Why Monday is the day of Lord Shiva?
We all know that Monday is the day of Lord Shiva. Lakhs and lakhs of people pay their tributes to their Lord Almighty and they make their prayers to Lord Shiva on Monday. People offer holy water, milk, curd, sesame seeds, honey, Bhasmi, Vibhuti, Chandan (Sandalwood), Itra (Attar), Vijaya (Bhaang), Bilwa Patra (Bel Leaves), Datura, fruits and sweets.
All the worshippers offer their prayers with their demands, wishes, aspirations, and requests. People try to please the Lord so that they can seek blessings and live a happy life. Some people also wish to get in the good books of Lord Shiva so that some of their prayers about anything they desire or want or need come true.
If you have been aware, you might have seen or heard a lot of people taking turns to go to Shiva temple on a Monday. Even people who live on the notion that daily worship is not their scene, also sometimes bow down to Shiva on a Monday.
But why Monday?
This is a very relevant question. Why is Monday out of all the seven days in a week regarded as Lord Shiva’s day?
To understand this, we need to know about Monday and why it is called so.
Monday, or Moon’s Day is as the name suggests, the day of the Moon. Monday is called Somwaar in Hindi. Som means Moon and Waar means Day. So the day of the Moon is called Monday or Somwaar.
Now, we all know that Lord Shiva is the God of the Moon. Why is it so?
Moon or Chandra was a very handsome God. Daksha had married his 27 daughters, the representations of 27 Nakshatras to Chandra. This is why one complete Lunar cycle lasts for 27 days.
Chandra was always inclined towards one daughter of Daksha, Rohini, and he ignored the others. This is why, in the Rohini Nakshatra, the Moon is very powerful and we experience at least one very high-rise tide in the oceans in Rohini Nakshatra.
The other daughters of Daksha got envious of their sister and they hated that they weren’t loved as much, so they complained about it. First, Chandra ignored them outrightly. Then they went to their father Daksha who first requested and then commanded Chandra to stop the injustice upon the 26 sisters or 26 Nakshatras.
Chandra still paid a deaf ear to all the requests and pleas and then, Daksha told Chandra that since he was in so much pride due to his looks and attractiveness, he would be losing it slowly and gradually and he would not gain it back.
This was a grave situation for Chandra and he finally understood that he was losing his charm and he was not getting what he wanted. So he had to beg for forgiveness to the 26 Nakshatras and Daksha.
As we all know, an ill-omen once cast, cannot be removed. So, Daksha said that he cannot do anything in this but if Chandra can ask the most intelligent God, he might know what to do. Chandra went to Brahma who said that only Shiva can find the best way to do this.
Shiva, who knew everything way in advance looked at Chandra and realized that he was about a crescent of his original glow and he was on the verge of losing the remaining one also forever. So Shiva took Chandra on his head and said that even though the entire curse could not be removed, since he lost his glow in 14 days, he would get it back in 14 days.
Although this glow will not be permanent and will oscillate between total glow to low glow for 14 days, the 15th day will be no glow and then from no glow to full glow in the next 14 days and full glow on the 15th day. This is why we have Poornima or Full-Moon and Amavsya, No-Moon once every month.
Thus, the love of Chandra will be distributed between the 27 Nakshatras equally and the curse can also be mitigated if not removed fully. Chandra was happy with the deal as he got back his charm, although not exactly as he wanted but then he knew that he had to repent for his errors.
So, Lord Shiva saved Chandra, or Som on a day which came to be known as Somwaar or the day of the Moon or Monday, and thus, worshipping Lord Shiva on a Monday is one of the best things to do to gain maximum blessings and reduce maximum ill-effects.
Some people even say that worshipping Lord Shiva on Monday means giving all your troubles to Lord Shiva so that if he cannot take it all away from you, he will make sure you at least get the best version of yourself even with all those flaws and make yourself comfortable with not making new errors.
Now you might think, isn’t this callous? Isn’t this insensitive? Isn’t it wrong to give your pains to God to make new mistakes? Because be honest. We are humans and we will make mistakes. Sometimes we know we are making one and sometimes we don’t and yet we don’t hesitate. So how many mistakes will we make to Shiva and keep addressing the fact that he will make everything okay?
Well, the real answer is still unknown. We don’t know. Maybe no one knows. Maybe someone knowledgeable one does but who knows where to find them?
But in reality, it is a general saying, especially in Kashi (Varanasi) that Bholenath (Lord Shiva) is very giving and Bhola (naive and innocent) so he is okay with everything and he is very forgiving, Bhula (Forgiving and forgetful) so he doesn’t take much load of small ignorable mistakes or even crimes if the intent was not bad.
Thus, if you worship Lord Shiva on a Monday, which is the day of Lord Shiva or Chandra, there is a high chance that if your intent is clear and your mind is clean, then your mistakes and errors are forgiven.
Now this was as per the Vedic texts. However, in some parts of the eccentric Shaiva clan, some people believe that on this very day, Monday, Somwaar, Lord Shiva gulped the Somras, the liquid of Som, or alcohol, when the ocean was being churned. This Som was intoxicating and it made Lord Shiva go into a different zone with a different energy and enthusiasm. Thus, Somwaar is majorly the day Lord Shiva downed all negatives and converted them into positive and hence, the beginning of a new week as per global calendars.
So, whatever it is, either the home to Chandra or a day of something new and fresh after all negativities, Somwaar or Monday is the day of Lord Shiva, who intends to bless everyone in the best possible manner so that we as people can carry on with our lives happily, ever-after.
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