The peace of the night descends as one walks down to the banks of the Narmada at Omkareshwar. Across the river, stands the main temple housing the Jyothir Linga covered in a veil of lights, the reflection of which lights up the still and gentle waters of the Narmada, ripples that whisper a lot more in the deafening silence. These waters flowed from the very being of Lord Shiva, and as they do, they carve out the bed rock into tiny forms of the Lord himself, into Bana Lingas that draw the essence of worship from other worlds within themselves.
gangA gItA ca gAyatrI govindeti catuShTayaM |
Catur-gakAra-samyukte punar-janma na vidyate ||
That which starts with the syllable "ga" means emerging forth and being constantly present. As the verse goes, Ganga, Gita, Gayatri and Govinda are constants. In fact the very meaning of Linga in the Agama context signifies "ling" which means to destroy and "ga" which is to emerge. Bana Lingas emerge as natural swayambhuva Shiva Lingas. These are found only in the Narmada river bed and are very sacred stones as they contain the very form and energy of Lord Shiva similar to Jyothir Lingas. They are naturally powerful and hold the essence of divinity within them.
According to the Aparajita-pariprchchha (205, 1-26) there is mythology attached to the Bana Linga's association with the Narmada River. It is believed that when Lord Shiva destroyed the flying city of Tripura which had been obtained by the arrogant demon Banasura, He let go a fiery dart from his bow - Pinaka. This destroyed the three cities into tiny bits, which fell in three spots - on the hills in Sri-kshetra (of unknown identity), on the peaks of Amarkantak in the Vindhya Range, and on the banks of the holy river Narmada. These soon multiplied into crores of Lingas and as they were part of the possession of Banasura, they came to be called Bana Lingas. The Padma Purana reveals that the holy river of Narmada has many ghats all of which are associated with Bana Lingas and Raudra Lingas.
Bana is also known to be the eldest son of Bali, who in turn was the son of Virochana and the grandson of Prahalada who was the son of Hiranyakashipu and a great devotee of Narasimha. Banasura himself was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and having done severe penance Shiva granted him in the form of Natural Lingas - Bana Lingas (banrchartham krtam Lingam).
These waters of the Narmada protect rounded bed rock within its darkness, and when polished their beauty is revealed to us. The Siddhanta Sekhara (an astronomical work by Sripati in 1039 cen A.D.) reveals that the Bana Lingas have already been worshiped by deities and contain the impress of their worship visible in the marks on the Lingas:
Lotus mark (Padma) reveals it was worshipped by Brahma
Mark of a parasol (Chhatra) indicates Indra
Mark of two heads (Siro-yugma) indicates Agni
Three steps (Pada) mark indicates it was Yama
Mark of a mace (Gada) indicates Isana Shiva
Mark of a water vessel (Kalasha) indicates Varuna
A banner mark (Dhwaja) indicates the energy of Vayu
This renders Bana Lingas as Daiva Lingas and hence these Bana Lingas are considered extremely superior compare to other Lingas. The power of the Bana Lingas is felt in a few conditions.
Read on what one could incur by the worship of different Bana Lingas on the Next Page.
gangA gItA ca gAyatrI govindeti catuShTayaM |
Catur-gakAra-samyukte punar-janma na vidyate ||
That which starts with the syllable "ga" means emerging forth and being constantly present. As the verse goes, Ganga, Gita, Gayatri and Govinda are constants. In fact the very meaning of Linga in the Agama context signifies "ling" which means to destroy and "ga" which is to emerge. Bana Lingas emerge as natural swayambhuva Shiva Lingas. These are found only in the Narmada river bed and are very sacred stones as they contain the very form and energy of Lord Shiva similar to Jyothir Lingas. They are naturally powerful and hold the essence of divinity within them.
According to the Aparajita-pariprchchha (205, 1-26) there is mythology attached to the Bana Linga's association with the Narmada River. It is believed that when Lord Shiva destroyed the flying city of Tripura which had been obtained by the arrogant demon Banasura, He let go a fiery dart from his bow - Pinaka. This destroyed the three cities into tiny bits, which fell in three spots - on the hills in Sri-kshetra (of unknown identity), on the peaks of Amarkantak in the Vindhya Range, and on the banks of the holy river Narmada. These soon multiplied into crores of Lingas and as they were part of the possession of Banasura, they came to be called Bana Lingas. The Padma Purana reveals that the holy river of Narmada has many ghats all of which are associated with Bana Lingas and Raudra Lingas.
Bana is also known to be the eldest son of Bali, who in turn was the son of Virochana and the grandson of Prahalada who was the son of Hiranyakashipu and a great devotee of Narasimha. Banasura himself was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and having done severe penance Shiva granted him in the form of Natural Lingas - Bana Lingas (banrchartham krtam Lingam).
These waters of the Narmada protect rounded bed rock within its darkness, and when polished their beauty is revealed to us. The Siddhanta Sekhara (an astronomical work by Sripati in 1039 cen A.D.) reveals that the Bana Lingas have already been worshiped by deities and contain the impress of their worship visible in the marks on the Lingas:
Lotus mark (Padma) reveals it was worshipped by Brahma
Mark of a parasol (Chhatra) indicates Indra
Mark of two heads (Siro-yugma) indicates Agni
Three steps (Pada) mark indicates it was Yama
Mark of a mace (Gada) indicates Isana Shiva
Mark of a water vessel (Kalasha) indicates Varuna
A banner mark (Dhwaja) indicates the energy of Vayu
This renders Bana Lingas as Daiva Lingas and hence these Bana Lingas are considered extremely superior compare to other Lingas. The power of the Bana Lingas is felt in a few conditions.
Read on what one could incur by the worship of different Bana Lingas on the Next Page.
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