When Lord Shiva Hid In The Garhwal Mountains As a Bull...

You would surely have heard of, or perhaps even visited, the famous Kedarnath Temple in Uttarakhand. However, do you know that this belongs to a set of five temples known as the Panch Kedar, and the interesting puranic tale about these?

Kedarnath Temple; Courtesy: Chardham Yatra, Govt of India

The Mahabharatha war was rife with schemes and scandals. The Pandava brothers too committed several sins – knowingly and unknowingly – during the course of the war. Two amongst these, were the deadly sins of gotra-hatya (killing their kin) and brahmana-hatya (killing Brahmins, like Dronacharya). These actions of theirs were inevitable – as they had to reinstate righteousness in a land plagued by adharma. However, none can escape from the fruits of their actions – be it good or bad. Hence, after the war, Lord Krishna advised the Pandavas to go in search of Lord Shiva, to seek his blessings and reduce the impact of their sins.

The brothers first headed to Kashi (Varanasi), Lord Shiva’s favourite Earthly abode, hoping to find him there. However, Lord Shiva, the magnanimous one, who is ever ready to shower his blessings on devotees, was reluctant to meet the Pandavas. He was unhappy with the extent of death, and the many unfair means used to win the war, because he thought it would set a bad example for coming generations.

The war at Kurukshethra was an exception. Adharma was spreading at a deadly speed, and had to be arrested by some means, which is why Lord Vishnu played a trick or two to help the Pandavas win. However, it was possible that future generations would look at these without understanding the context, and adopt such means unfairly, citing the Mahabharatha war as a precedent. It was for such reasons that Lord Shiva was reluctant to absolve the Pandavas of their sins, as it would mean he too endorsed their actions.

The bull that hid at Guptakashi

Lord Shiva took the form of a bull, and ran away from the Pandavas. He hid at a place in the Garhwal hills, now known as Guptakashi (or ‘hidden Kashi’).

The brothers, who did not find Lord Shiva at Kashi, headed to the mountains in search of him. When Bhima spotted a divine-looking bull in the Garhwal hills, he gave chase suspecting it to be Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva ran farther away, and as Bhima came menacingly close, he sank himself into the mountains, revealing only five small parts of his bull form, for the Pandavas to worship. The hump appeared at Kedarnath, the arms at Tungnath, the face at Rudranath, the navel and stomach at Madhyamaheshwar and the hair at Kalpeshwar.

The Pandavas were delighted to get at least this minimal darshan of the Lord’s endless form, which was enough to absolve them of their sins! It is believed that they built temples at these five places, finally meditating at Kedarnath and performing various yagnas, before heading to their heavenly abode.

The Panch Kedar yatra is considered very auspicious and undertaken by several Shaivite sects, not just in India but in Nepal too.

 

By Janani G. Vikram (First Published in Tattvaloka)