Why you must tell your child about Lord Shiva?

 

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I prepared myself to tell about the Lord of the Lords- Shiva. For few moments, I sat in silence, the name Shiva captivated me and the mystic blood surged all over me. My little daughter could feel the sacred variance already. She sat along with me in Silence.

We began by reciting the universal mantra “Aum Namah Shivaya”. She was well aware of this as a part of her prayer lessons.

Shiva the Mahadeva is one of the potent deities of Hindus. He is the omniscient yogi who lives on Mount Kailash. He is the householder of Goddess Parvati and his two sons Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya.

His Iconic attributes, third eye on his forehead, the snake- Vasuki around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his hair with weapon Trishula and damaru, the musical instrument. Although he looks courageous and influential, he is worshipped in the form of ‘Shiva Linga’.

She was familiar with the picture of Lord shiva in our Prayer room and pointed towards it as I was explaining. Although she wanted to ask more but couldn’t frame one to ask. As I continued, she paused me with a question;” Is Shivaratri, Shivas birthday?” I pondered; was it the festival preparations at home made her ask this question. I said, Shivaratri- The Great night of Shiva is very auspicious for the following reasons;

• This was the day Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati was married.
• Shiva performed the Tandava dance- The cosmic dance
• It is also said that Lord Shiva saved the world from the poison emerged from the churning of sea.
• On the Maharatri, Shivas devotees keep vigil throughout the night.

As I looked at her, she smiled at me and said, I want to meet Shiva and thank him for protecting us. This moment I dint have an answer and also dint want to disappoint her. I told her, Yes of course you can thank him by offering bilva leaves and giving him a holy bath in milk (Abhishekam) on Shivaratri and meet him yourself (with the context to “Aum Namah Shiva”- I honor the divinity that resides within me)

I convinced her to dress her as the Lord and to my surprise, she agreed instantly.  I was in a spree to dress her like the Lord. Yes, we clicked pictures and that night while I was transferring those pictures, she peeped in to ask; “Isn’t that Shiva lives in the mountains?”. By now, I was sure she wasn’t happy with her guises. I told her, she had to wait till the next morning to decide if she liked it? My few hours of sleeplessness had rewarded and she said “Amma, I am sure the Lord Shiva would love this”.  I hugged her tight and said, of course baby.

Making children learn the fun way is the most exciting thing,

they would learn the real way better than the reel way.

||Om Try-Ambakam Yajaamahe
Sugandhim Pusstti-Vardhanam
Urvaarukam-Iva Bandhanaan
Mrtyor-Mukssiiya Maa-mrtaat ||

 We Worship the Three-Eyed One, who is Fragran and Who Nourishes all beings. May He severe our Bondage of Worldly Life, like a bondage of its Creeper and thus Liberate us from the Fear of Death, by making us realize that we are never separated from our Immortal Nature.