Shiva Mahimna Stotra

Shloka 17

Meaning:  The flow of the water of the river which had spread all over the sky, whose beauty had been enhanced by the foam created by the groups of stars, and which made the whole universe as an island, that flow of water looks like a droplet on your head. From this, we can definitely imagine how mighty and huge is your divine form.

Reflections:  Let us briefly remember the story of Ganga coming down to earth.

Ganga coming on earth: King Sagar performed Ashwamegha Yajna to prove his imperial sovereignty. As a part of this ritual, a horse with a message and an army go around the earth. The message is to all the kings telling them that they either accept this sovereignty or keep the horse and invite a fight. Indra, the king of Devas, didn’t want this to happen, so he stole the horse and left it at the ashrama of a Sage Kapila. The Sagar’s 60,000 sons searched for the horse and finally, they found it at Sage Kapila’s ashrama. Sage Kapila was absorbed in deep meditation. The notorious sons thought that he had stolen the horse and so they rudely disturbed Sage Kapila in his meditation. Sage Kapila opened his eyes and looked at them. His yogic look has such a power that all 60,000 sons were burnt and turned to ashes.

King Sagara’s grandson Amshuman humbly requested Sage Kapila to show him a way to liberate his uncles. Sage Kapila told him that only the water of the River Ganga could liberate them. Then, King Amshuman started performing austerities to please Ganga. But Ganga was not pleased. His son King Dilip also performed austerities and could not please Ganga. Finally, his son King Bhagiratha pleased Ganga with his austerities. Ganga said that she could fall from heaven on earth, but her force will destroy the earth. So, find something that bears my impact. King Bhagiratha said that Lord Shiva will bear your impact. King Bhagiratha pleased Lord Shiva with his severe austerities and requested him to bear the force of Ganga.

The story goes that Ganga fell on Lord Shiva’s head thinking that Lord Shiva may not be able to withstand her force. But Ganga got trapped in Lord Shiva’s Jata (tied hair) and could not find a way out. Finally, Lord Shiva moved one of his hairs and made a hole from which Ganga came out and started flowing on the earth.

Bhagiratha led Ganga to Sage Kapila’s ashrama and brought redemption to his 60,000 great granduncles.

Reflections continued:  In this shloka, we experience Pushpadanta’s beautiful poetic vision, his command of the Sanskrit Language, and his devotion and vision of Lord Shiva.

I vividly remember the whole thrilling experience the first time I saw the Himalayas. I was going on a bus with a group of people who had not seen the Himalayas before. The driver informed us that we were going towards the Himalayas and we must keep an eye up high in the sky in the direction of the bus. After a while, we saw an outline of mountains in the clouds. The outline was very high. We were not sure whether these were mountains or clouds forming lines. For a while, we were going back and forth saying ‘These are clouds’, ‘oh no, these are mountains.’ Finally, when it was confirmed that all these lines up in the sky were the Himalayas, we all intuitively cheered and clapped with great joy.  We could not believe how high these mountains were.

When I read this shloka of Shiva Mahimna, I felt that at night the Milky Way filled with stars is like the Ganga, the Himalayas Mountain is like Lord Shiva, and as the Milky Way touches the mountain, the Ganga is pouring its water on the head of Lord Shiva. Then, Lord Shiva moved one of his hairs and made a hole. This hole is like Gangotri from where Ganga started coming down.

Godly things uplift our minds from these little bodies and minds and their problems to a state of tranquility and bliss. Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Oceans, Mountains, and other natural things remind us of the grandeur of the Creator. By seeing them, we temporarily forget our little selves. Through this shloka, Pushpadanta reminds us of the mighty form of Lord Shiva. The Ganga, which is wide and flowing with powerful current on the ground at Rishikesh, Haridwar, and other places, and then becomes like an ocean at Ganga Sagara, looks like a droplet at the Himalayas which is like the head of Lord Shiva. It seems that Pushpadanta had this vision of Lord Shiva. By reciting this shloka and thinking of the Mighty Form of Lord Shiva we can also uplift our mind from our bodies, minds, and their worldly problems and feel tranquility and bliss.

Lord Shiva’s one name is Gangadhara, one who holds Ganga. It seems to me that Ganga coming out from Lord Shiva’s head signifies the compassion and grace of Lord Shiva flowing through India to purify, bless, and spiritually uplift people.

Shri Shankaracharya writes in his Shri Ganga Stotram,

“O Ganga! O Jahnavi! You uplift the fallen people. Your waves break the Himalayas, the king of the mountains, and shine as they flow. You are the mother of Bhishma and the daughter of the Sage Jahnu. Because you purify all people, you are a blessed one in all the three worlds.”  

When Bhagiratha requested Ganga to come down on the earth, Ganga mentioned two of her concerns; (i) who would bear the impact of her force, and (ii) people would wash off their sins in her and where should she deposit all these sins.

The answer to her first concern was that Lord Shiva would bear the impact of her force. The answer to the second concern was given by Bhagiratha in Shrimad Bhagavatam. Bhagiratha said, “People of renunciation, tranquil, immersed in Brahman and capable of purifying the whole world would come to you as pilgrims and purify you when they take a deep in your water.”

I remember two teachings from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna about purification given in two different contexts. These teachings give us some insight into taking deep into the Ganga.

Sri Ramakrishna said, (1) “Suppose a man becomes pure by chanting the holy name of God, but immediately afterward commits many sins. He has no strength of mind. He doesn’t take a vow not to repeat his sins. A bath in the Ganga undoubtedly absolves one of all sins; but what does that avail? They say that the sins perch on the trees along the bank of the Ganga. No sooner does the man come back from the holy waters, the old sins jump on his shoulders from the trees.”

(2) “The truth is that one must reap the result of the prarabdha karma. The body remains as long as the results of past actions do not completely wear away. Once a blind man bathed in the Ganga and as a result was freed from his sins. But his blindness remained all the same.”

One thing is true, Mother Ganga had attracted so many great souls to her. They feel blessed by taking a bath in Ganga.

Swami Vivekananda said, “Who knows? What wonderful relationship is this between Mother Ganga and the Hindus? Is it mere superstition? Maybe. They spend their lives with the name of Ganga on their lips, and they die immersed in the waters of Ganga, people from far-off places take away Ganga water with them, keep it carefully in copper vessels, and sip drops of it on holy festive occasions. Kings and princes keep it in jars, and at considerable expense take the water from Gangotri to pour it on the head of Shiva at Rameshwaram! The Hindus visit foreign countries – Rangoon, java, Hong Kong, Madagascar, Suez, Aden, Malta – and they take with them Ganga water and the Gita.

The Gita and the sacred waters of the Ganga constitute the Hinduism of the Hindus. The last time I went to the West, I also took a little of it with me, fearing it might be needed. And whenever opportunities occurred, I used to drink a few drops of it. And every time I drank, in the midst of the stream of humanity, amid that bustle of civilization, that hurry of frenzied footsteps of millions of men and women in the West, the mind at once became calm and still, as it were. That stream of men, that intense activity of the West, that clash and competition at every step, those seats of luxury and celestial opulence – Paris, London, New York, Berlin, Rome – all would disappear and I used to hear that wonderful sound of “Hara, Hara”, to see that lonely forest on the sides of the Himalayas, and feel the murmuring heavenly river coursing through the heart and brain and every artery of the body and thundering forth, “Hara, Hara, Hara!”

Sri Ramakrishna loved Mother Ganga so much. He has to see Mother Ganga every day. Shri Shankaracharya expressed his intense desire to be near Ganga in humbling words in the Shri Ganga Stotram:

“O Mother Ganga! It is better either to remain in your water being a turtle or a fish, or be a feeble Chamaeleon and live on your bank, or to take birth in a poor and unclean lower cast family and live on your bank than to be a king born in the higher cast family but living far away from you.”

Lord Shiva’s mighty form described in this Shiva Mahimna Shloka reminds us of the Purusha of the Purusha Suktam and the Universal Form of Shri Krishna shown to Arjuna. Both the pleasant and the unpleasant things exist in the universal form. We are happy to see the pleasant things in the universal form, but get disturbed or scared, just like Arjuna, seeing the unpleasant things in it.  We have to accept both things and if we cannot bear the unpleasant aspect of the universe we have to pray like Arjuna.

Arjuna said, “I rejoice that I have seen what was never seen before, but my mind is also troubled with fear. O Lord of devas, the abode of all, be gracious and please show me your pleasant divine form.” Bhagavad Gita (11.45)

Let us meditate on the mighty form of Lord Shiva and his compassion and grace which is flowing in the universe as Ganga.

Shiva Mahimna Stotra

Shloka 16

Meaning:  Being struck by your dancing feet the earth all of a sudden becomes bewildered thinking that it is going to be destroyed. Even Lord Vishnu’s domain gets shaken up in fear by the broken planets hit by the dancing movements of your mace-like arms. Heaven feels miserable when its edges get beaten by the end of your untied hair. O Lord Shiva! You dance to protect the world, but truly your mighty form creates all the troubles.           

Reflections: My friend’s daughter was learning Bharata Natyam, and she decided to have an Arrangetram, the graduation dance performance, after two years. She started practicing dances in her living room.  After a day or two, her father took a few days off from his work and finished his basement so that his daughter could practice her dances there. He told me that he was worried about his living room floor which may give in, all the pictures on the wall which may fall, and a few fragile glass decors may fall and break.

If a young daughter’s dance can create such havoc in a house, what to talk about when a mighty universal form of God starts dancing in the universe. In the scriptures, the Lord’s universal form has been described as follows. They say that Its body is the whole universe, the earth is Its feet, space is Its naval, the wind is Its breathing, the sun and moon are Its eyes, directions are Its ears, and Its head is beyond this universe.  This whole universe is only a quarter of Its form, the other three-fourths form is invisible.

In this Shiva Mahimna shloka, Shri Pushpadanta identifies Lord Shiva with the Universal Form of the Lord, so we can feel and imagine Him dancing as a human being. He asks us to imagine what happens when the Lord’s huge feet strike the earth. Definitely, the earth feels that it is going to be destroyed. Also, imagine His long powerful mace-like arms moving around in space hitting and breaking the planets and His untied hair moving in space reaching out to the end of this visible universe and breaking its edges. Actually, Lord Shiva dances to protect the universe, but His Mighty Form creates havoc in the universe.

There is a legend that a demon wanted to destroy the whole universe. He started doing severe austerity to please Lord Brahma, the Brahman’s form that created the universe. At one point, Brahma had to reveal to the demon and ask him what boon he wanted. The demon asked for a power by which he could destroy the whole universe. Brahma was in trouble. He cannot refuse to give the boon as he had promised him. Brahma wanted to buy some time. It must have been morning.  Brahma told the demon to come to the Brahma Loka in the evening and ask for this boon.  Brahma said that this was his only chance to get that boon. Then, Brahma ran to Lord Shiva for help. Lord Shiva told Brahma not to worry. He said that he would come to the Brahma Loka in the evening and take care of the problem. Before evening, Lord Shiva came to the Brahma Loka and started dancing. Lord Shiva’s other name is Nataraja, the King, or the Lord of Dance. There are famous images of Lord Shiva as Nataraja. His dances included their dramatic aspects. Lord Shiva performed beautiful and engaging dances. The demon came to ask for the boon, but he was overwhelmed by Lord Shiva’s dances and forgot all about the boon. The evening passed and the demon lost his chance for the boon. Thus, Lord Shiva danced to save the universe.

These stories and the images of Lord Shiva’s dance are symbolic. Actually, all activities of the universe are like Lord Shiva’s Lila, or Play, or Dance. Some acts look pleasant to us and some look unpleasant. We enjoy the pleasant acts. But when we see unpleasant acts, we get scared or upset and complain to God why God is acting that way.

Sri Ramakrishna says, “You ask why? Brahman (God) does not act in consultation with others. It is Brahman’s pleasure. Brahman is self-willed. Why should we try to know the reason for Brahman’s acting this way or that? You have come to the orchard to eat mangoes. What is the good of calculating how many trees there are in the orchard, how many thousands of branches, and how many millions of leaves? One cannot realize Truth by futile arguments and reasoning.”

Every act in this universe has thousands or millions of reasons. How can we understand all these reasons with our limited minds? Sri Ramakrishna said that five gallons of milk would not fit into one-gallon bottle. Every day tons of research papers are published in thousands of fields. Most of them solve a problem or two, but these solutions raise more questions or problems. This is what Sri Ramakrishna refers to as counting the trees, branches, and leaves. Coming to the orchard is having a human life, and eating mangoes is to realize the Truth, the Ultimate Reality and get fulfillment in life.

This does not mean that when we see someone suffering, we just think that ‘it is God’s play’ and we become insensitive and inactive. We must try to remove the suffering of the people to the best of our ability and if we cannot do anything, we pray to God to remove this suffering. This will connect us with all, and it will lead us to Oneness, which is the Truth.

Thus, this shloka teaches us to become aware of the Mighty Universal Form of God and to realize that all the activities of the universe are nothing but God’s dance or play (Lila).     

Shiva Mahimna Stotra

Shloka 15

Meaning:  O Lord of the Universe (Shiva)!  Kamadeva, the god of lust, whose pointed arrows never return with failures in the whole universe which includes Devas, Danavas, and human beings, became just a memory because he considered you as an ordinary Deva like others. Truly, it is not beneficial to disrespect a person who has total self-control.                                                      

Reflections:  In this shloka, Shri Pushpadanta refers to a story from the scriptures. Let us look into this story.                                                   

The Story in the Scriptures:

Whenever anyone does intense austerity, Indra, the king of the gods or Devas, always worries that this person may take away his throne and his kingdom. So, he finds various ways to disrupt his/her austerity.  For him, one of the sure ways is to send Kamadeva, the god of lust, to deviate the minds of the person. Most of the time he is successful.

Indra has a reason to do this because the Daityas or Danavas being the eternal enemies of the Devas had performed the austerity in the past and were successful in driving out Indra and the Devas from their kingdom and had harassed them.

According to the Puranas, Kashyapa was the grandson of Brahma. He married the daughters of Daksha. One of them was Diti. One group of sons of Diti and Kashyapa were known as Daityas or Danavas and they were always in fight with the Devas. 

One of the Kashyapa and Diti’s sons, Vajranga, didn’t want to fight with the Devas and wanted to live a spiritual peaceful life. He was living such a Sattvika life. He got married to Varangi.  They had a son named Taraka.  Varangi wanted their son Taraka to be the strongest person in the world, to take away the kingdom of Indra and the Devas, and to harass them. Taraka did lots of severe austerities and pleased Lord Brahma.  When Brahma said that he was pleased and that Taraka could ask for any boon, Taraka asked that he be the strongest person in the world, and that he could not be killed by anyone except the son of Lord Shiva. Taraka knew that Lord Shiva was always merged in Samadhi, and he was not going to have a son.

With the power of that boon, he conquered all three worlds, snatched away the kingdom of Indra and the Devas, and started harassing them. No one could defeat him and definitely no one can kill him. With this success and power, his demonic qualities dominated his mind and forced him to do harmful things. He then became known as Tarakasura, the Demonic Taraka. Harassed Devas went to Brahma and asked him to find a way to stop Tarakasura’s tortures. Brahma said that he was helpless. He has given a boon to Tarakasura and only Lord Shiva’s son can kill him.  Devas told him that Lord Shiva mostly remains in Samadhi and He is not interested in marrying. Brahma told Indra and other Devas to go to Kamadeva, the god of lust, and ask him to bring Lord Shiva’s mind to the world and make him think of getting married. Indra called Kamadeva and asked him to do the same.

Kamadeva went with pride to do his job. He was very confident about his powerful arrows which have never returned without success. He went with his friend Spring where Lord Shiva was meditating. Both of them created a very lustful environment around Lord Shiva. Finding that nothing is bringing Lord Shiva’s mind down, Kamadeva finally shoots his powerful arrows at Lord Shiva. That broke Lord Shiva’s meditation. He opened his eyes, and felt the lustful environment, but immediately realized that this was the work of Kamadeva. He opened his third eye of Knowledge. From that came a fire of discrimination and it burnt Kamadeva.

Reflections continue: Shri Pushpadanta is referring to this story of the scriptures in this shloka and describes the state of Lord Shiva’s mind and His power. Afterwards, Kamadeva’s wife Rati, Indra, Devas, Brahma, and Vishnu came to Lord Shiva and requested him to help out humanity by getting married. They said that Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya, was performing austerities to marry him.

Lord Shiva said to them that he had burnt Kamadeva to set up an example to the Devas and spiritual seekers not to yield to the lust. He said that lust and anger are the doors to hell. They don’t let the mind rise beyond the body and mind and they drag it to the lowest level which is filled with vices.  If they want to make spiritual progress and attain the highest blissful state ‘Samadhi’, they have to control lust and anger.    

We find this thought in the Bhagavad Gita. When Arjuna asked, “Under what compulsion does a person commit sin?” Then Shri Krishna replied,

“Know that the lust and anger, created by Rajas, are our enemies. They are all-devouring and are the cause of all sin.” Bhagavad Gita (3.37)

Lord Shiva said that he is blissful within and sees no need to get married, but to help out humanity and was pleased by the devotees’ prayers, he will marry Parvati. Later, their son Kartikeya killed Tarakasura and brought peace to the world.

Lord Shiva also set up an example as a householder. He didn’t keep many belongings and remained in a meditative state when He was alone, and when He was with Mother Parvati, they both enjoyed spiritual discourses.

Less than one percent of humanity renounces the world to realize God and to serve all. Most of the ninety-nine percent of people remain in the world. Among them, those who like to realize God, have to struggle hard. Sri Ramakrishna said that householders also can realize God, but it is hard for them. Day and night they are surrounded by an environment that is filled with lust and greed. Every now and then, they have to go into solitude, away from this environment, and think about what is permanent and what is not permanent. By reflection, they should realize that God or Brahman is the Ultimate Reality, and this world is for a few days. After one or two children, husband and wife should help each other in their spiritual path and live like brother and sister. Householders should earn money honestly and live a simple life. They have to develop detachment and offer all the results to God. The path of detachment has been described in the Bhagavad Gita. Sri Ramakrishna said that ‘Holy Company’ also helps to withdraw minds from worldly thoughts and focus on God.     

Another lesson we learn from this shloka is ‘not to disrespect any person, in particular, one who has total self-control’. Saints and spiritual seekers practice having total self-control. One sign of sainthood is to have total self-control.  By being disrespectful to the Saints, we actually harm ourselves. Nothing happens to the Saints. Kamadeva considered Lord Shiva as an ordinary person and with his pride he was disrespectful to Him by shooting arrows at Him. As a result, he was burnt to death. Shri Pushpadanta uses proper poetic phrases saying that Kamadeva, whose other name is ‘Smara” (one who exists in memory) became ‘Smartavyatma’ and became a subject of memory.