Lord Sri Sri Radhavallabha Ki Jaya.
Lord Mahadeva ki Jaya.
Lord Gopeshwar Mahadeva ki Jaya.
Srila Prabhupada Ki Jaya and Sri Sri Guru & Gauranga Ki Jaya.
Please find more reading material about Lord Siva in the attached document.
SB 12.13.16
nimna-ganam yatha ganga
devanam acyuto yatha
vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh
purananam idam tatha
Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme
among deities and
Lord Sambhu [Siva] the greatest of Vaisnavas, so Srimad-Bhagavatam is the
greatest of all Puranas.
Suta Gosvami
Lord Siva is known as the greatest devotee of the SupremePersonality of
Godhead. He is known as the best
of all types of Vaisnavas (vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh)
Lord Siva is one of the twelve great personalities, as stated in
Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.3.20):
svayambhur naradah sambhuh
kumarah kapilo manuh
prahlado janako bhismo
balir vaiyasakir vayam
Lord Brahma, Bhagavan Narada, Lord Siva, the four Kumaras, Lord Kapila [the
son of Devahuti],
Svayambhuva Manu, Prahlada Maharaja, Janaka Maharaja, Grandfather Bhisma,
Bali Maharaja, Sukadeva Gosvami and I myself know the real religious
principle.
Yamaraja
These are twelve great authorities in preaching God consciousness.The name
Sambhu means Lord Siva.
Lord Siva is also the protector of holy dham.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SIVA RATRI:
> Usually the system is to stay up all night and fast while performing pujas
> (abhiseka, arcana with flowers, recitation of names of Shiva), the pujas
> are performed at four times in the night (the night is divided in to 4 and
> there are different thigs to offer and chant at each time). I would
> suggest with a Tamil crowd that you try to make some south indian type of
> prasadam Pongal and Payasam are traditional things for this night. Also
> you might read from the Bhagavatam especially Prayers by Lord Shiva and
> other stories which involve Lord Shiva. When worshiping Shiva (if you have
> a deity or lingam, if not just get a picture), perform the worship using
> the sloka (ksiram dadhi etc) from Brahma Samhita as a Dhyana Sloka
> (invocation and ending prayer) then offer all articles just like in
> regular 16 article worship with the mula mantra Om Namas Shivaya. Then do
> an Arati in which you could chant Brahma Bole chatur mukhe Krsna Krsna
> Hare Hare, Maha Deva Pancha Mukhe Rama Rama Hare Hare, then continue with
> Hare Krishna maha mantra. Offer all prasadams to Krishna first before the
> puja as Lord Shiva is being worshiped as his devotee and then offer the
> prasadam to Shiva. In this way we can honor Lord Shiva as a mahajana,
great
> vaishnava and at the same time engage our Indian congregation. These are
> just some thoughts which I had. For more details of exactly how to perform
> this program please respond.
>
> Gaura Keshava dasa
> (Text COM:1031928) -----------------------------------------
Usually we worship any deva or great devotee by first worshiping Lord Sri
Krishna and offering the bhoga to Lord Sri Krishna and then offering the
prasadam to the deva / devotee. The GBC resolved that that system is what
should be followed in ISKCON if we do any kind of worship for the devas
including Lord Siva. So here it is mentioned to offer bhoga Lord Sri
Krishna and then the prasadam to Lord Siva using his mula mantra, that is
the correct system. The GBC authorized offering devas prasadam after it is
offered to Lord Sri Krishna. That is the system followed at Linga RAja
temple in Bhubaneswara and Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted
Siva mahaprasadam from that temple since it was first offered to Lord Sri
Krishna.
Similarly the mahaprasadam from Lord Jaganath in Puri is offered to Bimla
devi and we obviously accept that Mahaprasadam as Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya
Mahaprabhu did so. She is Vaisnavi and we respect her as a great devotee of
the Lord.
Yours in service, Jayapataka Swami
Prabhupada's Lectures Srimad-Bhagavatam 1972 720821SB.LA
So the question was, ``Which worship is best?'' So Lord Siva
replied, aradhananam sarvesam visnor aradhanam param: ``My dear
Parvati, of all methods of worship, Visnu worship is the topmost.''
There are many demigods' worship, even Lord Siva's worship, but Lord
Siva says, ``Visnu worship is the best.'' Then he says again, tasmat
parataram devi. ``My dear Devi, better than that Visnu worship is
tadiyanam aradhanam.'' Tadiya. Tadiya means those who are in
relationship with Visnu, tadiya. Just like His devotee, tadiya.
Tulasi-vrksa. Tulasi is tadiya. Or temple tadiya. Preaching tadiya.
Tadiyanam aradhanam. This is bhagavata. So Lord Siva recommends that
``Of all methods of worship, Visnu worship is the best, and better than
Visnu worship is to worship His devotee or things in relationship with
Him.''
Prabhupada's Lectures Srimad-Bhagavatam 1972 720821SB.LA
Tadiyanam, that is bhagavata. Here it is also said, tadiyanam,
bhagavata-sevaya. This book bhagavata, spoken by the devotee bhagavata,
this should be taken very seriously daily. Otherwise you..., we do not
understand what is Bhagavan. Therefore it is recommended here: nityam,
daily, or constantly, twenty-four hours. We have to mold our life in
such a way that twenty-four hours, not a single moment leaving aside,
we should be engaged in bhagavata-sevaya, in the service of Lord's
relations. The Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, the spiritual master,
tulasi-devi, the temple, the preaching, the books--these are all
bhagavata. So nityam bhagavata-sevaya. Nasta-prayesu. If we engage
ourself in this bhagavata-sevaya... Just like we are doing daily,
trying to read one verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam, discussing amongst
ourselves. This is bhagavata-sevaya. Nityam, daily, regularly. By this
process, when the dirty things within the heart, nasta-prayesv
abhadresu.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 3: Chapter Twenty-three, Text 1
:PURPORT
PURPORT
The specific example of Bhavani is very significant. Bhavani means
the wife of Bhava, or Lord Siva. Bhavani, or Parvati, the daughter of
the King of the Himalayas, selected Lord Siva, who appears to be just
like a beggar, as her husband. In spite of her being a princess, she
undertook all kinds of tribulations to associate with Lord Siva, who
did not even have a house, but was sitting underneath the trees and
passing his time in meditation. Although Bhavani was the daughter of a
very great king, she used to serve Lord Siva just like a poor woman.
Similarly, Devahuti was the daughter of an emperor, Svayambhuva Manu,
yet she preferred to accept Kardama Muni as her husband. She served him
with great love and affection, and she knew how to please him.
Therefore, she is designated here as sadhvi, which means "a chaste,
faithful wife." Her rare example is the ideal of Vedic civilization.
Every woman is expected to be as good and chaste as Devahuti or
Bhavani. Today in Hindu society, unmarried girls are still taught to
worship Lord Siva with the idea that they may get husbands like him.
Lord Siva is the ideal husband, not in the sense of riches or sense
gratification, but because he is the greatest of all devotees.
Vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh: Sambhu, or Lord Siva, is the ideal Vaisnava.
He constantly meditates upon Lord Rama and chants Hare Rama, Hare Rama,
Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Lord Siva has a Vaisnava sampradaya, which is
called the Visnusvami-sampradaya. Unmarried girls worship Lord Siva so
that they can expect a husband who is as good a Vaisnava as he. The
girls are not taught to select a husband who is very rich or very
opulent for material sense gratification; rather, if a girl is
fortunate enough to get a husband as good as Lord Siva in devotional
service, then her life becomes perfect. The wife is dependent on the
husband, and if the husband is a Vaisnava, then naturally she shares
the devotional service of the husband because she renders him service.
This reciprocation of service and love between husband and wife is the
ideal of a householder's life.
The very name Daksa suggests that he was expert in all material
activities, but still, because of his aversion towards such a saintly
personality as Siva, he was attacked by these three enemies--anger,
lust and passion. Lord Caitanya, therefore, advised that one be very
careful not to offend Vaisnavas. He compared offenses toward a Vaisnava
to a mad elephant. As a mad elephant can do anything horrible, so when
a person offends a Vaisnava he can perform any abominable action.
One may prosecute the Vedic injunctions of offering sacrifices and
other fruitive activities, but if by such activities one does not
develop attraction for Visnu, they are useless labors. One who has
developed love for Visnu must develop love and respect for Visnu's
devotees. Lord Siva is considered the foremost personality amongst the
Vaisnavas. Vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh. Thus when Sati saw that her
father was performing great sacrifices but had no respect for the
greatest devotee, Lord Siva, she was very angry. This is fitting; when
Visnu or a Vaisnava is insulted, one should be angry. Lord Caitanya,
who always preached nonviolence, meekness and humility, also became
angry when Nityananda was offended by Jagai and Madhai, and He wanted
to kill them. When Visnu or a Vaisnava is blasphemed or dishonored, one
should be very angry. Narottama dasa Thakura said, krodha bhakta-dvesi
jane. We have anger, and that anger can be a great quality when
directed against a person who is envious of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead or His devotee. One should not be tolerant when a person is
offensive towards Visnu or a Vaisnava. The anger of Sati towards her
father was not objectionable, for although he was her father, he was
trying to insult the greatest Vaisnava. Thus Sati's anger against her
father was quite applaudable.
Lord Siva is described in this verse as the chief of all thinkers. Lord
Siva, of course, does not engage in useless mental speculation, but as
stated in the previous verse, he is always thoughtful regarding how to
deliver the demons from their fallen condition of life. It is said that
during the advent of Lord Caitanya, Sadasiva appeared as Advaita
Prabhu, and Advaita Prabhu's chief concern was to elevate the fallen
conditioned souls to the platform of devotional service to Lord Krsna.
Since people were engaged in useless occupations which would continue
their material existence, Lord Siva, in the form of Lord Advaita,
appealed to the Supreme Lord to appear as Lord Caitanya to deliver
these illusioned souls. Actually Lord Caitanya appeared on the request
of Lord Advaita. Similarly, Lord Siva has a sampradaya, the
Rudra-sampradaya. He is always thinking about the deliverance of the
fallen souls, as exhibited by Lord Advaita Prabhu.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4: Chapter Seven, Text 2 :PURPORT
PURPORT
There are two types of punishment. One is that which a conqueror
imposes on an enemy, and the other is like that a father imposes on his
son. There is a gulf of difference between these two kinds of
punishment. Lord Siva is by nature a Vaisnava, a great devotee, and his
name in this connection is Asutosa. He is always satisfied, and
therefore he did not become angry as if he were an enemy. He is not
inimical to any living entity; rather, he always wishes the welfare of
all. Whenever he chastises a person, it is just like a father's
punishment of his son. Lord Siva is like a father because he never
takes seriously any offense by any living entities, especially the
demigods.
In Kali-yuga men all over the world are very expert in opening
slaughterhouses for killing animals, which they eat. If the old
ritualistic ceremonies were observed, people would be encouraged to
kill more and more animals. In Calcutta there are many butcher shops
which keep a deity of the goddess Kali, and animal-eaters think it
proper to purchase animal flesh from such shops in hope that they are
eating the remnants of food offered to goddess Kali. They do not know
that goddess Kali never accepts nonvegetarian food because she is the
chaste wife of Lord Siva. Lord Siva is also a great Vaisnava and never
eats nonvegetarian food, and the goddess Kali accepts the remnants of
food left by Lord Siva. Therefore there is no possibility of her eating
flesh or fish. Such offerings are accepted by the associates of goddess
Kali known as bhutas, pisacas and Raksasas, and those who take the
prasada of goddess Kali in the shape of flesh or fish are not actually
taking the prasada left by goddess Kali, but the food left by the
bhutas and pisacas.
Lord Siva, the most powerful demigod, second only to Lord Visnu,
is self-sufficient. Although he has nothing to aspire for in the
material world, for the benefit of those in the material world he is
always busily engaged everywhere and is accompanied by his dangerous
energies like goddess Kali and goddess Durga.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 4: Chapter Twenty-four, Text 18
:PURPORT
PURPORT
Lord Siva is known as the greatest devotee of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. He is known as the best of all types of
Vaisnavas (vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh). Consequently, Lord Siva has a
Vaisnava sampradaya, the disciplic succession known as the
Rudra-sampradaya. Just as there is a Brahma-sampradaya coming directly
from Lord Brahma, the Rudra-sampradaya comes directly from Lord Siva.
Lord Siva is one of the twelve great personalities, as stated in
Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.3.20):
svayambhur naradah sambhuh
kumarah kapilo manuh
prahlado janako bhismo
balir vaiyasakir vayam
These are twelve great authorities in preaching God consciousness.
The name Sambhu means Lord Siva. His disciplic succession is also known
as the Visnusvami-sampradaya, and the current Visnusvami-sampradaya is
also known as the Vallabha-sampradaya. The current Brahma-sampradaya is
known as the Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya. Even though Lord Siva appeared
to preach Mayavada philosophy, at the end of his pastime in the form of
Sankaracarya, he preached the Vaisnava philosophy: bhaja govindam bhaja
govindam bhaja govindam mu-dha-mate. He stressed worshiping Lord Krsna,
or Govinda, three times in this verse and especially warned his
followers that they could not possibly achieve deliverance, or mukti,
simply by word jugglery and grammatical puzzles. If one is actually
serious to attain mukti, he must worship Lord Krsna. That is Sripada
Sankaracarya's last instruction.
"Those whose minds are distorted by material desires surrender
unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of
worship according to their own natures." One enamored by material
benefits is called hrta jnana ("one who has lost his intelligence"). In
this connection it is to be noted that sometimes in revealed scriptures
Lord Siva is described as being nondifferent from the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. The point is that Lord Siva and Lord Visnu are
so intimately connected that there is no difference in opinion. The
actual fact is, ekale isvara krsna, ara saba bhrtya: "The only supreme
master is Krsna, and all others are His devotees or servants." (Cc. Adi
5.142) This is the real fact, and there is no difference of opinion
between Lord Siva and Lord Visnu in this connection. Nowhere in
revealed scripture does Lord Siva claim to be equal to Lord Visnu. This
is simply the creation of the so-called devotees of Lord Siva, who
claim that Lord Siva and Lord Visnu are one. This is strictly forbidden
in the Vaisnava-tantra: yas tu narayanam devam. Lord Visnu, Lord Siva
and Lord Brahma are intimately connected as master and servants.
Siva-virinci-nutam. Visnu is honored and offered obeisances by Lord
Siva and Lord Brahma. To consider that they are all equal is a great
offense. They are all equal in the sense that Lord Visnu is the Supreme
personality of Godhead and all others are His eternal servants.
PURPORT
Although Citraketu never meant to insult Lord Siva, he should not
have criticized the lord, even though the lord was transgressing social
customs. It is said, tejiyasam na dosaya: one who is very powerful
should be understood to be faultless. For example, one should not find
faults with the sun, although it evaporates urine from the street. The
most powerful cannot be criticized by an ordinary man, or even by a
great personality. Citraketu should have known that Lord Siva, although
sitting in that way, was not to be criticized. The difficulty was that
Citraketu, having become a great devotee of Lord Visnu, Sankarsana, was
somewhat proud at having achieved Lord Sankarsana's favor and therefore
thought that he could now criticize anyone, even Lord Siva. This kind
of pride in a devotee is never tolerated. A Vaisnava should always
remain very humble and meek and offer respect to others.
trnad api sunicena
taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniyah sada harih
"One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of
mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should
be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and
ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can
chant the holy name of the Lord constantly." A Vaisnava should not try
to minimize anyone else's position. It is better to remain humble and
meek and chant the Hare Krsna mantra. The word nirjitatmabhimanine
indicates that Citraketu thought himself a better controller of the
senses than Lord Siva, although actually he was not. Because of all
these considerations, mother Parvati was somewhat angry at Citraketu.
O impudent one, my dear son, now take birth in a low, sinful
family of demons so that you will not commit such an offense again
toward exalted, saintly persons in this world.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 6: Chapter Seventeen, Text 15 :PURPORT
PURPORT
One should be very careful not to commit offenses at the lotus
feet of Vaisnavas, of whom Lord Siva is the best. While instructing
Srila Rupa Gosvami, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu described an offense at the
lotus feet of a Vaisnava as hati mata, a mad elephant. When a mad
elephant enters a nice garden, it spoils the entire garden. Similarly,
if one becomes like a mad elephant and commits offenses at the lotus
feet of a Vaisnava, his entire spiritual career is halted. One should
therefore be very careful not to commit offenses at the lotus feet of a
Vaisnava.
Mother Parvati was justified in punishing Citraketu, for Citraketu
impudently criticized the supreme father, Mahadeva, who is the father
of the living entities conditioned within this material world. The
goddess Durga is called mother, and Lord Siva is called father. A pure
Vaisnava should be very careful to engage in his specific duty without
criticizing others. This is the safest position. Otherwise, if one
tends to criticize others, he may commit the great offense of
criticizing a Vaisnava.
Because Citraketu was undoubtedly a Vaisnava, he might have been
surprised that Parvati had cursed him. Therefore the goddess Parvati
addressed him as putra, or son. Everyone is the son of mother Durga,
but she is not an ordinary mother. As soon as there is a small
discrepancy in a demon's behavior, mother Durga immediately punishes
the demon so that he may come to his senses. This is explained by Lord
Krsna in Bhagavad-gita (7.14):
daivi hy esa gunamayi
mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante
mayam etam taranti te
"This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of
material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have
surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." To surrender to Krsna
means to surrender to His devotees also, for no one can be a proper
servant of Krsna unless he is a proper servant of a devotee. Chadiya
vaisnava-seva nistara payeche keba: without serving a servant of Krsna,
one cannot be elevated to being a servant of Krsna Himself.Therefore
mother Parvati spoke to Citraketu exactly like a mother who says to her
naughty child, "My dear child, I am punishing you so that you won't do
anything like this again." This tendency of a mother to punish her
child is found even in mother Yasoda, who became the mother of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mother Yasoda punished Krsna by binding
Him and showing Him a stick. Thus it is the duty of a mother to
chastise her beloved son, even in the case of the Supreme Lord. It is
to be understood that mother Durga was justified in punishing
Citraketu. This punishment was a boon to Citraketu because after taking
birth as the demon Vrtrasura, he was promoted directly to Vaikuntha.
Lord Caitanya always maintained that Visnu, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, is great and the living entities, however great they may be,
are but infinitesimal. In this connection, He quoted a verse from Padma
Purana which is found in the Vaisnava tantra (Hari-bhakti-vilasa 1.73):
"A person who compares the Supreme Lord even with the greatest of
demigods like Brahma and Siva must be considered a number one atheist."
Teachings of Lord Caitanya: Chapter Twenty-two :The Srimad Bhagavatam
Vidyadhara Liberated and the Demon Sankhasura Killed
Once upon a time, the cowherd men of Vrndavana, headed by Nanda
Maharaja, desired to go to Ambikavana to perform the Sivaratri
performance. The rasa-lila was performed during the autumn, and after
that the next big ceremony is Holi, or the Dolayatra ceremony. Between
the Dolayatra ceremony and the rasa-lila ceremony there is one
important ceremony called Sivaratri, which is especially observed by
the Saivites, or devotees of Lord Siva. But sometimes the Vaisnavas
also observe this ceremony because they accept Lord Siva as the
foremost Vaisnava. But the function of Sivaratri is not observed very
regularly by the bhaktas, or devotees of Krsna. Under the
circumstances, it is stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam that the cowherd men
headed by Nanda Maharaja "once upon a time desired." That means that
they were not regularly observing the Sivaratri function, but that once
upon a time they wanted to go to Ambikavana out of curiosity.
Ambikavana is situated somewhere in the Gujarat province. Ambikavana is
said to be situated on the River Sarasvati, yet we do not find any
Sarasvati River in the Gujarat province; the only river there is
Savarmati. In India, all the big places of pilgrimage are situated on
nice rivers like the Ganges, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Narmada, Godavari and
Kaveri. Ambikavana was situated on the bank of Sarasvati, and all the
cowherd men and Nanda Maharaja went there.
They very devotedly began to worship the deity of Lord Siva and
Ambika. It is the general practice that wherever there is a temple of
Lord Siva, there must be another temple, of Ambika (or Durga), because
Ambika is the wife of Lord Siva and is the most exalted of chaste
women. She doesn't live outside the association of her husband. After
reaching Ambikavana, the cowherd men of Vrndavana first bathed
themselves in the River Sarasvati. If one goes to any place of
pilgrimage, his first duty is to take a bath and sometimes to shave his
head. That is the first business. After taking bath, they worshiped the
deities and then distributed charity in the holy places.
Lord Siva's pastime in Nandagram
Actually Lord Siva eternally resides there.Lord Siva himself is manifested
as the sacred Nandisvara hill upon which Nanda Maharaja build
his palace.Nandi- isvara means obviously the Lord of Nandi,the bull carrier
of Lord Siva.
The Brajabasis,and Gaudia vaisnavas sometimes take stones from this
hill,and put them on a small asana,and put eyes on the stone like other
devotees do
on a Salagrama Sila.They paint the Siva tilaka on the stone
and worship these stones as nondifferent from Lord Siva,serving Krsna
by being a hill.
Lord Siva one day came to the house of Nanda Maharaja,and knocked on the
door.He asked M.Yasoda to be allowed to see Krsna,actually he was disguised
as a beggar.And he requested to be given some of Krsnas remnants.
And M.Yasoda said :" Baba you look so scary that my little boy will be
afraid of you,so please go away"!
Krsna being the antarayami,the supersoul in everyones hear understood what
had
taken place.He started to cry and would not stop,and He refused to eat
whatever Yasoda Mata gave him.
He told His mother he would not eat till she called back the beggar she had
rejected that morning.So she went and looked for Lord Siva,and she found him
nearby meditating.She asked him to please come and take Krsna Prasadam,and
always visit every day.
When Siva returned with M.YAsoda the Bala Gopala stopped crying and smiled
beautifully and clapped His hands in joy.
So Lord Siva would come everyday to M.Yasoda's house to get some of Krsna's
remnants.
At this temple this pastime is remembered by a Siva linga inside the
courtcompound of the temple.So please visit this place when you go to
Vrindavana and pay your obasiences to Lord Mahadev,Siva.He will bless us to
become free from false ego and develop our real KC ego.
________________________________________________________________
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