SHIVA PURANA

The original Shiva purana is said to have had one lakh verses spread over twelve samhitas or books. The sage Vyasa condensed it to 24,000 verses in seven samhitas. They are:

1. Vidyesvarasamhita
2. Rudrasamhita
3. Satarudrasamhita
4. Kotirudrasamhita
5. Umasamhita
6. Kailasamhita
7. Vayaviyasamhita

This purana is a comprehensive work dealing with many aspects of religion and philosophy connected with Siva.

FAQs

Q1. What happens when you read Shiv Purana?

The Siva Purana is the most sacred and the bhakta who reads it with utmost devotion will gain both, material and spiritual pleasure –

·        A man ceases to exist as a mere man. Instead, he becomes Rudra, a manifestation of Shiva.

·        Just by reading it, a man gains the merit of Rajasuya Yagna and 100 Agnistomas.

·        The one who listens to it will not suffer from any unfortunate event or mishap.

·        He will be unaffected by worldly desires, who reads Siva Purana. He will escape the cycle of Karma and will attain salvation and go to Lord Shiva's Loka.

·        All the desires of the man are fulfilled.

Q2. How many books are there in Shiv Purana?

The original Shiva Purana comprised twelve Samhitas (Books), which included five lost Samhitas: Vainayaka, Matrpurana, Rudraikadasa, Sahasrakotirudra, and Dharmapurana Samhita. The numbers of verses in these Samhitas were as follows

Divyesh Vara - 10,000, Rudra - 8,000, Vinayaka - 8,000, Uma - 8,000, Matri - 8,000, Rudraikadasha - 13,000, Kailasa - 6,000, Shata Rudra - 3,000, Sahasra Koti Rudra - 11,000, Koti Rudra - 9,000, Vayavya  - 4,000, Dharma - 12,000

Several other Samhitas are also ascribed to the Shiva Purana. These are the Isana, the Isvara, the Surya, the Tirthaksetramahatmya Samhita, and the Manavi Samhita.

Q3. How many pages are Shiv Purana?

Shiv Purana primarily revolves around the Hindu God Shiva – Goddess Parvati but reveres all the Hindu gods. It asserts to once consist of 100,000 verses in twelve Samhitas but was abridged by Sage Ved Vyasa before being taught to Romaharshana.

Shiv Puran published by Gita Press in Hindi, Author - Hanuman prasad poddar, Number of Pages – 852

Shiv Puran (शिव पुराण) (Hindi) by Dr. Vineh, Number of pages: 136

शिव पुराण: The Shiva Purana in Hindi, Publisher: Manoj Publications, Delhi, Pages: 768

शिव महापुराण - Shiva Mahapurana in Simple Hindi written by Ram Lagan Pandey, Pages: 904, Publisher: Shree Thakur Prasad Pustak Bhandar

Q4. What is the difference between Shiv Purana and Maha Shiv Purana?

There is no difference between Shiva Purana and Maha Shiva Purana, they both are the same. Maha means great, and here Maha Shiv purana means Great Shiv Purana. In my perspective, every Purana written by Veda Vyasa, who is himself an ansh (form) of God Vishnu, is great.

So we are fortunate to have Shiva Maha Purana, Maha Vishnu Purana, and etc. 18 puranas compiled and authored by Maharishi Ved Vyas in Sanskrit. The Shiv Mahapuran comprises 12 books or Samhitas, containing 100,000 verses. There is a mention of the glory and devotion of Lord Shiva- Parvati, which leads to freedom from all sins and attains the supreme abode.

Q5. Should we read Shiv Purana?

Yes, of course! The Shiva Purana contains chapters with Shiva-centered cosmology, mythology, and the relationship between Gods, ethics, yoga, tirtha (pilgrimage) sites, bhakti, rivers, geography, and other topics.

All personal and professional problems of a person can be solved by the holy effect of reading Shiva Purana. Moreover, all sins are washed away by reading this scripture, leading that person to the attainment of salvation. Shiva Purana is the greatest book to know more and more about the divine play of the Supreme Lord Shiva. Put complete faith in Mahadeva and one can learn things that will dramatically improve his life. We find various mantras recited by devotees.

Q6. Who originally wrote Shiv Purana?

Shaunak Rishi expressed his desire to Maharishi Sutji about knowing the means to attain lord Shiva in the KaliYuga. Sutji then described the supreme Purana - Shiv Mahapuran. The original siva Puraṇa consisted of one lakh verses and was narrated by Mahadeva himself: Lateron, The Shiva Purana was compiled, composed, and abridged by sage Ved Vyas 5000 years ago in Sanskrit with the permission of Maharshi Sanatkumar, for the benediction of the common man.

However, Shiva Purana is eternal, and knowledge is first given by the Great God Shiva to Goddess Parvati. Shiv Mahapuran contains twenty-four thousand shlokas. The text is an important source of historic information on the theology behind Shaivism.

Q7. How many rudras are there?

The Rig Veda and the Yajur Veda make the Rudras the gods of the middle world, situated between earth and heaven as the wind-gods. They represent the breath of life. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the eleven Rudras are represented by ten vital energies (prana) in the body and the eleventh one being the Atman (the soul).

Kapali ,  Pingal, Bheem, Virupaksha, Vilohit,  Shastra , Ajapaad, Ahirbudhnya , Shambhu, Chand, and Bhav. These 11 Rudra Avatars of Lord Shiva came into existence to protect divine beings and were gifted in battle. Surya, Jal, Prithvi, Agni, Vayu, Akash, Dikshit, and Soma are the places where Rudras stay.

Q8. How many types of Shiva are there?

The Bhuteshwar: Bhooteshwara means that one who has mastery over the pancha bhutas

The Kaleshwara: Kala means time. It is the most powerful dimension of creation, which holds the whole universe together.

Shiva – Sarveshwara – Shambho

The Bholenath: the innocent or even the ignorant, childlike.

The Nataraja: Nataraja, Shiva as the Lord of Dance.

The Ardhanarishvara: half of him is a fully developed woman.

The Kalabhairava: Kalabhairava is a deadly form of Shiva – a mode of destroying time.

The Adiyogi: He is the first Yogi from whom the yogic sciences originated.

The Tryambaka: referred to as Tryambaka because he has a third eye.