Gokarna

 

On my most recent trip to India, my family and I explored Gokarna. We visited the famous Mahabaleshwar temple on the first day of being there. I was fascinated by the story of the Atma Ling and wanted to share it with you.

The demon king Ravana and his mother were both great devotees of Shiva. Every day, his mom would make a shiv ling out of sand and offer her obeisance to it. It all started when Ravana approached his mom and told her that he would bring the actual Shiva to her so that she no longer had to worship a sand linga. His mother was extremely contented and asked Ravana how he was going to pull this off. Ravana immediately walked away and meditated deeply for a long period. But even after the long penance, Lord Shiva wouldn't appear. 

Seeing this, Narad Muni instantly pleaded with Lord Vishnu to do something about this. If Lord Shiva gave Ravana the Atma linga; aka Shiva's soul, then Ravana would become immortal. Meanwhile, a frustrated Ravana decided to lift the entire Kailash mountain to take Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati to Lanka. Just then, Lord Shiva appeared and stopped him from doing so. Ravana was delighted and was going to ask Lord Shiva to come home with him to Lanka. Just then, Vishnu cast a spell on Ravana and made him ask for Lord Parvati to marry him instead. Shiva being Bholenath, without further ado requested Parvati to go with Ravana. 

Although Parvati was not in favor of this, she yielded to Shiva's request. Ravana and Maa Parvati were heading to Lanka when Narad Muni stopped them. He told Ravana that the woman with him was not actually Maa Parvati but Maha Kali. Ravana turned around to look at the woman behind him and found out that Narad Muni was telling the Truth. Furthermore, Narad Muni told Ravana that Vishnu had tricked him into believing that this was Maa Parvati and that the actual Maa Parvati was in Patalaloka.

Enraged, Ravana departed to Patalaloka and found the daughter of the King there; Mandodari. Due to the spell cast by Vishnu, Ravana saw Mandodari as Maa Parvati and instantaneously married her.

When Ravana returned home with Mandodari, his mom was stunned to see that her son had brought back a woman instead of Shiva. That's when Ravana's spell broke and he realized what he had done.

As Ravana remembered his purpose, he set out to do sadhana again. After an intense meditation, he was displeased to see that Shiva had still not come. As a result, he decided to hurt himself by cutting off his hands and heads. 

Shiva then appeared and stopped Ravana. This time, Ravana asked Shiva to come to Lanka with him. Lord Shiva politely refused but told Ravana that he could have the atma linga, ie. Shiva's soul. Before Shiva handed Ravana the Atma linga, he warned him that if he placed the Atma linga on the ground, he wouldn't be able to lift it back up. Satisfied, Ravana agreed to this condition.

Meanwhile, Narad Muni was plotting a scheme to stop Ravana. He approached Lord Ganesha and told him that if Ravana succeeds in his endeavor, he will be invincible and immortal and a threat to all the Devas. Ganesha agreed and started following Ravana, disguised as a cowherd boy. 

Just then, Lord Vishnu cast a spell to make it look as though it was Sandhya Kala(Dusk). Sandhya Kala is when people have to pray and pay their obeisances. Being the Perceptive Bhakt he was, Ravana didn't want to miss this, but he couldn't pray with the atma linga in his hands. He looked around to see if anyone was there to hold the atma linga for him. That's when he saw Lord Ganesha(in his disguise). Ravana requested the cowherd boy to hold the atma linga while he was praying. Ganesha instantly agreed but told Ravana that when he said his name 3 times, Ravana would have and come take the atma linga from him.

Ravana agreed with the boy's terms and went out to pray. As soon as Ravana left, Ganesha muttered Ravana's name 3 times under 1 breath and placed the Atma Linga on the ground.

Ravana tried to stop him but failed. As Ravana tried to lift the Atma linga back up, it completely lost its shape but didn't move. An enraged Ravana was about to thrash the boy when lord Shiva and Devi Parvati appeared and stopped him.

The place where the Atma Linga was placed is now the Gokarna/Mahabaleshwar temple. But the story doesn't end there...

Pent up with anger, Ravana flung aside the materials that covered the lingam: the casket, its lid, the string around the lingam, and the cloth covering it. As soon as these materials touched the ground, they became lingams. These 4 lingams, along with the main Mahabaleshwar lingam are called the "Panchalingams".

They are:

• Mahabaleshwar(the main atma lingam)
• Sajjeshwar(the casket carrying the lingam)
• Dhareshwar(the string covering the lingam)
• Gunavanteshwar(the lid of the casket carrying the lingam)
• Murudeshwar(the cloth covering the lingam)

I was lucky enough to visit not one, but two of these lingams; Mahabaleshwar and Murudeshwar. The part of this story that really amused me is that, even though the demon king Ravana was gruesome and lustful, he still eminently respected his mother. He went through all that penance and meditation just to get the atma lingam for his mother. This story shows us how crucial it is to appreciate and value our parents.