Who can praise this type of greatness of yours? With how Greatness by only saying `Neti', `Neti' (not this, not this) whileДescribing you. Even the Vedas also, having become surprised, confirm your O, Great God, so great is your majesty that it cannot be reached by speechДЄnd mind.

Pade tvarvaachiine patati na manaH kasya na vachaH || 2|| Sa kasya stotavyaH katividhaguNaH kasya vishhayaH (1)ДЄtiitaH pa.nthaanaM tava cha mahimaa vaaN^manasayoHДЄtadvyaavR^ittyaa yaM chakitamabhidhatte shrutirapi | Hence, (thinking like this ) I begin this prayer. If it is so, I should not be anД®xception. Their attempt deserve your special favour. Very limited intellect ( and I am one of them ) try to offer you a prayer, Is not able to fathom your merits ( ie, greatness ). Worthless! Because, even the utterance ( speech ) of Brahmaa and other gods The prayer to you, chanted by one who is ignorant about your greatness, is O, Lord Shiva, remover of all types of miseries, what wonder is there, if Mamaapyeshha stotre hara nirapavaadaH parikaraH || 1|| Stutirbrahmaadiinaamapi tadavasannaastvayi giraH |ДЄthaa.avaachyaH sarvaH svamatiparimaaNaavadhi gR^iNan.h MahimnaH paaraM te paramavidushho yadyasadR^ishii Let its recitation be beneficial to you as well! The recital of this stotra is very beneficial, and Shri Ramakrishna, one of the famous saints of the nineteenth century, went into samadhi just by reciting a few verses from this hymn.

The legend has some basis since the name of the author is mentioned in verse number 38 of the stotraM. Lord Shiva became pleased by this StotraM, and returned Pushhpadanta's divine powers. This very prayer became well known as the `Shiva Mahimna Stotra'. In this prayer he sung the greatness of the Lord. He then designed a prayer to Lord Shiva for forgiveness. The thief Pushhpadanta, not knowing this, walked on the Shiva Nirmaalya, and by that he incurred the wrath of Lord Shiva and lost the divine power of invisibility. Shiva Nirmaalya consists of the Bilva leaves, flowers, etcetera which have been used in worshipping Lord Shiva. He tried very hard to capture the thief, but in vain, because the Gandharvas have divine power to remain invisible.ДЇinally the king spread the Shiva Nirmaalya in his garden. One day a Gandharva (Singer in the court of Indra, the Lord of the Heaven) named Pushhpadanta being fascinated by the beautiful flowers, began to steal them, as a consequence of which king Chitraratha could not offer flowers to Lord Shiva. These flowers were used every day by the king in worshipping Lord Shiva. There were beautiful flowers in this garden. The legend about the circumstances leading to the composition of this Stotra is as follows.ДЄ king named Chitraratha had constructed a nice garden. The Shiva Mahimna Stotra is very popular among the devotees of Lord Shiva and is considered one of the best among all Stotras (or Stutis) offered to Lord Shiva.

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Shiv mahima stotrum