Maha Shivratri

Long ago there was a poor hunter named Gurudruha who lived in the forest. One Shivratri night he went hunting but found no animals. Exhausted and hungry he climbed a Bilva tree near a Shiva Lingam to wait for animals to come to the water below. Through the night — without knowing it — he dropped Bilva leaves onto the Shiva Lingam below. He also shed tears of exhaustion that fell on the lingam. He fasted through the night without intending to. At dawn a deer came to drink water. As Gurudruha raised his bow the deer spoke — "Please do not kill me now. Let me go home and say goodbye to my family. I promise I will return." The hunter, moved by compassion, let it go. Three more deer came and each made the same promise. Each time the hunter let them go. By releasing them with compassion — and having unknowingly offered Bilva leaves, tears and a night-long fast to Lord Shiva — the hunter had performed the complete Shivratri puja without knowing it. Lord Shiva was so pleased that when the hunter died his messengers came to take him to Vaikuntha. The hunter who had never prayed consciously received moksha through the grace of Shivratri. Lord Shiva then declared — "Whoever fasts on Shivratri, stays awake through the night, and offers Bilva leaves to my lingam — even unknowingly — I grant them liberation from the cycle of birth and death." Om Namah Shivaya. Har Har Mahadev.