SHIVA MAHADEVA- MIGHTIEST WARRIOR, GENTLEST SOUL

 

“Tell me, Nandi,” asked Bhringi the next morning as he went for his field walk with Nandi.“What kind of God is our Lord?”

“What do you mean, Bhringi?”retorted Nandi.

“I mean, you saw what happened yesterday. That vain Daksha was heaping insults on Shiva, and what did Shiva do in turn? He just turned away…”

“Are you suggesting Shiva was not up to taking on Daksha?” Nandi growled.

“No! Not at all!! I am not that ignorant of our Master! I meant, how does He have so much patience, how can He remain so calm when someone insults Him? Aren’t we mountain warriors? Don’t we have a temper?” asked Bhringi with a childlike innocence.
“Ah, now I see what you mean,” said Nandi in a mellowed tone. “Actually, to be honest, even I lost my temper yesterday. One who loses his temper, often loses control, as our Master has always taught. And yesterday was an example of that: the Master, by remaining composed, showed a mastery, and I, just lost my mind and therefore my control, bull-headed beast that I am!”

“Aw, no you are not,” said Bhringi in literal awe, closing up to Nandi and holding his hand.“You are a loving soul, like an elder brother to all the ganas. It’s okay, even I was losing my temper yesterday, ready to be at your side if a fight ensued, no matter what the consequence.”

“It is not as if Shiva cannot fight,” continued Nandi, pleased at being accorded the status of an elder to all elementals. “Verily, Shiva is the gentlest soul. However, He can also be the most dreadful of all. He is the mightiest warrior these mountains, in fact  this world has ever known. No onslaught is powerful enough to even budge Him for more than a moment. On the other hand, none can stand His onslaught. You do know the power that propels His mighty Trisula, do you not?”
“Ah yes, it is like the comet of death itself, hurtling at a being whose time is surely over,” shuddered Bhringhi.

“Yes. That is the power of Shiva, the God of Power itself. He is Shakti Maan, the wielder of Shakti!”

“Then… why… why did He remain so calm? How come He didn’t get into the hurtling mood?” asked Bhringi, again with the same childlike innocence.

“For the same reason, my dear Bhringi, for the same reason: Shakti.”

“I do not quite follow,” said Bhringhi.

“It is Shakti who Herself is Sati. Daksha the haughty does not know this, because of his very attitude of being ‘a know all’.
But Shiva, the Supreme Knower, is, of course, mindful that Sati is His own half, She is Shakti.
Daksha thinks that he is the cause for bringing Sati to this world, whereas in reality, it is Sati Herself who has chosen Daksha as a ‘venue’ to be manifested at.
But by so doing, She is bound to honour the Karma of manifestation itself, bound to honour Her earth father.
And Shiva it is, who puts His whole Self into Her respect:
He will never stray from that, even if it means a heap of insults from an insolent, ignorant man. That man is the father of His beloved, and that is what lets him go free, from the comet of death or any other terrible fate charging at him.”

~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.

JAI MATA DI TO THE MOTHER OF ALL : DURGA

 

JAI MATA DI TO THE MOTHER OF ALL : DURGA

“Arise, O Yogini! You have prayed to me in the deepest solitude for more than five hundred years. You have not been bothered about hunger, nor have you let the changing seasons, the blistering sun, the thundering rains, or the biting cold affect you in any way. Not once have your lips stopped chanting, ‘Aum Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundaye Vichaye Namah.’ So ask, O Devi, what do you want?”

“Aum Aim Hreem Kleem Chamundaye Vichaye Namah,” repeated Mena.

~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller. Part 2

A MIND FULL OF GOD

 

Before dawn, sometime during a winter month, while most of the world lay asleep, a young ascetic was walking briskly through a forest. It had become a habit with the young Rudra to start His day like that, without waiting for the sun. His pace was brisk, yet steadfast; the gait graceful, yet determined. He looked straight ahead, yet was aware of all His surroundings. And He thought of nothing, yet His mind was full of God.
Today was special. He was headed for Kailash.
Personally, His mind always went out to two things: The first were the snow-clad mountains He could see but did not know.
The other, the woman He knew, but could not see.
He loved Her. True, He hadn’t even sighted Her; this woman who was the center of all His dreams, but there was a mysteriously obscure and delightfully sweet remembrance of being drowned in a tidal wave of long, perfumed hair. A remembrance of that lilting voice calling Him, “Nath.”

Every time He came close to remembering it, She flitted away, like a dream, a mist, or more appropriately, like the ending of a trance. And then, what remained was just the snow-clad mountain, and its snowy silence. The memory of Her scent and voice haunted Him. He sensed that His two haunts were linked and decided He would hike to the mountains to find out the reality of the woman. And that is how Rudra’s tryst began with the mountains and higher reaches of life: in search of a timeless love.

~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.

YOU RAINED

 

YOU RAINED

When Grace happened,

you rained.

this desert heart

Renounced its pain.

You rained

and finally,

in every drop

i saw the same.

When Grace happened

i was swept

in a sea

forever changed.

Anugraha- Grace, is a key word in the understandings of Kashmir Shaivism . It teaches the principal powers of Shiva are Sristi( creation) Sthiti(maintenance) Samhara(dissolution) Vilaya(veiling of the Divine nature of all things) and finally Anugraha( grace, by which we get reconnected to our timeless Divinity)

~ Shail Gulhati: Shiva and Mysticism.

When is it possible to actually get God to accept your gifts?

 

AUM NAMAH SHIVAYE.

Dear friends and Shiva bhakts,
this is an amazing pic from the net. A bhaktin does Abhishek of a Shivalinga somewhere near the banks of a holy river town- probably Haridwar or Rishikesh, and we note that Lord Shiva virtually pops up to give blessings. Her efforts have born fruit. But we also see something startling: Shiva is drenched with the potions of the Abhishek!

Is this possible? Can an offering on a stone image thousands of miles away actually reach a chosen personage? Practically speaking, this is an impossibility, a type of wishful thinking.

But we in India, have long had the tradition of sharing even our food with our God first in a similar manner, and we call this 'Bhog lagana'- 'To make God partake in our feast, knowing that all comes from Him anyway', and because according to the ancient rishis, anything was possible for God,we would do well to understand that this painted scene means to convey a higher message:

When you do something with your body and mind and also pour your soul into it, when Namah Shivaye becomes Mano Shivaye, Tano Shivaye, Dhano Shivaye, metaphorically speaking, ' Shiva is drenched with your love' . He can no longer resist giving you His Darsana.When you offer Him everything you have, your body ( karma)  your mind ( gyana) , and your very soul ( raja yoga) , knowing that all these come from Him, then your worship with the combination of all these  blossoms into a great Bhakti bhava, and Shiva ,who is Aashotosh, ( easily  pleased ), will come to your very doorstep. His Idol in your heart and mandir both, will begin to shine with a divine luminescence for ever after.

Aum Namah Shivaye!

Shail Gulhati author of SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.series.

MAYA

 

MAYA

Maya is often described as magic, power, illusion, etc in the scriptures. But it is best understood as the play of the Goddess, in which even paradox reconciles. Jai Jag janani Ma .

~ Shail Gulhati #maya #devi #shakti

Sheran Waali, Lady of the lions!

 

Parvati was different from the very beginning. She was well loved by everyone, She played with the girls of Her age, She won the love of Her elders and admiration of Her palace staff, but She was different. There was always a sense of knowership in Her, as if She knew that She was someone very special, born for a very special destiny. But this was not in a conceited way at all. She did not have even an iota of arrogance, even though She was easily the prettiest among all the girls in the whole province.

She was good at Her studies and all the rishis who came to teach Her gave Her an excellent report card. “She can do even better, if She wants,” said Bhrighu one day to Himavat. “But…”
“But?”

“But I have noticed, your Majesty, that Parvati puts in only as much effort as is required to get the basics right. She could excel in anything that She wants, and to be honest She does all things very well, but then, I have noticed, She leaves it at a level of ‘fairly good’, and weans off. It is as if She has Her heart in something else.”

“Hmm… like what?”

"Like, She hardly plays with Her  dolls, She keeps making Shivalingas in the sand.”
“The only thing that interests Her about the dolls, is when a  doll marriage is arranged!”

“Yes! Yes, that’s true,” said Mena. “I have to make new dresses for the doll bride, and Parvati insists that I make many sweetmeats in the kitchen!”

“Hmm… does She still say She will marry Shiva?” Himavat asked Mena.
“Oh, come on, She is just a child. And those things are very far. Who knows who will marry whom?”

“Shiva. It will always be Shiva,” said Bhrighu with a solemn look.

“Always be Shiva what?” asked Mena.

“It will always be Shiva, whom Shakti marries. It was so in the past, and it will be so in future,” said Bhrighu, his eyes now half closed in meditative bliss. 

"My Lord! My Lord ,what is one to do with Princess Parvati?” asked the captain of the private guard of Himavat’s security.

“Why, captain? What has Parvati done?” smiled Himavat.

“My Lord, She goes after the mountain leopards and panthers, catches them and then pats them as if they are little kittens. It’s dangerous my Lord, this sort of play.”

“But do not all princes play with the wild cats as if they were our domesticated cats? Is it not part of their training and even courage?” asked Himavat.

“Yes, my Lord, but we must not forget that Parvati is all of eight years! And my Lord… She is a girl!”

“Hmm… you are right, captain. I think Parvati deserves a new title for this trait,” laughed Himavat loudly. “From now on we should call Her, Sheran Waali, Lady of the lions!”

“Haha, what are you gentlemen discussing about my little Goddess?” chipped in Mena. “Parvati is luminous, resplendent; She is Jyotan Waali, the embodiment of light…”
From the  book ~  SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.    , a modern rendition of Great God Shiva's story by Shail Gulhati