||Om Nama: Shivaya||

 

Chapter – 53 – Rudra Samhitha/Shrishti Kanda – 12

Maharishi Narada speaks “ Oh! Bhraman, Oh! Prajapati, Oh! Thatha, you are a sincere devotee of Lord Mahadeva, kindly speak elaborately on the Shivathaththva.”

 

Lord Bhrama speaks “ Oh! Vathsa, I was born on the lotus from the navel of Lord Narayan, once, I have invited all the illustrious sage and Rishis and deities, to assemble before the supreme Lord Vishnu who resides in the milky ocean, Oh! Narada, we all arrived in the abode of that compassionate Lord Vishnu was received with great respect, he rose from the seat and invited us with folded hands.”

 

Lord Vishnu began to speak after mentally offering prayers to supreme Lord Mahadeva “Oh! Lord Bhrama and deities, kindly reveal the purpose of your visit and I am willing to offer all the help.”

 

Lord Bhrama speaks “Oh! Munishwara, all the Rishis and deities assembled offered humble salutations before the Supreme Lord Vishnu who is Lord of the Universe, and began to speak in an amiable tone.”

 

The deities speak “ Oh! Prabho, kindly enlighten us who should be worshiped to get rid of miseries and sorrows of the worldly existence?”

 

Lord Vishnu smilingly looked at Bhrama and began to speak passionately “Oh! Lord Bhrama, I have already narrated it to you. I shall repeat the same for the benefit of all. Oh! Bhrama, you have seen before your eyes and have clear knowledge about who should be worshiped to get rid of miseries. Once again, I shall reiterate about it, Lord Mahadeva should be worshiped to get rid of grief and troubles of worldly existence, therefore whoever desirous to attain peace, serenity, and prosperity, and all kinds of auspiciousness should worship Lord Shiva.  Thara and her family stopped veneration of Lingamoorthi of Maheshwara met their complete destruction; my powerful Maya worked on them, got distracted from the worship of Maheshwara, and met their destruction. The Supreme Lord Shiva should be worshiped in the form of Linga to get rid of all the perils. It’s the piousness of the  Sharvalingarchana keeps all the deities, Dhaithyas, you and me, and the noble people living in peace. All the deities worship the Lingamoorthi of that supreme Lord Shiva and get fulfilled their wishes and boons. An hour or a moment passed without meditating upon that supreme Lord Mahadeva would be considered as sinful, that causes utter misapprehension and blemishes. Whoever performs the worship of Lord Shiva and contemplate upon him would get evade from the miseries and sorrows.  Whoever worships the Lingamoorthi of supreme Lord Mahadeva would provide wealth, richness, fame, possessions, appropriate companion as wedded wife or husband, good health, free from ailments, heavenly pleasure, and ultimately liberation from the cycles of repeated births.  Whoever conducts the daily worship of the Shivalinga would achieve success in all the endeavors and remain sinless.”

 

Lord Bhrama speaks “Oh! Narada, thus the deities and Sages expressed sincere gratefulness to Lord Vishnu and appealed to describe the types of Linga for the welfare of humans on the Earth.”

 

The compassionate Lord Vishnu spoke to Vishwakarma “Oh! Vishwakarma, I have been always striving hard for the welfare of Jeeva, and remove their sins. Therefore, kindly construct magnificent Shivalinga and offer to deities.”

 

Lord Bhrama speaks “Oh! Narada, Sage Vishwakarma prepared beautiful Lingas at the instruction of Lord Vishnu, and it was distributed among the deities and Sages. Oh! Sutha, Lord Indra received a Linga made of ruby, Lord Kubera received Linga made of gold, Dharmaraja received a Linga made of Topaz, Lord Varuna received a Linga made of dark blue stone, Lord Vishnu received the Linga made of Sapphire/Indraneela, and I have received a Linga of gold. The Vishwadeva and Vasus received Linga made of silver, Ashwini Kumaras received the Linga made of brass, Goddess Mahalakshmi received a crystal Linga, Adithyas received the Linga made of copper, Moon received the Linga of precious jewels, and Agni received the Linga made of gems. The illustrious Bhramins and their wives received the earthen Linga, Maya received the Linga made of sandalwood, and the serpent Anantha received the Linga made of coral. The female deities received the Linga wood, Yogis received the Linga made of sacred ashes. The Yakshas received the Linga made of curd, and the Chaya received the Linga made of flour. The supreme Goddess Bhavani received the Linga made of precious stone, Bana and others received the Linga made of Mercury.  In this way, the Vishwakarma made several Linga made of various precious stones and metals were reverentially distributed among the deities, Rishis, Vipras, Yakshas, Dhanavas, and Goddess as well. After that Lord Vishnu described the method of worship of the Linga, and the deities and Sages returned to their respective abode. Further, I spoke to the deities assembled “Oh! Deities, and Rishis, listen to the method of worship of Linga would provide an abundance of meritorious rewards. The life of a human is difficult to achieve on the Earth and it is superior among all the creatures, further, it is difficult to take birth in the illustrious clan of Brahmana.  The twice-born who have attained an abundance of piousness in his/her previous births would achieve the fortune to worship of Linga. The worship of Linga should be performed according to the prescribed rite for each Varnna and perform charities in one’s own capacity. Oh! Deities and Sages, Tapo Yajja is superior to thousands of Karma Yajja, and Japa Yajja is superior to thousands of Tapo Yajja. There is nothing superior to Dhyana Yajja, it is possible for the Yogis who are immersed in constant meditation and contemplation of the supreme Lord and it would enhance the Gnana of the worshiper.  The Yogis immersed in the meditation for years and years to achieve that supreme Bhramam, the supreme Lord Mahadeva reside close to them always.  These Yogis need not perform any Karma to remove their sins or perform any rites to nullify their sins.”

 

 

Lord Bhrama continues “Oh! Noble souls, the intellectuals who are aware of the Paramarththa Thaththva, the knowledge of the all-pervasive Bhramam, oneness-in-all, do not feel pleasure or pain, virtue or evil, sacrifices or Japa, or meditation and rules related to the performance of rites. They are Mukthathma with the knowledge of that Parambhramam, free from passions, desires, worldly matters and bondages, and fear of death. The worship of Linga bestows auspiciousness; it is Swayam Lord Shiva who is unblemished, omnipresent. Oh! Deities and Rishis, there are two types of Linga, one is Sthoola Linga and another one is Sookshma Linga.  The Karmakandis worship the Sthoola Linga, and Yogis adore the Sookshma Linga in their hearts. The whole Universe is the creation of that supreme Lord and he resides as a soul in living beings, therefore the worship of a subtle form of Linga/Sookshma Linga is considered as highly propitious. The Yogis remains pure like the lotus flower has grown in the muddy water remains untouched by it, similarly, the Grihastha who has the knowledge of the Shivathaththva performs their duties and responsibilities without getting attached to it, and continues to worship the Linga. The intellectuals, who have the knowledge of all-pervasive nature of Bhramam as Sath and Asath/living and non-living things, consider them as the shadow of the Sun seen in different pitchers of the waters. The devotees should continue the worship of the Linga until they attain the knowledge of ‘oneness-in-all’, the Sagunopasana helps the worshiper to achieve the highest status of ‘Nirgunopasana’, and it is considered as same the worship of other deities too. The devotee, who refuses to perform the Sagunaswaroopa without achieving the superior state, is considered as a sin.”

 

Sutha Pauranika speaks “Oh! twice-born, listen to me carefully, the worship of the deities and performance of the prescribed rites should be followed meticulously according to the Shastra, and the people of four Varnas and in the four Ashrama Dharma should strictly follow the rules prescribed in the Shastra. The performance of charities without the worship of the Lord is considered as a sin, the accumulated sins did not bring success to Jeeva. The worship of deities would remove impurities in the Jeeva, the attainment of knowledge would enhance the devotion and it would inspire them to perform noble deeds out of that sincere devotion. The achievement of knowledge would be possible with the devotion at the feet of the preceptor, and remaining in the association of ascetics, saintly people, scholars, and intellectuals. The constant association with the noble souls would lead in achieve the preceptor, the sacred hymns received as Manthropadhesha from the preceptor are used for the worship of the deities. The achievement of the supreme knowledge would lead to the realization of ‘Bhramam’, eventually, all the false perceptions will get destroyed and the Jeeva attains the Shivaswaroopa. Oh! Divine Rishis, once, the misapprehensions vanishes the Jeeva gets freed from pleasure and sin, grace and disgrace, joy and sorrow, etc. It is difficult to achieve that superior state and the mere witness of the Bhramamjjyani all the sins get destroyed, hence the Rishis are highly praised as the form of supreme Bhramam. Oh! Brahmins, the visit to various holy places and Theerthas, and veneration of deities is the gradual process to achieve that supreme Knowledge, some may attain that highest of that state with the sheer knowledge of the supreme Bhramam and envisions the supreme Lord in all the living and non-living things. The Jeeva should continue the veneration of Linga until he/she attains the highest state of spirituality, worship of the Linga is like watering the root of the tree that would help the tree to grow healthy. Oh! Munisaththama, I insist, watering the tree on its root, not on its branches. Therefore I would suggest the worship of Linga would bring the piousness of worship of all the deities.”