Interesting Facts About Lord Shiva You Must Know
Lord Shiva or God Shiva means the Auspicious one. According to Shaivism, he is amongst the oldest and most powerful god who is worshiped for creating, protecting and transforming the universe. He can also destroy what he has created when the time calls for it.
As per Hindu Mythology, there are Trimurtis (3 supreme ancient Gods) namely Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, and Lord Brahma. Siva is also known as Devadidev Mahadev (God of all gods). He is worshiped as the supreme god of all among the people who follow Shaivism.
Siva is well known for his 2 forms:
Shambu Avtar
According to Puranas, Shambu Avtar is the calm avatar of Siva, who is always meditating and through yoga, he is protecting the whole universe while he is watching over all of us with his third eye (Trinetra).
Siva is also known as the Dakshina Murthy, as he is the most knowledgeable of all gods. Shiv Shambhu endless meditation keeps the Kundalini energy (supreme divine energy) activated, thus saving the entire universe from falling apart through Yoga.
Rudra Avatar
In simple words, Rudra Avtar (destroyer) is the avatar of Lord Shiva angry. He is also the destroyer of what he has created. According to Hindu Mythology when God Shiva gets angry he starts dancing, which symbolizes his cosmic dance. The form of Siva dancing is known as Natraj.
According to Shaivism and Hindu Mythology, the cosmic dance of God Shiva indicates the five principles of this universe -
1) Creation — Everything has been created by the almighty.
2) Preservation — The almighty is he who preserves everything.
3) Destruction — The almighty can destroy what he has created.
4) Illusion — Everything we see and feel in this world is Moh-Maya (illusion of attachment). The only truth is the almighty.
5) Emancipation — Setting free from the illusion of the world (which indicates ‘death’), so we get back to the almighty lord.
How was Lord Shiva born?
A study of the Hindu ancient religious text “The Vishnu Puranas” and “Bhagavat Purana” says Lord Brahma, one of the Trimurtis (Trinity of the three Supreme gods) once decided to start the sequence of creation, and while doing so, he created four embodiment of purest qualities, who are divinely known as the four kumaras-
- Sanaka
- Sanatkumara
- Sananda
- Sanatana
These four Kumaras were Brahmacharis (unmarried personals), and were created by Lord Brahma in the purest form (no tendencies of any negativity that is eating, sleeping, resting or any laziness in general), and the sole purpose of their existence was helping God Brahma in his Creation.
But they misunderstood the concept of creation and refused to involve themselves in the material world when they were each asked to increase the population. They wanted to preach the glory of God by remaining pure Brahmachari (unmarried, no sexual involvement). This made Brahma furious and while he was angry, God Shiva came out of his forehead and thus the almighty Lord Shiva was born.
What was Shiva the god of?
Siva was the god of all creation. He is the one who protects the universe and maintains stability in it. According to Shaivism, he is also known as the destroyer of evil, as he is the supreme of all gods. Lord Shiva is also worshipped as Adiyogi Shiva that is the god of Meditation, Yoga, and Art.
Lord Shiva was married to his wife Parvati, and they were known as Shiva Parvati. Shiva Parvati had two sons-
1- Lord Kartikeya
2- Lord Ganesh
What is Lord Shiva known for?
There are many incidents Lord Shiva is known for, one of which is Samudra Manthan. According to Hindu Mythology, the nectar of immortality was discovered by both the gods and demons, so they formed an alliance to harness and share it by churning it out of an ocean. Mount Mandara was used as the churning rod, while Vasuki (the snake residing on Lord Shiva’s neck) was used as the Churning rope.
During the churning process of twisting and pulling Vasuki, the snake puked out a lethal poison (Halahala) into the sea, which was destined to destroy all the 3 realms of gods, mortals, and demons (also referred to as heaven, earth, and hell). Siva being the almighty protector of the universe, saved the 3 worlds by drinking the poison from the sea, which is why he is blue-skinned and was given the name Nilkantha (the blue-throated one) by all gods, out of gratitude.
However, Siva was in intense pain, so Goddess Parvati (Lord shiva’s wife) put her divine hand on his throat and stopped the poison from spreading any further, thus relieving her husband.
How powerful is Lord Shiva? Why Lord Shiva is so powerful?
According to the ancient Hindu texts (Puranas), once Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma got in an immense fight to find out who is mightier and more powerful. All of a sudden, out of nowhere an immense magnificent blazing pillar appeared.
Even Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma couldn’t see the branches or roots of it, as it’s said to extend to sky and earth. Lord Brahma turned into a goose and started flying to find out the top of the pillar, while Lord Vishnu turned into a boar and started digging the earth to find its roots, only to find out they both failed.
It is then the pillar blasted open and Siva emerged out of it, and they realized there is the third almighty who rules the universe.
Where is Lord Shiva in Kaliyuga?
According to Bhagavat Purana, in Kaliyuga the almighty Lord Shiva resides amongst all the living beings, within them i.e, he lives within all human beings to every living creature.
Originally published at https://world-tomorrow.com on April 1, 2020.
