SHIVA

Derivation and Definition

The word Shiva (when its syllables are transposed), has its origin in the word Vash. Vash means ‘to shine’; hence, He who shines is Shiva. Shiva is self-evident and self illumined. Besides being self-illumined, He illumines the Universe too.

Shiva refers to the principle, which is auspicious and benevolent.

Some other names of Shiva

Shankar: ‘sham karoti ethi shankaraha |’ ‘Sham’ means benevolence and ‘karoti’ means bestows. Thus Shankar is the one who is benevolent.

Mahankaleshvar: he is the establisher of the entire Universe (Kshetrapaldev); He is the Kalpurush, a vast time period Himself. That is why He is also referred to as Mahankaleshvar. (Kal means Time.)

Mahadev: There are three principal thoughts underlying the concepts of creation of the Universe and its activity. They are – Absolute purity, Absolute knowledge and Absolute spiritual practice. The deity possessing all these three principles together is said to be the God of all Gods – Supreme God or Mahadev.

Bhalachandra: Bhalachandra refers to Him who adorns His bhal (forehead) with the moon (chandra). Bhalachandra is also one of the names of Ganapati – the son of Shiva.

Karpurgour: Shiva’s complexion is white like camphor (karpur), hence, He is also referred to as Karpurgour.

Attributes

God created the Universe through the five deities (principles) namely: Prajapti, Brahms, Shiva, Vishnu and minakshi. In addition to their own individual characteristics of Ishwar (God). According to shaiva sect, Shiva as experienced in the nirbij samadhi state is the attribute less form (nirgunrup) of Shiva, that is, Parameshwar Himself. According to them, Shiva in meditative posture is Ishwar and Shiva’s dancing form or Shiva engaged in playing saripat (a game) with Parvati represents Maya (the Great Illusion). This form is of Parameshwar Himself, whereas the bhaktavatsal form, which engrossed in showering love on devotees, is Ishwar.

Physical Attributes

Ganga: Sun is the focal point of the solar system and soul is the focal of the body. Similarly, Gan is the focal point of the divine consciousness of each object and also that of pavitrakas (pure particles). The source from which Gan flows is Gan gaha – Ganga. Gan flows from Shiva’s crown. Hence the notion, that Ganga has descended from Shiva’s crown.         

The river Ganga on the earth contains a fraction of the principle of the spiritual Ganga; hence, it remains holy despite environment pollution. Thus, the water of the river Ganga is found to be the most pure, when compared to that of any other river in the world – a fact which is understood not only by those who understand the subtle dimension, but also by scientists.

Moon: Shiva adorns His forehead with the moon. Moon is considered to be the origin of the vibrations of affection, compassion and motherly love. This means that chandrama (lit. moon), represents a state in which these three types of vibrations are unified

The third eye

Shiva’s left eye is considered to be the first eye, the right eye to be the second and the eye (in subtle form) situated slightly above the midpoint between the eyebrows, is the third eye. The upward looking third eye represents the combined energy of both the eyes, the right and left. So also it is a seat of the divine energy. It is also known as Jyothirmath, vyaspith, etc.

Chandra (moon), Ark and Vaishvanar are the three eyes of the Shiva. Ark is the Sun of ajanajlok, whereas Vaishvanar is the Sun of karmadevlok.

Shiva is ‘three-eyed’, which means He can see all events of the past, present and the future.

According to the yogic sciences, the third eye represents the sushumna nadi (the central channel for the flow of kundalini in the body).

The Snake (Nag)

Bhujangapatihari is also one of the names of Shiva. Bhujanga means a snake, that is, pavitrak (pure particle). Pati refers to one who nurtures and Hari means one who wears garlands around his neck. The different types of the snakes represent a collection of pavitrakas. Superficially, these appear as snakes, but reality they are a kind of a ladder. For spiritual progress, one needs to hold on to their tails to rise.

There are nine snakes coiled around Shiva one on the head, one around the neck, one each around the arms, one each around the both the wrists, one around waist, one each around both thighs. In other words, His body is composed of pavitrakas themselves or snakes representing pavitrkas, which play around his body and arms, the form of the Universe.

The snake is also considered as Shiva’s weapon. The nine snakes in the Universe are also known as ‘Navanarayan’. Navanath too, have their origin in these nine snakes.

Kartikeya, Jotiba, Ravalnath and Sabbu are the deities, which manifest at times in the snake form. 

The snake exists in some context or other in the form of any deity.

Our body has five snakes, one of which is female and is referred to as the kundalini. The five snakes move inside the body in the form of five internal airs or energies (vayus). The remaining four snakes are normally present in the body; they present only in those who are spiritually evolved.

The snakes represent the male principle. He is the deity, which bestows progeny.

Bhasma: Bhu-bhava means to be born. Asma-ashma refers to ashes. That which is born and ends up in ashes is called Bhasma.

Bhasma refers to the ashes of living beings. Shma (Sma) means raksha or ashes; and shru-shan means scattered. Thus, the place where ashes are scattered is known as smashan (cremation ground).

Functions

Creation of the Universe: Shiva-Parvati are known as ‘jagataha pitarou’ – parents of the world.

Different forms of Shiva

Rudra: Vedic Rudra was the Destroyer and gave rise to fear; whereas Shiva worshipped by people of all castes and creeds (except the Aryans) is the Creator.

Ardha Nari Nateshvar (Ardhanarishvar): Only when Shiva becomes endowed with energy (shakti), does He become active. The concept of non-duality (advait) as explained in Shivagam (a holy text) does not reject the Great Illusion (Maya), instead accepts it as the energy (shakti) of Supreme God. It considers the continuous union of Shiva and Shakti as non-duality.

Vetal: The word Vetal has its origin in Vaital, which refers to the one who makes perversions dance to his tune. The combination of ahat and anahat nad, that is, gross and the subtle sound, creates vibrations, which are termed as ‘vai’. These are responsible for normalizing the perversions.

Nataraj:  These are two known states of Shiva; one of them is Samadhi (super conscious state) and the other is tandav or lasya (the dancing state). Samadhi is Nirgun (unmanifest) state, whereas the tandav or lasya is sagun (manifest) sate. The term natan or natya refers to the body movements made to express a definite incident or subject.

The one who performs these movements is known as a Nat (actor). It is a traditional belief that it was His Nataraj form that Shiva initiated this form of art. Since Shiva is considered as the Adyanat (original actor), He is addressed as Nataraj. The entire Universe is Nataraj’s school of dance. He is the dancer and the ‘observer’ of the dance as well. When His dance begins, its sound accelerates the activity in the world and when His dance ceases, He absorbs the entire Universe into Himself and remains engrossed alone in Atmanand (bliss within). This is the basis for the concept of Nataraj. In short, Nataraj is representative of Ishwar’s entire Creation and Dissolution.

Murtividnyan (Science of the Idol)

Humanized form: The humanized form of Shiva has the following four ornaments, which are symbolic in nature.

Damaru: This represents Shabda Brahman. From this was created the original sound of the 52 letters and the alphabet in the form of 14 Maheshvar sutras. Later, the Universe was created from these.

Trishul (weapon with three spikes): The three spikes symbolize –

a.      Trigunas (three components – sattva, raja and tama)

b.      The basis of Creation, Sustenance and Dissolution.

c.      Desire, knowledge and activity.

Pash or Deer: Pash refers to kalpash (the cord in Lord Ganapati’s hand is also kalpash). The deer represents the four Vedas.

Parshu: This represents the destroyer of ignorance.

Form of Pindi: The bhaga (female reproductive organ) and linga (male reproductive organ) are responsible for creation of the living creatures. Realizing this, primitive mankind considered these worthy of worship and thus, the pindi was created. The pindi has the shalunka representing the female reproductive organ and linga representing the male one. The earth symbolizes creation and Shiva is purity. In this manner, the shalunka has fertility as well as purity. However, the Universe is not created from semen, but was created as a result of Shiva’s sankalpa (intent)

 

Jyotirlinga: There are 12 jyotirlingas. They are manifested in the form of radiance. The 13^th linga is known as kalpinda. The pinda (jivatma, the embodied soul seeking self realization), which has gone beyond the limits of time, is a kalpinda.

Worship

Smearing the Bhasma

Tripundra: Tripundra refers to the 3 horizontal stripes of bhasma. These stripes symbolize Knowledge, Purity and Penance (Yogasadhana). They also represent the three eyes of Shiva.

Wearing rudraksha: One must wear a rudraksha mala while worshipping Shiva.

Derivation and defination of the word ‘Rudraksha’: The word Rudraksha is composed of 2 words – Rudra  + aksha, Aksha means eye. Rudra + aksha, means that which can see and perform everything (for example, the third eye). Aksha also means axis. The eye revolves around one axis only, hence it is called aksha. The rudraksha is red in color and its shape is flat like that of a fish. It has yellow colored stripes. On one of its sides, is a slight opening, which appears like an open mouth.

Attributes

The rudraksha converts the light frequencies of all the deities of the Universe into the sound frequencies in the human body and vice versa. Hence, man can absorb the frequencies of the deities and so can the thoughts of man be transformed into divine language.

Rudraksha absorbs positive (sattvik) frequencies and also emits similar frequencies from its mounds. When a genuine rudraksha is held in the hand, its vibrations can be felt in the fingers. At that time, the body is absorbing the positive frequencies emitted by the rudraksha.

Worship of the pindi: Only cold water is poured on the pindi and bel (a sacred leaf with 3 petals) is offered. The pindi is not bathed with usual mixture of either milk or panchamrut (a concoction of milk, curds, honey, sugar and pure ghee). Also kumkum, turmeric powder and akshata (unbroken rice grains) are not to be offered. Milk and ghee represents Sustenance, whereas turmeric, which is grown underground, represents fertile soil and is a symbol of Creation. Kumkum is made from turmeric itself; hence milk, turmeric and kumkum are not offered while worshipping Shiva, as He is the deity of Dissolution.

Bhasma (ash) is used in the worship of Shiva, as it is indicative of Dissolution. However, during the 14^th century, shaivas included panchamrut bath, milk bath, etc. (which are actually used by vaishnavas in the worship of Vishnu) in the rituals of Siva’s worship. Here, milk is regarded as the symbol of energy.

Bhasma: After removing the offerings like flowers, etc. of the previous day and bathing the pindi, 3 horizontal stripes of bhasma are smeared on the visible side of the pindi or a circle is drawn on the horizontal stripes. The circle represents the female reproductive organ. It is also known as shivaksha or yogaksha.

Bel: The pindi contains two types of pavitrakas (pure particles), one from the ahat (sound generated by friction of water on pindi) and anahat (divine sound), which is subtle. In order to attract the three kinds of pure particles – the two mentioned above and the third generated through bilvadal used in worship, one offer bel with 3 leaves to Shiva. A tender bel leaf can combine the ahat (language of sound) and the anahat (language of light). While offering the bilvapatra, it is kept on the pindi with its back facing upwards and the stalk pointing toward the worshipper. The intention is to draw the combined energy from these 3 leaves toward oneself. This combined energy from the 3 pure particles helps in the reduction of trigunas. 

The stream of water: Since the pindi contains both Shiva and Shakti, it generates a lot of heat. To prevent its adverse effects on the devotees and the pindi particles, an arrangement of a continuous flow of water on the pindi. Due to this flow of water on the pindi, subtle Om (lowest frequency of sound in the audible range, indicative of Nirgun Brahman) is generated. Similarly, when a soul is continuously bathed with a mantra, the kalpinda opens up; that is, when the embodied soul in search of Self-realization continuously chants, it is able to progress beyond the barrier of time. In other words, it can attain Nirgun Brahman.

Worship of shalunka (extension of shivalinga at its base)

Bhasma: Three horizontal stripes of bhasma are drawn on the shalunka and a circle is drawn on them.

White flower and cereals: White rice (rarely wheat) and white flowers are offered to shivaksha. The color white represents purity. After offering flowers, bel leaves offered by keeping the stalk pointing toward oneself.

Pradakshina (circumambulation): While performing the pradakshina, one needs to begin from the left side and walk till the extended outlet of the shalunka, though which the abhishek (water) flows. Then one turns back without crossing the same and completes the pradakshina in the reverse direction. This rule is applicable to the shivalinga, which is either created or established by man but not to the self-existent, spontaneously originated linga (swayambhu linga) or the linga at the home (chala linga). The reason for not crossing the extended portion of the shalunka is that the energy flow at that point has an adverse effect on production of semen and the five internal airs (vayus).

Abhishek: Shiva loves abhishek (sprinkling of holy water). Abhishek keeps the shivalinga wet continuously. The abhishek is offered to Shiva while chanting the rudra (sacred hymns).

Shiva Temple

Gurav: To remove the previous day’s offerings from the shivapindi, there are Guravs in Shiva’s temple and Bhopes in Parvati’s temple. This is because just as priests who perform religious rites (such as puja, marriage, etc.) are not supposed to eat at the time of pindadan (offerings to the departed souls), they also do not remove the previous day’s offerings.

Priests chant Vedic mantras while offering abhishek to Shiva, but they do not accept its prasad. Priests, who perform puja, do not perform pindadan.

Compilers: Santhegudde Cricketers, Barkur                santhegudde_cricketers@yahoo.com

 

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