Hello Friends,
In this auspicious Kaarthika Maasam, I would like to contemplate and reflect on Lord Shiva and share some thoughts with you.
Parameshwara
Let me start off with the naming - Lord Shiva is known as Parameshwara. The meaning of Parameshwara is "Supreme or Highest Lord" per Sanskrit.
The name and the meaning certainly tells us that Shiva is considered the "Highest" of the Lords. This practice is from the ancient time as the Sanskrit dictionary that I mentioned is among the early works of the civilization.
Ardhanarishvara
Puranas tell us that Lord Shiva gave utmost importance to His wife Parvati. The picture depicted gives an indication of that where the Lord "splits" Himself into two equal parts and the left half of His body shows Parvati. It has also been portrayed as Prakriti (Parvati) and Purusha (Shiva) co-mingling together.
I would interpret this as the state of perfect equilibrium as the Masculine Transcendent is in combination with Feminine Energy. Adi Sankara tells us the same in Soundarya Lahiri mentioning that Lord Parvati moves Lord Shiva with Her energy. This representation seems to be unique to Shiva in Indian mythology.
Kaamadahana
The legend tells us that Shiva had burnt Manmada (reducing him to ashes) by opening his Third Eye when He was disturbed from His deep penance. Of course we know what happened next with Lord Shiva finally marrying Parvati who had given a boon to Rati Devi that Manmadha will have a body form only visible to Rati.
Kaama means desire and this can be interpreted that Lord Shiva is above all the desires and He burnt the very source of all desires. This is a very deep statement and philosophical as well - can be reinforced with so many images of Shiva deep in utmost concentration and deep contemplation.
Neelakantha
According to Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana among others, the Devas and Asuras churned the ocean to get Amrutam. During the course of getting to Amrutam, a very dangerous poison called Haala Hala came into being. The Devas and Asuras when faced with no choice rushed to Lord Shiva who swallowed Haala Hala and kept it in His throat earning him the name Neelakantha. He did this as if He let it go to His stomach, the whole universe
( that resides in Him ) would have got burnt.
This instance again can be interpreted as how we should lead our lives. When troubles come to us, we should not drown in sorrow and wallow in self-pity. We would need to be brave, face those challenges head-on and not let those take control of you. Neelakantha is clearly an inspiration for us!
Nandishwara
The images of Nandi and Shiva Lingam are visible in any of the temples we see. Nandi serves as the Mount/Vahana for Shiva and is available at His beck and call. Nandi stays very close to Him so that there is no delay if he gets summoned.
Well, there is again a deep philosophical lesson to be learnt here. Nandi literally means Happiness and it shows that if you are faithful to Him and surrender to Him, all you have is Happiness! We can all learn that quality from Nandi and try to have no gap between us and the Lord! In fact the duality of God and Human only exists if we believe that we don't have divinity inside of us.
There is so much of "Shiva Tatva" that I or anyone cannot possibly look at all the aspects and interpret them. These are for now, my very first reflections and I am sure there would be many, many more in the coming future.
Om Namah Sivaya !!!
In this auspicious Kaarthika Maasam, I would like to contemplate and reflect on Lord Shiva and share some thoughts with you.
Parameshwara
The name and the meaning certainly tells us that Shiva is considered the "Highest" of the Lords. This practice is from the ancient time as the Sanskrit dictionary that I mentioned is among the early works of the civilization.
Ardhanarishvara
 |
| Ardhanarishwara - State of ultimate equilibrium ! |
I would interpret this as the state of perfect equilibrium as the Masculine Transcendent is in combination with Feminine Energy. Adi Sankara tells us the same in Soundarya Lahiri mentioning that Lord Parvati moves Lord Shiva with Her energy. This representation seems to be unique to Shiva in Indian mythology.
Kaamadahana
The legend tells us that Shiva had burnt Manmada (reducing him to ashes) by opening his Third Eye when He was disturbed from His deep penance. Of course we know what happened next with Lord Shiva finally marrying Parvati who had given a boon to Rati Devi that Manmadha will have a body form only visible to Rati.
 |
| Forever in Contemplation |
Neelakantha
According to Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana among others, the Devas and Asuras churned the ocean to get Amrutam. During the course of getting to Amrutam, a very dangerous poison called Haala Hala came into being. The Devas and Asuras when faced with no choice rushed to Lord Shiva who swallowed Haala Hala and kept it in His throat earning him the name Neelakantha. He did this as if He let it go to His stomach, the whole universe
( that resides in Him ) would have got burnt.
This instance again can be interpreted as how we should lead our lives. When troubles come to us, we should not drown in sorrow and wallow in self-pity. We would need to be brave, face those challenges head-on and not let those take control of you. Neelakantha is clearly an inspiration for us!
Nandishwara
 |
| Nandi and Siva |
Well, there is again a deep philosophical lesson to be learnt here. Nandi literally means Happiness and it shows that if you are faithful to Him and surrender to Him, all you have is Happiness! We can all learn that quality from Nandi and try to have no gap between us and the Lord! In fact the duality of God and Human only exists if we believe that we don't have divinity inside of us.
There is so much of "Shiva Tatva" that I or anyone cannot possibly look at all the aspects and interpret them. These are for now, my very first reflections and I am sure there would be many, many more in the coming future.
Om Namah Sivaya !!!
Awesome, thanks for sharing glimpses of Shiva Tatva.
ReplyDelete