Lord Shiva – Linga
The radiant ‘Mahashivalinga’ is equal to the brilliance of one crore Suns. It is the manifestation and replica of Lord Shiva who has the inherent form of tremendous light. The symbol for the worship of Lord Shiva is ‘Linga.’ Whatever is visible to the physical eye in the creation is absorbed in ‘Shivalinga.’ At the root of the ‘Linga’, there is Lord Brahma. In the middle of it, there is Lord Vishnu.
On top of it, there is Lord Shiva in the name of ‘Radar Murthy’ who is ‘Omar Sapura.’ ‘Om’ is a sacred amalgamation of ‘Akara,’ ‘Ukaram’and ‘Makaram.’ Lord Shiva is ‘Purusha’ and Goddess Parvathi is ‘Prakruthi’ which is the ‘Panavattam’ of Shivalinga. It is also ‘Shakti Peetham’. The sole divine manifestation of Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakti is ‘Linga.’ The emergence of ‘Linga’ is the source of all creation.
The emergence of luminous ‘Linga’ is the source of the entire universe and the embodiment of the splendid ‘linga’ is full of illumination. The ‘darshan’ of Lord Shiva is the divine path to one’s ‘Moksha.’ Let us know about those powerful and sacred ‘Lingas’ and their significance.
12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiv
Originally, there were believed to have been 64 jyotirlingas of which twelve are considered to be very auspicious and holy. The twelve jyotirlinga sites take the names of their respective presiding deity, and each is considered a different manifestation of Shiva. At all these sites, the primary image is a lingam, representing the beginningless and endless stambha (pillar), symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.
Legend
According to a Shaiva legend from the Shiva Purana, once, Brahma (the god of creation) and Vishnu (the god of preservation) argued over their supremacy. To settle the debate, Shiva pierced the three worlds, appearing as a huge, infinite pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Brahma and Vishnu decided to ascend and descend across a pillar of light respectively, to find the end of the light in either direction.
According to some iterations, Vishnu assumed his Varaha avatar to achieve this task, while Brahma rode a hamsa (swan).
Brahma lied that he had discovered the end of the light, producing a ketakī flower as proof, while Vishnu admitted that he could not find the end of the light from his journey. The dishonesty of Brahma angered Shiva, causing him to curse the creator deity that he would not be worshipped; he also declared that Vishnu would be eternally worshipped for his honesty.
The Jyotirlinga shrines are regarded to be the temples where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light.
1. Sri Somanathalinga
Sri Somanathalinga is the first and the foremost of all twelve ‘Lingas.’ According to legends, King Daksha’s twenty-seven beautiful daughters had the names of all twenty-seven stars and were married to Lord Chandra. But Lord Chandra liked Rohini very much among them. The other twenty-six daughters went to their father and expressed their anguish regarding their husband’s negligence.
Consequently, King Daksha cursed Lord Chandra that he would suffer from tuberculosis. With the disease, Lord Chandra’s health was at stake. His brilliance became diminished gradually. As a result, all ‘lokas’ suffered from terrible darkness. All deities and saints went to Lord Brahma to express their pain and agony.
On hearing this, Lord Brahma told Lord Chandra to go to ‘Prabhasa Thirtha’ in Sourastra and prepare clay ‘Linga’ and pray to Lord Shiva chanting the ‘Mrutyumjaya Mahamantra’. With utmost piety, Lord Chandra did so. Pleased with the staunch devotion of Lord Chandra, Lord Shiva cured his disease and blessed him with devotion. Lord Shiva became ‘Somanadheswara’ as Jyothirlinga
2. Sri Srisaila Mallikharjuna linga
This is the second Jyothirlinga. Great supremacy was given to Lord Vinayaka over Lord Shanmukha by their parents. As a result, Lord Shanmukha got disappointed and angry. He went to Sri Sailam. Having his legs bound by ‘mantras’, He sat on the Krowncha Mountain.
His mother requested her son to come to Kailash. But he was silent. Goddess Parvathi was unable to leave him. She decided to stay on the mountain as “Shakhti”. So, Srisailam has become ‘Shakthi Peetham’ with the name Bramarambika. Lord Shiva also could not leave them and stayed there as Jyothirlinaga with the name Sri Mallikharjuna.
Over time, the king who ruled the region had a daughter after a very long time. He named her ‘Chandravathi’. When she was a baby, he participated in a war. The war continued for sixteen years. The king came back to his kingdom.
Thinking that his daughter was some other person, he went after her with a bad notion. His daughter jumped into River Krishna to escape from him. Still, her father continued his sinful attempt. She immediately cursed her father to become a huge boulder. The king became a green boulder. The water in the river also became green. Chandravathi used to offer worship to the Jyothirlinga with jasmine flowers daily.
Lord Shiva was pleased with her worship and granted a boon. She prayed to the Lord that her garland of jasmines must be around his neck and she should alone decorate his braid with her garland of jasmines. Lord Shiva granted her request saying that her garland of jasmines would never lose its fragrance. Chandravathi felt happy. Lord Shiva became Lord ‘Mallikharjunalinga’ as Jyothirlinga.
You can visit the Official Website for more details – Sri Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy Varla Devasthanam
3. Sri Mahakaleswaralinga
Sri Mahakaleswaralinga is the third Jyothirlinga. When King Bhoja Raju was ruling the people, there was a town called Avanthika on the banks of the Sipra. After the destruction of the sacrifice intended by King Daksha, Lord Shiva carried the body of Dakshayani on his shoulders in a mood of desperation.
Lord Vishnu severed her body into eighteen parts. Her arm part had fallen in the ‘Rudra yaga kunda.’
The place became a ‘Shakthi Peetham’ with the name ‘Mahasiddhi.’ There was a Brahmin named Vedapriya who was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. A monster called Dushana was living on a mountain called Ratnamala. Proud of his boons received from Lord Brahma, he used to destroy the ‘yagnas’ and created havoc in the region. Suddenly he happened to come near the residence of Vedapriya.
Vedapriya prayed to Lord Shiva who was in the form of ‘linga’ made of clay. Satisfied with the prayers of Vedapriya, Lord Shiva destroyed the monster. As per the wish of Vedapriya, Lord Shiva became ‘Maha Kaleswara’ as Jyothirlinga.
You can visit the official website for more details – Shree Mahakaleshwar Temple, Ujjain
4. Sri Omkaralingeswara
Sri Omkaralingeswara is the fouth Jyothirlinga. In the process of wandering in the world, the sage Narada came to the mountain Vindhya. The mountain Vindhya worshipped Narada with great devotion. He told Narada that he was superior to all the mountains as he had all kinds of treasures and all elements of health.
Laughed at Vindhya, Narada told him that he could not become the emperor of the mountains as there were Meru Mountains which were very high. Besides, all deities including Lord Indra used to have their pleasure trips on the mountain. Vindhya had no such fortune.
Depressed by the words of Narada, Vindhya constructed ‘Omkara Yantra ‘on his top and established a ‘Linga’ made of clay in the middle and did severe penance for a hundred months. Lord Shiva was pleased and asked him what he wanted. Vindhya requested the Lord to reside on the mountain forever.
By clubbing the ‘yantra’ and the linga into one, Lord Shiva became ‘Omkareswara’ as Jyothirlinga.
5. Sri Vaidyanathalinga
Sri Vaidyanathalinga is the fifth Jyothirlinga. King Ravana was an unflinching devotee of Lord Shiva. Whenever he wanted to visit Lord Shiva, he used to go to Kailash. Once he had no darshan of Lord Shiva. Feeling depressed, he started offering his head one by one to the Lord.
When he was going to offer his tenth head, the Lord stood before him and asked him what he wanted. He requested the Lord to come to his kingdom and stay with him. Lord Shiva denied his request.
Immediately Ravana asked the Lord to give him at least his Atmalinga. Giving his Atmalinga, the Lord warned Ravana not to put it down under any circumstances. In some urgency, Ravana gave the Atmalinga to a boy. After some time, the boy put it down as he was unable to bear the heaviness of the powerful Linga.
Ravana came and tried to lift it but in vain. He returned to his kingdom. Lord Brahma and other deities prayed to the Lord to cure the diseases of his devotees by staying in the place. Lord Shiva conceded their request with the name ‘Vaidyanatheswar’ as Jyothirlinga.
6. Sri Bhimasankaralinga
Sri Bhimasankaralinga is the sixth Jyothirlinga. There was an ogress called ‘Karkati’ in the mountain called ‘Sahyadri’. Her husband Viradhudu was killed by Lord Rama. She begot a child by Kumbhakarna. She named her child Bhima.
Bhima got many boons from Lord Brahma. He became cruel. He conquered ‘Swargaloka’ and also conquered Kamaroopa in Bhooloka. He put the king of Kamaroopa Sudakshina in jail. King Sudakshina worshipped Lord Shiva in the form of ‘Parthivalinga’.
The demon Bhima saw the worship of Lord Shiva and tried to kill the king with a knife. At once, Lord Shiva opened His third eye, and the demon was turned to ashes. There Lord Shiva became ‘Bhima shankara‘ as Jyothirlinga.
7. Sri Ramalingeswara
Sri Ramalingeswara is the seventh Jyothirlinga. Lord Rama went to Madhava Mountain after the death of Ravana. He asked the saints about the result of killing Ravana as he is a Brahmin. He thought that the sin is equal to the murder of Lord Brahma.
He asked them the way to wash off the sin. They told Lord Rama to install Shivalinga and worship it. Thereby the sin would be cleared out. To fulfill the deed, Lord Rama ordered his devotee Lord Hanuman to bring Shivalinga from Kailash.
Lord Hanuman did not turn up in time. Lord Rama along with Sita installed Shivalinga made of sand. The next moment, Lord Hanuman came with Shivalinga and found what had happened. Lord Hanuman felt very unhappy. To make Lord Hanuman happy, Lord Rama ordered him to pull out the linga and install his linga brought from Kailash. Lord Hanuman tried his best to pull out the linga but in vain.
Immediately Lord Rama told His devotee that he would install his linga beside the previous linga. The ‘linga’ installed by Lord Rama is called ‘Ramalingeswara’ and the ‘linga’ brought by Lord Hanuman is called ‘Hanumadeswaralinga’.
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8. Sri Nagalingeswara
Sri Nagalingeswara is the eighth Jyothirlinga. There was a demonic couple c a l l e d ‘Darukudu’ and ‘Daruka’. They were torturing the saints and the people. They used to destroy the Ashramas of the ‘rishis.’ They were pouring flesh and blood into the ‘homakundas.’ All of them went to the saint Aourva and expressed their tortures put by the demonic couple. The saint cursed the demons. If they tortured the saints and the people, they would die.
Afraid of the curse, the demon Darukudu entered the sea and lived in the middle of the sea. Once a group of people happened to go to his place, he tortured them. One of them was Supriyudu, a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. Wearing holy ashes and the beads of Rudrakshas himself, he made others also wear holy ashes and the beads of Rudraksha and made them chant ‘Shiva Namasamkeerthanas’.
Getting angry with him, Darukudu tried to kill him. On seeing this, all the people chanted the names of Lord Shiva as Hara and Shankara in a loud voice. A terrible snake entered the prison and hissed at the demon and his family terribly. As a result, the entire family was turned to ashes.
There was a precious stone on the head of the snake which became Jyothirlinga. Lord Shiva became ‘Nagalingeswara’.
9. Sri Kasi Visweswaralinga
Sri Kasi Visweswaralinga is the Ninth Jyothirlinga. To create the cosmos, Lord Shiva became ‘Arthanareswara.’ Both ‘Purusha i.e., Narayana’ and ‘Prakruthi’ came from this sole embodiment. But they did not know who they were and what their origin was. Knowing this, the Invisible Voice from the sky asked them to do penance to know the truth from ‘Parabrahmam.’ A town was built in the area of ten miles.
While Narayana was doing penance, terrible sweat emerged from his body due to the severe heat of his penance. The sweat became a canal. Nodding his head in astonishment, Narayana looked into the canal. Meanwhile, one of his earrings fell in the canal.
The place became an auspicious ‘thirtha’ called ‘Manikarnika’. The town was engulfed in the waters. Lord Shiva saved the town by putting it on the top of His trident. Later on, Lord Narayana created Lord Brahma from His navel. All of them prayed to Lord Shiva to be there for the protection of the creation. Lord Shiva became ‘Visweswara’ and settled in Varanasi as Jyothirlinga.
10. Sri Triambakeswaralinga
Sri Triambakeswaralinga is the tenth Jyothirlinga. By his father’s command, Lord Rama lived in a forest area called Panchavati along with Lakshmana and Sita. At that time, Ravana’s sister Surphanaka saw Lord Rama and fell in love with him. Lakshmana got angry and cut her nose and ears. Where her nose was cut, the area was called ‘Nasika.’ In Nasika madala, there was a mountain called Brahmagiri.
On Brahmagiri, there lived a ‘rishi’ couple called Gouthama and Ahalya. There was an acute water problem in the region. The dwellers worried very much about the problem. The other ‘rishis’ knew the power of sage Gouthama’s penance. They sketched a plan. They created a cow and a calf with a ‘dharbha’ and made them eat the grass in the field of the sage. Gouthama got angry and threw a ‘dharbha’ at them. Immediately, both the cow and calf died on the spot from the small blow.
Afraid of this incident, Gouthama did severe penance for Lord Shiva. Satisfied with his penance, Lord Shiva asked Gouthama what he wanted. The sage Gouthama requested to release Ganga from His braid. Lord Shiva granted his request. In the region, Lord Shiva became ‘Triambakeswara’ as Jyothirlinga.
11. Sri Kedareswaralinga
Sri Kedareswaralinga is the eleventh Jyothirlinga. Existed in the huge range of the Himalayan Mountains, Kedar Skhetra is a very ancient and highly auspicious pilgrim center. All deities used to have their pleasure trip in the region. The great sages namely Nara and Narayana came to Kedara from Badarivan.
They worshipped Lord Shiva in the form of ‘Pardhivalinga.’ Pleased with their penance, Lord Shiva offered them a boon.
They told Lord Shiva that they had no intention of getting a boon but He should be in the place granting salvation by removing the pain of hell caused by many births. Lord Shiva became ‘Kedareswara’ as Jyothirlinga.
12. Sri Grushneswarlinga
Sri Grushneswarlinga is the twelfth Jyothirlinga. There was a couple by the name ‘Sudharma and Sudehi’ in Devagiri. They had no children. One day a guest came to their house. He rejected their ‘bhiksha’ because they had no children. Sudehi was very much worried and she convinced her husband to marry her sister Gushma to beget children. The marriage was performed.
Later on, Gushma had a male child. Over time, Sudehi felt jealous of her sister. She cut her sister’s son into pieces and threw into a pond. Gushma went to the pond to bring water. While she was dipping her pot, her dead son came and twisted round her legs calling her ‘Mother! Mother!’ She was astounded. Lord Shiva stood before her telling about the cruel deed of her sister and He wanted to punish her sister severely. Gushma requested the Lord to pardon her sister.
Pleaded with her forbearance and forgiveness, Lord Shiva became ‘Grushneswar’ in the site as Jyothirlinga.
Sloka
The following sanskrit sloka ( द्वादश ज्योतिर्लिंग स्तोत्रम्) (Dwadasha Jyotirlingum Strota) describes about the 12 Jyotirlingas –
सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाथं च श्रीशैले मल्लिकार्जुनम्। उज्जयिन्यां महाकालमोङ्कारममलेश्वरम्॥
परल्यां वैद्यनाथं च डाकिन्यां भीमशङ्करम्। सेतुबन्धे तु रामेशं नागेशं दारुकावने॥
वाराणस्यां तु विश्वेशं त्र्यम्बकं गौतमीतटे। हिमालये तु केदारं घुश्मेशं च शिवालये॥
एतानि ज्योतिर्लिङ्गानि सायं प्रातः पठेन्नरः। सप्तजन्मकृतं पापं स्मरणेन विनश्यति॥
एतेशां दर्शनादेव पातकं नैव तिष्ठति। कर्मक्षयो भवेत्तस्य यस्य तुष्टो महेश्वराः॥:
द्वादश ज्योतिर्लिंग स्तोत्रम्
English Conversion
“Saurashtre Somanathamcha Srisaile Mallikarjunam|
Ujjayinya Mahakalam Omkaramamaleswaram ||
Paralyam Vaidyanathancha Dakinyam Bheema Shankaram |
Setu Bandhethu Ramesam, Nagesam Darukavane||
Varanasyantu Vishwesam Tryambakam Gautameethate|
Himalayetu Kedaaram, Ghrishnesamcha shivaalaye||
Etani jyotirlingani, Saayam Praatah Patennarah|
Sapta Janma Kritam pApam, Smaranena Vinashyati||”
English Translation(Literal)
Somanath in Saurashtra and Mallikarjunam in Shri-Shailam. (सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाथं च श्रीशैले मल्लिकार्जुनम्).
Mahakaal in Ujjain and Amleshwar in Omkareshwar. (उज्जयिन्यां महाकालमोङ्कारममलेश्वरम्).
Vaidyanath in Paralya and Bhimashankaram in Dakniya. (परल्यां वैद्यनाथं च डाकिन्यां भीमशङ्करम्).
Rameshem (Rameshwaram) in Sethubandh and Nageshem (Nageshwar) in Darauka-Vana. (सेतुबन्धे तु रामेशं नागेशं दारुकावने).
Vishwa-Isham (Vishvanath) in Vanarasi and Triambakam at bank of Gautami River. (वाराणस्यां तु विश्वेशं त्र्यम्बकं गौतमीतटे)).
Kedar (Kedarnath) in Himalayas and Gushmesh (Gushmeshwar) in Shivalaya (Shiwar). (। हिमालये तु केदारं घुश्मेशं च शिवालये).
One who recites these Jyotirlingas every evening and morning. (एतानि ज्योतिर्लिङ्गानि सायं प्रातः पठेन्नरः।).
He is relieved of all sins committed in past seven lives.(सप्तजन्मकृतं पापं स्मरणेन विनश्यति)
One who visits these, gets all his wishes fulfilled (एतेशां दर्शनादेव पातकं नैव तिष्ठति)
and one’s karma gets eliminated as Maheshwara gets satisfied to the worship:(कर्मक्षयो भवेत्तस्य यस्य तुष्टो महेश्वराः)
