A new controversy has erupted over the Shivling of the first Jyotirlinga Somnath temple. Shankaracharyas, saints, mahants and Shiva worshippers have started opposing Sri Sri Ravishankar’s announcement to re-install the Shivling in the Somnath temple. Shankaracharya Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of Jyotish Peeth says why Sri Sri Ravishankar has not talked about this till now? Shankaracharya Swami Sadanand Saraswati of Dwarka Shardapeeth said – Jyotirlinga is self-manifested and there is no need to re-establish it. At the same time, Harigiri Maharaj said – the flame can never be broken, so the question of re-installing it does not arise. Shiva worshipper Nijanand Swami said that it is not possible for anyone to have the pieces of the 1000-year-old Somnath Shivling. Trustee of Somnath Trust PK Lahiri said that there is no proof whether these pieces are of the original Shivling or not. Now know the full reason behind this controversy
Recently, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar had caught everyone’s attention by claiming that he has 4 parts of Somnath Shivling. This Shivling was broken by Mahmud Ghaznavi 1,000 years ago. He told that he found these pieces of Shivling during the recently concluded Mahakumbh. He has also announced that two of the 4 parts will be re-installed in the Somnath temple. Sri Sri Ravishankar has talked about re-installing these parts of Shivling in Somnath in interviews given to many media organizations. To know their opinion on this announcement of Sri Sri Ravishankar, Divya Bhaskar talked to Shankaracharyas and saints-mahantas, in which they have strongly opposed Sri Sri Ravishankar’s claim. Why has Sri Sri Ravishankar not talked about this till now?
Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of Jyotish Peeth told Divya Bhaskar – Narendra Modi is the president of Somnath Temple Trust. Amit Shah and LK Advani are also associated with the trust. Ravi Shankar keeps meeting all of them. Then why has Ravi Shankar not talked to them about this till now? Crores of Sanatan devotees come to visit Somnath and it is a matter of their faith. He further said- If you have pieces of Shivling, then the one that is installed in the Somnath temple right now cannot be called a complete Shivling. Puja is performed there every day. So you mean that an incomplete Shivling is worshipped. How can this be? If you say that this is only a part of the earlier Shivling. Now that the new Shivling has been installed, then the part of the earlier Shivling has no meaning. This will create division in faith
Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati further said- Now the Shivling that is installed there as Jyotirlinga is the same Jyotirlinga. Only that will be worshipped. Worshipping someone else is an act that harms faith. This is a division of faith. If a new temple is established at any other place, then some people will consider it as Somnath and start worshipping there too. So you (Shri Shri Ravi Shankar) are trying to disrupt our central belief, so it does not make any sense. There is no mention of it in the scriptures. Jyotirlinga appears on its own. But we do not see it, so for our convenience we install Shivlinga as a symbol and worship it. A Shivlinga is installed in Somnath. It is being worshipped. Therefore, the worship of Somnath Jyotirlinga is clear. Now there is no need to add anything new to it. Jyotirlinga does not need re-establishment
At the same time, Shankaracharya Swami Sadanand Saraswati of Dwarka Shardapeeth told Bhaskar – Somnath is the first Jyotirlinga among the twelve Jyotirlingas and it is self-created. Despite the attack of Ghaznavids, this Jyotirlinga was not destroyed. The idol of the Lord which is made is installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple and its Pran Pratishtha is done with Vedic mantras. Even gods and demons cannot control the soul in the form of fire
Mahant Harigiri Maharaj, the patron of the old Akhara and general secretary of the Akhara Parishad, said, Somnath Jyotirlinga is in the form of fire. Flame can never be refuted. That is why we do not believe that the Shivling has been refuted. If no one can control the soul of a person in the form of flame, then it is the flame of God. It cannot be considered. It is not even under the control of gods and demons. He further said- We do not want to get caught in the claims of leftists and historians. My intention is not to hurt anyone’s feelings. Everyone can have their own personal opinion. It is the belief of those who want to reestablish it. If a Mahatma (Shri Shri Ravi Shankar) speaks, he should know what information he has. But I said what I knew. According to my knowledge, the flame cannot be refuted. It is not possible for anyone to have 1000 year old pieces
Nijanand Swami, a Shiva worshipper of Brahmachari Ashram-Gotarka, said that Jyotirlinga cannot be re-established and should not be done. It is not possible for anyone to have pieces of 1000 year old Somnath Shivling. There was a self-manifested Shiva temple (Shivling) in Somnath. It was carved here and there on a single rock. Which was later demolished. The Shiva temple that exists today is established here. There is no need to establish another Shiva temple above the already established Shiva temple. The rule of self-manifested is that it can be worshipped until even a small piece of it grows. The basic thing is that no one knows where the self-manifested Shivalinga was located in Somnath. According to the scriptures, the meaning of Jyotirlinga is that wherever a sage does penance for 12 years and achieves a certain goal. A light has appeared there. As far as I have read history. The Shivling in Somnath was broken 3-4 times. Then it was ground and lime was made. The emperor used to apply this lime on leaves and give it to foreign tourists. This piece cannot be re-consecrated. Hasmukhbhai Joshi, priest of Ghela Somnath temple in Jasdan, told Divya Bhaskar that once the Shivling is consecrated, it cannot be consecrated again. If the Shivling is completely destroyed, it cannot regain its former glory. Even a piece of it cannot be brought back. Where was Sri Sri Ravishankar all this time? Why did he not speak till now and why is he speaking now? As far as I know, there are sword wounds on the Shivling in Ghela Somnath, but it is not broken. If the form in which it is consecrated is broken, it can be worshipped, but it cannot be revived. The Shivling is swayambhu (self-created). It has appeared on its own. No one has the right to take his own life. There is no proof whether these pieces are of the original Shivling or not
Somnath Trust Trustee PK Lahiri said- I have not read anywhere that the Shivling is being renovated. There is no basis to say whether the pieces that Sri Sri Ravishankar has are of the original Shivling or not. I will not comment on anything unless there is a basis for it. If Sri Sri Ravishankar goes on a pilgrimage to Somnath and demands the revival of the Jyotirlinga, will it be allowed? In response to this, Lahiri said that the Board of Trustees will take a decision. PK Lahiri said that Sri Sri Ravishankar has not done any correspondence nor made any official announcement. If something is said without any proof, it means that people are being misled. Sri Sri Ravishankar’s claim: Some parts of the Shivling reached him in this way
Sri Sri Ravishankar had said that Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked Somnath 18 times. In his last attack in 1026 AD, he broke the Shivling. The Shivling was not in the ground, but in the air. Saddened by this destruction, some Agnihotri Brahmins secretly took the sacred piece of the broken Shivling. After this, Agnihotri priests took the pieces of this Shivling to Tamil Nadu in South India, where these pieces were given the form of a small Shivling. A generation of Agnihotri priests continued to worship this Shivling until 1924. He said that in the year 1924, Saint Pranavendra Saraswati took these parts to the then Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram Swami Chandrashekharendra Saraswati. Then Shankaracharya instructed him to keep it hidden for some time and reveal it when the Ram temple is built. After this, the sacred parts of the Shivling came under the protection of Agnihotri Brahmin Pandit Sitaram Shastri. After this, Pandit Sitaram Shastri sought guidance from the current Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram Vijayendra Saraswati. Where Shankaracharya had said that there is a saint in Bangalore, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar. Take this part to him. Following the instructions of Shankaracharya, Pandit Sitaram Shastri’s family handed over some parts of the Shivling to me. Sri Sri Ravishankar had said that before reinstalling the parts of this Shivling in the Somnath temple, a procession will be taken out on the route of religious places of the country including Ayodhya. Prime Minister Modi will decide the date of restoration of Somnath temple. Sri Sri Ravishankar said that these pieces were preserved for generations and now at the right time they will be installed in their place. This is not just a matter of reviving a piece of history. This event is an important step for Sanatan culture and spirituality. He did not consider it a miracle and described it as the power of Sanatan Dharma. Explaining the importance of Somnath Jyotirlinga, he said that normally the magnetic power ranges from one to 12 yards, but the magnetic capacity of this Jyotirlinga is up to 140 yards. It contains only 1 percent iron and other elements. Geologists say that this Jyotirlinga does not belong to this planet. How did the Jyotirlinga appear? Shiv Kathavachak Giribapu said- Whether Shivlinga can be restored in Somnath or not is a matter of scholars and scholars. My topic is to tell the story of Lord Mahadev. Jyoti means light or lamp. What is beyond light is what we call Jyotirlinga. When Brahma and Vishnu merged into each other, then Lord Niranjan appeared in the form of light between them. This light appeared endlessly from the netherworld to the sky. Then a Shivlinga appeared from the light. This is why we put the word Jyoti before Shivlinga. Regarding the mention of Jyotirlinga in the scriptures, he said- There is a complete Lingavali Samhita about this. Kotirudra Samhita of Shivpuran states that there are 100 crore Jyotirlingas, out of which 12 are major. The detailed glory of these 12 Jyotirlingas is described in Shivpuran.
