Can anyone recommend some good books on Lord Shiva? I'm interested in learning more, but I'm not sure were to start.
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1Book recommendation are on-topic questions, IMO. Other SE sites follow suit. Downvoters please explain the reason.– Vineet MenonCommented Aug 1, 2014 at 9:43
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4You can Start with Shiva Mahapuran and Linga Purana.– YogiCommented Aug 1, 2014 at 12:50
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3 Answers
Since you want to learn more about Shiva, there are many places you can start. I don't know your level of background, but if you know nothing at all you may want to start by reading the comic book series Amar Chitra Katha, which tells lots of stories of Shiva. Here are a few relevant Amar Chitra Katha comics, in no particular order:
Tales of Shiva - stories of how Shiva has helped various devotees of his
Sati and Shiva - the story of Shiva's first wife and her tragic death
Shiva Parvati - the story of how Shiva remarried the next birth of Sati
Kartikeyya - the story of Shiva's six-headed son, born to defeat a powerful demon
Ganesha - the story of Parvati's son and how he got an elephant head
It looks like you can buy all five comics here. Or if you prefer to buy them in ebook form, check out the Amar Chitra Katha app. I can also tell you more Shiva-related Amar Chitra Kathas if you're interested.
If you don't like reading comic books, you can read the excellent book "Shiva - An Introduction" by Devdutt Pattanaik. It contains lots of information and stories about Shiva, both famous and obscure. It's very easy to read and chock-full of famous artwork and statues featuring Shiva. And it's written by the author of "Jaya", the popular illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata. Note that Pattanaik likes to take some artistic license with the stories (and so does Amar Chitra Katha to some extent), but for the most part it's accurate and should give you a good idea of who Shiva is and what he's done.
And then on the other extreme, if you already know the stories of Shiva and you're seeking even more information and details, then you can of course read Hindu scripture itself, specifically the Shiva Purana, a four-volume work you can get here. (The volumes are available online as well, but it's hard to access them so I may write a question and answer about them later.) There are also some stories of Shiva in the Bala Kanda of the Ramayana. But in any case I doubt you're looking for Hindu scriptures.
answered Aug 1, 2014 at 15:25
My first suggestion would be.
Read story of the devotee of shiva called 'nayanar'
http://www.dlshq.org/download/nayanar.htm
and Second suggestion is to
Purchase Shiva Purana it is easily available in any local spiritual book shop. But first few chapter is about karm kand so I will suggest to read it from middle from where you get interest into it.
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Learning about the Nayanars wouldn't be a good suggestion for someone who doesn't know much about Shiva. And I think the OP is just trying to learn some basics, so the four-volume long Shiva Purana is probably too much detail. Commented Aug 2, 2014 at 2:00
7 Secrets Of Shiva is the book you are searching for.
Smeared with ash, draped in animal hide, he sits atop the snow-capped mountain, skull in hand, withdrawn, with dogs for company, destroying the world with his indifference. He is God who the Goddess shall awaken. His name is Shiva. Locked in his stories, symbols and rituals are the secrets of our ancestors. This book attempts to unlock seven.
It is written by Devdutt Pattanik.
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1When I saw this much downvotes I thought the culprit was '7 Secrets Of Shiva'. When read the comments only, I realized that 'Immortals of Meluha' is the reason for downvotes. Actually the edit misleads people unless they prefer removing those votes.– user11Commented Aug 1, 2014 at 18:29