Lord Arunachala

Traditional stories tell us that there was a long-standing dispute between Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma about who was superior. They sought the help of Lord Shiva to judge.

To determine who was superior, Lord Shiva grew into a long flaming light stretching between earth and heaven, and asked them to find the root and crown of the light.

Brahma, agreeing to reach the crown, took the form of a swan and flew upward, but could not reach the crown. In his upward flight, he caught hold of a flower of Pandavas falling from Shiva’s crown and requested the flower to bear a false witness that he collected it from Shiva’s crown.

The Hindu god Shiva, knowing of Brahma’s pride, cursed him to never be worshiped in temples and banished the Pandavas flower from his adornment. The god Vishnu took the form of a pig and dug down to reach Shiva’s foot. Shiva was pleased with Vishnu’s humility and accepted him into his heart.

Philosophy:

To be blessed with true knowledge, one must completely destroy their ego.