The Dev (gods) and Rakshashas (demons) got together for the colossal task of churning the cosmic ocean. Mount Mandara, was used as the pole to stir the waters. And Vishnu’s Koorma Avatar(Tortoise) balanced the mountain on its back thereby preventing it from sinking in the depths of the unfathomable ocean. The great serpent Vasuki was used as the churning rope. As the ocean was churned lot of goodies came out of it which the Devs and Rakshashas distributed amongst themselves. But from the depths of the ocean also came out the ‘Halahal’ Or ‘Kalkoot’ visha(poison). When the poison was taken out, it started heating up the cosmos considerably. Such was its heat that people started running in dread, animals started dying and plants started withering. The “Visha” had no taker hence Shiva came to everyone’s rescue and he drank the Visha. But, he did not swallow it. He kept the poison in his throat. Since then, Shiva’s throat became blue, and he came to be known as Neelkantha or the blue-throated one.
Mahadev drinking halahala poison
Now this caused immense heat and Shiva started getting restless. A restless Shiva is not a good omen. Hence the gods undertook the task of cooling Shiva off. According to one of the legends Chandra Dev (Moon god) made Shiva’s hair his abode to cool him.
Some legends even claim that Shiva moved to Kailash (which has subzero temperatures all year round) post the Samudra Manthan episode. Shiva’s head was covered with “Bilva Patra”. So you see everything was being done to cool Shiva off
Now coming back to the question – Marijuana is supposed to be a coolant. It lowers down the body’s metabolism and that brings the overall body temperature down. Same is the case with Cannabis (Bhang) and Datura. Bhang and Datura are closely associated with Shiva as well.
Credits: Atul Kumar Mishra
Image Credits: To the owners.