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What is the relationship between lord Rama and lord Shiva?

Introduction

The relationship between lord Rama and lord Shiva is a heartfelt connection. It’s similar to how the fragrance and the rose are inseparable. They are inseparable from each other.

The truth is lord Rama is the avatar of lord Vishnu, who took birth as a human to end the atrocities of the demon king Ravana. On the other side, lord Shiva is self-manifested and rarely takes birth as a human but mystically governs the operation of the entire creation.

Meanwhile, it is undeniable that there is a beautiful bond between lord Rama and lord Shiva, who view each other as both gods and dear friends. There is no one more prominent than each other. If someone sees them from the comparative lens, it means they are not fully aware of their realities.

Okay, let me explain everything.

Indeed, lord Rama is the soul and lord Shiva is the soul creator. The genuine devotees of both know this; therefore, they never see them as two different divinities. In fact, the more someone learns about Shiva and Rama, the more their affinity becomes clear to them.

In this post, I have described some of the most asked question about the relationship between lord Rama and lord Shiva.

The questions like:

Who came first Shiva or Ram?
Is Ram and Shiva same?
What is the Shiva and Rama story?

So, let’s get started from the beginning so that you can understand everything with pristine clarity. It all starts with the beginning of the universe.

The Roots of Sanatan Dharma

To understand the relationship between lord Rama and lord Shiva better, you first need to have a concise knowledge of Hinduism. Without an understanding of Hinduism, it’s challenging to comprehend the bonding between Shiva and Rama. So, let’s delve into this first.

The actual name of Hinduism is Sanatan Dharma ^{[Ebook kobo store]}, a philosophy of living a serene life filled with inner happiness and self-awakening. The beautiful thing about Sanatan Dharma is it is not a rigid religion but an easygoing philosophical way of life. Surprisingly, it doesn’t have a specific founder.

However, according to the Sanatan Dharma, the Param Brahma, or supreme consciousness, decided to create the physical reality from infinite nothingness. It polarized itself into two parts, Shiv and Shiva. Both divine segments are complementary aspects of each other. Shiv is the male masculine part of the supreme consciousness and Shiva is the female part of the supreme consciousness. Collectively, they are called ardhanarishvara.

Shiv and Shiva created the initial reality and various additional dimensions from an ultimate void. With a combined ocean of their thoughts, a handsome man appeared in the new dimension that Shiv and Shiva created. Both named him Vishnu and asked him to perform austerity to achieve divine knowledge. After performing penance for thousands of years, lord Vishnu acquired all the divine knowledge and strength.

He then chose to lie on the water that flowed from his body during his penance. A multi-headed giant snake (Sheshnag) emerged in the ocean to provide Lord Vishnu with comfort so he could rest peacefully. Over the course of many divine years, Lord Vishnu slept on the snake.

In the meantime, various precious metals and elements emerged from his body. In fact, the entire creation was reacting inside and outside his body. Hence, a lotus stem emerged from the navel of lord Vishnu. When the petals of the lotus disclosed themselves, lord Brahma appeared on top of it.

Lord Brahma realized the emptiness all around him and found no one to settle all the chaos in his mind. While sitting on the flower, when he saw lord Vishnu resting on a giant snake, the charm of lord Vishnu hypnotized him.

As he approached lord Vishnu, Vishnu greeted him as his father. It made lord Brahma furious, and he started an argument with lord Vishnu that he is the father of lord Vishnu. When their argument turned almost into a battle, lord Shiv appeared to them as a shapeless fire pillar and settled their dispute that lord Vishnu appeared before lord Brahma.

Both asked about the identity of the shapeless divinity. He introduced himself as the shapeless and dimensionless Shiva, the ultimate creator. Both gave salutations to Shiva.

After that, lord Shiva announced that lord Vishnu would hold an equivalent place as lord Shiva. Hence, he will be omniscient like lord Shiva. On the other side, lord Brahma was restricted from being worshipped as he told lies to prove his supremacy over lord Vishnu.

Lord Shiva later assigned the role of creator to lord Brahma and protector to lord Vishnu. Later on, they asked Shiva to take on a physical form so they could physically perceive Shiva’s manifestation. Lord Shiva accepted their request and agreed to take a physical form on Mount Kailash.

Brahma began creating the world, while Lord Vishnu took on the role of protecting it. The physical reality that lord Shiva took is the form of lord of the lords, Mahadev. In this form, lord Shiva prefers a yogic life free from materialism.

Devotees affectionately refer to him as Bholenath, the kind-hearted lord of the lords. From the creative energies of lord Brahma, different deities emerged with unique duties for the cosmos. These deities were called Devas. In addition, lord Brahma accidentally created Asuras, or demons, as well.

The demons called asuras caused trouble for divine beings, sages, and humans, spreading evil in the world. To protect righteousness and innocent lives, Lord Vishnu, the world’s protector, took on different avatars. One of these avatars was Lord Rama, who appeared during Tretayuga as a prominent human form of lord Vishnu.

Meanwhile, lord Shiva skillfully oversaw all operations to ensure they followed the Trinity’s plan. Hence, in that way, lord Vishnu holds a special place in the heart of lord Shiva. I hope that gave you a clear idea about the place of lord Shiva in Sanatan Dharma.

It was from that point that the entire sequence of events began in the cosmos, including the Earth’s event. Now you may have the idea that lord Vishnu keeps manifesting himself into various avatars to protect the world from every threat. In the future, lord Vishnu will again manifest himself as the Kalki avatar. It will appear at the end of the Kaliyuga (the current age of darkness in which we are going through) where darkness will rise at its peak.

Therefore, this entire world operates under the guidance of the formless god, who works mystically in various forms. In that way, the followers of Sanatan Dharma have the freedom to worship the supreme consciousness in any form and in their own way. And they believe that a specific part of god is present everywhere and managing everything on their behalf. It is the reason they see the glimpse of god in everyone.

For the majority of them, a subtle aspect is the highest divinity doesn’t live in heaven or somewhere else. They live with their devotees. In fact, they are part of their family. I know it sounds amusing, but it is a raw fact.

Hindus every festival reflects this viewpoint of the devotees. Either it is the festival of Mahashivratri, Diwali, Holi, Krishna-Janamasthmi or Ganesh Chathurthi. While communing with the divine, individuals convey their innermost emotions to their deity. Doing that truly enriches the entire culture, infusing it with vibrancy and peace.

In India, various geographical locations have distinct local deities and unique ways to revere them. But the common thing is that all are part of the one highest consciousness, which is shapeless and formless in the most elevated state. Meanwhile, as already mentioned, this highest consciousness manifested itself in physical form, so devotees could experience his presence. And that is the shared sentiment that unites all Sanatanis.

Also Read:

To gain a deeper understanding of Hinduism, it is important to become familiar with the concept of the Hindu Trinity at a deeper level.

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The Hindu Trinity

The Hindu Trinity represents the highest divine aspect of the Godhead in Hinduism. As you already know, the highest consciousness in Sanatan is shapeless. It is an infinite fire pillar, commonly known as SadaShiva. Therefore, to manifest a physical reality, the highest consciousness appeared in three physical forms, known as the Hindu Trinity.

Lord Brahma, the creator
Lord Vishnu, the protector
Lord Shiva, the destroyer

नागेन्द्रहाराय त्रिलोचनाय भस्माङ्गरागाय महेश्वराय नित्याय-शुद्धाय दिगम्बराय तस्मै कराय नमः शिवाय

Har Har Mahadev! Tweet

Lord Brahma is the creator, but he is not the ultimate creator. Therefore, lord Brahma is not as influential as lord Vishnu and lord Shiva. On the other side, lord Vishnu and lord Shiva are the most influential in Sanatan Dharma and you know the reason.

The branch of Sanatan dharma that worships Vishnu as the Supreme Being is Vaishnavism. As the protector of lord Brahma’s creation, lord Vishnu keeps manifesting himself to protect the physical reality or, in simpler words, lord Vishnu is responsible for protecting the truth and dharma (righteousness)

In Shaivism, lord Shiva is the ultimate destroyer who annihilates everything at the end of the world. The intriguing thing is Shiva rarely takes birth as a human. He operates everything mystically. Throughout history, lord Vishnu has appeared many times to protect righteousness, known as dharma.

The ten avatars of lord Vishnu are highly revered and hold immense significance among the entire Sanatan culture, known as Dashaavatars. Out of these Dashaavatars, lord Rama and Krishna avatars of lord Vishnu are the most renowned. This post focuses on explaining the strong bond between Shiva and Rama, but the same ideas can also apply to the relationship between Shiva and Krishna.

In the Hindu timeline, lord Rama appeared before lord Krishna. But both hold equivalent significance for every person practicing Sanatan Dharma. Lord Rama and Krishna were both born and raised in this world, just like any other human being. Yet, they were exceptional beings endowed with the superpower and unusual intelligence of the highest consciousness. And the impressive thing was both were aware of their supreme realities. After finishing their work on the earth, these avatars return to their realm. Remember this: Their followers regard them as their ultimate role models, or, in simpler terms, their heroes.

The Sweet Bonding Between Shiva and Rama

Lord Shiva took on the revered Rudra avatar of Hanuman to help lord Rama on earth. As one of lord Rama’s biggest devotees, lord Hanuman served him with great affection, and in return, lord Rama shared the same love for him. Let me tell you some incidents which reflect the beautiful bond between Shiva and Rama.

Lord Shiva visited Ayodhya during lord Rama’s birth. It was the affection of lord Shiva that made him do that. On the other side, lord Rama remained invested in the devotion of lord Shiva throughout his life. During Sita Swayamvar (Swayamvar: An ancient ceremony where the bride chooses her husband) lord Rama broke the bow of lord Shiva after giving heartfelt salutations to lord Shiva. And Shiva showered the same affection for Rama. In fact, there are many incidents in the history where both shared the common emotions for each other.

In the teenage, once when lord Rama was celebrating the festival of MahaShivratri in the Gurukul (Vedic schools), he praised the virtues of lord Shiva in his prayer devoted to Shiva. The interesting thing was when lord Rama was praising Shiva in his prayer, Shiva started performing the Anand Tandav (Anand Tandav: Joyful cosmic dance) at Kailash.

Allow me to share another incident that highlights the deep connection between Shiva and Rama. Once the mother goddess Sati noticed tears in Shiva’s eyes, she inquired about the cause. Shiva said my lord is in great pain because Ravana abducted goddess Sita. Goddess Sati asked who are Rama and Sita?

Shiva told her, in the future, lord Vishnu will take a human avatar as Shri Rama to free the world from the atrocities of the demons. In that avatar, the demon king, Ravana will abduct the loving wife of lord Rama. While seeing the future in my meditation, I can sense the pain of my lord, Shri Rama. It is the reason tears came from my eyes.

Rameswaram - The god of Rama

Before starting the battle of Lanka, when lord Rama reached the bank of the ocean, he created a Shiva lingam and named it Rameswaram to worship Shiva. In the meantime, lord Rama also revealed to the people that lord Shiva is the god he worships, and before the start of the battle, he wants to worship Shiva and seek his blessings and strength (Shakti vandana). However, lord Shiva from Kailash immediately replied that Rama is his god, and he delights in hearing his name every time. It is the mutual tenderness and respect that lord Rama shares with lord Shiva.

Interestingly, after killing the Ravana and getting back Mother Sita, lord Rama again worshipping lord Shiva at the Rameswaram. In Sanatan Dharma, it is believed that killing a Brahmin, cow, and embryo in the womb is the greatest sin in the world. Worshipping lord Shiva at the Rameswaram freed lord Rama from the sin of killing Ravana, as Ravana was a Vedic scholar and a Brahmin.

In the future, the next avatar of lord Vishnu, Kalki, will also worship lord Shiva to seek the divine powers and arsenals. He will use these tools and energies to the kali Purusha (the king of the darkness.)

Conclusion

In this post, we have shared the relationship between Shiva and Rama. If you liked the post, please share it on the web. We will be grateful for your kindness.

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