Vaidyanath at Deogarh

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If one is to draw a line between Kanyakumari andUjjain, Parali village can be

clearly seen on thatline. This village is located on the slopes of Meru

orNaganarayana Mountain. Parali is an ancient village

located near three rivers, Brahma, Venu and Saraswati,because of the presence of

one of the twelveJyotirLingas of Shankara, it has become famous. Thisvillage is

also known as Kantipur, MadhyarekhaVaijayanti or Jayanti. It is 26 kilometers

from

Ambejogai in the Beed district.

History of Parali Vaidhyanath jyothirlinga temple

Yogeshwari of Ambejogai was married to LordVaidyanatha of Parali. But by the

time the marriageparty reached, the auspicious time of the wedding hadpassed.

As a result the people of the marriage partyturned into stone statues.

Yogeshwari was waiting away

from Parali. This is one story that is frequentlyheard there.

When the Gods and Demons made their combined effort inAmrit Manthan (Churning

for Nectar), fourteen gemsemerged. There were Dhanwantari and Amrit Ratnas

init. When the Demons rushed to grab Amrit, Lord Vishnu

hid the Amrit and Dhanwantari in the Shiva Linga ofLord Shankara. Just as the

Demons tried to touch theLinga, flames started emanating from the Linga.

Thescared Demons ran aay. But when devotees of Lord

Shankara touched the Linga, there was a free flow ofAmrit from the same. Even

today, devotees touch theShiva Linga as a part of taking Darshan. Here, thereis

no discrimination between caste, creed or color.

Anyone can come and visit this place. As theLingamurthy is supposed to have

Amrit and Dhanvantari,it is also known as Amriteshwar and Dhanvantari.

The mountains and jungles and the rivers, are full ofuseful medicinal herbs.

That is why Parali JyotirLingais also known as Vaidyanatha. It is here that

LordVishnu successfully helped the Devas to obtain Amrit.

Therefore, this place is also known as 'Vaijayanti".

Once the Demon King Ravana went to Kailasa mountainand did a severe penance to

please Lord Shankara. Putup with cold, heat, rains and fine and even then

whenLord Shiva did not appear before him, he began to cut

his head off in order to offer it to the ShivaLinga.Then the Lord appeared after

Ravana tried to offer histenth head. He restored all of Ravana's heads

andgranted him boons. Ravana expressed his desire to take

Lord Shiva to Lanka as a boon. He said, "I want totake you to Lanka". Shankara,

who is very soft heartedto His devotees, agreed to accompany Ravana to Lanka.He

told Ravanan, "You must carry my Linga with care

and devotion, but do be careful not to put it down onthe earth until you reach

your destination, or else,it will stay at whichever place you put it down"

Shivacautioned.

Ravana began the journey homeward carrying theShivaling. On the way, he wanted

to relieve himself byurination. He bid a cowherd boy to hold the Lingawhile he

relieved himself. The cowherd was not able to

bear the weight of the Linga and when he could nolonger hold it, he put it down

on the earth. And theShiva Linga put there stayed as Lord Shiva alreadyordained

and came to be known as Vaidyanatheswar.

Here, the gods were sad about Ravana taking away Shivato his Lanka. They

requested saint Narada to dosomething. Narada met Ravana and said to him by way

ofpraising his penance and Tapas. "You made a mistake in

trusting Shiva. Believing Shiva's word was wrong. Goto him and slander him and

get your way. Go to Kailasaand move it entirely. Your success will be gauged

byyour art of moving Kailasa from there". Ravana was

tricked into believing Narada. Ravana promptly carriedout Narada's bidding. Lord

Shiva saw the ego drivenmischieves Ravana and told him: "A unique power issoon

going to born which will destroy your pride in

the strength of your arms". Narada informed the Godsof these tidings and his

success in his mission. Thegods were relieved and were happy. In the

meanwhile,Ravana too was happy with the boon he received from

Lord Shiva. He returned and was in a trance and wasunder the influence of

Shiva's mythical power. He washeady and drunk with power. He decided to conquer

theentire universe. To subdue his ego only God had to

descend on the earth in the Avatar of Rama.

SHIVO GURUHU SHIVO DEVAHA SHIVO BANDUHU SHARIRINAM |

SHIV ATMA SHIVO JEEVAHA SHIVADANYANN KINCHAN ||

Regards

Prasanna Kumar