Siva Maha Purana
शिव मह पुराण
śiva maha purāṇa
Siva Mahapurana as its name suggest is a holy text dedicated to and glorify Lord Siva. Siva Mahapurana had 12 Samhita(chapter) and one Lakh slokas in its original form; but a greate number of its slokas were lost and we are now left with seven chapters and 24,000 slokas. The 5 lost chapters, the reference of which found in other puranas are: Vainayaka Samhita, Matri Samhita, Rudraikadasha Samhita, Sahasrakotirudra Samhita, Dharma Samhita
In the Introduction to Siva Purana, Sage Shaunaka express his desire to Sage Suta Mahamuni about knowing the stories about Siva that could cleanse mind and help to attain Moksha. Suta, a diciple of Vyasa then narrated Sivamahapuranam which was originally told by lord Siva to Brahma. Brahma taught the same to Sanath kumara and Narada; from them the great Vyasa learned this particular Purana and compiled as Sivamahapurana. The first seven chapters of Siva Mahapuran recites the stories of Siva Mahathmya and the benefits of listening and chanting Siva katha and how to get the best out of it. The stories related to Siva is told in the subsequent chapters. OM Nama Shivaya, the Siva Panchakshari Mantra (Penta syllable Ode) are revealed in this compilation of Purana.
Om Nama Siva consists of the five letters Na,Ma,Shi,Va,Ya, or in Sanskrit “न” “म” “शि” “व” “य” and is called Shiv Panchakshari Mantra . These are the five holy letters which are most important while worshiping Siva. Na is the Lord's concealing grace, Ma is the world, Si stands for Sivam (auspiciousness), Va is His revealing grace, Ya is the soul. Shiv Panchakshari Mantra is also taken as derived from Panchabhuta Tatwa, the five seeds of the aforesaid natural elements. Na Consecrates Prithvi Tatva(Earth as matter), Ma does the same with Jal Tatva (Water factor), Shi stands for Agni Tatva (Fire element), Va stands for Vayu Tatva (Air factor) and finally, Ya stands for Akash Tatva (Sky element). Meaning of the word is: salutation to the Auspicious One or the Auspicious One exist in me.
The Shiva Mahapuran are divided into the following Seven Samhitas (Cantos).
Vageshwari Samhita, Rudra Samhita, Shatrudra Samhita, Kotirudra Samhita, Uma Samhita, Kailash Samhita, Vayaviya Samhita
The mantra Om Nama Siva or the Shiv Panchakshari Mantra is first told in Yajurveda Samhita (Rudra Namaka).
Contents of Shiva Mahapurana
The contents of Shiva Mahapuran are separated into the following seven Samhitas.
Vageshwari Samhita
Shaunkadi Muni’s request . The greatness Shiva Mahapuran.Final destiny path and the seeker.Liberation,thinking meditation and listening.Secrets of Shiv ling and the statue.The interaction between Bhrama and Vishnu. Honesty of Vishnu honoured. Mercy on Brahma and a Kevda flower by Shiva.Practices in Shiva pooja and Maha Shivarathri.Punav mantra advised to Brahma and Vishnu by Lord Shiva.Establishment of Shiva Ling and methods of worship and its benefits.Places of Shiva pilgrimage and specialty of each place.Daily religious duties (nithya karma) and duties of a person in grahastha ashram.The five mahayagna's with the principals and practices. Significance of area of donations and various vessels used in pooja. Parthiv pooja of Lord Shiva. Explanation on OM and Shiva ling worship methodology. The pictures of salvation and liberation and the methods of its achievements. Specialties of Shiva ling and Lord Shiva's worship. The Vedanta methodology of parthiv Shiva ling prayers. Types and numbers of parthiv Shiva ling, the methods and benefits of pooja vidihi. Sacrifices to Lord Shiva, (nai-vaidya) and pooja with Bili-patra. The powers and significance of bhasma (the holy ash), Bili and Rudraksha. The greatness of bhasma and its benefits. Rudraksha-its glory.
Rudra Samhita
Shushtiushakyan Kand: Description of tapa by Mardi. Desires of Mardi. Advises from Lord Vishnu to Mardi. Questions asked to Lord Bhrama by Naradji. Creation of Vishnu. Arguments between Vishnu and Bhrama. Description of shadha of Bhrama. Mahadev's appearance and description of Shivatatava. Blessings of mahadev and creation of Mahakal. Methods of Shiva pooja. The nirgun and saugun bhakthi of Lord Shiva. Methods of prayers to Lord Shiva. Different types of Shiva pooja. Description of the nature and creation that was produced by Bhrama. Characters of Gunanidhi. Salvation of Gunanidhi. Friendship of Lord Shiva and Kuber. Description of Rudra incarnation.
Sathi Kand: The holy tale of Sathi. Appearance of Kamdev. Curse of Bhrama to Kamdev and well wishes. Marriage of Kamdev with Rathidevi. Discription of the character of Sandya. The Tapa of Sandya and Lord Shiva's blessing to her. Appearance of Sandya from fire in the form of Asundhini. Appearance of vasant from the breath of Bhrama. Kamdev attempts to attract Lord Shiva and his failure. Vishnu advice to Bhrama. Appearance of Shivadevi and the blessing of Bhrama. Blessing of Shivadevi to King Dhaksha. Creation of Dacha and the curse from Naradji. Birth of Sathi and her childhood. Sathi's Shiva worship. Requisition of Vishnu and Bhrama to Lord Shiva. Blessings of Lord Shiva to Sathidevi. Kanyadan of Sathi by Dhaksha to Lord Shiva. Blessings of Lord Shiva to Bhrama. Lila's of Sathi and Shiva. The test to Ram by Shani. Separation of Sathi. Enimity of Shiva with Dhaksha. Strating of Dhaksha's sacrifice and Dhadhichi's sabha tyag. Sathi's attendance in Dhaksha's sacrifice. Sathi's anger. The departure of Sathi (Sathi's deh tyag). Creation of Veerbharu and Lord Shiva's orders to him. Attack of Veerbharu. The bad omens at the site of sacrifice of Dhaksha. Vishnu scolds Dhaksha. Dialoges between Vishnu and Veerbhadra. The war between Vishnu and Veerbhadra and the destruction of the sacrifice ceremony of Dhaksha. Dialoges between Dhadhichi and Navraj. War between Vishnu and Dhadhichi. The worships and prayers done by deva's to Lord Shiva. The remedies to the sorrows of Dhaksha and others. The correction of Dhaksha's sacrifice.
Parvathi kand: The creation of Maina an the story of its curse. The worship of Goddess Jagadamba by the Deva's. The blessing and help to Deva's by Jagadamba. The birth of Parvathi. The childhood deeds of Pathvathi. The dialoges between Narad and Himalaya. The description of dreams and short description of character of Lord Shiva. The creation of Mangalgraha the Bhoum. The meeting and unification of Shiva and Himalaya. The dialoges between Shiva and Himalaya. The dialoges between Shiva and Parvathi regarding Sankya and Vedantha. The creation of Vajag and his penance. The birth, penance of Tharakasur. The remedies to the sorrows of Deva's. The distruction of Kamdev. Vadva nal Charittra. The advises to Parvathi by Narad. The enormous penance of Parvathi. The effects of the tapa of Parvathi. The acceptance of Parvathi for marriage. The test for Parvathi. The test of Parvathi by Lord Shiva in the form of a Bhramachari. The appearance of Shiva in front of Parvathi. The dialoge between Shiv and Shiva. The visit of lord Shiva to Himalaya's place in the disguise of a beggar. The visit of Sapthadevas's to Himalaya's place. The character of King Anaranya. The characters of Padma and Pipla.. The preparation of marriage between Shiva and Parvathi, The departure of Lord Shiva for marriage. The arrival of Shiva at the gate of the city of Himalaya. The reception of Shiva and meeting between Deva's and Parvathi. The advises given by all to Maina and their difficulties in making her understand. The discription of the fantastic form of Shiva. The kanyadan of Himalaya to Shiva. The religious ritual of mangal phera of Shiva and Parvathi and desires (moh) of Bhrama. The insulting words of the Kshatriya's for Shiva. Re-creation of Kamdev as a result of the prayers of Rathidev. The duties of pathivratha (righteous wife). The journey of Shiva and Parvathi to Kailash.
Kumar kand: The birth of Karthik to Lord Shiva. The creation of Karthik near Nandkeshwar. Karthik crowned as Bhrahamand's (universe) in-charge. The special characters of Kumar. The attack of Karthik on Thatkasur. The war between deva's and Daithya's. The battle against Tharkasur by Indra, Vishnu and Veerbhadra. The killing of Tharkasur by Kumar Karthik. Killing of demons — Ban and Pralab and the description of victory of Kumar. The characters of Karthik and Shivadevi. The creation of Lord Ganesha. The argument between Ganesha and Shivgana. The description of war of Ganesha. The beheading of Ganesha. The recreation of Lord Ganesha. The rank of incharge of ganas (the followers) to Shri Ganesha. The preparation for the marriage of Ganesha. The marriage of Lord Ganesha.
Udha kand: The blessing of Bhrama to the three sons of Tharakasur. The prayers and chantings of deva's to Lord Shiva. Shiva stuti. The benefits of panchakar mantra used in the worship of Lord Shiva. The chariot and other preparations of equipments for war. The attack of Lord Shiva on Tripur. Jaldar's creation and his marriage. The war between Jaldhar and deva's. The war between Vishnu and Jaldhar. Dialoges between devrishi Narad and Jaldhar. The message of Jaldhar to 'surrender Parvathi' to Lord Shiva. The attack of Jaldhar on Kailash. The ferocious battle between Lord Shiva gan and demons. Battle between Lord Shiva and Jaldhar. The disruption of Vrundha's pathivrath (her sincierity towards her husband) and her dehtyag (death). The killing of Jaldhar. The worship of deva's. The worship of deva's and the distruction of vishnu's moh (desires). Shakchud's creation. The penance and marriage of Shankchud. The regime of Shankchud and the description of his previous birth. The worship of god of gods Lord Shiva. The advises of Lord Shiva. The distruction of Shanchud's forces. The killing of Shankchud. The curse of Tulsi to Vishnu. The killing of Hiranyakashyap. The tough penance of Andak and his procurement of blessing from Bhrama and related events. Strarting of the war and the dialoge of the messenger. The war of Andak and the procurement of the tilte of Swami to his followers. The event of Lord Shiva swallowing Shukra. The exit if Shukracharya. The life of gan (follower of Lord Shiva) to Andhak. The discription of procurement of life and the knowledge of death to Shukrachaarya. Ushacharitra - the disruption of marriage of Lord Shiva and Parvathi. Ushacharitra. The courageous deeds of Anirudha, his arrest and his liberation. The war between Banasur and Rudra with Shri Krishna. The cutting of Banasur's hands and reduction in his pride. The killing of Gajasur. The killing of Dhudhimbinihad. The killing of Vidal and Utpal the demons.
Shatrudra Samhita
The discription of five incarnations of Lord Shiva. The descriptions of eight statues of Lord Shiva. The Ardhanareshvar(half male and half female) incarnation of Lord Shiva. The nine incarnations from Mahamunishwar to Vrishab. The other 19 incarnations of Lord Shiva. Nandeshwar Avathar. The abhishek (holy bath) of Nandeshwar. Bhairava avathar. The other story of Bhairav. The characters of Nurshi. The depowerment of Nurshi's pride — The shalbha incarnation of Lord Shiva. The ghruhu pathi incarnation of Lord Shiva. Continuation of ghruhu pathi's story. Continuation of ghruhu pathi's story. Agneshwar avathar of Lord Shiva. Mahakal and other 10 avathars. The other 11 incarnations. The characters of Durvasa. Hanuman's character. Mahesh avathar. Vrushesh avathar. Vrushesh avathar(cont). Piplad avathar. The description of charects of Piplad. Vaishyanath avathar. Brijeshwar avathar. Pathinath and Bhrama ansh avathar. Vishnu darshan avathar. Avdhutheshwar avathar. Bhikshuvaurya avathar. Sureshwar avathar. Jatil bhramachari avathar. Suntharkanat avathar. Sadu vesh Bhrama avathar. Ashvathama avathar. Kiratha avathar and questions related to it; along with the answers and advises of Rishi Ved Vyas. The event of Kirat avathar and description of Arjun's penance. The killing of Mukdaitya(a demon)in Kirat avathar. The dialoges between Arjun and Kirath avathar bheel. The blessings to Arjun in Kirat avathar. Twelve jyothir ling.
Kotirudra Samhita
The descriptions of greatness of jyotir linga and the uplinga in different regions. The penance of Anusuya and Atri muni. The greatness of Atreshwar Shiva. The greatness of Nandikeshwar and the holy feet of Bhrama. The greatness of Nandkeshwar Shiv ling. Mahabal mahathma. The salvation of Chandal. The greatness of Shiv linga from Chandrabal to Pashupathinath. The reason for the linga form of existence of Lord Shiva. The reasons for creation of Batook. The greatness of twelve jyotir linga and the creation Somnath jyotir linga. Silikajun jyotir ling creation. The creation of Mahakal jyotir ling. The greatness of Omkareshwar jyotir ling. The greatness of Kedareshwar jyotir linga. The greatness of Bhimeshwar jyotir linga and the troubles caused by Bhimasur. The greatness and creation of Bhimeshwar jyotir linga. The greatness of Kashivihwanath and the arrival of Rudra to kashi. The effects of Shri Trambakeshwar jyotir ling and effect on Gautam. The description of misbehavior against Gautam. The goodness of Gautam and continuation of greatness of Triambekeshwar. The purification of Gautam and punishment to his culprits. The greatness of Vaidya Nadeshwar jyotir linga. The greatness of Nageshwar jyotir linga and the troubles caused by demons in Dharuka. The greatness of Rameshwar jyotir linga. The greatness of Dhumeshwar jyotir linga and sudeha and sudharma with its disruption and benefits. The appearance of Shri Dhumeshwar jyotir linga. The greatness of Hareshwar jyotir linga — the procurement of sudarshan charka by Vishnu. Hareshwar mahima with Shiv Sahastranam. The benefits of Shiv Sahastranam stotra. The king's and Deva's were known to be the devotes of Lord Shiva. The specialities of Shivratri. The begining of Shivratri vrath. The history of Shivratri related to a bheel (tribe) Mukthinirupan. Mukthinirupan. The secrets of Sugun and Nirgun. Gyanrupan.
Uma Samhita
The dialogs between Shri Krishna and Upamanu. The advises of Upamanu. The greatness of Lord Shiva who helped in development of his devotees. The effects of maya of Shiva. The descriptions of mahapapa (greatest sins) in the world. The description of ketlak upatha. The paths leading to hell and the description of Yamadutha. The description of hell. The description of fire of the hell. The details of which punishment is given for which sin in hell. The singnificance of ana-dan (donation of food). The effects of water resources, tree plantation, truth and penance. The greatness 26 puranas. The significance of samanya dan (common donations). The story of bhramand and description of pathal-lok. The methodology to get betterment from naraklok (the hell). Description of Jambhudveep. The sayings of dharma (the righteous duty) and the greatness of name of Lord Shiva. The significance of death in a war and other great proverbs. The creation of the human body. The remedies to diseases and stages of development of the body with the description of impurities in the body. The description of characters of a female. The knowledge regarding time of death, signs of death, and methods to measure the total life of a person. The methods of warding of the death or the kal. The methods of achiving Shiva and description of death. Details of chayapurush. Details of adi shrusti. Details of daksh shrushti. The creation of deva's. The description of the dynasty of Kashyap. The deatls of creations of Bhrama. Details of sarvamanavatram. Vivasan manantra description. The 9 sons heredity of vavisaan manu. The dynasty from Satyavrat to sagar sudha. Kings of the dynasty. Shradhakalp — containing the effects of pitru (the spirits and souls of ancestors). The ceation of pitru and the fate of seven hunters. The effects of pitru (the spirits and souls of ancestors). Types of vyas pooja. The description of origin of vyas. Durga's first form Mahakali's description. Killing of Mahishasur. Durgas third incarnation Mahasarvathi and killing of Dharma Lochan, Chand, Mund and Rakthabijasur. Killing of Shumb and Nishumb the demons. Uhsa padhubhav description. Sathakshi incarnation. The dhrayug form of Jagadamba.
Kailash Samhita
The dialogs between Vyas and Shaunkadi. The mysticism of pranava. The answers of Lord Shiva regarding pranav. The behavior of a sanyasi.The procedures of sanyas mandal. The description of sanyas cader by Vyas. The methods of meditation and devotion of Lord Shiva. Avaran poooja. Pranav artha padathi. The arrival of Shiva again to Kashi. The description of Vam Dev Brahman. The descriptions of pooja for the sanyasis. The description of Shiva swaroop pranav. Upasana and murthivarnan. The details of Shivthatva the substance of Shiva. The advaithya knowledge of Shiva and description of shrushti. Sanyas saptha padathi — the methods and practices for sculpturer. The great sentences of shruthi and the yogpad methodology. The methods and rules for the sanyasi and his sthan (place). The future of sanyasi after his death and the religious rituals after his death. The Ekadashi Krithya of sanyasi. Dwadhasha krithya of sanyasi.
Vayaviya Samhita
Purva bhag: The sayings of Vidya avathar. The proposals from the munis regarding the best man in the world. The arrival of Vayu deva in Namisharanya. Explanation of Shiva thatva. The effects of kal. The calculation of kal and the life expectancy of the three deva gods. The protector and destroyer of nature. The description of the location and situation of the universe. The description of nature. Creation of Bhrahma and Vishnu. The description of appearance of Rudra. The chanting of Shiva. The description of mahashakthi. The stories of nature. The departure of sati's soul from the body. The creation and origin of Veerbhadra. A lesson to deva-dhaksha chari. The defeat of all deva's by Veerbhadra. The rush of deva's to the holy feet of Lord Shiva. Regarding devi Kali and devi Gauri. The salvation of Karvad and the greatness of feet of devi Gauri. Meeting of Gauri and Shiva. The description of bhasmathatva . The substance of vani and artha. The questions related to Shiva thathva. Ripnupadesh. The description of shreshta anushtan . The description of pashupath vrath as said in Atharvashiras Upanishad. The discripitiion of tapa of Upamanyu. The characters of Upamanyu and Shiva's happiness towards him.
Uthara bhag: What is pashupathi gyan and why Shiva is pashupathi. The presence of Shiva in every thing. Gaurishankar vibhuthi yog. Pashupathi thathva rithi yog. Shivathatva description. Incarnation of Vyas and shivathathva gyan. The yogavathar of Shiva. The description of devotion to Shiva. Shiva rithi varnan. Powers of pachakshar mantra. The dikshavidhan (the method of learning) and gurumahathamya (significance of a teacher). Silpa sanskar varnan (the practices regarding statue creation). Shiva diva vidhan. Six track shudhi related stories. Importance of sanskar and mantra. Daily religious rituals. Daily regular karma(deeds) vrna(description). Pooja vidhan. The shtrokthi poooja varnan. Sanghopak pooja vidhi. Shiva shatroktha pooja vihdi. Agnikarya valan. Naithik vidhi karma. Kamaya karma varna. Shiva bhakthas kamya karma varnan. Kamya karma varnan in heaven. Description of Shiva maha stotra. Linga pooja secrets. Disruption of moh of Lord Bhrama and Vishnu . Solution of moh of Bhrama and Vishnu. Prathishta vidhi description. Yog vidhi varnan. The obstacles in the path of young. The description of Shiva yagna. Naimaishavarnan vasi rishi muni's journey details. Importance of Shiva Mahapuarn.
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