The Shiv Puran is a book based on Lord Shiva's many tales. Shiv is a famous Hindu deity who is considered as one of the major forms of god in Hinduism. His name means "the fortunate one." He is regarded the greatest deity within Shaivism and is one of the three most significant gods in contemporary Hinduism.
The Shiva Pura includes chapters on cosmology, mythology, god-human relationships, ethics, Yoga, Thirtha (pilgrimage) sites, bhakti, rivers and geography, and other subjects. The book is a valuable historical source for information on the many kinds and theology of Shaivism in the early first century BCE. Significant Advaita Vedanta philosophy is mixed in with theistic elements of bhakti in the oldest surviving chapters of the Shiva Pura.
Scholars such as Klostermaier and Hazra believe that the earliest
chapters in the surviving manuscript were likely written between the 10th and
11th centuries CE, but carbon dating technology has failed to confirm this,
therefore we must rely on the text itself to determine when it was written.
Certain books and chapters of the Shiva Pura texts that have survived were most
likely written later, perhaps after the 14th century CE. Over the years, the
Shiva Pura, like other Puras in Hindu literature, was regularly edited, recast,
and updated.According to Hazra, the 19th-century Bombay manuscript is uncommon
and presumably older than other copies published in eastern and southern India.
The Shiva Purana is one of the 18 Puranas written around 2,000 years
ago. Ved Vyasa initially produced a single unified Purana, which was eventually
divided into 18 distinct Puranas by his students.
It is largely about the Hindu deity Shiva and the goddess Parvati,
although other gods are mentioned and revered. According to the Shiva Pura, it
formerly had 100,000 verses divided into twelve samhitas (books). It was
composed by Romaharshana, who was a Suta class follower of Vyasa.
The Vidyevara Sahita, also known as
Vighnesa Samhita or Vidyasara Samhita, occurs in both versions, is free of
mythology, and is dedicated to portraying Shiva's grandeur and bhakti, notably
through the image of liga. This part is remarkable for citing both Shaiva
Agamas and Tantric writings, but it is also notable for regularly quoting from
the Vedas and stating that the text represents the core of Vedic teaching and
Vedanta.The chapters of this common Samhita in various versions of the Shiva
Pura include a description of India's topography and rivers from north and
south India so often and equally that Hazra claims it is difficult to determine
whether this portion was authored in north or south India.
The Jnanasamhita in one manuscript is
similar to the Rudrasamhita in the other, and it contains cosmology and
mythology, as well as a discussion of sagua and nirgua Shiva.
The book talks about goddesses and gods,
and devotes sections of chapters to glorifying Vishu and Brahm, as well as
avatars like Krisha.
It claims that to establish sayujya (intimate connection) with
Shiva inside, one must first perform karma-yajna, then tapo-yajna, self-study,
daily meditation, and last jnana-yajna and yoga. Rather than a scholastic study
of the Vedas, the work stresses bhakti and yoga.
The Shiva Pura, like Liga Pura and other Shaivism-related Puras, devotes chapters to Shaiva-Advaita philosophy, proposing it as a method for salvation. The Brahman as satcitananda concept is also explored in the book, with masculine and feminine Shiva-Shakti as one, and sense of plurality-discrimination as a type of nescience.According to Shiva Pura, love-driven devotional (bhakti) leads to knowledge, and such love mixed with knowledge leads to attracting saintly people and guru, and with them one attains freedom. These concepts are comparable to those found in Devi-related Puras and Shakti literature, according to Klaus Klostermaier.
Rupa Publications India; Fourth Re-print edition (1 January 2011)
324 pages
Dreamland Publications (1 January 2015)
192 pages
24 x 18 x 1 cm
Hindi , Sanskrit
It is largely about the Hindu deity Shiva and the goddess Parvati,
although other gods are mentioned and revered. According to the Shiva Pura, it
formerly had 100,000 verses divided into twelve samhitas (books). It was
composed by Romaharshana, who was a Suta class follower of Vyasa.
Diamond Books (1 June 1998)
Rupa Publications India; Fourth Re-print edition (1 January 2011)
Dreamland Publications (1 January 2015)
Rupa Publications India; Fourth Re-print edition (1 January 2011)
Dreamland Publications (1
January 2015)