There are abundant stories related to the Supreme, powerful God Lord Shiva. Known as the destroyer, Shiva is also the Lord of mercy and compassion who can remove ignorance, evil and grant wisdom. With that, his stories can be relevant tell kids. Here we have collected few of interesting stories:
The birth of Lord Shiva
There is an interesting story behind the birth of the Supreme God. When Brahma and Vishnu were arguing about who was more powerful among themselves, a massive, fiery pillar appeared. Brahma and Vishnu both chased the end of the pillar. Brahma transformed himself into a goose and flew to chase the top of the pillar, and Vishnu transformed himself in a boar and dug the earth to find the bottom of the pillar. Both were in vain. And in that moment, Shiva appeared amongst them. Seeing him, both Brahma and Vishnu accepted that he is the most powerful one.
There are many versions of this story; this is a popular one amongst them.
The marriage of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati
The ruler of Himalayas, Himavantha and his wife Mena Devi were great devotees of Lord Shiva. They had even wished their future daughter to be married to Lord Shiva. With that wish in mind, Mena Devi once performed a three-day long meditation to satisfy Shiva’s wife, Gauridevi. She promised Mena Devi to be reborn as her daughter. So, she jumped into the fire to be reincarnated as Parvati.
But mourning the death of his wife, Shiva went on a long meditation. Himavantha sought help from Narad, and he told her that Parvati can only find Shiva’s love if she prayed him. So, Parvati kept praying Lord Shiva for days. Shiva was pleased with her, but he wanted to test her loyalty. Thus, he disguised himself as a Brahman and told her that it is no use marrying someone with no wealth and someone who lived the life of a beggar. Hearing this, Parvati got furious and said, “I would only marry Shiva, and no one else.” Shiva got pleased and so he returned to his original form and agreed to marry her.
The Story of the Fisherwoman and Lord Shiva
Shiva was explaining about Vedas to Parvati and the discussion went on and on and on and on that, it went for years. At one moment, Parvati lost her concentration, which infuriated Shiva. Not being able to control his anger, he said, “Go to earth and take birth as a fisherwoman.”
Parvati replied, “What have I done?”. But there was only silence in return from Shiva. Thus, she went.
Parvati had born to be a beautiful girl helping her father, who was a chief fisherman in the village, in fishing and rowing the boat; she could row faster than anyone else in the village.
Shiva then spent days without his beloved and that made him sadder by the day. His servant Nandi couldn’t bear the despondency of his master, and so he thought the only if Parvati to return to Mount Kailash, then Shiva would return to being happy. He went to Shiva and asked him to bring Parvati back to the place, but he said, “It’s not possible. She is destined to marry an angler.”
Nandi thought of a plan after hearing this. He went to earth in the form of a large whale where fishermen would go fishing. He turned all their boats and tore off their nets. These fishermen went to
the chief with their complaints. So, the chief announced that the person who could catch the whale would win the hand of his daughter. No one could really get closer to Nandi, in the form of the whale.
The chief prayed to the Lord to seek help. Even Parvati did the same.
Hearing the plea, Shiva took the form of a young, handsome fisherman and appeared in front of them to only catch the whale. Thus, they reunited again.
Shiva’s Daughter: Ashok Sundari
According to the Hindu dharma, Shiva and Parvati were taking a random walk when they came across Kalpavriksha, a tree that could fulfill any wishes. Parvati had to stay alone most of the time since Shiva would go out of the Kailash Mountain to get rid of negative forces, and this made her feel lonely. Thus, she asked the tree for a daughter who could keep her company. This is how she received Ashok Sundari.
Then, everyone knows about how Ganesha was born. But there is another story in the same timeline. When Shiva cut off his son’s head, Parvati became furious. Out of that anger, she cursed her daughter Ashok Sundari to become a part of the salt. Shiva revived her too. But since then, Ashok Sundari is associated with salt, without which the food would be tasteless.
The Story of Bhasmasura
A giant demon by the name of Bhasmasura used to exist in the ancient days. He was foolish, however; he never thought before acting. One day, he decided to pray Shiva to fulfill his wishes. He even offered his own body part as a sacrifice during the meditation.
Shiva got pleased and asked him one thing as a boon. Bhasmasura asked him: “I want one power, whoever I put my hand on needs to die instantly.” Shiva granted him the wish.
But Bhasmasura was not sure if the wish had been granted and asked Shiva, “How can I be sure about it? I want to be sure of it.” So, he went closer to Shiva. Shiva was alert because if he placed his hand on him, he would be destroyed too. Thus, he ran off. Bhasmasura continued to chase him to make sure of his power. Right then, Vishnu appeared in the form of a priest and told him, “Why are you running? Tell me.” He told Vishnu everything about his new gained power and his need to confirm it.
Vishnu then said, “If you really want to check your boon, why don’t you put your hand on your own head? You would know for sure.”
Bhasmasura was such a fool that he put his hand on his head and died instantly.