Lubdhaka, a poor tribal man and a devotee of Shiva, once went
into the deep forests to collect firewood. At nightfall, he
became lost and could not find his way home. In the darkness,
Lubdhaka climbed a Bilva tree and sought safety and shelter in
its branches until dawn.
All night, he could hear the growls of tigers and wild animals
and was too frightened to leave the tree. And in order to keep
awake through the night, he plucked one bilva leaf at a time
from the tree and dropped it, while chanting the name of Shiva.
By sunrise, he had dropped thousands of leaves on to a Shiva
lingam, which he had not seen in the darkness. Lubdhaka's
all-night worship pleased Shiva. By the grace of Shiva the
tigers and wild animals went away, and Lubdhaka not only
survived, but was rewarded with 'divine happiness.'
Let
us do the same - not in fear of the tiger but with lots of love. Listen to the sound of Ohm Namah Shivaya -
Click
and drag a Bilva leaf from the bunch of leaves (on the right) in
the picture above and offer each leaf with love to
the Linga form of Lord Shiva.
You may do this 11 times or 21 times.
