Shri Shirdi Sai Speaks-23rd Dec/ Bhimashankar Temple in Maharashtra |
Shri Shirdi Sai Speaks-23rd Dec/ Bhimashankar Temple in Maharashtra Posted: 22 Dec 2012 04:39 PM PST Om Shree Ganeshaya Namaha! Om Sai Ram ! Om Namah Shivaya! If for some reason you are not able to see , or download the below pictures or click to the below links and pictures- Plz go to http://debu7370.blogspot.com/ You can also have access to all the previous Shirdi Sai speaks mails at the above link.And if any of you would like to receive these messages directly to your mailbox everyday-- To request for Shri Sai Satcharitra books go to : http://www.saiseva.omsrisai.net/store/index.php For everything else related to Shri Shirdi Sai baba , go to http://debu7366.blogspot.com/ Vaikunta Ekadashi is one of the most important Ekadasis. Ekadashi is an auspicious day dedicated to Lord Vishnu and falls on the eleventh day of every lunar fortnight in traditional Hindu calendar. In 2012, the date of Vaikunta Ekadasi is December 24. (Certain calendars have marked Vaikunta Ekadasi on December 23 but this is Smarta Ekadasi) Vaikunta Ekadasi is celebrated with great importance in Tirupati Balaji Temple, Srirangam RanganathaswamyTemple, and Bhadrachalam Sita Ramachandraswamy temple. Apart from these temples, all the temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu and his incarnations celebrate Vaikunta Ekadasi. OM Bolne Se Mann ko Shanti Milti Hai, SAI Bolne Se Mann ko Shakti Milti Hai, Ram Bolne Se Paapon Se Mukti Milti Hai, Toh Pyar Se Bolo "OM SAI RAM" Bhimashankar Temple is a Jyotirlinga shrine located 50 km northwest of Khed, near Pune, in India. It is located 127 km from Shivaji Nagar (Pune) in the Ghat region of the Sahyadri hills. Bhimashankar is also the source of the river Bhima, which flows southeast and merges with the Krishna river near Raichur. .. This is the sacred stone sculpture of Lord Ganesh which comes enroute to Bhimashankar via Ganesh Ghat(hence the name).. There are many routes that leads to the Bhimashankar Temple. One of which is Ghanesh Ghat..the most simplest and the longest route.. Gupta Bhimashankar, located in the forest which has smaller Swayambhu Lingas. It is located near the source of Bhima river Legend- As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of saving) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light.Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy.Each of the twelve jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiva.At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva Eons ago in the dense forests of Dakini, on the lofty ranges of the Sahaydris lived an evil Asura by the name Bhima with his mother Karkati. Compassion and kindness shivered in the presence of Bhima. The divine and the mortals were scared of him alike. But he was confronted by certain questions about his own existence which continuously tormented him. When Bhima could no longer sustain his agony and curiosity, he asked his mother to unveil the mysteries of his life. He urged his mother to tell him who his father was and why he had abandoned them in the wilderness of the forest. After much hesitation and with a lingering fear, Karkati his mother, revealed to him that he was the son of the mighty Kumbhakarna, the younger brother of the Lankadheeswara — the mighty all powerful King Ravana of Lanka. Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as Lord Rama annihilated Kumbhakarna. Karkati told Bhima, that his father was killed by Ram in the great war. This infuriated Bhima and he vowed to avenge Lord Vishnu. To achieve this he embarked on a severe penance to please Lord Brahma. The compassionate creator was pleased by the dedicated devotee and granted him immense prowess. This was a terrible mistake. The evil tyrant caused havoc in the three worlds. He defeated King Indra and conquered the heavens. He also defeated a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva – Kamarupeshwar, and put him in the dungeons. He started torturing Rishis and Sadhus. All this angered the Gods. They all along with Lord Brahma beseeched Lord Shiva to come to their rescue. Lord Shiva consoled the Gods and agreed to rescue them from the tyrant. On the other hand Bhima insisted and ordered Kamarupeshwar to worship him instead of Lord Shiva. When Kamarupeshwar denied, the tyrant Bhima raised his sword to strike the Shiva Linga, to which Kamarupeshwar was doing abhishekam and pooja. As soon as Bhima managed to raise his sword, Lord Shiva appeared before him in all his magnificence. Then the terrible war began. The holy sage Narada appeared and requested Lord Shiva to put an end to this war. It was then that Lord Shiva reduced the evil demon to ashes and thus concluded the saga of tyranny. All the Gods and the holy sages present there requested Lord Shiva to make this place his abode. Lord Shiva thus manifested himself in the form of the Bhimashankar Jyotirlingam. It is believed that the sweat that poured forth from Lord Shiva's body after the battle formed the Bhimarathi River. This temple is also closely associated with the legend of Shiva slaying the demon Tripurasura associated with the invincible flying citadels Tripuras. Shiva is said to have taken abode in the 'Bhima Shankara' form, upon the request of the Gods, on the crest of the Sahyadri hills, and the sweat that poured forth from his body after the battle is said to have formed the Bhimarathi river. LegendThere was a demon Tripurasura who did penance in the jungle of Bhimashankar very long ago i.e. in Tretayug, to please Lord Shiva in order to achieve the gift of immortality. Lord shiva, who is specially known for his kindness towards his devotees, was pleased with Tripurasura's commitment towards him. So as usual, he blessed him with the power of immortality with a condition that, "He should strive in the best interest of people, or he may be sued permanently for violating the condition." With the flow of time, Tripurasura forgot the condition to which he was abided, and eventually started harassing people as well as other deities. There was a chaos for which all the deities approached Lord Shiva for remedy. Thus in order to sue Tripurasura, Lord Shiv prayed to Goddess Parvati (Kamalaja Mata) in order to help him to accomplish this task. Accordingly Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati underwent a new form which is popularly known as "Ardha-Narya-Nateshwar" and killed Tripurasura on Kartik Pournima which is known as "Tripurari Pornima". After the death of Tripurasura his wives (Dakini and Shakini) went to Lord Shiva with a question of their existence without Tripurasura. Thus Lord Shiva blessed both of them, with the power of immortality which he did to Tripurasura. Henceforth the realm Bhimashankar is known as "Dakinyam Bhimashankaram". My Humble Pranams to the two nandis in front of the Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga temple, at a single location in front of the sacred shivling. It seems that the Nandi at the right was to be repaired due to some problem or was to be replaced. The new Nandi was commissioned and brought to the temple premises. One and all, nobody could agree on the procedure to replace the earlier Nandi idol with the new one, and since then (probably for more than a 100 years), both the Nandis have remained. Bhimashankar Kundatil Ganesh Murti Life is so short and there are so many sacred places to visit in my to go list and one of those is definetly the Bhimashankar temple in Maharashtra..May we all get to pay our respects at this holy shrine.. May Lord Ganesh show us the path that will lead us to Mukti. Sai bhakt, Deepa H Quote of BABA: All that you see taken together is Myself. He who thinks that Baba is only in Shirdi has totally failed to see Baba. Both rain and sunshine are needed to make a rainbow. Both joy and sorrow are needed to make a life truly beautiful and colourful. |