Who Gave The Name Of Bholenath To Lord Shiva
There are many names for Lord Shiva, like Mahadev, Mahakal, Neelkanth, and many more. Lord Shiva is the Aadi-yogi. Lord Shiva is the only one who is very easy to please, but he is the only god who gets angry quickly. For him, intentions and feelings are the most essential factors, even though there are no fixed ways and rituals mentioned in our spiritual books. This story is also the most prominent example of his innocence and how he got the name “Bholenath.”
Story Behind the Name of Bholenath
There was a demon named Bruck, son of Demon Shakuni. Since his childhood, his father used to insult him about his foolishness. He got distraught and left his father’s home. When he was roaming here and there… He met Sage Narad, and after listening to his stories, Sage Narad suggested to him that since he is a devotee of Lord Shiva, he should worship Lord Shiva and try to please him and then ask him to help him. He agrees with Sage Narad, moves towards the Himalayas, and starts his austerity.
He did arduous penance to please Lord Shiva. When the time came, Lord Shiva appeared before him and said he would fulfill his one wish as a reward for his penance. At first, he didn’t believe in his eyes that Lord Shiva was standing in front of him. He asked for some time to think about what he should ask. Bruck kept changing his wish like at First, he asked for immortality, but lord shiva refused to give this because it’s against the rule of nature; the one born on this earth has to die one day. He asked him to ask for something else.
After thinking much, he said that he wants death power. He cannot be immortal, then he wished for death power. Whenever he puts his hand on anything, that thing or person will turn into ashes immediately. Lord Shiva asked him once again, are you sure Bruck that you want this as a boon if you wish to? You can take more time to think, but he refused and said he is confident that he wants this power because Bruck believes that he becomes the most powerful man on this earth, then no one will dare to insult him, and everyone will respect him.
He stuck to his death power wish; at last, Lord Shiva gave him death power, but he kept doubting the words due to his foolish nature. He asks Lord Shiva to stay here until he checks that lord shiva actually gave him this power or is making fools of him. Lord Shiva agreed and promised Bruck to stay here until Bruck was satisfied. At first, Bruck put his hand on a stone, and that stone converted into dust within a second. After the stone, he tested this power on an animal, and he also transformed it into ashes.
After stone and animal, he doubted what he would do if this power only worked on non-living things and animals. To satisfy his doubt, he put his hand on the head of a mortal, and he also converted into ashes. When mortals saw him and his power, everyone started running here and there to protect their lives. Due to his power, everyone called him “Bhasmasur” (A Demon who can burn anything), and when Bruck heard this name. He liked this name and announced that from today onwards he will be known as “Bhasmasur”. After testing his human power, he went to heaven to check his power on deities. All the deities went to Lord Vishnu’s place to ask for his help.
Bhasmasur tested his power on deities, and after seeing his fear among all the worlds, he became arrogant and started assuming that now no one in the world can harm him…no one can kill him…then he got thought that what if Lord shiva ditched him and took his power back…then Bruck thought what if he kills Lord Shiva and later on when lord shiva will not be here he can marry to goddess Parvati too… so he ran towards lord shiva…
After seeing all these things, Lord Vishnu decided to solve this problem…he decided to acquire the appearance of a wonderful lady, and in the meantime, he slowed down the speed of time..so that, Bhasmasur won’t be able to hurt Lord Shiva…Although he won’t be able to beat Lord Shiva. Since Lord Shiva is also bounded by the rules of nature…He can’t take his power back. Neither he can defuse his influence on him, nor he can fight with him being a god…So Lord Vishnu decided to intervene. He created his female avatar “Mohini”. She Looks Magnificent, and she can hypnotize anyone with the help of her beauty.
Mohini went to meet Bhasmasur. When he saw Mohini, her beauty and grace amazed him. Bhasmasur got distracted and followed her. Bhasmasur approached with a marriage proposal. But Mohini said she will only marry that man who can win against her in dance. Bhasmasur accepted her challenge, and the dance battle started. She slowly started to hypnotize him in dance…Bhasmasur unconsciously started to follow her dance moves..he was doing the same step as her. Mohini made a pose and put her hand on her head, and Bhasmasur was also going to put his hand on his head, but at the last moment, he got remembered about the power, so he removed his hand. Mohini tried it two to three times, but every time she failed…She then increased her energy and again posed, and this time she succeeded. Bhasmasur put his hand on his head and burnt himself.
Lord Vishnu came into his actual looks and went to meet Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu met Lord Shiva, passed a smile to him, and said After this incident, the whole world will know by the name of “Bholenath” too. Bhole means innocence, and “Nath” means Lord. The Lord of Innocence easily trusts his followers and becomes easy on his followers.
That’s how Lord shiva got another name of “Bholenath”. Although there are so many names of Lord Shiva and if you want, you can read the 108 names of Lord Shiva here.
