Story of Somnath Jyotirlinga
There are innumerable Shivlings of Lord Shiva across the country. The 12 Jyotirlingas have special significance. One of these is Somnath Jyotirlinga. Devotees in a huge number visit this spiritual place. This Jyotirlinga is situated near the beach in Saurashtra city of Gujarat state. The literal meaning of Somnath is the “God of Soma” in which “Soma” means “The Moon”. It is believed that visiting this pious temple brings prosperity and happiness in one’s life and removes all troubles and hurdles. Therefore it is worshipped according to the certain Vidhi (Rule). Today we will describe the story related to this Jyotirlinga in detail.
According to the Puranas, twenty-seven daughters of Daksha Prajapati were married to Chandradev. But Chandradev used to love Rohini the most among these twenty-seven wives. Due to which his other wives were angry and sad. Disturbed by this, everyone complained to their father Daksha Prajapati Daksha explained the moon in every possible way but it has no effect on him. Rather, Chandradev started loving Rohini more. Due to which King Daksha cursed the moon to decay till death.
Due to the decay of Chandradev, all the work of the earth started getting affected. There was an atmosphere of turmoil everywhere. To deal with this problem, all the gods and sages went to Brahamaji. Knowing the problem, Lord Brahma said that one has to chant the Mrityunjaya Mantra. Only Lord Shiva can get them out of this crisis. For this, one has to go to the holy Prabhas Kshetra.
Chandradev started worshipping Shiva as per the instructions of Brahma. Apart from doing hard penance, chanted the Mrityunjaya mantra 10 crore times. Lord Shiva became very pleased with this penance of Chandradev. Lord Shiva gave him the boon to become immoral. Chandradev said that Lord, what will happen to my disease? Shiva said, don’t grieve. Your curse will end but Daksha’s words will also be protected.
As a boon of Shiva, with each day in the Krishna Paksha of the moon, every phase of the moon will be weakened. However, each art will increase in Shukla Paksha. In this way, you will get your full form on Purnima. Due to this, the creatures of all the worlds were pleased. After being freed from the curse, Chandradev and the gods together prayed to Lord Mrityunjay that he and Devi Parvati should reside here for the salvation of the living beings forever. Shiva accepted the prayer and started residing here with Mother Parvati in the form of Jyotirlinga.
By:-
Prakhar Sharma
Founder, Upgrading India
