Shiva | The Hare Krishna Movement

Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Śiva: Rudra-gita

05 Aug 2020 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Rudra-gita, Shiva, Uncategorized Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, benedictions, hymn of liberation, Lord Siva, Pracetas, prayers composed by lord siva, Rudra-gita, Shiva, Siva, Srimad Bhagavatam, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu

Siva-Pracetas

The Supreme Lord (Viṣṇu) says: “Those who will offer Me the prayers composed by Lord Śiva, both in the morning and in the evening, will be given benedictions by Me. In this way they can both fulfill their desires and attain good intelligence.” (SB 4.30.10)

Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Śiva

Lord Śiva said to the Pracetās:

“Just execute your kingly duties with a pure heart and chant the prayer I have recited, fixing your mind on the lotus feet of the Lord. That will bring you all good fortune.” (p. 405)

The Rudra-gītā is Lord Śiva’s song to the Supreme Lord, Vāsudeva (Viṣṇu) and is known as the hymn of liberation. These prayers, which are contained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.24.33-74, are presented by Lord Śiva to the sons (Pracetās) of King Prācīnabarhi for reaching the ultimate spiritual perfection.

Halloween Ghosts

31 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Shiva Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bg 9.25, bhagavad-gita, ghosts, ghosts and spirits, Halloween, halloween ghosts, nandi, SB 3.14.24, Shiva, Srimad Bhagavatam, witches

Shiva’s mount is the sacred bull Nandi, and is said to live on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas.

Although Halloween is not a Vaisnave holiday, it is being celebrated here in the West today. So we wanted to do a post from the pages of Srila Prabhupada’s books where there is mention of Ghosts and Witches etc. Actually Ghosts are a very real entity as the following texts from the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam imply.

Lord Śiva, or Rudra, is the king of the ghosts. Ghostly characters worship Lord Śiva to be gradually guided toward a path of self-realization. Māyāvādī philosophers are mostly worshipers of Lord Śiva…Ghosts are bereft of a physical body because of their grievously sinful acts, such as suicide. The last resort of the ghostly characters in human society is to take shelter of suicide, either material or spiritual. Material suicide causes loss of the physical body, and spiritual suicide causes loss of the individual identity. Lord Śiva, being very kind to the ghosts, sees that although they are condemned, they get physical bodies. ( from purport to SB 3.14.24)

Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me. (Bhagavad-gita 9.25)

Complete text and purports follow along with a definition of Halloween from Wikipedia More

Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Siva

28 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Shiva, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, autumn season, blossoming petals of the lotus flower, darkness in the heart, effulgence, Krishna's lotus feet, Lord Siva, lotus feet, pada, padma, SB 4.25.52, Shiva, Srimad Bhagavatam, yasya deve para bhaktir

click on image to slightly enlarge

My dear Lord, Your two lotus feet are so beautiful that they appear like two blossoming petals of the lotus flower which grows during the autumn season. Indeed, the nails of Your lotus feet emanate such a great effulgence that they immediately dissipate all the darkness in the heart of a conditioned soul. My dear Lord, kindly show me that form of Yours which always dissipates all kinds of darkness in the heart of a devotee. My dear Lord, You are the supreme spiritual master of everyone; therefore all conditioned souls covered with the darkness of ignorance can be enlightened by You as the spiritual master.

Srimad Bhagavatam
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Canto Four, Chapter 25, Verse 52

Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Siva

Śivaratri

20 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Shiva, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Lord Siva, Maha Shivaratri, SB 4.4.14, Shiva, Sivaratri, Srimad Bhagavatam

Today is Maha Shivaratri or Shivaratri, so we are posting one nice verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam in glorification of Lord Siva.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Canto 4: “The Creation of the Fourth Order”
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Chapter Four, Text 14

yad dvy-akṣaraṁ nāma gireritaṁ nṛṇāṁ
sakṛt prasaṅgād agham āśu hanti tat
pavitra-kīrtiṁ tam alaṅghya-śāsanaṁ
bhavān aho dveṣṭi śivaṁ śivetaraḥ

yat—which; dvi-akṣaram—consisting of two letters; nāma—named; girā īritam—merely being pronounced by the tongue; nṛṇām—persons; sakṛt—once; prasaṅgāt—from the heart; agham—sinful activities; āśu—immediately; hanti—destroys; tat—that; pavitra-kīrtim—whose fame is pure; tam—him; alaṅghya-śāsanam—whose order is never neglected; bhavān—you; aho—oh; dveṣṭi—envy; śivam—Lord Śiva; śiva-itaraḥ—who are inauspicious.

TRANSLATION

Satī continued: My dear father, you are committing the greatest offense by envying Lord Śiva, whose very name, consisting of two syllables, śi and va, purifies one of all sinful activities. His order is never neglected. Lord Śiva is always pure, and no one but you envies him.

PURPORT

Since Lord Śiva is the greatest soul among the living entities within this material world, his name, Śiva, is very auspicious for persons who identify the body with the soul. If such persons take shelter of Lord Śiva, gradually they will understand that they are not the material body but are spirit soul. Śiva means maṅgala, or auspicious. Within the body the soul is auspicious. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi: “I am Brahman.” This realization is auspicious. As long as one does not realize his identity as the soul, whatever he does is inauspicious. Śiva means “auspicious,” and devotees of Lord Śiva gradually come to the platform of spiritual identification, but that is not all. Auspicious life begins from the point of spiritual identification. But there are still more duties—one has to understand one’s relationship with the Supreme Soul.