Obeisance to Ravana and Lord Shiva

Shivatandava Stotram in the divine voice of Shankar Mahadevan

Most of you have heard about Ravana, the 10-headed Rakshasa king of Lanka who had stolen Sita and later killed by Lord

Rama. Very few of you have heard about his good sides. He was a great scholar and a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. Ravana was the second birth of Jaya, the gatekeeper of Vaikunta (abode of Lord Vishnu). Jaya along with Vijaya, the other gatekeeper of Vaikunta had been cursed by Four Kumaras – Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, and Sanatkumara upon not allowing them to enter Vaikunta to see Lord Vishnu. Both of them thought the Four Kumaras as little boys and didn’t allow them to enter Vaikunta. They got the curse as they will born on Earth losing their divinity and will become mortals. They went to Lord Vishnu and he said he can’t take back the curse, but gave them two options to select from. One in which they can take seven births in Earth in the form of Vishnu devotees. Second one was to take three births in Earth in the form of Vishnu enemies. Both of them selected the second option thinking they could reach Lord very soon. In the firt birth on Earth, they born as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu and killed by Varaha avatar and Narasimha avatar respectively. In second birth they born as Ravana and Kumbakarana and killed by Lord Rama. In third birth, they born as Shishupala and Dantavakra and killed by Lord Krishna. After the third birth and being killed by Lord Krishna, they got back to Vaikunta as Jaya and Vijaya. All lord’s divine play.

In Jaya’s birth as Ravana, he was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Even though he had ego, lust, pride etc., he was a very good scholar. Once, upon advised by Sage Narada, Ravana tried to bring Shiva to Lanka. Due to his overbearing pride in own strength, he decided to bring the whole Kailasa to Lanka. He picked up the Kailasa in his hands. Realizing his pride, Lord Shiva pressed his great toe and Ravana was crushed and he fell to Patala (underground world). He cried loudly. With all his strength, he tried to escape from under Kailasa and he couldn’t. He then started praying Lord Shiva with 14 stotras (verses) and Lord Shiva became happy in his devotion and freed him. These 14 stotras are named as Shivatandava Sthothram, which is very dear to Lord Shiva. It is a very energetic stotram with the magical use of letters of Sanskrit in it. Chanting this stotram energizes the chanter due to its divinity and also due to the magical use of letter arrangement in this stotram. Even hearing this stotram, energizes one who hears it. With obeisance to Ravana and Lord Shiva, I’m sharing Shivatandava Stotram to you all.

Hari Om Namah Shivaya Hara Hara Mahadeva 🙏😊🌸🌻💐