The ultimate power, supreme God, the creator and the destroyer of the universe himself- Lord Shiva, known by 108 names is one of the most revered male deities of Hindus. He is regarded as one of the Trinity Gods who are believed to administer the whole universe. Lord Shiva is a blend of anger and calmness.
There are many stories about Lord Shiva existence, power, strength, miracles in Hindu mythology that stun people. A number of unknown facts are still unknown, that will you amazed.
Fact 1:
The God of love, Kamadeva had to face the harsh consequence when he tried to distract Lord Shiva while meditation. It was done when other Devas (Gods) were engaged in a war against evil Tarkasur, they needed Lord Shiva’s help. But, the lord was busy meditating.
Kamadeva was asked to distract Shiva using his love arrows. This raged Shiva and as a result, he burned down Kamadeva to ashes.
Fact 2:
It is known that Lord Shiva consumes bhang ( a drink made from cannabis ) and smokes weed. Even Aghoris ( yogis ) and Shivaites, ‘followers of Shiva’ smoke weed as this helps them to concentrate on hard yogic practices.
According to Vedas, marijuana is of great importance as it has medical benefits. The moderate consumption of marijuana is considered beneficial.
Fact 3:
The Trishul ( Trident ) of Lord Shiva marks it’s significance as a representation of three basic and fundamental dimensions of life. They are- the inside world, the world around him and the expansive world.
It is believed that one can attain inner peace if they have control over the bases of life.
Fact 4:
People would have noticed the horizontal lines of ashes on the forehead of the three-eyed God. But even those three lines are of great importance. They represent the destruction of three worlds of Hinduism.
Fact 5:
Another lesser known fact is that according to Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva had cursed a crore God and goddesses for not waking up on time. It is said that on the way to Kashi along with a crore other gods, Lord Shiva had asked them to wake up before sunrise the following day.
The next day, no one woke up except him. In anger, Shiva left alone to Kashi ( Varanasi ) and cursed all other gods and goddesses and turned them into stone images.
Fact 6:
Lord Shiva had once seduced the wives of sages who believed that Karma is above worshipping. The sages believed that performing rituals is more important than praying to God. This they stopped worshipping.
To make them understand the importance of prayers, Shiva took the form of a naked beggar and Lord Vishnu took the form of Mohini.
The naked Lord and Mohini equally enchanted the wives of sages and the sages respectively. They lost their hearts and started following them on the streets. They forgot their work i.e. the art of performing rituals. But when they saw their wives following the naked beggar, they started using their karmic powers towards the lord by sending snakes, fire towards him.
They then realised the supreme power is only God and praying is more important than Karma.
Fact 7:
Another fact related to Mohini and Shiva must be known. It is said that Shiva was attracted to Mohini-avatar of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu took this female form to deceive demons but Shiva got enchanted as well. Kama overpowered Shiva and his seed fell upon giving birth to Ayappa.
Ayappa, later killed Mahishi, sister of Mahishasur ( demon ).
Fact 8:
The residence of Lord Shiva, Mount Kailash is believed to be the centre of the universe. It is the only mountain range at the base of which a freshwater, Mansarovar and a saltwater lake, Rakshas Tal can be found together.
This represents positive and negative energies in the world and how to maintain a balance between them.
Fact 9:
The Hindu God is no doubt powerful and strong. He himself knew that his fierceness could not be handled by any lady in the world when it comes to sexual life, not even his wife, Parvati.
But since Parvati insisted Shiva for intimacy from her husband, Shiva even after denying many times could not help and vanished along with his wife.
Their sexual activity lasted for several months and when it resulted in the shaking of the earth, other gods requested them to come back. This is when the lord realized his wife, Parvati’s strength as well and bowed down to her.
Fact 10:
The story behind Nandi, the vehicle of Shiva is lesser known by the people. It is believed that Surabhi, the mother of all cows gave birth to a large number of perfectly white cows. These cows produced milk in very large quantities. As a result, this flooded Kailash and disturbed meditating Shiva. The raged lord opened his third eye and some of the cow turned brown and stopped giving milk.
To calm him down other gods gifted him a magnificent and powerful bull, Nandi who was a son of Surabhi and Kashyapa. There are some other stories as well related to Lord Shiva which are unknown to mankind. But these facts somehow came to be known by the human race for improving their lifestyle and learn about eternal power that it is formless, limitless and greatest of all.
