Offering Bilva leaves to Lord Shiva

Jai Gurudev! Today at 4.30 in the morning we started the day with a special Puja to Lord Shiva. We also performed Abishek together with Sri Swami Vishwananda and then each Devotee could pour water over the Lingam and offer sacred Bilva Leaves to it. Sri Swami Vishwananda said that when we remember Goddess Lakshmi offering the leaf, we will get Her blessing as well. Also we could think of a wish and when one does 4 Abisheks to the Shiva Lingam on Shivaratri, the wish shall be fulfilled. onight we continue at 6 pm with Bhajans and the other Abishekams... Jai Bhagavn Shiva Namah! Also Swamiji instructed us to talk less today, but rather to think of the Lord and chant the Holy name or "Om Namah Shivaya". Happy Mahashivratri to all of you!
Here is an excerpt of his Shivaratri Speech from last year, where Sri Swami Vishwananda explains the meaning of the Bilva leaves..

Sri Swami Vishwananda: There is a leaf called the Bilva leaf. Do you know about these leaves?

Someone: No

Sri Swami Vishwananda: It’s a Shiva leaf, actually. Can you show me one?

(Someone gives Swami Vishwananda a bowl full of leaves and He is looking at them)

Sri Swami Vishwananda:I try to find better ones to show you. Yeah. (Taking one leaf) You see this leaf here. What does this leaves standing for?

Someone: Trinity

Sri Swami Vishwanada: Yeah, the Trinity as being one.
The same thing Saint Patrick explained in Ireland, with the…
How do you call it?

Someone: Clover…

Sri Swami Vishwananda: Yeah, you know the Saint Patrick leaves? (Some say yes)
But this also stands for the same thing.
This two symbolise the two eyes of the outside and the upper one is the eyes of the…

Someone: Inside.
Sri Swami Vishwananda: Knowledge, the third eye.
These leaves are very special. Who knows the story of these leaves?
Why do we use these leaves? Don’t be shy. Can you tell? No?

Someone: There was a boy who was chased by a tiger and went up a tree…

Sri Swami Vishwananda: No…(Laughing) It is a story, but they were not chased by a tiger.
The story of these leaves actually comes from the Shivapurana and explain what is important for Shiva. Long time ago, there was a hunter.
He went in the forest to hunt, but he became late to reach back to his village.
So he decided to spend the night in the forest, but he can’t sleep down…
If you sleep down what will happen?

Someone: He get’s eaten.

Sri Swami Vishwananda: Wild animal will eat him.
So he went up on the tree and this tree was the Bilva tree.
And the whole night for him to keep him awake, he was picking the leaves from the tree and throwing them down, without knowing that down there was a Shiva Lingam.
He was missing his family so much, that he was crying even.
He was wondering “poor them, they don’t have food to eat”.
And he was crying and crying and the tears were falling together with the leaves on the Shiva Lingam.
Shiva was so pleased.
Even without knowing him, he was doing abishekam on that day.
And it was a Shivaratri day.
So Shiva was so pleased that he appeared in front of him and said “I grant you whatever boons you want.”
And He added, He said to commemorate this day: “Whoever will offer the Bilva leaves will have the blessing of Goddess Lakshmi, because the Bilva is Goddess Lakshmi Herself. So whoever offers these leaves with devotion, Maha Lakshmi will bless them."
So this is the greatness of the Bilva leaves.
Of course they have a lot of medical properties also, because in Ayurveda they use these leaves. If you just eat them like that, you can die, because they are very poisonous also.
But in little quantity they are very bitter and very good for Diabetes.
People who are diabatic boil them and drink it.

Click here for the Bilvashtakam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U90TF4U-xeY
Bilvashtakam is the astakam stotram addressed to Lord Shiva.
Offering a Bilva leaf to Lord Shiva pleases him especially on the Shivarathri.
Chant the Bilvashtakam stotra on Sivaratri and get blessing from Lord Shiva.
Om Namah Shivaya!