Why Shiva does not worship anybody where as Vishnu worships him in all incarnations?

There is a difference between Bhagwata Purana and Shiva Purana,

A. Bhagwat Puran states that Vishnu is supreme one than Shiva, and From Vishnu, Brahma and By Brahma , Shiva was born but if it so, why Vishnu worship Shiva in all of his incarnations, where as Shiva never worships anybody.

B. Shiva Puran says that Vishnu and Brahma were created from Aadi Anant JyotirStambha of Shiva. When there was a dispute between Brahma and Vishnu about who is the supreme, at that time Shiva appeared as Jyotirstambha and asked both of them to reach start and end of it. Vishnu traveled downwards to reach end and Brahma traveled upwards to reach beginning, but both of them failed and considered there is no end of Shiva and asked Shiva to guide them. In this story Brahma lied that he reached beginning, So Shiva banned his worships in Hinduism, which is true. Brahma's son Daksha Prajapati was against Shiva because of this reason only.

Now, Lord Rama established Shiva Linga when he was marching towards Lanka which is known as Rameshwara Mahadeva means Ishwar(God) of Rama.In Ramayana when Lord Rama wanted to do Prashchatap because he considered killing Ravana as sin of killing a brahmana, he asked Hanumanji to organize to establish a Shiva Linga and asked again Shiva for mercy and to cut his sin. If Lord is himself able to cut sins, Can't he cut his own sins?

In Krishna avatar when Krishna wanted to bring some tree kalpa Vriksha from Indra, he worshiped Shiva for blessings and that is known as "Gopeshwara Mhadeva" in vrindavana means Ishwara (God) of Gopal(Krishna). Also when Krishna wanted to have a son, he asked sages and from their advice he prayed to Lord Shiva to get a son. If Krishna was Vishnu against whose will nothing happens, why he said that "Shive Sarvadhi Sadhike" means nothing happens without Shiva's will, so please bless me with son!! when the Mahabharata was about to be battled he asked Pandavas to have bliss of Shiva first and arranged a Pooja of Shiva Linga...

In Bhahwata Puran also the story is stated about Lakshmidevi's unhappiness with Vishnu because Vishnu told her that in his half area of heart is dedicated to Lord Shiva only. And in the rest of half, all the creatures of world and all deities including her wife Lakshmi lives!!

Parshurama is considered as great devotee of Shiva, Shiva gave him Parshu, for which Parshurama is famous for.

Why Shiva does not worship any body where as Vishnu worships him in all incarnations?

What I think is because Shiva is the only supreme Paramatma as he is unborn(Ajanma), Akarta and Abhokta(Vairagi) as said in Geeta that GOD is Ajanma, Akarta and Abhokta. God is neerakar (Shapeless and formless), Shiva Linga is symbol of Shiva 's such form only.

And also Vishnu always advised other deities(Kartikeya, Indra, Parvati,..) to worship Shiva only if they have mistakenly committed sins.

But now it is curiosity to know about this. Can anybody put light on my doubts?

Vishnu says Shiva is eternal origin(seed) of all things

From The Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva -> Veda Vyasa Mahabharata

The blessed Vishnu said: "I salute Mahadeva. Salutations to Thee. O Thou that art eternal origin of all things. The Rishis say that Thou art the Lord of the Vedas. The righteous say that Thou art Penance, Thou art Sattwa, Thou art Rajas, Thou art Tamas, and Thou art truth.

Vishnu himself said "Shiva is eternal origin of ..." That's why Shiva linga is seed and Whatever we see it is just a tree from that seed.

Story of origin of Godavari river

The story of the Godavari river is told in this excerpt from the Kotirudra Samhita of the Shiva Purana. In this account, the sage Gautama, who is a mind-born son of Brahma, is engaged in Tapasya (deep meditation) on the Brahmagiri mountain when there is a hundred-year drought in the area and thus crops can't grow. So for the welfare of others, he starts engaging in Tapasya to Varuna the ocean god, who appears before him after six months. Varuna denies Gautama's request for rain, because it would go against the wishes of the gods, so Gautama instead asks for "divine everlasting water yielding permanent results." So Varuna tells Gautama to dig a ditch, and then Varuna fills it with divine water and says this:

O great sage, let there be a perennial supply of water in this ditch that has become sacred. This will becomes famous on the earth by your name. Charitable gifts made here, rites performed here, penance pursued here, the sacrifices done here for the gods, and the Shraddha offered here to the manes, everything will be imperishable.

So Gautama and other sages in the area come to the new body of water and start planting crops and the like again. But on one occasion, Gautama sends his shishyas (disciples) to get water, but they're stopped by the wives of the other sages, who want to get water first. The disciples complain to Gautama's wife Ahalya, who goes to the body of water and collects water before everyone else. The other sages are furious at this petty incident, so to get revenge they pray to Ganesha, who appears before them. The sages ask him to force Gautama to leave his hermitage; Ganesha first advises them not to try to harm someone who has only done them good, but they insist.

So Ganesha approaches the sage Gautama, taking the form of a feeble cow, and starts eating Gautama's crops. To shoo the cow away, Gautama throws some blades of grass at it, but as soon as the grass touches the cow he sees it fall dead. Gautama is shocked that he has committed Gohatya (cow-killing), a supreme sin in the Hindu religion, so he takes his wife and leaves the hermitage in order to undertake an arduous course of repentance that involves circumambulating the Brahmagiri mountain, going around confessing his sin to everyone he encounters, and making Lingams to worship Shiva.

Finally Shiva appears before him, and Gautama asks to be made sinless. Shiva laughs and says that Gautama hasn't committed any sins, and that Gautama is such a great sage that even looking at him makes other people sinless. In any case, Gautama asks Shiva for Ganga to be brought there, so that he and others could be purified of their sins. So Shiva gives Gautama "the essence of the earth and heaven" (whatever that means), which was apparently Gautama's inheritance from his father Brahma, and I guess Gautama uses that essence to summon the goddess Ganga. Shiva tells this to Ganga:

O goddess, till the advent of the Kali Yuga, when the son of Vivasvat shall be the twenty-eighth Manu, you shall stay here alone.

I think this is a scrambled translation, by the way; there are only 14 Manus who rule in a given Kalpa, not 28. It probably means "till the advent of the 28th Kali Yuga, when the son of Vivasvat shall be the Manu", because the current Kali Yuga is the 28 Kali Yuga of the Vaivasvata Manvantara. And it probably means the end of the Kali Yuga, not the beginning, because the Godavari river is still here.

In any case, Ganga says that she'll only agree to stay if Shiva also stays there, so Shiva manifests himself as Tryambakeshwara (meaning the three-eyed lord), one of the twelve Jyotirlingas (Lingas that appeared after Shiva manifested as a pillar of light.) Here is a picture of it:

So Ganga agrees to stay there as a new river, initially called the Gautami river but now known as theGodavari river. Gautama and his disciples bathe there to purify themselves of sin. And even the sages who tried to take revenge on Gautama are eager to get rid of the sins. Ganga is initially reluctant to purify these men who had been so cruel to Gautama, but then Gautama convinces her to relent and he digs a ditch for her to emerge from and purify the sages of their sins. That ditch is the famous Kushavartha Thirtha at the Tryambakeshwara temple.

On a side note, like many parts of the Shiva Purana, at least some of this account seems to be a later interpolation, because it apparently references the Pachayata, a group of five gods who are worshipped in the Smartha sect founded by Adi Shankara, so it's an anachronism. Also, the reference to Ganesha may be a later interpolation, because references to Ganesha in the Mahapuranas are few and far between.

You may also be interested to know that this apparently isn't the first universe that had a Godavari river in it; the next chapter of the Kotirudra Samhita of the Shiva Purana gives an account of how a similar story occurred in a previous Kalpa.

Symbolism of Shiva

In Indian tradition, Shiva Tattva, is often represented in a distinct form of Shankara sitting in meditation holding implements such as Damaru and Trishul. He has a mark of vibhuti on his forehead. He wears a snake around his neck. He has a matted hair with Ganga flowing out from these locks. He has a crescent moon on His head as a ‘decoration’. He rides a Bull called Nandi, his Vahana.

Is this the real form of Shiva or is it a visual representation with each of these aspects of his form having some significance?

Shankara

Shankara etymologically comes from “Sham karothi ithi Shankara”, meaning, “that which does good”.

Thus the form of Shankara brings to bearing that Shiva, the auspicious and with the potential to manifest all goodness, can only be realized through deep meditation, a state when the sound of OM reverberates through our mind, being and senses.

Shankara

 Trishul

 The Trishul as the name itself suggests, is a trident, a spear with 3 spikes to it.

Trishul

The Trishul of Shiva seems to be conveying the significance of 3 to us.

The 3 Forces of Trinity

At one level, this Trishul denotes the concept of Trinity in the Universe where the Trinity represent the divine forces of the Universe.

What are these three divine forces of the Universe?

In the ancient Indian texts, the Trinity or the divine forces have been expressed as Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva i.e. the creator, preserver and destroyer respectively.

Trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva

The Indian Rishi, seer scientists, have expressed that for the Universe to go through its cycles, this Trinity, these 3 divine forces are an essential requisite and it is essential for these 3 forces of the Trinity to work in tandem.

This concept of Trinity has also been discussed by different civilizations in their own variant forms.

The 3 states of Divinity

At another level, the Trishul or trident of Shiva is perhaps to remind us constantly of the 3 states of Shiva namely

Arupa - Formless,

Rupa-Arupa – Formless Form and

Sarupa – With form.

The 3 states of Man

Trishul also denotes the 3 modes of action in mankind and that which

drives these acts. They are;

1. Kayika, physical actions

2. Vaachika, speech

3. Manasika, to do with the mind

These 3 modes of action do find a equivalence in the 3 states of the

divinity as well, for example

1. Kayika with Sarupa or manifested form

2. Vaachika with Rupa-Arupa for the formless form

3. Manasika with Arupa for the formless

It is pertinent to note here that the ancient Greek divinity of Europe,

Poseidon, also had a trident in his hand.

Damaru

 The other prominent implement in Shiva’s hand is the Damaru.

 The Damaru is a rustic, very ancient variety of hand held drum, with a central bead attached to string which swings and beats on both sides of the drum in an alternating manner.

 What is the significance of this Damaru in Shiva’s hand?

                                                   

                               Shiva                                                      Damaru                                                                       

Shiva represents the Cosmic being and the Cosmic power that causes the cycles of creation, dissolution and regeneration which happen in regular rhythmic intervals as the acts of Nature.

The implement that best exemplifies the beat of the rhythm is a drum.

The primeval drum is the Damaru.

As Shiva oversees the rhythmic of dissolution and regeneration, the Damaru best exemplifies the implement most needed by Shiva to keep up this rhythm.

The cosmic rhythmic beat is such that, it causes everything in this Universe to merge in unison with this beat and dissolve back into Shiva. This event is therefore called Pralaya. Thus when Shiva beats His Damaru, He causes the Pralaya or natural dissolution of this Universe.

Third Eye-Tryambaka

Tryambaka comes from the roots tri meaning 3 and Ambaka which means eyes.

The name Tryambaka for Shiva thus is said to mean Shiva the 3 eyed.

3 eyed Shiva

Modern physiology indicates the presence of a gland called the pineal gland in the brain, behind and between the eyebrows which is considered to be the focal point for concentration. The 3^rd eye of Shiva is also but a way to remind us to open our eyes and see, experience Shiva in all the three states, Arupa - the Formless state, Rupa Arupa –  the Formless Form state and Rupa - the Formful state.

The third eye is to realize Shiva in His formless Arupa state which is at once vast, terrific and terrifying.

The Forehead Mark – Vibhuti

Of the 5 primordial elements, the Fire element, Agni, is associated with Shiva. This is exemplified by the story of the Lingodhbhava. Fire acts on anything and everything and reduces it to a state of ash or Bhasma. So Bhasma is a product of Agni or Shiva acting on it. It is considered symbolic of Shiva’s act of destruction for regeneration.

 The word Vibhuti means resplendent or glowing, with extraordinary powers.

 The smearing of the ash or Vibhuti is meant to destroy one’s ego and ignorance and give rise to a new self, glowing with the realization of Shiva.

Moon on head-Chandrasekhara

 The moon weaves a magic in the sky every fortnight.

 Once, the New Moon phase is reached, there is no moon visible from the earth. From there, it grows again and recreates a Full Moon again within the next fortnight as part of a beautiful celestial show of Nature. Shiva as the divinity of regeneration, in His pictorial form, has a very thin crescent moon on His head.

Chandrasekhara

This thin crescent symbolically depicts the regenerative aspect in the monthly cycle of the moon from the thin remnants of the previous cycle.

Regeneration is also connected with fertility and what is interesting to note here is that, in humans, the women’s fertility cycle of 28 day period exactly coincides with the 28 day cycle of the moon.

The Chandrasekhara or Somasekhara form of Shiva brings out to us the intrinsic correlation between the phases of the moon, fertility and the humans.

Nandi –The Bull

Shiva’s Vahana, Vehicle is the bull called Nandi. A bull is called Rishabha in local language and it is a Pashu. The loose translation for Pashu is animal. But Pashu is also an encompassing term that includes all living beings or bodily forms.

 Shiva as a principle of the Universe can only be realized through subtler means and not in a physical or gross form. Thus Pashu or bodily forms are a stumbling block in the way towards realizing Shiva.

Nandi, Bull

Only when one is willing to go beyond the bodily level of understanding and hones the subtler senses, can one understand and realize Shiva Shankar and peace.

 This Shivaratri, let us imbibe the significance behind Shiva’s visual form as we immerse ourselves in the Shiva Tattva.