The Legend of Mallikarjun

Mallikarjun Temple is one of the sacred jyotirlingam of Lord Shiva situated at Srisailam in the dense forest of Nallamali . According to puraans, once Lord Kartikaya , the son of lord Shiva was annoyed with parents because he had to suffer defeat from the hands of his younger brother Lord Ganesha. Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati were sad about this event. Despite their best efforts Lord Kartikya went away from home. When the news about their son came , they went to met him at the Kraunch Mountain, where Lord Kartikaya was residing at that moment. On hearing the news of the arrival of his parents , Lord kartikaya decided to ran away from there. At last Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati assumed the form of jyotirlingam and decided to stay near to his son at the mountain of Srisailam. Still it is believe that on amavasya day Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati visits their son’s abode to met their son. The form of divine energies present here are known as “MallikaArjun”. The word “Mallika” is another name of goddess Parvati where as “Arjun” is another name of lord shiva. This sacred place is situated at the banks of river Krishna( Patal Ganga). This place is so sacred abode of lord Shiva that it is also known as “Dakshin-Kailash”. It is believe that this place provide salvation and liberation from the cycle of life and death. There is one more legend prevailing in the region. As per this, there was a princess named “Chandravati” who was very religious and doing tapasya in the forest. One day she observed that one cow among the cattle is not giving the milk. She followed that cow and noticed that the cow poured all her milk in a distant place over a shivlinga . On that night Lord Shiva appeared in her dream and told her that the lingam where cow poured her milk is the manifestation of Lord Shiva himself. After that darshan of Lord Shiva princess Chandravati built a temple as “Mallikarjun Swamy”

Panch Teerath

Kashi, is the amongst the oldest city of the world. It is the abode of 330 million gods and goddesses.As per mytholology, this city stands on the trident(trishul) of Lord Shiva. Just to meet Lord Shiva, the river Ganga changes its direction of flow for this city only. The spiritual life of kashi present around the ghaats(banks) of river Ganga. There are nearly 84 ghaats in varanasi. But to begin the spiritual journey, 5 ghaats are considered as most sacred.It is a ritual to bath in these ghaat first. This ritual is called “Panch-teerath” yaatra.

Assi Ghaat is the southern most bank of the river Ganga from where this yaatra commences. The order of yaatra is as follows

1) Assi ghaat

2) Dashashwamedh ghaat

3) Adi-keshav ghaat

4) Panch ganga ghaat

5) Manikarnika ghaat

But in modern days, adi-keshav ghaat is replaced by Kedar ghaat in yaatra. Bathing in these 5 ghaats bring salvation. This journey is conducted in a boat. Only after bathing in these sacred ghaat, one should visit the Lord Kaashi Vishwanath temple, the most sacred jyotirlinga form of Lord Shiva. Even amongst the above 5, the Dashashwamedh ghaat, Panch ganga ghaat and Manikarnika ghaat are the most sacred one constituting the “tri-teerath” yaatra.

This picture was clicked when I was doing Panch-teerath yaatra

काशी यात्रा का महत्व

काशी भगवान् शिव की नगरी है।इस का उल्लेख पुरानो में वर्णित है। यह सप्त पवित्रतम क्षेत्रों में से एक है जो कि मोक्षदायक है। ऐसी मान्यता है कि प्रलय काल के दौरान सिर्फ काशी ही ऐसा क्षेत्र है जो उस के प्रभाव से बच पाया था। काशी रहस्य के अनुसार भगवान् शिव ने कहा था कि यह मेरा सब से प्रिये निवास स्थान है। यहाँ का हर कण शिवमय है। उन्हों ने इस स्थान का नाम आनंदवन दिया था। यह क्षेत्र भगवान् शिव को बहुत ही प्रमोददायक है। शिव् पुराण के अनुसार इश्वार कि शक्तियां किसी भी क्षण और किसी भी स्थिति में इस स्थान कि नहीं त्यागती। इसी लिए काशी को अविमुक्त भी कहा गया है। काशी ही एक ऐसा क्षेत्र है जहाँ पर यम का भय नहीं होता। काशी में मृत्यु विशेष रूप से मोक्ष्दाय्नी है । शिव पुराण में स्पष्ट रूप से लिखा है कि काशी में मृत्यु के लिए न तो ज्ञान क़ी अपेक्षा है और न ही भक्ति क, न कर्म की आवश्यकता है और न ही दान की,न संस्कृति की अपेक्षा है और न ही धर्म की, यहाँ तक की पूजन की भी अपेक्षा नहीं है। ठीक इसी तरह यदि इस पावन और पवित्र नगरी में यदि पाप हो जाए तो वे अत्यंत कठिन यम की यातना भोगनी पड़ती है। गंगा नदी के तट पर स्थित इस शहर की पवित्रता इस बात से स्पष्ट हो जाती है कि केवल यहीं पर गंगा नदी जो कि हिमालय से उत्तर दिशा से दक्षिण कि तरफ (अपने से ) बहती है, अपना मार्ग बदल कर दक्षिण दिशा से काशी में प्रवेश करती है और उत्तर दिशा कि तरफ से बहार निकल जाती है। इस विचित्र मार्ग परिवर्तन इस बात का प्रतिक है कि जिस प्रकार शिवलिंग में जल हमेशा उत्तर दिशा कि तरफ ही गिरता है उसी तरह इस शिवमय नगरी में गंगा अपना मार्ग परिवर्तन कर के उत्तर कि तरफ से नगर से बाहर निकल जाती है.अपनी यात्रा के दौरान गंगा काशी में दो नदियों से संगम करती है-वरुणा और अस्सी। इसी कारण काशी अब वाराणसी नाम से भी प्रसिद्धहै। शायद यही कारण है कि काशी यात्रा ने मेरी ज़िंदगी बदल दी है.

Curse to Moon

Twenty-seven of Daksha’s daughters were married to the moon-god Chandra. One of these wives was named Rohini and Chandra loved Rohini more than he loved the other wives. The other wives felt neglected and they complained to their father. Daksha repeatedly warned his son-in-law to devote himself equally to all twenty-seven wives. But Chandra was in no mood to listen. Daksha thereupon cursed Chandra that he would gradually fade away. Brahma told him that the only recourse was to pray to Shiva. Chandra went to Prabhasa tirtha and made a lingam on the banks of the river Sarasvati. He prayed to Shiva for six months. At the end of the tapasya Shiva appeared before Chandra and offered to grant him a boon. Lord Shiva said ,  "Daksha’s curse cannot be entirely ignored. During krishnapaksha you will wane. And during shuklapaksha (the bright part of the lunar fortnight) you will wax. That should satisfy everybody. "   Chandra was delighted. The lingam to which Chandra prayed is Somantha, the first of the Jyotirlingas.