Brahmā Vishṇu Vivāda and the Śivaliṅga

Brahmā and Vishṇu each thought himself the highest, and they quarrelled over which of them was the true supreme. Then a pillar of light with no beginning or end appeared before them. Brahmā lied about finding its top, Vishṇu admitted that he could not find its base, and Bhagavān Śiva answered each. Then the sound Oṃkāra came out of the liṅga and became the four Vedas. This is told in Chapters 34 and 35 of the Uttarakhaṇḍa of the Vāyuvīya Saṃhitā.

The occasion

At one point in the cosmic cycle, Brahmā and Vishṇu, each the highest in his own mind, began to dispute which of them was the true supreme. The quarrel grew fierce. Each said he was the creator and keeper of all, and each rejected the other’s claim. Their argument disturbed the order of the cosmos.

The Mahāliṅga appears

While the two devas argued, a blinding pillar of light, the jyotir-stambha or Mahāliṅga, suddenly appeared before them. It reached up and down without any limit that could be seen. It blazed with a brightness beyond all comparison and filled every direction. Neither Brahmā nor Vishṇu could see where it began or ended.

Śiva’s voice came from inside the liṅga:

“This is my true form: endless, without beginning or end, beyond all measure. Whoever finds the top or the base of this liṅga will be counted the greater.”

So the contest was set.

Brahmā’s attempt and the false witness

Brahmā took the form of a haṃsa (swan) and flew upward for thousands of years, rising through all the realms, to reach the top of the pillar. He could not find it.

On the way up he met a Ketakī flower (the Pandanus flower) falling downward. He asked the flower where it had come from. The Ketakī said that a great devotee had placed it on the top of the liṅga long ago, as an offering, and that it had been falling slowly for countless aeons. This meant that the top was impossibly high.

Brahmā would not admit defeat. He made an agreement with the Ketakī: he would say that he had found the top, and the Ketakī would be his false witness. Together they went down to where Vishṇu was waiting.

Brahmā said: “I have found the top of the liṅga! This Ketakī flower was placed there as an offering. She is my witness.”

Śiva, who knows all, was in the liṅga and heard this. He came out of the liṅga in blazing anger and showed Brahmā’s lie to all. He gave Brahmā this punishment:

“You shall have no separate worship among the devas. No temple shall be built for you with you as the main deva. And the Ketakī flower, because she gave false witness, shall be forbidden in Śiva’s pūjā from now on.”

This is why Brahmā, alone among the three of the Trimūrti, has no separate active worship. Only a few Brahmā temples exist, the best known at Pushkara. It is also why the Ketakī flower is not used in worship of Śiva.

Vishṇu tells the truth

Vishṇu took the form of Varāha, the great boar. He dived down through the cosmic ocean and the lower worlds for thousands of years to find the base of the liṅga. He too could not find it.

Vishṇu came back and said honestly:

“I could not find the base of the liṅga. This pillar is beyond all measure. Śiva is indeed supreme.”

For this true answer Śiva blessed Vishṇu:

“You shall always be dear to me. You will be worshipped beside me in all Śiva temples. The Vaishṇava and Śaiva paths shall not be set against each other. You and I are one.”

Oṃkāra comes out of the liṅga

After this peace, the great Mahāliṅga split open at its centre. From inside it came the first sound, Oṃkāra, blazing like a thousand suns, and it stood before Brahmā and Vishṇu.

Oṃkāra spoke to them:

“I am the first stir of Śiva’s will. I am his voice, his sign, his closest form in the world of sound.”

“The liṅga you have seen is my body made visible. The Śivaliṅga and Oṃkāra are one.”

Then Oṃkāra divided into four streams, and each stream became one Veda:

• A-kāra became the Ṛgveda, linked with the Vāmadeva form of Śiva.
• U-kāra became the Yajurveda, linked with the Tatpurusha form.
• M-kāra became the Sāmaveda, linked with the Aghora form.
• Nāda and Bindu became the Atharvaveda, linked with the Sadyojāta form.

So the four Vedas are the unfolded form of Oṃkāra, and Oṃkāra is the pure essence of the pañcākshara (the five-syllable mantra). The Vedas are therefore Śiva’s own speech.

The pañcākshara is given again

After the liṅga appeared, Śiva gave the pañcākshara mantra once more to both Brahmā and Vishṇu. He said:

“Know that this mantra, Namaḥ Śivāya, is the very form of Oṃkāra and the very essence of all four Vedas. Its five syllables are the bodies of my five forms, the pañcabrahma. One who repeats this mantra with understanding repeats all the Vedas.”

He also told them how the mantra is to be passed on. It goes first from Śiva to Brahmā. Then Brahmā gives it to his four sons, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana and Sanatkumāra. From them it goes down the line of gurus (the guru-paramparā) to all who are fit to receive it.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Vāyuvīya Saṃhitā, Uttarakhaṇḍa, Chapters 34–35