How has Lord Shiva been glorified in different versions of Ramayana?

 Mahadeva had consumed Halahala poison as if it were ambrosia.

And Vishnu smilingly spoke to wielder of trident Rudra, 'oh, god the best, whatever element that has emerged from the churning of Milk Ocean by gods, that shall belong to you, isn't it. By virtue of your position as the foremost god among gods, oh, omnicompetent god Shiva, you please accept this poison applying yourself to that position of foremost god, and deeming this poison, haalahala, as a foremost oblation to your godhood'.

Saying so Vishnu, the best one among gods, has disappeared then and there only. And on observing the scare of gods and also on paying heed to the words of the Wielder of Bow called shaar~Nga, namely Vishnu, god Shiva gulped that lethal poison, haalaahala , as if it is ambrosia.

Source : Valmiki Ramayana Bala Kanda Sarga 45

Maharishi Vishwamitra prayed to Mahadeva and obtained all the weapons from him and he also learnt the science of Dhanurveda from Mahadeva.

On going to the mountainsides of Himalayas, whereat it is adored by kinnaraa-s and uragaa-s, the nymphs and nymphean serpents, he that great practiser of ascesis, Vishvamitra, undertook an austere ascesis for the sake of beneficence of the Great God, Shiva.

After a long lost time, Shiva, the God of Gods whose flag bears the sign of Holy Bull, has shown himself to that great-saint Vishvamitra, for He is a ready boon-giver.

'Oh, king, for which purpose you undertook this ascesis that you may tell me. What is it really intended by you and what boon you seek that be made known to me for I am the boon-giver.' Shiva said so to Vishvamitra.

Thus said by God Shiva to Vishvamitra of great ascesis, Vishvamitra on reverencing that Great God Shiva said this way.

Oh! Mahadeva, the Impeccable Great God... providing that you are gladdened by my ascetic devotion, dhanurveda, the Holy Writ of Archery, with its complemental and supplemental Writs, and along with its summational Upanishad-s , together with its preternatural doctrines... they may kindly be bestowed upon me...

' Oh, Exquisite God, whichever missile is there either with gods, or fiends, gandharva-s, yaksha-s, and demons, let it dawn upon me. For you alone are the God of Gods your blessings alone can fulfil my aspiration.' Thus Vishvamitra entreated God Shiva.

So be it!' On sanctifying Vishvamitra and his aspiration thus, the God of Gods, Shiva disappeared.

Source : Valmiki Ramayana Bala Kanda Sarga 55

King Janaka, father of Mata Sita, narrated the story of the bow of Mahadeva.

Oh, godly sage, there was a king renowned as Devaraata, sixth one from Nimi, [the originator of our lineage,] and this bow was handed down to him for custodial care by the Sublime Soul, Shiva...

Once, during the devastation of the Vedic-ritual of Daksha Prajapati, the mettlesome god Rudra, rancorously outstretching the bowstring of this bow, said this to all gods, superciliously..

'Oh, gods, whereby you have not apportioned my portion [of oblations in Vedic-ritual s, as I am also the] desirer of such portion, [thereby] I will shred the highly revered heads of yours with this bow...' [So said Shiva to gods.]

Then, oh, best saint Vishvamitra, all gods are truly dismayed, and on their supplicating, Bhava, namely Shiva, the God of Gods is gladdened...

And that Sublime Soul Shiva gladly gave that bow to all of the great souled gods, and oh, godly saint, then those great souled gods gave this gem of a bow of Shiva, the God of Gods, to our ancestor [Devaraata,] for custodial care...

Source : Valmiki Ramayana Bala Kanda Sarga 66

Bhagwan Parshurama called Mahadeva as the destroyer of Tripura.

Oh, best one among men, out of the two longbows gods gave one to restive Trymbaka, God Shiva for a combat with demon Tripura, and oh, Kakutstha, that bow alone is the annihilator of Tripura, the demon... and you have broken that alone...

Source : Valmiki Ramayana Bala Kanda Sarga 75

Bhagwan Sri Ram had worshipped himself and Mahadeva before entering into the house made by Lakshman ji during their exile.

Having taken bath in the river as prescribed Rama offered oblations to Lord Rudra and Lord Vishnu after offereing tributes to Vaisvadeva. He performed benedictions relating to the purification of house and also a silent prayer as per prescribed rites. He finally offered excellent tributes to the deities, for removing sins.

Source : Valmiki Ramayana Ayodhya Kanda Sarga 56

Mahadeva had come to congratulate Bhagwan Sri Ram after he had killed Ravana and he also informed him about his father Dasaratha.

Hearing the auspicious words thus spoken by Rama, Lord Shiva the Supreme Lord thereupon delivered the following still more beautiful speech:

"O lotus-eyed, long-armed, broad-chested, annihilator of enemies and excellent among those upholding the cause of virtue! Thank heaven! You accomplished this task."

"Fortunately has the fear born of Ravana - which increased the severe darkness on the entire world has been removed by you, on the battle-field, O Rama!"

"You are fit to go to the heaven, by comforting the depressed Bharata and the illustrious Kausalya as well as seeing Kaikeyi and Sumitra, the mother of Lakshmana having got the sovereignty of Ayodhya, bringing delight to your friends, stabilizing the back-bone in the race of Ikshvaku, getting excellent glory by performing a horse-sacrifice and by granting riches to Brahmanas."

Source : Valmiki Ramayana Yuddha Kanda Sarga 119

Bhagwan Sri Ram tells Mata Sita how Mahadeva blessed him and his army before battle.

See this island, located in the middle of the ocean, where my troops were stationed. At this place, the lord Shiva (the supreme deity) formerly bestowed his grace on me

Source : Valmiki Ramayana Yuddha Kanda Sarga 123

JAI SIYA RAM !

HAR HAR MAHADEV !

What is impossible for Lord Shiva?

 In my perspective, there are many things which are impossible for the Mahadev..

• Taking anything, since He is the giver. As a sacrificing father to the entire Universe, He caters to the need of all living beings and provides them all luxuries and He resides in the burial ground.

• To see the pain and sufferings of His devotees, so He rushes to their rescue at mere calling His name “ Shiva”.

• Shiva doesn't punish any living being, instead He makes them realise their mistakes through realization and takes away their arrogance, greed and lust.
• Shiva can't stay away from His devotees, since He has the utmost love towards them and treats them as family, so He is always concerned about their well being.
• Shiva doesn't like to wear expensive jewelry and clothes, since He knows that they all are perishable, so it's impossible to convince Shiva and keep Him in the material world.
• Shiva can never say no to any Devotee's wish and grants them all the desired boons, irrespective of whether they are devas or demons.

• Shiva can never stay calm when the Universe and all the living beings are at risk, so as the saviour He drank the Halahal ( poison) that oozed out of the Samudra Manthan, churning of the milk ocean for celestial nectar.
• Shiva can't ignore anyone who is commenting or abusing His beloved Shri Vishnu or any of His avatars. So at times He disciplines them. That is why when King Ravana turned against Shri Rama, God Shiva stopped supporting him, even though he was His greatest devotee.
• Shiva can't be away from His Samadhi or His deep meditation. It's impossible to keep God Shiva busy in worldly affairs.

• Shiva can't be selfish even towards His own family, so He punishes when they do things out of ignorance, since He feels what is required is only dharma, so everyone has to abide to it. That is why God Shiva beheaded His own son, Lord Ganesh.

Like Sri Vishnu, Shri Krishna, and Shri Rama, why is Sri not placed in front of Shiva?

 Sri can indeed be placed in front of Shiva.

“श्री शिवाय नमस्तुभ्यं" is a very sacred mantra mentioned in Shiva Purana.

It is a misconception that Sri is not placed in front of Bhagwan Shiva. So some people say that Sri is not placed in front of Shiva because Sri is a name of Maa Lakshmi, so it is to be placed only in front of Bhagwan Vishnu or his avatars. Firstly this logic is wrong because the sacred texts do mention that Naam Apradh (differentiating between the names of God) is not to be done. Shiva is Narayan, Bhavani is Lakshmi and it is vice versa also because Devi Purana mentions Shiva as Radha and Parvati as Krishna, so it is not even about male and female in case of Almighty. One Ultimate Power performs different roles, but the eternal truth is one. So there is no point in making things more complicated.

Secondly, Sri is also the name of Maa Lalita Tripurasundari, which proves that it can very much be placed in front of Mahadev. Sri Vidya is considered as the most auspicious one in Shakti Upasana.

Thirdly, Sri is very much used with Shiva. We have Sri Rudram as a very sacred Vedic hymn.

Moreover, Sri can also be placed in front of a normal person. It is used to address a man with respect, likewise Srimati is used to address woman. If it can be used in front of normal people also, then it is obvious to use it front of any name of God.

So Sri can definitely be placed in front of Mahadeva, it is just that in common language, we address him more as Shiv ji than as Shri Shiva.

श्री शिवाय नमस्तुभ्यं 🙏 जय श्री हरि 🙏

How do you describe Shiva?

 In my perspective, this one answer is never enough to describe Shiva.

Shiva is Aadi ( from times immemorial ) and Ananth ( everywhere ) and Sanatana ( eternal ), so how can anyone describe the Mahadev ?

Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu couldn't find the start and end of Shiva, so how can we mortals describe the Rudra ??

Shiva is God / father / husband / guru / friend to his devotees / linga/ shankara / saviour , and yet He is formless, since all forms are His forms

Shiva is the aatma Rudra, soul in every living being, that is why, they say, without Shiva's permission, even an ant or atom can't move.

Shiva is the soul / energy in you, in His absence , we cease to exist.

Shiva is Swayambhu, He created Himself and no one knows the start and end of Shiva , thus He is reverred as Mahadev, by Lord vishnu and Lord Brahma.

• Shiva is the destroyer of Lust / desires / animal instincts in us.

• Shiva is the Yogi, detached from this worldly things.
• Shiva , the loving husband to his consort Parvathi
• Shiva , the Aapad_bandhava ( who protects his devotees )
• Shiva , he cuts one head of Lord Brahma , to curb his arrogance
• Shiva , the Bhasmanga_raya ( who smears ash on his body ), since everything is ash to him.
• Shiva , the Ardhanareshwar , who shared his half body with his best half , Goddess Shakthi ( Parvathi )
• Shiva as Shankara , the family man, with his wife and sons.

• Jagatpitrau Vande Parvathi Parameshwaram, the father and mother of this entire universe Shiva and Parvathi
• Shiva , the Swetha_Vrishabha vaahana, who has the white ox , Nandi as his vehicle.
• Shiva wears Cobra as his ornament, thus Vasuki became Naagaabharana. To protect snakes from the Eagles and from getting extinct , Shiva gave a permanent place on his neck
• Shiva , the Adi Guru, who has the Sapta-Rishis ( 7 Rishis ) as His disciples. Shiva as Dakshinamoorthy, preaching to the entire world and to sages through Silence.
• Shiva , the Jagatkaarana, the creator and the reason for this universe.
• Shiva drank the poison that oozed out of the ocean, during Samudra Manthan, and thus became Neelakant and saved this entire Universe.
• Shiva , the Trinetra ( the 3 eyed God )

• He is the baby Shiva , who always missed mother's love.

Why does Shakti take multiple births like Sati and Parvati when Shiva can directly manifest? What's the purpose behind her earthly incarnations?

 It’s the cosmic play of Shakti in which Shiva participates for Shakti, his own versatile and dynamic side. Otherwise, Shiva is always in the state of absolute stillness.. For Shakti, he moves and acts in multiple forms.

The entire creation is actually the divine play of Shakti. Shiva’s original nature is Vairagya, he is uninterested about play, he remains in his actual state of reality that's why in most of the images he is depicted in samadhi.. The state of absolute oneness (Advaita).

Purusha represents awareness about the eternal reality and Prakriti represents the movement as the dynamic playful force that sets up the stage for the play.

In absolute eternal reality, there is only formless Param Tatva i.e., oneness between Shiva, his Shakti and everything which is in existence, the non-dual state.

Then the playful Shakti engages Shiva in the creation along with several aspects and factors that contribute in the play.

So Shakti has taken birth as Sati and Parvati, the same Goddess in her absolute form is Lalita Tripurasundari. Lalita itself means playful or the one who plays, Tripurasundari means the most beautiful in all three realms. This actually tells a lot about her multiple forms and incarnation. Every event in scriptures is directly or indirectly related to her.

The eternal consort of Lalita Tripurasundari is Kameshwar Mahadev, the most transcendental form of Shiva. They are inseparable as the eternal truth (Sanatan Satya).

But even in this form when they split for creation, Shiva is the one who is holding Shakti and it's Shakti who is running all the play while sitting on his lap. This depiction is not a causal romance, it represents the balance.

Shiva is the absolute static consciousness on which Shakti, the playful dynamic energy runs her cosmic play. The creation can be seen as the seed of Shiva but it is developed by Shakti since the world is her cosmic womb.

For Shakti, Shiva does the creation with her and all the cosmic play (lila). While engaging in this lila, Shiva maintains his original nature, he doesn't take birth, rather he manifests directly. Even while entering the material realm, Shiva does not take birth but directly manifests as Rudra through Brahma’s forehead when Brahma prays to Shiva while being frustrated with his struggle in creating the various beings.

But Shakti on the hand, always takes avatars and for that she comes in the stage of birth and death. For her play, even if she has to lose her life, she does that play, everything happens out of her will, it is not something that is not in her control, it is by her own will only. Be it her struggles or her achievements.

Maa Gauri incarnated as Sati and then self-immolated when Daksha insulted Shiva. It was completely her own lila, her script.

Then Shiva destroying Daksha by manifesting his matted hair as Veerabhadra.

Then Veerbhadra chopping off Daksha’s head and destroying the yagya.

Then Mahadevi again taking birth as Parvati, the daughter of Himavan.

She appearing in forms like Durga, Kali etc. to destroy the asuras.

Or in the plays where demons like Jalandhara and Andhakasura try to abduct her, Shiva or Narayan coming to rescue her.. It is all her play. From the stories where she is mentioned as the highest power to the ones where she is described in a painful and sad condition where is hurt or is losing life, it is all her design.

For Shakti, it’s never winning or losing, it’s just playing. Be it saving the world by slaying the demonic entities or losing life as Sati and taking 108 births and struggling in them for the reunion with Shiva. Each of them is her script.

She can be the Aaradhya Devi of all including Shiva and Narayan.

She can also be the devotee of Mahadev.

She can also be the devotee of Narayan.

She can herself be Shiva, Krishna or any form of the Ultimate. There is absolutely no rigidity about her. And it is not just about Maa Bhavani's own Parvati form, it is with other forms as well.

Maa Sita herself could have destroyed Ravana easily, yet she was abducted as a part of lila not because of any weakness but her maya which was beyond the imagination of Ravan.

Yet she wanted Shri Ram to do that as a part of play, Shri Ram then destroys Ravan. Shri Ram again could have easily defeated Ravan at once, yet he struggled, built Ram Setu, fought with Rakshas, took the attacks of Meghnad’s Naag Pash and then finally slaying the demonic entities including Ravan.

Similarly the separation of Radha Krishna was never an actual separation but lila.

Shri Ram and Shri Krishna taking birth and then leaving the world, that is also not actual birth and death. Lalita (Kali) herself is Krishna, again no difference since in reality, there is no male and no female but absolute Nirguna Parabrahman who appears as male, female etc.

And so the every act is Shakti’s own design and not mortality. It is therefore important to understand that the fluid nature of the Supreme power, be it Shakti (or Vishnu and avatars) or Shiva himself when he participates in lila. It is just play, the divine leela.

The purpose of each earthly incarnation is to play and establish Dharma by destroying Adharma. So it is like a film because in reality there is absolute oneness, Shiva is Shakti and Shakti is Shiva.

Jai Shiv Shakti 🙏

Why do Asuras (demons) always pray to Brahma or Shiva?

 The primary reason why Asuras pray to Brahma or Shiva is to gain power through the virtue of boons obtained by them. This is clear from many cases where Asuras did penance to Brahma/Shiva to obtain boons.

In Ramayana Ravana became invincible to gods and demons due to boon obtained from Brahma after performing penance of thousands of years. Even his sons Indrajit and Atikaya rose to power after praying to Brahma and obtaining boons. Tripura demons and Hirankashyap became a powerful being due to Brahma,’ s boon of virtually being indestructible by tormenting himself through austerities. Even asuras like Mahishasura and Hiranyaksh became powerful as a result of Brahma,’ s boon as per puranas.

When we come to Lord Shiva we see him granting boons to evil in Mahabharata. The likes of Jydratha and Jarasandha obtained boons from Shiva after worshipping him such that Jarasandha was able to defeat all the kings and Jyadratha managed to stop 4 Pandavas except Arjuna on 13th day.

What are the mysteries and secrets of the cave of Lord Shiva?

 There are two stories regarding the secret cave of Shiva.

One is the Yana caves, Karnataka and the other is Shivkhori, Jammu.

Locals of Yana say that, when the Asur Bhasmasura wanted to put his hand on Shiva and turn Shiva into ash, Lord Vishnu came as Mohini and put an end to Bhasmasura. This incident occurred at the Yana cave, Karnataka.

(Yana cave, Karnataka )

In this cave there is a Swayambhu Shivlinga, water drips from the roof over the Linga, adding to the sanctity of the place.

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• Yet another story says, this incident happened in Jammu, and the cave or Khori where Shiva took shelter thus became famous as Shivkhori.

This cave is situated in the Reasi district of Jammu amd Kashmir, and is often reverred as the Home of Gods.

• It is believed that Shiva stays in the Shivkhori and there is a secret route, which connects it to Amarnath. This cave has a natural Shiva lingam (Swayambhu) which is 2 to 3 meters in height.
• The cave has a secret route which connects it to Amarnath.
• The cave is now closed as some Sadhus who dared to go inside the cave, never returned. The cave is mere 200 meters in length and one Meter wide.
• There cave’s roof is carved with snake formations, and there is a continuous flow of water from the roof onto the Shiva lingam.

Source : Wikipedia