Maha Shivaratri Pooja 18 February 2023

The Tithi is Krishna Chaturdasi (K14).
It’s also called Narka (Hellish) Chaturdashi, as it symbolizes sins and desires that cause rebirth.
This is the day when Brahma (son) fought with Vishnu (father)
It is the day when Chandra (student) kidnaps his Guru (Brihaspati) wife Tara.
We worship Shiva to overcome the Dosha of this malefic tithi.

We slip water three times with the mantra of Vishnu to cleanse ourselves.
This symbolizes the cleaning of the Mind, Body, and Soul.
We take some water in our right-hand palm and sip water saying these three mantras.

1. ॐ केशवाय नमः |om keśavāya namaḥ
2. ॐ मधवाय नमः | om madhavāya namaḥ
3. ॐ गोविन्दाय नमः | om govindāya namaḥ

Now wash your hands.

Guru Mantra

ॐ गुरवे नमः | om gurave namaḥ

We do this Guru Mantra 108 times so that we always have to blessings of the Guru and our intelligence never fails.

Pancha Upachar Pooja is done to pacify and cleanse the 5 tattvas.
We offer five elements to Shiva Linga in the following order.

1. Burning Incense Stick- Vayu tattva.
2. Lighting a Lamp – Agni tattva
3. Sandalwood Paste – Prithvi tattva
4. Naivedyam – Jala tattva
5. Flowers – Akash tattva

Men should do Ashtanga Pranam to Shiva Linga and for women, it is always Sashtanga Pranam.

# Women’s breasts should never touch the floor doing any pranam

No one can do parikrama of Shiva Lingas as it has no beginning or end. It is an infinite column of Light.

So we do Pradakshina of Shiva Linga. We just rotate in a clockwise direction 3 times standing in front of Shiva Linga.

Mula Mantra

सद्योजातं प्रपस्द्यामि सद्योजाताय वै नमः।
भवे भवे नातिभवे भवस्व मां भवोद्भवाय नमः॥
sadyojātaṁ prapasdyāmi sadyojātāya vai namaḥ |
bhave bhave nātibhave bhavasva māṁ bhavodbhavāya namaḥ ||

Tattva Mantra

ॐ लं सद्योजाताय नमः। om laṁ sadyojātāya namaḥ

Pancha Panchakshri Mantra

ॐ नं नमः शिवाय। om naṁ namaḥ śivāya |

Mula Mantra

वामदेवाय नमो ज्येष्ठाय नमो रुद्राय
नमः कालाय नमः कालविकर्णाय नमो बलाय नमो बलप्रमथनाय
नमः सर्वभूतदमनाय नमो नमोन्मनाय नमः
vāmadevāya namo jyeṣṭhāya namo rudrāya
namaḥ kālāya namaḥ kālavikarṇāya namo balāya namo balapramathanāya
namaḥ sarvabhūtadamanāya namo namonmanāya namaḥ

Tattva Mantra

ॐ वं वामदेवाय नमः। om vaṁ vāmadevāya namaḥ

Pancha Panchakshri Mantra

ॐ मं नमः शिवाय। om maṁ namaḥ śivāya |

Mula Mantra

ओं अघोरेभ्योथ घोरेभ्योघोरघोरतरेभ्यः।
सर्वेभ्यः सर्वसर्वेभ्यो नमस्तेस्तु रुद्ररूपेभ्यः।
oṁ aghorebhyotha ghorebhyoghoraghoratarebhyaḥ |
sarvebhyaḥ sarvasarvebhyo namastestu rudrarūpebhyaḥ |

Tattva Mantra

ॐ रं अघोराय नमः | om raṁ aghorāya namaḥ

Pancha Panchakshri Mantra

ॐ शिं नमः शिवाय। om śiṁ namaḥ śivāya |

Mula Mantra

तत्पुरुषाय विद्महे महादेवाय धीमहि।
तन्नो रुद्रः प्रचोदयात्
tatpuruṣāya vidmahe mahādevāya dhīmahi |
tanno rudraḥ pracodayāt

Tattva Mantra

ॐ यं तत्पुरुषाय नमः। om yaṁ tatpuruṣāya namaḥ|

Pancha Panchakshri Mantra

ॐ वं नमः शिवाय। om vaṁ namaḥ śivāya |

Mula Mantra

ईशानः सर्वविद्यानामीश्वरः सर्वभूतानां
ब्रह्माधिपतिर्ब्रह्मा शिवो मेस्तु सदा शिवोम्
īśānaḥ sarvavidyānāmīśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ
brahmādhipatirbrahmā śivo mestu sadā śivom

Tattva Mantra

ॐ हं ईशानाय नमः। om haṁ īśānāya namaḥ|

Pancha Panchakshri Mantra

ॐ यं नमः शिवाय। om yaṁ namaḥ śivāya |

Gauri Sankar

Sankar is the summation of all the power of Lord Shiva.
Sankar is one of the most auspicious names of Lord Shiva.
Sankar means one who always does well
Gauri is the consort of Lord Shiva and is her Shakti too.
One who worships Gauri Sankar sustains his samsara and also moves towards moksha.

ॐ नमः शिवाय गौरी शंकराय |om namaḥ śivāya gaurī śankarāya

Tulsi Das’s Prayer

ॐ नमः शिवाय गौरी शंकराय माहादेवाय नमो नमः।
मदनान्तकाय मुक्तीप्रदाय श्रिमद्शंकराय नमो नमः॥
om namaḥ śivāya gaurī śaṁkarāya māhādevāya namo namaḥ |
madanāntakāya muktīpradāya śrimadśankarāya namo namaḥ ||