Maanasa-yaatraa to the 12 Jyotirlinga's - Vaidyanath

[Anand Hudli]

 Ravi wrote:

>On Tue, 30 Jun 1998, Shashidhar Rajamani wrote:
>>
>> <quote>
>>
>> Sri Vaidyanath dham - Bihar, Joshidi rail station about
>> fifty miles from Patna.
>>
>> This lingam is said to have been established by
>> the Lanka King Ravana himself. It is said that
>> Shiva agreed to go to Lanka on condition that
>> Ravana does not set the lingam down on ground.
>> However the gods conspired to stop him by asking
>> Varuna to go inside Ravan's bladder. Ravan
>> had to stop and releive himself by setting the
>> lingam on the ground. The local river is the proof of
>> that. However when Ravan tried to pick up the lingam,
>> it would not budge. As he pushed hard, he
>> managed to bend the lignam which is visible to this day.
>> There is also a mineral spring or Kunda
>> nearby. The place is also considered one of the seven dhams.
>>
>> <end quote>
>>

 Thanks to Ravi and Shashidhar for the information on Vaidyanath.

 The attribution of healing or curing capacity to Lord Shiva is
 found in the Vedas. Shiva or Rudra is the best physician because
 He cures the worst disease of all -- avidyA or ajnAna. This is the
 reason why He is called VaidyanAtha.

 In the Rg Vedic Rudra-sUkta we come across the expression:

  bhiShaktamaM tvA bhiShajAM shR^iNomi

 which means

 (O Rudra!) I hear that You are the best among the physicians!

 Here, Rudra has been called "bhiShaktama" or the best physician or
 healer among all physicians, "bhiShajAM".

 This Rudra-sUkta has also been called the shrI rudraM of the Rg Veda
 just as the more popular Yajur Vedic shrI rudraM. The Rudra sUkta is
 commonly employed by Rg Vedins while doing the abhiSheka of Shiva.
 It is a joy to chant or listen to, just as the Yajur Vedic hymn is.


 AUM namo bhagavate vaidyanAthAya

 Anand






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>From  Thu Jul  2 11:50:52 1998
Message-Id: <THU.2.JUL.1998.115052.0500.>
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 11:50:52 -0500
Reply-To: shashi at TAMU.EDU
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Shashidhar Rajamani <rajamani at EE.TAMU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Maanasa-yaatraa to the 12 Jyotirlinga's - Vaidyanath
Comments: To: ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU
In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.3.95.980701220642.18930H-100000 at lechery> from
        "Ravisankar S. Mayavaram" at Jul 1, 98 10:12:16 pm
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

> Is not this story about gokarNa where Lord ganesha tricks him when rAvaNa
> wanted to do sandhyAvandanam?
        I have no idea about this.

        Reminded of another incident.
        The protagonists are Lord ganeshA and vibIshanA
        on the banks of kAveri.
        vibIshanA was going back to Lanka (from Ayodhya)
        carrying the vigraham given to him by Lord rAmA.
        He was told not to place the vigraham on earth until
        he reached Lanka.
        When he wanted to do sandhyAvandanam on the banks of kAveri,
        he spotted a boy and asked him to hold the vigraham until
        he returned.
        The boy, however, put it on the ground and ran.
        vibIshanA ran after him shouting - "Who is this boy" (pilla yAr).
        (pilla = boy, yAr = who, pillayAr = Lord ganeshA)
        The boy returned to his home on the top of a nearby hill.
        And vibIshanA was not able to uproot the vigraham from its place.

        Rest, as they say, is history.
        The vigraham on the banks of kAveri (Sri Rangam) is Sri ranganAthar.
        Boy was of course ganeshA and his hill top home -
        ucchi pillyAr kovil (in nearby Tiruchirapalli).

regards,
shashi.

>
> But I do not anything about the river :-))
>
> With respects,
> ravi
>
> AUM
>


--
Shashidhar Rajamani
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