Hindu God Shiva: The Auspicious One

Of the many gods worshipped by Hindu believers, Shiva is the one that represents many seemingly unattractive elements.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He embodies the terrible aspects of life: destruction, darkness (tamas), and death.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He is an ash-besmeared, naked ascetic adorned by snakes and skulls. He is also known as the angry god.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Although these qualities should representÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ an evil-doer more than a great god (Mahadeva), Shiva is actually a dark-skinned and blue-throated god that symbolizes many extremesÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ and exists in many forms. Shiva’s manifestation, representation, and various names actually portray a paradoxical and multifaceted figure that depicts both “terror and compassion, creation and destruction, eternal rest and ceaseless activity.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His titles of the wild god (Rudra), the Linga (the Phallus Figure), the cosmic dancer (Nataraja), and the great ascetic (Mahayogi) are just a few of the one-thousand and eight designations he is known for.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Hence, Shiva’s divine qualities make him one of the most complex and interesting figure in the Hindu religion.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½
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Shiva’s manifestation brings forth the distinction of the extremes.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva is the destroyer of evil and is known as Neelkantha, “the blue-throated one.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He is branded as the blue-throated god because of the poison he holds in his neck.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ This poison was the result of the churning of the cosmic ocean that threatened to end the existence ofÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ humanity.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ To save the existence of humanity,Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva kept the poison in his throat to prevent destruction. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Also, Shiva characterizes the two opposite tendencies of dark and light because both colors are indivisible.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ According to the Legends Around Shiva, “the white color is the basic color and all other colors are superimposed upon it.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ White exists before and remains after all the other colors have disappeared and therefore white alone can be Shiva’s color.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Like Shiva, the Ganges RiverÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ is also white. This holy river, along with the crescent moon, adorns his coiled locks and was brought down to earth by letting the river trickle down his hair.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The Ganga symbolizes purity, endless flow from beginning to the end of time, and represents the world of creation in its countless appearance while the matted hair depicts the difficulty of world affairs. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Hence, Shiva is eternal rest and ceaseless activity; he is the destroyer of evil and quintessence of creation.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½

This blue-throated god’s physical appearance proves even more why he is paradoxical.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He is popularly represented as standing royally in the center of the universe, ornamented by all his symbols. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His “attributes represent his victory over the demonic activity and calmness of human nature.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He wears tiger or leopard skin around his waist symbolizing power and force.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His body is smeared with ashes signifying asceticism and decorated by both skulls and pearl. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His four hands signify the directions of space and universal power.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ One hand is a gesture of granting boons and protection while the other holds either a rosary, a club or a bow.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His third and fourth hands have a conch shell and trishul with a drum tied to it.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The trishula of Shiva is the symbol of the three functions of the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ It also represents punishment to the demons on the spiritual, subtle and physical levels.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His vehicle is the bull named Nandi which represents love and pleasure which are the source of all creation. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The cobras around his neck represents the dormant power that snakes possess when they are coiled.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ And, as for the crescent moon on his hair, that possesses the power of procreation and destruction when placed near the fiery third eye.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His third eye grants inner spiritual vision that is capable of destruction when focused outward.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Therefore, Shiva’s appearance protects or creates in one hand and destroys in the other.

Shiva is sometimes displayed with his manifested family raising his right hand as a show of abhaya-mudra, or protection.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He and his family live in the mountain of Kailasa in the Himalayas.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva’s family consists of Parvati and their sons the elephant-headed Ganesha and six-headed Kartikeya (also known as Subramanyia, Skandia and Sanmukha).Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Parvati, Shiva’s wife or consort, has many divine forms and is known to be part of Shiva.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Some scholars argue that there are no male or female deities, only different aspect of a single god.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Therefore, Parvati can be considered a part of Shiva.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ According to a story in the Puranas, Brahma was unsuccessful at creation. “He propitiated Shiva who took this form and separated Parvati from his body.”Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ She is also in many other forms and two of her fierce and powerful forms are Durga, the goddess beyond reach, and Kali, the goddess of destruction. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Both manifestations of Parvati have eight hands with great power and energy. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ When she is in the form of Parvati, she represents a happy marriage and motherhood.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ She is a faithful goddess, represented as a fair and beautiful woman. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Ganesha is known as the remover of obstacles ( Vighneshwer) and the god of knowledge (Vinayak). “A unique combination of his elephant-like head and a quick moving tiny mouse vehicle represents tremendous wisdom, intelligence, and presence of mind.”Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He is worshipped in the beginning of any promising performance for blessings and auspiciousness.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva’s second son, Kartikeya, represents perfection and is also a god of war.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He was created to destroy demons and is the most masculine and fierce god.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ While his brother is the remover of obstacles, he contains spiritual powers, especially the power of knowledge.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His hand that holds the spear symbolizes the destruction of terrible predisposition in humans while his other hands shows blessings to devotees. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ In conclusion, Shiva’s family is an ideal example of family unity and love.

Of the many names that Shiva is known for, Rudra is an image that deals with the destructive but also desirable force.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Also known as the Howler and many other names, this powerful and dangerous god appears in the Vedas and is a remover of physical, mental and spiritual pain. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Therefore, he is “the greatest physician, the doctor of doctors, and in the beneficent rains loosened by the storm is reflected by his character as a healing god.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Rudra is a storm deity whose is in charge of directing and controlling the rage of the hurricane.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ As this god, he is closely related to the Rain-god, Indra, and with the fire god, Agni. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His myth appears in the Rgveda (c. 1200-1000 BCE) in the hymns 10.61 and 1.71.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ In this sacred Indian text, Rudra was a wild ablaze hunter with hisÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ arrow pointed against the Creator who was making love to his virgin daughter, the Dawn.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The seeds that fell on the earth due to the love making were prepared by Rudra himself when he was Fire.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Hence as Agni, Rudra provokes the Creator, Prajapati, to create.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ And, as a hunter, he aims at the act of creation.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The hunter had the power over life and death, as “the lord of the high and the low, of robbers of the ill-formed, but also of craftsmen working in wood, metal and clay.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Furthermore, he is so powerful that many other gods feared him and it is his anger that is worshipped.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He is the thunder that many fear but he is also the conveyor of rain that brings economic prosperity to people.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Rudra is destruction and creation.

In India, there are hundreds of temples and shrines dedicated to Shiva because he is worshipped as a shivalinga by his devotees (shivaites).Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ This popular image of Shiva has no human form and is represented by the phallus figure called the Linga. ItÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ is made of black or white stone that is sometimes round on the top and bottom, showing the idea that it does not “stand or arise from anywhere in our space or time”. In other times it is the “Cosmic Egg” from where the world emerged or the “bright Flame of Light”.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Whichever depiction it is, this symbolizes the Lord of the Universe. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ In Hinduism, creation follows destruction and that is why Shiva is regarded as a reproductive power. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Thus, the linga has been long associated with sex, fertility and regeneration.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ As Nataraja, he is usually sitting in a yogic posture with Parvati touching his erect phallus.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Even Ganesha has the erect phallus when he is imitating his father’s dance of death (tandava).Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ However, it should be duly noted that the Linga does not only symbolize sex but it also represents chastity.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva’s vehicle is the bull, Nandi (the joyful), and it represents lust or sexual impulse and Shiva riding the bull on its back symbolizes control of lust. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ “The basic Sanskirt expression for the practice of chastity is the drawing up of the seed (urdhvaretas) but the seed is often confused with the linga itself, which is Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½raised’ in chastity.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The raised seed is a natural image of chastity.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ As a result, Siva is both the god whose seed is raised up and the god whose linga is raised up.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ When the seed is drawn up Siva represents chastity even though the linga is in the erect form. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ This depiction of the phallus figure follows the trend of Shiva’s complicated and paradoxical image.

Another name that Shiva is well-known for is Nataraja, the lord of the cosmic dance.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He is also known as the creator of the first sixteen rhythmic syllables ever uttered that created the Sanskirt language. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His image in this dancing form can be seen throughout India and is the most popular appearance amongst foreigners.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The drum he holds symbolizes rhythm and sound.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ There is a movement in the universe and the sound is the “medium, musical and divine, that carries revelations and the truth.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Sound also represents the outburst of creation.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva’s ashes on his body are from the destruction of the universe and as the dance ensues, the ashes get scattered and form a pattern.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ “The pattern of the lines are a plan for the re-creation of the universe.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva as Nataraja is shown with four arms with two normal ones in the Gajahasta (elephant pose), in gesture of fearlessness.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva’s second right hand is the gesture of protection.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The left hand lifted across his chest and pointed towards the elevated foot signifies the release from bondage.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He is also shown dancing on the body of a demon named Apasmara purushaÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ .Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ This demon represents the ignorance of man.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The defeated Apasmara is an act of attaining true wisdom and release from ignorance of the world. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Also, Shiva is believed to have created one hundred and eight dance forms and the dance movements create a circle of fire. This is the fire that destroys all at the end of the Kalpa.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Still, Shiva’s dance is considered an act of creation that awakens dormant energies.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ When these energies are gathered, they create, preserve, and destroy.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The true and contradicting qualities of Shiva are shown in this energy which is the forces of evolution and involution, the appearance and disappearance of the universe.”

Mahayogi is another manifestation ofÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva that deals with the concept ofÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ the mantra repetition, meditation and austerities. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ The Mahayogi is the great ascetic who symbolizes the highest form of austere penance and abstract meditation, which results in salvation (moksha).Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Moksha is the release from worldly material and existence and is the liberation from the returning cycle of birth and death (samsara).Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ It is also the spiritual union of the self (Atman) and of the absolute (Brahman).Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ When practicing yogic exercises he performs marvels and miracles and acquires the highest spiritual knowledge. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ When Shiva is in his Mahayogi character he “sits naked, motionless, with ash-besmeared body, matted hair, and beggar’s bowl under a banyan-tree”.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ By doing this he teaches mankind to abase the body and restrain passion because he achieved the highest perfection in meditation and self-mortification. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ In his meditation it is said that Shiva fixes his mind upon his wife.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ In this role, he wears the garb of a yogi but he behaves as a lover in separation. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ TheseÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ qualities are what makes him mystifying and interesting to many researchers.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½

Shiva’s character is an enigma to many scholars because of his contradictory and paradoxical factors.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ He is the creator and destroyer and life and death. Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His “attributes represent his victory over the demonic activity, and calmness of human nature.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Lord Shiva has all the divine qualities and possesses, at the same time, all the good or bad traits of human beings.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ “In him man and god have become one.” Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva epitomizes the qualities of Tamas, the darker aspects of life, but at the same time he is the happy meditating lord.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ When Shiva is the Supreme Lord of the universe, there is death and destruction because he kills all evil.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ His ascetism negates all joy but at the same time, he also grants wisdom and peace.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ Shiva the Auspicious one sets up an ironic contrast with the apparently horrific form of Shiva theÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ destroyer. It points out our prejudices and bias to us, saying that things are not always what they seem.
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