Agni Stambha
Every question on the site tagged Agni Stambha, each answered from a timestamped source rather than a summary written from memory.
The endless pillar of fire in which Lord Sadashiva first manifested to settle a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu over who was greater — the origin event behind the Jyotirlinga concept, and the setting for Kaal Bhairava's manifestation and the Panchakshari mantra's origin.
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Did Shiva first appear as the Agni Stambha on Mahashivratri?
In the Vidyeshvara Samhita of the Shiva MahaPurana, Sadashiva first appeared as an endless pillar of fire (Agni Stambha) to settle a supremacy dispute between Brahma and Vishnu — on Margashirsha Krishna Paksha Tritiya, under Ardra Nakshatra, not on Mahashivratri itself as many mistakenly claim.
How did Brahma and Vishnu search for the ends of the pillar, and what happened with the Ketaki flower?
Brahma went upward as a swan and Vishnu downward as a boar to find the pillar's ends first — Vishnu returned honestly admitting failure, but Brahma, unable to reach the top, persuaded a falling Ketaki flower to falsely testify that he had seen it, in exchange for boons.
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