LEGENDS OF ŚIVA REFERRED TO IN THE ŚAIVA ĀGAMA-S

Dr. T. Ganesan,
Research Director in Śaivasiddhānta

French Institute,
Pondicherry

Indian Spiritual tradition is based on the Veda-s and the Āgama-s.

Inculcating devotion to the supreme God and purifying the mind of the
devotees are the chief aims of this tradition of hymns laden with holy
legends. While the Veda-s contain many legends related to various gods
that are recounted in the Brāhmaṇa and Āraṇyaka sections, the Āgama-s ,
especially Śaivāgama-s refer to some of the legends related to Śiva. All
these legends in the Śaivāgama-s relate to Śiva’s unsurpassed glory and
power and they are referred by the divinities or the sages in the form of
hymns. These hymns are mostly found at the beginning of the Āgama-s
sucha s the Kiraṇāgama, Pauṣkarāgama, etc. Since the Āgama-s are taught
by Śiva to gods such as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Svayambhū, these gods address Śiva
in the form of hymns and pray to Him to teach them the Śaivāgama-s.

In the ancient and widely popular Śivamahimnastava, which has fully been
inscribed in devanagari script in an inscription on the Amareśvara temple
at Mandhata in the district of Nīmāḍ, on the northern bank of Narmadā,

1
dated samvat 1063 (1163 C.E.) the author refers to some of the well-known
legends related to Śiva.

My present paper will elaborate on these legends related to Śiva supported

by textual evidence from the Purāṇa-s.

 The Legend of supremacy

In the Purāṇa-s such as the Vāyu, Kūrma and Śivapurāṇa we come to know
about the legend which describes the quarrel and the ensuing fight
between Brahmā and Viṣṇu on their claim of supremacy over each other.
To teach them a lesson Śiva takes the form of a huge column and asks
Brahma and Viṣṇu to find the origin and the end; both of them fail in their
task and Śiva drives home the truth that it is He who is the most supreme
and all powerful Being while Brahmā, Viṣṇu and all the gods are under His
control and perform their work under His delegation. The origin of this
legend is most probably the one found in the Kenopaniṣad. There we read
how the gods Indra, Vāyu and Agni debated among themselves as to who is
the most powerful among them; Each one puts forth his power and claims
that he alone is the greatest and most powerful. At that time, the Upaniṣad
continues, a huge figure whose form is not distinguishable , which it calls
yakṣa, appeared before the quarrelling gods. While the three gods were
wondering about this sudden appearance, the Yakṣa put a small object
before them and asked Vāyu to blow it away. Vāyu with all his powers
tried his best to blow it away but he could not move the object at all. Then,
Agni was called out by the Yakṣa to burn that object, but he also failed to

2
burn it with all his might. Then the Yakṣa suddenly disappeared and again
the gods were looking bewildered. At that time goddess Umā, Haimavatī
appeared as a very beautiful young woman before the gods1 and told them
the unknown huge form that appeared before them was the the greatest
and the all powerful supreme person, and also that due to the power of
that supreme person Vāyu is able to burn all objects, Agni is able to blow
away everything.2
In the Śivapurāṇa, Vidyeśvarasaṃhitā(adhyāya-s 6-9) we find the legend as
follows:
Brahmā tells Viṣṇu “I am the progenitor of all beings and controller of all
including you (pitāmaha)”3; Viṣṇu retorts saying “Oh child ! the entire
universe exists in me and you were born from the lotus arising from my
navel (nābhikamala).4 Thus they were quarrelling about their supremacy
and to prove their supremacy they started fighting also. Brahmā was
mounted on the hamsa bird and Viṣṇu, on the garuḍa (pakṣīndra).5 The
story goes further and Brahmā attacked Viṣṇu with the Māheśvarāstra
while Viṣṇu attacked with the Pāśupatāstra. When the worlds were

1 ् वाकाशे ियमाजगाम बशोभमानाममु ां हैमवत तामवाच

स तइे ु िकमेतक्षिमित। Kenopaniṣad,3:12
2
सा ॄेित होवाच ॄणो वा एतिजये महीयिमित ततो हैव िवदांचकार ॄेित। Kenopaniṣad,4:1
3
व िवो महामानमागतं कालवेगतः।
िपतामह जगतः पाता च तव वक॥
4
मं जगिददं व मनषेु ं िह चोरवत ।्
ु
मािभकमलाातः पऽं भाषसे वृथा॥
5
ु ूभःु ।
अहमेव परो न महं ूभरहं
ु
पररं हंतकामौ चबतःु समरोमम ।्
ययु धु ाते ऽमरौ वीरौ हंसपक्षिवाहनौ ।

3
trembling in fear the gods rush towards Śiva and report to Him about the
fight between Brahmā and Viṣṇu. Śiva appeared before them as huge
column of fire seeing which Brahmā and Viṣṇu became perplexed and
were overcome with wonder. Then they decide that the origin and the end
of this huge column of fire should be found out by us and Viṣṇu taking the
form of a bore (sūkara) started digging the ground to find the end of it
while Brahma with his own body, started going upwards. Unable to achieve
their respective goals they became very tired and return; Brahmā lies thta
he has seen the top of the column but Viṣṇu accepts his defeat before Śiva.
Pleased by his honesty Śiva graces Viṣṇu and states that there would be
regular worship, installation of his image, etc. In holy places (kṣetra) to
Viṣṇu like unto Himself everywhere and thus granted him equal status
with Himself.6
Turning towards Brahmā, Śiva brought forth the terrible Bhairava from
the space between His eyebrows and ordered Bhairava to cut the fifth
head of Brahmā which spoke the untruth as a punishment.7 Viṣṇu pleads
to Śiva to have mercy on Brahmā and Śiva finally states that there wo’nt be
any separate worship of Brahmā nor any featival in his honour.8 After
Śiva’s disappearance both Brahmā and Viṣṇu installed Śiva along with His

6
इतः परं ते पृथगान क्षेऽूितोवपूजनं च ।
ु ूीतः सेन हरये परम।्
इित देवः परा
ददौ सामथ देवसंघ े च पँयित।
7
स वै गृहीैककरेण के शं तमं मसभाषणम।्
िछा िशरां िनहंतमु तः
ु ूकं पयमितुटं करैः।
8
ॄंमहर्णाकांक्षी शठमीशमाितः।
नाते सृ ितलके भूयाानोवािदकम।्

4
family (sakuṭumbam) and worshipped Him with all the best and divine
ingredients that are not easily available for ordinary persons. Śiva, much
pleased by their devotion and worship appeared before them and granted
that that day would be remembered as śivarātri and that he who worships
Śiva in Liṅga or in image throughout the night with devotion and fast
would attain all the great things due to my grace. He also assured that the
period in which He appeared as a huge column of fire in the month of
Mārgaśīrṣa coinciding with the astericsm Ārdrā is the holy time and he
who sees Śiva in that holy period attains all the best in his life.
The above-mentioned legend is beautifully portrayed in the
Śivamahimnastava, verse 10 as follows:

्
तवैय यादयपिर िविरिहर्िररधः

पिरेत ं ु याताविनलमनलवपषः।
ु

ु णां िगिरश यत ्
ततो भिौा-भरग-गृ

यं ते ताां तव िकमनवृु िन र् फलित॥

This legend is referred in the Kiraṇāgama passage, 1:7

जयातु महािलसंानबलगिवर्त।

And the commentator Rāmakaṇṭha on the passage refers to the

Vāyupurāṇa:

5
 ु मायर्भतू ं यहािलं सकलऽल
िक अत ै ो ापकं त संानमाकारिवशेषो

ालाकः त बलं तेजसो ऽसं तेन गिवर्त ॄिवािदो ऽिप साितशय हे

भगवयेित| यं वायपु राणादौ

ु

ु म| ्
अकािवा ैार्लािलं तदत

ु येन ां सव चराचरम||् इित||

मतं

In the Kiraṇāgama, one of the mūlāgama-s of the Śaivasiddhānta system, in

the opening paṭala of the vidyāpāda (that deals elaborately with the
doctrines of the Śaivasiddhānta) we find a few invocatory verses addressed
by Garuḍa to Śiva where some of the legends related to Śiva are referred.
In the first half verse of 1:4 Garuḍa addresses Śiva,

ु
जयाततन ु स कालकू टबलापह ।
ं

Oh destroyer of the body of Acyuta (Viṣṇu) ! Oh remover of the force of the

terrible poison kālakūṭa !
The commentator Rāmakaṇṭha on this verse explains as

ु
अिप चात ु सनहेतान
िवोनं ु ु सः कालकू ट वेगमपहरतीित|
ं

He then refers to the legend as described in the Vāyupurāṇa

यं वायपु राणे

ु -

िवषेणोूतमाऽेण तेन कालानलिषा|

6
 िनदर्ग्धो रगौराः कृ तः कृ ो जनादर्नः|| इित

The relevant passages from the Vāyupurāna are:

िवषेणोिमानने कालानलसमिषा।

िनदर्ग्धो रगौराः कृ तकृ ो जनादर्नः ।। 54.58 ।

ा तं रगौरां कृ तकृ ं जनादर्नम।्

भीताः सव वयं देवाामेव शरणं गताः ।। 54.59 ।

The terrible poison resembling the brilliance of the fire of deluge

(kālānala) that arose while the great ocean was churned made the red-
hued Kṣṇa into black, all the gods were very much frightened. When they
reported this to Brahma, he says neither he nor Viṣṇu can control the
poison and only Śiva is the fit person to do so. All of them run towards
Śiva, pray to Him for their safety. All the gods request Śiva to drink the
terrible poison as He is the only person capable of doing so. Taking
sympathy towards all Śiva drinks the poison and it makes a black mark on
His throat. On seeing this the frightened Brahmā addresses Śiva that He
appears to be more beautiful with the black mark on His throat. While
everybody was seeing this great act of Śiva, He kept the kālakūta poison on
His throat and thus was known as Nīlakaṇṭha. Greatly moved by the
spontaneous graceful act of Śiva, all the gods praise Him by singing manu
hymns of praise.9

9
ु
अहो बलं वीयर्पराबमे अहो पनयगबलं तवैव।

7
The legend of Śiva carrying the entire current of the river Gaṅgā that came
down from the heavens upon the penance of the king Bhagīratha is
referred in the passage of the Kiraṇāgama1:4

जयावतर्महाटोप- सिरेगिवधारण ।

The legend of Śiva visiting the dārukavana in the form of a naked

mendicant (bhikṣāṭana) and entycing the wives of the sages is in the
passage:

जय दावनोान- मिु नपीिवमोहक /

The next passage of the Kiraṇāgama,

जय नृमहार- बीडािवक्षोभदाण //

refers to the legend of Śiva dancing in a fast manner and the entire world
started shaking and was destabilised due to that dance which is called
tāṇḍava:

जय नृमहारबीडािवक्षोभदाण ।

ु तव देवदेव गाजलाािलतमके
अहो ूभं ु श ।। 54.97 ।
ु तराननं
मेव िव ु मेव मृ ु वर्रदमेव।
मेव सूय रजनीकर मेव भूिमः सिललं मेव ।। 54.98 ।
मेव यज्ञो िनयममेव मेव भूत ं भिवता मेव।
ु
मेव चािद िन र्धनं मेव ूल सूः पषमे
व ।। 54.99 ।
मेव सू पर सूमेव विः पवनमेव।
मेव सवर् चराचर लोक कार् ूलये च गोा ।। 54.100 ।

8
The commentator of the Kiraṇāgama, the 9th century Rāmakaṇṭha explains
that the entire world became confused and shaken off its ground
(vikṣobha) due to the tāṇḍava of Śiva.10 He cites an ancient verse which
describes this state:

ु
चलित मही दलि िगरयः लदधयो नमि खेचरा इािद

ु
िऽभवनमतिमह य नृसमये स पात ु नो हर इम| ्

The justly famous Śivamahimnastava also has a beautiful passage

describing the tāṇdava and the status of the world:

मही पादाघाताद ्ोजित सहसा संशयपदं

ु
पदं िवोॅार्द ्भज-पिरघ-ग्ण-मह- गणम।्

ु
मदं यािनभृतजटातािडततटा

जगिक्षाय ै ं नटिस नन ु वाम ैव िवभता॥

ु १६॥

In fact the tāṇḍava dance of Śiva was done in order to protect the world as
expressed in the verse mentioned above to which the commentator
Rāmakaṇṭha also concurrs on the above mentioned passage of the
Kiraṇāgama:

िक उमं भीषणं यैरवाकारं पममु ासासदानाय घटत इतीितहासपराणािदगीतं

ु त

ु
संरो जगासलक्षणािभनयानकारे ु ...
न ऽािसता देवासरा

10
तथा नृ ं िविचऽािभनयााको गाऽिवक्षेप महारलक्षणा बीडा| अ वैलक्षण्येन ताण्डवपं
िवहरणम| ् तया िवक्षोभो ऽनविितजर्गतेन दाण भीषण हे भगवयेित|

9
In the first paṭala of the vidyāpāda of the Pauṣkarāgama, the invocatory
passages refer to some of the legends of Śiva.
The passage,

ु
ललाटन ेऽसािचर्दर्ग्धिऽपरमथ ।

अोिधमथनोूतिवषनीिलतकर ॥ ३ ॥

clearly refers to the destruction of the Tripurāsura-s by Śiva through the

terrible fire that emanated from His third eye. The drinking of the terrible
poison kālakūṭa by Śiva is referresd to in the seconds half verse which we
have discussed earlier.
Next we take up for a brief discussion the text called Ślokapañcakam. This
five-verse text was said to have been composed by a great Śaiva acārya by
name Haradatta, who is said to have flourished in the 11-12th century. The
main aim of this text is to establish the unequalled supremacy of Śiva over
all gods, which has the refrain

ु
पशपितः सवर्दवे ूकृ ः ।।

at the end of each verse.

The first verse goes as follows:

गायऽीवभाशरथतनयािपतारािधतात ्

शौरेः कै लासयाऽाोतमिु दततयाभीसानदानात ।्

ु पूिजतात ्
न ेऽेण ेन साकं दशशतकमलैिवर्ना

ु
त ै चबूदानादिप च पशपितः सवर्दवे ूकृ ः ।।

10
A total of 22 reasons are stated in all these 5 verses which go to prove that
Śiva is the supreme God.
The first reason is: Śiva is the beloved lord of the Gāyatrī [mantra]. The
implied meaning is that Śiva is the inner most meaning of the
Gāyatrīmantra. The maitrāyaṇīsaṃhitā states that the name ‘bharga’
referred to in the Gāyatrīmantra is none other than Śiva who is the in-
dweller of the sūryamaṇḍala. This fact is supported by the
Bhadāraṇyakopaniṣad passage,

य आिदत्ये ित ािदत्यादन्तरो यमािदत्यो न वेद यस्यािदत्यः शरीरं य

आिदत्यमन्तरो यमयत्येष त आत्मान्तयार्म्यमृतः ।

According to which the divine Being amta, the indwelling spirit in the Sun

(āditya) is Śiva. The god Amta is Śiva on the evidence of the

Muṇḍakopaniṣad, Jābālopaniṣad, etc.
The second reason for Śiva’s supremacy mentioned in the first verse of
Ślokapañcaka is ‘He has been installed and worshipped by the son of
Daśaratha, Rāma’:

दशरथतनयािपतारािधतात ्

This evidently refers to the blessings that Rāma received from Śiva on the
sea shore before his departure to Laṅkā. This has been referred in the
Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa where rāma says to Sītā:

अत्र पूवर्ं म āदे वः प्रसादमकरोत ् प्रभुः।

The many more such instances where Śiva has blessed Rāma as found in
the Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa are all discussed in detailed way in the

11
Rāmāyaṇatātparyasaṃgraha composed by the great polymath
Appayadīkṣita of the 16th century.
The third reason of Śiva’s supremacy is:

शौरेः कै लासयाऽाोतमिु दततयाभीसानदानात ।्

Śiva has blessed Kṣṇa with a good son, etc. when kṣṇa undertook a holy
pilgrimage to Kailāsa and worshipped Śiva with intense devotion.
This legend, though not studied by many, is found in a detailed way in the
Anuśāsanaparva of the Mahābhārta. In chapters 45 and 46 Kṣṇa recounts:

Kṣṇa, though he had many sons by his wife Rukminī, prompted by his
wife Jāmbavatī, with an intense desire to have a good and virtuous son
like himself, takes a pilgrimage to the serene hermitage of the ṣi

Upamanyu on the Himalaya-s; upon seeing the ṣi, he pays him

respects and the sage also blesses Kṣṇa that he would get a good son.

For that the ṣi asks him to undertake an intense tapas towards Śiva on
the same place where, Śiva, the greatest of Gods (devatāśreṣṭha) was
worshipped by all gods along with the sages through intense penance
and austerities. Then Kṣṇa narrates the various divine deeds of Śiva
that were told to him by sage Upamanyu. The sage also told him the
severe penances that he himself performed with a firm resolve to get
the blessings of Śiva. Upamanyu tells Kṣṇa how he was tempted by
Indra and other gods and how he overcame their overtures. The
following verse expresses Upamanyu’s strong faith and sincere
devotion to Śiva:

ु
पशपितवचनावािम सः

12
 कृ िमरथ वा तरन ेकशाखः।

अपशपु ितवरूसादजा मे

ु
िऽभवनरािवभू
ितरिना॥ ९५॥

अिप कीटः पतो वा भवेय ं शराज्ञया।

न त ु शब या दं ऽ ैलोमिप कामये॥ ९६॥

यावशाशकलामलबमौिल-

ु
न र् ूीयते पशपितभर् ् शः।
गवान ममे

तावरामरणजशतािभघात ै-

ु
र्ःखािन देहिविहतािन समहािम॥ ९७॥

Thus saying Upamanyu assured Kṣṇa that Śiva will definitely be

pleased by the penances to be performed by Kṣṇa who is praiseworthy

by gods (devānāṃ ślāghanīya), fully devoted to the Veda-s (brahmaṇya)
and who possesses supreme faith (śraddadhāna).
Then the sage Upamanyu gives [pāśupata]dīkṣā to Kṣṇa on the 8th day and

Kṣṇa continues to narrate vividly how he started performing severe

penances towards Śiva: Kṣṇa shaves off his head (muṇḍī), applies ghee all

over his body (ghtākta), takes a staff in his hand (daṇḍī), wears the tree
bark (cīrī), always holds a bunch of kuśa grass in his hand (kuśī) and wears

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a mekhalā around his loins (mekhalī). For the first month Kṣṇa subsisted
only on fruits (phalāhāra), in the second month on water and in the third,
fouth and fifth months he lived only on air (anilāśana). He stood with one
leg and both hands raised upwards. At the end of the period Kṣṇa directly
saw Śiva of bewitching beauty accompanied by Goddess Umā at the centre
of the maṇḍala made of hundreds of sun with great effulgence. Then he
sang a few hymns in praise of Śiva which fully express Kṣṇa’s great
experience at that moment. He saw Śiva being venerated by all divine
beings beginning from Āditya, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Indra, and others along with
hundreds of gods, the divine damsels, various sages such as Aṅgiras,
Kaśyapa, etc. and also the planets along with the divine personages of time
such as the month, muhūrta, nimeṣa, moment (truṭi), etc.

In this way we have seen some of the legends of Śiva referred to in the

some of the Śaivāgama-s and in a few śaiva texts. Though some of the
legends are well known and are also found depicted as art in many
temples, many of the legends are still not studied much eeven though all of
them found treated in the Purāṇa-s and in the Mahābhārata.

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