Does Lord Shiva really look like this? The great saint Premanand Maharaj Ji, who improves the lives of people through his discourses on the holy land of Vrindavan, shows the spiritual path to his devotees every day. There is such magic in his speech that the listener easily gets immersed in devotion. Recently, during a discourse, a devotee asked him a question, which probably arises in the mind of every Shiva devotee at some time or the other—“Maharaj Ji, you have seen Lord Shiva in person, please tell me, how does he look?”
The saint’s simple but profound answer
On this question, Premanand Maharaj smiled and said, “When one sees the son, one can also guess the form of the father. We are his children, surrendered, and servants. Lord Shiva is Karpoor Gauram—extremely bright, like the white aura of camphor. His matted hair is huge and divine, while ours is very small. The description of his form is beyond the limits of our words.”
Beauty beyond words
Maharaj further said that the gentle and wonderful form of Lord Shiva is so captivating that no words can describe His true image. He is not only matchless in his fierce form, but also His beauty is unmatched. “Karpoor Gauram Karunavataram”—that is, Lord Shiva is the ocean of compassion and the epitome of beauty. All the words in the dictionary pale in comparison to His image, because He is ‘Chidaananda’—which cannot be bound by the boundaries of nature.
An ocean of beauty
Premanand Maharaj said, “The mind automatically dances on seeing the beauty of Lord Shiva. He is blissful, captivating, and looking at Him is like drowning in the ocean of divine bliss.” He also added that if one wants to experience this experience himself, he should chant the name. It is only through chanting that one can get a glimpse of His divine form.
A call to immerse oneself in devotion
In this entire dialogue, Premanand Maharaj not only described the beauty of Lord Shiva, but also taught that the true darshan is not through the outer eyes, but through inner devotion and sadhana. It is impossible to put Shiva’s form into words, but anyone can see him in the heart by following the path of devotion. This voice emanating from this holy land of Vrindavan lights the lamp of love and faith towards Shiva in the heart of every devotee.