Skanda Purana

“From Brahma, creation happens. From Vishnu, sustenance, maintenance happens. 

Unfortunately, creation and maintenance is such attention drawing colourful action, they delude themself that they both are the ultimate. 

The next level delusion starts: between them who is great. The layers of delusion. The knowledge and wealth: knowledge is required for creation and wealth is required for maintenance. They both start feeling both are ultimate. The second level delusion is they both start fighting between each other who is more ultimate, who is more powerful. Naturally, Paramaśiva has to intervene to make them understand, liberate them from the delusion. Neither creation nor sustenance is ultimate. Ultimate is liberation. He liberates both of them from the delusions. He pulls both of them out of delusion and liberates them.

Paramaśiva appears as Jyotirlinga, Lingodbhava in Arunachala. The place where this happened is Arunachala.  He tells Brahma and Vishnu, whoever finds His head or feet will be the winner, will be declared as supreme. Brahma immediately become swan and flies towards the head.

Actually, understand, this a very significant story. Brahma takes the form of swan. Swan always lives in lotus. He should have gone to find the lotus feet.

Vishnu takes the form of varaha, pig and that always lives in the forest. He should have gone to find the jata which is forest. But delusion diverts them absolutely even in their choice. They are so deluded, the swan goes to the forest and pig goes to the lotus.

Both of them could not find. Vishnu goes for yugas digging Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Patala. Even then reached only calf muscle. To mark the place where he reached, he puts his neck bell. That is why in all Shiva deity, you will see calf muscle there will be one bell. In the right leg calf muscle, the bell was put by Vishnu. That is the level he travelled till his whole lifetime.

Brahma takes the form of swan and flies, flies, flies, flies almost his age is over. Then, he finds that he could not find. He sees a flower falling.

He asked, “From where are you falling?”

The flower says, “I am falling from the ears of Paramaśiva.”

“Oh God! From ears you are coming down then I have not even reached the ears. What about reaching the head?”

Brahma asked, “How long are you coming down?”

“Oh, I am falling for four Brahmas age.”

 Four Brahmas age. Chatur Brahma ayush paryantam. 

Then, Brahma decides, “Okay. What can I do?”

But, then, always this knowledge has its own ego. It cannot accept defeat.

Brahma asked that flower, “Can you just support me that I brought you from the head of Paramaśiva, and I’ll give you a lot of boons.” The flower got little tempted.

Then okay, Brahma goes and tells lies to Paramaśiva that, “I saw Your head and this is the witness.”

Of course Paramaśiva knows, the moment He stares at Brahma and that flower, both shiver and wither away. All Brahma’s feathers fall.

The witness said, “No, no, no, no, no, he did not pick me up. I was falling and he caught me and brought me.”

Brahma gets the curse he will never be worshiped anymore on planet earth in the individual temple. That flower (Thazhampoo) gets cursed, it will never be used for Shiva Puja.

Then, Brahma does tapas. After the tapas, he asks for forgiveness and begs Paramaśiva. Paramaśiva always that eternal compassion. He says, “Alright, you will have a place in all My temples in north facing, where the Abhishek Tirtha is.”

The sacred bathing water of Paramaśiva comes in that gomukham, he is there in that water. He can create the Universe. That is the water, Mantra Tirtha, he uses for creation. He is given a permanent place and the Thazhampoo was given a shapa vimochana (liberation from the curse), that once a year on Shivaratri Day, for puja, Thazhampoo will be accepted. Only for that puja, Shiva Puja it will be used, not otherwise. No other time. Even now in Tiruvannamalai Temple, only on Shivaratri Day, the Lingodbhava is worshiped with that Thazhampoo. Otherwise, it is never used for Shiva Puja.

It has a lot of significance. You need to understand the deeper layer and meaning:

knowledge and wealth cannot show you the ultimate and it is not ultimate. Enlightenment alone is ultimate.”