Liṅgodbhava (Śiva Purāṇa)

The Liṅgodbhava is the appearance of Bhagavān Śiva as an endless pillar of fire. The Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa tells it. Brahmā and Vishṇu were arguing about which of them was greater. Śiva appeared between them as the jyotir-liṅga (the liṅga of light) and showed that he is Parabrahman, the Supreme.

From this event came the worship of the liṅga, the holy kshetra (sacred place) of Arūṇācala, the festival of Śivarātri, the birth of Kālabhairava, and the rule that Ketakī flowers are never offered in Śiva-pūjā.

The dispute between Brahmā and Vishṇu

In the early ages of creation, Brahmā and Vishṇu each felt safe in his own work, Brahmā in creation and Vishṇu in keeping the worlds. They came to argue about which of them was greater. Each claimed to be above the other. The argument grew into a direct clash, with both claiming to be supreme. This put the harmony of the three worlds in danger, because these two are the lords of the cosmic functions on whom all beings depend.

The pillar of light appears

While Brahmā and Vishṇu stood locked in this dispute, something of great cosmic size happened. Between them appeared a pillar of blazing light, a column of fire. No base and no top could be seen. It rose and sank endlessly in both directions. This was Bhagavān Śiva himself, appearing as the endless jyotir-liṅga, the first fiery form, which is both the beginning and the end of all that exists.

The pillar was frightening and wonderful together. Its light was greater than ten thousand suns, yet it did not hurt the eyes. It was the nirguṇa (without qualities) nature of Śiva as Brahman, made visible: the formless taking a form that could be seen. Without a word, it showed that both the dispute and the two who argued belonged to a larger reality that they had failed to understand.

The search for the beginning and the end

Brahmā and Vishṇu were full of awe and wonder before the endless pillar. They reasoned that if the pillar had a beginning and an end, the one who found either end could claim to be supreme. They shared the task between them.

Vishṇu goes down. Vishṇu took the form of Varāha, the great boar. He dived down into the first depths, digging through the layers of creation with all his divine power, to find the base of the pillar. He went down for an immeasurable time. He never found the base. The pillar went down without end, just as it went up without end. At last Vishṇu stopped and turned back.

Brahmā goes up. Brahmā mounted a haṃsa (the divine swan) and flew upward at full speed, looking for the top of the pillar. He too searched for a very long time, rising through region after region of the cosmos. He did not find the top. The pillar was endless above, as it was endless below.

Vishṇu returns honestly

Vishṇu came back first. Standing before the pillar, he said honestly what had happened. The base was beyond his reach. He had searched with all his strength and could not find it. He admitted his defeat plainly and gave up his claim to be supreme before this limitless reality.

Brahmā’s lie and what followed

Brahmā was not willing to admit failure. When he came back from his climb, he too had failed, and the endless pillar had humbled him as well. But he did not tell the truth. He said that he had found the top of the pillar. To make his false claim believable, he brought the Ketakī flower (Pandanus odoratissimus) and said that this flower had seen him reach the top. Brahmā offered Ketakī as his witness.

Śiva knows all things and lives in the heart of every being. He was displeased by the lie. Brahmā had not spoken out of ignorance. He had spoken out of pride, letting attachment to his own rank overcome truthfulness before Bhagavān Śiva. The results came at once and last forever:

• Brahmā lost the right to public pūjā in temples. Brahmā is honoured as the creator, but he has no temples of his own for his pūjā. This holds to this day.
• Ketakī was shut out of Śiva-pūjā for ever. The flower that had given false witness may never be offered to Śiva. This rule is kept to this day in all Śiva pūjā.

Śiva shows his own form

Śiva had seen the honesty of Vishṇu and the dishonesty of Brahmā. He then took his Śaṃkara form, a form that could be seen and approached, and appeared before them both. He appeared as the auspicious Maheśvara, whose form is beyond all description. He stood between them as the ruler of all existence, who had only let them play their parts and now chose to show himself.

Śiva told them the truth. The pillar they had met was his own form, his infinite nirākāra (formless) nature made to appear as a pillar, so that they could see what lies beyond their quarrel. He told them his nature as Parabrahman, the source of both creation and its upkeep.

The birth of Kālabhairava

At the height of this meeting, as Śiva dealt with Brahmā’s wrong, he did a great cosmic act. From his brow, in a burst of divine fire, he made Kālabhairava, the terrible form of time. Kālabhairava cut off Brahmā’s fifth head, the head that had spoken the lie and had also spoken proudly before.

Brahmā had had five heads from his creation. From then on he had four. The head he lost was the one that had broken the truth. This is the origin of Kālabhairava, and it is why Brahmā is shown with four heads in all later images and accounts.

Kālabhairava held Brahmā’s cut-off skull in his hand. This is the origin of the khaṭvāṅga (skull-staff), one of the marks of Kālabhairava. Cutting off a brāhmaṇa’s head brought brahmahatyā (the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa). Kālabhairava had to carry the skull as tapas until it fell from his hand at Kāśī. This is why Kāśī is the kshetra where brahmahatyā is set free.

Śiva’s blessing for Vishṇu

Because Vishṇu was honest, Śiva gave him a clear blessing. Śiva said that Vishṇu would be equal to himself. He said that Vishṇu and Śiva are in truth not different, that pūjā of Vishṇu and pūjā of Śiva are not separate acts, and that devotees would count Vishṇu as Śiva’s equal. This blessing is the sacred basis for the oneness of Śiva and Vishṇu as the Śaiva teaching understands it.

The naming of Arūṇācala

The place where the endless pillar appeared, where Brahmā and Vishṇu met the limitless, was named Arūṇācala. The name means “the red hill, the hill of the dawn colour”. It points to the look of the pillar, which rose blazing like an agni-parvata (a mountain of fire), rosy and bright at its base where it came out of the earth. Śiva declared this kshetra the first among all his kshetras.

Śiva made great declarations about Arūṇācala at this time. Dying at Arūṇācala gives moksha directly. Any act of dharma or pūjā done there gives one crore times the usual fruit. The very sight of Arūṇācala destroys the pāpa a person has gathered.

The beginning of Śivarātri

After the Liṅgodbhava, Brahmā and Vishṇu worshipped Śiva. The day on which they did so, Māgha Kṛshṇa Chaturdaśī, became the eternal Śivarātri. Śiva declared that whoever keeps the Śivarātri vrata (vow) on this night will receive the fruit of a whole year of unbroken Śiva-pūjā. The one who keeps it fasts through the day, stays awake through the four praharas (watches) of the night, and does Śiva-pūjā. The day of Śiva’s first appearance as the pillar is recorded as Mārgaśīrsha Pūrṇimā, with the Ārdrā nakshatra.

The people in this narrative

• Śiva appears as the endless jyotir-liṅga, the Supreme Parabrahman.
• Vishṇu takes the form of Varāha and goes down to find the base of the pillar. He admits failure honestly and receives Śiva’s blessing.
• Brahmā mounts the haṃsa and goes up to find the top. He lies about his success, loses his fifth head and loses the right to public pūjā.
• Kālabhairava is made from Śiva’s brow during this event and cuts off Brahmā’s fifth head.
• Ketakī is the flower Brahmā brought as a false witness. It is shut out of Śiva-pūjā for ever.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā, Chapters 6–7 (the dispute, the pillar and the search)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā, Chapter 8 (Brahmā’s lie and its results)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā, Chapter 9 (Śiva’s own form, Kālabhairava, Vishṇu’s blessing, Arūṇācala)