Avatars of Lord Shiva

Book excerpt: Many of us know about the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu famously known as Dasavataram. Most of us wonder does Lord Shiva also have Avatars. If so, how many and what are they? Before answering this, let us first understand the meaning of Avatar.Avatar is a sanskrit word for Incarnation or Manifestation. They are the direct descendents of God himself possessing most of his qualities and powers. Few Avatars do not take birth from mother's womb but are direct manifestations based on the needs like Matsya, Kurma, Varaha and Narasimha Avatars from Dasavataram. Whereas few avatars take birth through their mother's womb again based on the need like Vamana, Parashurama, Rama and Krishna Avatars. No matter how various Avatars came into existence they possess the divine qualities of Supreme Soul. It is believed that the Avatars that are direct manifestations have superior powers compared to the Avatars that were manifested a level next to direct manifestation as they were born to Humans who are next to Supreme soul.It is true that Lord Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha also have Avatars like Lord Vishnu. They take these Avatars to uphold Dharma by removing evil forces on Earth as mentioned in Bhagavad Gita. As centuries passed these truths were lost in time. This book is just a small effort to bring back the glory and the reason behind the Avatars of Lord Shiva. Coming to the number of Avatars of Lord Shiva, they vary among various Hindu scriptures like Shivapuranam, Skandapuranam, Mahabharatam, etc. The count varies from 64, 24, 19, etc. Few scriptures also include the famous 11 Rudra Avatars of Lord Shiva. Similarly, if we trace back various Hindu scriptures, the Avatars of Lord Vishnu is not confined to number ten. The number of Vishnu Avatars also vary from 10, 25, 24, etc. However, as time passed by only the ten Avatars became famous among various Avatars of Lord Vishnu which we today know them as Dasavataram.This book mainly concentrates on the famous ten Avatras of Lord Shiva. Anyone who reads the stories related to Avatars of Lord Shiva on Mondays or Shivaratri or Kathika Pournami (Full moon day during Karthika masam) or on any other auspicious day would yield enormous grace of Lord Shiva.