Nandī: Chief of Śiva's Gaṇas

Nandī is the chief of all the gaṇas (attendants) of Bhagavān Śiva. He is the gaṇādhipati, the head of the gaṇas. He was born from the earth to the ṛṣi Śilāda, through the direct grace of Parameśvara.

The Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa tells how Nandī did the japa (quiet repetition) of the Śiva-mantra three crore times at Jāpyeśvara tīrtha (a holy place) near Naimiṣāraṇya. Śaṅkara gave him a vara (a boon): freedom from death, a place at Śiva’s side, and rule over all the gaṇas. Śiva himself made him lord of the gaṇas and married him to a daughter of Marut. Nandī stays beside Śiva as his eternal companion.

Birth from the earth (Kūrma Purāṇa)

Śilāda was a great ṛṣi. He performed fierce tapas (austerity) for Parameśvara. He wanted a son who was ayonija (not born from a womb) and mṛtyuhīna (free from death). Śaṅkara was pleased with his tapas and gave this vara.

Later Śilāda was ploughing his field for a yāga (a fire rite). The earth split open. A beautiful, shining child came out of it. His light filled the directions. His form was like that of Kumārasvāmī, and his voice was deep like a storm-cloud. The child cried out “Tāta! Tāta!” (Father! Father!) to Śilāda. The child, born without a womb, came to be known by the name Nandī.

Śilāda held his wonderful son with joy and showed him to all the ṛṣis of the āśrama (hermitage). He performed the jātakarma and the other saṃskāras (rites of passage) as the śāstra teaches. Later he performed Nandī’s upanayana (the rite of beginning Vedic study) and his Vedādhyayana (study of the Vedas).

The three crore of japa at Jāpyeśvara

When Nandī had finished his Vedādhyayana, he made a great saṃkalpa (resolve). He wished to see Parameśvara face to face and to conquer mṛtyu (death). He went to a holy river-bank. There he began tapas with his whole mind on one point, doing Rudra-japa and keeping his mind on Mahāśiva with śraddhā (faith).

When he had completed one crore repetitions of the mantra, Śaṅkara appeared with Pārvatī and the gaṇas and offered him a vara. Nandī asked: “I wish to complete another crore of japa. Grant me the grace to do so.” Śaṅkara agreed and disappeared.

After the second crore Śaṅkara appeared again. Again Nandī asked for another crore, a third. Śaṅkara agreed and disappeared.

After the third crore Parameśvara appeared once more with his bhūtagaṇas (hosts of spirits). Nandī asked for a fourth crore. This time Śaṅkara stopped him: “Enough. Stop your japa now.”

The varas and the rank of gaṇādhipati

Parameśvara then gave Nandī these varas:

From this day he would be free from jarā (old age) and mṛtyu (death).
He would always live at Parameśvara’s side.
He would be the mahāgaṇapati, the highest lord of all gaṇas.
He would be like a son to Devī Pārvatī and would bear the name Maheśvara.
He would be a yogīśvara (master of yoga) and the yoginī-neta (leader of the yoginīs).
He would be the adhipati (ruler) of all gaṇādhipatis.
He would have sarvalokādhipatya (rule over all worlds).
He would be sarvajña (all-knowing).
He would have śakti (power) equal to Śiva’s own.
He would receive Śiva’s divine jñāna (knowledge).
He would live in Śiva’s loka until the end of the kalpa, and then merge into Śiva.

After he had spoken these varas, Parameśvara himself stayed there and performed Nandī’s formal abhiṣeka (anointing) as gaṇādhipati, lord of all the gaṇas. Śiva then arranged Nandī’s marriage to a maiden who was the daughter of Marut, the deva of the wind.

The tīrtha of Jāpyeśvara

The place near Naimiṣāraṇya where Nandī did his three crore japa became the tīrtha of Jāpyeśvara. It is named for the japa of the great gaṇa. The Purāṇa calls it the home of Mahādeva Śaṅkara himself. A person who does japa here, or ends his life here, reaches Rudrāloka directly.

Nearby is the Pañcanadī tīrtha, which is also most holy. A person who bathes there and fasts for three days in worship of Maheśvara is freed from all pāpa (sin) and reaches Rudrāloka.

Nandī’s śāpa at Prayāga (Śiva Purāṇa)

The Satī Khaṇḍa of the Śiva Purāṇa tells of an event at Prayāga that led straight to the disaster of Dakṣa’s yajña (fire rite).

At a great gathering of ṛṣis and devas at Prayāga, Dakṣa arrived with great show. Everyone stood to honour him, except Śiva, who stayed seated, and Nandī, who stood at his master’s side. Dakṣa felt insulted. He made a public speech against Śiva. He called him amaṅgala (inauspicious), kulahīna (of no good family), yajña-bāhya (outside the yajña), and the master of ghosts and outcastes.

Nandī burned with anger at hearing Parameśvara insulted. He at once gave a śāpa (a curse) to Dakṣa:

“Because you speak of my Prabhu Śiva with a mouth that does not know him, you will bear a paśu-mukha, an animal’s face, at the moment of your death.”

He also gave a śāpa to all the ṛṣis who had clapped for Dakṣa or had stayed silent and agreed with his insults:

“You who have applauded adharma will be born in Kali Yuga cut off from the three Vedas, attached to false śāstras, and as haters of Śiva. You will lose all your tapas-power.”

Dakṣa answered with his own śāpa on Nandī and the gaṇas. The gathering broke up in deep bitterness. This was the seed from which Śiva’s exclusion from Dakṣa’s yajña grew. Nandī’s śāpa about the animal face was fulfilled when Vīrabhadra cut off Dakṣa’s head and Śiva afterwards gave him the head of the yajña-paśu (the goat of the rite) in its place.

Nandī and Rāvaṇa (Kedāra Khaṇḍa)

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells of the meeting between Nandī and Rāvaṇa at the gate of Kailāsa. Rāvaṇa had become proud after he gained great powers through his tapas for Śiva. He came to Kailāsa to ask for Śiva’s audience, and Nandī met him at the gate. Rāvaṇa did not greet Nandī with the respect due to Śiva’s chief gaṇa. He mocked Nandī’s monkey-like face and treated him as unworthy of notice.

Nandī answered with calm and gave a teaching. Rāvaṇa worshipped the liṅga (the form of Śiva) but showed no respect to Nandī, who stands for the form of Bhagavān Viṣṇu as guardian of the pīṭhikā (the base of the liṅga). So his worship was not complete. Then Nandī gave his śāpa: “The very beings whose form you mock, monkeys and bears, will be the means of your destruction.”

Nandī and the teaching on the liṅga (Kedāra Khaṇḍa)

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa also tells that after the great war against Tāraka, Nandī received a teaching from Kārttikeya on the kinds of Śivaliṅga and how holy each is. It covered liṅgas of different materials: stone, metal, earth, gem and crystal. It named the Bāṇaliṅga, the naturally formed oval stone from the Narmadā, as the highest of all liṅga forms. The Pañcākṣarī mantra was also given on this occasion.

Birth from the yajña-ground (Śata Rudra Saṃhitā)

The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa gives a longer account of Nandī’s birth. In it Śilāda first asks Indra for a son, and Nandī is born from the ground of a Soma-yajña, held on Śiva’s own instruction.

Śilāda and Indra

Śilāda first performed fierce tapas for Indra. Indra appeared but said he could not give a son who is ayonija and amara (deathless): “Not I, nor Viṣṇu, nor Brahmā can do this. Only Mahādeva Śiva can.” He told Śilāda to worship Śiva.

Śilāda and Śiva

Śilāda then turned his tapas to Śiva. For a thousand divine years he stayed without moving. Termites and insects ate his body, and only his bones were left, still in unbroken meditation. Śiva himself appeared with Pārvatī and offered a vara. Śilāda asked for a son who was ayonija, amara and mahāvratin (of great vows). Śiva said: “I myself will be born as your son. Name me Nandī.” He told Śilāda to perform a Soma-yajña.

The birth

Śilāda performed the yajña. Before it was even finished, a divine being of blazing tejas (radiance) came out of the yajña-ground. He had three eyes, four arms, a crown of matted hair (jaṭāmukuṭa) and a trident, and he bore all the marks of Rudra. This was Nandī.

All the devas came down. Śiva and Pārvatī arrived. The Kinnarīs sang and the Maharṣis showered flowers. Śilāda was overcome with joy and named him Nandī, “the giver of joy”.

The warning and Nandī’s tapas

When Nandī was seven years old, the divine pair Mitrāvaruṇa visited Śilāda and said: “Your son is alpaāyuṣka (short-lived). He will not live another year.” Śilāda was shattered. But Nandī calmly comforted his father and went to the Himālaya to do tapas. He refused all advice to use any means other than Śiva. He said: “I will conquer mṛtyu through Śiva alone. There is no other way.”

The abhiṣeka with five rivers

Śiva and Pārvatī appeared before Nandī as he meditated. Śiva performed the abhiṣeka with the holy waters of five rivers, Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Sarasvatī, Godāvarī and Narmadā, flowing from his jaṭā (matted hair). This one act declared Nandī free from death. Śiva then gave him the trident, the crown, all the signs of a gaṇādhipati, and the formal title of chief of all the gaṇas.

Nandī was married to Suyaśā, daughter of the Marut Suyaśas. A great celebration (mahotsava) followed at Kailāsa, the greatest of all, with all the devas, gandharvas, apsarases and Śiva’s gaṇas present.

Nandī as the teller of the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā

In the frame of the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Nandīśvara himself tells the whole saṃhitā to Sanatkumāra. He holds the sacred line of teaching. Śiva told it to Pārvatī. It passed through a line of teachers to Skanda, Viṣṇu, Brahmā and others. Nandī gives it to the great maharṣi Sanatkumāra. So Nandī is not only Śiva’s gaṇādhipati and vāhana (mount), but also a direct channel of Śiva’s wisdom, a teacher of the highest rank.

Sources

Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 41
Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapters 8 and 31
Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Satī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21
Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 6–7 (birth, tapas and abhiṣeka) and Chapters 1–42 (Nandī as the teller)