Top 5 Reasons Why Lord Shiva Is Referred to as Bholenath

Lord Shiva is one of the prevalent worshipped Gods of Hindus. He is considered the Supreme God among the 'Trimurti' who creates, protects and destroys the universe. He is known as 'MahaDev' and 'BholeNath'. Shiva is portrayed as a charming personality with a peaceful face smeared with ash & sitting on tiger skin. He also holds a Trishul in one hand, and a Dumroo in the other with a snake rolled around its neck. No, as Lord Shiva's devotees must be curious as to why he is revered as Bholenath. So, here we are with a well researched top 5 reasons on why Lord Shiva is referred to as Bholenath is as under :

In the Hindi language, 'Bhole' means a person who can be pleased easily, and 'Nath' means King. Though very powerful and Supreme, Lord Shiva was very simple and stayed in the Himalayas, wore animal skin, and applied ash on his forehead. He is very innocent and can forgive his believers, no matter how grave their sins were. He also possessed childish behaviour where he does not have any ego, arrogance or malice towards others. It is why it is often said that Lord Shiva can be pleased and impressed very easily. So, if you've got any important objective in life, simply start praying in front of the shiva statue daily & experience the change in life.

Lord Shiva blessed his followers without taking care of the consequences that may occur. His innocence was well known to all. Hence, anyone who wanted something used to pray to Lord Shiva. One such story is where a Demon, named BhasmaSura, worshipped Lord Shiva for many years, and on being impressed by the same, Lord Shiva appeared before him and blessed him for any boon in reward of his devoted pooja. At this, BhasmaSura asked for an unexpected wish that he may be blessed with the power that whatever he touches shall be turned to ashes. Bolenath immediately blessed him with this power. On attaining the power, BhasmaSura told Lord Shiva that first of all, he wanted to test this power on him only. Now, since Lord Shiva cannot refuse his devotee, he called Lord Vishnu for help. To test Bhasmasura, Lord Vishnu appeared as a beautiful woman, 'Mohini', danced for the demon, and tricked him into touching his head and being turned to ash. Hence, Shiva is described as Bholenath, where he was pleased by his devotees and rewarded them with whatever they wanted, even without caring for the same consequences. So, if you have any unfulfilled wishes in life, don't wait to worship the Shiva idol.

Lord Shiva is also called Bholenath for his guileless quality. He was so simple that even the worldly or egoist demands of his devotees were also granted. He is a God who symbolizes divine compassion. Even being so powerful, he always remained in eternal meditation. He was a guru to all yogis and other rishis. He was so innocent that he had granted all his wealth to Goddess Parvati and always fulfilled her wishes. Once, when his son, on the orders of mother Parvati, did not allow Shiva to enter the house, he removed his head in anger. But on the request of Parvati Ji, he brought life to the dead son by placing the head of an elephant on it and further blessed him that he shall be the foremost God during any pooja. Such was the innocence of Lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva is also called Bholenath as he did many acts for the welfare of the human being and other Gods, without considering its consequences. As per Hindu mythology, during the Sagar Manthan, the poison from the sea was immediately drunk by Lord Shiva so that it may not be reachable to demons. Another story that prevails is that Bhageeratha once conducted a very hard Tapasya for pleasing Lord Brahma, who, on being happy, blessed him and asked to be rewarded by any wish. At this, Bhageeratha wished to bring down the largest river, Ganga, to earth so that he performs a ceremony for his ancestors. Since the bringing down of river Ganga on earth could lead to destruction, hence on the advice of Lord Brahma and the request of Bhageeratha, Lord Shiva was worshipped for the same. Then, on her father's orders, Ganga cascaded across and down from Heaven and was launched on the earth in the hairs of Lord Shiva. Ganga's high volume of water was crushed, and since then, it is gently flowing on earth.

Lord Shiva is known to be a very kind-hearted and innocent person who can easily be pleased, and he grants the boons to his devotees, without even thinking what shall be done by his followers with the same on a later stage. He has a childlike heart and even gets pleased with just a Kalash of water and bael leaves. Just reciting "Om Namah Shivaya" daily & meditating continuously in front of a shiva murti can please him.