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shiva lingam - A Glorious Worship
shiva lingam is the holy symbol of Lord shiva that is considered
quite sacred and worshipped with devotion by the devotees. The sanskrit word
li.ngam means symbol, so shiva lingam means symbol of shiva. It
is considered the foremost sacred symbol for shaivaites and has been
worshiped for ages. The purANas like shiva mahA purANam
discuss about the superiority of li.nga worship. (1) (The Indus valley
excavation is an example for the presence of this worship in olden times.)
Once the god of creation brahma and the god of protection
mahA vishNu entered in an argument on deciding who is greater.
When those two great gods were fighting between themselves, the Greatest
of all Lord shiva who is formless and transcends everything appeared as a
pillar of flame. God told brahma and vishNu that whoever finds the head
or the foot of His flame form would be considered greater. brahmA took the
form of swan ( ha.msam ) and set out to reach the top of the Fire.
vishNu became a wild pig to see the foot of the Fire. Where are the limits
for the infinite God ? They could not succeed in spite of their heavy effort.
They realized their mistake and the peerless greatness of Lord shiva. The
God who can never be reached by ego appears as the form of love to those who
surrender to Him. Lord shiva appeared in the form of shiva li.ngam (which is
the shape of flame) for their benefit. They worshiped that oldest form of
Him and got blessed. The God who came to bless them from the Flame, from
the li.ngam is known as li.ngodbhava (2). This incident is
depicted in shiva mahA purANam (1) and many other scriptures.
As the God stood as pillar of flame, the natural adornment for the
Lord is Holy Ash. (As ash would be found on the surface of the fire).
As the God stood as the Luminat Flame that stood up the shiva sahasranAma
hails God as Urdva retas and the shiva aShtottara as hiraNya
retas. The hymn that starts nidhana pataye namaH,
refers to many similarities of Flame and shivalinga.
God is formless, attributeless and omnipresent. This state is
called arUpa (formless). For the benefit of the pashus,
He took the form of shiva li.ngam which is neither form nor formless but is
a symbol. This symbol of Him is called arUparUpam (formless form).
He took many forms out of His mercy to bless all, which are called
rUpams. (2). shaivam worships the God in all these three states.
The oldest form that the formless God took namely the shiva li.ngam is called
sadAshiva mUrtam and is worshipped in the altar of His abodes
(temples). The forms that He later took which are called mAhEshwara
mUrtam are worshipped in the outer circles in a temple.
This shiva li.nga worship is superior because it makes the worship
simple because of the form while maintaining the truth that God is not having
any definite form. There are a lot more marvelous principles behind the
shiva li.nga worship which could be found in detail in standard scriptures.
1. sanatkumAra sa.mhita (shiva mahA purANam)
2. lingodbhava in mAhEshwara mUrthams
3. mayamatham (about the procedures of installing shiva li.ngam )
4. thirumandhiram - seventh thandhiram
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