As a concept of divinity, I have always admired the tales of Lord Shiva. It started primarily as a child when my birthday coincided with Maha Shivarathri and I was keen to know the story of Lord Shiva. Growing up, I picked the infamous Shiva Trilogy book by Amish Tripathi, inspired by Lord Shiva. Reading the book, my love and admiration for the lord grew tenfold.

I vividly remember reading the book sitting on my office bus. Halfway, there was a Shiva temple and I used to never miss out on taking a quick glance at the lord’s idol on top of that temple. It just used to make my day so much better and I felt the divinity grow inside me.

Hence, on the occasion of Mahashivarathri on the 26th of this month, I want to share some interesting stories of Lord Shiva. As a devotee, it was challenging for me to gather my top picks:

Let’s begin!

1. The Birth of Nataraja and Rudra Tandav
2. Depiction of True Love
3. First meeting with the Groom and Bride’s Mother
4. The Legend of Ardhanarishwara
5. Thripuranthaka (Destroyer of Three Cities)

The Birth of Nataraja and Rudra Tandav

Pre-text:

One of the popular forms of Lord Shiva is Nataraja (Nata means Dance and Raja means King). He is the king of the infamous Tandav or the ‘Dance of the Cosmic Form’. When I used to learn Bharatanatyam, we used to always worship the idol of Lord Shiva in the form of Nataraja indicating that he is the ultimate Natya Guru (Dance Teacher). It is interesting to know the origin of this divine and powerful form of the lord.

The Story:

There once was a demon named Apasmara who had the body of an infant and the face of a Rakshasa (demon). He symbolized arrogance, ego, and epilepsy. He decided to gain more power and did immense penance and hence was granted the boon of immortality by the Gods.

Misusing his power, he inflicted terror on humans causing grave destruction on Earth. Lord Shiva, enraged by this cruelty, took the form of Nataraja and performed the Rudra Tandav (Dance of Destruction) and crushed the demon’s head with his right leg. Being aware of the demon’s boon of immortality, Lord Shiva is assumed to have taken this avatar to keep crushing the demon’s head for eternity.

(Ref: Amar Granth)

The Very First Depiction of True Love

Pre-text:

There are countless stories that depict true love and its bounds. But according to me, I find the story of Lord Shiva and Sati (Parvati) to be the truest form of Love (considering this is the month of Love, too!) So here goes the story of the OG true love:

The Story:

Sati or Dakshayani was the daughter of King Daksha who ruled Bharata. Growing up, Sati heard a lot of stories about Lord Shiva and eventually, she developed a desire to marry the lord. Back then, Lord Shiva was in the form of a yogi with no interest in worldly desires. In order to impress him, Sati decided to sacrifice her worldly pleasures and decided to do penance in a forest with no food and water.

Impressed by her devotion, Lord Shiva agreed to wed her. However, Sati’s father Daksha was not keen on this union. He wanted his daughter to marry a rich prince instead of a yogi. However, he couldn’t stop their wedding and Lord Shiva and Sati wed happily.

But, one day, King Daksha decided to conduct a holy ritual (yagna) and invited all the Gods except Lord Shiva. Enraged by this, Sati decided to confront her father, much against the warnings of Lord Shiva.

Unfortunately, when she went to visit her father, he began to insult Lord Shiva in front of the guests. Enraged, Goddess Sati, decided to immolate herself in the sacred fire and vowed to return as a daughter of a father who respects Lord Shiva.

On the other hand, when Lord Shiva learned of Sati’s sacrifice, his rage knew no bounds. He picked a strand of his hair and threw it against the mountain. With this emerged Veerabhadra and Bhadrakali and they were given orders to destroy Daksha and his yagna.

Later, Lord Shiva arrived at the scene of the yagna, carried the remaining body of Goddess Sati, and wandered the netherworld for years.

Witnessing this melancholy, Lord Vishnu took his Sudharshana Chakra and cut Sati into various parts which fell on Earth. These places are now called Shaktipeetas.

(Ref: https://mythologyandvaishbhat.wordpress.com/2020/11/22/shiva-and-his-wife-sati/)

First Meeting with the Groom and the Bride’s Mother

Pre-text

Growing up, this was my first story with the moral of ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. I feel that our future generations must know this story to understand the real meaning of this moral.

The Story

Heartbroken and sad with Sati’s demise, Shiva spent his years in severe penance. On the other hand, Sati reincarnates as Parvati, the daughter of King Himavan and Menavati. Parvati was deep in devotion to Lord Shiva since her birth and she wished to marry him. She also does deep penance and meditation going through all the troubles amidst the enormous Himalayas to gain Lord Shiva’s attention.

Long story short, Lord Shiva realizes that Parvati is none other than his own wife, Sati’s reincarnation. Hence, he decides to wed Parvati.

On the wedding day, Lord Shiva reaches the wedding destination in his usual yogi form, covered in ash and wearing animal skin with huge followers of carcasses. Looking at this rather unusual form, queen Meenavati faints in shock. Parvati then rushes to Lord Shiva and requests him to come in a better form just for the sake of the wedding. Then Lord Shiva explains the reason behind his coming in that way was to teach a lesson to the queen that one’s worth should not be based on their looks but their personality.

(Ref: https://isha.sadhguru.org/mahashivratri/shiva/shiva-parvati-strange-wedding/)

The legend of Ardhanarishwara

Pre-text

This story is much needed for the current generation considering the discussions around feminism and basic human existence. It was Lord Shiva who was the first ever entity to showcase the aspect that masculine energy must combine with feminine energy to balance harmony in the world. Only when both energies are in perfect balance, the world would achieve peace.

The Story

Lord Shiva is considered to be a Yogi and he was a revered teacher. Of his disciples, there was sage Bhrigu who was utterly devoted to Lord Shiva so much that every morning, he used to circumambulate or revolve around Lord Shiva three times before starting his day. However, goddess Parvati felt left out that she was not involved as she was the other half of the lord.

Understanding this Lord Shiva decided to put the sage to a test. First, the lord pulled Parvati close to him, however, the sage turned himself into a bird and circumambulated around Lord Shiva’s head. Second, the lord requested Parvati to sit on his lap and sage Bhrigu turned into a mouse and revolved around Lord Shiva only.

Seeing this, Lord Shiva decided that while the sage had pure devotion, it was important to realize that the lord is always accompanied by the goddess. Hence, Lord Shiva merges himself with goddess Parvati in a half-man, half-woman avatar which is why he is called ‘Ardhanarishwara’ meaning he is half-woman with feminine qualities.

(Ref: Blog on Ardhanarishwara)

Destroyer of three cities (Thripurantaka)

Pre-text

The first time I heard this story, I had goosebumps. It was sheer creativity and the combined intelligence of Gods and the supreme Lord that made me wonder about the powers of Lord Shiva.

The Story

There once was a demon called Tarakasura who was killed by Kartikeya, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati’. This demon had three sons – Tarakaksha, Kamalaksha, and Vidyunmali and they were collectively called Tripurasura. To avenge their father’s death, these three demons decided to do deep penance and pray to Lord Brahma to grant them a boon.

Soon, they were blessed with invincibility by Lord Bramha in the form of three cities that float in the heavens and are aligned only once in a thousand years. These cities were called Tripura. These three cities could only be destroyed once they are aligned parallelly as they should be shot using only one special arrow. Fuelled with such power, these demons wreaked havoc scaring all the humans and gods too.

Frustrated, the gods reached out to Lord Shiva for assistance. Understanding the whole story, Lord Shiva decided to help the gods but knowing that Tripura could be destroyed only when they were aligned, Shiva waited patiently for that opportunity.

When the opportunity hit, Lord Shiva hopped on a chariot driven by Lord Bramha. Lord Vishnu became the power of Lord Shiva’s arrow – the Pashupathastra. Collectively, all gods assisted in this operation and Lord Shiva could successfully destroy the three demons by destroying Tripura.

These are just a few of the stories that I picked from all the amazing miracle tales of Lord Shiva. Is there any particular story that you like? Do share!