Posted by: Heartbeat December 25, 2007
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Shiva, is the popular 3rd of the Trimurti, and one of the "Vedic" gods. He is often considered the most complex godly existence in the Hindu Pantheism. He represents TIME, endless and inexorable. He is the power, which destroys and regenerates the Cosmos, after its destruction and constantly destroys and regenerates during cosmic activity.
He is also called Pasupati, He who protects the souls (Pasu). He has neither Form nor is He Formless. His is nirguna, attributeless. He is cause of the origin and the end of everything but He has no beginning and no end.
Shiva in his infinite mercy, appears before the soul at the proper time in the form of a guru, helps the soul to sever the bonds and break the cycle and directs the soul along the path of final deliverance from bonds and of union with God.
Shiva is married to the Goddess Uma/Sakti/Parvati. Uma represents "prakriti", which means perishable matter. Shiva's marriage with Uma signifies that the power of destruction has no meaning without its association with perishable matter.
The Aryans, on their arrival in Northern India, settled near the foot of Himalayas, on a vast plane of land. The early settlement lived in groups in fear of animals that came out of the dense hilly forest and attacked them. The Aryans looked for some "super-natural" power to protect them from the ferocious animals. Pashupati appeared in the Indo-Aryan religion out of the faith of the frightened Aryans. In the Puranas, this powerful god used to get down from the "high mountains" (Mount Kailash) from time to time to provide herbal medicine to the afflicted Aryans.
Siddha Siddhanta, also called Gorakhnatha Saivisim, is generally considered to have come in the lineage of the earlier ascetic orders of India. Its most well-known preceptor was Gorakshanatha (ca 1000) a disciple of Matsyendranatha, patron saint of Nepal, revered by certain esoteric Buddhist schools as well as by Hindus.
Today there are perhaps 750,000 adherents of Siddha Siddhanta Saivisim, who are often understood as Saktas or advaita tantrics. The school fans out through India but is most prominent in North India and Nepal. Devotees are called yogis and stress is placed on world renunciation - even for householders.
Lingam/Lingaraj - personification of the eternal reproductive power of nature. In this character, Shiva is commonly known and worshipped all over India and world, through the symbol - the Lingam stone. 'Linga' means 'mark' in Sanskrit. Shiva Linga/Lingam is a symbol of Shiva. Shiva in this contect refers to the Infinite Reality.
Symbolism is just an art of representing thoughts and ideas, objects and ideals through the medium of signs or symbols. It is said that the Dravidians originated the Shiva Linga as a symbol of the supreme reality. The ellipsoid (shape of the Shiva Linga) represents the Shiva (the immanent) - sakti (the manifest).
The Shiva Linga shape is fixed in such a way the one half of it lies embedded on the earth, whilst the other half remains outside the surface. The upper half that appears above the surface represents the seen, visible manifest would of plurality (sakti). The lower half under the surface is the unseen invisible substratum, the supporter of the upper half.
A cross section of the ellipsoid cut along its axis is an ellipse whereas its cross section cut at right angles to its axis is a circle. Thus ellipsoid thus is a combination of ellipses and circles.
The circle represents the Supreme Reality. A circle has no beginning or end, the Supreme Reality also has no beginning or end. One part of an ellipsoid namely the circle therefore represents the unmanifest Reality, whilst the other part which is the ellipse represents the manifest universe.
Another reference to the Linga is that it represents the phallus. In the description, the Lingam with the usual accompaniment, the Yoni is the universal emablem of Shiva concept.
The base is Brahman, the layers are Vishnu, the Avadayar sign is Sakti and the linga is Shiva. He performs all the three acts of Creation, Preservation and Dissolution.
Last edited: 25-Dec-07 02:25 AM