The Glories of Lord Shiva

A concise summary of various excerpts in Srimad Bhagavatam

The description of Lord Shiva

Sada Shiva is seated on the Kailasa mountain along with his consort. He practices penance by setting an example to those who desire liberation. The Lord is accompanied by four kumaras (the sons of Brahma) and Kubera.

Gods prayed to Lord Shiva

Lord Shiva withheld the poison that came out of the churning of the ocean of milk and gave shelter to the Gods. The following are the prayers of the Gods at that time in praise for Lord Shiva, which is commonly known as Shiva Stuthi:

• God of the Gods’, Great God (Mahadev)

• The essence of every soul (Atma)

• The ruler of the entire physical world (material manifestation - Prakriti)

• The one who binds the soul to the matter

• The one who gives freedom to the soul from the matter

• Mahesvara; the great controller of the universe

• The manifestation of the Supreme Spirit

• The authority of the scriptures

• The syllable AUM represents you

• The root cause of Vedic understanding

• The promoter of life and the nature of existence

• The inner controller of all Gods

• Righteousness (Dharma) is your heart

• The 5 important Vedic mantras are your 5 faces

• The sattva, tama and rajo gunas are your 3 eyes

• Brahman which is eternity, knowledge, and bliss is your absolute state

• The self-effulgent

• The one who is above the matter

• One who can bestow happiness by liberating from miseries

Lord Brahma’s describes Lord Shiva

• Ashutosh, one who is easily pleased

• He is independent

• He is accompanied by Four Kumaras (sons of Brahma) and Kubera

• He meditates through a combination of devotion, knowledge, and action

• He whose body has golden hue of evening clouds

• He bears the crescent moon on his head

• He looks like an ascetic

• He sits in Jnana-Mudra on darbha grass

• He taught the nature of Spirit to Sage Narada

• He is self-realized

• He is the instrument and the seed of material nature

• He awards heaven or hell or liberation to the human beings in this world

• He is untouched by the illusory energy (Maya) of Lord Vishnu

• Just the milk is transformed into curd through the action of acids, Lord Shiva is a transformation of Lord Hari, to be an ingredient cause of the material creation

The description of Kailasa

• It is inhabited by those souls who have attained siddhis (superhuman powers) either by birth, practice, Yoga, or chanting mantras

• It is crowded with Kinnaras, Gandharvas, and celestial damsels

• It has the streams of crystal waters where the beautiful wives of the Siddhas (souls who attained yogic powers) play with their husbands

• It is abundant with varieties of metallic ores and gems

• It is full of heavenly trees such as Mandara, Parijata, and Kadamba

• It is surrounded by the holy Ganges

• It's capital city is Alaka where the lotus garden is present

• Alaka is full of wish-yielding trees and inhabited by Yaksa women

• Alaka extends up to 1000 Kilometers

Sage Suta glorifies Lord Shiva

Among the perfected devotees of the Supreme Lord Hari, Lord Shiva holds the highest position.