Lord Shiva and Sri Rama

Jai Sri Hari and joyful namaskar to my dear os.me family. I hope all of you are awake for Mahashivratri and enjoying the bliss of Lord Shiva and Ma Uma’s marriage. There is a beautiful story narrated by Swami Rajeshwaranand where the ganas ask Lord Shiva why he is smearing ash before going to his marriage.

He tells them about a time when he was wandering the planet earth when he saw a group of people carrying a dead body. Lord Shiva is the greatest devotee of Sri Hari, and Sri Hari responds to Lord Shiva’s love by worshipping him. It’s the greatest bromance in the universe.

So Lord Shiva is walking on this planet when a bunch of people carry a dead body and continuously chant “Ram Nam Satya Hai,” or the name of Rama, is the eternal truth. Lord Shiva is so enchanted by the chant of Sri Hari’s name that he follows them to the cremation ground.

Lord Shiva notices that as soon as the corpse is placed on the pyre, people start forming groups and gossiping about their house, work, and how much discomfort being here has caused them. Lord Shiva said all these living people are hypocrites. They kept repeating that the name of Lord Rama was the only truth. Now suddenly, they are showing that their hearts and minds are attached to worldly desires. Hence, Lord Shiva decided he wanted nothing to do with the living and that he was better of with dead people. When Lord Shiva turned towards the pyre, the dead body had been reduced to ashes. He stated that since the dead body was responsible for the holy utterance of Lord Rama’s name, he would smear the ash all over his body.

My birth name is Akshay Iyer, and we are shiva worshippers by birth. However, my mom was born in Srirangam, and she has always worshipped Sri Hari. I have thus inherited both these lineages, and I loved this story because it showed how Sri Hari and Shiva adore each other while we mortals claim supremacy.

A big thanks to Meera Di for sharing this lecture. I hope you all enjoy the celebrations of Lord Shiva’s wedding. It’s time to light my piece of paper on fire. Since I read many comments, it’s only fair to reveal my regret. In all honesty, I am burning a blank piece of paper. I confessed to Swami that I don’t think I have any regrets, but he knows my heart much better than me. So if he finds anything buried there, he can burn it for me.