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Health and healing deities?
- Thread starter Sirona
- Start date
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
All deities can help. Not a big deal. However Shiva and Dhanavantari are associated with healing. Among the Aryans, Rudra was the healer, who later merged into Shiva. Lord Dhanavantari emerged out of the milk-ocean during its churning by Gods and demons. Dhanavantari Day is celebrated two days before Diwali.
Mantras, many; but the most popular is:
Trayambakam yajāmahe, sugandhim pushti-vardhanam l
urvārukam iva bandhanān, mrityor-mukshiya mā-amrtāt ll
1. We Worship the Tryambaka (the Three-Eyed One),
2: Who is Fragrant (as the Spiritual Essence), Increasing the Nourishment (of our Spiritual Core) l
3: From these many Bondages (of Samsara) similar to Cucumbers (tied to their Creepers),
4: May I be Liberted from Death (Attachment to Perishable Things), So that I am not separated from the perception of Immortality (Immortal Essence pervading everywhere).
Mahamrityunjaya Mantra - Wikipedia
This is known as Maha-mrityun-jaya mantra. The 'great victory-over-death mantra'. The story goes that Rishi Mrikandu and his wife Marudmati did not have any children. So, they started praying to Lord Shiva. After a long penance they finally managed to make Lord Shiva happy. Lord Shiva finally appeared before them and agreed on giving them a boon of a son. However, Lord Shiva gave them a condition. The son will either be very intelligent but have a short lifespan or, the son will have a long lifespan but will not be very intelligent.
Rishi Mrikandu and his wife decided to go for the first option and Lord Shiva blessed them with a son who was named as Markandeya. However, Lord Shiva said that the child will live only for 16 years. Markandeya was never aware of the truth of his birth and the future that awaited him. He was however a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. Gradually as Markandeya started approaching the age of 16, his father and mother became worried. He then insisted on knowing the reason and finally his parents revealed the truth and the future which was not far.
After knowing the whole thing, Markandeya started penance sitting in front of Shiva Linga. When he turned 16, he was still in deep meditation and prayer. That is when Lord Yama or Yamaraj sent a messenger to take Markandeya. However, Markandeya was so deeply lost in prayers that the messenger had to return back. As a result of this, Lord Yama himself came to take Markandeya. Markandeya didn’t want to go and embraced the Shiva Linga and surrendered himself to the mercy of Lord Shiva.
Lord Yama, in order to complete his duty decided to apply force and threw his noose on Markandeya. Unfortunately, the noose fell around Shiva Linga. This made Lord Shiva angry and he appeared in front of Markandeya and Lord Yama. Lord Shiva was so furious that he instantly killed Lord Yama. That is when other gods came to Lord Shiva and stated that death of Lord Yama will completely disrupt the universe’s balance and hence, reviving Lord Yama was necessary.
Lord Shiva agreed to the plea of other gods but put forward a condition that the boy Markandeya will live forever. Everyone agreed to the condition and Lord Yama was revived by Lord Shiva. So Sage Markandeya is one of the seven immortals in Hinduism. Because Lord Shiva killed Lord Yama, Lord Shiva is also known as Kalantaka or Ender or Destroyer of Death. Lord Yama is considered as Death in Sanatana Dharma which is known to the world as Hinduism. It is said that during his prayers to Lord Shiva, Markandeya created the Mahamrityunjaya mantra and that the mantra was known only to him.
For further stories, kindly visit: 30 Interesting Mahamrityunjaya Mantra Facts
Shiva saving Markandeya from Yama (painting by Raja Ravi Verma).
Raja Ravi Varma was closely related to the royal family of Travancore of present-day Kerala state in India. Later in his life, two of his granddaughters were adopted into that royal family, and their descendants comprise the totality of the present royal family of Travancore, including the latest three Maharajas (Balarama Varma III, Marthanda Varma III and Rama Varma VII).
Raja Ravi Varma - Wikipedia
Mantras, many; but the most popular is:
Trayambakam yajāmahe, sugandhim pushti-vardhanam l
urvārukam iva bandhanān, mrityor-mukshiya mā-amrtāt ll
1. We Worship the Tryambaka (the Three-Eyed One),
2: Who is Fragrant (as the Spiritual Essence), Increasing the Nourishment (of our Spiritual Core) l
3: From these many Bondages (of Samsara) similar to Cucumbers (tied to their Creepers),
4: May I be Liberted from Death (Attachment to Perishable Things), So that I am not separated from the perception of Immortality (Immortal Essence pervading everywhere).
Mahamrityunjaya Mantra - Wikipedia
This is known as Maha-mrityun-jaya mantra. The 'great victory-over-death mantra'. The story goes that Rishi Mrikandu and his wife Marudmati did not have any children. So, they started praying to Lord Shiva. After a long penance they finally managed to make Lord Shiva happy. Lord Shiva finally appeared before them and agreed on giving them a boon of a son. However, Lord Shiva gave them a condition. The son will either be very intelligent but have a short lifespan or, the son will have a long lifespan but will not be very intelligent.
Rishi Mrikandu and his wife decided to go for the first option and Lord Shiva blessed them with a son who was named as Markandeya. However, Lord Shiva said that the child will live only for 16 years. Markandeya was never aware of the truth of his birth and the future that awaited him. He was however a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. Gradually as Markandeya started approaching the age of 16, his father and mother became worried. He then insisted on knowing the reason and finally his parents revealed the truth and the future which was not far.
After knowing the whole thing, Markandeya started penance sitting in front of Shiva Linga. When he turned 16, he was still in deep meditation and prayer. That is when Lord Yama or Yamaraj sent a messenger to take Markandeya. However, Markandeya was so deeply lost in prayers that the messenger had to return back. As a result of this, Lord Yama himself came to take Markandeya. Markandeya didn’t want to go and embraced the Shiva Linga and surrendered himself to the mercy of Lord Shiva.
Lord Yama, in order to complete his duty decided to apply force and threw his noose on Markandeya. Unfortunately, the noose fell around Shiva Linga. This made Lord Shiva angry and he appeared in front of Markandeya and Lord Yama. Lord Shiva was so furious that he instantly killed Lord Yama. That is when other gods came to Lord Shiva and stated that death of Lord Yama will completely disrupt the universe’s balance and hence, reviving Lord Yama was necessary.
Lord Shiva agreed to the plea of other gods but put forward a condition that the boy Markandeya will live forever. Everyone agreed to the condition and Lord Yama was revived by Lord Shiva. So Sage Markandeya is one of the seven immortals in Hinduism. Because Lord Shiva killed Lord Yama, Lord Shiva is also known as Kalantaka or Ender or Destroyer of Death. Lord Yama is considered as Death in Sanatana Dharma which is known to the world as Hinduism. It is said that during his prayers to Lord Shiva, Markandeya created the Mahamrityunjaya mantra and that the mantra was known only to him.
For further stories, kindly visit: 30 Interesting Mahamrityunjaya Mantra Facts
Raja Ravi Varma was closely related to the royal family of Travancore of present-day Kerala state in India. Later in his life, two of his granddaughters were adopted into that royal family, and their descendants comprise the totality of the present royal family of Travancore, including the latest three Maharajas (Balarama Varma III, Marthanda Varma III and Rama Varma VII).
Raja Ravi Varma - Wikipedia
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Sirona
Hindu Wannabe
Thank you for this nice story, @Aupmanyav ! 
Dhanvantari ... Dhanvantari - Wikipedia
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru
Don't mention names, otherwise I will have to post more stories.
"One legend is that in the Treta Yuga the demon Ravana, king of Lanka , propitiated Lord Mahadeva and wanted him to come over to Lanka. Mahadeva did not agree to this prayer but told Ravana that one of the twelve emblems of His divinity. Jyotirlinga, would be quite as effective as His presence and that he might take it away on the condition that there should be no break in the journey and the lingam would not be deposited anywhere on the earth. The condition was that if the lingam was put anywhere on the earth in the course of the journey, it would be fixed to that spot for ever.
The legend is that Ravana agreed to this condition and took the lingam and started his journey back to Lanka. The gods dreaded the effect of the lingam being established at the seat of the demon king. A ruse was devised and Varuna, the god of the waters, entered the stomach of Ravana and the demon had to descend to earth to relieve himself. Later, Vishnu, in the garb of an old Brahmin, appeared before Ravana, after his descent to the earth, and began to converse with him. Ravana requested the Brahmin to kindly hold the Jyotirlinga for a few minutes so that he could relieve himself.
Lord Vishnu readily agreed to it and, as soon as Ravana turned his back to relieve himself, he left the Jyotirlinga on the spot and vanished. When Ravana came back, he found that the Jyotirlinga was firmly fixed to the earth and realised that a trick had been played on him. He even tried violence to remove the lingam and thereby broke a piece off the top of the lingam. However, failing to remove the lingam, he made his obeisance to the lingam and daily worshipped it. The spot where Ravana came down to the earth has been identified with Harlajuri, about four miles north of Deoghar and the place where the lingam was deposited is known as Deoghar."
Legend Of Vaidyanath Temple - Baijanath Jharkhand - Jyotirlinga Temples
Baidyanath (lit. chief physician) also is the place where the heart of Mother Sati, the earlier incarnation of Mother Parvati, who immolated herself in her fathers yajna fire-pit, fell.
Baidyanath is famous for the annual pilgrimage in the rainy season (July/August). About 8 to 10 million devotees visit the place from various parts of India and offer holy water of Ganges to the deity collected from Sultanganj, which is almost 108 km from Deoghar (House of the Lord) and Baidyanath. They walk all the distance barefoot and, in olden times were not supposed to sit or lie down during the journey (they could lean against a rock or tree when tired).
Baidyanath temple tied to Mother Parvati temple, the unbroken 108 km line of pilgrims and the beautiful countryside (click quote to see the image), Muslims offering refreshments to Hindu pilgrims and the finale.
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