All Glories, All Glories, All Glories to those who regularly worship Lord Shiva. Those who wear the Rudraksha beads and smear the holy ash on their bodies are glorified in the three worlds.
The holy scriptures recomment wearing different number of beads on different parts of the body. One bead on the shikha, 16 on each of the upper arms, 12 on each wrist, 6 in each ear, 24 on the forehead, 32 on the throat and 108 around the neck.
The scriptures also tell us that the single faced rudraksha bead is specially beneficial for bestowing special fortune when it is worshipped. The 5,6,8 and fourteen faced rudraksha beads are said to bestow wealth. Worshipping rudraskha beads is equivalent to worshipping Lord Shiva himself.
Let us narrate a story that tells us the importance of worshipping Lord Shiva with proper prayers.
In the kingdom of Kashmir there lived a king by then name of Bhadrasen. He was a very righteous king who was loved by all his citizens. He was fortunate to have a beautiful and chaste wife and a little boy, the young Prince. The able and loyal minister of Bhadrasen also had a son as old as the Prince and the two children used to play together all the time. They were each others constant companions. The Prince was named Sudharma and the ministers son was named Taraka.
These two children were very special. They did not like to mix with other children and nor did they play and enjoy life like most children at their young age do. They were very detatched to their expensive garments and ornaments. They preferred to wear the rudraksha beads and smear holy ash on their bodies instead of dressing up like royalty. When forced to comply, they simply donated the clothes and jewels to poor Brahmins and discussed Lord Shiva with them. They unwaveringly and ardently worshipped Lord Shiva all the time. Both the fathers were naturally worried about the future of the children and of te kingdom that the Prince was to oneday rule over.
As fate would have it, Sage Parashar came to visit King Bhadrasen along with his entourage of disciples. The Sage was welcomed and glorified by both the King and his minister. Sage Parashar was the grandson of the Sage Vashistha and the father of Sage Vyas. The King put his worries in front of the Parashar Muni and hoped that he would guide them. Parashar Muni naratted the following story:
A long time ago, in the same kingdom of Kashmir, lived a wealthy prostitute who went by the name Mahananda. She resided in the city of Nandigram and was well known a woman of exquisite beauty and charm. She was a very talented dancer and singer and the wealth she enjoyed were beyond any limits with servants to attend to her at all times. But this was not the reason why Mahananda was very special and sought after by men. She had followed a very special policy for all these years. She would remain faithful to any customer as if she were his wife and was ready to share in all his sorrows and misfortunes like a chaste and faithful wife would. This was unheard of anywhere. She would dedicate herself fully to that man as long as he was with her and serve him as his maid. Her devotion to her man would be so strong that not even Indra could waver her resolve even with his immense charm.
Mahanda was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. She followed the Somwar Vrat, Pradosh Vrat and Mahashivratri very stictly. She donated food all the time and noone went hungry from her house anytime. She had Rudrabhishek performed from learned priests regularly and also the chanting of the Rudra Hyms to glorify Lord Shiva. In her dance hall, she worshipped Lord Shiva in his Linga form and danced and sang to please him.She offered a hundred thousand bilva leaves to Lord Shiva in his daily worship and during the month of Shravan, she made ten million Shiv Lingas. She always engaged in listening to the glories of Lord Shiva.Mahananda had two pets: a cock and a monkey. She had made them wear Rudraksha beads and would smear holy ash on them as well. She would then sometimes allow them to dance and play in the dance hall while she performed for Lord Shiva. The two creatures were thus greatly benefitted because of their association with this great devotee of Lord Shiva.
One day a very handsom trader came to Mahananda. She was attracted to him very much. She sat him down on her bejeweled chair. Just then, she happened to glance upon the bracelet that he had worn aroung his wrist. It was someting divine. She said to him that such a thing of beauty surely could not have been made by man. It had to be the craftsmanship of Vishwakarma, who was the engineer and designer of the Gods in heaven. The trader saw that she was enchanted by the bracelt and gifted it to her. She was very happy and said that she would be his for three days.He then showed her the 'Atma Linga' that he worshipped. It had an effulgence different than that of the Sun. Being a devotee of Lord Shiva, she was immediately entranced by it and said that no amount of bracelets could compare to the beauty of the Linga. The trader explained that he had taken a special vow with regards to the Atma Linga. As per his vow, if the Linga was damaged or burnt, then he would have to sacrifice his life by fire. He asked her to take care of it as long as he was with her.She readily agreed.
That night after both had gone to sleep, the trader, who was none other than Lord Shiva, set fire to her palace. In all the panic, Mahananda released the cock and the monkey into the open ground and saved them from certain death. In a few moments the whole palace was burnt to the ground although noone was hurt. The trader then asked for his Atma Linga. The earth slipped below Mahanada's feet. She had completely forgotten about the Atma Linga and she begged his forgivness. The trader blamed her for having burnt his most valuable posession and reminded her of his vow. He then lit a huge pyre and jumped into it chanting "Om Namah Shivai". Mahananda then decided to enter the pyre with him for she too had vow to keep, the vow of living for her man as long as he was with her. She gave away all her material belongings and after bathing, entered into the fire.
Lo and behold ! Just like the sun rises out of the dark night, Lord Shiva emerged from the burning pyre. He had ten hands, five heads, with elephant skin wrapped around his body, wearing tiger skin, with the river Ganges flowing through his matted locks, with three eyes, with ashes smeared over his body, wearing a garland of human heads, a blue throat, with a snake around his neck and many more all over his body and with the moon mounted on his head, the Lord had appeared as Chandramouli, the Lord who protects his devotees. In his arms was Mahananda.
Lord Shiva said that he was very pleased with her dedication to her vow and told her to ask for any boon. Mahanada being an enlightened soul prayed to the Lord to take the entire city with its inhabitants to the eternal abode of the Lord. The Lord granted the boon and entire Nandigram was transported to Shiva Loka (abode of Lord Shiva) Sage Parashar told Bhadrasen that the cock and the monkey that had been released by Mahananda had been born as the two children and they were devotees in this birth due to their association with her in their previous birth. The greatful King asked Sage Prarashar to tell him about the life span of the Prince. The Sage revelaled that the boy was destined to die on the seventh day from that day. The King fainted on hearing this news and the Queen started beating her chest and crying out loud.
When the King awoke, Parashar Muni told him to perform Rudrabhishek with the chanting of Rudra Hyms for the benefit of the boy. He was to get this done by only the best priests for ten thousand times everyday for seven days. At the end of the seven days of worship, the holy water was to be sprinkled on the boy so that he would live longer.
At the end of the seventh day all the Vedic Sacrifices had been completed when suddenly the young Prince fell to the ground.He had died. Everyone panicked and the King broke out in tears. Just then Sage Parashar sprinkled the holy water on the boy and called out to him. He boy awoke as if he had been asleep. The sage asked him to describe what he had seen. The boy said that he was being taken away by the Yamaraj, the God of Death when four Shiva Dootas (messengers of Lord Shiva, who have a form similar to the Lord himself) came to his rescue.
Just then Sage Narada appeared. After everyone had paid their obeisances to him, the great Muni went on to explain that, Lord Shiva had sent his agent Virabhadra to Yamaraj to demand an explaination for his action of trying to take away the young Prince. It had just so happened, that Yamaraj had calulated that the boy was slated to die on that day but had missed the calculation in his horoscope that clearly showed that he would be brought back to life due to the prayers offered to Lord Shiva and that he would go on to live for over ten thousand years. Yamaraj had admitted his mistake and prayed for forgiveness to the Lord. The Lord forgave Yamaraj.
The young Prince eventually was crowned King and his friend as his minister and ruled for over ten thousand years. Bhadrasen and his minster both ascended to the abode of Lord Shiva after death. Those whow read this chapter of the Shiv Leelamrut would be bestowed with long life, progeny and on dying would go to the abode of Lord Shiva. All grave sins would be burnt to ashes on reading once a day. If read thrice a day it would extend life and removes any chances of untimely and early death. This chapter should be specifically read by those who have the curse of a short life as seen in their horoscopes. It will also remove all the malefic effects of all the plantets.
Namah Parvati Pataye, Har Har Mahadev.
The holy scriptures recomment wearing different number of beads on different parts of the body. One bead on the shikha, 16 on each of the upper arms, 12 on each wrist, 6 in each ear, 24 on the forehead, 32 on the throat and 108 around the neck.
The scriptures also tell us that the single faced rudraksha bead is specially beneficial for bestowing special fortune when it is worshipped. The 5,6,8 and fourteen faced rudraksha beads are said to bestow wealth. Worshipping rudraskha beads is equivalent to worshipping Lord Shiva himself.
Let us narrate a story that tells us the importance of worshipping Lord Shiva with proper prayers.
In the kingdom of Kashmir there lived a king by then name of Bhadrasen. He was a very righteous king who was loved by all his citizens. He was fortunate to have a beautiful and chaste wife and a little boy, the young Prince. The able and loyal minister of Bhadrasen also had a son as old as the Prince and the two children used to play together all the time. They were each others constant companions. The Prince was named Sudharma and the ministers son was named Taraka.
These two children were very special. They did not like to mix with other children and nor did they play and enjoy life like most children at their young age do. They were very detatched to their expensive garments and ornaments. They preferred to wear the rudraksha beads and smear holy ash on their bodies instead of dressing up like royalty. When forced to comply, they simply donated the clothes and jewels to poor Brahmins and discussed Lord Shiva with them. They unwaveringly and ardently worshipped Lord Shiva all the time. Both the fathers were naturally worried about the future of the children and of te kingdom that the Prince was to oneday rule over.
As fate would have it, Sage Parashar came to visit King Bhadrasen along with his entourage of disciples. The Sage was welcomed and glorified by both the King and his minister. Sage Parashar was the grandson of the Sage Vashistha and the father of Sage Vyas. The King put his worries in front of the Parashar Muni and hoped that he would guide them. Parashar Muni naratted the following story:
A long time ago, in the same kingdom of Kashmir, lived a wealthy prostitute who went by the name Mahananda. She resided in the city of Nandigram and was well known a woman of exquisite beauty and charm. She was a very talented dancer and singer and the wealth she enjoyed were beyond any limits with servants to attend to her at all times. But this was not the reason why Mahananda was very special and sought after by men. She had followed a very special policy for all these years. She would remain faithful to any customer as if she were his wife and was ready to share in all his sorrows and misfortunes like a chaste and faithful wife would. This was unheard of anywhere. She would dedicate herself fully to that man as long as he was with her and serve him as his maid. Her devotion to her man would be so strong that not even Indra could waver her resolve even with his immense charm.
Mahanda was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. She followed the Somwar Vrat, Pradosh Vrat and Mahashivratri very stictly. She donated food all the time and noone went hungry from her house anytime. She had Rudrabhishek performed from learned priests regularly and also the chanting of the Rudra Hyms to glorify Lord Shiva. In her dance hall, she worshipped Lord Shiva in his Linga form and danced and sang to please him.She offered a hundred thousand bilva leaves to Lord Shiva in his daily worship and during the month of Shravan, she made ten million Shiv Lingas. She always engaged in listening to the glories of Lord Shiva.Mahananda had two pets: a cock and a monkey. She had made them wear Rudraksha beads and would smear holy ash on them as well. She would then sometimes allow them to dance and play in the dance hall while she performed for Lord Shiva. The two creatures were thus greatly benefitted because of their association with this great devotee of Lord Shiva.
One day a very handsom trader came to Mahananda. She was attracted to him very much. She sat him down on her bejeweled chair. Just then, she happened to glance upon the bracelet that he had worn aroung his wrist. It was someting divine. She said to him that such a thing of beauty surely could not have been made by man. It had to be the craftsmanship of Vishwakarma, who was the engineer and designer of the Gods in heaven. The trader saw that she was enchanted by the bracelt and gifted it to her. She was very happy and said that she would be his for three days.He then showed her the 'Atma Linga' that he worshipped. It had an effulgence different than that of the Sun. Being a devotee of Lord Shiva, she was immediately entranced by it and said that no amount of bracelets could compare to the beauty of the Linga. The trader explained that he had taken a special vow with regards to the Atma Linga. As per his vow, if the Linga was damaged or burnt, then he would have to sacrifice his life by fire. He asked her to take care of it as long as he was with her.She readily agreed.
That night after both had gone to sleep, the trader, who was none other than Lord Shiva, set fire to her palace. In all the panic, Mahananda released the cock and the monkey into the open ground and saved them from certain death. In a few moments the whole palace was burnt to the ground although noone was hurt. The trader then asked for his Atma Linga. The earth slipped below Mahanada's feet. She had completely forgotten about the Atma Linga and she begged his forgivness. The trader blamed her for having burnt his most valuable posession and reminded her of his vow. He then lit a huge pyre and jumped into it chanting "Om Namah Shivai". Mahananda then decided to enter the pyre with him for she too had vow to keep, the vow of living for her man as long as he was with her. She gave away all her material belongings and after bathing, entered into the fire.
Lo and behold ! Just like the sun rises out of the dark night, Lord Shiva emerged from the burning pyre. He had ten hands, five heads, with elephant skin wrapped around his body, wearing tiger skin, with the river Ganges flowing through his matted locks, with three eyes, with ashes smeared over his body, wearing a garland of human heads, a blue throat, with a snake around his neck and many more all over his body and with the moon mounted on his head, the Lord had appeared as Chandramouli, the Lord who protects his devotees. In his arms was Mahananda.
Lord Shiva said that he was very pleased with her dedication to her vow and told her to ask for any boon. Mahanada being an enlightened soul prayed to the Lord to take the entire city with its inhabitants to the eternal abode of the Lord. The Lord granted the boon and entire Nandigram was transported to Shiva Loka (abode of Lord Shiva) Sage Parashar told Bhadrasen that the cock and the monkey that had been released by Mahananda had been born as the two children and they were devotees in this birth due to their association with her in their previous birth. The greatful King asked Sage Prarashar to tell him about the life span of the Prince. The Sage revelaled that the boy was destined to die on the seventh day from that day. The King fainted on hearing this news and the Queen started beating her chest and crying out loud.
When the King awoke, Parashar Muni told him to perform Rudrabhishek with the chanting of Rudra Hyms for the benefit of the boy. He was to get this done by only the best priests for ten thousand times everyday for seven days. At the end of the seven days of worship, the holy water was to be sprinkled on the boy so that he would live longer.
At the end of the seventh day all the Vedic Sacrifices had been completed when suddenly the young Prince fell to the ground.He had died. Everyone panicked and the King broke out in tears. Just then Sage Parashar sprinkled the holy water on the boy and called out to him. He boy awoke as if he had been asleep. The sage asked him to describe what he had seen. The boy said that he was being taken away by the Yamaraj, the God of Death when four Shiva Dootas (messengers of Lord Shiva, who have a form similar to the Lord himself) came to his rescue.
Just then Sage Narada appeared. After everyone had paid their obeisances to him, the great Muni went on to explain that, Lord Shiva had sent his agent Virabhadra to Yamaraj to demand an explaination for his action of trying to take away the young Prince. It had just so happened, that Yamaraj had calulated that the boy was slated to die on that day but had missed the calculation in his horoscope that clearly showed that he would be brought back to life due to the prayers offered to Lord Shiva and that he would go on to live for over ten thousand years. Yamaraj had admitted his mistake and prayed for forgiveness to the Lord. The Lord forgave Yamaraj.
The young Prince eventually was crowned King and his friend as his minister and ruled for over ten thousand years. Bhadrasen and his minster both ascended to the abode of Lord Shiva after death. Those whow read this chapter of the Shiv Leelamrut would be bestowed with long life, progeny and on dying would go to the abode of Lord Shiva. All grave sins would be burnt to ashes on reading once a day. If read thrice a day it would extend life and removes any chances of untimely and early death. This chapter should be specifically read by those who have the curse of a short life as seen in their horoscopes. It will also remove all the malefic effects of all the plantets.
Namah Parvati Pataye, Har Har Mahadev.
Share:
No comments:
Post a Comment