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Siva Mahapuranam Vidyesvara Samhita – 2
Suta answered the query of Saunaka and others.
He explained that the Siva Purana is the gist of the Vedas, redeems one of all Papa (sins) and gives one the Paramartha – ultimate goal, meaning and purpose. (Traditionally Hindus believe that there are 4 goals to our existence, Dharma (Duty, ethics and social order), Artha (Wealth), Kama (What we desire), and Moksha (Liberation). These are called Chaturvidha Phalam or Chaturvarga Phalam. Of these, Moksha is considered the Paramartha).
Siva Puranam eliminates the pollution of Kaliyuga and even sins of the level of BrahmaHatya (killing a brahman.) It ends all the debates about which Tirtha (Sacred water spot), mantra, dana (charity), Siddhanta (principles/treatises/ways of thinking) or which Deva is the best.
Of all the days the 14th (Caturdasi – Choudvi) day of the lunar month is the best for reciting the Siva Mahapuranam. (Since the Siva Puranam is full of stories of astronomical significance, the darkest nights, in which the stars are the most clearly visible are the best suited. I think the Jagarana (Jagaram), staying awake all night long on Sivaratri is also connected to this point.)
The Siva Mahapuranam was first told by Siva himself. It was later abridged by Vyasa. (Maybe Vyasa could only rescue 7 of the 12 Samhitas that constitute the Siva Puranam). Only Siva himself could completely understand the Kailasa Samhitam. Suta himself said that he could only understand half of it.
Siva took the Sudha (Nectar/Giver of Good/Amruta) that was obtained by churning the Ocean of the Upanishads and gave it to Kumara (his son, Karthikeya), who became immortal.
(There are also the Sanatkumars, sons of Brahma and Ganesa also, who may be called Kumara. Further study will illuminate us. The interesting thing about the above sloka (41), is that, the Bhagavad Gita has been referred to as the milk of the Cow called Upanishads, which the cowherd Sri Krishna, extracted for us. Here too, the Upanishads are compared to the Milky Ocean (Ksheera Sagara)).
The 12 original Samhitas of the Siva Mahapurana are,
- Vidyeswara or Vidyesa (Vidyesa means Vidya – Isa, the lord of Vidya (knowledge), tt may refer to Brahma) (10,000 verses)
- Uma (Uma is a name for Parvati Devi, the divine wife of Siva. Aumam, meaning ‘of Uma’, as the samhita is referred to sounds exactly like Aum (Om).) (Pratyeka Ashta Sahasrakam)
- Vinayaka (another name for Ganesa, the son of Uma) (10,000 verses)
- Rudra (a name for Siva and also the name of a Vedic Deva associated with Arudra (Betelguese)) (10,000 verses) (13,000 verses)
- Matra (of the mother, duration/size/quantity/only/any measure of quantity) (Pratyeka Ashta Sahasrakam)
- Ekadasa (related to eleventh) (13,000 verses)
- Kailasa (the abode of Siva, often taken to mean the Mt. Kailasa in the Himalayas ) (6000 verses)
- Sata-Rudra (100 Rudra) (3,000 verses)
- Koti-Rudra (100,00,000 Rudra) (9,000 verses)
- Sahasra-Koti (1000 Koti)
- Vayaviya (North-West) (Khabdi Satam)
- Dharma (Ravi-Sahasrakam)
The Siva MahaPuranam referred to here totally had 100,000 verses in 12 Samhitas. Vyasa’s Siva MahaPuranam is the 4th version , having only 7 samhitas and 24000 verses. The earlier 3 were not traceable at the time of Suta’s Recitation of the Siva Mahapuranam to Saunaka. Suta said that the first version, at the beginning of creation, had 100 koti (crore) verses. In the Dvapara Yuga, Dwaipayana (Vyasa) and others reduced the Siva Mahapuranam down to 24000 verses and put it into 18 parts. (18 is a favorite number with Vyasa, – 18 Puranas, 18 Upapuranas etc. 24, is another favorite number. He appears to have favoured multiples of 6. I read somewhere that since the equilateral triangle was the easiest to construct, so 60 degrees was a favorite of ancient times.)
The Seven Samhitas that were kept are,
- Vidyeswara or Vidyesa
- Uma
- Rudra
- Kailasa
- Sata-Rudra
- Koti-Rudra
- Vayaviya
The Siva Mahapuranam expounds Dharma, Vignyana (Science) and Vedanta (philosophy of the Vedas). It is the best of the Puranas and is a SatPurana (True/Good/Real Purana).
… I feel a little wistful that Veda Vyasa, chose to abridge the Siva Puranam or could only rescue one fourth of it, as I feel about his re-ordering of the Veda Mantras. In his wisdom in preserving the essence of what he recieved, we may have lost some of the historical clues from the order of the Veda Mantras and the edited slokas. However what remains itself may be beyond my little brain, I should be grateful that he saved what was the most important…
With Salutations to the Great Vyasa, Devotee of Siva of indescribable antiquity and greatness, I end my rendering of the second chapter of the Vidyesvara Samhita of the Siva Mahapurana. It has 755 words in it.
Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula
Siva Purana Mahatmya from Skanda Puranam
Siva Mahapuranam Vidyeswara Samhitam First Adhyayam.
Siva Mahapuranam Vidyeswara Samhitam 2nd Adhyayam.
Siva Mahapuranam Vidyeswara Samhitam 3rd Adhyayam: To attain Sivapadam, listen to the Siva Puranam, repeat it, think about it and understand it with devotion.
Siva Puranam, Vidyesvara Samhita – 4th Adhyayam – Sravana, Kirthana, Manana
Siva Puranam, Vidyesvara Samhita – 5th Adhyayam - Siva Linga Archana
Siva Puranam, Vidyesvara Samhita – 6th Adhyayam - Brahma and Vishnu Clash.
Siva Mahapuranam Vidyesvara Samhitam 7th Adhyayam : Siva Intervenes
