Why Shiva Is Worshipped In His Phallic Form

According to another legend, once Brahma and Vishnu, two other deities of the holy Trinity, had an argument as to their supremacy. Brahma being the Creator declared himself to be more revered, while Vishnu, the Preserver, pronounced that he commanded more respect. Just then a colossal lingam, known as Jyotirlinga, blanketed in flames, appeared before them. Both Brahma and Vishnu were awestruck by its rapidly increasing size. They forgot their quarrel and decided to determine its size. Vishnu assuming the form of a boar went to the netherworld and Brahma as a swan flew to the skies. But both of them failed to accomplish the self- assumed tasks. Then, Shiva appeared out of the lingam and stated that he was the progenitor of them both and that henceforth he should be worshipped in his phallic form, the lingam, and not in his anthropomorphic form.
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The Descent of Ganga

The river Ganga flows peacefully, and sometimes turbulently, through the breadth of India. But, it has not always been so. Ganga, the goddess, once lived on Kailash, the Hindu Olympia, and flowed demurely for the sole pleasure of the gods. And, had it not been for Bhagirath, king and sage, she would still be there. Bhagirath had an extravagant ancestor who fathered 60,000 sons. With a progeny so large, he soon conquered the world and invaded the nether regions, home of the hermit, Kapila. This horde of young men could not but disturb the meditation of the saint who, in a moment of divine wrath, reduced every one of them to ashes with a single glance. The souls of the 60,000, denied the purification that only water can give, clamored for peace, haunting Bhagirath's every working hour, banishing sleep. By dint of prayer, meditation and penance, the king gained the favour of the gods, asking but one boon, the descent of Ganga, whose waters alone could reanimate the souls of his ancestors and bridge the passage from the now to the thereafter. The gods pleaded Bhagirath's cause but the Divine Lady was adamant. She had no desire to leave the heavens and, if compelled she would destroy the earth. The gods were helpless and advised Bhagirath to go to Shiva, the Lord Destroyer, who, if he wished, could prevent the threatened destruction. As the matter was of considerable gravity, Bhagirath begged Parvati, Shiva's wife, for her help. Parvati convinced Shiva to receive the powerful torrents unleashed by the tempestuous goddess on his head and divide the fall of the waters into a myriad of streams through his hair. After which, it was relatively easy to guide the river to the centre of the earth, revive the 60,000 and lead Ganga to the ocean. The story of the descent of the Ganga is told in the stone of Mahaballipuram, near Madras, on the south eastern coast. The astonishing exuberance of the sculptor is revealed in the countless statues in relief of gods and goddesses, monsters and angels, snakes, water nymphs, and a veritable Ark of animals that crowd the rock to watch Ganga flow through Shiva's hair while, Kapila remains serene in his meditation. Filtered through Shiva's divine hair, the Ganga comes from the adobe of the gods bearing all the reviving powers of the universe. Temple cities border her course, the most important being Varanasi. Here, at dawn, hundreds of pilgrims await that special eternal moment when Indra, the king of the Gods, source of life, unites with the sacred, purifying, reanimating waters of Ganga.
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The Tiger & The Leaves

Once a hunter while chasing a deer wandered into a dense forest and found himself on the banks of river Kolidum when he heard the growl of a tiger. To protect himself from the beast he climbed up a tree nearby. The tiger pitched itself on the ground below the tree fostering no intention to leave. The hunter stayed up in the tree all night and to keep himself from falling asleep, he gently plucked one leaf after another from the tree and threw it down. Under the tree was a Shiva Linga and the tree blessedly turned out to be a bilva tree. Unknowingly the man had pleased the deity with bilva leaves. At sunrise, the hunter looked down to find the tiger gone, and in its place stood Lord Shiva. He prostrated before the Lord and attained salvation from the cycle of birth and death.
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King Shantanu

Under such ethos and culture, the kingdom of Kuru king Shantanu prospered around Hastinapur. Business and commerce, peace and prosperity, art and literature flourished all around. People both inside the palace and out side were happy. High standard of education, both secular and spiritual, was maintained through the system of Gurukula (students staying with their teacher in an ashrama during their studentship.) Hard work, honesty, and sincerity made these students better citizens. The teacher -Guru- was well versed in all aspects of arts and science related with politics, statesmanship, warfare and economics. Yoga and meditation were routinely included in the curricula.

Once king Shantanu went for hunting. He reached deep into the forest across a river. After many hours of horse ride and laborious chase the tired king instructed his attendants to carry his horse and other possessions, and himself decided to return to his palace in a ferry boat.

The boatman, fisherman by caste, recognized the king and felt honored to have such a distinguished guest on his boat. Such occasions did not come in his life very often. He decided to make most of it. Therefore, he requested the king to accept his hospitality in his humble hut.

The king agreed. Together they reached the boatman's house for refreshments. The boatman tried to make the king as comfortable as he could by offering the king soft cushioned seat, fruits and milk. He called his daughter to serve the honoured guest. And as the fate had it, the king fell in love with the fisherman's daughter (Satyavati) at first sight! Their eyes met and love was exchanged.

King Shantanu made hasty departure and returned to his palace. But the love bug had made his nights sleepless. The constant thought of beautiful daughter of fisherman made him restless and love-sick.

The king started making secret visits to the fisherman's house. Fisherman did not object, why should he! The love between the king and Satyavati blossomed into the dreams of conjugal bliss. The king wanted to marry her.

Shantanu already had one son, named Bhishma, the most powerful, intelligent, and glorious of all the Kurus. His personality was unique and impressive in many ways. His truthfulness, bravery, and righteousness were beyond reproach. If once he decided anything, he was sure to stick to his word at any cost.

The Great Bhishma

As already said, the king wanted to marry the daughter of fisherman - Satyavati. The father was accordingly informed. Here the fisherman became greedy! He thought, "As the tradition goes, Bhishma is elder and will succeed the throne of Hastinapur. My daughter's son will be younger and hence will be denied the chance to become the king. Moreover, when Bhishma marries, his son will succeed to the throne and not my daughter's son."

Hence, the greedy fisherman told her daughter to marry the king only on the condition that (1) Bhishma should never aspire for the throne of Hastinapur, and (2) secondly, he should never marry.

The two conditions were too harsh for king Shantanu to accept. This was clearly a great injustice towards his beloved son Bhishma. Therefore, the king did not accept the conditions immediately. He bought some time to give his final decision.

The days passed by. The king could not forget Satyavati, nor could he do injustice to Bhishma. This dilemma told on his health and performance of royal duties. He lost his appetite and took no interest in the affairs of his kingdom. These changes did not remain unknown to the intelligent eyes of Bhishma.

Bhishma decided to go to the root cause of the unhappiness of his father. He soon came to know all about his father's love for Satyavati and his desire to marry her. Bhishma decided to bring cheers in the life of his father. He went to Satyavati and, after introducing himself, requested her (would be step mother) to marry his father.

Satyavati repeated her two conditions to Bhishma now: that (1) Bhishma should never aspire for the throne of Hastinapur, and (2) secondly, he should never marry.

The firm-minded Bhishma vowed in front of her saying, "O mother, I, upon my word and in presence of this river Ganges, pledge never to marry and never to aspire for the throne of Hastinapur. In addition, till my last breath, I promise that I shall be loyal to the throne of Hastinapur whosoever occupies it." Thus indirectly Bhishma assured the fisher-woman that her son would be accepted as the future king of Hastinapur.

Happy days returned as the king Shantanu married Satyavati. The queen gave birth to two sons named Chitrangad and Vichitravirya.

The Kingdom Of Hastinapur

Days passed by. King Shantanu died natural death of old age. His elder son Chitrangad also died in young age. Hastinapur came under the rule of Vichitravirya and continued to flourish under his rule. Vichitravirya was married to three princesses, but as the fate had it, could not become father. Soon Vichitravirya also was killed in a battle without any issue. His queens were offered a child each from a great sage as a blessing and through his Yogic Power (without physical contact). The two queens followed the instructions and gave birth to Dhritarashtra and Pandu respectively; but the third queen sent her maid to the sage, and Vidura was born of the maid as the third son.

Dhritarashtra was blind from the birth, and therefore Pandu succeeded the throne of Hastinapur. Pandu, Dhritarashtra, and Bhishma grew up as friends and conducted the affairs of the state with great foresight. They all respected each other. Vidura was most righteous of all and was chosen as the Prime Minister of Hastinapur. Pandu married Kunti (aunt of Sri Krishna) and princess Madri; while Dhritarashtra was married to Gandhari, the princess of Gandhar. This noble lady also kept her eyes folded throughout her life as an mark of respect to her blind husband Dhritarashtra.
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Shibi Rana

After Bharata, his descendants flourished as mighty Kurus. Their kingdom extended in north India, the capital city of which was Hastinapur. The successive great kings ruled from here; great not only in material prosperity but also in their strength of character. Their whole life and activity was centered around upholding the rule of Dharma -righteousness. To these noble rulers, life was meaningless if not lived according to the Dharma. For this, they even went as far as sacrificing their own lives.

The story of one such great king will illustrate this point better.

Story of Shibi Rana

The king Shibi was famous for his truthfulness, justice, and keeping his word. The king of righteousness, Dharmaraj, himself decided to test the strength of character of Shibi Rana.

Once when the king was alone on the terrace of his palace, he saw one dove coming towards him with great speed. An eagle was after him, and to escape from the clutches of the chasing eagle the dove made frantic effort to hide some where. Seeing the king on the terrace, the frightened dove took shelter in his lap. The dove said, "O king, save my life, I have come under your shelter."

The king had vowed to protect anyone who took his shelter. Thus the weak and deprived could not be exploited by the rich and strong. However, this was a new experience for Shibi Rana. Was he in any way obliged to protect a bird who seeks his refuge? Contemplating for a while, the king decided that even tress, animals, and birds require protection and help as do human beings.

Therefore, the king said, "Have no fear my son. That eagle would not be able to touch even your feather. Relax in peace, have no worries." So saying the king readied himself to face the rapidly approaching eagle. The eagle landed in front of the king and said, "O king, you have hidden my prey. Please release him so that I can appease my hunger."

The righteous king saw the point in eagle's demand. He faced a peculiar dilemma of protecting the dove, and at the same time not to deprive the eagle of his rightful prey! He decided to resolve the issue by offering the eagle equal amount of meat from his kitchen. But the eagle insisted on having his prey -the dove - as his food. After some discussion the eagle agreed to set the dove free on two conditions.

The eagle said, "O King, I shall let the dove go, if equal weight of flesh from your body is offered to me as food."

Shibi Rana was quite pleased with the adjustment. He thought that a pound (or two) of flesh from his body would not kill him and the life of the dove in his shelter would also be saved.

Thus he was happy that he was saved from a great sin of 'inability to protect the weak'.

The eagle then put his second condition, saying, "O king, if a single tear drops from your eye I shall be constrained to accept you flesh as my food."

The king agreed and called for the knives and the balance. In one pan of the balance the dove was kept and on the other side a large chunk of flesh from the right thigh of Shibi Rana. But strange as it might seem, the pan with the dove always weighed more even as additional flesh was added! Thus almost whole of the right half of the king's body was cut. Still the weight could not be equaled.

At this juncture a drop of tear appeared in the left eye of the king. The eagle objected to this saying, "O king, I cannot accept the food given in distress. The tear in your eye shows that you are unhappy. So give me my prey back and you shall regain your normal health."

With a faint smile on his lips, Shibi Rana said, "Behold, O eagle, the left eye is not crying out of grief; this is a tear of joy. Now my left half of the body will also be used to honour the word I have given to you. Otherwise, if only right had satisfied you, the left half of the body would have been denied this great opportunity of sacrifice! Therefore, my dear friend, the left eye cries out of joy!"

This ultimate sacrifice of Shibi Rana was unparalleled in the history. The eagle and the dove disappeared and in their places stood the King of righteousness -Dharmaraj and the king of heavens --the Indra. Gods from the heavens showered flowers, perfumes, and praise on the king. They granted many boons to this noble king.

The king Shibi had passed the ultimate test to uphold Dharma, a true duty of every king. It is said that this king ruled for many years and after his death went directly to heaven to enjoy the fruits of his righteous karma.
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Shankuntala

Once, nobody knows when, sage Vishwamitra was engaged in great austerities and penance that would give him almost absolute power over kingdom of Earth and Heaven. He had successfully completed requisite sacrificial rituals and now was engaged in meditation and Yogic practices. The king of Heaven, God Indra, was shaken to know this effort of Vishmamitra that could pose danger to his throne! Therefore, Indra decided to put obstacles in his austerities and thereby break his sadhana - spiritual discipline. Indra thought of using weapon of lust to this end. Accordingly, the most beautiful and ever youthful Apsara, Menaka, was sent from heaven to distract and seduce Vishwamitra, who was gaining alarming levels of yogic power through his concentrated meditation. (Apsara in Hindu mythology, heavenly nymph of great beauty, is often represented as a dancer at the court of the Hindu god Indra in his heavenly kingdom.) She descended down to earth from heaven and tried to tempt Vishmamitra by various charming dances and songs. After some efforts Vishmamitra fell to the lure of her beauty and youthful attraction. They were married and the tapas of Vishmamitra was broken. A beautiful daughter was born to them whom they named Shakuntala. Her assignment completed, Menaka left back to the kingdom of heaven, and Vishmamitra, his tapas broken, left for forest retreat after handing over the new born baby to the sage Kanva, head of a forest ashrama. Under his fatherly love and care Shakuntala grew up as a simple but most beautiful lady. Her voice was sweet and her manners sober and graceful. Dushyanta and Shakuntala Once, the great king of the region, King Dushyanta, happened to come near the ashrama of Shakuntala by way of hunting. He caught sight of Shakuntala and lost his heart to her beauty and grace. The king proposed to Shakuntala and they were married secretly. Dushyanta stayed overnight and left for his capital city promising Shakuntala that he would soon send for her. He gave his precious ring to his wife cautioning her not to lose it. As the destiny had it, in his busy schedule of affairs of the kingdom, the king Dushyanta forgot all about his love -- Shakuntala. Here, in the ashrama, Shakuntala was worried as news of her husband did not reach her, nor did he send anyone to take her to his palace. The worry almost turned into panic because of the fact that she was pregnant, and soon her condition was sure to reveal this truth. And indeed, sage Kanva and ladies of the ashrama noticed the change in Shakuntala. On inquiry, the truth became known to all. Sage Kanva had brought up Shakuntala as her daughter and hence he decided to send her to her husband, king Dushyanta, where she should be accepted as his queen. The day was fixed for Shakuntala to leave. She was dressed in most beautiful silk attire and left for the kingdom of her husband in a ferry boat. The cool and balmy breeze put her to sleep and the royal ring slipped out of her finger. Soon it was swallowed by a fish. Shakuntala was not even aware of this fact. She reached the court of Dushyanta, and a message was sent to the king of the arrival of 'a woman who claimed to be his wife'. Dushyanta had lost his memory about Shakuntala and all about their stay together. He refused to accept Shakuntala as his wife. The pitiful Shakuntala tried to remind her husband about the night they had stayed together in the forest ashrama of Kanva, etc.; but of no avail. The king had forgotten that part of his life. As a last resort, the pleading Shakuntala told him about the ring and tried to show the same, but in stead there was tragic dismay on her face when she did not find the ring on her finger! Dejected and disappointed, Shakuntala left for the forest all alone and decided to give birth to the child. Gradually her self confidence returned, her fear vanished, and in due course of time she gave birth to a most beautiful and well developed son. She named him Bharata. Bharata grew without any human company other than her mother. All around in the jungle he encountered wild animals, plants and trees. He developed into a fearless, healthy, and active child. Lions and tigers were his friends, and he used to ride them as we ride horses! The mother taught him, as a prince should be taught, skills in archery, and use of other weapons; as also acquainted him with Scriptures: Veda, and Upanishad. Bharata soon grew up as handsome, intelligent and fearless youth - a prince in exile! There in the kingdom of Dushyanta, one fisherman caught the fish that had swallowed the royal ring that had slipped from the finger of Shakuntala. When he cut open the fish, he found the ring. He rushed to the royal court, and narrated the story to the king. On seeing his ring, the king remembered everything about Shakuntala and his love for her. He was sorry to send her pregnant wife away with such rudeness. He sent his men all around the kingdom in search of Shakuntala. And one day the good news reached him when his minister told him about Shakuntala and her handsome son safe in the heart of the forest. The king went to fetch his wife and son, begged their pardon and with due honour and festivity brought them to the palace. Later, Bharata became the king of ancient India. His rule extended over vast area, almost all over India. Righteousness and justice prevailed everywhere. There was no want, no misery, nor any disease in his kingdom. Since then India is also known as Bharatavarsha - the Land of Bharata.
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Eklavya

Near the ashrama of Drona, where Arjuna and his brothers used to take lessons in various arts, there lived a small bright boy, shudra by caste (lower caste). His name was Eklavya. He had great desire to learn the art of archery from Dronacharya. But his mother had told him that as a shudra, Acharya Drona would not accept Eklavya as his disciple. It was futile to dream of such a privilege. But the boy was not be put off, his determination knew no bounds. Near his house, under a tree Eklavya installed a clay idol of Dronacharya that he worshiped as his Guru! Daily, morning and evening, this devotee put flower and natural perfumes in front of this image and took Self-Lessons in the art of bow and arrow. The talented young Eklavya soon acquired high knowledge in archery. He attributed his success to his Guru Dronacharya. One day, as it happened, Acharya Drona and Arjuna were passing near the hut of Eklavya. It was pleasant and peaceful afternoon and people were taking rest. But the tranquility and silence was broken by constant barking of a dog. Eklavya did not like this, and therefore, he shut the mouth of the dog with an arrow! Dronacharya and Arjuna were surprised to see the dog with his mouth sealed with an arrow! Naturally the curious Arjuna asked his Gurudev as to who could have done this delicate job. Even Dronacharya was amazed and knew the archer must be exceptionally skilled artist. They decided to trace this skillful fellow and reached the spot where Eklavya was practicing wonders with his bow and arrow in front of the clay image of Drona. It took no time for Dronacharya to understand the situation. He realized that Eklavya was superior to Arjuna in some respects. Dronacharya loved Arjuna very much and had declared him to be the best archer on the earth. Hence the Guru thought for awhile and came to a decision to remove Eklavya as a competitor to Arjuna. Dronacharya went to Eklavya and said, "O young man, who has taught you such wonderful skills in archery! Who is your Guru?" Seeing the Guru in front of him, the boy Eklavya was more that overjoyed and said, "Why, O Gurudev, this all is your grace! I worship you as my Guru. Look you are there in that image!" Dronacharya was pleased with the dedication of Eklavya, and said, "I bless you my son. But as is customary, won't you give me my fees - Guru-Dakshina!" [It is customary in India to give to the Guru whatever he demands as his fees - Guru-Dakshina for the knowledge the Guru has given to the disciple.] Eklavya was overwhelmed to see Dronacharya had accepted him as his disciple! Out he said, "O Honourable Teacher, whatever you ask, this humble disciple of yours will try his utmost to offer you as Guru-Dakshina! I am blessed." And now comes a very touching and pathetic incidence in Mahabharata. Guru Drona said, "O Eklavya, I am pleased with your respect for Guru. I want the thumb of your right hand as my fees- Guru-Dakshina." The trees and atmosphere around stood still for a minute! Even Arjuna was stunned on listening to the unusual and almost cruel demand of his Guru. To ask for the thumb of an archer was equivalent to almost kill him! How could Dronacharya demand such a heavy prize from one disciple to protect the honour of the other! But Eklavya had no such remorse. Unruffled and with due humility, cheerfully and without protest, he cut his right thumb and placed at the feet of Dronacharya. Gods in the heaven silently praised the greatness of Eklavya's sacrifice.
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