PARAKUNNATH SREE VETTAKKORUMAKAN PAYYAN KSHETHRAM (TEMPLE), AROLI, KANNUR, KERALA: Lord Shiva is also known as Ashutosh, which means he can be pleased easily and made happy quickly.

Wednesday, 5 April 2017

Lord Shiva is also known as Ashutosh, which means he can be pleased easily and made happy quickly.

Lord Shiva is also known as Ashutosh, which means he can be pleased easily and made happy quickly. So people find it easier to pray to Shiva and obtain a number of boons. Shiva means ‘auspicious one’. So he gives many boons for the betterment of his devotees, but yet it is left to them to use the boons in the way they want. Shiva is so compassionate that he helped the world by giving all the good things when the milky ocean was churned by the Devas and Demons. When 14 good things came out of the ocean, poison also came out as a by product. All were scared to death. But Shiva swallowed it to save the mankind, stopped by Maa Parvati half way through his throat. His neck became bluish in colour and he was known as NeelKantha. This is also one of his acts of mercy. His acts of compassion are too many to narrate. He gave Lord Vishnu his Sudarshana Chakra. This wheel is like a boomerang. It will hit the target and return to Shri Vishnu. When Shri Vishnu fell short of one lotus flower while he was doing Puja, he offered one of his eyes to Shiva. Lord Shiva was pleased and gave him discuss called Sudarshana chakra.

The best example of his compassion was the boon he gave to Bhasmasura. That ‘Ash demon’ asked for a boon to kill anyone by placing his hand on the head of his victims. When Shiva gave him the boon, he tried to test it on Shiva’s head itself. Shiva had to run for his life and ultimately rescued by Shri Vishnu. Another act of mercy was giving Pasupathastra to Arjuna, the hero of Mahabharata. When Shiva came in the guise of a hunter a severe fight followed and then Shiva revealed himself. He favours good and bad equally. He is even called the lord of the thieves, ‘taskaranam pati’. But the inherent weaknesses in the bad people bring their own downfall. Ravana, King of Sri Lanka, was a great devotee of Shiva. But he suffered when he could not control his passions.