Dāruvana Liṅga and the Twelve Jyotirliṅgas

After Satī left her body, Bhagavān Śiva walked alone through the forest of Dāruvana. The ṛshis who lived there cursed him, and his liṅga fell and grew without end until it held all creation. Brahmā lied about finding its top and was cursed. Bhagavān Vishṇu told the truth about its base. The liṅga was known as the highest form of Parameśvara, and the twelve Jyotirliṅgas were set up in the three worlds.

Bhagavān Śiva walks through Dāruvana

After Satī’s self-immolation, Bhagavān Śiva withdrew from the world. He had lost his beloved, and he wandered alone as a naked ascetic (digambara) with matted hair (jaṭā), carrying Brahmā’s skull as a begging bowl. He passed through Dāruvana, the great forest of deodar cedars, where communities of Vedic ṛshis lived and kept up their rituals. It was midday. The ṛshis had gone to the river to bathe (snāna) and had left their wives in the āśramas.

The ṛshis’ wives saw the shining ascetic coming. They were drawn to him at once, for his form was very beautiful and he had a great presence. They gathered their offerings and followed him. He took their gifts kindly. When they pressed him to say who he was, he said only: “I am Īśvara.” One of the wives asked how Īśvara could wander alone and beg. He answered that Dākshāyaṇī (Satī) was no more, that he was left without her, and that no other woman interested him. (Chapter 6)

The ṛshis’ curse

The ṛshis came back, found their wives gone, and saw them following Bhagavān Śiva toward Kailāsa. They were furious. They faced him and accused the great renouncer of taking their wives. Bhagavān Śiva said nothing and kept walking toward the mountain. The ṛshis spoke the curse: “You who have stolen our wives, become a napuṃsaka (a eunuch)!” At once the liṅga of Mahādeva came away and fell to the earth. (Chapter 6)

The endless growth

As soon as the liṅga touched the earth, it began to grow with terrifying speed. It pierced the seven pātālas below. It rose up through all the lokas above. It spread out to fill the four directions. The seven dvīpas shook. All the lokas above were covered. All the elements were drawn into it: earth, water, fire, air, sky, ahaṃkāra, buddhi, avyakta, time and mahāprakṛti. Nothing else was left. The whole cosmos was swallowed into the liṅga. The learned who were present said that because the whole jagat “lays into” (laya and anta) this form, it is rightly called liṅga.

Brahmā, Indra, Vishṇu, Vāyu, Agni and all the lokapālas (guardians of the worlds) looked on in wonder. They asked one another: “How long is it? How wide? Where does it end? Where is its base?” The devas sent Vishṇu down to find the base (mūla) and Brahmā up to find the top (śikhara). (Chapter 6)

Brahmā’s lie and the curse

Vishṇu became a boar (varāha) and went down through the pātālas, atala, sutala, vitala, rasātala, talātala, pātāla and atala again. He found only emptiness. The liṅga had no base anywhere. He came back and said honestly: “The base cannot be found. This liṅga has no beginning and no end. He from whom all this creation comes is shown as this liṅga.”

Brahmā went up into the highest lokas, and he also failed to find the top. On the way back he met Surabhi, the divine cow, on Mount Meru, resting in the shade of a Ketakī tree. Brahmā was anxious. He asked Surabhi and Ketakī to be false witnesses and to say that he had seen the top and had even offered Ketakī flowers to it. They agreed.

Brahmā returned and told the devas: “I have seen the top of the Śiva-liṅga! It is vast, shining, fine and very beautiful. I honoured it with Ketakī flowers!” Vishṇu asked for witnesses, and Brahmā named Surabhi and Ketakī. They were called, and they backed up the lie. Then an ākāśavāṇī (voice from the sky) said: “These witnesses are liars. The top was never seen!” The devas cursed Surabhi: her mouth would become unclean, and she would be unfit for Śiva-pūjā. Ketakī was cursed too. She was shut out from Śiva-pūjā for ever. (Chapter 6)

Then the ākāśavāṇī spoke to Brahmā: “Why did you speak a falsehood, O Parameshṭhī?” Śiva cursed Brahmā, so that he would be left out of pūjā. The ṛshis who had joined in the falsehood were cursed with him. They would become seekers of vāda (argument), proud of their knowledge but without true wisdom.

Brahmā’s stotra and the ending

Brahmā was humbled. Together with all the devas and ṛshis he bowed down before the liṅga and offered a deep stotra. It praised Bhagavān Śiva as the one eternal reality, “the light (jyoti) beyond form, from whom all creation comes and into whom it dissolves.” Brahmā said the liṅga is the highest truth. As one fire burns in different ways in different logs, so Bhagavān Śiva, one undivided ātmā, appears as all beings.

Bhagavān Śiva was pleased. Through Vishṇu he told the devas: “Do pūjā to this liṅga. Through it I will protect all creation.” Vīrabhadra also became a devotee of the liṅga. He set up the Śaiva saṃskāras (twenty-eight rites to do with the liṅga, as taught by Bhagavān Śiva). (Chapter 7)

The twelve Jyotirliṅgas

For the good of all the worlds, the devas set up liṅgas of Bhagavān Śiva in all the holy regions. The chief ones, the twelve Jyotirliṅgas, were set up in their places in the cosmos.

Kedāreśvara, in Mṛtyuloka (the world of mortals), the highest liṅga of this Khaṇḍa
Amareśvara, at Amarāvatī (Indra’s home)
Varuṇeśvara, in the west (Varuṇa’s realm)
Kāleśvara, in the south
Nairṛteśvara, in the southwest
Pāvaneśvara, in the northwest
Oṃkāra, on the river Narmadā
Mahākāla, at Ujjain (Avantī)
Viśveśvara, at Kāśī
Laliteśvara, at Prayāga
Tryaṃbaka, at Brahmagiri
Somanātha, at Saurāshṭra

Besides these, Śikhareśvara at Śrīśaila, Sarvakshetra in the Vindhyas, Siṃhanātha at Laṅkā, Bhīmeśvara, Drākshārāmeśvara at the meeting of the Gaṅgā and the sea, Bhogeśvara and Hāṭakeśvara in pātāla, and countless others were set up through the three worlds. (Chapter 6)

The Pāśupata dharma

In the same setting, Lomaśa explains the Pāśupata dharma. Nandī is named as the one who gave it out. The highest vidyās (sacred teachings) are:

Pañcāksharī: the five-syllable mantra namaḥ śivāya
Shadaksharī (also called Prāsādī): Oṃ namaḥ śivāya, which lights up the Prāsāda (the praṇava itself)

These mantras passed from Kārttikeya to Agastya and then to later ācāryas. They are the heart of the Śaiva āgama tradition. (Chapter 7)

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapters 6–7