What a Friend We Have in Shiva

By Jagabandhu Dasa

The screams have stopped. Again. For now.

In the early 80’s, I began to regularly recite the Rudra-gita from the Fourth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. By the late 80’s I began to pray to Shiva in my own words composing a short prayer as follows:
“O Rudra, Shiva, Shambu, Ashutosh —- topmost of all the demigods and Vaishnavas; please be merciful upon us, forgiving our many offenses against you, kindly protect our humble abode from all unwanted or inauspicious intrusions of every description —- while simultaneously protecting us from all those who wish us ill, whoever they and wherever we may be. But more importantly, please be merciful upon us and bless us that we will develop an ever-deeper internal understanding of the individual soul’s eternal relationship with the Supreme Soul, Lord Vishnu, while simultaneously sharing our genuine insight in an unpretentious manner with all those souls who happen to surround us. This is all possible by Your Grace.”

In the early 90’s, I came upon Srila Prabhupada’s Beautiful commentary to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Chapter 7, Text 157 wherein he clearly states that “…Vaishnavas can also worship all these demigods (Brahma, Shiva, Durga, Ganesh and Surya), but only on the principles of Brahma-samhita, which is recommended by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We may note in this connection the mantras for worshiping Lord Shiva, Lord Brahma, goddess Durga, the sun-god and Ganesha, as described in the Brahma-samhita:

srsti-sthiti-pralaya-sadhana-saktir eka
chayeva yasya bhuvanani bibharti durga
icchanurupam api yasya ca cestate sa
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“The external potency, maya, who is the nature of the shadow of the cit potency, is worshiped by all people as Durga, the creating, preserving and destroying agency of this mundane world. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, in accordance with whose will Durga conducts herself.” (Bs 5.44)

ksiram yatha dadhi vikara-visesa-yogat
sanjayate na hi tatah prthag asti hetoh
yah sambhutam api tatha samupaiti karyad
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“Milk is transformed into curd by the actions of acids, yet the effect ‘curd’ is neither the same nor different from its cause, viz., milk. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, of whom the state of Shambu is a similar transformation for the performance of the work of destruction.” (Bs. 5.45)

yat-pada-pallava-yugam vinidhaya kumbha-
dvandve pranama-samaye sa ganadhirajah
vighnan vihantum alam asya jagat-trayasya
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“I worship the primeval Lord Govinda. Ganesha always holds His Lotus Feet upon the pair of tumuli protruding from his elephant head in order to obtain power for his function of destroying all obstacles on the path of progress in the three worlds.” (Bs. 5.50)

I already had a great fondness for Lord Shiva after reciting his words from Srimad-Bhagavatam (Fourth Canto, Chapter 24, Verses 33-79) about chanting the Holy Name and also praying to him with my own words for many years. When I read these words of Srila Prabhupada along with the accompanying slokas from Sri Brahma-samhita, I felt compelled to learn them (which I did).

Not long after this, I was offered the opportunity to become the West Coast distributor of a successful and popular commercially packaged holy water from one of India’s holiest rivers. Yet somehow, in spite of an obvious chance to increase my own lucrativity with this offer, my peace of conscience could not quite agree. I began to ponder that much the same as how the Lord’s holy prasad cannot be “sold” (or “bought”) without any and all proceeds going to the Lord Himself, similarly, how inappropriate it was for jivas to seek to profit off of the holy water of the sacred river which Lord Shambu helped bring to earth for the benefit of all souls(most of whom are too poor to have to “pay” for it). Because of these considerations, I had decided that I could not accept the position as a commercial holy water distributor.

That night Lord Shiva came to me a dream. He wasn’t very much like the rudrafied Vishnu depictions of Lord Shiva (of most popular artistic renditions). He was much more terrible to behold, with matted reddish-hued hair and a nearly coarse, ruddy (Rudrayi) countenance, not like Vishnu at all. But its the eyes that I remember most. Reddish, and fiery, blazing with an anger capable of incinerating all existence in a blink. And also powerfully magnetic, like some great irresistible vortex. Swell. Now this angry vision of universal destruction was unhappily focused on yours truly. Why? Because I had even briefly considered involvement in a commercial enterprise to distribute the holy water that falls upon his head. For the benefit of all souls. Regardless of apparent inability to “pay.”

I continued to chant the slokas from Sri Brahma-samhita and also pray to Lord Shiva. It occurred to me how much Lord Shiva must like to get Vishnu-prasada (and how because of popular misunderstanding probably doesn’t get it as often as he would like to). I began to give the puspanjali-prasada from Sri Sri Guru-Gauranga to Lord Shiva, Goddess Durga and Lord Ganesha. I have continued to do so for many years.

A year later, my youngest daughter (she was around 2 at the time) had what she calls the “green” dream which happened over two consecutive nights and greatly terrified her. The first night a cobra’s head was creeping over the her second story bedroom windowsill (in Concord, CA). The following night the cobra actually crawled over the windowsill and into her room while simultaneously the head of a greenish, bluish-hued fierce person rose into view in her second story window pane. She woke us with her screams. She’s still not quite sure if it was just a dream.

I once dreamt that a gigantic cobra was blocking me from driving out the dirt road from my house in the woods north of La Crosse (FL). In the woods to the left of the road, towering through the treetops a huge (30 feet tall sitting down) Shiva was seated in meditation by the creek.

A couple of years ago, I dreamt that Lord Shiva came bursting out of the roof of my house into the yard. At first, as he exploded out of the roof, he was ashen-colored, grayish-blue, but when he landed on the ground he changed to a more normal darkish complexioned Indian aboriginal/yogi form, with long matted hair. This time he had a mischievous gleam in his reddish eyes and a barely restrained smirk on his lips, like he had just played a great prank by jumping out of my roof as if to say, “BOO!” But I felt wonderment instead of fear and this also seemed to please him as I said his name in amazed disbelief, “Shiva? SHIVA?” He continued to smile.

From the scriptures we can know that Lord Shiva is the Lord of all devastation (and my own life has plenty of that). Have we considered how devastation is another of those modern words with its roots in Sanskrit (and Latin)? “Deva” meaning well, you know; and “station” being a variation of “status” or position. In other words, when the positions of the devas (who are devotees of the Supreme Lord Govinda) are not given proper regard, cataclysmic occurrences referred to as devastation can become more likely. And “natural” disasters aren’t disastrous for Nature. Of course, unique and extenuating circumstances can also cause personal devastation. And I must think that such merciful expressions of the Divine Will are my real inner necessity, perfectly engineered for my benefit. With the help of my “friend”, Shiva. When devastation occurs, I can know that Lord Shiva is near (at this writing Tropical Storm Fay sits off the coast of Florida waiting to turn into a hurricane before making landfall a third time). And such consideration in the midst of the great pressure of severe personal circumstances brings great comfort. Or, to use the vernacular of Srila Saraswati Thakur, that every wave is favorable and that whatever God (and His servants the devas) does is for my good. What more can anyone else say to console me?

The screams have just begun again and now I must attend my Teacher.

Humbly,

Jagabandhu Dasa