Naivedya and the Greatness of Bilva

The rishis said

We have earlier heard it said that Shiva's food offering should not be taken away. Sage, please tell us the settled view on this and also the greatness of bilva.

Suta replied

Sages, all of you listen attentively now; I will gladly tell you everything. Since you follow Shiva's vows you are blessed. Shiva's food offering may be eaten by Shiva's devotee, who is clean and pure, firm in his decision about vows and free of unacceptable thoughts. Even seeing Shiva's food offering sends sins far away. Eating it brings crores of merits. A thousand sacrifices are of no avail, hundreds of millions of sacrifices are useless; eating Shiva's food offering gives sayujya with Shiva. If Shiva's food offering is spread in a house, everything in that house becomes pure and a source of purification for others. When Shiva's food offering is presented, it should be gladly received on one's head. After remembering Shiva it should be carefully eaten. When it is offered, if a man accepts something else in its place, or eats it later, he is stained with sin. A person who has no wish to eat Shiva's food offering becomes the worst of sinners and certainly goes to hell. When one offers it to Shiva in one's heart, or to an image of moonstone, silver or gold, and then eats it, after initiation as Shiva's devotee, one can cross over. For one initiated as Shiva's devotee it has the mark of great grace. Eating the offering of all lingams is auspicious, and so it is for men initiated into worshipping others but devoted to Shiva in their selves. Hear cheerfully the settled view on eating Shiva's offering. Brahmanas, it is said that eating Shiva's offering when it has been given to a shalagrama lingam, a Rasa lingam, a lingam of rock, silver or gold, a lingam set up by gods and siddhas, a lingam in Kashmira, a lingam of crystal or jewels, or any of the Jyotirlingas equals completing a chandrayana vow. It is extraordinary that even the slayer of a brahmana is cleansed as soon as he eats it, and all sins are destroyed. People cannot eat it when Chanda has a right to it, but when Chanda has no right to it, they may eat it devoutly. Chanda has no right to Bana lingams, iron lingams, self-born lingams and other extremely radiant images. If, following the norms, one sips three times the water used for bathing the lingam, the three kinds of sins are quickly destroyed. The leaves, flowers, fruits and water offered as part of Shiva's offering must not be accepted. Everything that has touched a shalagrama lingam is pure. Lords among sages, so anything placed on top of the lingam must not be accepted. What has not touched the lingam but lies outside is known to be extremely pure. That has been settled as the offering that may be taken.

Hear attentively and lovingly about the greatness of bilva. Bilva is Mahadeva's form and is praised even by the gods. Its greatness cannot be grasped; one can know only a little of it. All the famous and sacred holy places in the worlds are present at the root of a bilva tree. The root of a bilva tree has the form of Mahadeva's undecaying lingam. Anyone who worships it, pure in self, certainly reaches Shiva. A person who sprinkles water on his head at the root of a bilva tree has bathed, as it were, in all the holy places on earth, and is purified. When Mahadeva sees the excellent region around the root of a bilva tree full of water, he gains matchless delight. A man who worships the root of a bilva tree with fragrances, flowers and other things reaches Shiva's world, and his happiness and offspring grow. A person who lovingly makes a garland of lamps at the root of a bilva tree becomes full of true knowledge and merges into Mahesha. A person who gathers sprouts and branches from a bilva tree with his hand and then worships the bilva tree is freed from sins. A person who faithfully feeds Shiva's devotee once at the root of a bilva tree has his merit become a crore times what it usually is. A person who gives Shiva's devotee food cooked in milk and ghee at the root of a bilva tree is never born poor. I have told you the divisions and sub-divisions of worshipping Shiva's lingam. Brahmanas, depending on whether one follows pravritti or nivritti, there are two kinds of difference. For those who follow pravritti, all the worship is in the form of puja done on the pedestal; at the end of the bathing, the food offering of cooked shali rice is made; at the end of the worship the lingam is kept in a pure casket in a separate part of the house. A person who follows nivritti does the worship in the palm of his hand and offers his own food as the offering. For those who follow nivritti the supreme subtle lingam is recommended. He worships the vibhuti and also offers the vibhuti. Having done the worship, he always holds the lingam on his head.