Selected Stories from Shiva Purana

Book Title: Selected Stories from Shiva Purana
Author: Dr. A.V.Subramanyan
Format: Kindle

About the book
For the modern reader with a stressed lifestyle and little time to go through a voluminous text such as the Shiva Purana, this book picks out some of the best stories in the Shiva Purana to give a crisp and concise overview of the Shiva Purana to the reader in a short time. This, in turn, can be narrated to our children and grandchildren, who remain unaware of our great texts. This uninterrupted transmission of the knowledge contained in the Puranas to the future generations was the intention of the holy sages who compiled and consolidated the Puranas for our sake. It is now our turn to do the same for the generations to come.

About the author
Dr.A.V.Subrahmanyan, a popular Neurologist of South India known fondly among his patients as Dr AVS, had a distinguished academic career culminating in a Neurology Specialisation from the prestigious PGIMER ( Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research), Chandigarh. His educational journey saw him move all over India, starting from the south of India to the west and finally the northern part of India. He has been inactive in a Neurology practice for more than twenty-five years. Apart from being a popular Neurologist, he is also a sought after speaker in various colleges, societies and clubs for his talks on Public health, Mental health and Mind-body medicine. He has a passion for writing Fiction and Religion genres. The themes which fascinate him are Deep thinking, Emotions, Empathy, Ethics, Symbolism and Knowledge. His debut book ‘Selected stories from Shiva Purana’ is on sale now. Three more books in Contemporary fiction, nonfiction and Travelogue genres are in the pipeline.

My Thoughts:
As the title suggests, this book, named – ‘Selected Stories from Shiva Maha Purana ‘by Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan, is dedicated to a deity named Bhairava. Bhairava is the Shaivite deity worshipped by Hindus. According to spiritual discourses, Bhairava is a fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva and is highly revered across the Indian subcontinent. He is depicted aggressively with angry eyes shaped like lotus blossoms, blazing hair, tiger’s teeth, a snake coiled around his neck or crown, and an eerie garland of human skulls. Often terrifying, Bhairava carries a trident, a drum and the severed fifth head of Brahma. The deity is blue-throated from swallowing poison to save the world. Hence, he is considered to be the vanquisher of death. His third eye represents eternal supreme wisdom.

In this book, as the title suggests, some of the best stories from the mighty Shiva Purana are picked up, abridged with certainty and specific virtues for today’s generation of readers. The stories can be read and understood by young readers and children.

For ages, every Indian household that practices Hinduism are, in some way or the other, taught and recited these interesting tales. There are days when these stories are recited in a public meeting during Maha Shiva Ratri. Apart from this, there have been many movies and Tv series on Shiva Purana. Thus, in a way, reading this concise and crisp book brings back memories also! But, this book can be used to impart the importance and strength of Bhairava and his Leela to this generation.

In Shaivism, the theory where Lord Shiva is worshipped is Bhairava. The book has a collection of some of the best stories from the Holy Shiva Purana. The book aims to provide the uninterrupted transmission of the knowledge contained in the Puranas to future generations. The book has 29 stories in total. The story of Karthikeya, Bhasma and Sins of Pandavas are my favourite stories.

The book is indeed a sincere and excellent effort by Author Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan. A simple language citing the source texts makes the book readable with more interest. The narration is engaging, and nowhere does the book bores the reader. His attempt to introduce this generation to the Shiva Purana, re-interpreting the tales through the illustrations and graceful storytelling, is exciting!