Symbolism of Lord Shiva - Page 2

@Meena: Thank u for the further details.

@Ramya EHT was not mytho. It was a contemporary revenge drama only ( Ek Hasina Thi) but the way it was presented I connected it with mytho 😃. Problem with the forum was many didn't understand the mytho concept of Durga. Durga is Adi Parasakthi herself consort of Lord Shiva. There is no Durga without Shakthi. People were bashing the male lead why he was needed for the story, female lead was enough to take the revenge on the antagonist. They never understood he was needed to restore her soul as without that soul Durga cannot be worshipped. What differentiates Durga from other destructive forms is the fact that she know what to destroy and what to preserve. And that factor had to come out in the story also for the female lead which was not possible without male lead. But then it was not possible to have such mature discussions in that forum as it was very sensitive in so many aspects 😃.@Thanks Meena for explaining it so nicely. The doubt came to me because I see this different placements in Shiv-Shakti temples only. In Vishnu temples Narayan is mostly worshipped with Sridevi and Bhoomi devi together. And if its Krishna temple it will be mostly bala Krishna that is worshipped.

@shruti...very interesting observation.. haven't noted ever in this way..

copy pasting from a similar topic about Lord Sarabheshwar.
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3296062

Sharabha Deva ' A form of Lord Shiva

@prav that observation happened because EHT was a thriller. The moment I connected it with mytho I was reading everything about Navarathri, Dusshera, Mahisasura Mardanam and Shiv-Parvathy love story to predict the track as I used to write extensively in that forum also.

@shruti.. i haven't watched EHT,. sounds interesting... .its surprising isn't it... ... how we learn many things coincidentally ...anyway the knowledge we gained in the process would be with us na..

Originally posted by: shruthiravi

@Ramya EHT was not mytho. It was a contemporary revenge drama only ( Ek Hasina Thi) but the way it was presented I connected it with mytho 😃. Problem with the forum was many didn't understand the mytho concept of Durga. Durga is Adi Parasakthi herself consort of Lord Shiva. There is no Durga without Shakthi. People were bashing the male lead why he was needed for the story, female lead was enough to take the revenge on the antagonist. They never understood he was needed to restore her soul as without that soul Durga cannot be worshipped. What differentiates Durga from other destructive forms is the fact that she know what to destroy and what to preserve. And that factor had to come out in the story also for the female lead which was not possible without male lead. But then it was not possible to have such mature discussions in that forum as it was very sensitive in so many aspects 😃.

Okay I thought its mytho😊. You are quite amazing, linked mytho to some fictional stories 👏. I like ur take. I think, the only common thing in all forums is bashing. I too bashed the CV's but not the members in the previous two forums which I watched.😆 Hope SKR escapes from me😉.

Yes Prav. Actually I love shows that stimulate me intellectually. EHT was that rare kind after a long time in Indian TV. It was just there for 8 months, but whomever watched it, I am sure it would have left an imprint on them.

Originally posted by: mnx12

copy pasting from a similar topic about Lord Sarabheshwar.
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3296062

Sharabha Deva ' A form of Lord Shiva

All of us are quite well aware of different forms of Shiva, be it in the form of Pashupati from the Harappan times, or Rudra from the Vedic times or other forms like Mrityunjaya, Sadashiva, Maheswara, or Nataraja form. The ascetic form and the family form of Shiva or the Linga form of Shiva are all well known.

There is a relatively unknown or lesser-known form of Shiva and probably a form whose motivation was more 'political'. It is the Sharabha form of Lord Shiva.

According to Shiva Purana, Sharabha was a fierce looking creature. It had the wings and beak of a bird, body of a lion, sharp teeth, many legs and huge arms. It had sharp claws and was blazing fire. Its voice was like thousands of thunders striking together and the three eyes were like raging fire.

The myth has its origins in the Narasimha avatar of Vishnu. Having achieved its purpose of killing the demon Hiranyakashipu, Lord Vishnu was supposed to go back to his original form. But Narasimha having tasted blood was in no hurry to return to his original form. There was a growing belief that Vishnu might not go back to his form, and so to tame it, Lord Shiva had to take a more dangerous form to subdue it. A battle ensued, where Narasimha tried to strike at Sharabha only to realise that Sharabha was invincible. On striking Sarabha, it was Vishnu who groaned in pain only to realise that it was none other than Lord Shiva, and thus was Narasimha subdued, who later sang praises of the Sharabha Deva!

Thanks Meena. Its new for me. From our puranas, its only prahlada and lakshmi who reduced the anger of lord narasimhan and ended as Lakshmi Narasimhan.

There are various forms of Lord Narsimha. Nine are popular among them.
1) Ugra Narasimha
2) Krodha Narasimha
3) Malola Narasimha
4) Jwala Narasimha
5) Varaha Narasimha
6) Bhargava Narasimha
7) Karanja Narasimha
8) Yoga Narasimha
9) Lakshmi Narasimha

The Nine forms of Lord Narasimha (Nava Narasimha)

It is believed that Lord Narasimha protects his followers when they are in extreme danger. He also saved Adi Sankara from being sacrificed to the goddess Kali by a Kapalika. As a gesture of gratitude Adi Sankara composed the Laksmi -Narasimha stotra in praise to Lord Narasimha.

Lord Narsimha is recognized in the scriptures by a variety of forms. He is said to have more than 74 forms on the basis of his different postures or weapons. Out of this 9 forms are the most popular. The most popular out of the nine is his Lakshmi Narasimha form. The nine forms of Narasimha (Nava Narasimha) are

1. Ugra Narasimha

Ugra means ferocious . This temple is situated in upper Ahobilam and the Lord is self formed inside a cave to give darshan to Garuda here he is depicted with Hiranya on His lap. The idol of Prahalada is in front of the Lord. He gave darshan to Garuda. Adi Sankara got back his hand cut by Kapalikas so he sang the Lakshmi Narasimha Karavalamaba stothram and has also installed a Shivalingam and Sudarshana Narasimha yantram in this temple. There is a seperate shrine for Senju Lakshmi thayar.

2. Krodha Narasimha

Kroda means the extruded teeth, the Lord is depicted as the Varaha Narasimhar ( boar) . indicating his previous incarnaton. He is holding mother earth in His teeth.

3. Malola Narasimha:

Maa means Maha lakshmi and Lola means Lover. In this form the Lord give dharshan along with His consort Mahalakshmi seated in His left thigh. He is depicted as Santha ( peaceful) Narasimha showering His blessings to the devotees. Out of the nine forms of the Lord two are with thayar other being Pavana Narasimhar. Malola utsavar is the presiding deity of the Ahobila mutt. When there was a confusion as to which Utsavar to adopt as the presiding deity, Maha Vishnu himself indicated Malola vigraha in the dream and cleared the confusion.

4. Jwala Narasimha:

Jwala means flame , the Lord is at His most ferocious form here. There are three idols in this shrine in the first one He is depicted as He emerges out of the pillar to kill Hiranya. The second one the Lord is depicted with eight hands with two hands He is tearing open the stomach of Hiranya and two hands are garlanding his intestine with two hands he is holding the legs and head firmly in place on His thigh in the other two hands He is wielding His divine weapons of Conch and discus. The third idol depicts the fight between the Lord and the demon. To visit this shrine we have to cross a beautiful water fall, falling from the top of the Vedatri mountains. On the top of the hill is situated the Ugra stambh( the ferocious pillar) supposed to be the pillar from which Lord emerged the whole mountain is supposed to be the palace of Hiranyakashipu we can see the structure which resembles fort and also the school in which Prahalada studied.

5. Varaha Narasimha:

In the lower Ahobilam a magnificent temple is built for Narasimha. Here Lord gives darshan as Lakshmi Narasimhar with Mother Lakshmi in his left lap. He is also called Prahalada Varadar and Santha Narasimhar. The temple is a good example stone architecture with beutiful mandapams ans wall carvings. There is seperate shrine for Mahalakshmi and Andal. The temple tower is 7 tiered one. There are two utsavars one in the normal Mahavishnu form with consorts and the other in Lakshmi Narasimha form along with consorts.

6. Bhargava Narasimha:

Bargava is Parasurama, he did penance to see Lord in his Ugra Narasimha form . Lord Vishnu appeared as Ugra Narasimha to and also showed all His Dasavatharam ( ten incarnations ) to Parasurama. So we can see all the ten incarnations of the Lord in the idol of the Lord. The temple is built on a hillock with 132 steps. There is beautiful pushkarani also.

7. Karanja Narasimha:

Karanja is a tree . Hanuman did penance to see Lord Rama ( Another incarnation of Vishnu) in Ahobilam as the Lord appeared as Narasimha Hanuman requested him to give darshan as Rama. So the Lord gave darshan along with bow and arrow with the celestial serpent as umbrella ( to show that he is Maha Vishnu) to Hanuman here under the Karanja tree( Punga tree in Tamil). So he is called as Karanja Narasimhar. There is a shrine for Hanuman facing the Lord. Hanuman gives in standing pose with hands in woshipping position.

8. Yoga Narasimha:

Here the Lord is depicted in a yogic posture with His legs crossed and the hands in yogic posture. The legend is that He taught the nuances of yoga to prahalada here.

9. Lakshmi Narasimha:

Here again the Lord gives darshan along with His consort Senju Lakshmi. Senju are the triabals of this mountains the legend is that the Lord married Senju Lakshmi from among the tribals to grace the tribals. There is a seperate cave shrine for Senju Lakshmi thayar She graces in standing position along with Hanuman. Tribals come and worship the Lord every week according to their customs for the grace of the Lord. It is believed that by the darshan of the Lord ones get washed away. The shrine is located on the leeward side of the Garudatri mountain and involves the arduous trekking in woods lined with bamboos and teak wood and criss crossing wild rivers.

Chatra vad Narasimhar : Chatra means umbrella and Vad means banyan tree the Lord is here depicted in His jolly mood enjoying the music of Ahaa and Uuhu two divine singers under the banyan tree. He is Santha Narasimhar.

description of 9 forms- curtesy,

https://www.facebook.com/notes/mantra-shlokas/the-nine-forms-of-lord-narasimha-nava-narasimha/207320532614112/