HARE KRSNA
I keep the fast of Ekadashi but I want to know whether it is necessary to keep the fast of Shivratri or not??
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HARE KRSNA
I keep the fast of Ekadashi but I want to know whether it is necessary to keep the fast of Shivratri or not??
You need to be a member of ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT to add comments!
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Hare Krishna,
From Daily.com Baskar
Everybody knows that Shiva is 'shakti' or power. Shiva is the destroyer, the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godheads in the Hindu Trinity. Known by many names - Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath - Lord Shiva is perhaps the most complex of Hindu deities. Hindus recognize this by putting his shrine in the temple separate from those of other deities.
Today we will tell you about How Lord Shiva was born, which most people don’t know. Also, read in this story about Shiva’s unknown roles and powers.
Lord Shiva and his birth
According to Hindu mythology Lord Shiva is the destroyer in the main three supreme God. There are three supreme gods 1st one is Lord Shiva, second one is Brahma and third one is Vishnu.
Lord Shiva is the destroyer and also has a positive side in that destruction usual leads to new forms of existence. Lord Shiva is described in art with four hand, four faces and three eyes. The third eye keeps this power to destroy the creation, not only creation including gods and humans.
In the Vedas, a collection of ancient sacred texts, Lord Shiva is identified with the storm god Rudra.
How was Lord Shiva born?
There is a very interesting story behind the birth of lord Shiva. One day Brahma and Vishnu both were arguing about which of them were more powerful. That time one great blazing pillar appeared whose roots and branches extended beyond view into the earth and sky.
Now the Gods, Brahma and Vishnu began to find out the start and the end of that pillar. Brahma turned into goose and flew up to find the top of the pillar, while Vishnu turned into a boar and dug into the earth to look for its roots. After being unsuccessful, both came back and saw Lord Shiva emerging from an opening in the pillar.
Recognizing Shiva’s great power, they both accepted that there is the third power who rules over the universe.
Roles and power of Lord Shiva
Lord Shiva is a very complex God having many roles and powers. If we will talk of his destroyer role, Shiva often hunts cemeteries, wearing a headdress of snakes and a necklace of skulls. A band of terrifying demons, hungering for blood, accompanies him. Shiva can help human as well as Gods.
He acts as divine judge who shows no mercy on the wicked. He gains the spiritual strength from periods of meditation – deep though – in the Himalayas. When Shiva dances, he represents truth, and by dancing he banishes ignorance and helps relieve the suffering of his followers.
According to one myth, Shiva saved the gods and the world from destruction by swallowing the poison of Vasuki, a serpent the gods used to produce the water of life. Drinking the poison made Shiva's neck blue, and he is often shown that way in art. One of Shiva's greatest services to the world was to tame the sacred Ganges River, which flows from the Himalayas. At one time, the Ganges passed only through the heavens, leaving the earth dry. After a wise man changed the course of the river, it became a raging torrent and threatened to flood the earth. Shiva stood beneath the river and let its waters wind through his hair to calm its flow.
In another story, the gods were threatened by demons and asked Shiva for help. He agreed—on the condition that the gods lend him some of their own strength. However, after defeating the demons, Shiva refused to return the borrowed strength. As a result, he became the most powerful being in the universe.
Shiva also has many weapons that make him unbeatable, including a club with a skull on the end, a sword and spear made from thunderbolts, and a bow made from a rainbow.
Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya
krsnaraja melvin
Not necessarily according to Srilla Prabhupad's purport in Bhagavad Gita.
Regarding Shivratri Fasting following references are available on Iskcon Desire Tree website...
"Siva ratri vrtam krsna catur-dasyantu phalgune
Vaisnaver api tat karyam sri krsna pritaye sada"...(hari bhakti vilasa 14/187 from gautamiya tantra)
On the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Phalguna (February-March), for the pleasure of Lord Sri Krsna, a Vaisnava should always take a vow to fast. (It is called Siva Ratri, or the night of Lord Siva.)
"Parat parataram yanti narayana parayanah
Nate tatra gamisyanti ye dvisanti mahesvaram"...(Hari Bhakti Vilasa 14/189 from Kurma Purana the Supreme Lord speaks to Bhrgu
Muni)
(One who avoids fasting on Siva Ratri or the "night of Lord Siva", he becomes very offensive. Whatever offenses one accumulates by not fasting on Siva Ratri day is explained here.) The destination of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Narayana, is certainly in the spiritual world. But if one is envious of Lord Sri Siva, he does not attain the spiritual world.
"Yani kany atra lingani sthavarani carani ca
Tesu sankramate devas tasyam ratrau yato harah
Sivaratris tatah prokta tena sa hari vallabhah"...(Hari Bhakti Vilasa 14/200 from Skanda purana, Nagara khanda)
Whatever deities of Lord Siva that can be found on this earthly planet, on the night of this fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Phalguna, Lord Siva, who is a leading demigod, enters into them. For this reason, this day is called Siva Ratri. For this reason, this day is very dear to Lord Sri Hari.
"Sri krsne vaisnavanantu prema bhakti vivardhate
Krsna bhakti rasa sara varsi rudra anukampaya"...(hari bhakti vilasa 14/221 from skanda purana)
Being a Vaisnava, if somebody fasts on Lord Siva's night (Siva Ratri day), by the mercy of him (Lord Siva) who is diving in the ocean of the mellow of devotion to Krsna, one's devotion to Krsna increases rapidly.
Hari Bol!!!
Thank you prabhu for your elaborate quotations. But I have a question:
Whether it is prescribed by vaishnav calendar to go for fasting on this Shivaratri?According to Bhagavat Gita it is inappropriate to go for fasting or committing any austerity without prescribed days by which one gets pain himself and gives pain to Krishna within.
From the purport of Srilla Prabhupad.
Sorry if I am mistaken.
Of course, Lord Shiva is the greatest vaishnava among vaishnavas who constantly chant the holy name of Krishna.
"Vaishnavanam yatha shambhu"
Thank you for the refernces Prabhu !! :) Happy MahaShivaRatri !!