Story of Shiva Lingam:

In Sanskrit, Linga means a symbol or a mark, which points to an inference. Thus, Shiva Lingam is a symbol of Lord Shiva, the omnipotent Lord, who is formless. Hindus have regarded Shiva Lingam as a symbol of energy, spirituality, and the extent of infinity. Shiva Lingam or Shivling makes the worship of Lord Shiva simple while upholding the principle that God does not have any definite form.

Once, it so happened that Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu got into a fierce battle over who was superior of the two Lords. The battle was so fierce that Lord Shiva had to intervene to calm down the battle. He appeared before them in the form of enlightened pillar-shaped figure (a flaming Linga) and asked them to find the two ends of the column of the pillar.

Hearing to this suggestion, Lord Vishnu took the form of a boar and headed towards the lower end of the flaming Linga. Lord Brahma took the form of a swan and flew upwards to find the upper end of the flaming Linga. Both of them traveled huge distance but failed to locate the ends of the enlightened pillar.

Lord Vishnu returned and accepted his defeat. However, Lord Brahma lied that he had found the upper end of the flaming Linga to be a ‘Ketki’ flower. At this, the fire pillar got burst, and Lord Shiva appeared before them. He cursed Lord Brahma that nobody would worship Him ever.

Afterward, the shape of the fire pillar was recognized as Shiva Lingam and began to be worshiped by people. Shiva Lingam is a beginning-less and endless cosmic pillar of fire which is the cause of all origins in the universe.

Secret behind the oval shape of stone:

What is the true meaning of Shiv Lingam, it is oval in shape. This entire universe is an ovum, it includes manifest and unmanifest creation. Manifested creation which is visible to our eyes is a small percentage of unmanifested or “Apara”. We are seven-layered body, Annamayi Kosha (our Body), Mann mayi, Pran mayi, Vigyaan mayi, Anand mayi, Etheric body and Auric body or Aura. Out of these seven only Body Annamayi Kosha is manifested or visible others are not visible.

The oval shape indicates that in this universe every being, matter, celestial bodies are oval in shape. The shape of the milky way, solar system are all oval. The Lingam is shaped like an egg and represents the ‘Brahmanda’ or the cosmic egg. If you are not able to figure it out, then, we can see a human being and his seven-layered body i.e Casual, celestial, etheric template, astral, mental, emotional and physical body. Also, we have seven chakras namely, Root chakra, Svadhisthana, Solar plexus chakra, Heart Chakra, Throat Chakra, Third eye chakra and Crown Chakra.

Similarly, all planets and creatures are having seven layers and seven chakras in different forms. The 7 layers of earth are The Troposphere, The Stratosphere, The Mesosphere, The Thermosphere, The  Ionosphere and The Exosphere.

The physical or gross body is visible to our eyes and the rest of the layers and chakras are not visible in other words 1/7 part of any being is visible or manifested and 6/7 part is unmanifested.

According to Hinduism, the Shiv Linga Pillar is described as the column of fire which represents the three Gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara while the Disc or Peedam represents Sakthi, which is manifested universal energy. From the unmanifest comes the manifest energy, through which all other things are created.

Sage Vyasa, the author of Mahabharatha, mentions that Lord Shiva is smaller than the sub-atomic particle like Proton, Neutron and Electron. At the same time, he also mentions Lord Shiva is greater than anything greatest (whole universe). He is the cause of vitality in all living things. Everything, whether living or non-living, originates from Shiva.

• Vishnu signifies Proton with positive electrical charge.
• Mahesha signifies Neutron with no electrical charge.
• Brahma signifies Electron with negative electrical charge.
• Shakthi is Energy. Shakthi is a type of energy field represented by a Disc.

Why Lord Shiva smears ash on his body?

Once Parvati asked Lord Shiva: Why do you always smear ash on your body? What is the reason?

Lord Shiva told her the story:

There used to be a brahmana who was descended from the great sage Bhrigu. This brahmana began a very difficult tapasya. The tremendous heat of the summer made no difference to him. Nor was he disturbed by the downpour of the monsoon. He was only interested in meditating. When he felt hungry, he used to ask the bears, the deer, the lions and the jackals to fetch him some fruits. The wild beasts had lost all fear of him, they served him instead. Later on, the brahmana gave up eating fruits also. He ate only green leaves. And because leaves are called parna, the brahmana came to be known as Parnada. He performed tapasya for many years.

One day, Parnada was cutting some grass and his scythe slipped and sliced off his middle finger. Parnada was amazed to find that no blood issued from the severed joint. Instead, a sap like that which issues from plants came out. Parnada's vanity knew no bounds. He realized that his was due to the fact that he had been living on green leaves for such long time. Parnada began to jump with delight.

Shiva decided that Parnada needed to be taught a lesson. He disguised himself as a brahmana and arrived before Parnada. “Why are you so happy?” asked Lord Shiva.

“Can't you see?” replied Parnada. My tapasya has been so successful that my blood has become like the sap of plants.

This sort of vantiy destroys the fruits of all tapasya, said Lord Shiva. What have you got to be so proud about? Your blood has only turned into the sap of plants. What happens when you burn plants? They become ashes. I myself have performed so much tapasya that my blood has becomes ashes.

Lord Shiva sliced off his middle finger and ashes came out of it. Parnada was impressed. He realized that there was nothing that he could be proud about; here was a far greater hermit than he. He asked Lord Shiva who he was and then Lord Shiva displayed his true form to Parnada.

Ever since that day, there have always been ashes on Lord Shiva's body.  He is beyond the worldly things such as expensive clothes and jewelry, as He is an Ascetic Yogi, always in his deep meditation.

He doesn't have to wear any expensive jewelry and clothing, as everything is ash to Him. Ashes have nothing to do with the material world.

He smears ash all over his body, because the ultimate truth of this mortal body is Ash.

The Origin of Rudras

Back in the days when Gods walked freely between Heaven and the earth, when deities fought for justice and light, Indra, the God of thunder, ruled the deities in a city called Amrawati Puri. In one such battle, the rakshasas defeated Indra and his army of Gods, and they forced Gods to flee from the city. The deities were full of fear, and out of despair, they went to sage Kashyapa’s Ashram (a residence, also functioning as a school). He happened to be the father of Indra.

The King of Gods, now dethroned, told the entire story to his father in the meeting. Sage Kashyapa was furious at the deeds of the rakshasas. Maharishi was known for his supreme knowledge and his ability to meditate. Thus, He consoled the God and promised that he would find a solution to the problem.

Maharishi set off to Kashipuri with the motive to meditate and seek an audience with the celestial entity Lord Shiva himself. After reaching Kashipuri, he established a Shiva-Lingam (a cylindrical-shaped shrine representing Lord Shiva) and started to meditate in its presence by chanting his name. After meditating for quite some time, Lord Shiva appeared in front of him. He seemed impressed by sage Kashyapa’s meditation and asked the Maharishi to make a wish.

Sage Kashyapa remembered the dire condition of the Gods. He then told Lord Shiva that the rakshasas had defeated the Gods and taken over Amrawati Puri’s city. He asked Lord Shiva to be born as his son, to offer justice to the Gods and take the place in the city as their protector. Shiva granted his wish by uttering the words, “Tathastu!” (So be it). In ecstasy, Kashyap showed his piety to the entity, and he disappeared.

Maharishi returned to his ashram and explained the entire incident to the Gods. They were pleased to hear everything. In time, Sage Kashyap impregnated his wife, Surabhi, who then gave birth to 11 sons. These were the forms of the celestial entity Lord Shiva and were known as Rudras. The entire world, including the Gods, sage Kashyapa and his wife were pleased with their birth.

The names of the 11 Rudras are Kapali, Pingal, Bheem, Virupaksha, Vilohit, Shastra, Ajapaad, Ahirbudhnya, Shambhu, Chand and Bhav. 

These 11 Rudras, meant for the protection of Gods, were skilled in combat and warfare. They decimated the rakshasa and re-enthroned Indra as the rightful King of the Gods and the city of Amrawati Puri ever since they were permanently positioned in the city to protect it from such rakshasas and aid the Gods in their fight against the evil and darkness.

Lord Shiva's Bow - Pinaka

It is believed that the principal architect of devas “Vishwakarma” crafted two divine bows and gave them to Lord Shiva (Pinaka) and Lord Vishnu (Sharanga).

The Devas wanted to test the bows and requested Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu to engage in a combat. However, they stopped the combat as they heard a “Asiriri” or “Akashavani” (voice from the heaven) advising that the combat will result in destruction of the entire universe.

On hearing the celestial voice, Lord Shiva is said to have dropped the divine bow and it fell on Earth. Pinaka landed in the Mithila region. Once, King Devratha, Sita’s ancestor, was walking through a forest where he came across the sacred bow. By the looks of the weapon, he instantly knew this was not some common bow. He asked his guard to keep the bow in his palace. But the guard couldn’t lift the bow with all his strength.  Many strong warriors had to come together to carry Pinaka. The ancestors of King Janaka, knew the divinity of the bow and worshipped it religiously. It is said that hundreds or thousands of men were needed to move the bow.

For many generations, Pinaka remained in Mithila. No One in the kingdom was powerful enough to lift the weapon.

How is Nandi associated with Lord Shiva?

There was a sage named Shilada who underwent severe penance to have a boon — a child with immortality. Lord Indra pleased of the austerities of Shilada appeared in front of him to offer a boon. After hearing the request of Shilada and his desire to have an immortal child, Lord Indra suggested he pray to Lord Shiva: nobody else could provide such a boon. Sage Shilada continued his penance for 1,000 years. He was totally immovable for many years, so the termites settled on his body and slowly started to build up their nest. Finally, his whole body was covered up by them. The insects started to eat his flesh and imbibed his blood. At last, only bones remained.

Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and provided the boon for the child. Moreover, Lord Shiva provided Sage Shilada his old form with a single touch. Sage Shilada performed Yagna and a child appeared from the sacrificial fire. The boy was named ’Nandi’ — who brings joy. Shilada brought the child home. He devoted his time for Nandi’s upbringing his education etc. By the age of seven, the boy was well versed in Veda and all sacred texts.

One day the deities Mitra and Varuna visited Sage Shilada. At the first sight of the boy, they commented: Though the boy had all auspicious signs, he would have a very short life. He would not live after the age of eight. Sage Shilada was mortified at this remark. Nandi could not bear his father’s sorrow; he began to pray to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared before him and blessed him. Lord Shiva adorned the boy with a necklace and made him immortal. Lord Shiva blessed the child and declared that he would be worshiped along with Him and become his vahana (vehicle). Immediately the boy got all the divine powers and transformed into half bull-half human. He also honored the young Nandi with immortality, making him the vehicle and head of the Ganas. Nandi then went to Lord Shiva's abode and dwell there for all eternity.

Significance of Amarnath Caves

Once Narada decided to tease Parvati and make her jealous. So, he asked her, "Have you ever noticed Why Lord Shiva wears garland made of women skull around his neck and whom they belong to? To this Parvati said: "No, I have never asked him about this". But now Parvati was curious to know as Narada has already planted the seed of jealously. So, she asked Shivji that whose skulls is he wearing as garland. Lord Shiva said that whenever Parvati leaves her physical body and is reborn, he takes her skull and keeps it in his garland. So, all those skulls belonged to Parvati only.

But Parvati asked, "Why is it that I always have to leave physical body and you don't have to?". To which Lord Shiv replied," Because I am immortal". Parvati again asked how is it that you are immortal, and I am not? Lord Shiva said, "It's because I know the Amar Katha". 

Parvati now requested Lord Shiva to explain her about the significance of the Amar Katha. Lord Shiva denied her requests saying that she does not deserve to know about it. Despite several denials, Parvati, kept on requesting to tell the significance of divine Amar Katha. Finally, Lord Shiva decided to tell her the importance of divine Amar Katha. Lord Shiva told Parvati that any creature who listens the story, would become immortal, so this story should be narrated only in a solitude place. Thus, Lord Shiva decided to narrate the story inside the Amarnath Cave so that nobody except the Parvati could listen it.

Lord Shiva and Parvati started their journey to the Amarnath Cave from Pahalgaun where he left the Nandi, his faithful vehicle, Moon God at Chandanbari and Shesh Naga at Seshanga. Both Shiva and Parvati left their Pancha Vautik body, the physical body with five elements at Panchatarni and entered into the empty Amarnath Cave with their subtle body. In order to maintain privacy, Lord Shiva requested the Agni Dev, the Fire God to kill all creatures dwelling inside the cave and Agni Dev did so. Due to the grace of almighty god, an egg of parrot remained unharmed and hatched after Shiva and Parvati entered inside the cave. Agni Dev could not destroy the egg because he was requested to kill only creatures and by the time when he killed all the creatures, egg had not hatched.

Parvati started listening to the story as Lord Shiva began narrating significance of Amar Katha and she nodded time to time and was making noise of 'yes' ("hmm...").  After sometimes, she got tired and fell asleep and parrot chick started nodding instead of Parvati. When Lord Shiva finished narrating the story, he looked at Parvati and saw her at asleep. He woke up Parvati and asked her when she fell on asleep. Parvati said that she fell on asleep when the story was halfway through. Lord Shiva asked, then who was the one listening and nodding throughout the entire story after you fell on asleep­­? Parvati said that she did not know anything about that. Upon hearing that, the parrot chick said that it was he who listened the story and nodded after Parvati fell on asleep. After knowing this, Lord Shiva became very furious and tried to kill the parrot with Trishul. Afraid parrot fled from the scene and Lord Shiva followed it. Eventually, the parrot reached in the hermitage of Rishi Vedavyasa. The parrot entered inside the stomach of wife of Rishi Vedvyasa when she opened her mouth for yawning.

The Trishul stopped, as it was unreligious to kill a lady. When Lord Shiva knew all this he also came there and narrated his problem to Rishi Vyas. Rishi Vyas told him that he should wait there and as the kid-parrot would come out, he could kill him. Lord Shiva stood there for a very long time, but the kid-parrot did not come out. As Lord Shiva stood there, the whole universe got disordered... Then all the Lords met Sage Narada and requested him to request Lord Shiva to save the world...

Then Narada came to Lord Shiva and prayed him to leave his anger as the child had already heard the Amar Katha and so now, he had become immortal and now nobody could kill him. Listening to this, Lord Shiva told the kid-parrot to come out and in return the kid-parrot demanded a blessing from him. Lord Shiva accepted that, and the kid-parrot prayed that as he comes out as a man, any other child who gets birth at the same time would be granted all kind of knowledge and would be immortal. As Lord Shiva accepted this, a divine baby was born to Rishi Vyas. He prayed Lord Shiva and got his blessings. This divine baby was called Sukhdev Muni later. The other babies who got birth at that time were famous as Nau Nath and Chaurasi Sidh. 

However, even today, it is believed that listening divine Amar Katha helps to cleanse the sins of a lifetime, attain greater spiritual merits and happier life. Thus, many peoples from various parts of the world make a holy pilgrimage to the Amarnath Cave for their well-being and peaceful life.

 

Significance of Rameshwaram Temple 

According to a legend, it is said that on his return from Lanka, Lord Rama along with his wife, Sita decided to offer prayers to Lord Shiva to atone the sin of killing Ravana - a Brahmin and great Shiva devotee. Since there was no shrine of Lord Shiva there, he sent Hanumana to Mount Kailash, Lord Shiva’s abode, to bring the lingam.

However, Hanuman could not return before the auspicious time set to perform the puja, so Sita made a lingam out of sand – Ramalingam that Rama worshipped. When Hanuman returned, he was disappointed to see Lord Rama offering prayers to the lingam made of sand. In a fit of rage, childlike Hanuman tried to destroy the Linga made of sand with his tail.

But his might couldn’t work against Lord Shiva, who had been invoked by Shri Rama in the Lingam. The sand structure soon hardened and turned into stone and Hanuman fell a few feet away owing to the sheer force.

In order to pacify his dearest devotee’s anger, Lord Rama applied Kumkuma (sindoor) and ghee all over his body. On seeing Lord Rama’s compassion, Hanuman cooled down. And to ensure Hanuman’s efforts don’t go in vain, Lord Rama installed the lingam brought by Hanumana to the left of Ramalingam and worshipped it. 

Lord Rama also instructed devotees to worship the lingam brought by Hanumana, which he called the Vishwalinga before the Ramalingam.

Hence in the Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameshwaram, the Linga (Vishwalingam) brought by Hanuman is worshipped before the RamaLingam even today.

Story behind Tripura

Following the death of Tarakasura, who was killed by Kartikeya, his sons Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali and Viryavana undertook severe penances by which they pleased Lord Brahma. For a hundred years they meditated standing only on one leg. For a thousand more years they lived on air and meditated. They stood on their heads and meditated in this posture for yet another thousand years.

Brahma was pleased at this difficult tapasya. He appeared before them and said, “What boon do you want?” “Make us immortal”, answered Tarakasura’s sons. “I can’t make you immortal”, replied Brahma. “I don’t have the power. Ask for something else instead”. “Very well”, then, said Viyunamali, Tarakaksha and Viryavana. “Grant us the following: Let three forts be made. The first will be of gold, the second of silver and the third of iron. We will live in these forts for a thousand years. These forts built in different worlds shall align once in every 1000 years. This combined fort will be called Tripura. And if anyone can  destroy Tripura with only a single arrow that shall be the death destined for us”.

This rather unusual boon was granted by Brahma and he further instructed Mayasura with the construction work who was a great devotee of Lord Shiva.

The three cities which comprised Tripura were distributed thus:

• The lowest, with walls of Iron, located on the underworld which was ruled by Vidyunmali,
• The second, with walls of silver, located in the earth, ruled by Viryavana
• The third, with walls of gold, located in heaven was ruled by Tarakaksha.

The three cities were mobile and moved in such a way that they would never be in a single line, except for a couple of seconds in around a thousand years, when the Nakshatra Pushya would be in conjunction with the moon. Tarakasura's sons were thus reassured that they were safe, as it would be an extremely difficult task to destroy such impregnable cities, which aligned only momentarily, by a single arrow.

Asuras from everywhere began to flock to Tripura to live there. The demons populated the three forts and began to flourish. The demigods did not like this at all. They first went to Brahma, but Brahma said he could not help them. After all, the demons had got Tripura thanks to his boon. The gods then went to Shiva for help. But Shiva said that the demons were doing nothing wrong. As long as that was the case, he did not see why the demigods were so bothered. They next went to Vishnu, who suggested that if the problem was that the demons were doing nothing wrong, then the solution was to persuade them to become sinners.

Out of his powers Vishnu created a man. This man’s head was shaven, his clothes were faded and he carried a wooden water-pot in his hands. He covered his mouth with a piece of cloth and approached Vishnu. “What are my orders?” he asked Vishnu.

“Let me explain to you why you have been created”, replied Vishnu. “I will teach you a religion that is completely against the Vedas. You will then get the impression that there is no svarga (heaven) and no naraka (hell) and that both heaven and hell are on earth. You will not believe that rewards and punishments for deeds committed on earth are meted out after death. Go to Tripura and teach the demons this religion, which they are dislodged from the righteous path. Then we will do something about Tripura”.

The being did as he had been asked to. He and four of his disciples went to a forest that was near Tripura and began to preach. They were trained by Vishnu himself. Therefore, their teachings were convincing and they had many converts. Even the sage Narada got confused and was converted. In fact, it was Narada who carried news of this wonderful new religion to king Vidyunmati. King, he said, there is a wonderful new teacher with a wonderful new religion. I have never heard before. I have got converted.

Since the great sage Narada had been converted, Vidyunmati also accepted the new religion, and in due course, so did Tarakaksha and Viryavana. The demons gave up revering the Vedas, they stopped worshipping Shiva’s linga. 

Now the Gods then went to Shiva and began to pray to him. When Shiva appeared, they told him that the demons had now become evil and should be destroyed. They had even stopped worshipping Shiva’s linga.

Shiva agreed to destroy Tripura. Vishvakarma was the architect of the gods. Shiva called Vishvakarma and asked him to make a suitable chariot, bow and arrow. The Earth or Prithvi became the chariot with the Sun and Moon its wheels. Brahma was holding the reins. Mount Meru became the bow and the serpent Vasuki was the bow string. Vishnu was the arrow, and Agni was the tip of the arrow. Vayu was inside the feathers on rear of the arrow. All other Devas had their own places and forms in the chariot. Just as the cities aligned, when the Pushya Nakshatra positioned appropriately which would last only for a second, Lord Shiva invoked the most destructive weapon controlled by Him, the Pashupatastra. The Destroyer’s capable arms fired a single arrow into the three forts at the exact instant they merged into one, thus burning to ashes the three forts of the asuras. Shiva thus earned Himself the epithet Tripurantaka – the one who ended Tripura.

Lord Shiva immediately regretted his act, since he had forgotten to protect Maya, a great devotee of his. Realising this, Nandi raced ahead of the arrow and informed Maya of the impending doom. Instantly, Maya fled Tripura, leaving behind the great city he had constructed, which was immediately reduced to ashes.

While the celebrations were going on, the shaven-heads religious teachers arrived. “What are we supposed to do now?” they asked.

Brahma and Vishnu told them to go the desert where there are no humans. The last of the four eras was kaliyuga and in kaliyuga, evil would reign supreme. When kaliyuga arrived, they were to come back and begin their teaching afresh. And once they reached at their peak god will take rebirth and will wipe them from earth and once again the world will be free from all kinds of demons.

Story of 1000 lotus flowers

Lord Vishnu as a daily ritual offers Lord Shiva with 1000 lotus flowers. He gathers them personally from the pond and sits for the ritual, offering them one at a time uttering Lord Shiva’s name.

Once Lord Shiva intends to test Lord Vishnu while he is performing the ritual. Using his magical powers, Lord Shiva hides one lotus flower. Lord Vishnu realizes about one missing flower when he offers the 999^th lotus flower. His ritual would be incomplete if he gets up or takes help. Now what was the way out! Without a second thought Lord Vishnu scoops out his eye which is in shape of lotus petal and offers it as the 1000^th lotus to the Shiva lingam. Lord Vishnu is also known as ‘Kamal-Nayan’- the one with lotus eyes.

Lord Shiva least expected this. He instantly appears and expressed his delight. He puts back Lord Vishnu’s eye and bows in front of him.

Lord Vishnu also bows to Lord Shiva and asks him if he had qualified the test. Lord Shiva nods in affirmation and the very next moment asks Lord Vishnu to test him, so that even Lord Shiva can give a proof of his devotion.

To that Lord Vishnu replies – ‘You are the Supreme Self, How Can if think of testing you Lord?’

But Lord Shiva pleas for it. Unwillingly to deny, Lord Vishnu says he will do it subsequently. Lord Shiva was pleased and promised Lord Vishnu that he will be his humble servant in his next avatar. 

So while Lord Vishnu incarnated as Lord Rama, Hanumana was a portion of Lord Shiva. In this way Lord Shiva proves his devotion.

War between Lord Shiva and Lord Rama

Shiva Purana mentions a war between Lord Shiva and Lord Rama in Treta Yuga.  In Ayodhya Empire, Lord Rama’s younger brother Satrughan took the lead of Ashwamedha yagna and became an undisputed winner. He also got support and assistance from great titans such as Lord Hanuman, Sugreev, and son of Bharat Pushkal etc. Eventually, it was impossible for other Devtas (Gods) to win from them.

Holy Horse associated with Ashwamedha yagna entered into Devpur state ruled by King Veermani; a great devotee of Lord Shiva and Lord Rama. The horse entered into Devpur was forcefully captured by King Veermani’s elder son Rukmang and asked Ayodhya’s army to inform Satrughan for a war to get this horse back. When King Veermani got to know about the deeds of his son he became worried about it and asked him to return the horse but his son told that it would be dishonor for both the parties.

When Satrughan came to know about this incident he agreed to fight a war with Devpur’s army ruled by King Veermani. However, Lord Hanuman intruded and informed that King Veermani cannot be defeated as Devpur state is protected by Lord Mahakal (Lord Shiva) and suggested not to fight with them without involving Lord Rama. But Satrughan replied that it would be a shame if Lord Rama becomes part of this conflict. Satrughan ordered Son of Bharat ‘Pushkal’ (his nephew) to take the authority to free the horse. A vigorous war took place and King Veermani’s army was about to get defeated. Since Devpur state was protected by Lord Mahakal (Lord Shiva); King Veermani prayed Lord Shiva and asked him to save his state.

In response, Lord Shiva sent Veerbhadra (the incarnation of his Hair) along with Bull Nandi (said to have the power of millions of lion), Bhringi and his devotees. They started fighting with Ayodhya’s army. ‘Pushkal’ was killed by Veerbhadra. Hence it became tedious for Ayodhya’s army to win the war and then they prayed Lord Rama to join the war. However, it was tough to harm the army sent by Lord Shiva (Gana) through normal weapons. Lord Rama decided to use divine and destructive weapon provided by Maharshi Vishwamitra. In response, Lord Shiva’s army prayed and asked the Lord to save them from that divine and destructive weapon. Lord Shiva appeared in the battlefield. Every Devta (Lords) appeared in the sky to watch this epic moment and confrontation of two lords.

When Lord Rama saw Lord Shiva in the battlefield, he put all his arms down and chanted Lord Shiva mantras and was grateful for every success he got previously. Lord Rama stated that ‘whatever is happening is due to your wish my Lord; this Ashwamedha yagna was also solemnized due to your desire’ and requested Lord Shiva to end this war.

After listening to the aforementioned details Lord Shiva replied that ‘Dear Lord, you’re the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and I am not willing to fight against you. But I have blessed King Veermani who is my great devotee, that I will protect him and his place in every condition. I cannot turn back! Do not feel conscious and take this war forward.

Lord Rama took this as an order of Lord Shiva and a divine & epic war took place. Lord Rama used every divine weapon but was unable to satisfy Lord Shiva. Lastly, Lord Rama used Pashupat weapon which carried the blessing of Lord Shiva that one who will use this weapon will never be defeated. Since Pashupat weapon was blessed by Lord Shiva himself; he accepted this and felt satisfied.

As a result, Lord Shiva asked Lord Rama for any wish. Lord Rama requested to give life to every warrior who was dead during this war. Lord Shiva gave life to every dead warrior and the war came to an end. The Holy horse captured by Rukmang was returned to Ayodhaya, King Veermani gave his empire to his son and went with Lord Rama.

When Sati tested Lord Rama's divinity

Once Lord Shiva desired to hear The Ramayana from Rishi Agastya. Shiva and his consort Sati traveled to Rishi Agastya’s ashram from Kailash. Rishi Agastya welcomed them with a pooja, a simple religious ceremony expressing due honor, and proceeded to relate the story of The Ramayana. As Lord Shiva drank the nectar of the story through his ears, Sati was inattentive. After hearing Ram Katha, both Lord Shiva and Sati were returning to Kailash. Lord Shiva was walking immersed in the devotion of Lord Rama and wished if he could get a glimpse of this Vishnu Avatar.

It is said that it was the same time Ravana had abducted Mother Sita, and Lord Rama was roaming around looking for her. He was crying, shouting and moaning as He was so sad to have lost her. Of course, Lord Rama was playing a divine role on earth as a human, so He had to display human emotions.

At the same time Lord Shiva and Sati were passing by, they saw Lord Rama suffering in the pain of separation from Sita. Lord Shiva knew about the divine play of Lord Rama and hence thought of not disturbing him and offered his respects from afar. Sati however, seeing Lord Rama in such a grievous state of longing for Sita, began to doubt his divinity.

Mother Sati said, why are you bowing down?

Lord Shiva said, because He is the Supreme Lord!

Mother Sati said, but He is crying like humans, how can He be God? I want to test Him.

So Lord Shiva said go ahead and test Him, but stay within your principles. But Mother Sati changed Her form into the form of Mother Sita and went in front of Lord Rama, trying to confuse and fool Him.

Of course, Lord Rama knew she was Mother Sati and greeted Her and asked Mother Sati, why are you raoming alone is this forest? Where is Lord Shiva?

She was ashamed and closed Her eyes. But even as Her eyes were closed, Lord Rama gave Her His Darshan along with Mother Sita in Her mind. She went back to Lord Shiva but did not tell Him how she had tested Lord Rama. But Lord Shiva knew!

And so He thought to Himself, that today She took the form of Sita whom I worship as mother! So from today I have to look at Sati as a Mother.

So He did not let Her sit next to Him anymore. Sati could not bear it and always came in front of Lord Shiva with a crying face. He got tired of seeing this and went into Samadhi for 87000 years!!!

And then, as we know, Sati went to the house of Her father, Daksh Prajapati, to attend a Yajna even though She and Lord Shiva were not invited. When She heard Her Lord Shiva being insulted in that Yajna assembly, She could not take it and jumped into the fire and gave up Her life.

So the real reason that Lord Shiva let this happen, because she had not recognized Lord Rama, she did not listen to Him, and She had taken on the form of Mother Sita.

Of course, as we know, in a future birth Mother Sati did come back as Mother Parvati and attained Her beloved Lord Shiva after years of penance. But let us keep in mind, that Sati did not actually doubt Lord Rama or Lord Shiva.

She just put on this act to prove to the world that Lord Rama was not a human because seeing how He went around crying for Mother Sita people might doubt His divinity.

When Shiva joined Krishna's Raas-Leela

On every full moon night, Krishna used to perform raasleela along with gopis.This was the dance of passion. The fragrance of this dance spread. People came to know that on full moon nights at midnight, this dance happened, and the numbers of those who participated increased.

It also fell on Shiva’s ears that on full moon nights, a fantastic dance happens on the banks of the river Yamuna. He became aware that people just danced their way to what he had achieved through meditation. Shiva is Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. This is something which is unique to India – only Indian gods dance. If they fall in love, they dance. If they get ecstatic, they dance. If they get angry, they dance. So being the Lord of Dance, Shiva was very amused that this little boy, his devotee, was taking people to transcendental states simply by dancing and blowing upon his flute. He wanted to witness this.

He walked from the Himalayas to the banks of the river Yamuna but was stopped on the outskirts of Vrindavan by Vrinda Devi, the deity of Vrindavan. When asked, she said that the reason for restricting him to enter was that in raas-leela only women are allowed and there can only be one man and that is Krishna.

But Shiva was determined to participate in raas-leela and hence asked for solution to Vrinda devi. She told him to take a dip in Yamuna River. When Shiva took the dip in Yamuna, he came back as a beautiful girl. Then he entered the Raasmandal and played raasleela. Lord Krishna recognized Lord Shiva and named the female form of him as Gopeshwar.

There is a temple in Vrindavan, called Gopeshwar Mahadev where you can see the Gopi form of Mahadev. The temple is unique as worship is offered to Shivling during the daytime and during nighttime the Shivling is draped in a ‘sari’ – female dress.