“Ye Gokaran kaun hote hain?” (Who are these Gokarans?), quizzically asked  the MLA declared elected by the young Magistrate in the Election to the Uttar Pradesh, Legislative Assembly, long ago.  The same question flashed across my mind when I met Dr Nitin Gokaran, an ex-IAS officer of UP cadre, though I knew  the  legend of Gokaran. According to Srimad Bhagwad Purana, Gokaran and Dhundukari were brothers, but diametrically opposite by nature.  Due to his evil nature and constant menacing misdeeds, Dhundukari was burnt to death by the people, tied to his sleeping cot. He became a ghost and it’s only after the ghost heard the Bhagwat Katha for seven days or the Saptah, organised by his enlightened brother Gokaran,  Dhundukari was liberated.  

I told Dr Nitin that one rarely hears the surname Gokaran, at least in the northern India. Dr Nitin then related his own experience that the question, asked to him by the MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) and many other eminences during his distinguished service career, recoiled within and impelled him  to write about Gokarans. A long and arduous scholarly research, culminated in a fine treatise- Gokaran Across India.

The stupendous task entailed extensive research, tenacity of purpose and scholarly rigor to search for scattered literature, edicts, accounts of travelers and archeological evidence through the ancient historical, cultural, spiritual, and religious linkages that span over several millennia. Literally, “go” means cow and “Karan” means ear.  Therefore, many people interpret  it to mean “a person who is able to hear the call of the cattle.  The ability to hear the cattle, if it existed, would indeed be of another subtle nature, as many in administration consider the ability to listen to fellow human beings and their problems to be gifted.  

Though Gokaran is the ancestral village of the author in coastal Karnataka near the port of Karvar,  yet the word Gokaran, claims the author, recurs in 39 texts in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Marathi, Kannada, Nepali, and in the history of ancient India, Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism, Ayurvedic texts, etc.  Gokaran is atmalingam, that is, the presence  or the soul of Lord Shiva in the lingam. It is considered the self-manifested linga of Shiva, which Ravana received from Lord Shiva after severe austerities and penance, which he wanted to take to Lanka from Mount Kailash.

In the Sanathana Dharma, Lord Shiva is worshipped as ‘the destroyer’ and ‘the transformer’. In the trinity of Brahma-the Creator and Vishnu-the Preserver, Shiva is the Destroyer. Shiva symbolises meditation, asceticism, cosmic dance (Nataraja), destroyer of evil and regeneration. According to legend, Lord Shiva appeared as an infinite pillar of light and the places where the Divine Light manifested are called the Jyotirlingas, the holy shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva.  There  are 12 Jyotirlingas across India.  

“Shiva” finds  mention in ancient Sanskrit text of Rigveda as Rudra, Yajurveda-which contains the Rudram hymn, many Upanishads, Mahabharata, Valmiki Ramayana, Srimad Bhagwat, Skanda Purana, Shiv Purana, Linga Purana, Vayu Purana, Kurma Purana, Shaiva Agamas and Tantras, Kashmir Shaivism texts, classical Sanskrit hymns or strotam in praise of Shiva.

Unlike Lord Vishnu- the Creator of the Universe, Shiva is half clad, yet magnificent and athletic.  A great ascetic and cosmic dancer or Nataraja, he wears a garland of skulls and serpents and is surrounded and followed by ghosts and demons and devoted attendants (Ganas).  He is death and time- mahakaal, and slayer of demons too.  He is most benevolent (avdhar daani), easy to please (aashutosh) and exceedingly generous, and therefore worshipped by the devout across Bharat by the gods, the demons and the humans.  Even Rama worshipped him as Rameswaram - Lord of Rama, before launching attack on Lanka.  He is worshipped in the form of linga, symbolizing the eternal process of creation and regeneration. Sivalingam is well known throughout India, a signifier that is understood across barriers of caste or language. Archaeologist Sir John Marshall, in his magisterial work on Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Civilization refers to a male god as a prototype of  Shiva or Pashupati.  The word lingam does not occur in the Rig Veda. Of course, in subsequent texts of great antiquity, Lord Shiva and Lingam are described, praised and  worshipped.  The Lingam, according to Skanda Purana, represents both Shiva and Shakti- “purush” and “prakriti.”  One cannot exist without the other nor regenerate. 

Dr Nitin traces the origin of “Gokaran” to Shiva Purana and various other sources with enormous scholarly perseverance. As per legend, Ravana performed severe austerities and penance to please

Lord Shiva at Rakshas Tal or Lake at the base of Mount Kailash, with a daily offering of his one head in order to take atmalingam to Lanka for darshan by his mother who could not travel to Mount Kailash.  It is here that he composed and recited the famous Shiva Tandava Strotam.  On the tenth day, the extremely pleased Lord Shiva fulfilled the desire of Ravana and gave him the boon of supernatural power to take the atmalingam with him from Kailash to Lanka but with a rider that it would stay permanently wherever the atmalingam touches land. Obviously, the gods were disturbed as bestowing such a power on Ravana could bring  greater menace to the world.

Knowing that Ravana performed sandhyavandanam or evening worship, as Ravana neared Gokaran,  Lord Vishnu with his Sudarshan Chakra/ divine discus covered the rays of the Sun and created the illusion of Sun set. Ravana spotted a Brahmin boy and asked him to hold the atmalingam if he was able to bear the weight till he performed the evening Pooja and in case, he was unable to bear the weight any longer, he should call out Ravana thrice but not to keep the atmalingam on the ground. The boy was Ganesha who after some time called Ravana thrice and thereafter kept the atmalingam on the ground being, ostensibly, unable to bear the weight any longer and walked away.  

After completing the Pooja, the Sun was shining and Ravana realized that he had been tricked into. In fury, he chased the  boy and hit him on the forehead. The statue of Ganesh at Mahaganapati Temple still bears the blow of Ravana. Then, Ravana tried with his full might to lift the atmalingam but the brute force removed four bits of the Shivalingan, which he  threw  around, leading to formation of five holy places of Gokaran. The Mahabaleswar Shivalingam is shaped like cow’s ear, hence the name Gokaran.

The author says, according to Sahyadri Khand of the Skanda Purana, a mere darshan or glimpse of Lord Shiva at Gokaran gives moksha or salvation, and a Pooja performed here bestows fruits equivalent to Ashwamedha Yagya.  The author, through his meticulous and painstaking research, ransacking ancient texts, rock edicts, writings of linguists and accounts of renowned travelers, showcases the spiritual power and significance of Gokaran.  The Gokaran Purana, containing 118 chapters and said to be the part of Skanda Purana, underlines the spiritual, religious and social importance of the Gokaran, considered across ages as a Siddha Kshetra, a Mukti kshetra. 

The author refers to Mahabharata which mentions Gokaran as a teerthasthan of Lord Shiva. According to Gokaran Purana, Gokaran is as sacred as Kashi. The author refers to the writings of historians of ancient India, Buddhist texts,  Ptolemy’s map ( AD100-179 ), Periplus of Greece ( AD 247), accounts of Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang (AD 639-640),  Adi Shankaracharya (AD 700), and Ibn Batuta (AD 1342), Venetian merchant Niccolo de Conti (AD 1420-1440), Vasco da Gama (AD1498),  Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Ahilyabai Holkar and many others.  Adi Shankaracharya visited Gokaran twice and both times, he is said to have prayed at the Mahabaleswar Temple and worshipped the Ardhanarishwara form of Lord Shiva and Shakti here.  

Apart from Mahabaleswar Gokaran temple, Dr Nitin, tells the story of other Gokarans across Bharatvarsha. What is most singularly striking about the book is that apart from tracing the spatial locations of the Gokarans, the author,  through meticulous research and industry, has written the cultural history of India across the millennia, the internecine bloody wars that were fought and  the death and destruction that ensued and  the emergence of new dynasties or rulers particularly south of the Vindhyas.

Many Delhi Sultans regarded the lingam as sexual and anthropomorphic and took pride in destroying them. Mahmud of Ghazni not only looted but destroyed the temple of Somnath.  Ala-ud-din Khilji attacked the temple of Nataraja in Chidambaram and destroyed the lingam there. Aurangzeb, notorious for his chauvinism, hated Varanasi because it was the center of lingam-worship.  

Yet, notes Dr Nitin, when the army of Tipu Sultan conquered Gokaran area in Uttara Kanada, Lord Shiva appeared in his dream and told him about the damage done by his army to the Gokaran temple. Tipu ordered his army to rebuild the Gokaran Mahabaleswar temple, restore the idol and paid his respect with a salaam and offering of Pooja. Till today, the “salaam Pooja” is held in the temple. 

Besides the twelve Jyotirlingas, the perennial founts of luminescence  of the  Sanathana, Gokaran as atmalingam or the quintessential soul of Lord Shiva,  showers the blessings of Lord Shiva as mukti daata or liberator from human bondage. The  Gokaran temples across millennia in  Bharat, originating from the celestial abode of Lord Shiva at Mount Kailash in Tibet, Gokarneswar  at Kathmandu in Nepal, Gola Gokarnath - Kashi and Naimisharnya in Uttar Pradesh, Gokaran in Uttara Kannada District in Karnataka, Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu and Trinconmalee in Sri Lanka are equally the sacred places of worship to the Shaivites  and the believers of the Sanathana. 

The temples of Lord Shiva across the length and breadth of India are manifestation of the cultural and spiritual unity of India, that is Bharat from time immemorial. I recollect the eloquent speech of Sushma Swaraj in the Lok Sabha when she reminded the veteran communist leader Somnath Chatterjee-who later became the Speaker Lok Sabha, that his father Nirmal Chatterjee - a Bengali, gave the name of Somnath to him after the Somnath temple in Gujarat.  

Dr Nitin, as apparent and axiomatic from his masterpiece, is not only an accomplished writer of India’s great spiritual heritage but a  historian par excellence, given the depth of his understanding, scholarly rigor and incontrovertible conclusions based on extensive study and empirical evidence collected and collated from diverse sources. The author has woven marvelously the spiritual, cultural and historical linkages, telling who the Gokarans are and how Gokaran shaped and influenced Indian history and redounded to the cultural and civilizational unity of India from the hoary past.

About the Author
Nitin R. Gokarn is a career bureaucrat with over three decades of work experience in the Indian Administrative Service having worked in the State of Uttar Pradesh and the Govt. of India in various assignments. His postings in Varanasi, led him into the journey of spirituality, history and culture. As Chairman Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust in 2007-08, initiated its first ever expansion merging adjoining temples of Tarakeshwarji and Bhuvaneshwarji with the Temple built by Ahilyabai Holkar. His earlier books include ‘Kashi Sarvaprakashika’ (2017) which is the first Hindi translation of the Kashi part of the Sanskrit book “Tristhali Setu’ on Prayag, Kashi and Gaya; ‘Bhaj Vishwanatham’ (2018) a coffee table book and ‘Gokarn Purana’ (2023).