A great white bull is seen seated waiting in most Shiva temples, facing lord Shiva or the Lingam. His name is Nandi. The name means happy, joy
and satisfaction. He is the
closest bhakt, devotee, of Lord Shiva. This is his story.
There was a rishi by
name of Shilada. He wanted to groom a child, but no ordinary child. He
did tapa (meditation), for many years that a termite hill grew around
him and he was almost reduced to his bones. Lord Shiva was pleased and he gave
him a boon for the eternal child. He also restored his body to his original
form.
Next day, Shilada was
ploughing his field, where he found a baby. The baby was glowing bright. He was
not sure what to do with the baby, when he heard a heavenly voice “This is your
child, raise him well”. The baby was a boy. Shilada named him Nandi. Nandi was
bright and devoted to Lord Shiva. He learned the veda, shashtra and ashtra in
rishi Shilada’s hermitage. He was very bright and learnt fast.
Few years later, two
sages by name of Mitra and Varuna visited the hermitage. Nandi was put to take
care of them. They were very satisfied and blessed them while leaving. The sages
blessed rishi Shilada of dirghayu, of long life. They
blessed Nandi of yashashvii, of being celebrated. Shilada being a
father, was worried that the sage did not bless his son of long life. He
questioned the sages, and Mitra told him that his son did not have a long life, thus he could not bless him so.
Seeing a worried father,
Nandi said “If I am destined to die, Lord Shiva can change it. He is the most
powerful. He will never let down his devotee. I will do tapa and
reverse my fate. Bless me in my pursuit”. He went into the river Bhuvana to do
his penance.
Nandi’s tapa was
so strong, that Shiva appeared almost instantaneously before him. Shiva offered
him a boon, and Nandi asked for “I wish to be with you always”.
Shiva blessed Nandi and
said, “I am looking for a bull for my vaahana, to travel. You will get the
face of a bull, stay with me at my abode Kailash, be my companion, my mount and
my friend. You will be a leader of my gana”.
Shiva’s son Ganesh was
the lord of the gana, and thus his name Ganapati. Nandi was their leader
and commander, and called Gananayak.
During sagar
manthan, the great ocean was churned to take out amrit, the eternal elixir
sought by both devas and asuras. The first thing that came out
was halahal, the cloud of poison that threatened the survival of all
living including gods and celestial beings. Everyone ran hither and thither,
and ultimately reached Kailash. To protect the world, Lord Shiva collected the
poison in his open palm and swallowed it. Goddess Parvati, his wife and
consort, panicked and clutched Shiva's throat so that the poison do not enter
the body. Thus, the poison was stored in his throat, giving Shiva names
of Neelkanth, one with a blue throat, and Vishkantha, the one with
poison throat. In this melee, some of the halahal dropped from his
palm. Nandi was nearby, and seeing his master drink it, quickly gathered it and
drank it before it fell on earth. The august gathering was shocked that what
would happen, but nothing happened to Nandi. Shiva calmed everyone and told the
gathering that “Nandi is my greatest devotee, surrendered to me completely and
has my power and protection”.
After the sagar
manthan, Shiva had difficulty concentrating in dhyanam, his
meditation. His throat was always burning by the halahal that was
stuck there. He ordered Nandi to sit in front of him and blow air on to his
throat. The air blown relieved him of the burning sensation. From thereon, lord
Shiva meditated with the help of Nandi. Till today, you will find Nandi seated in
front of Shiva in all temples, waiting patiently for his master’s next command. Also, it
is said that you should never stand in front of Nandi, that is you should never
come in between Shiva and Nandi, as it disturbs Shiva’s meditation. And if you
need to take a look at Shiva, look at him through the space between his ears.
Once Shiva was away and
Parvati created a boy from the sandal paste on her body, who she instructed to
stop anyone coming through the door while she was taking a bath. Shiva returned early and the boy would not let Shiva enter his own abode as instructed by his mother.
Shiva was furious, and he asked his gana to take the boy away. A
fight was pursued and the gana retreated after defeat. Shiva then
went himself in rage and cut the head with his trishul, the trident.
Parvati was enraged and she demanded her boy be brought back to life. Shiva
instructed Nandi to go and get the head of the first being he gets. There he
found the elephant demon Airavata who belonged to Indra, the king of devas.
Nandi cut the head of the elephant, and Indra was not pleased and hurled projectiles
of arrows, mace, trident and thunderbolt at him. Nandi had a body as hard as
rock and the weapons did not trouble him. He was successful in getting the
replacement head, and added to Ganesha’s body to bring the boy back to life.
Once Raavana defeated
Kubera and took away his Pushpakveemana, the aerial chariot. He was enjoying
the ride of the chariot by flying it over all oceans, fields and mountains.
The veemana refused to fly over a large mountain, Kailash, the abode
of Shiva. Raavana was short tempered and he went to uproot the mountain. The
mountain shook and everything started to tumble and every being started to
panic. This is where Raavana, the king of Lanka, and Nandi, the chief of gana met.
Nandi cursed the raakshasha king that his pride and city would be
destroyed by a monkey. In the epic of Raamayana, we find Hanuman, a vaanar devotee
of Rama, burn Lanka and destroy the pride of Raavana when he went searching
for Seetha, when she was kidnapped and kept in Ashoka vaatika.
Once Shiva was
explaining the meaning of vedas to Parvati. She lost her focus. She
realized it and to atone herself, she incarnated as a daughter of a fisherman.
Nandi was distraught to see the separation of his master and his companion.
Nandi took the form of a big fish and troubled people. The fisherman announced
that whoever kills the troublesome fish, will get the hand of his daughter
Parvati in marriage. Shiva took the form of a fisherman, captured the fish and
got Parvati back. The three then returned to Kailash in their previous
form.
Once Siva and Parvathi
were playing a game of dice. Nandi was the umpire. Although Siva lost the game,
Nandi declared him the winner. Parvathi was outraged over Nandi's partiality
for Siva and cursed him that he should die from an incurable disease. Thereupon
Nandi fell at the feet of Parvathi and pleaded for forgiveness, as he could not
see his master loose and it would have been humiliating to declare his master has
lost. It was in gratitude to one’s master that he uttered a lie. Parvathi forgave
Nandi and told “Offer my son Ganesh on his birthday, chaturdashi day
in the month of bhadrapada, something that pleases you most". Nandi thus
worshiped Ganesh by offering green dhruba grass, as this was Nandi’s
most relishing food. He was thus redeemed. Ganesh is thus worshiped on this
day to get rid of one’s sin and obstacles.
Once there lived a sage named Shveta in a hermitage on the banks of the river Ganga. He was devoted to Shiva. When he died, Yama, lord of pataalalok sent his messenger to take Shveta to naraka, the land of the dead. When the messenger did not return on time, Yama sent his assistance Mrityu, death himself, to check. Mrityu found the messenger standing outside Shveta's house, unable to enter. Shiva himself was at the door, guarding the sage's body, surrounded by his gana. Nandi asked Mrityu, "Why have you come?" "I have come to take Shveta's soul to Yama as his time on earth is up." Mrityu replied and saying this, flung his lasso towards Shveta's body. Almost immediately a gana struck a hard blow and brought down Mrityu. When the news reached Yama, he was furious and attacked Shveta's house. Nandi led his army of gana to come face to face with Yama and fought bravely. Yama was killed in the conflict. It was difficult to judge who was right, Yama doing his duty or Shiva protecting his devotee. Shiva wanted to take Shveta to Kailash and not let go to naraka. With Yama's death, the balance between life and death was destroyed. All the gods were worried. In order to maintain balance, Shiva asked Nandi to fetch water from Ganga and sprinkle it to revive everyone killed in the battle including Yama. Yama agreed to Shiva's demand and let Shveta's soul go to Kailash.
Once a delegation of
people went to Kailash to seek the advice of Shiva on how to lead an ideal
life. Shiva was busy at that time and sent Nandi to the delegation to tell “Din
main ek bar khao, teen bar nahao” (Eat once and bathe thrice
daily). Nandi joyfully proceeded towards them and afraid that he might forget, repeated the instruction to himself. When he stood in front of the
delegation he said “Shiva has asked me to inform you that din main ek bar
nahao, teen bar khao (Bathe once and eat thrice daily)”. The delegation
returned happily satisfied and dutifully followed it. Soon there was a shortage
of food. Eventually another delegation went to Shiva to seek a solution to the
new problem. Shiva understood that Nandi created the problem. He cursed Nandi
“You have created the problem. You will help these people to grow the food they
need”. And from that time, cattles have been paying the eternal price, being domesticated for
agriculture and pulling the plough.
Nandi got the divine
knowledge of Agamic and Tantric wisdom taught by Lord Shiva from goddess
Parvathi. He is considered the chief guru of Nandinath Sampradaya. He had eight
disciples - Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana, Sanatkumara, Tirumular, Vyagrapada,
Patanjali and Sivayoga Muni who were directed to eight directions of the world
by Nandi to spread the wisdom of Shaiva tradition. All Shaivites, the worshiper
of Shiva, adore a flag with the image of Nandi. The white colour of the bull
represents purity and justice.
Nandi is described with
many traits. As a gatekeeper at Kailash, the abode of Shiva, he is described as
adorned with all ornaments, glowing like a thousand suns, holding a trident in
his hand, three-eyed, adorned with a sliver of the moon, a thunderbolt in his
hand, four-armed, like a second Shiva himself. As a chief gana, he carries the
golden staff of office. As a musician, he provided the cosmic music when Shiva
did the Tandav nritya, dance of creation. As a guardian of all four-footed
life form, he looks majestic, muscular and powerful with a bell, clapper and
necklace of flower.
In temple architecture,
a seated Nandi is found in the mandapa, outer hall, of almost all Shiva temples,
representing an individual devotee looking directly at his Parmeshwar,
lord, in the garbhagriha, sanctum sanctorum. It is a custom for the
faithful to whisper in the ears of Nandi the purpose of the visit, and
requesting him to inform the master to hear the prayer at the opportune time.
Nandi is a bull and not
some oxen or a cow. Bulls are wild and are not domesticated. They roam free.
They are useful only to make cows pregnant to bear calf and give milk. Farmers
would castrate the male calf to make them oxen and use them as draft animals to
pull the plough or cart. Even today, a village will only have one or two bulls,
which roams the streets and temples. Bull cannot be used for any other work.
The bull Nandi is representative of life energy, virility, springing of life.
Shiva is also not a householder and refused to marry. Goddess Shakti appealed to
him as without marriage the world could not be created otherwise. Although he
agreed to be the groom, he was never the householder or the breadwinner. He
refused to be indulged in the worldly ways. Although they had children, he was
not a father available to them. Shakti was the mother goddess - the matriarch, the provider. Shiva thus related to the bull Nandi - wild and undomesticated. Shakti related to the cow who nourishes the world with her milk.
Nandi is worshiped
across India through the ages. There are seals excavated in sites of
Harrapan civilizations, where the bull motif is found in large numbers and this is believed to be of Nandi. There is also motif of forms that has human body
and head of a bull. It is believed that this form originated when people were
mostly cattle rearing and wanted a god to protect their cattle - their most
important property. Bull was also used as god forms in other ancient
civilizations, notably the Apis of Egypt and Marduk of
Mesopotamia.
Bull-calf Nandi at Warangal, Talengana made from granite
DISCLAIMER: These narrations are from various stories that were narrated to me and some that were read in various publications and internet over time.