Mythological stories have always excited us all. Grandparents regaling grandchildren with moral stories along with mythological ones like Ramayana and Mahabharat have always contributed to our oral storytelling tradition. On the auspicious day of Mahashivratri, we present to you some stories about Lord Shiva.

Blue Throat 

The churning of the oceans to extract the divine nectar (Samudra Manthan) originally created a poison so powerful that it could destroy the cosmos. Soon it’s fumes spread into the atmosphere and Lord Shiva absorbed everything without a second thought to save creation. To prevent the poison from entering his body, the goddess Parvati immediately pressed Someshvara’s throat, and the poison remained in his throat, giving it a blue color. So one of the names of Lord Shiva is Neelkanth. 

Cool Moon

The moon adorns the head of Lord Shiva, who is considered the highest point of every human being. When Lord Shiva consumed poison (Halahala), his body temperature rose. The moon is naturally cold, so they placed the moon on his head to cool down his body temperature.

When Mount Kailash shook 

One day Ravan tried to uproot and destroy the holy abode of Lord Shiva, Mount Kailash. Lord Shiva became angry and trapped him under Mount Kailash. To please Bohlenath, Ravan cut off one of his heads, made it into a musical instrument and started playing religious music using its tendons as strings. After a few years, Lord Shiva forgave Ravan and freed him. 

Stone Images in Tripura 

According to folklore, Tripurari was once on the way to Kashi along with a million gods and goddesses. He asked other travellers to take a short night break in Unakoti, Tripura, but warned them to get up before sunrise. None of them woke up in time. Lord Shiva set out for his further journey and those who were fast asleep turned into stones. Huge stone images exist in Tripura to this day. 

Dancing Shiva 

One day the demon Apasmara challenged Lord Shiva. Mahadev took the form of Nataraja to defeat the demon (symbol of ignorance). In his Nataraja form, he performed the cosmic dance known as Tandav and crushed the Apasmara under his foot. Since Apasmara was believed to be immortal and to maintain the balance between knowledge and ignorance, Shiva placed his right foot on the demon to keep him subdued forever, and so he exists in his Nataraja form until eternity. This avatar of Nataraja is a message that ignorance can only be overcome through spiritual knowledge. 

Fisherman Shiva 

Lord Shiva once explained the Vedas to the goddess Parvati. One day she got distracted and Lord Shiva cursed her to be born on earth as a fisherwoman. Later, Lord Shiva transformed himself into a young fisherman and came to the rescue of the fishermen when they were in trouble and married Goddess Parvati again.

Ashes on his body 

One day the sage Parnada was mowing the grass. He cut his finger, which oozed tree sap instead of blood. He was filled with great pride. Shiva, disguised as a Brahmin, asked him what was the reason for his happiness, and Parnada said, “Now I am the most pious person in the whole world.” He was too proud of his penance. Lord Shiva said that it is just sap but trees and plants burn and become ashes. He cut his finger and ash came out. Sage Parnada realised his grave mistake and Lord Shiva; whose remorse was the greatest of all, Paranda revealed his true identity. Since then, the entire body of Lord Shiva has been covered in ash. 

At the feet of the goddess Kali 

Rakt Beej, a demon who became invincible thanks to great powers. Goddess Durga was asked to kill him. As soon as she wounded him, his blood fell to the ground and from every drop that fell a hundred demons emerged. So she took the wild form of Kali, killed every demon and drank all the blood without letting it drip to the ground. Kali began her victory dance, which caused chaos on Earth and was unstoppable. Then the gods begged Lord Shiva to stop Kali. As soon as He realised the impending destruction of everything, He rushed to Kali and, in a desperate last attempt to calm her, He lay at her feet as she danced and trampled on countless corpses. Since she was in a trance, she did not understand that it was Shiva who was lying down and stepping on him. Folklore goes on to say that she soon realised her mistake and calmed down. 

Sacred Ganga on Head 

In order to purify the souls of his ancestors so that they could attain salvation, King Bhagirath requested Lord Shiva to send the divine river Ganga to earth for this purpose. Bohlenat fulfilled his wish. Ganga condescendingly flew to the ground, but Shiva calmly grabbed her by the back with his matted hair and poured out seven streams from her – Bhagirathi, Janhvi, Bhilangana, Mandakini, Rishiganga, Saraswati and Alaknanda. Then she followed Bhagirath and freed the souls of his ancestors. 

Nandi the Bull

Surabhi, the first mother of all cows, started giving birth to many cows and milk from these cows flooded Shiva’s house. Enraged by this commotion, he set fire to the cows from his third eye. Seeing this catastrophe, the gods offered Shiva a great bull – Nandi, the son of Surabhi and Kasyapa, and attempted to summon Shiva to ride on it. Nandi also became the guardian of all the animals.

Daughter of Lord Shiva 

Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya also have a sister. Ashutosh and Goddess Parvati were walking in a beautiful garden. They found the Kalpavriksha tree that grants wishes. She dreamed of a daughter from the tree. Then Goddess Parvati gave birth to a daughter whom she named Ashok Sundari. Ashok means “without sadness” and Sundari means “beautiful”. 

Lord Shiva and Sudarshan Chakra 

To please Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu once repeated His 1000 names and offered Him a flower for each name. Bohlenath was impressed by this devotion but wanted to test his devotion, so he removed a flower from the 1000 flowers that Lord Vishnu counted while chanting his name. When Lord Vishnu uttered the thousandth name, a flower was missing from him. He immediately took out one of his eyes and offered it to Lord Shiva. This gesture impressed Lord Shiva. He appeared and presented Lord Vishnu with the Sudarshan Chakra, a weapon created by the collective energy of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.

We hope you enjoyed reading these stories! Happy Mahashivratri!

Also Read: – Navratri in India