10 Mystical Stories of Shiva Every Devotee Must Know
Shiva is one of the most important of the Hindu Gods and is also referred to as the Creator and Destroyer. Shiva has spent most of his time in his Kailash Mountain. The following among the Shiva stories is important for you to know if you are a devoted devotee. Such one is lord shiva’s birth story. Once Brahma and Vishnu were both competitively boasting about their significance in the world, suddenly, there was a mythical pillar in front of them that was difficult to describe. Only seeing the top and the root of the pillar of death, they failed to solve the enigma of the structure. When they returned, they saw when Lord Shiva sprung out from the pillar. They knew that all authority in the universe always belonged to Lord Shiva; the God of creation, of sustenance, and of destruction. This is how Shiva born story is famous among the people. Listed below are some of the lord shiva full stories that you need to know:
10 Stories of Lord Shiva
1. Lord Shiva and the Demon Bhasmura
There was an evil demon named Bhasmura, who wanted to please Shiva. Impressed by his devotion, Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and asked him to make a wish. The clever Bhasmura wanted the blessing that whatever he touches with his right hand, will immediately turn into ashes. Lord Shiva grants him the boon without realizing his ill intentions. Upon receiving the boon, the evil Rakshasa intends to test the boon on Shiva himself. Blind with power, he tried to turn Shiva into ashes, so that he could be the supreme power in the universe.
When Bhasmura began chasing Shiva, Vishnu witnessed it and decided to kill him with power. Lord Vishnu, in the form of enchanting Mohini, appears before Bhasmura. Her beauty makes Bhasmura fall in love with her immediately. So, when Mohini tricked him into dancing like her, to marry her. Bhasmura, drunk with lust, forgets about his boon, and follows every step, placing his hand over his head. Thus, as soon as he puts his right hand on his head, he immediately turns into ashes. This is one of the stories that showcases that Shiva is the supreme being in the universe and trying to trick Shiva and Shakti, can only bring ruination for you. This is one of the Shiva god stories, that symbolizes the difference between unchecked pride and divine wisdom.
2. The Story of Lord Shiva’s Daughter, Ashoka Sundari
After Lord Ganesha and Kartikeya, apart from all the mythological stories of lord shiva, shiva also has a daughter. When Ashutosh and Goddess Parvati were once strolling around a magnificent garden one day, they met this tree. It was a tree of wish fulfillment known as Kalpavriksha. When Shiva used to leave the Kailash to fight evil forces and restore balance in the realm. Parvati was often left alone without company and felt lonely. So, she wished for a daughter from Kalpavriksha. The wish-fulfilling tree granted her wish and a daughter was born to goddess Parvati. The story goes that when Parvati gave birth to the daughter, she named her “Ashoka Sundari”. Ashoka means “free from grief” and Sundari means “beautiful”. According to some folktales, when Shiva beheaded Lord Ganesha, Ashoka was present there and witnessed it. She was a little girl and being scared of her father’s rage, hid behind a sack of salt. Later when her father found her, he put her back to her normal self. Since that day, Ashoka Sundari’s name has been associated with salt.
3. The Sudarshan Chakra and Lord Shiva’s Blessing
Once, all the gods were attacked and terrorized by the rakshasas. They had to go to Lord Shiva for help to fend off the demons from the Gods. Finally, after a trek to the Kailash he saw that Lord Shiva was in an unconscious state. Vishnu thought the only way he would get through to Shiva was by offering prayers to bring him out of his state. So, he began to pray Shiva, reciting Shiva Mantra until he slept and woke up from meditation.
To please Lord Shiva to listen to those who seek his help, Vishnu started reciting his 1000 names. He would chant the name of Shiva a thousand times while offering a lotus flower for each name. Vishnu continued Shiv Aarti for many years before Shiva came out of his trance. Even when Shiva woke up from his trance, he continued his chanting for that day. Bholenath was impressed but wanted to play a trick to test his devotion. He removed one lotus flower from the bunch of 1000 flowers that Lord Vishnu was offering him while chanting his name. When Vishnu uttered the 1000th name he realized that he was missing one lotus flower. He was confused when he could not find that one flower because he was sure that he arranged exactly 1000 flowers for the offering. Following that he cut off his eye and commenced to offer it at the feet of Lord Shiva.
Satisfied with such devotion towards himself Shiva says to Vishnu that he will even fulfill any wish which Vishnu could desire from Shiva or himself. Vishnu said to him, “Please shower on me the power that can eliminate and annihilate all the wicked demons so as to free gods from the grasp of the cruel demons.” Therefore, Lord Shiva also came to give him a weapon, called the Sudarsana Chakra. The mentioned weapon was fabricated from the energy of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and possesses the capacity to slay anything.
4. Shiva’s Cosmic Dance: The Tandav Nritya
One of the fascinating lord shiva stories is Shiva’s cosmic dance and the birth of His Nataraja Avatar. Once a dwarf demon, Apasmara challenged Shiva. Shiva then took the form of Nataraja and performed the dance of destruction, significant in Hindu Mythology. According to the story of the Shiva god, he took the fierce form of Rudra, representing his vengeful and wrathful side. During Nataraja’s Rudra Tandava, he crushed the prideful, ignorant demon under his foot. It is said that the demon should not be killed, as his death would mean an imbalance between knowledge and ignorance. Therefore, Shiva is claimed to have subdued the immortal demon, keeping his right foot on the demon in his Nataraja form for eternity.
According to the stories of Shiva, Apasmara the dwarf, was granted immortality and had the power to cause trouble in other people’s lives. He became ignorant and tended to cause chaos and confusion among people. One of the instances was when a group of visionaries tried to harass Shiva and Parvati, failing to recognize them. They attacked them with poisonous snakes. This angered Shiva, who destroyed all the snakes and urged Apasmara to confront him. Enraged by such trickery, Shiva began His Rudra Tandava, the dance of immense power and intensity. The performance was so terrific that it scared even the gods in the realm. The sound of Damru was so loud that it shattered the demon’s arrogance and pride. Finally, when Shiva crushed Apasmara under his feet, His Nataraja form became the ultimate symbol of the death of ignorance before divine wisdom. This is the Story Behind the Shiv Tandav Stotram, named For one of the most popular Shiva mantras that are chanted during Mahashivratri. The Nataraja image is a Symbolical imagery of integration, negation that means that creation, preservation and destruction are existent. The Nataraja Stuti sends a message that ignorance will always be destroyed when confronted with spiritual knowledge.
5. The Divine Marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati
The marriage of Shiva and Parvati is the lord shiva life story, which is the central theme in Hindu Mythology. It is the story of divine love and the incarnation of Goddess Sati. Her strong desire to marry Lord Shiva, performing severe penance in order to win over his love is an example of eternal love and devotion. Himavatha and his wife, Menaka, were devoted followers of Lord Shiva and always wished for a daughter who could marry the god. They performed a three-day-long ritual to please Gauridevi/ Sita, the first wife of Lord Shiva. Goddess Sita then promised Menaka that she would give birth as their daughter and jumped into the fire to be reincarnated as Parvati. Heartbroken after losing his wife, Shiva went into a long penance. He mourned the loss of his beloved wife trying different ways to get her back.
One day when Narada visits to see the reincarnated baby in the Kingdom of Himavatha, he foretold the ruler of Himalaya that one day their daughter will be the wife of Lord Shiva. With the passing days, as Parvati grew, she became an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. She used to spend days and nights doing Shiva Bhajan and praying for him. Impressed with Parvati’s devotion towards him, Shiva decided to put her through a test, disguising himself as a poor Brahmin. He told Parvati that Shiva does not possess much wealth, since he has nothing to wear. He further insulted Shiva saying that he is smeared in ashes, while his hands are encircled with snakes. He also tried to discourage her from marriage, telling her about Shiva’s weaknesses and personality problems. But Parvati did not budge from the resolve of marrying Shiva and explained that in whatever form Shiva might be, He still is the creator of the Universe. This makes Shiva show his real original appearance and acknowledge her marriage proposal. You might wonder Why is Mahashivratri Celebrated. And the above story is the answer to it all. Their union is one of the most celebrated stories of Shiva and Parvati.
6. Shiva at Goddess Kali’s Feet
In the stories of Shiva, after He inhaled the blue poison and saved everyone, He encountered another demon who was terrorizing the gods. Rakta Beej, an evil demon, became unkillable, due to his great powers. He had the ability to instantly duplicate himself whenever a drop of his blood touched the ground. As a result, he became uncontrollable and Goddess Durga was called upon and urged to exterminate the demon from the face of the earth. However, as soon as Durga injured him with her weapon, his blood fell on the earth, and from every drop that fell, grew 100 more demons. Even when Ma Durga was able to kill him, the moment his blood spilled on the earth, 100 more versions of him emerged. So, Durga transformed from her motherly Parvati avatar and took the ferocious form of Kali, whom Shiva tasked to defeat the demon Rakta Beej and his army. She then became the most powerful depiction of Shakti, which is equal to the Rudra Avatars of Lord Shiva.
Ferocious as Ma Kali is, she started severing the heads from the bodies of the demons and drank all the blood without letting a single drop touch the ground. In this way, she became the deity with severed body parts in Her hands and around Her neck, who is recognized for Her fearsome appearance, as the destroyer of evil and negativity. After defeating and killing the demon army and drinking their blood preventing them from being reborn, Ma Kali started Her Tandav Nritya in a fit of rage. She consumed their blood became a ball of bloody rage and started murdering innocent people. This caused havoc on Earth as she became uncontrollable, which terrified Shiva. All the gods pleaded to Shiva to stop Ma Kali, who also realized the destruction that Kali could cause.
Shiva rushed towards Kali attempting to calm Her down while she was dancing and walking over the lying dead bodies. In order to stop Ma Kali from killing anyone and everyone in Her path, Shiva himself laid down among the corpses. While Ma Kali was trampling the numerous corpses in a state of trance, she failed to notice that Shiva was lying down in Her path. Thus, as soon as Maa Kali stepped on him, she paused and realized Her mistake. As an avatar of Parvati, she stepped on Her husband, which was considered to be a sin, which is why she quickly regretted Her mistake, sticking Her tongue out.
7. The Story of Lord Shiva’s Third Eye
“Trilochan” is another name for Lord Shiva, who has three eyes. As a devotee of Shiva, you might wonder, what is the real story of Shiva and his third eye? One day when Shiva was meditating, Parvati, his beloved wife, had the idea of playing a game with him. She came from behind him, closing both of his eyes with her hands. According to the Shiva short stories, it is believed that Shiva’s right eye represents the Sun while the left eye represents the Moon. Closing both the eyes of Shiva led to utter chaos and darkness in the universe. With the help of his divine powers that can emit fire, Shiva immediately created the third eye on his forehead. Also, the heat that is being emitted from Shiva’s eye causes Parvati’s hand to sweat. Thus, the third eye formed from the combined powers of Shiva’s fire and Parvati’s sweat. This further resulted in the creation of their son, named Andhaka.
8. The Blue Throat “Neelkanth” Shiva
One of the real stories of lord shiva is how he became the “Neelkanth”. Once sage Durvasa cursed all the goddesses towards doom and left them powerless and defenseless. At that time, due to Vishnu Dev’s arrogance, he lost Devi Lakshmi and with her all the fortune and prosperity. When faced with the atrocities of Durvasa, Lord Vishnu suggested all the gods churn the ocean of milk. By stirring the ocean during the Samudra Manthan, the devas tried to bring back the nectar that could make them immortal. The gods after some time combined with the demons to use their strengths in churning the ocean and reviving their fortune. With Vasuki the snake and Mount Mandara, the devas and the asuras kept churning the ocean, where many things came out.
According to the legend, a thick foam appeared while churning the ocean that had the capability of poisoning the whole universe. As the toxic vapor began to spread into the atmosphere, without thinking twice, Lord Shiva gulped down the halahala poison and saved the planet. When Lord Shiva offers to drink the poison, Devi Parvati immediately squeezes down tightly on his throat, to prevent the poison from entering his body. Thus, the poison remained in his throat, giving it a blue color, and earning Him the name Neelkanth.
9. Ravana Lifts Kailash: The Test of His Devotion to Shiva
Ravana and her mother both were devotees of Lord Shiva. Once when Ravana’s mother wanted to visit Mt. Kailash, the arrogant Ravana told her that he could bring Kailash to her feet. He then attempted to lift Kailash and transport it to Lanka. Even though he failed in pulling down the abode of Shiva, the Kailash Parvat, it angered Shiva. Lord Shiva was so annoyed with his devotee that he trapped him below Mount Kailash. When entrapped, Ravana started singing songs of praise to Bholenath, to please him. Since he had no musical instruments, he cut one of his heads to make a musical instrument out of it. He started playing devotional songs of Lord Shiva using his tendons as strings. This went on for several years before Shiva was pleased enough to pardon him. It is said that Ravana was the first one to originate a musical instrument.
10. The Holy Ganga Flows from Shiva’s Head
The deity of Lord Shiva is one of the most mystical figures of Hinduism, who is also known as “Jatadhara” because of his matted hair. The story of the flowing Ganga from Lord Shiva’s head goes like this:
When the powerful King of Surya Medha Dynasty decided to conduct Ashvamedha Yagya. He prepared a horse to wander for a year, however, out of jealousy the God Indra, hid the horse in Sage Kapil’s ashram. When the King sent his sons to find out the horse that went missing. They found the horse at Sage Kapil’s ashram and insulted the Brahman when he was deep in his meditation. Angered and furious by their assault, the sage burned all the 60,000 sons of the King. The king then sent his grandson to the sage, asking him for a way that could offer deliverance to the souls of his dead sons. The sage said that only the holy water from the heavenly river Ganga can help purify their souls.
But unfortunately, the divine river only flowed in heaven as the earth was not equipped enough to hold the holy power of its streams. The immense force of the Ganga could have submerged the whole planet. So, Anshuman prayed to Lord Brahma to allow the heavenly river to flow on earth. However, it could cause tremendous damage and destruction to nature and humans if the river was allowed to descend on Earth. Hence, Lord Shiva came as a savior, taking the flow of the Holy Ganga on his head and protecting the planet from destruction. This allowed the river to flow gently through the majestic Himalayas. This is the captivating tale of Shiva, capturing Ganga in his matted locks, allowing it to flow gently, controlling its path, and saving the world.
These stories of Lord Shiva reveal his supremely powerful and divine personality and the significance of Shiv Rudrashtakam Stotram in Hindu mythology. From his role as a protector and the preserver to his cosmic devastating dance that represents the rhythm of the universe, Shiva’s tales and Shiva Symbolism continue to inspire and captivate the hearts of millions. Shiva continues to live in the hearts of millions, providing blessings and protecting his devotees from all evil.
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