As I Know: The Lord of the Mountains – Shiv Purana: 140

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Shiva’s knowledge is essence of Vedas…the knowledge of Shaivism…it is possible to attain knowledge of Shiva through bhakti and grace …Brahma creates…the world and gods

Sacred dialogue between the noble souls continued. Krishna curiosity increased each moment and now, he wished to know Shiva’s knowledge and wisdom, which is in fact, the essence of the Vedas the lord taught for the deliverance of devotees. It was difficult to understand for those, who were not devotees or were not wise and did not know yoga. The great monk told that the brief substance of the Vedas, the lord expounded is the knowledge of Shaivism. Based on the Vedas and subsidiary texts and system of Sankhya and Yoga, knowledge of Shaivism is reflected in numerous verses, which Shiva narrated. Who can worship? Such questions arose in the mind of Krishna.

Lore of Shiva was divine and one could acquire it through grace and devotion to the guru, the great preceptor. It gave no stress and took one to the path of salvation, the monk told. Ages back, the great lord with a desire to create equipped ‘the self’ with virtuous causes and effects present already, and materialised ‘the self’ from the invisible, the unobvious and later, created Brahma, the first god.

Brahma and Shiva saw each other and thereafter, Shiva asked mildly and affectionately Brahma to create the world. With the blessing of Rudra, Brahma was strong enough to create the world with various classes – varnas, and ashramas. For organising yagyas – yajnas, he created Soma and then he created dyuloka – the great heavens. Thereafter, the earth, fire, sun, the lord of yajna Vishnu and the lord of Sachi Indra emerged. They praised Rudra and chanted hymns eloquently.

At that moment, the great Maheshwara had the wisdom of all and with a smiling face, stood before the gods. Gods of heavens were immensely delighted to see and asked, “O lord, who are you?” Monk told Krishna.

Rudra told gods, “O gods, I am the primordial being in existence. I exist everywhere and I shall exist in future. There is none else. I am the only One, the superior without an equal. Through the splendor, I gratify the entire creation, the great universe. He, who knows me, attains salvation.”

The lord said and disappeared. When the gods did not see, they eulogised the lord through the mantras of Samaveda, observed holy rites of fast of Pasupata based on Attarvaveda, smeared the bodies with bhasma. Pasupati Mahadeva was delighted and therefore, he came near the gods along with his ganas and goddess Uma. All gods saw the lord, whom the yogis of utmost restraint and discipline often feel inside and so, realise the presence of lord in hearts. They saw goddess, the greatest shakti on the left of lord and also the chief of ganas, who had abandoned worldly joys and attained the region of Shiva, and they also saw men of perfection – siddhas.

All praised the lord and his consort with hymns from the Vedas and Puranas. The lord was very happy and thereafter, the gods requested him, “O lord, tell us how to worship you on earth? Which is the right path? Who can worship? Please tell.”

The lord emitted a smile, revealed brilliant form like the radiant attributes, and splendors of lord sun. Shaktis, images, planets and the gods surrounded the lord. He was lord of eight arms and four faces with the other half in female form. Vishnu and gods understood the lord as sun and the goddess as moon and other parts as necessary fundamentals. They could realise the entire universe, the movable and the immovable beings and so worshipped and paid obeisance.

They continued to worship the great lord, who appeared in saffron with a disc and glittering ornaments of gold and admired him as the cause of Brahma, Indra and Narayana whose golden vessel was full of gems and water. The gods stood amazed when they saw an astounding figure of surprising forms. The gods knew he was Suryadeva, goddess Parvati, Chandrama, Akasa, Vayu, forms of grandeur, water, earth and many other shapes and forms – all images of lord. He, who worships sun in the morning, at noon and at dusk and offers oblations, and subsequently, bows and reads out verses finds nothing beyond reach and if a devotee, he gets liberation. Lord blesses a man – the devotee, who worships Shiva mentally, verbally and physically in the form of sun and gets virtues, wealth, love and freedom.

Lord in the form of disc looked at the gods, revealed the sacred scripture, the great Shiva-sastra, a sequel to Agamas and disappeared. Gods knew that the lord had authorised brahmins, ksatriyas and vaisyas to worship and so they bowed and disappeared. After a long time, human beings, the creation forgot the scriptures. When she asked the lord, he narrated the sacred scripture – the sequel to Agamas. Later, at the request of Brahma, Shiva, preceptor Agastya and sage Dadhichi spread and propounded the sacrosanct message. As Yugas revolve and change, the great lord descends on earth in various forms and disseminates the knowledge for the sake of devotees.

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