One God, Many Forms
The 5th grade class enjoyed the Bhiksha and Satsang with Swamiji. After re-living the moments spent with Swamiji, we began our discussion about why we have so many 'Gods' in Hinduism. God is one but we worship him in various forms that are to our liking. Just as one is a daughter, sister, friend, niece etc to others in her family, but she is one and the same person assuming different roles. Though we worship God as Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Lakshmi etc , we are indeed worshiping the same supreme being, that is manifest to us in those forms.Lord Shiva as JyothirLinga
One of the Manifested forms of Lord Shiva is as a Column of Fire or Jyothi. A Sadhaka who has reached the highest level of enlightenment is believed to see the Lord in this form.
Dwadasa (12) Jyotirlingas
In India there are 12 powerful Jyotirlingas spread across the country, Northernmost being Kedarnath and Southernmost being Rameshwaram. The Puranas and the great teacher Sri Adishankaracharya have praised the greatness of these 12 jyothirlingas. They are:Somnath - located in Prabhas Patann in Saurashtra, Gujarat
Sree Sailam - Mallikarjuna temple in Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh). Adi Shankara composed the famous Sivanandalahari here.
Ujjain - Mahakaleshwar Shrine in Ujjain , Madhya Pradesh
Omkareshwar - Madhya Pradesh
Vaidyanath - Deogarh , in the Santal Paraganas district in Bihar
Bhimashankar - Located in Sahyadri hills near Pune.
Rameshwaram - Ramalingaeshwar shrine in south Tamil Nadu
Nageshwar - Dwaraka in Gujarat
Varanasi - Kasi Vishwanath temple in Benaras, Uttar Pradesh. One of the most celebrated Pilgrimage site for all Hindus in India
Tryambakeshwar - Nasik in Maharashtra, origin of the River Godavari
Kedarnath - Northenmost Jyothirlinga shrine among the Himalayas. The shrine is open only 6 months in a year during the summer months.
Grishneshwar -Ellora Caves, Maharashtra
Adi Shankaracharya has composed the 'Dwadasa Linga Sthothra' which is known to remove sins of the Sadhaka, when recited regularly.
“Saurashtre Somanathamcha Srisaile Mallikarjunam|
Ujjayinya Mahakalam Omkaramamaleswaram ||
Paralyam Vaidyanathancha Dakinyam Bheema Shankaram |
Setu Bandhethu Ramesam, Nagesam Darukavane||
Varanasyantu Vishwesam Tryambakam Gautameethate|
Himalayetu Kedaaram, Ghrishnesamcha shivaalaye||
Etani jyotirlingani, Saayam Praatah Patennarah|
Sapta Janma Kritam pApam, Smaranena Vinashyati||”
