri: That's right. It means "melodious". The hunter had a pleasant melodious voice. If a person practices Yama and Niyama and is ever conquering his evil tendencies, he will develop certain external marks of a Yogi. The first marks are lightness of the body, health, steadiness, clearness of countenance and a pleasant voice. This stage has been spoken of in detail in the Swetaswatara Upanishad. The hunter or the Yogi had for many years practised Yoga and had reached the first stage. So he is given the name Suswara. Do you remember where he was born?

Atmanathan: Yes, his birthplace is Varanasi.

Sastri: Now, the Yogis call the Ajna Chakra by the name Varanasi. This is the point midway between the eyebrows. It is regarded as the meeting place of the three nerve currents (Nadis), namely, the Ida, Pingala and the Sushumna. An aspirant is instructed to concentrate on that point. That helps him to conquer his desires and evil qualities like anger and so on. It is there that he gets a vision of the Divine Light within.

Atmanathan: Very interesting! But how do you explain his climbing up the bael tree and all the other details of the worship?

Sastri: Have you ever seen a bael leaf?

Atmanathan: It has three leaves on one stalk.

Sastri: True. The tree represents the spinal column. The leaves are threefold. They represent the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna Nadis, which are the regions for the activity of the moon, the sun and fire respectively, or which may be thought of as the three eyes of Shiva. The climbing of the tree is meant to represent the ascension of the Kundalini Shakti, the serpentine power, from the lowest nerve centre called the Muladhara to the Ajna Chakra. That is the work of the Yogi.

Atmanathan: Yes, I have heard of the Kundalini and the various psychic centres in the body. Please go on further; I am very interested to know more.

Sastri: Good. The Yogi was in the waking state when he began his meditation. He bundled up the birds and the animals he had slain and, tying them on a branch of the tree, he rested there. That means he had fully conquered his thoughts and rendered them inactive. He had gone through the steps of Yama, Niyama, Pratyahara, etc. On the tree he was practising concentration and meditation. When he felt sleepy, it means that he was about to lose consciousness and go into deep sleep. So he determined to keep awake.

Atmanathan: That is now clear to me; you certainly do explain it very well. But why did he weep for his wife and children?

Sastri: His wife and children are none other than the world. One who seeks the Grace of God must become an embodiment of love. He must have an all-embracing sympathy. His shedding of tears is symbolical of his universal love. In Yoga also, one cannot have illumination without Divine Grace. Without practising universal love, one cannot win that Grace. One must perceive one's own Self everywhere. The preliminary stage is to identify one's own mind with the minds of all created beings. That is fellow-feeling or sympathy. Then one must rise above the limitations of the mind and merge it in the Self. That happens only in the stage of Samadhi, not earlier.

Atmanathan: Why did he pluck and drop the bael leaves?

Sastri: That is mentioned in the story only to show that he had no extraneous thoughts. He was not even conscious of what he was doing. All his activity was confined to the three Nadis. The leaves, I have said before, represent the three Nadis. He was in fact in the second state, namely, the dream state, before he passed into the deep sleep state.

Atmanathan: He kept vigil the whole night, it is said.

Sastri: Yes, that means that he passed through the deep sleep state successfully. The dawning of day symbolises the entrance into the Fourth state called Turiya or superconsciousness.

Atmanathan: It is said that he came down and saw the Lingam. What does that mean?

Sastri: That means that in the Turiya state he saw the Shiva Lingam or the mark of Shiva in the form of the inner lights. In other words, he had the vision of the Lord. That was an indication to him that he would realise the supreme, eternal abode of Lord Shiva in course of time.

Atmanathan: So it appears from what you say that the sight of the lights is not the final stage?

Sastri: Oh no! That is only one step, albeit a difficult one. Now think of how the story continues. He goes home and feeds a stranger. A stranger is one whom you have not seen before. The stranger is no other than the hunter himself, transformed into a new person. The food was the likes and dislikes which he had killed the previous night. But he did not consume the whole of it. A little still remained. That was why he had to be reborn as King Chitrabhanu. Going to the world of Shiva (Salokya) is not enough to prevent this. There are other stages besides Salokya. These are Samipya, Sarupya and finally Sayujya. Have you not heard of Jaya and Vijaya returning from Vaikunta?
Atmanathan: Yes, I have understood now.

Lord Shiva's Assurance :

When creation had been completed, Shiva and Parvati went out to live on the top of Mount Kailas. Parvati asked, "O venerable Lord! which of the many rituals observed in Thy honour doth please Thee most?"

The Lord replied, "The 14th night of the new moon, in the dark fortnight during the month of Phalgun, is my most favourite day. It is known as Shivaratri. My devotees give me greater happiness by mere fasting than by ceremonial baths and offerings of flowers, sweets and incense.

"The devotee observes strict spiritual discipline in the day and worships Me in four different forms during each of the four successive three-hour periods of the night. The offering of a few bael leaves is more precious to Me than the precious jewels and flowers. My devotee should bathe Me in milk at the first period, in curd at the second, in clarified butter at the third, and in honey at the fourth and last. Next morning, he should feed the Brahmins first and, after performing the prescribed ceremonies, he can break his fast. O Parvati! there is no ritual which can compare with this simple routine in sanctity."

Parvati was deeply impressed by the speech of Loid Shiva. She repeated it to Her friends who in their turn passed it on to the ruling princes on earth. Thus was the sanctity of Shivaratri broadcast all over the world.

The two great natural forces that afflict man are Rajas (the quality of passionate activity) and Tamas (that of inertia). The Shivaratri Vrata aims at the perfect control of these two. The entire day is spent at the Feet of the Lord. Continuous worship of the Lord necessitates the devotee's constant presence in the place of worship. Motion is controlled. Evils like lust, anger, and jealousy, born of Rajas are ignored and subdued. The devotee observes vigil throughout the night and thus conquers Tamas also. Constant vigilance is imposed on the mind. Every three hours a round of worship of the Shiva Lingam is conducted. Shivaratri is a perfect Vrata.

The formal worship consists of bathing the Lord. Lord Shiva is considered to be the Form of Light (which the Shiva Lingam represents). He is burning with the fire of austerity. He is therefore best propitiated with cool bathing. While bathing the Lingam the devotee prays: "O Lord! I will bathe Thee with water, milk, etc. Do Thou kindly bathe me with the milk of wisdom. Do Thou kindly wash me of all my sins, so that the fire of worldliness which is scorching me may be put out once for all, so that I may be one with Thee-the One alone without a second."

Offer this inner worship to Lord Shiva daily: "I worship the jewel of my Self, the Shiva residing in the Lotus of my heart. I bathe Him with the water of my pure mind brought from the river of faith and devotion. I worship Him with the fragrant flowers of Samadhi-all this so that I may not be born again in this world."

Here is another formula for the supreme worship of the Lord: "O Shiva! you are my Self. My mind is Parvati. My Pranas are your servants. My body is your house. My actions in this world are your worship. My sleep is Samadhi. My walk is circumambulation of you. My speech is your prayer. Thus do I offer all that I am to you.

Shivohum _/\_
Courtesy: The Divine Life Society. Swami Shivananda

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Shivaratri is transcendental, divine consciousness which brings solace to all layers of consciousness

The deeper meaning and objective of Mahashivratri:
Mahashivratri is a once a year celebration of Lord Siva, the awake Spirit within each of us. Mahashivratri is the gift of realized Sages to enable everyone to experience the consciousness. Observing Mahashivratri is transforming as we awaken to whom we truly are. Lord Siva, the dissolver of ego, enables clearance of past karmic negatives that have blocked us from our true potentials. Mahashivaratri is rejuvenative as we tune into the eternal yogi within ourselves as the surrender of our body consciousness to the awake soul, the eternal yogi.
The objective of Mahashivratri is to experience bliss, the realm of enlightenment. Proximity of the mind with the Source does align our thoughts to be empowered as we are in touch with our inner wisdom of calm, serenity, inspiration, abundance and knowing, which is necessary in our busy daily lives.
Shivohum
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Nicely explained about Maha Shivaratri.....The basic principle underlying the observance of the Maha-Sivaratri Vratha appears to be to emphasize the fact that death is sure to follow birth, night is sure to follow day,Pralaya, active cosmic life and so on, and consequently people should always bear in mind while enjoying the one its opposite and regulate their life accordingly. They should not be elated at success nor should they allow themselves to be carried away by despair at failures but always have trust in God with Love and worship him. OM SRI SAIRAM

Shiva post

Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja The Post and the Person [Dear Readers, Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Sri Sri Guru and Gauranga. This year, 2015, Siva-ratri is on February 18th (in India). Please accept this lecture spoken by Srila Gurudeva in Holland, 1997. Also, please logon here to hear more about Gopesvara Mahadeva: https://soundcloud.com/srila-bv-narayan-maharaja/19971019-vrndavan-srila-trivikram-mj-and-srila-bv-narayan-mj-h-e-gopesvar-mahadev] Sri Narada desired to proclaim the glories of Lord Siva. As previously described, he praised Siva as the greatest devotee of Lord Krsna and most dear to Him, and Lord Siva became upset by hearing those praises. Siva then related a number of incidents which, according to him, were evidence that he was not dear to Krsna at all. Now Lord Siva compares himself to Sri Prahlada Maharaja, (*See Endnote 1) the famed devotee of Lord Nrsimhadeva described in Srimad-Bhagavatam. He told Narada, “Sri Prahlada Maharaja is superior to me, and it is he who is the dear devotee of the Lord.” Even though Lord Siva is superior to Prahlada Maharaja, he told Narada that Prahlada Maharaja is superior. Why? He said this to encourage people to follow Prahlada Maharaja’s ideal character and teachings. However, Prahlada Maharaja cannot enter Sri Krsna’s transcendental abode, Vrndavana, whereas Lord Siva resides there eternally as Gopisvara. Siva serves Sri Krsna personally in numerous ways. He and his wife Parvati-devi meditate on asta-kaliya-lila, Lord Sri Krsna’s confidential eight-fold daily pastimes. These secret pastimes are very confidential, yet both Siva and Parvati are able to meditate upon them. Siva is hundreds of thousands of times superior to and more worshipable than Sri Prahlada Maharaja, and yet the artful Siva declared Prahlada Maharaja to be superior. Why did he do so? In one sense Prahlada Maharaja is superior, and in another sense he is not. We can reconcile this by considering the two perspectives from which to understand the identity of Lord Siva: We can see Siva from the point of view of his post, and also from the point of view of his personality. As a personality, separate from his post, he appears as an associate of the Supreme Lord, such as Gopisvara, Hanuman and Bhima. As Gopisvara he resides eternally in Vrndavana. As Hanuman he always associates with and serves Lord Rama. As Bhima he always serves Lord Krsna. And, when Hanuman and Bhima combine together in this present age of Kali-yuga, they become Madhvacarya, our Sampradaya-guru. (*See Endnote 2) From the point of view of Lord Siva’s function as the god of annihilation, and also that of Brahma as the secondary creator of the universe, Siva and Brahma are actually posts. Lord Brahma and Lord Siva are not ordinary human beings, but their posts are like that of the president or prime minister of a nation, wherein the man representing the post has to perform a certain defined job. Both as the post and the person, Siva is superior to Brahma. Lord Siva is an expansion of Lord Visnu, but sometimes a jiva may become Siva’s expansion known as Rudra. If a man purely performs the duties of varnasrama for one hundred births, he may become Brahma.6 In other words, he may attain the position or post of Brahma. In turn, when a person in the post of Brahma carries out his function expertly for one hundred births, he becomes qualified to perform the function of Siva in his manifestation as Rudra. Siva’s post is therefore superior to that of Brahma, and this is also evidence that Siva is more powerful than Brahma. The Duty of Destruction What is the function of Lord Siva’s post, and why is it superior to that of Lord Brahma? One reason is that Brahma cannot execute pralaya, the complete destruction of the universe – a very dangerous thing, whereas Siva can do so. Siva’s function as destroyer is similar to that of a farmer who plants and cultivates a large area of wheat. The farmer carefully waters and nourishes the crop, guarding it from animals, and after five or six months the wheat matures and ripens. Then, either by hand or a machine, the farmer harvests the plants and carefully removes the grains from their shafts. The rest of the plant-matter becomes refuse, subject to rotting and attracting disease, vermin, and snakes. Therefore, the farmer sets fire to it and burns it. Just as the farmer extracts the grains from the plants, Lord Siva extracts the eternal spirit souls from their material bodies and from the world. At the time of annihilation he creates an inferno, setting the entire universe on fire, but the spirit souls are not destroyed. There are two kinds of universal devastations: one at the end of Lord Brahma’s day and one at the end of his life. At the end of his day (4,320,000,000 solar years) he rests in a mystic sleep within the body of Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and all the conditioned living entities enter as well. (*See Endnote 3) While the entire universe is submerged in water, the living entities rest in their subtle bodies within the transcendental body of Garbhodakasayi Visnu. They await the start of the next day of Brahma, the next material creation or manifestation. Some of them become liberated, and others do not. When Lord Brahma completes the one hundred celestial years of his life, Lord Siva again performs this duty of destruction. At that time all the spirit souls enter into the body of Karanodakasayi Visnu or Maha Visnu. At the end of each day of Lord Brahma, all souls enter Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and at the end of Brahma’s life, even the millions of manifestations of Garbhodakasayi Visnu enter Karanodakasayi Visnu (*See Endnote 4) along with the spirit souls. At the time of creation, Karanodakasayi Visnu generates innumerable manifestations of Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and at the time of complete annihilation, they enter back into his body. (*See Endnote 5) Lord Siva is not a living entity, but he is also not in the category of Lord Visnu. He is much more powerful than any living entity, even up to Lord Brahma. However, he is not equal to Lord Visnu. Because he is almost as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he can see the three phases of time: past, present, and future. One of his eyes is like the sun and another is like the moon. He also has a third eye, located between his eyebrows. It is from this third eye that he generates fire and employs it at the time of the universal destruction. Seen from this perspective – the destroyer – Lord Siva cannot serve Sri Krsna directly, because he is engaged at his post. Those souls who are liberated after hundreds of thousands of lifetimes of devotional practice, having renounced all responsibilities and concerns of the world – including occupations like that of Brahma and Siva – and who constantly hear about, glorify, and remember Lord Krsna, take birth in this world as pure devotees like Prahlada Maharaja. This was told by Lord Siva to Sri Narada. Prahlada Maharaja has nothing to do with this world; nothing to create or demolish. He rejected all such affairs as insignificant. Although he had inherited a large kingdom, it was controlled and governed by his ministers. His senses were totally absorbed in the transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord. He was always engaged in hearing the name and glories of the Lord, singing and speaking about his glories, remembering and meditating on him, offering prayers, carrying out the his orders and fully surrendering to him. Devotees in Prahlada’s category have no need to approach Lord Krsna’s manifestations like Lord Nrsinhadeva and Lord Rama, for the Lord personally comes to them in these forms. Lord Siva told Sri Narada that because he is always engaged in the post of controlling the universe, he can neither see nor offer services to the Lord daily, as Prahlada Maharaja sees Lord Vamanadeva or Lord Nrsinhadeva. Vamanadeva and Nrsinhadeva are both manifestations of the same Lord, who regularly gives Prahlada his divine association and the opportunity to serve and offer obeisance at his lotus feet. Although both Brahma and Siva are actually superior in bhakti to Prahlada Maharaja, their posts involve contact with the three gunas, or modes of material nature, namely goodness, passion, and ignorance. The role of Lord Brahma is creation and procreation in raja-guna, the mode of passion. Lord Siva’s role of demolition and dissolution is in tama-guna, the mode of ignorance. It is for this reason that they are called guna-avataras, incarnations of the material qualities. Prahlada Maharaja is nirguna, transcendental to the three modes of nature. He has nothing to do with activities in material goodness, passion, and ignorance, by which this world is shackled. Lord Siva is also beyond the three modes of nature, but he adopts the mode of ignorance (tama-guna) to efficiently perform his function. The Personal Associate Regarding Lord Siva’s glorification of Prahlada Maharaja, now consider Lord Siva’s identity as a transcendental personality – separate from his post. Sometimes senior Vaisnavas express sincere recognition of the novice, inspiring him or her on the path of devotion. The Vaisnava may say, “Oh, you work so hard and earn money, and with that money you support and nourish me. I have no means at all. I do nothing but visit for a short while, eating, and sleeping at your expense. I would not be able to speak the glories of Lord Krsna at this festival if you had not arranged for the management of all the activities here, so you are superior to me.” Out of sincere humility, gratitude and affection, liberated souls speak in this endearing manner, and at the same time they are fixed in the realization that they are always being personally maintained by the Supreme Lord. The senior Vaisnava has the disciple’s personal benefit in mind. However, Lord Siva was not speaking for Prahlada Maharaja’s benefit, but to acquaint aspiring devotees with the stages of devotion. His desire was to facilitate the service of Sri Narada Muni and Srila Sanatana Gosvami (*See Endnote 6), whose mission was to establish in the world the sequence of the grades of devotion and ultimately establish the glories of the gopis. Try to understand all these truths, and seek to gradually become firmly situated in bhakti. Imagine that you are in a market in which there are thousands of varieties of shops. In some of those shops there are products made of iron, in some shops there are products made of gold, in some there are jewels, and in others cintamani (wish-fulfilling stones). An expert is guiding you through all the shops, pointing out different products and revealing which are superior. If there are a thousand pounds of iron and only one ounce of gold, the gold has more value. On the other hand, many pounds of gold will not amount to the value of one Kaustubha-mani or a similarly precious stone. Millions of such precious jewels cannot compare with a tiny quantity of cintamani, and even millions of cintamani stones cannot compare with one holy name of Lord Krsna. Now suppose someone is chanting the name of Lord Krsna alone, and another is absorbed in the name of Radha-Ramana. The name Radha-Ramana, meaning Sri Krsna, the enjoyer of pastimes with Srimati Radharani, has more transcendental taste (rasa) than the name Krsna alone. The person absorbed in that holy name will therefore experience a greater spiritual pleasure. Regarding the analogy of the shops in a market, that expert tells you, “This shop is good, that shop is better, and this one is the best. Similarly, in his Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta, Srila Sanatana Gosvami establishes the gradations of excellence of various devotees and their devotion, in order to help his readers determine their spiritual path. The history of Narada Muni’s coming to the abode of Lord Siva and glorifying him was first narrated in this Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta. Like Srila Sanatana Gosvami, Narada is also that expert described above. He desired to establish pure bhakti in the world, and therefore he played the role of searching for the greatest devotee and recipient of Lord Krsna’s mercy. His search had taken him first to the “shop” of a brahmana in Prayaga, and after that to South India, to the shop of a king. Then he traveled to heaven, where he entered the shop of King Indra, and Indra sent him to the shop of Lord Brahma. Brahma sent him to Lord Siva, and Lord Siva is now sending him to Prahlada Maharaja. Gradually, Sri Narada will bring us to the greatest recipients of Lord Krsna’s mercy, the gopis. In the form of Gopisvara, Lord Siva is the beloved servant and associate of those gopis. Once, the great sage Narada Muni traveled to the abode of Lord Siva and began to glorify him, saying, “You are very near and dear to the Supreme Lord Krsna. Not only that, you are Krsna’s manifestation; you are non-different from Him. You can give liberation and also krsna-prema, the rare jewel of transcendental love for Krsna.” Hearing Narada glorify him in numerous ways, Lord Siva became angry and said, “Your glorification of me is false. I am not at all dear to Sri Krsna.” Lord Siva is actually most dear to Sri Krsna, and therefore Krsna can give him services which He cannot give anyone else. When the demigods and demons were churning the Milk Ocean in order to obtain the nectar of immortality, the first substance produced was a powerful and dangerous poison, burning the entire world. The demigods appealed to Sri Krsna, and He advised them to request Lord Siva to drink the poison. Thus, they worshiped Lord Siva and prayed, “Please save us! Only you can protect us!” Lord Siva collected the poison and took it in his mouth, but he hesitated to swallow it, considering, “Lord Krsna is in my heart. The poison will affect Him.” He therefore kept the poison in his throat, which was burned, and his neck turned the color blue. Now, out of genuine humility, Lord Siva told Narada: “I want to be His beloved devotee, but actually I am not. You know that I always wear ashes from the burial grounds, and a garland of skulls. All my associates are ghosts and witches, so I am not qualified to be Krsna’s dear devotee. If I am so dear to Him, why would He have ordered me to engage with the mode of ignorance in the terrible function of destroying of the universe? If I am such a great recipient of His mercy, why would he have ordered me to become Sankaracarya and preach a philosophy that is adverse to Him?” Actually, although he expressed otherwise, it was because Siva is so dear to Krsna that Krsna was able to give him the difficult task of appearing as Sankaracarya. (*See Endnote 7) Many people had been worshiping the Supreme Lord only to fulfill their selfish purposes, thinking, “Simply by our worship of God, He will be pleased with us and satisfy all our worldly desires.” They worshiped Him only so that He would rapidly arrange for all of their needs, not to please Him. Lord Krsna thought, “This is very dangerous.” He called Lord Siva and instructed him, “Such false devotees will create great disturbances, so keep them far away from Me. Create a philosophy which teaches, ‘brahma satyam jagan mithya – the Absolute is true, this world is false.’ You should preach, ‘All souls are Siva; all souls are Brahma; all are one. You are brahma, the impersonal Absolute. There is no need to worship any other God; you are the Supreme God.’ ” Reluctant, Lord Siva asked Krsna, “Can you please tell someone else to do this? I am not qualified for this service.” Krsna replied, “No, you will have to do this. In the entire world, I see no one else who is as capable.” Feeling ashamed, Lord Siva now told Narada, “At last, I had to agree to follow His order. Appearing as Sankaracarya I preached everywhere, ‘You are brahma, you are brahma, you are the impersonal brahma. The entire world is false.’ I am so much regretting this. I know I have committed a great offence by causing so many people to be averse to Lord Krsna. Still, to carry out His order I spread this doctrine. It is clear by the fact that He sometimes gives me such orders that I am not His dearest one.” Cheating the Cheaters Lord Siva also expressed to Narada his regret in having given benedictions to Lord Krsna’s enemies. To fulfill his Lord’s desires, he had given benedictions to demons like Ravana, Vrkasura, Salva and Jayadratha, and thus he had performed many activities that were seemingly opposed to Krsna and krsna-bhakti. Narada Muni said, “Master, please don’t try to mislead me. I know that whatever you do is to please Lord Krsna and to assist Him in His pastimes, for the benefit of all beings. You told me that you have many times given benedictions to His enemies. I know that His enemies, as well as the enemies of His devoted cousins, the Pandavas, worship you for ill-motivated benedictions. I also know that you grant them benedictions. But those benedictions are not foolproof; they always have some loophole. Actually, you cheat these beneficiaries in order to please Lord Krsna. You are undoubtedly His dearest friend.” Siva and Narada continued to discuss some historical incidents which, according to Siva, proved that he was not dear to Krsna – but according to Narada, proved the opposite. A Loophole The great epic Mahabharata tells of King Jayadratha, one of the many demons who received such a clever benediction from Lord Siva. Duryodhana, the paternal cousin of the five Pandava brothers, had given his sister Dushala in marriage to King Jayadratha, and therefore the king had also become like a brother-in-law of the Pandavas. Once, Jayadratha tried to kidnap the Pandavas’ wife, Draupadi, desiring strongly to make her his own wife. As he forced her onto his chariot, she admonished him, crying, “I am the wife of the Pandavas. When they catch you, they will punish you and kill you!” Jayadratha’s arrogance prevented him from hearing her, and he continued his abduction. Meanwhile, the sage Narada approached the Pandavas and informed them, “Oh, I saw Jayadratha taking away Draupadi, and she was weeping!” Two of the Pandavas, Bhima and Arjuna, immediately chased after Jayadratha. Bhima dismounted his chariot and ran faster than Jayadratha’s horses. With his bow and arrows, Arjuna created a fire that surrounded the chariot of Jayadratha, who was then captured and could not move. Severely beaten by Bhima and arrested by Arjuna, Jayadratha was bound to the chariot and taken to where Yudhisthira Maharaja had been staying with Draupadi. Bhima and Arjuna spoke to Yudhisthira, their respected senior brother. Bhima urged him, “I want to kill Jayadratha. Please order me to kill him.” In support of Bhima, Arjuna said, “Jayadratha has performed a heinous act and should be killed.” King Yudhisthira replied, “The offense was committed against Draupadi. We should take the case to her, and we will do whatever she orders.” When Jayadratha was brought at the feet of Draupadi, she mercifully told her husbands, “Don’t kill him; forgive him. He is our brother-in-law. If you kill him, your cousin-sister will be widowed and she will weep for the rest of her life.” Bhima and Arjuna then approached Lord Krsna and appealed to Him: “What should we do? We have vowed to kill Jayadratha, and now Draupadi tells us to forgive him.” Krsna replied, “For one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death.” Arjuna then shaved King Jayadratha’s head, leaving five patches of hair, and he shaved one side of his face, leaving the other side unshaven. Jayadratha felt humiliated, and after being released by Bhima and Arjuna he considered it better to have died. He thought, “I will somehow take revenge.” Thus absorbed, he went to Gangotri in the Himalayas and undertook a severe type of penance to please Lord Siva. After some months he gave up all food, water, and bodily activities, and was about to die. At this point Lord Siva came before him and asked what boon he wanted as a result of his austerity. Jayadratha replied, “I want revenge against the Pandavas. I want to defeat and kill all of them.” Lord Siva told him, “You can defeat the Pandavas, but only Yudhisthira, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva; not Arjuna.” Jayadratha said, “If you cannot benedict me to my full satisfaction, then please grant that neither Arjuna nor anyone else will be able to kill me.” Lord Siva replied, “I can grant you this: if your head is severed and falls on the ground, the person who caused this will die immediately. Your life will be saved and your head will rejoin your body. You may be ‘killed’ hundreds of thousands of times, but you will not die. On the other hand, if your severed head falls into your father’s hands and he throws it on the ground, then you will die.” Jayadratha was satisfied, thinking, “My father would never do this.” When the battle of Kuruksetra began, Jayadratha took the side of the Pandavas’ enemy, Duryodhana. One evening during the battle, as the sun was setting, Jayadratha’s father was absorbed in prayer and making an offering of water to the Sun-god. Arjuna saw this opportune moment. With the skillful release of an arrow, he severed Jayadratha’s head from his body and caused it to fall into the hands of his meditating father. Startled and without thought, Jayadratha’s father tossed the head on the ground. Then, opening his eyes he exclaimed, “What was that wet thing?” Seeing that he had just thrown his son’s head, he began to cry, “Oh my son! Oh my son! You are dead now!” A Clever Benediction Envious of Krsna and with a desire for the strength to destroy him, the demon Salva also took shelter of Lord Siva. He performed a severe type of austerity and ate no more than a handful of ashes daily. After one year, Lord Siva became pleased with him and asked him to beg for a boon. Salva begged from Lord Siva the gift of an airplane, saying, “This airplane should perform as I wish; it should be operated by my mind. On my order it should go to heaven or anywhere I desire. In summer it should be air-conditioned. If there are only two men, there should only be two seats, and if I want to travel with hundreds of thousands of persons, many seats should manifest. It should never crash due to mechanical difficulty, and it should be equipped with all varieties of weapons. It should be dangerous and fearful to the Yadus.” Lord Siva agreed, and Salva was helped by the demon Maya Danava to manufacture a mystical airplane that began to destroy Dvaraka, Lord Krsna’s abode. Salva personally attacked from above, and his soldiers attacked on the ground. Headed by Pradyumna, the Yadu dynasty warriors fought with Salva and his army, but they could not defeat him. Finally, Lord Krsna personally appeared on the battlefield, and after much intense fighting on both sides and many mystic displays by Salva, the Lord took up His disc, cut off the demon’s head, and gave him liberation. In this way, the benedictions given by Lord Siva to the enemies of Lord Krsna always have a weak point – a loophole. Lord Siva is extremely clever, and he is always serving his Lord, Sri Krsna. Narada knew this fact, and he wanted to publicize Lord Siva’s glories. Siva is very near and dear to Krsna, and non-different from Him. Try to always honor him, for he is Krsna’s greatest devotee. nimna-ganah yatha ganga devanam acyuto yatha vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh purananam idam tatha [(Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta [Krsna] the supreme among deities and Lord Sambhu [Siva] the greatest of Vaisnavas, so Srimad-Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas. (Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.13.16)] The Principle of Siva The principle of Siva – Siva-tattva – is extremely complex. The principle of Brahma is not as complicated, because Lord Brahma is always a jiva, a finite spirit soul. Sometimes, when there is no qualified jiva, Lord Visnu (Krsna’s expansion) personally takes the post of Brahma, but that is rare. Lord Siva is not like that; he is not a finite soul. After passing through the eight material coverings, and after crossing the Viraja (the river that divides the material world and the spiritual world) and the planet of Lord Brahma (the highest material planet), one comes to the planet of Siva. There he is known as SadaSiva, a manifestation of Lord Visnu. Siva-tattva can be understood by the analogy of yogurt and milk. Yogurt is nothing but a transformation of milk. Milk can become yogurt, but yogurt cannot become milk. This analogy is found in Sri Brahma-Samhita and elucidated in Srila Jiva Gosvami’s commentary: “Just as milk is transformed into yogurt by contact with a transforming agent, Sri Govinda, Lord Sri Krsna, similarly accepts the form of Sambhu (Siva) in order to accomplish a specific purpose. The example of yogurt is actually given in order to convey the idea of cause and effect, not the idea of transformation. Sri Krsna is reality and cannot be transformed, so it is not possible for Him to undergo any kind of distortion. A wish-fulfilling gem manifests many things according to one’s desire, yet its constitutional nature remains untransformed.” (*See Endnote 8) Ramesvara Mahadeva When Sri Ramacandra was making the bridge to Lanka, he established a Siva-linga (deity form of Siva) called Ramesvara. All the common people began glorifying Lord Siva, shouting, “Ramesvara ki jaya! You are Rama’s isvara: you are the lord of Rama.” The demigods were unsatisfied by this and announced through an arial voice, “Ramas ca asau isvarah: Rama is God, and Sankara is also God; they are the same.” Hearing this, the Siva-linga broke. Lord Siva emerged from the linga and told them all, “You are all foolish; you do not know my tattva, the established truths regarding my identity. Rama is my beloved and my God, and that is why I am called Ramesvara.” Granting Perfect Love Lord Siva eternally resides in Lord Krsna’s abode, Vrndavana, where he manifests many forms to render devotional services to Him. The form of Gopisvara Mahadeva (*See Endnote 9) was manifested by Lord Krsna’s desire. When Krsna desired to perform His rasa dance, Srimati Radhika, the embodiment of His pleasure potency, manifested from His left side and Gopisvara Mahadeva manifested from His right side. The form of Siva who lives in Kasi or Kailasa in the material world is a partial manifestation of the original Sadasiva in Vrndavana. The many other commonly worshiped forms of Lord Siva are expansions of Sadasiva. They are not the original. Partial expansions such as Pippalesvara Mahadeva, Bhutesvara Mahadeva, Rangesvara Mahadeva and so on cannot award the benediction that can be attained by the mercy of Gopisvara – the highest perfection of love, namely vraja-prema. Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami has composed a prayer in his Vraja-vilasa-stava: muda gopendrasyatmaja bhuja parisranga nidhaye sphurad gopirvrndair yam iha bhagavatam pranayibhih bhajadbhistair bhaktyas vamabhilasitam praptam acirad yamitire gopisvaram anudinam tah kila bhaje I daily worship Gopisvara Mahadeva, who is situated on the bank of Yamuna. That very Gopisvara was worshipped with deep devotion by the gopis, and he quickly fulfilled their desire to attain a supremely precious jewel in the form of the embrace of the son of Nanda Maharaja [Krsna]. Srila Sanatana Gosvami, the great Vaisnava saint who resided in Vrndavana near the old Sri Madana-Mohana temple, would go daily to see Sri Gopisvara Mahadeva at his temple. Once, in his older years, Sanatana Gosvami had a dream wherein Gopisvara Mahadeva appeared and instructed him: “Now that you are old, please do not go through so much trouble to see me.” Sanatana Gosvami replied, “I will continue to come. I cannot change this habit.” Gopisvara Mahadeva said, “Then I will come and stay very near to your residence, manifesting in Bankhandi.” The very next day, Sri Gopisvara Mahadeva appeared in Bankhandi, halfway between his orginal temple and Srila Sanatana Gosvami’s residence. Seeing this, Sanatana Gosvami became overwhelmed with transcendental ecstasy, and from that day on he visited Bankhandi Mahadeva every day. Wherever he was, Srila Sanatana Gosvami could not live without his beloved Lord Siva – Gopisvara Mahadeva and Bankhandi Mahadeva in Vrndavana, and Kamesvara Mahadeva in Kamyavana forest. In Govardhana he would stay near his very dear friend, Cakresvara Mahadeva, who acquired the name when he served Govardhana Hill and the Vrajavasis by holding up his trident like a cakra, protecting them from the torrential deluge sent by King Indra. Prior to this, Lord Siva had asked Sri Krsna for the boon to witness His childhood pastimes. Krsna ordered him to situate himself in Nandagaon in the form of a hill. Siva followed this order and became Nandisvara Hill, and he thus became known as Nandisvara. (Lord Brahma became Brahma-parvata, the mountain in Srimati Radhika’s birthplace, Varsana. Because Brahma is so near to Radhika, he is also our Gurudeva.) We honor Lord Siva as a great Vaisnava and as Guru. We do not worship him separately. We observe Siva-ratri, Lord Siva’s appearance day, and we glorify him in connection to his relationship with Sri Krsna. Srila Sanatana Gosvami has written in his Hari-bhakti-vilasa that all Vaisnavas should observe Siva-caturdasi (Siva-ratri). Lord Siva, in whom all good qualities reside, should certainly be honored by the observance of this day. We offer obeisance to Lord Siva with prayers like this: vrndavanavani-pate! jaya soma soma-maule sanaka-sanandana-sanatana-naradedya gopisvara! vraja-vilasi-yuganghri-padme prema prayaccha nirupadhi namo namas te (Sankalpa-kalpadruma 103) O Gatekeeper of Vrndavana! O Soma, all glories to you! O you whose forehead is decorated with the moon, and who is worshipable by the sages headed by Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Narada! O Gopisvara! Desiring that you bestow upon me prema for the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, who perform joyous pastimes in Vraja-dhama, I offer obeisances unto you time and again. By Siva’s Benediction A brahmana in Kasi Varanasi once prayed to Lord Siva, “I want to give my daughter in marriage, but I have no money. Please give me money.” Lord Siva told him, “Go to Vrndavana and meet with Srila Sanatana Gosvami. You can ask him to give you some wealth for your daughter’s marriage.” The brahmana went to Vrndavana, by foot, and there he asked the villagers there for the whereabouts of a person named Sanatana Gosvami. As they all knew him, they pointed out his residence. Srila Sanatana Gosvami was practicing bhajana near the Yamuna River at Kaliya-hrada, the former abode of the very poisonous snake named Kaliya. Kaliya-hrada was close to the Yamuna, and therefore its surrounding area was full of sand. Srila Sanatana Gosvami wore only a loincloth. He used to go begging door-to-door for a small amount of prasada (Krsna’s food remnants), and would take as his meal only one dry chapatti (flat bread), with no salt. The brahmana arrived at his cottage and told him, “I went to Sankara Mahadeva, Lord Siva, and he told me to meet you. He said you will give me some wealth for my daughter’s marriage.” Sanatana Gosvami replied, “I have no possessions. You can see that I have nothing but a loincloth.” Then he thought, “Oh, Siva cannot tell a lie. He is my bosom friend.” Thinking of Lord Siva and contemplating further, he remembered a touchstone he had once disgarded and then forgotten. Now he told the brahmana, “Go to the Yamuna and remove some of the sand, and there you will find a touchstone. It is somewhere in the sand, though I don’t remember where.” The brahmana found the jewel, touched it to iron, and the iron turned into gold. He was very, very happy that Lord Siva had told him to come to Vrndavana, and thought with gratitude, “My prayer has been answered by him.” On the way home, however, his greed for money increased and he began thinking, “Why did Sanatana Gosvami keep the touchstone in the sand? It had no use there. He must have still more valuable jewels.” He thus returned, and Sanatana Gosvami asked him, “Why have you come back?” He replied, “I’ve come because I know that you have more valuable jewels than this.” Sanatana Gosvami then said, “Go and throw the touchstone in the Yamuna. The brahmana did so with all his power, and then Sanatana Gosvami told him, “Come here. Come here.” He gave him the mantra, “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare” and said, “I do not have worldly jewels, but I have transcendental jewels. The jewel of Lord Krsna and Sri Radha will come to you in a very short time. So remain here. Your daughter’s marriage will take place automatically. Stay here and chant Hare Krsna.” That brahmana followed his instruction and became a very elevated saint. *[Endnote 1] In the hermitage of Sri Narada Muni, Prahlada Maharaja heard the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam while within the womb of his mother. From his birth, Prahlad was fixed in transcendental realization of the all-pervading presence of the Supreme Lord, and he preached love of God to his schoolmates at the tender age of five. Despite efforts by his atheistic father to change his nature – efforts that culminated in repeated attempts to kill him by means of administering poison, putting him in boiling oil, tossing him from the top of a cliff and so on – Prahlada continued to experience great joy by remembering Lord Visnu and chanting his holy names. Prahlada was protected by the Supreme Lord in every situation. Finally, Lord Visnu appeared in the form of a half-man, half-lion and killed his demonic father. When offered a benediction by the Lord, Prahlada simply asked for the liberation of his father, as well as that of all conditioned souls. He is honored in this world by all pure devotees. *[Endnote 2] “Srila Madhvacarya is the original acarya for those who belong to the Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya.”(SB 6.1.40.purport) “This Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya is also known as the Brahma-sampradaya because the disciplic succession originally began from Brahma. Brahma instructed the sage Narada, Narada instructed Vyasadeva, and Vyasadeva instructed Madhva Muni, or Madhvacarya.” (Krsna Introduction). *[End note 3] “The Vedas say, ‘svadharma-nisthah sata janmabhih puman virincatam eti - One who strictly follows the principles of varnasrama-dharma for at least one hundred births will be rewarded with the post of Lord Brahma.’ ” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.20.33 purport) Varnasrama-dharma - the institutions dividing society into four divisions of social life and four occupational divisions of castes. *[Endnote 4] “At the beginning of Brahma’s day, all living entities become manifest from the unmanifest state, and thereafter, when the night falls, they are merged into the unmanifest again. Again and again, when Brahma’s day arrives, all living entities come into being, and with the arrival of Brahma’s night they are helplessly annihilated.” (Bhagavad-gita 8.18-19) “At the end of the day, under the insignificant portion of the mode of darkness, the powerful manifestation of the universe merges in the darkness of night. By the influence of eternal time, the innumerable living entities remain merged in that dissolution, and everything is silent.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.11.28) “The dissolution of the three worlds is effected by the incarnation of darkness, Rudra, represented by the fire of eternal time which blazes over the three worlds. These three worlds are known as Bhuh, Bhuvah and Svah (Patala, Martya and Svarga). The innumerable living entities merge into that dissolution, which appears to be the dropping of the curtain of the scene of the Supreme Lord’s energy, and so everything becomes silent.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.11.28 purport) “It is said that the blazing fire from the mouth of Sankarsana rages for one hundred years of the demigods, or 36,000 human years. Then for another 36,000 years there are torrents of rain, accompanied by violent winds and waves, and the seas and oceans overflow. People forget all these devastations of the worlds and think themselves happy in the material progress of civilization. This is called maya, or ‘that which is not.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.11.31 purport) “Thereafter, at the end of the millennium, the Lord Himself, in the form of Rudra, the destroyer, will annihilate the complete creation as the wind displaces the clouds. This creation is very appropriately compared to clouds.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.10.43) *[Endnote 5] “There are two types of dissolution of the manifested cosmos. At the end of every 4,320,000,000 solar years, when Brahma, the lord of one particular universe, goes to sleep, there is one annihilation. And at the end of Lord Brahma’s life, which takes place at the end of Brahma’s one hundred years of age, in our calculation at the end of 8,640,000,000 x 30 x 12 x 100 solar years, there is complete annihilation of the entire universe, and in both the periods both the material energy called the mahat-tattva and the marginal energy called jiva-tattva merge in the person of the Supreme Lord.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.21 purport) *[Endnote 6] “Karanodakasayi Visnu is the first incarnation of the Supreme Lord, and he is the master of eternal time, space, cause and effects, mind, the elements, the material ego, the modes of nature, the senses, the universal form of the Lord, Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and the sum total of all living beings, both moving and nonmoving.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.6.42) *[Endnote 7] Lord Siva was referring to the long history in relation to Sripad Sankaracarya’s propagating the concept of the living entities’ oneness with God in all respects. Before the appearance of Sankaracarya fifteen hundred years ago, voidist Buddhism, which rejects the Vedas, was prominent in India. Sankaracarya is an incarnation of Lord Siva, the topmost devotee of the Lord. However, in order to drive away Buddhism and re-establish Vedic authority, he had to compromise with the atheistic Buddhist philosophy and preach a non-devotional doctrine. *[Endnote 8] “In this case the special transforming agent is constituted of a mixture of maya’s aspect of the mode of ignorance, the minuteness aspect of the marginal potency, and a slight degree of the combined knowledge (sahvit) and bliss (hladini) aspects of the transcendental potency. The effulgent subordinate controller in the form of Sambhu-linga, being united with this special transforming agent, is constitutionally the semblance of God’s expansion.” (Brahma-samhita commentary by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura) *[Endnote 9] In his original and most pure form, Siva is eternally Gopisvara Mahadeva. Yet, he performed the following human-like pastime in which he ‘became’ Gopisvara: “Lord Siva wanted to become a gopi. He performed austerities, and when Paurnamasi Yogamaya became pleased and appeared before him, he prayed to join Krsna’s rasa-lila. Paurnamasi mercifully assisted him in dipping in Brahma-kunda, and he immediately assumed the form of a teenage gopi. He then went to the place where rasa-lila was being performed, and hid there in a grove. “Krsna and the gopis sensed that someone of a different mood had come. They asked each other, ‘Why are you not so happy today? What is the matter?’ After searching, they discovered the new gopi and asked ‘her’, ‘Who are you? What is your name? Who are your parents? What is your husband’s name? Where is your in-laws’ house?’ “When Siva could not reply, they began to slap her so much that her cheeks became swollen and she began to cry, ‘Yogamaya, Yogamaya. Save me. I will never again come to Vrndavana, and I will never dare take part in rasa-lila.’ Paurnamasi arrived, and she requested the gopis to show Lord Siva mercy. ‘She is the object of my mercy,’ Paurnamasi told them. The gopis then accepted her as a gopi and Krsna named her Gopisvara (she whose isvaras, controllers, are the gopis). He blessed her to become the guard of the rasa-lila and said, ‘Without the sanction of Gopisvara, no one will be able to enter the rasa-lila.’ ” (Pinnacle of Devotion) -- If you do not want to receive any more newsletters, Unsubscribe To update your preferences and to unsubscribe visit this link Forward a Message to Someone this link

Message of Shiva Ratri

Shivaratri is one of the holiest nights of the year.

It is the night dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva.

Literally, Shivratri means, The great night of Shiva. 

It is celebrated on the 13th or 14th day of the dark half of the month of Phalguna (February - March).

In the trinity of the manifestations of the Supreme Reality Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva Lord Shiva is the one who destroys that which is old and impure in order to make room for a new creation of that which is pure and divine.

Lord Shiva annihilates our egos, our attachments and our ignorance.

Many fear Lord Shiva destructive capacity, and yet it is destruction for the purpose of regeneration.

Without death, life cannot begin anew. Without the annihilation of old habits, attachments and ego, we cannot progress toward the goal of God realization.

Unless our vesselï has been emptied of all that is old, negative and impure, it cannot be filled with divine qualities.

The holiday of Shivratri is celebrated by performing special Shiva puja and Abhishek as well as by remaining awake at night in meditation, kirtan and japa.

During the course of the night, the Abhishek can be performed every three hours with water, milk, yogurt, honey, etc. Bel (bilva) leaves are frequently offered during Shiva puja, as it is believed that Maha Lakshmi resides within them, and it is considered particularly auspicious to offer them on this occasion. It is said that the offering of Bel leaves on the occasion of Shivratri is so auspicious that even one who offers them unknowingly (as in the case of the hunter Suswara) will attain liberation.

Bhagwan Shiva is portrayed with ash on his forehead, and devotees of Lord Shiva frequently apply sacred ash to various parts of their body.

This symbolizes two things. Everything that today has a form on the Earth once was ash in the ground and again will be reduced to nothing but ash.

Therefore, the ash serves to remind us that all that we are, all that we do, all that we earn and acquire will only be reduced to ash one day, and therefore we should live our lives dedicated to God and dedicated to serving humanity, rather than to the accumulation of temporary possessions and comfort.

When we apply the sacred ash or see it, we are reminded  of what? 

Ah yes, it is only by the grace of Lord Shiva that I am still here today, and that I have not yet been turned to ash.

It is His grace that my home, my family and my possessions are still with me and that they have not become ash.

Therefore, I should remember Him, pray to Him and devote myself to Him.

The stories and the messages of Bhagwan Shiva are innumerable; however, one of the most important is the story of how He for the sake of humanity swallowed the poison which emerged from the ocean.

The story says that the devas and their brothers, the demons, were churning the ocean in search of the pot of the nectar of immortality.

However, after a great deal of effort, what emerged was not nectar, but poison!! This happens frequently in life as well.

When we embark upon a divine plan or when we undertake a noble challenge, frequently before the success comes, before our effort bears fruit, we face failure or condemnation or seemingly insurmountable hurdles. Yet, we must never give up.

The devas and demons knew that in order to continue churning, and ultimately to unearth the Divine nectar, they could not simply toss the poison aside. Someone had to drink it. But, naturally, no one was willing to drink the poison. Everyone had some excuse for why he or she was too valuable to be sacrificed.

Finally, Bhagwan Shiva came forward, very calmly and with serene poise. He said I will drink the poison if it will preserve peace in the family and enable my brothers and sisters to attain the nectar of immortality.

After drinking the poison, and thereby enabling the churning to continue, Bhagwan Shiva held the poison in his throat hence the name Neelkanth which means Blue Throat and sat peacefully in meditation for eternity. In our lives, in our families, so much poison emerges  between parents and children, between husband and wife, between in-laws.

We wait and wait for the divine nectar to emerge, but it seems that only poison comes. So many times people come to me, complaining, But why should I always be the one to compromise?

Why should I always be the one to sacrifice? Why should I always say I am sorry? Itl is not fair!

On this night of Shivratri, as we worship Bhagwan Shiva, it is also the night that we must pray for the strength to take his message to heart!

Let us not only worship him, but let us emulate him. He who is willing to peacefully swallow the poison, he who is willing to sacrifice for the family, for the community and for humanity is the true Mahadeva.

Bhagwan Shiva went to the Himalayas, to the land now called Neelkanth to meditate after he drank the poison. The message is that when poison emerges in the home, when poison emerges anywhere in our lives, when we feel like if we swallow it we will die, but if we don't drink it then the fight will continue  the secret is to meditate!

You don't have to go to the Himalayas. Just create your own Himalayas. Wherever you are.

First, be the one to accept the poison. Be the one to sacrifice, apologize and concede humbly.

Then go, sit and meditate peacefully. This is not weakness, but strength. Poison always comes; obstacles always come. When we work for good causes, when we embark upon divine work, the poison always comes before the nectar.

However, we must never get discouraged. We must never give up. If the devas and demons had forfeited the churning at the sign of poison, the nectar of immortality would never have emerged, and it would have been a tragedy for the world.

Similarly, we must always have faith that the nectar WILL come. It is only a matter of time. We must be willing to churn and churn, no matter what comes  be it poison or nectar.

On the night of Shivratri as we remember the churning between the devas and demons for the nectar of immortality, we must take another lesson to heart.

After the nectar emerged, the demons tried to abscond with it. Thus they would be ever more powerful and ever more able to destroy their brothers, the devas. However, through a series of divine interventions, the devas emerged the victors and the ones with the gift of immortality.

The night of Shivratri is especially auspicious for winning this same battle within ourselves the battle between good and evil, between right and wrong, between poison and nectar, between death and immortality.

Let us use our puja, our prayers, our meditations on this night to pray for divine intervention so that within ourselves the good might vanquish the evil, the nectar within us might emerge, rather than poison, and that we too may be carried from death to immortality. May God bless you all. In the service of God and humanity, Swami Chidanand Saraswati

Rakshas and Asuras

AGNI PARIKSHA OF SITA
▼
Monday, July 16, 2012
HINDU SOCIETY MUST KNOW THAT RAKSHAS ARE DIFFERENT FROM ASURS

We are living in an information age. One of the reasons why Hindu society is passive is because Hindu Gurus are not providing the correct information.Lot of confusion exists because Rakshas and Asurs are branded and declared as one and the same thing. This is far from truth.Before venturing any further, let us get the correct definitions of Rakshas, Devta, Surs and Asurs:
1.     Rakshas: A human who has started consuming human meat. To that extent only, they are different from other humans.
2.      Devta: Any mineral, solids, gases, liquid, vegitation, living organs in nature including humans are Devta, meaning, THEY EXIST BECAUSE OF ACCEPTED HARMONY; and here Harmony means Scientifically accepted proportion of Surs and Asurs. What is accepted harmony will be different for different Devtas. No wonder we have 33 corore Devtas.
REMEMBER: SUR AS THE WORD MEANS IS HARMONY, BUT HERE SUR also MEANS THE POSITIVE CONTENT. Ex: Red blood cells in Human body are Positive cells , and white blood cells Negative, but we need both in the body. BUT IN MOST OF THE PURANIK TEXTS SUR MEANS DEVTA, TO THAT EXTENT, PLEASE DO NOT GET CONFUSED
3.      Asurs: Just as we have harmony in nature, we also have disharmony (ASUR) too. Earthquake, storms, hurricanes other natural calamities are perhaps result of not having the right proportion of ratio of harmony and disharmony (ASUR). Obviously increase of Asurs or, using other language, when asurs become powerful weakens the Devta.
An Example would help:
AIR contains 21% Oxygen (Sur), 78% nitrogen (Sur), and 1% impurities (Asur), argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen being main impurities. NOW..>this much Asur or impurities is SCIENTIFICALLY ACCEPTED, and air is PURE; but once the asurs increase their strength, the Devta gets weakened and Defeated. Today because of pollution air Devta is WEAKENED.
When it comes to description of ASURS in Hindu religious texts, just as mountains(Himalaya), Rivers(Ganga, Saraswati , etc), Nakshatra (Swati, Rohini, etc) have all been provided human body to explain away certain characteristics, so are the Asurs or “DISHARMONY” in nature, within the earth , outside the earth , or in the cosmos. However at places Devta have been replaced by use of word Surs and that need not confuse readrs. there can be other departures too, but considering the texts be ancient with lot of addition and subtraction, this is only to be accepted and things required by science need to be culled out.

Hindu religion provides input in almost all important aspect of life and how life progressed on earth. We believe, just like the scientific world of today, that everything is cyclic in nature. Even, as per Hindu belief, evolution is cyclic in nature. The scientific world unofficially accepts and acknowledges this to be true, but because of its negative attitude against Hindu religious texts; they are reluctant to say so.
Let us accept certain well known scientific facts.

Evolution/creation does not take place when everything is perfect, or at harmony (SUR) with each other. No you need chaos/disharmony to carry forward the growth story, and for that we need Asurs (disharmony). This fact is well known to the entire scientific community.

Please understand that creation requires disharmony to progress. Creation that is already in place favors or tends towards perfection or Harmony. But that can only be TEMPORARY. Disharmony creates Chaos, and FURTHER and FUTURE GROWTH and perhaps now, one can understand the universally acknowledged saying that “Perfection is momentary and Chaos eternal”.Remember Chaos is not all that bad. Total or excessive chaos is destructive.

When Sati sacrificed her life, TOTAL CHAOS ruled the world for millions of years. There was total Disharmony, or if one chooses to say complete disharmony ruled the world. Life as such could not exist. It was only after Himalayas were born, and a new harmony was developed, and reasonable ratio of harmony and disharmony was developed, life reappeared on earth.

This is what one has to understand from our religious text, when reading Shiv-Sati episode, and this is consistent with the historical growth story of the world.

You may also like to read:
DEVON KE DEV..MAHADEV..SHOWS EMOTIONAL SHIV DESTROYING HUMANITY..MALA FIDE
HINDU HISTORY... START OF A NEW KALP
Kulbhushan Singhal at Monday, July 16, 2012
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ABOUT ME: An Engineer, from IT,BHU; working as a Consultant, operating from Mumbai, involved in Industrial, Project Consultancy, and also REVIVAL of sick establishment.  I am also writing about problems faced by Indian people and how they can be sorted out by revival of Hindu religion.

ABOUT MY BLOG:As a financial consultant involved in revival of sick establishment, I often have to analyze, and provide solutions to lot of problems.

Slowly, it did dwell on me that Hindus, though, highly religious, are not getting desired result as a society. Female foeticide, Lack of education for girls, dowry deaths, suicides among farmers, increase in court cases among relatives, corruption, mistrust and discontent, are all physical parameters to measure the effectiveness or success/failure of RELIGION, in a society. And all this, despite the fact, that spending on religion, by Hindus, has increased drastically after the advent of multiple TV channels. Revival of Hindu religion is the only way forward. This blog is a serious attempt in that direction.

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Wedding of Lord Shiva

AGNI PARIKSHA OF SITA
▼
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
MAHASHIVRATRI

The marriage of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati represents a marriage of a totally non-worldly person (who is not interested in any worldly pleasure and wealth, and who is feared as Destroyer), with a charming, rich princess, who renounces every comfort and wealth for this marriage. LORD SHIVA WHO IS TOTALLY DETACHED IS NOW ATTACHED BECAUSE OF THIS MARRIAGE. This attachment is the only hope for the creation of Brahma.

MAHASHIVRATRI is the auspicious day of the marriage of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati. We know that, of the Trinity, Lord Brahma is in charge of creation, Lord Vishnu takes care of this creation and Lord Shiva is the Destroyer. Human nature, being what it is, is always afraid of destruction, and as such Maha-Shivratri is celebrated with full grandeur giving respect to the growth oriented action (marriage) of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati.
If one collects statistic of number of temples of various deities in India, one will find that the maximum percentage of temples are those of Shiva (Destroyer) followed by Vishnu (PALLAN-KARTA or caretaker of creation), with Brahma (Creator) falling way behind with, perhaps, one designated temple at Pushkar. Conclusions, as to why we worship God (because we are afraid, or for personal gains, or because we love HIS creation), is personal choice of readers.
Worship performed during this festival is considered highly auspicious, and rewarding. Unmarried girls do this for decent marriage, married couples with compatibility problems, feel this improves their married lives; others worship for divine grace. Now the big question—when is Shivratri or Mahashivratri celebrated? What are the astronomical considerations for this festival?

Since 80% of the Indian population consists of Hindus, it is important that people must know what are the astronomical considerations, and any other physical consideration for celebrating a festival on a specific date. After all, Hindus, have absolute faith in their Dharm (religion), and this faith should not be taken for granted. I, personally, will certainly feel cheated, if I was told that a particular festival is being wrongly celebrated on a different date. In this information age, the information provided by authorities, can easily be verified by the general public. All the other religious bodies are doing this, except, of course, Hindu religious bodies.

First let us get on with what is the difference between Shivratri and Mahashivratri. Shivratri is celebrated (only for the purpose of worshipping) on every thirteenth dark fortnight of lunar month, with Mahashivratri being celebrated in the month of Phagun. During the 13th tithi of Phagun, normally, the sun will be in Aquarius (Kumbha in Sanskrit) and moon in Capricorn (Makara). Mahashivratri is considered to be the marriage day of Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

Here Kumbha represents Shiva and Makara represents Mata Parvati. And there is a reason for this. As per Vedanta Jyotish (remember VJ has an important role in selection of dates for all Hindu festivals), Kumbha is a Rashi farthest away from the Rashi of Sun i.e. Leo (Singh in Sanskrit). Kumbha is represented by an EMPTY earthen pot. The immediate idea that we get is of abject poverty, and since Saturn owns this Rashi, you can add Karma with detachment. The other rashi, Capricorn, where moon is, is also owned by Saturn. Mars gets exalted status over here, and Mars, we all know gives exaltation results only through renouncement. Mata Parvati, a princess, belonging to a very rich royal family, renounced everything to marry Lord Shiva. She gets represented during Mahashivratri by Capricorn. She knew she was marrying Lord Shiva, and she knew that Lord Shiva had no worldly wealth and may never ever have a cottage of his own.
The marriage of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati represents a marriage of a totally non-worldly person (who is not interested in any worldly pleasure and wealth, and who is feared as Destroyer), with a charming, rich princess, who renounces every comfort and wealth for this marriage.
LORD SHIVA WHO IS TOTALLY DETACHED IS NOW ATTACHED BECAUSE OF THIS MARRIAGE. This attachment is the only hope for the creation of Brahma (at least the life that exist on this earth), as per the Hindu belief. Remember, that in the previous Mahakalp, when Sati sacrificed her life, Shiva destroyed everything. There was no living being left, and only after the marriage of Shiva with Parvati, life once again started thriving. During the intermediate period, i.e. after the death of Sati and till the marriage with Parvati, Shiva stayed in SAMADHI.

This is one more aspect of Dharm, which gets represented during Mahashivratri. Lord Shiva is usually shown in Samadhi. When his Samadhi is complete, creation of Brahma (i.e. the life on earth) collapses. Conscious to the world outside the body reduces destructive power of Lord Shiva. And symbolically, Moon represents consciousness. So that we do not miss this important aspect, every picture of Shiva contains a white silvery crescent of moon, on the top of the head, on the side of the right shoulder, indicating that Lord Shiva is conscious, but only slightly (only as much as the silvery crescent visible to the full moon, OR one can also say as per the ratio of moon visible on fourteenth dark tithi to the moon visible on full moon day), and this much CHETNA, or, consciousness is sufficient for the world to prosper.
AND NOW, HOW THIS IS PHYSICALLY AND SYMBOLICALLY REPRESENTED DURING THIS FESTIVAL:

During the period of Mahashivratri, the month is Phagun, and Phagun is the last month of Hindu calendar. Symbolically, Mahashivratri, celebrated during the last month of the year renews the hope of prosperity in the coming year.

The sun in Kumbha symbolizing Shiva indicates a person, who is not worldly, and one who performs all his Kama with detachment, and one who will be more comfortable in complete Samadhi, unconscious of what is happening to the outside world. This is what the world does not want, so the marriage of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati is celebrated by Hindus, on the 13th tithi of the dark fortnight. On that tithi, moon will be in Makara. And Makara symbolizes renouncement of all worldly wealth. This is what Goddess Parvati does for the sake of all Humanity. She marries Lord Shiva, renouncing all her wealth.

However one more physical phenomena must be visible and important for calibration of this festival. Since one important aspect of the calibration of this marriage is that moon, indicating consciousness, is visible as crescent, Mahashivratri is celebrated on 13th tithi, and the faithful worship throughout the night and their worship is complete, when after sunrise they see the silvery crescent of the moon immediately over the sun. THIS IS SOMETHING PHYSICAL AND IMPORTANT. THE RITUAL OF WORSHIP IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT VIEWING OF MOON.

It is true that because of clouds, pollution, or other local conditions the moon may not be visible, but we know, astronomically, that the last moon is visible on the 14th tithi of the dark fortnight, in the morning, just over the sun. Astronomically, the moon is not visible when it is + 12 deg. away from sun. Using Hindu lunar calendar that would mean the 15th tithi (amavasya) of the dark fortnight and 1st tithi of the bright fortnight.

So that we may not miss out on this important aspect, all pictures of Lord Shiva show this moon as silvery crescent over Lord Shiva head. The rituals of Shivratri are only complete when the LAST moon is physically visible on the next day morning and attempt to view this moon over sun is made by the faithful.

In fact history of Asia and Africa suggest that this festival was very popular 2000 years back. The archeological find suggest several temples with Deity of a Man with crescent moon mostly in the body (chest, heart), in various part of ancient world. It is also a common belief that other religion, like Jews and Muslims, who consider sighting of new moon highly auspicious, drew the inspiration from this age old ritual of Hindus.

The reason for this post is that unfortunately the Hindu Religious Bodies, associated with taking such decisions, are the only religious bodies in the world, who are not transparent. Why Mahashivratri was celebrated on 12th Feb. 2010 on 14th tithi, so that next morning, there was no visibility of moon, is still a mystery. Hindus need an answer to this. Please press for an answer and more transparency.
Written on 17th Feb, 2010.
To Read this Post in Hindi : महाशिवरात्रि
Kulbhushan Singhal at Wednesday, February 17, 2010
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Kulbhushan Singhal 

ABOUT ME: An Engineer, from IT,BHU; working as a Consultant, operating from Mumbai, involved in Industrial, Project Consultancy, and also REVIVAL of sick establishment.  I am also writing about problems faced by Indian people and how they can be sorted out by revival of Hindu religion.

ABOUT MY BLOG:As a financial consultant involved in revival of sick establishment, I often have to analyze, and provide solutions to lot of problems.

Slowly, it did dwell on me that Hindus, though, highly religious, are not getting desired result as a society. Female foeticide, Lack of education for girls, dowry deaths, suicides among farmers, increase in court cases among relatives, corruption, mistrust and discontent, are all physical parameters to measure the effectiveness or success/failure of RELIGION, in a society. And all this, despite the fact, that spending on religion, by Hindus, has increased drastically after the advent of multiple TV channels. Revival of Hindu religion is the only way forward. This blog is a serious attempt in that direction.

View my complete profile

Kartik Maas

Kartik maas is a auspicious month in Hindu religion to celebrate the Kartik Somwar Vritam. The most significance of the Karthika Maas is that, Karthika Maas is favorable to both the devotees of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. During Karthika Maas temples of both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are busy with devotees. Karthika Masam helps us to realize that Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are not different but only one. During this month Kartik Somwar Vritam is followed mostly in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. On the Purnima day in this month Kartik Nakshtra persists with the moon, hence it is called as Kartik maas. This year, 07 October 2014 (Tuesday) Kojagara Puja 08 October 2014 (Wednesday) Sharad Purnima, Chandra Grahan 11 October 2014 (Saturday) Karwa Chauth 15 October 2014 (Wednesday) Ahoi Ashtami 17 October 2014 (Friday) Tula Sankranti 19 October 2014 (Sunday) Rama Ekadashi 20 October 2014 (Monday) Govatsa Dwadashi 21 October 2014 (Tuesday) Dhan Teras 22 October 2014 (Wednesday) Narak Chaturdashi , Kali Chaudas 23 October 2014 (Thursday) Diwali , Lakshmi Puja , Surya Grahan 24 October 2014 (Friday) Gowardhan Puja 25 October 2014 (Saturday) Bhaiya Dooj 29 – 30 October 2014 (Wednesday)Chhath Puja 02 November 2014 (Sunday) Kansa Vadh 03 November 2014 (Monday) Prabodhini Ekadashi Vrat 04 November 2014 (Tuesday) Tulsi Vivah Soma is the one more name of Lord Shiva as Someswara, who keeps the “Soma” the Moon curved on Lord Shiva’s knotted hair. The Kartik Somawaram Vratam is performed to satisfy the Lord Someswara (Lord Shiva). All Mondays in Kartik maas are auspicious to perform Pooja, Abhisheka, to Lord Shiva and to get the blessings of Lord Shiva. Praying to Lord Vishnu and Shiva during Kartik maas gets the Moksha (Salvation). Kartik month is the Sin-destroying month as per Ethics in Hindu religion. Importance of Karthika maas Lord Vishnu goes to sleep on Ashadha suddha Ekadashi and wakes-up on Karthika suddha Ekadashi. In this month Ganga (Godess of river Ganges) enters in to all rivers, canals, ponds and wells and makes them as spiritual as Ganga. Lord Shiva killed Tripurasuras on Karthika pournima and protected the world so Lord Shiva also known as Tripurhari. Ayyappa deeksha is also taken in Karthika masam and is continued up to Makara Sankranthi (Jan 15th) As per the Science, in Kaarthika Maas Water enrich with more Magnetic Power from the Earth and will be stored in water before the Sunrise this may be the one of the reason for taking a Kartika Snanam before Sunrise during this month. Kartik-MasamPerforming of Satyanarayana Vrat Deovtees of Lord Vishnu will perform the Satyanarayana Vrat during the holy month of Karthika Masam. It is believed that performing of Satyanarayana Vrata on Karthika Pournama would help them to free themselves from all the sins. Performing of Ekadasa Rudra Abhishekam Devotees of Lord Shiva would perform the Ekadashi Rudra Abhishekam for the whole month of Karthika Masam to satisfy Lord Shiva. Timeline Photos · Monday at 8:22a