Saligrama

Saligrama

Saligramas are mostly black coloured stones with marks, and are the fossilized remains of now extinct sea dwelling ammonites.

Hence they are found in river beds and other regions that were once underwater, the most popular being the Himalayas and Nepal.

Historically, the use of Saligrama Shilas in worship can be traced to the time of Adi Shankara through the latter's works. Specifically, his commentary to the verse 1.6.1 in Taittiriya Upanishad and his commentary to the verse 1.3.14 of the Brahma Sutras suggest that the use of Saligrama in the worship of Vishnu has been a well-known Hindu practice.

A good number of false shaligrams too remain in circulation. Since they were underwater, the belief that these creatures only ate tulsi leaves is a myth.

The largest and heaviest Shaligrama can be seen at the Jagannath Temple, dedicated to Vishnu, at Puri in Orissa.

The main ISKCON temple in Scotland, called 'Karuna Bhavan' is famous for housing the largest number of Shaligram Shilas outside of India.

Configurations

A Saligrama – which has the marks of a shankha, Chakra, gadha and padma arranged in a particular pattern with the change in the order of the four symbols, the name of the Saligrama stone is also change.

Twenty four patterns have been identified and are named accordinly

The various versions of the Saligrama Shilas (the patterns of the four symbols are)

1.      Shanka, chakra, gadha and padma – Keshava

2.      Padma, gadha, chakra, shanka – Narayana

3.      Chakra, shanka, padma and gadha – Madhava

4.      Gadha, padma, shanka and chakra – Govinda

5.      Padma, shanka, chakra and gadha – Vishnu

6.      Shanka, padma, gadha, chakra – Madusudhana

7.      gadha, chakra, shanka and padma – Trivikrama

8.      Chakra, gadha, padma, shanka – Vamana

9.      Chakra, padma, shanka, gadha – Shridhara

10.  Padma, gadha, shanka, charka – Hrishikesh

11.  Padma, chakra, gadha, shanka – Padmanabha

12.  Shanka, chakra, gadha, padma – Damodara

13.  Chakra, shanka, gadha, padma – Sankarshana

14.  Shanka, chakra, padma, gadha – Pradyumna

15.  gadha, shanka, padma, charka – Aniruddha

16.  Padma, shanka, gadha, chakra – Purushottama

17.  Gadha, shanka, chakra, padma – Adhokshaja

18.  Padma, gadha, shanka, chakra – Narasimha

19.  Padma, chakra, shanka, gadha – Achyuta

20.  Shanka, chakra, padma, gadha – Janardana

21.  Gadha, padma, shanka, chakra – Upendra

22.  Chakra, padma, gadha and shanka – Hari

23.  Gadha, padma, chakra and shanka – Krishna

24.  Shanka, chakra, padma, gadha – Vasudeva

Mythological Story of Saligrama:

It was due to a curse that Lord Vishnu turned into a stone and hence Lord Vishnu is often worshipped in many places in the form of a black stone. A curse so powerful that even the most powerful God, one among the trinity could not do anything but accept it. Lord Vishnu received this curse from one of His most loyal devotee, Vrinda. (original name of Tulasi, Krishan’ s Vrindavana – to be recalled - )

The mythological tale of the Saligrama stone is interesting. It is a story of arrogance, devotion, love and betrayal. The God tricked His most loyal devotee and earned a curse for Himself in return.

Jalandhar: A Part Of Shiva

There was once a demon king named Jalandhar. He was born out of the flames which emanated from Lord Shiva's third eye. He was married to the demon princess named Vrinda. Vrinda loved Jalandhar very dearly and was a devoted wife. Her devotion, loyalty and chastity made Jalandhar unbeatable.

Jalandhar was against the Gods and chased them out of the heaven. He established his own kingdom. The Gods went praying to Lord Vishnu and Shiva for help. Shiva knew that He could never defeat Jalandhar because he was a part of Shiva Himself. Yet, Lord Shiva went on to fight with Jalandhar. The battle continued for years but Lord Shiva could not defeat Jalandhar because of the protection which was provided by Vrinda's chastity and devotion for her husband.

Vrinda: The Greatest Devotee Of Vishnu

In spite of being the demon princess and wife of the demon king, Vrinda worshiped Lord Vishnu. She was a dedicated and staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu and prayed to Him with all her faith.

Vishnu's Betrayal

When the Gods saw that even Lord Shiva could not defeat Jalandhar, they turned to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu could not do anything other than playing a trick to damaging Vrinda's chastity. He disguised Himself as Jalandhar and stood in front of Vrinda. Vrinda could not recognise Lord Vishnu and thought Jalandhar had returned. She ran into his arms and soon realised that it was not Jalandhar. Her chastity was maligned and the protection of Jalandhar was destroyed. As a result Lord Shiva killed Jalandhar in no time.

Vrinda's Curse

Realizing her mistake, Vrinda asked Lord Vishnu to show His real form. She was shattered to see that she was tricked by her own Lord. Seeing Lord Vishnu disguising as Jalandhar and tricking her to break her chastity, Vrinda cursed Lord Vishnu. She gave the curse that Lord Vishnu would turn into a stone. Lord Vishnu accepted the curse and He turned into the Saligrama stone. Vrinda was also heart broken and decided to end her life.

Tulsi's Boon

Lord Vishnu accepted the curse as He felt guilty of betraying His greatest devotee. So, He gave Vrinda a boon that from her ashes the plant of Tulsi would be born and the plant would get married to the Saligrama stone.

This way her chastity would not be maligned and she would stay with Lord Vishnu forever. Vishnu also said that he would never accept food without Tulsi and therefore Vishnu's prasadam is always offered with a leaf of Tulsi in it.

Saligrama’s Marriage With Tulsi