Jyotirliṅga in the Kedāra Khaṇḍa
A liṅga is the sacred sign or form of Śiva, and a Jyotirliṅga is a “liṅga of light”. The twelve Jyotirliṅgas are the lasting, holy forms of Śiva’s endless liṅga of light. Each one is that first great pillar of light, which has no beginning and no end (anādi-ananta) and which neither Brahmā nor Vishṇu could measure, made firm at a particular place on the earth.
The Kedāra Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa explains how they began, in the revelation at the Dāruvana forest. It says the devas set them up as places where Śiva’s presence can always be reached, by anyone, without conditions.
Origin in the Revelation at Dāruvana
The Jyotirliṅgas came from an event told in Chapter 6 of the Kedāra Khaṇḍa. The ṛshis of the Dāruvana forest cursed Śiva’s liṅga to fall. It then grew into an endless column of fire and light that filled all the worlds. Brahmā, in the form of a swan, flew upward for ages trying to find its top. Vishṇu, in the form of a boar, went downward looking for its base. Neither found an end. This showed that the liṅga is the Absolute, without beginning or end.
The devas saw this and wished to make it open to the whole world. So twelve special forms of this endless pillar were set up at holy places across the land of Bhārata. Each Jyotirliṅga is a spot where the endless light of Śiva is lastingly rooted in one place on earth.
The Twelve Jyotirliṅgas
The traditional list of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas is:
- Somanātha: Gujarat (Prabhāsa-kshetra)
- Mallikārjuna: Śrīśaila, Andhra Pradesh
- Mahākāla: Ujjain (Avantikā)
- Oṃkāreśvara: on the Narmadā, Madhya Pradesh
- Kedāranātha: Himālaya, Uttarakhand
- Bhīmaśaṅkara: Maharashtra
- Viśveśvara: Kāśī (Vārāṇasī)
- Tryambaka: Nāsik, Maharashtra (Tryambakam, near the Godāvarī)
- Vaidyanātha: Deoghar, Jharkhand
- Nāgeśvara: Dvārakā, Gujarat
- Rāmeśvara: Rāmeśvaram, Tamil Nadu
- Ghuśmeśvara: Verul (Ellora), Maharashtra
Holiness and Grace
Darśana (seeing with devotion) of any one Jyotirliṅga is said to bring the same puṇya (spiritual merit) as all tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage to holy places) put together. The Kedāra Khaṇḍa takes its name from Kedāranātha, one of the twelve. It is a māhātmya (a text in praise of a holy place) of the Kedāra Jyotirliṅga and of the pilgrim road to it through the tīrthas of the Himālaya. It also says that a single Bāṇaliṅga (a natural stone liṅga), given pūjā with full devotion, equals the puṇya of offering pūjā to all twelve Jyotirliṅgas at once.
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6
Bhīmeśvara, also called Bhīmaśaṅkara, is the sixth Jyotirliṅga. Śiva burst from a clay liṅga made by an imprisoned king to destroy the asura Bhīma.
Ghuśmeśvara JyotirliṅgaGhuśmeśvara, near Ellora, is the twelfth Jyotirliṅga. Śiva brought back Ghuśmā's murdered son and stayed there after she forgave her sister.
The Twelve JyotirliṅgasThe Jyotirliṅgas are twelve self-arisen liṅgas of Śiva at holy places across Bhārata, where he appeared as a blazing pillar of light, as told in the Śiva Purāṇa.
Kedāreśvara JyotirliṅgaKedāreśvara (Kedāranātha) is the fifth Jyotirliṅga, high in the Himālaya, where Śiva stayed at the request of Nara and Nārāyaṇa after their long tapas.
Mahākāleśvara JyotirliṅgaMahākāleśvara at Ujjain is the third Jyotirliṅga, where Śiva as Mahākāla burst from a clay liṅga to destroy the asura Dūshaṇa and protect four devoted brothers.
Mallikārjuna JyotirliṅgaMallikārjuna at Śrīśailam is the second Jyotirliṅga, where Śiva and Pārvatī came to be near their son Kumāra after he left home in hurt.
Nāgeśvara JyotirliṅgaNāgeśvara, near Dvārakā, is the tenth Jyotirliṅga, where Śiva burst from a clay liṅga to destroy the rākshasī Dārukā and free the devotee Supriya.
Oṃkāreśvara JyotirliṅgaOṃkāreśvara, on Māndhātā island in the Narmadā, is the fourth Jyotirliṅga, where Śiva appeared to the Vindhya mountain in one liṅga that became two.
Rāmeśvara JyotirliṅgaRāmeśvara is the eleventh Jyotirliṅga, at Rāmeśvaram in the far south, where Śrī Rāma offered pūjā to Śiva before crossing to Laṅkā.
Somanātha JyotirliṅgaSomanātha at Prabhāsa is the first of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas, where Śiva freed Candra, the moon, from Daksha's curse of wasting away.
Tryambakeśvara JyotirliṅgaTryambakeśvara, near Nāsik at the source of the Godāvarī, is the eighth Jyotirliṅga, where Śiva stayed after bringing down the river for Gautama Ṛshi.
Vaidyanātha JyotirliṅgaVaidyanātha at Deoghar is the ninth Jyotirliṅga. Śiva healed Rāvaṇa's offered heads, and the ātmaliṅga Rāvaṇa carried was set down there for ever.
Viśveśvara JyotirliṅgaViśveśvara (Viśvanātha) at Kāśī is the seventh Jyotirliṅga. Kāśī rests on Śiva's trident, and all who die there receive moksha.