Lord Siva

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Sri Vraja-dhama-mahimamrita

 

The Nectarean Glories of Vraja-dhama

 

(6)jaya jaya gopiswara vrindavana-maj jaya jaya krishna-sakha batu dwija-raj

 

(6) All glories, all glories to Gopisvara Siva, who resides in Vrindavana in order to protect the holy dhama. All glories, all glories to Krishna's funny brahmana friend, Madhumangala.

 

Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.5.33

 

dhyeyam- sada paribhavaghnam abhista-doham

tirthaspadam siva-virinci-nutam saranyam

bhrityarti-ham pranata-pala bhavabdhi-potam

vande maha-purusa te caranaravindam

 

"We offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of Him, the Lord, upon whom we should always meditate. He destroys insults to His devotees. He removes the distresses of His devotees and satisfies their desires. He, the abode of all holy places and the shelter of all sages, is worshipable by Lord Siva and Lord Brahma. He is the boat of the demigods for cro! ssing the ocean of birth and death.

 

Srimad-Bhagavatam 12.13.16

 

(Suta Gosvami instructs the sages of Naimisaranya)

 

nimna-ganam yatha ganga

devanam acyuto yatha

vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh

purananam idam tatha

 

Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Sambhu [siva] the greatest of Vaisnavas, so Srimad-Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas.

 

Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.20

 

svayambhur naradah sambhuh

kumarah kapilo manuh

prahlado janako bhismo

balir vaiyasakir vayam

 

Lord Brahma, Bhagavan Narada, Lord Siva, the four Kumaras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahuti], Svayambhuva Manu, Prahlada Maharaja, Janaka Maharaja, Grandfather Bhisma, Bali Maharaja, Sukadeva Gosvami and I myself(Yamaraj) know the real religious principle.

 

Bhagavad Gita 10.8 Purport by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad

 

Narayana Upanisad

 

[.....] narayanad brahma jayate, narayanad prajapatih prajayate, narayanad indro jayate, narayanad astau vasavo jayante, narayanad ekadasa rudra jayante, narayanad dvadasadityah: "From Narayana, Brahma is born, and from Narayana the patriarchs are also born. From Narayana, Indra is born, from Narayana the eight Vasus are born, from Narayana the eleven Rudras are born, from Narayana the twelve Adityas are born." This Narayana is an expansion of Kri! shna.[.....]

 

eko vai narayana asin na brahma na isano napo nagni-samau neme dyav-aprithivi na naksatrani na suryah: "In the beginning of the creation there was only the Supreme Personality Narayana. There was no Brahma, no Siva, no water, no fire, no moon, no stars in the sky, no sun." (Maha Upanisad 1) In the Maha Upanisad it is also said that Lord Siva was born from the forehead of the Supreme Lord. Thus the Vedas say that it is the Supreme Lord, the creator of Brahma and Siva, who is to be worshiped.

 

In the Moksa-dharma Krishna also says,

 

prajapatim ca rudram capy

aham eva srijami vai

tau hi mam na vijanito

mama maya-vimohitau

 

"The patriarchs, Siva and others are created by Me, though they do not know that they are created by Me because they are deluded by My illusory energy." In the Varaha Purana it is also said, narayanah paro devas

tasmaj jatas caturmukhah

tasmad rudro 'bhavad devah

sa ca sarva-jnatam gatah

 

"Narayana is the Supreme! Personality of Godhead, and from Him Brahma was born, from whom Siva was born."[.....]

 

Sri Brahma-samhita 5.15

 

vamangad asrijad visnum daskinangat prajapatim

jyotir-lingamayam sambhum kurca-desad avasrijat

 

Maha Visnu created Visnu from His left side, Prajapati from His right side, and He created Sambhu(Siva), the divine manifested masculine effulgence, from between His Eyebrows.

 

Purport: by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur

 

[.....]The Divine manifested masculine effuglence form of Sambhu(Shiva) is the plenary manifestation of his origin, the original primal male generative Sambhu(Shiva).[.....]

 

At the end of the Nrisimha-tapani Upanisad it is said:

 

"One brahmana is equal to a hundred non-brahmanas. One brahmana householder is equal to a hundred other brahmanas. One vanaprastha is equal to a hundred householders. One sannyasi is equal to a hundred v! anaprasthas. One chanter of Siva-mantras is equal to a hundred sannyasis. One teacher of the Atharvangirasa-sakha is equal to a hundred chanters of Siva-mantras. One teacher of the regal Nrisimha-mantra is equal to a hundred teachers of the Atharvangirasa-sakha. A teacher of the regal Nrisimha-mantra goes to a realm where there are no sufferings, where the sun does not shine, where the wind does not blow, where the moon and the stars do not shine, where fire does not burn, where death cannot enter, where there are no faults, where there is eternal bliss, eternal, peace, and eternal auspiciousness, a place worshiped by Brahma and the demigods, a place meditated on by the yogis, a place where the yogi go and never return, a place glorified in the Rig Veda with the words:[....]

 

In the Brihat-sahasra-nama-stotra, Lord Siva affirms:

 

navaisnavaya datavyam

vikalpopahatatmane

bhakti-sraddha-vihinaya

visnu-samanya-darsine

 

"These thousand names should not be given to one who is not a devotee of Lord Visnu, to one whose heart is destroyed by mental speculation, to one who has no faith in devotional service, or to one who thinks the demigods are equal to Lord Visnu."

 

na yanti tat-param sreyo

visnum sarvesvaresvaram

sarva-bhavair anasritya

puranam purusottamam

 

"They who do not wholeheartedly take shelter of Lord Visnu, the master of all the demigods, the ancient Supreme Personality of Godhead, do not attain the most auspicious condition of life.

 

At the end of those prayers Goddess Durga also affirms:

 

aho sarvesvaro visnuh

sarva-devottamottamah

jagad-adi-gurur mudhaih

samanya iva viksyate

 

"Lord Visnu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the demigods, the first spiritual master of the universe. Only fools think the demigods are His equals."

 

yam uddisya sada natho

maheso 'pi dig-ambarah

jata-bhasmanuliptangas

tapasvi viksate janaih

 

"It is to attain Lord Visnu that the demigod Siva performs austerities, his hair matted and his naked body covered with ashes. That is why the people see Lord Siva in that way.

 

In the Hari-vamsa, Lord Siva says:

 

"O brahmanas in the mode of pure goodness, please always worship Lord Krishna. Please always chant the mantras of Lord Krishna. Please always meditate on Lord Krishna."

 

In the Gopla-tapani Upanisad (1.31-33) it is said:

 

"by worshiping Lord Krishna, Siva became free from illusion, and by chanting this mantra in a solitary place, he attained the Lord. He attained the Lord's transcendental abode, which is like a sun in the sky, the Lord's abode on which the demigods gaze."

 

In the Gopala-tapani Upanisad (1.35-38) it is also said:

 

" One shoud chant this (Krishna) mantra, of which from the first word the element earth came, from the decond word water, from the third fire, from the fourth air, and from the fifth ether. By chanting this mantra Lord Siva entered Lord Visnu's eternal spiritual abode.

 

In the Trailokya-sammohana-tantra Lord Siva, speaking to Goddess Durga:

 

"As cintamani is the best of jewels, kamadhenu is the best of cows, a chaste and saintly woman is the best of women, a brahmana is the best of men, and the Gaaga is the best of rivers, so this Krishna mantra is the best of mantras.

 

"That is why, O goddess, I chant this Krishna mantra every day. In this world of moving and unmoving beings there is nothing else like this mantra."

 

In the Pancaratra, Sri Narada explains:

 

"One should offer a one-hundredth part of the remnants of Lord Visnu's meal and the water that has washed His feet to Visvaksena and also to the linga of Lord Siva."

 

the devotee should offer a hundredth part of the Lord's remnants to all the Vaisnavas.

 

"May Bali, Vibhisana, Bhisma, Kapila, Narada, Arjuna, Prahlada, Ambarisa, Vasu, Hanuman, Siva, Visvaksena, Uddhava, Akrura, the four kumaras headed by Sanaka, and the sages headed by Sukadeva accept these remnants, which are the mercy of Lord SriKrishna."

 

 

In the Skanda Purana, Lord Siva explains:

 

"The wise know that chanting mantras is equal to ten million Vedi studies, yajnas are equal to ten million mantra-chantings, and songs glorifying Lord Visnu are equal to ten million yajnas."

 

In another verse of the Skanda Purana, Lord Siva tells Uma:

 

"O beautiful one, even if it is performed without the proper mantras or the proper actions, a person who offers arati to Lord Krishna attains all perfection.

 

In the Skanda Purana, in a conversation of Sri Siva and Sri Uma, it is said:

 

"A person who, His head and knees touching the ground, bows down before Lord Krishna, the master of the demigods, attains the result of an asvamedha-yajna."

 

In the Skanda Purana, Lord Siva explains:

 

"Even a sinner who has committed ten thousand murders will become purified by touching the Lord's conchshell-water or the water that has washed the Lord Sri Krishna's feet. Of this there is no doubt."

 

In the Padma Purana, Pulastya Muni tells King Bhagiratha:

 

arcitaih kotibhir lingair

nitya yat kriyate phalam

tat phalam sata-sahasram

pite padodake hareh

 

"By once drinking the water that has washed the feet of Lord Hari one attains a hundred thousand times the pious benefit of daily worshiping ten million Siva-lingas.

 

In the Skanda Purana it is said:

 

"Lord Siva, who carries on his head the Ganga, which flows from Lord Visnu's feet, well knows the glory of the water that has washed Lord Visnu's feet. That is why sin can never touch him.

 

Class by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad

Bhagavad-gita 2.27-38

 

Los Angeles, December 11, 1968

 

Q & A

 

Madhudvisa: Prabhupada? What is the position of Lord Siva?

 

Prabhupada: Lord Siva is a demigod, but he is higher than all other demigods. He's higher than Lord Brahma also. But he's not the Supreme Lord. Just like there are different gradations. That is not difficult to understand. In society also, there are different gradations. Similarly, the living entities, there are different gradations. So all the living entities, they are, some of them are situated in higher planets, some of them are situated in lower planets, some of them are situated in high-grade life, in low-grade life. So the demigods are also, they are living entities, but they are enjoying better standard of life due to their acts of piety. But Lord Siva is not amongst the living entities. He's above the living entities but he is counted as one of the demigods. But his position is better th! an Lord Brahma even. Brahma is to be the highest iving entity within the universe, and Lord Siva's position is higher than Lord Brahma.

 

Madhudvisa: Does Lord Siva have a wife, like, a consort?

 

Prabhupada: Yes. Parvati. Sati. Everyone has got wife. Yes. Sakti.

 

Devotee: Is Lord Siva a devotee of Lord Krishna?

 

Prabhupada: Yes. Everyone is devotee. Only the madmen, they are not devotees. Any sane man is devotee of... Sanity means become devotee. That is sanity. And one who is not devotee is insane, insanity. So how you can expect that Lord Siva is not devotee? He's not insane. We are, the material, the ordinary living entities, in the lower grades of life, they are all insane.