25 forms of Lord Shiva

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Om Shree Ganeshaya Namah..

Ganesh sholaka -vakratu.nDa mahaakaaya koTisuuryasamaprabha.nirvighnaM kuru me

deva sarvakaaryeshhu sarvadaa.. O elephant headed and large bodied Lord,

radiant as a thousand Suns, I ask for your grace so that this task that I am

starting may complete without any hinderences.

Om Nama Shivaya..

mAhEshvara mUrtam

According to Shaiva Sidhdhaantha the God is formless (arUpa) . But for the

salvation of lives He took the form of liN^gam - meaning symbol (arUpa rUpa).

liN^gam< can be considered both as form as well as formless symbol. This mUrti

is called sadA shiva mUrti. From the SadhA Shiva mUrti, for the benefit of

lives God took a lot of forms which are called mAhEshwara mUrtis. There are

twenty five MAhEshwara mUrtis (Some say there are more). Some of these mUrtis

are bhOga mUrtis, usually with Shakthi like R^ishabArUdar, or yOga mUrtis,

sitting in one of the yOga postures without Shakthi in the side like

dakshiNAmUrti, or vEga mUrtis, in the state of destruction like kAlAri. Usually

in the temples, SadhA Shiva mUrthi (Shiva liN^gam ) will be in the Sanctum

Sanctorum. The mAhEshwara mUrhtis will be in the Praahaaram. (Outside the

Sanctum Sanctorum). There are some nice Sanskrit dhyAna shlokas that

praise these mUrtis. The English translation of them (with the help of Sree

Hari) and some information is given for that corresponding mUrti name here.

 

bhikshAtanar

shlokam:

shuklApam.h shubhalochanam.h dUrvA.nkuram.h dakshiNevAmeshUla kapAla

samyutakaram.h satpAdukam.h pAdayoH |lambat piN^ga jaTAdharam.h shashidharam.h

dakshe mR^igam.h vAmahebhikshA pAtradharam.h sakuNDapiTharam.h

bhikshATanesham.h bhaje ||

Smeared in white, with good omen in eyes, fingers with grass to the right, with

shUla and kapAla in the left lands, nice wear (pAduka) in feet, with dangling

red matted hair, moon on the head, deer (mR^igam) in the right hand, a vessel

for alms in the left, with bulged belly, that God, on bhikshAtana, we pray.

Description of the deity :

bhikshAtanar : The mUrti who asks for alms

The R^ishis in dArukAvanam forest, once thought that only the karma(deed,

performing rituals) is supreme and it is not required to pray God at all. They

stopped worshipping God. Whatever be the deeds, isn't there One Who provides

the doer with the fruits ? How can the inanimate deeds automatically give fruit

? Not realizing these facts the R^iShis pursued their dogma of karma. To teach

them the importance of worship Lord Shiva took the form of bhikshAtanar

(begger) and mahA vishNu the form of mOhini (glamorous girl). In this form the

Lord is naked and quite enchanting. So was the mohini. The Naked Lord came to

the streets of the R^iShis to get alms. (Does the God, Who is the provider of

all wealth, need to beg ? The playful Lord, while providing the supreme wealth

for those who worship, went to beg as if He has nothing !) At the charm of the

naked Lord Shiva the wives of the R^ishis lost their heart. They forgot what

they were

doing and started simply following the Naked God. Meanwhile the R^ishis also

forgot the karma they were strongly advocating and followed the glamorous

mOhini. When they got to see their wives - the followers of karmic discipline,

lost their virtue and following a Naked Beggar, they got angry with Lord Shiva

and vishNu and started targeting their power of the karmas towards the Lord, by

performing the abhichAra yAgam which will produce bad effects. They directed the

snakes, demon, tiger, fire and drum that came out of the fire against the Lord.

What can hurt the Supreme Who is the Source of everything. He coolly made them

his ornaments! Now the R^iShis realized their stupidity and realized that God

is the supreme and not the karma.

----------------

[see the picture of the temple KARAIKAL-- In Karaikal town there is a Siva

temple and, on the other side of the road, a separate shrine for Karaikal

Ammayar. At this temple Karaikal Ammayar attained salvation.

The festival known as Mangani Tirunal (the festival of the mango fruit) is

observed in the month of Ani on Pournami (full-moon) day. The belief is that

Karaikal Ammayar gave Annam (food) to Bhikshatanar (Siva) during his, tour

round the world begging alms, with curd rice and mangoes.

To commemorate this incident this curd rice with mango is distributed on this

festival day, in a big hall adjacent to the temple. Another festival is also

performed from Phalguni month Swati Nakshatram day.

Legend Connected With The Temple Karaikal Ammaiyar was the wife of a rich

merchant of Karaikal named Paramadatta, endowed with heavenly gifts. Her own

name was Punitavatiyar (the pure lady). She was very devout and especially

careful to entertain all devotees of Lord Shiva that came to her door. One day,

her husband received from some persons who had come to him on business, a

present of two mangoes of a very superior kind, which he sent home to his wife.

Soon after-wards, a holy devotee arrived at the house as a mendicant guest. She

had nothing ready to offer him except some boiled rice. She offered him boiled

rice and as there was no other side dish, she gave him one of the mangoes. At

noon, her husband returned and took his meal with the other mango. He was so

pleased with the mango that he told his wife to give him the second mango of

the two that he gave to her, His wife was perplexed, as she had already given

the other mango

to the mendicant. Immediately she offered fervent prayers to God, who never

deserts those who serve Him. God heard her prayers and straightaway a mango was

found in her hands. She served it to her husband. As the mango was a divine

gift, it was of wonderful sweetness. Tasting it, her husband asked her how she

got the mango. At first she hesitated, but at last revealed what had happened.

Her husband did not give much credence to her words and asked her to get

another mango in the same way. She went away and prayed to God and immediately

she found another fruit, still lovelier, in her hands. When she carried this to

her husband he took it in astonishment. But, behold! It forthwith vanished.

Utterly confounded by these wonderful happenings, he came to the conclusion

that his wife was a supernatural being whom he dared not touch with carnal

thoughts, and resolved to go away from her. Her husband did not reveal his

decision to anybody, but quietly equipped a ship in which he put in a

great part of his wealth, and then, on an auspicious day, worshipping the God of

the sea, with sailors and a skilful captain, set sail to another country, where

he accumulated a fortune, and after some time, came back to India to another

city in the Pandyan land. There he married a merchant's daughter and lived in

great luxury. A daughter was born to him. To her, he gave the name of the wife

with whom he dared not live, but had great reverence. His friends in Karaikal,

who resolved to compel him to receive his first wife again, knew his return and

prosperity. Accordingly they proceeded to the new residence of the merchant,

taking his saintly wife in a litter. When her husband heard that his first wife

was staying in a grove outside the town, he proceeded with his second wife and

daughter, to the place where his first wife was camping. Reaching there, the

husband at once prostrated with profoundest reverence before her and said that

he was her slave and that he was happy and

prosperous through her benediction. His first wife Punitavatiyar became

confounded by the salutation and worship and took refuge among her kinswomen,

who all cried out, "why is this mad man worshipping his own wife?" To this

Paramadatta replied that his wife is not an ordinary lady, but a supernatural

being. So, he ceased to look upon her as his wife and worshipped her as their

tutelary deity and also dedicated his daughter to her. From Beauty To

DemonessPunitavatiyar pondered over the matter and prayed within herself to

Lord Shiva to take away her beauty that she cherished up till now for the sake

of her husband and give her the form and features of one of the demon-hosts

('Bhutaganas') who are attendants of Lord Shiva. That very instant, by the

grace of God her flesh dried up and she became a demoness, one of Lord Shiva's

hosts. Then the Gods rained flowers on her. Heavenly minstrels sang her praises

and her relatives, in fear and awe, paid her adoration and

departed. So, she had now become a demoness and her abode was the wild jungle of

Alangadu (forest of Banyan trees). Through inspiration from God, she sang

several sacred hymns, which are preserved to the present day. Alangadu is 40

miles from Thanjavur. Afterwards, she got an irresistible desire to see the

sacred hill of Kailas. With inconceivable speed she fled northwards till she

arrived at the foot of the mountain and realizing that it was not right to

climb the heavenly mountain with her feet, she threw herself down and measured

the distance with her head. Uma, the consort of Lord Shiva, beheld her thus

ascending and enquired her husband about the demoness. To this, Lord Shiva

replied that the mighty demon-form was the Mother, who obtained this form by

her prayers. When she drew near, Lord Shiva addressed her with the words of

love calling her by the name of Mother ("Ammaiyar"), which she forever bears.

As soon as she heard the word, she fell at his feet worshipping and

ejaculating, "Father!" She worshipped Lord Shiva to grant her a boon that she

should no more be born on earth and if she did, then she should be born as a

devotee of the Lord who in any form, at any time, will not forget The Lord and

that when the Lord performs the sacred mystic dance, she should stand beneath

the Lord's feet and sing in His praise. Lord Shiva granted her the boon and

asked her to stay at Alangadu. Then, the sacred Mother of Karaikal returned,

measuring the distance still on her head, to holy Alangadu where she beheld her

God's sacred dance and sang her renowned lyrics in His praise. .]

Om Nama Shivaya,

Deepa H

debu7366

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