DIVINEINFORMATION PART 37 There are 1187 words in this posting counted by the computer. Approximately 118 sentences
Respected friends, While going through one of my external memorydevice, I came across some good information storedfrom websites. I thought of sharing interesting ones from them as aseries. In part 38, I am starting with 133TH item in this posting. Kindly note the series is a compilation. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 22-6-21 133 Kaala Samhaaram - The Story of Markandeya Thislegend relates to the story of Shiva's protecting Markandeya from the clutches of death. Mrikandu Munivar worshipped Shiva and sought from him the boon ofbegetting a son. He was given the choice between a gifted son with a shortlived tenure on earth or a dunce with a long life. Mrikandu Munivar chose the former, and wasblessed with Markandeya, an exemplary son, destined to die at the age of 16. Markandeyagrew up to be a great devotee of Shiva. On the day of his destined death Markandeya continued to worship aShivalingam. The messengers of Yama,the God of death were unable to take away the lad's life, given his devotion toShiva and his being engaged in the act of worship then. Yamahimself came in person to take his life away and sprung his noose around theyoung sage's neck. The nooselanded around the Shivalingam, and out of it, Shiva emerged in all his fury,and kicked Yama andkilled Death itself. He then revived him, under the condition that the devoutyouth would live for ever. This legend of Shiva killing death itself,is frozen in metal and held in worship at Tirukkadavur. Tirukkadavur is the shrine where thousandsthrong to celebrate shashti abda poorthi (60thbirthdays), with the belief that the blessings of the deity enshrined wouldprolong their lives. Tirukkadavuris one of the 8 Veerattatemples celebrating Shiva as the destroyer of evil forces. 134 TheStory of Amrita - the Celestial Nectar Thislegend is of great importance both in Saivite and Vaishnavitesystem of beliefs. The devas and theasuras (gods and demons) united in their efforts to churn the celestial oceanof milk (ksheerasaagaram),in quest of Amrita (thenectar of life and immortality). Thismammoth task was carried out with the Mandara Mountas the churning stick and the mythological snake Vasuki as the rope. Vishnu assumed the Koorma avatara (tortoise) to hold theMandara mountain in place and to prevent it from sinking into the ocean. Lakshmi the Goddess of wealth emergedfrom the ocean, and so did the moon god Chandra. Thencame the dreaded poison, Kaalakoota. The gods and demons appealed to Shiva to save them from thefumes that emanated from the poison. Withouthesitation, Shiva consumed the poison, and retained it in his throat, whichturned blue on account of the poison, leading to the name Neelakantha or Vishaapaharana Murthy. Thisinstance of all of the gods, mortals and demons worshipping Shiva, for the actof saving the Universe from the dreaded poison, is believed to have occuredduring the pradosha kaala(the time period just before sun set). Thepradosha kaala puja in Shiva temples is considered to be very sacred on alloccurrences of pradosha days,two days before the new moon and the full moon each month. The pradosha kaala puja at the Kapaleeswarartemple at Mylapore - Chennai attracts thousands of devotees with amazingregularity. Thelegend does not end here. Their obstacle out of the way, the devas and asurascontinued to churn the ocean in quest of their ultimate goal, and were rewardedwith the spectacle of the divine physician Dhanvantari emerging out of the oceanwith a pot bearing the celestial nectar. A fiercetussle followed between the gods and the demons over the issue of sharing thenectar of immortality. Vishnu the protector of good intervened, took the formof an enchantress Mohini, appeared on the spot, charmed the asuras, andserved all of the nectar to the devas, and thereby protected the universe fromthe calamity that would have occurred if the asuras had attained immortality. Thelegend still does not end here. Two of the asuras, aware of Mohini’s trickery took the guise of devas and begot a dose of thenectar from her. Vishnu discovered their act, only when they had consumed halftheir portion of Amrita, and proceded to destroy them. ***Protectedby the nectar of immortality, the demons took the form of Rahu and Ketu. Rahuwith a snakes head and a human body, and Ketu with a human head and a snake’sbody are regarded as celestial bodies - shadow planets, or the node positionsat which eclipses are caused. Rahu isthe ascending node while Ketu is the descending node. Popular belief has itthat eclipses are caused when Rahu or Ketu swallow the moon or the sun. My note- Here Rahu and Kethu are toldas two asuras and Lord Vishnu killed and revived them. Yet another legend has it that the serpent Vasuki consumed the celestial nectarmuch against the wishes of the sun and the moon, andthat it was split into two, and still continued to live in the formof Rahu and Ketu,the so called enemies of the sun and the moon, threatening to eclipse them atthe right moment! Rahu is believed to have worshippedShiva at Tirunageswaramnear Thanjavur-Tamilnadu, and is enshrined there. Ketu is believed to have worshippedShiva at Perumpallam near Mayiladuturai(Chidambaram - Tamilnadu) and is enshrined there. Sri Kalahasti near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, enshrines Shiva whowas worshipped by both Rahu and Ketu. Specialworship services are carried out in all these temples during eclipses. Mohiniavatara sevai is celebrated inmany Vaishnavite temples, where Vishnu is decorated as Mohini the enchantress. Vishnuworshipping Shiva in his Koorma avatara is enshrined at Tirukkachur,near Chennai. 135 iraataarjuneeyam - Arjuna's encounterwith Shiva Thislegend relates to the encounter between Arjuna thePandava prince and Shiva, and is an important event in the epic Mahabharata. Arjunathe valiant Pandava prince,during the princes' exile in the jungles, went out to the Himalayas to worshipShiva, to win from him the Paasupataastram, the infallible weapon. Hispenance bore fruit, when Shiva, in the guise of a hunter (Kiraata) donning a bow appeared before him,picked up a quarrel with him over a wild boar, and challenged him to a combat. Thismanifestation of Shiva is known as Kiraata Murthy.In the course of this (mock) fight, the hunter stripped Arjuna of all hisweapons (and his ego), and thebrave prince continued to fight with his bare hands. Shiva then revealed his true self, andblessed him with the Paasupataastram. Arjuna'sencounter with Shiva is celebrated at Tiruvetkalamnear Chidambaram- Tamilnadu. KiraataMurthy is also revered at Kumbhakonam(Tamilnadu), where it is believed that an arrow from Shiva's bow pierced the pot containing the celestial nectaramritam, and spilled it into the Mahamagam tank. I will continue in next posting -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/211004011.2076680.1624347211873%40mail.yahoo.com.
