Somanātha is the famous Jyotirliṅga on the western coast of Bhārata. It stands at Prabhāsa Kshetra on the Saurāshṭra (Kathiawar) peninsula. It is one of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas, the self-shining forms of Bhagavān Śiva at twelve great places in Bhārata, and among the most sacred shrines of Bhagavān Śiva.

The name means “the master of the moon”. The Śiva Purāṇa tells how Candra, the Moon, did tapas (austerity) at Prabhāsa, and how Bhagavān Śiva became Somanātha there. The Skanda Purāṇa also names Prabhāsa among the greatest tīrthas.

Identity and significance

Somanātha is the Jyotirliṅga at Prabhāsa-Pāṭaṇa on the western coast. There the three rivers Sarasvatī, Hiraṇyā and Kapilā meet the western ocean. The Skanda Purāṇa has large sections given to Prabhāsa Kshetra.

Reference in the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa

Chapter 40 of the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa mentions Somanātha. Kālabhīti had found the highest bliss at the bilva tree in Guptakshetra. He then remembered the other great tīrthas where he had earlier sought such bliss and had not found it. The text names these places:

Vārāṇasī
Naimisha
Prabhāsa, where Somanātha stands
Kedāra
Amarakaṇṭaka
Śrī-Parvata

By naming them as places where his experience was less, the text shows that Guptakshetra is special, though it does not lessen the greatness of these tīrthas. Guptakshetra is “hidden”, yet it gave Kālabhīti, as a sādhaka (seeker), a depth of bliss that the great Jyotirliṅga Somanātha did not give him. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 40)

Origin of Somanātha

The Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 11–14, gives the full account of how Candra did tapas at Prabhāsa and set up the first Jyotirliṅga.

The curse of Daksha

Candra was married to all twenty-seven daughters of Daksha, the nakshatra-devatās. Candra loved Rohiṇī above the rest and neglected the other twenty-six. Their complaints reached their father. Daksha warned Candra three times to treat all his wives alike.

Candra still kept to his preference for Rohiṇī. Daksha then cursed him: the radiance of the Moon would shrink little by little, and the Moon would be eaten away by kshaya (a wasting disease). The Moon began to wane sharply. The world suffered from the loss of moonlight, and from the loss of the nourishment (soma) that the Moon gives to all plants and living beings.

The tapas of Candra at Prabhāsa

The devas were troubled by this imbalance in the cosmos. They urged Candra to worship Bhagavān Śiva to be freed from the curse. Candra went to Prabhāsa kshetra on the western sea-coast. For six months he worshipped Bhagavān Śiva with full devotion through pārthiva liṅga worship. He made a very great number of pārthiva liṅgas (liṅgas of earth), fasted and kept up steady devotion.

The grace of Bhagavān Śiva

Bhagavān Śiva appeared. He could not undo the curse of Daksha completely, because Candra had indeed neglected his duties. But Bhagavān Śiva softened it: the Moon would wane for fifteen days (the dark fortnight) and wax for fifteen days (the bright fortnight). This lasting settlement lies between the full force of the curse and the restoring of Candra. It is the origin of the cycle of the Moon, its waxing and waning.

Somanātha is established

The devas and Candra asked Bhagavān Śiva to stay at Prabhāsa for ever. Bhagavān Śiva agreed. He set himself there as Somanātha, the master (nātha) of Soma, the Moon (Candra). (Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 11–14)

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 40
Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 11–14