Śilāda
Śilāda
Nandī has other meanings too: see all meanings of Nandī.
Śilāda is a great ṛshi (seer) and a devotee of Bhagavān Śiva. He is the father of Nandī, who is also called Nandikeśvara. Śilāda wanted a son who would be born without a womb and would never die. His tapas (austerity) moved Parameśvara, who promised to be born as his son.
In this way Śilāda became the earthly father of Jagadīśvara, the ruler of all the worlds. He is the one mortal who became the janaka (father) of Bhagavān Śiva.
Śilāda in the Liṅga Purāṇa
The wish for a divine son
Śilāda wanted a son who was ayonisambhava (not born from a womb) and mṛtyurahita (free from death). He first went to Vishṇu and Brahmā, and to Devendra, with this request.
Devendra told him it was not possible. Even Brahmā will one day dissolve, so he cannot give a truly deathless son. Brahmā is born from the lotus in Bhagavān Vishṇu’s navel, and that lotus came from the right side of Maheśvara. So the four-faced creator lives only for two parārdha (the span of Brahmā’s life). Devendra said:
“Mṛtyu-rahita son cannot be granted by Brahmā or by me — seek only Parameśvara.”
The tapas
Śilāda then turned all his tapas toward Bhagavān Śiva and kept the hardest austerities for a thousand divine years. Creepers and plants grew over his body. Insects ate his flesh and drank his blood. In the end only his skeleton stood there. Even so, his tapas did not weaken.
Śiva appears and promises
Maheśvara was moved by great compassion (karuṇā). He came before the skeleton and touched it with his hands. At once Śilāda’s body was whole again, full of flesh and blood and shining as before.
Bhagavān Śiva said to him:
“Śilāda! Brahmā and the devas once prayed that I appear as a great purusha (mahāpurusha). Because of that prayer of the immortals, I will be born as your son. Stop your tapas!”
He added: “Though I am the father of all worlds (jagatpitā), I will make you my earthly father. You will be the mortal who calls the master of all worlds his son.” Then Bhagavān Śiva disappeared.
The birth of Nandī from the yajña
As Bhagavān Śiva had told him, Śilāda arranged a great yajña (fire ritual). At the very start of the rites, the divine child rose by himself from the sacred earth of the yajña ground. He shone like the midday sun. He had three eyes and four arms, and he held a śūla (trident), a ṭaṅka, a gadā (mace) and a vajra (thunderbolt).
Mandāra flowers rained from the sky. The Khechara, Kinnara, Siddha and Sādhya groups sang celestial music. Devendra had arranged all these celebrations. The chief devas and śaktis gathered to honour the newborn.
Raising Nandī
Śilāda received his son with deep devotion. He performed the jātakarma (birth rite) and all the saṃskāras (life rites) by the Vedic rules. Then the divine form faded and Nandī became an ordinary human child. Śilāda taught him the Ṛgveda, Yajurveda and Sāmaveda, with Āyurveda and all the other śāstras. By Nandī’s seventh year he was a complete scholar.
Mitra and Varuṇa then came to the āśrama (hermitage) and said that Nandī would live only one more year. Śilāda was crushed. He fell to the ground and cried out, “Hā putra! Hā putra!” (Alas, my son!). His grief shows how deep his love as a father was, even though he knew his son to be Parameśvara himself.
After Nandī gains immortality
Bhagavān Śiva then gave Nandī immortality and raised him to divine rank, and Śilāda rejoiced. At the paṭṭābhisheka (investiture) Nandī told Śilāda that, because he had such a son, Śilāda’s parents, grandparents and all his ancestors had reached Kailāsa. Nandī said:
“My birth has fulfilled your lineage.”
In this way Śilāda’s whole line was made holy by the grace of his divine son.
Śilāda in the Kūrma Purāṇa
The Kūrma Purāṇa keeps Śilāda’s name in its Uttarardha as the father of Nandī. It calls him a dharma-vit (one who knows dharma) and a devoted Śivabhakta.
He wanted a son, but one free from the limits of ordinary birth. He did tapas to Parameśvara with this exact prayer: give me a son who is ayonija (not born from a womb) and mṛtyuhīna (free from death). He did not want a son by marriage or the usual course of saṃsāra. Śaṅkara answered this devoted and exact request and granted the vara (a boon).
The text does not say how long the tapas lasted. While Śilāda was performing a yāga and ploughing his own land, the plough opened the earth. A radiant and beautiful child came out. He glowed with the tejas (radiance) of a thousand suns, and his form recalled Kumārasvāmī. The child cried “Tāta! Tāta!” (Father! Father!) and said that he was the son promised by Śaṅkara.
Śilāda named him Nandī. Full of joy, he embraced the boy and showed him to all the ṛshis of the āśrama as the fulfilment of Parameśvara’s vara. He then performed all the saṃskāras by the śāstras, including the jātakarma and nāmakaraṇa (naming rite). He also performed Nandī’s upanayana (sacred thread rite) and saw to his full Vedādhyayana (study of the Vedas).
Śilāda’s part in the Purāṇa ends with his raising of Nandī through the study of the Vedas. After that, Nandī’s own saṅkalpa (vow) and tapas continue at Jāpyeśvara. This account also makes Jāpyeśvara, a tīrtha (holy place) near Naimishāraṇya, the place of Nandī’s tapas and investiture.
Śilāda in the Śiva Purāṇa
The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa says that Śilāda belonged to the Śālaṅkāyana line. His pitṛs (ancestors) pressed him to have children, and this drove his tapas.
Tapas to Indra first
Śilāda first did tapas to Indra. Indra appeared and spoke plainly: “This is beyond my power. Neither I, nor Vishṇu, nor Brahmā can grant you an ayonija son who never dies. Brahmā and Vishṇu are themselves bound by their own lifespans (āyuḥ). Only Mahādeva Śiva can give you this.” Indra told Śilāda to worship Bhagavān Śiva and left.
A thousand years of tapas to Śiva
Śilāda then did hard tapas to Bhagavān Śiva for a thousand divine years. Termites, insects and worms with razor-sharp mouths slowly ate his body. They drank his blood and ate his flesh and skin. After a thousand divine years only his skeleton remained, still deep in meditation and undisturbed.
At last Bhagavān Śiva appeared with Pārvatī and his divine company. He laid his hand on the skeleton, and Śilāda slowly came out of samādhi (deep meditation). He saw Parameśvara and Umā before him and fell down, praising them in a voice choked with feeling.
Bhagavān Śiva offered him a vara. Śilāda asked for an ayonija son who would never die and would keep great vows. Bhagavān Śiva gave an astonishing answer: “I myself will be born as your son. Name me Nandī.” He told Śilāda to perform a Soma yajña.
Birth from the yajña ground
Śilāda performed the Soma yajña. Before it was even finished, a blazing divine being rose from the yajña ground. He had three eyes and four arms and carried all the marks of Rudra. His tejas was like the fire of dissolution. All the devas came down, Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī arrived, and the great ṛshis showered flowers. Śilāda named the child Nandī, “the giver of joy”.
The warning about Nandī’s life
When Nandī was seven, the divine pair Mitrāvaruṇa visited. They said Nandī was alpāyushka (short-lived) and would not live beyond one more year. Śilāda collapsed in grief.
Nandī stayed calm and comforted his father: “No being can cause my death. Śiva will protect me.” He bowed to his father and left to do his own tapas. In the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Śilāda’s story ends here, with his grief changed by his son’s firm faith.
Śilāda in the Vāmana Purāṇa
The Vāmana Purāṇa remembers Śilāda through his son. When the daitya Andhaka sent his message to Bhagavān Śiva on Mandaragiri through Śambara, and Śambara had gone, Hara called Nandī: “O son of Śilāda (Śilādanandana)! Call at once all who are under your rule.” Nandī remembered all the leaders of Śiva’s gaṇas, and they came in thousands. When Andhaka’s armies reached Mandaragiri, the son of Śilāda (Śilādaputra), head of the gaṇas, answered Bhagavān Śiva, “Mahādeva! What doubt can there be of your conquering and destroying the enemies?”, and sent the Rudra-gaṇas and the Mahāpāśupatas into battle.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 41–42
Sources
- Liṅga Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 37–44
- Kūrma Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 41
- Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 6–7
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 41–42