A story · Shiva Purana · The Forms of Shiva

Grihapati

Shiva Purana 3.13 · read aloud in the app

The story · English

Nandishvara spoke. Listen, son of Brahma, to how Shiva, the one crowned with the moon, took birth in the house of Vishvanara. He was called Grihapati, and he became the lord of the world of Agni, fire itself, the Self of all. Long ago, in the lovely town of Narmapura on the bank of the Narmada, lived a sage named Vishvanara, a devotee of Shiva. He was of the Shandilya line, pure, self-controlled, and rich in the glow of Brahman. He kept the student's discipline, knew the meaning of all the scriptures, and was skilled both in the ways of Shiva and in the ways of ordinary life. He married a fitting bride, Shuchishmati, and served the sacred fire, the five daily sacrifices and the six duties, and honored gods, ancestors and guests.

Many years passed. Then Shuchishmati, faithful to her vows, spoke to her husband. My lord, by your grace I have enjoyed every pleasure a wife could want. One wish has long stayed in my heart, and it is right for householders. You should grant it. Vishvanara answered, What is there that I cannot give you, who wish me well? Ask, and I will give it without delay. Through the grace of Maheshvara, who does all good in this world and the next, nothing is out of my reach. She folded her hands, her face glad, and said, If I am worthy of a gift, give me a son like Mahesha. I ask for nothing else. The pure-hearted brahmin sat a moment in stillness and thought, She has asked for something very hard to win. Yet Shambhu, who does everything, spoke through her mouth. Who could make his words untrue? Then he comforted his wife.

Vishvanara left for Kashi, where Vishvesvara himself dwells. He reached Varanasi quickly and saw the Manikarnika, and the threefold burning of body, mind and fate, gathered over a hundred births, fell away from him. He saw all the lingas, Vishvesha first among them, and bathed in every pool, well and lake. He bowed to all the Vinayakas, saluted Gauri and Sharva, and worshipped Kalaraja and Bhairava, the eater of sin. He praised the attendants led by Dandanayaka, satisfied Adikeshava and the other Keshavas, and bowed again and again to the Suns, Lokarka first. He offered pinda in every holy place, fed the sages and brahmins by the thousand, and worshipped the lingas with great rites. Then he asked himself over and over, Which linga grants wishes soonest, the one where austerity holds firm for the sake of a son?

He thought a moment and praised Vireshvara as the linga that quickly gives a son. Countless thousands of seekers had found their goal there, so it was called the Siddha linga, the great Vireshvara. Worshipped faithfully for a year, it grants long life and every wish, sons included. He said, I too will worship Vireshvara three times a day, and soon I will have a son, as my wife desires. So Vishvanara bathed in the water of Chandrakupa and took his vows. For one month he ate once a day, then only at night, then only what came unasked, then nothing. He drank only milk for a month, lived on greens and fruit, on a fistful of sesame, on water, on the five products of the cow. He kept the Chandrayana fast, lived on the tips of kusha grass and water, and then on air alone. For a full year he did this austerity, worshipping Vireshvara three times daily.

In the thirteenth month he bathed in the Ganga, and at dawn, as he came to Vireshvara, he saw in the middle of the linga a child of eight years. The boy was smeared with ash, his eyes long and reaching to his ears, his lips deep red, his matted hair a lovely tawny, his face laughing and unclothed. He wore a child's ornaments, recited the hymns of the Veda, and laughed at his own play. Seeing him, the sage was filled with joy, his hair standing on end, and he said again and again, Salutations. Then Vishvanara praised the child, supreme bliss, Shambhu himself, with eight verses that asked for what he wished. He said that Brahman is one without a second, that Rudra is one and there is no other, and so he took refuge in Maheshvara.

In his hymn he said, You are the maker and the destroyer of all, one form among many forms, and yet without form. As a rope is mistaken for a snake, or a shell for silver, or a mirage for a river, so the world appears, and I take refuge in the one by knowing whom it is understood. He said, The coolness in water, the burning in fire, the warmth in the sun, the gentleness in the moon, the scent in a flower, the ghee in milk, all of it is you. You hear without ears, smell without a nose, walk without feet, see with your three eyes, taste without a tongue. Who truly knows you? Neither the Veda, nor Vishnu, nor Brahma, nor the great yogis, nor Indra and the gods know you fully. You have no lineage, no birth, no death, no form. Yet you fulfil every wish of the three worlds. You are Gauri's lord, naked and utterly calm, old and young and a child. I bow to you.

Then the brahmin fell to the ground with his hands joined. The child, greatly pleased, said, Vishvanara, best of sages, I am satisfied with you today. Choose a supreme boon. Vishvanara rose, glad at heart, and answered Shankara in his child's form, Maheshvara, what is unknown to you who know all? You are the inner Self of everyone and the giver of everything. Why ask me, who came only to beg? Knowing this, do as you wish. Hearing him, the child smiled and said, Pure one, the wish you set in your heart for Shuchishmati will come true soon, without doubt. I will become your son by Shuchishmati, famed as Grihapati, pure and dear to all the gods. He also told him that this hymn of eight wishes, read three times a day for a year near Shiva, grants wishes, sons, grandsons and wealth, and ends all misfortune. One who recites it for a year after bathing and worshipping the linga, though childless, will have a son. It must not be given to just anyone. Having said this, the child vanished, and Vishvanara went home glad.

Home again, Vishvanara told his wife all that had happened, and she rejoiced and praised her fate. In time she conceived, after the rites were done in order. Her husband performed the ritual of conception, then the rite for a son, and in the eighth month the parting of the hair. Then, at a fortunate hour, with the planets well placed, a son was born to Shuchishmati. He was Sharva himself, giver of happiness to the three worlds. Scented winds blew, flowers rained down, and drums sounded in the sky. The rivers ran clear, darkness shrank, and a shower of nectar fell. Apsarases led by Rambha came, with vidyadharis, kinnaris and singers. Sages came to Vishvanara's hermitage in great numbers, among them Marichi, Atri, Pulaha, Pulastya, Kratu, Angiras, Vasishtha, Kashyapa, Agastya, Bharadvaja, Gautama, Bhrigu, Garga, Parasara, Yajnavalkya, Valmiki, Jamadagni, Vyasa, Shuka, Durvasa, Narada, Tumburu, Vamadeva, Vishvamitra, Mrikanda and Upamanyu. Brahma came with Brihaspati, and Shiva with Gauri, Nandi and Bhringi. Indra, the gods, the nagas and the oceans carrying jewels came as well.

Brahma himself performed the birth rite. On the eleventh day he gave the name Grihapati, after reflecting on the Veda and the child's form, and blessed him with verses from the four Vedas. Then Brahma left on his swan, and Shiva and Vishnu went home. The people said, Shuchishmati is fortunate that Hara himself has appeared. The text adds that people seek sons for this reason, and that a house without a son is empty. The boy had his first outing in the fourth month, his first grain in the sixth, and his ear-piercing and sacred thread in due time, and he learned the Vedas in a year. In his ninth year Narada came. Taking the boy on his lap, he read his palm and body, and told Vishvanara, The boy has every good mark. But I fear that in his twelfth month a danger from lightning or fire will come. Guard him well. Then Narada left. Vishvanara and his wife fell into grief, and the boy smiled and said, Why do you weep? I will worship Mrityunjaya, and Death will be afraid. With their leave he went to Kashi, bathed at Manikarnika, and saw Vishvesvara. He worshipped for a year with a hundred and eight pots of Ganga water each day, living on roots, dry leaves, air and water drops. In his twelfth year Indra came with the thunderbolt and offered a boon. Grihapati said, I ask only Shankara. Indra raised the weapon, and the boy fainted in fear. Shiva appeared with Gauri, raised him, and said, I only tested you. Be lord of fire and guardian of a quarter. The linga you set will be called Agnishvara. Those who worship it have no fear of lightning or untimely death, and Shiva entered the linga.

कथा · हिन्दी

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