Which flowers Lord Shiva don’t like? | Which flower lied to Lord Shiva? | Which flowers Cannot be offered to God? | Which flowers should not be used for pooja of Lord Shiva?
Namaste friends, how are you doing today? Welcome to #BhagavanBhakthi website / blog.
Bhagavan Lord Sri Vishnu (Krishna) (Rama) and Lord Shiva blessings to you and your family!
In this website / blog, you will always learn about #Hinduism #Sanskrit language.
Also subscribe to my YouTube channel from this link #BhagavanBhakthi to view videos about #Hinduism #Sanskrit language.
Just before going to “Which flowers Lord Shiva don’t like? | Which flower lied to Lord Shiva? | Which flowers Cannot be offered to God? | Which flowers should not be used for pooja of Lord Shiva?“, let us have some brief information.
The two flowers Lord Shiva doesn’t accept is Ketaki and Champaka. Why is this so, let us know that from the below two stories.
Rishi Romaharshana (Sutaji / Sutacharya) while reciting the Shiva Purana told the assembled Rishis / sages, “It is very easy to please Lord Shiva. But Lord Shiva must never be worshipped with a ketaki or a champaka flower”. For this the assembled sages asked – “Why, what is wrong with these flowers?”.
Goddess Sita Devi and the Ketaki Flower Story : Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama’s father Dasharatha asked Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama to spend fourteen years in the forest. So, Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama went to the forest with his brother Lakshmana and his wife Goddess Sri Sita Devi.
The three of them started to live on the banks of the river Phalgu. News reached the forest that Dasharatha had died in their absence and a shraaddha (funeral ceremony) had to performed for the dead King Dasharatha.
Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama sent Lakshmana to a nearby village to get the necessary ingredients. Time passed and Lakshmana did not return. Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama himself then went to get the ingredients and also looked for Lakshmana.
But, Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama too did not return. It was almost noon and the ceremony had to be performed before noon. In desperation, Goddess Sri Sita Devi decided to perform the ceremony by herself.
Goddess Sri Sita Devi went and bathed in the Phalgu river and lit an earthen lamp. Goddess Sri Sita Devi then made the offerings (pinda) to the dead ancestors by herself. Immediately, a voice was heard. “Sita, you are blessed”, it said. “We are satisfied.”
In utter amazement Goddess Sri Sita Devi watched some disembodied hands appear in the air to accept the offerings. “Who are you?” Asked Goddess Sri Sita Devi. “I am your dead father-in-law”, answered the voice. “The funeral ceremony has been successful. I have accepted your offerings.”
“But, will Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama and Lakshmana are going to believe me”, asked Goddess Sri Sita Devi. “They will never believe that such disembodied hands appeared out of thin air to accept the offerings.”
“They have to”, answered the voice. “You have four witnesses. The first is the Phalgu river. The second is the cow over there. The third will be the fire. And the last one will be the Ketaki bush.”
Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama and Lakshmana returned and said, “Cook the food quickly. There is very little time left. We have to complete the shraaddha / funeral ceremony before noon”. Goddess Sri Sita Devi told them what happened, and naturally, the two brothers did not believe her.
Thus, Goddess Sri Sita Devi called upon her four witnesses, but each denied that it had seen anything. Without arguing any further, the Great Goddess Sri Sita Devi cooked the food and Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama made offerings to his pitrus / ancestors.
A voice was then heard from the sky. “Why are you calling us again?” it said. “Sita has already satisfied us.” For this Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama said, “I refuse to believe that”.
“Indeed, it is true”, retorted the voice. “Ask the Lord Sri Surya Deva (Sun God).” it said. Lord Sri Surya Deva (Sun god) confirmed that everything had happened just as Goddess Sri Sita Devi had said.
Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama and Lakshmana than accepted these words and were also impressed with the power of Goddess Sri Sita Devi virtue. But, Goddess Sri Sita Devi cursed the four false witnesses.
(We have to always remember that Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama is svayam Bhagavan / God, that is, he is an avatar of Lord Sri Vishnu and Lakshmana is svayam Lord Sri Adishesha Naga and there’s nothing which can make these two ashamed of.)
(But both are so great that, both are doing the vidambana / pastimes so that ordinary people can learn how to react when something goes wrong from our end).
Goddess Sri Sita Devi cursed the Phalgu river that it would henceforth only flow underground. Goddess Sri Sita Devi cursed the Ketaki flower (pandanus odoratissimus) that it would never be accepted by Lord Shiva as an offering.
Goddess Sri Sita Devi cursed the cow that its mouth would henceforth become impure. It had, after all, lied with its mouth. The hind sections of the cow would however continue to be pure. And finally Goddess Sri Sita Devi cursed the fire that it would consume everything indiscriminately.
That is the reason why a Ketaki flower must never be used to worship Lord Shiva.
Devarshi Narada and the Champaka Tree story : Nor must a champaka flower be used for Lord Shiva pooja / worship. Let’s know why? In the land of Gokarna there was a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Devarshi Narada decided that he would go and visit the temple. On the way, Devarshi Narada Maharishi saw a flowering Champaka tree and stopped to admire it. A Brahmana (Brahmin) came there to pluck flowers from the tree.
But seeing that Devarshi Narada Maharishi was there, the Brahmana (Brahmin) refrained from plucking any flowers. “Where are you going?” asked Devarshi Narada. The Brahmana (Brahmin) lied and replied, “To beg some alms.”
Devarshi Narada went to the temple. Meanwhile, the Brahmana (Brahmin) plucked flowers from the Champaka tree and placed them in a basket that he covered up well. Devarshi Narada Maharishi met the Brahmana (Brahmin) again on his way back from the temple.
“Where are you going now?” Devarshi Narada asked the Brahmana (Brahmin). The Brahmana lied again, “Home”, he said, “I couldn’t get any alms.” Devarshi Narada’s suspicions were aroused.
Devarshi Narada went to the Champaka tree and asked, “Has that Brahmana plucked any flowers?”. “Which brahmana?” replied the tree. “I don’t know of any Brahmana. No one has plucked any flowers.”
Devarshi Narada went back to the temple and discovered fresh Champaka flowers lying there on top of the Lord Shiva Linga. There was another bhakta / devotee praying. Devarshi Narada asked him, “Do you know who came to worship with these Champaka flowers?”
“Yes, I do”, replied the bhakta / devotee, “It is an evil Brahmana (Brahmin). He worships Lord Shiva every day with Champaka flowers.”
“Thanks to Lord Shiva’s blessings, he has completely brainwashed the king and has secretly been stealing the king’s wealth. He also oppresses other brahmanas.” Devarshi Narada asked Lord Shiva, “Why do you encourage such evil?”
“I am helpless”, replied Lord Shiva. “I cannot resist it if someone worships me with Champaka flowers.” Just then, a Brahmana (Brahmin) woman came running with her tale of woe. Her husband was crippled.
But, they had managed to get some money from the king, so that their daughter could be married. They had also received a cow from the king. But the evil Brahmana was claiming that half of whatever they had received was his.
It was due to his good offices that the king had been so generous, he was saying. The evil Brahmana had already appropriated half of the money. But how was a cow to be divided?
Devarshi Narada then decided that something needed to be done about the Champaka tree and the evil Brahmana (Brahmin). Apart from everything else, the Champaka tree was a liar.
Thus, Devarshi Narada cursed the Champaka tree that its flowers would never be accepted by Lord Shiva as an offering. Devarshi Narada cursed the evil Brahmana that he would be born as a rakshasa (demon) named Viradha. But the Brahmana had been a devotee of Lord Shiva.
So, the curse was qualified by the stipulation that Viradha would be killed by Bhagavan Lord Sri Rama and would then again become a Brahmana (Brahmin).
More information will be added to this on regular basis, please visit after some time to know more information.
To watch videos on #Hinduism #Sanskrit language, SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel from this below link:
#BhagavanBhakthi YouTube channel
Continue reading to know about “Lord Shiva (full) information (facts) (details) – Part 2 of 2” from this below link:
Lord Shiva (full) information (facts) (details) – Part 2 of 2
To know more names of Lord Shiva with meaning you can visit this link:
Lord Shiva names with correct meaning
To know more information on Lord Shiva and Shivaratri, you can visit this below link:
Lord Shiva, Shivaratri, other significances
Dear friends, if you need any clarifications about this post, kindly let me know, I will definitely try to answer all of them.
Also your one LIKE, one COMMENT, One Share, one SUBSCRIPTION is highly important.
This will help to know the quality of this content and also it will be helpful to know if any improvements is required for the content.
If you feel this content is useful to you and has helped you to improve your knowledge, kindly share this with your well-wishers.
Because “SHARING MEANS CARING”.
To receive FREE EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION about #BhagavanBhakthi, you can send an email to [email protected] from your email ID.
NAMASTE!
Sri Gurubhyo Namaha
Sri Krishnaaya Namaha
Sri Krishnaarpanamastu