Shiva Purana

01From one lakh to seven samhitas

The Vidyeshvara Samhita opens with the rishis at Prayaga, where the Ganga meets the Yamuna, asking Suta what can save people in the Kali Yuga. Suta's answer is this Purana, and he gives its history. Shiva first made it in twelve samhitas, from the Vidyeshvara and Rudra to the Vayaviya and Dharma, one lakh shlokas in all. Maharshi Vyasa shortened it to twenty-four thousand shlokas in seven samhitas, and it stands fourth among the eighteen Mahapuranas. The Rudra Samhita, longest of all, carries the great kathas in five khandas. The Kotirudra gives the twelve Jyotirlingas, from Somnath to Grishneshwar.

02The five marks in a Shaiva frame

All five marks of a Purana are here, set around Shiva. Sarga comes in the Srishti Khanda of the Rudra Samhita: Sadashiva and Shakti bring forth Vishnu, from Vishnu's navel rises Brahma on the lotus, and the three take up creation, preservation and dissolution as Shiva wills. The Vayaviya Samhita tells creation again, in the voice of Vayu Deva, with the measures of time and the pralaya at the end of Brahma's life. Lineages and Manvantaras are given more briefly. What the Shiva Purana expands is the fifth mark, the deeds, and here the deeds are Shiva's own, in leela after leela.

03Why the Linga

The Vidyeshvara Samhita asks the question every Shiva bhakta asks: why is Shiva worshipped as the Linga, when the other devas are worshipped in their forms? Suta answers that Shiva alone is both nishkala, without parts, and sakala, with form. When Brahma and Vishnu quarrelled over who was greater, he stood between them as a pillar of fire and showed his Linga for the good of the worlds. From that day the formless Linga and the image with form were both established as his. Brahma claimed to have seen the pillar's top and called the Ketaki flower as witness. For that false word the Ketaki is not offered to Shiva.

04Sati, Parvati and the sons

The Sati Khanda tells of Daksha's daughter who chose Shiva against her father's wishes, and who gave up her body in the fire of Daksha's yajna when he insulted her husband. Virabhadra rose from Shiva's matted hair and destroyed that yajna. In the Parvati Khanda she is born again as the daughter of Himavan. Kamadeva, sent to stir Shiva from his tapas, is burnt to ash by the third eye, and Parvati does tapas for years on leaves and then on nothing until Shiva, coming as an old brahmachari to test her, reveals himself. The Kumara Khanda tells of Kartikeya, born to slay Tarakasura, and of Ganesha, set at Parvati's door, who wins the race around the world by walking around his parents.

05Tripura, Jalandhara and the avatars

The Yuddha Khanda is the war book. The three sons of Tarakasura hold three flying cities that can be struck only when they align, and Shiva burns them with a single arrow from a chariot made of the earth, with the Sun and Moon as its wheels and Vishnu as the arrow. Jalandhara, born of Shiva's own fire, is slain after Vrinda's vow is broken. Shankhachuda and Andhaka follow. The Shatarudra Samhita then counts the avatars of Shiva: Nandi, Bhairava, Virabhadra, Sharabha who calmed Narasimha, Hanuman who served Shri Rama, the Kirata who fought Arjuna and gave him the Pashupata astra, and Durvasa.

06The twelve Jyotirlingas and Shivaratri

The Kotirudra Samhita gives the list that pilgrims recite at dawn: Somnath in Saurashtra, Mallikarjuna on Shrishaila, Mahakala at Ujjain, the Lord at Omkara, Kedara in the Himalaya, Bhimashankara, Vishvesha at Varanasi, Tryambaka on the Gautami, Vaidyanatha, Nagesha in the Daruka forest, Rameshvara at the Setu and Ghushmesha. Each comes with its katha: Chandra cured of Daksha's curse at Somnath, Ravana carrying the Linga that stayed at Vaidyanatha, Ghushma's son returned to life. The same samhita tells the Shivaratri katha of a hunter who sat all night in a bilva tree, dropping leaves on a Linga below without knowing it, and was freed.

07Rudraksha, Vibhuti and Namah Shivaya

The Vidyeshvara Samhita is the household manual of Shaiva worship. It gives the Panchakshara, Namah Shivaya, as a mantra open to all, and the rules for repeating it. It describes Vibhuti, the sacred ash, applied in three horizontal lines, and its last adhyaya is the glory of the Rudraksha: the beads of one to fourteen faces, each with its deity, born from the tears of Shiva. It also says how the Shiva Purana itself should be honoured. One who reads it on Chaturdashi while fasting, at the root of a bilva tree, worships Shiva with all the devas.

08Pashupati and his devotees

For the Shiva Purana, Shiva is Parabrahman, both beyond qualities and the Lord who acts. The Vayaviya Samhita teaches the Pashupata view: souls are pashu, bound creatures; their bonds are pasha; Shiva is Pashupati, who frees them by grace. It tells of the boy Upamanyu, who asked his mother for milk and was given ground grain in water, and who did tapas until Shiva gave him an ocean of milk. The Uma Samhita sets out dharma, dana, the hells and the glory of Devi. Vishnu throughout is honoured as Shiva's beloved devotee, and at Tripura it is Vishnu who becomes the arrow in Shiva's bow.

09How it is heard

Shiva Purana katha is held over seven or nine days, most often in Shravan, when kanwariyas carry Ganga jal to their Shiva temples. The listener keeps a simple vow, eats once a day, and at the close offers a Rudrabhishek. The Mahatmya printed before the text tells why: Chanchula, who had lived carelessly, heard the Shiva Purana and reached Shiva's world, and then had it recited for her husband Binduga, a pishacha in the Vindhya hills, who was freed as well. Gita Press prints it in Hindi and in Sanskrit with Hindi; Motilal Banarsidass publishes a four-volume English translation.

Some lists of the eighteen Mahapuranas, among them the Matsya, name the Vayu Purana in this place. The Vayu is itself a Shaiva Purana, spoken by Vayu Deva, and many acharyas regard the two as sharing the one seat.

What it contains

1. 1
   Vidyeshvara Samhita विद्येश्वरसंहिता

   Twenty-five adhyayas that open at Prayaga with the rishis' question about the Kali Yuga. They explain why Shiva is worshipped as the Linga and tell the pillar of fire. The rules of Linga puja, the Panchakshara, Vibhuti and Rudraksha close it.

2. 2
   Rudra Samhita रुद्रसंहिता

   The longest samhita, in five khandas: Srishti, Sati, Parvati, Kumara and Yuddha. It runs from creation and Narada's pride through Sati's sacrifice, Parvati's tapas and marriage, and the births of Kartikeya and Ganesha. The Yuddha Khanda tells the burning of Tripura and the defeat of Jalandhara, Shankhachuda and Andhaka.

3. 3
   Shatarudra Samhita शतरुद्रसंहिता

   The avatars of Shiva, from the eight forms of the Ashtamurti to Nandi, Bhairava, Virabhadra, Sharabha and Hanuman. The Kirata who tests Arjuna and Ashvatthama are counted here too. Each avatar comes with the katha of why it appeared.

4. 4
   Kotirudra Samhita कोटिरुद्रसंहिता

   The twelve Jyotirlingas with their kathas, and many other Shiva tirthas. Vishnu's worship of Shiva with a thousand names and a thousand lotuses is here, with the Shiva Sahasranama. It closes with the Shivaratri vrata and the katha of the hunter.

5. 5
   Uma Samhita उमासंहिता

   Dharma, the fruits of karma, dana, the paths to Yama's world and the hells. It praises Devi and retells her victories over the asuras. Its later chapters turn to the measures of the world and the ages of time.

6. 6
   Kailasa Samhita कैलाससंहिता

   Shiva's teaching on the Pranava and on sannyasa, as given to Parvati on Kailasa and passed down through Kartikeya to Vamadeva. It gives the rites by which a sannyasi is initiated and explains the meaning of Om syllable by syllable.

7. 7
   Vayaviya Samhita वायवीयसंहिता

   Two parts, Purva and Uttara, spoken by Vayu Deva to the rishis of Naimisharanya. The Purva gives creation, time and the Pashupata view of pashu, pasha and Pashupati. The Uttara teaches Shaiva yoga, diksha, and the worship of Shiva as the Lord of all, with the katha of Upamanyu.

Famous verses

व्यासेन तत्तु संक्षिप्तं चतुर्विंशत्सहस्रकम्। शैवं तत्र चतुर्थं वै पुराणं सप्तसंहितम्॥

Vyasa shortened it to twenty-four thousand shlokas. Among the Puranas the Shaiva stands fourth, and it has seven samhitas.Shiva Purana, Vidyeshvara Samhita 2.56 (GRETIL / Venkateshvara ed.)

तदाप्रभृति लोकेषु निष्कलं लिंगमैश्वरम्। सकलं च तथा बेरं शिवस्यैव प्रकल्पितम्॥

From that time, in all the worlds, the formless Linga of the Lord and likewise the image with form were both established as Shiva's own.Shiva Purana, Vidyeshvara Samhita 5.30

सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाथं च श्रीशैले मल्लिकार्जुनम्। उज्जयिन्यां महाकालमोंकारे परमेश्वरम्॥ केदारं हिमवत्पृष्ठे डाकिन्यां भीमशंकरम्। वाराणस्यां च विश्वेशं त्र्यम्बकं गौतमीतटे॥ वैद्यनाथं चिताभूमौ नागेशं दारुकावने। सेतुबंधे च रामेशं घुश्मेशं च शिवालये॥

Somnath in Saurashtra and Mallikarjuna on Shrishaila; Mahakala at Ujjain and the Supreme Lord at Omkara; Kedara on the Himalaya and Bhimashankara in Dakini; Vishvesha at Varanasi and Tryambaka on the bank of the Gautami; Vaidyanatha at Chitabhumi and Nagesha in the Daruka forest; Rameshvara at the Setu and Ghushmesha at Shivalaya.Shiva Purana, Kotirudra Samhita 1.21–23 (sa.wikisource)