In this Kali Yuga, an avatara of God came to Earth for the welfare of humanity, but few today even know his name. If Rishi Vedavyas had not composed the Śrīmad Bhagavata or the Bhagavad Gītā, few would know the glory of Śrī Kṛṣņa. So, Lakulīśa, being the 28th incarnation of Lord Śiva, but having no such historian to record his stories and teachings, has become but a distant or even unknown figure in the collective Indian memory.
Who was Lord Lakulīśa? When did He exist?
Who were His followers? What are His teachings?
Is He still with us?
These questions and more are answered in this absolutely comprehensive investigation into the life and influence of this great avatara of Lord Śiva. All available scholarly data, testimony of saints, archeological information, and other information is presented to help form the clearest picture possible of Lord Lakulīśa. Furthermore, this text is the only such work completed by an Acharya of the lineage of Lakulīša and approved by a Guru of that lineage.
Todd A. Hoover, MD, DHt retired after more than twenty-five years of family and corporate medicine practice to pursue further education and practice of yoga in India under the guidance of H.H. Swami Shri Rajarshi Muni. He has continued those studies for the past ten years under direct teaching of his esteemed guru and through the Lakulish Yoga University during extended stays in India. Dr. Hoover is widely published and has lectured around the world on homeopathic and complementary medicine. His original interest in homeopathic medicine grew out of extraordinary experiences in yoga that could not be explained through his conventional understanding of the body learned in medical school. Although his yoga practice has been a continued effort for forty years, a shift to retirement from active medical practice allowed a more focused pursuit of yoga having completed a long period of service to his patients. Dr Hoover completed his Masters of Philosophy through Lakulish Yoga University in Ahmedabad, India.
This work began as a thesis investigation, but due to the importance of the information to this lineage was published in a format that would be of great interest to devotees and scholars alike.
I am grateful to God and Guru for this opportunity to study the life and immense contributions of Lord Lakulīśa. I hope that you will find inspiration in this book.
This book examines the possibility that Lakulīša, being an avatära or incarnation of Lord Śiva, is an example of an individual with a divine and immutable body, capable of manifesting himself at will at different timepoints through history. The work began at the request of H.H. Swami Shri Rajarshi Muni for the author to research this topic in a pursuit of his Doctoral Thesis.
To investigate this theory completely, one must reconstruct scattered data points to help define a picture of the relevant history. The history of India is primarily preserved in her scriptural references, epigraphical artifacts, numismatic information, archeology, and testimony of individuals preserved in both manuscript form and in books.
Dating of information is challenging since much of the historical information began in the oral tradition and subsequent written versions underwent considerable redaction and recension over the centuries. Interest groups often shifted the information to reflect upon their specific goals and objectives. Therefore, the specific methodologies employed for this research are presented in the first section. Still, the information is largely incomplete and the reader, like the author, must fill the gaps and connect the dots as best as one may, given the timespan and variability in the reliability of the data presented.
The focus here is to provide a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of what is known about the life of Lord Lakulīśa as it may have occurred over the past five millennia. The author suggests that the reader suspend any cynicism or bias when considering the subject matter because it requires one to stretch their concept of what might be possible as compared to their personal notions about the limits of reality.
Considerable effort is made to correct some errors regarding our central subject that have crept into the scholarly literature over time. Repetition of false information tends to cement beliefs and interpretation of the distant historical events and a careful investigator must remain skeptical about information rather than simply rubberstamp the findings of those scholars that have tread the path before the current investigation. The author is extremely grateful to the guidance of H.H. Swami Shri Rajarshi Muni who helped with translation of certain Sanskrit passages and conducted a final review of the material in this book. Given his central role in the Life Mission lineage (referred to as the Modern Lakula lineage in this book) and his direct experience with Lord Lakulīśa, the importance of his review and approval of the contents of this book lend considerable validity to the text.
Hopefully, the reader will find the information presented both reasonable and fascinating. Lord Lakulīša is reportedly the 28th incarnation of Lord Śiva yet most Indians are unaware of who this individual might have been let alone the where, why, and when he incarnated on earth. Given the importance of the many incarnations of Lord Krşņa, the reader might be curious why this highly important incarnation of Lord Siva remains relatively unknown even to experts within Sanatana Dharma and much of the populace of India.
Diacritical marks have been used throughout the work for all words of Sanskrit origin in order to better define the pronunciation for the reader. In addition, the original Sanskrit text is included for important passages whenever it is available. A Sanskrit transliteration guide is provided for the reader.
Vedas (1293)
Upanishads (481)
Puranas (612)
Ramayana (837)
Mahabharata (329)
Dharmasastras (162)
Goddess (474)
Bhakti (241)
Saints (1303)
Gods (1268)
Shiva (344)
Journal (144)
Fiction (52)
Vedanta (333)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist