Who is Shiva? ( A repost )

[Guest guest]

ladyeolus

 

I meant to ask who is shiva???????

 

dineshbhatt

 

Lord Shiva - The Dancer Who Recreates

 

None gave him birth, He knows no Lord. None rules Him in the world,

nor yet controls. No features mark Him out, yet cause He is. Prime

cause of that which steers, the senses five, the soul within."

Shvetashvattara Upanishad. Shiva! The name, the word itself seems to

come with so much aplomb to the Hindu mind. Images flood the

mind'

eye. The savage one; The handsome one. The fierce one; The ardent

lover of Parvati. One who wears snakes for ornaments; One who holds

the Ganges on his head. One who destroys; One who dances. Wearer of

leopard skin; Wielder of cymbals. One with long matted hair; One who

wears the moon on his head! Worshipped in the form of a phallic

symbol; Worshipped for the power of his third eye…

 

I could go on endlessly. Abandon for a moment, if you can, the truth

that you are reading about a deity, a religious figure in the Hindu

pantheon and look at Shiva for himself. Every time I encountered him

in the pages of one Purana (ancient text) or the other or in the

stories of my grandmother, the came through as a wonderful majestic

man, not polished and sophisticated like Vishnu, not ornamented and

decorated as Vishnu, but a man whose every cell speaks, whose every

moment makes the history of time. His characterization is so cogent

and integrated through texts over centuries found across the length

and breadth of India that it isamazing. It is real.

 

If you wonder why that should be amazing, it is because

historically, the story of Shiva is fragmented. Historians and

indologists trace the beginnings of the idea of Shiva to very very

early in history. He was the deity of the Harappa civilization. The

bull inscribed on the coins of Harappa is in fact, they say, symbolic

of Shiva's mount. He was worshipped in the form of Pasupathi, the

Lord of animals. Researchers even go as far as finding parallels

between Sumerian civilization and their pantheon which has

counterparts of Siva and the Lady of the Mountains, Parvati,

Shiva's

consort.

 

So Shiva, going by the antiquity of his worship, must have been

present long before creation. It is therefore they say that the

Dravidian God is Shiva. He has always been Siva.

 

Around the beginning of this millennium, it is said there was a

revival of Saivism and the power of Shiva. By then the idea of Shiva

had built into the vedic texts too. He is identified with Rudra in

the Rig Veda. Various texts give different versions of his creation

and each one they say is symbolic of his many facets. He, Shiva, is

the one who has conquered time, for He destroys and re-creates. He,

Shiva, is white in colour for white stands for justice in acts of

annihilation. He, Shiva, is the one who has conquered death and

historically his resurgence from the Pre-Aryan period to the present

day obsession is one way of looking at it.

 

The Rig Vedic story begins with the Gods watching an incest about to

take place. The father of creation is desirous of his own daughter.

At that time, the gods chant the sacred word. The power of the sacred

word. The power of the sacred word is immense. There appears before

them an archer Sharva, the raudra (the angry one). The archer aimed

and shot, putting a stop to the act. Time and with it the universe

had been set into motion with the flight of the arrow in Space.

 

There, the passionate father was still in pursuit of his daughter.

The gods hung their heads in shame while the hunter let out a wild

cry. There he got his name Rudra where rud means to cry. To appease

him the father gave him the kingdom of animals. "Be Pasupathi,

the

lord of animals," he said. But Pasupathi, in his new form was

still

with single purpose. He shot another arrow and the seed of the father

flowed down on earth and all creation sprung.

 

Another story says the Lord of all beings was a householder and of is

wife Usha was born a child. The child kept crying so the father

questioned him as to why he cried. He said he cried for the want of a

name. The father was quick to name him if that could bring some quiet

and he was called Rudra, from the rot word rud which means, to cry.

 

The Linga Purana has yet another version to relate. According to

this story, Brahma, the creator had five mind-born sons. Many fathers

may be able to sympathize with Brahma, for the father of creation too

was dissatisfied with his sons. None of them showed any promise, the

typical progenitor felt. He contemplated on Siva for solution. Siva

himself appeared and told him He was his son. Siva then assumed the

ardhanareeswara form.

 

The ardhanareeswara is yet another concept that Shiva stands for. In

this aspect he draws the feminine into his own self. He is half man,

half woman. A symbol of the Samkhya philosophy which talks of

Purusha (the male energy) and Prakriti (the female energy together

making the cosmic energy.

 

As Ardhanareeswara, Shiva destroys the old, for in destruction there

is renewal, it cleanses and constructs anew. In this new

construction, he is the Father of Brahma. And the cycle of time, the

process of recreation begin all over again.

 

Shiva the auspicious one, is also known as Ashtamurti and here is yet

another myth that tells you of his manifestation thus. If the number

of stories on Shiva's birth are discomfiting, remember you are

not

the only one, there is a constant struggle to understand them by many

because our mind can think only of linear progress of time as moving

forward. But here many cycles seem to be described.

 

Researchers also say, each birth, as we ourselves find now, is

symbolic of one attribute of Shiva. The happening itself is not as

important as the symbolism within it. In Hindu mythology, there are

many stories that switch the position of the primal creator between

the three most important deities: Brahma Vishnu and Shiva, the triad,

reaffirming as it were, the equal importance of creation,

preservation and dissolution.

 

Story goes Brahma sat in deep meditation holding all his vital

energies and from the sound of Om that he held close to his heart,

emerged Shiva He came out of Brahma's forehead. He stood before

him

as Ashtamurti that is displaying all his eight manifestations, He was

in fact the Vishwarupa or the universe for he had the heaven as his

head, the quarters as ears, the sun, moon and fire as eyes, the sky

as umbilicus, the winds blowing at his feet and was clothed in the

oceans. He wore for ornaments the constellations. In this version is

the beginning and the end. He is all.

 

The description of his eyes as fire bring another mythological

association where Siva is held almost synonymous with Agni or fire.

He is the Trinetra or the one with three eyes, the third eye being

all fire.

 

In successive kalpas, or age, Shiva donned five roles. The five-form

concept later took shape as the Panchamukha Shiva or Five faced Shiva

with each face given a direction – the dimension of space had

thus

been added to the dimension of time. As Sadyojata he faced East, as

tatpurusha he faced north, as Aghora he faced west and as Ishana he

faced south. As Sadesiva (Eternal Shiva) he was looked above;

symbolic of him being above all space. In the Linga Purana, Vishnu

described Sabasiva as a pillar where the Ishana was the crown,

Tatpurusha, the face, Aghora the heart and Vamadeva his sex organ

and Sadyojata as his feet. The metaphor had been gathered into a

manageable symbol and while many other stories exist for the worship

of the phallic symbol of Shiva, this was the

beginning.

 

A story is told located at the legendary ashram of Daruvana. Today

some say it is the same place as where the Jageswar temple in Almora

stands on the lower Himalayas. Here, some sages were engaged in

penance. To test their dedication, Shiva began dancing in the

forests. The wives of the sages who had gone to collect firewood

remained transfixed. At sundown when the sages cam in search of their

wives and caught sight of a man dancing to the joy of their wives,

they cursed him, not knowing he was Shiva himself. By the curse, his

penis fell to the ground and rose with the brilliance of fire in both

directions. The earth trembled and Vishnu and Brahma came to look for

solutions.

 

They each went south and north respectively in search of its end, but

could not find it; symbolizing both infinity in space and eternity

in time. Shiva was then accepted as Supreme by both Brahma and Vishnu

and he withdrew.

 

Being of the same rank, there are many stories on the quarrels and

disputes between Shiva and Vishnu, their assertion of superiority one

over another is a debate even today amongst their followers!)

 

Shiva married twice, once the granddaughter of Brahma, named Sati and

then Sati again when she was reborn as Parvati, the daughter of the

King of the Himalayas, Daksha. He had two sons, Ganesa and Kartikeya.

 

One of the derivations of the word Rudra denotes running and constant

movement, the pulsation of life, its steps. Therefore Shiva is also

perceived as the Cosmic dancer, Nataraja. The magnificent Nataraja

who dances though life has won many a hearts and imaginations. Many

temples have been built to the Lord Nataraja across Kanakasabha

(golden hall) at the temple of Chidambaram.

 

Of Shiva, one can not write and stop. There are sixty-four lilas or

sports in which he is said to have partaken and infinite stories from

his tumultuous marriage to his drinking of the poison during the

famous incident in Hindu mythology of the churning of the ocean.

 

Through all the myths Shiva emerges the same, powerful, impulsive,

angry, frightening, charming, one who holds the damru (drum) either

sides of which makes our night and day and one whose ankle bells are

the source of all sound. To write on Shiva is as continuous a process

as the idea of Shiva himself.

 

 

http://www.indiaprofile.com/religion-culture/shiva.htm

[Guest guest]

I believe there was a proto-Shivian figure who is the common root of

Rudra, Shiva, Pashupati and the protoCeltic horned god Cernunnos. I

am sure of this because both Shiva and Cernunnos are stag gods ... by

which tail there hangs another story, about the sacred golden

Lingum...

 

Om Namah Shivai,

 

mega6

 

 

 

, "thegoddessisinme2002"

<ashwini_puralasamy> wrote:

> ladyeolus

>

> I meant to ask who is shiva???????

>

> dineshbhatt

>

> Lord Shiva - The Dancer Who Recreates

>

> None gave him birth, He knows no Lord. None rules Him in the world,

> nor yet controls. No features mark Him out, yet cause He is. Prime

> cause of that which steers, the senses five, the soul within."

> Shvetashvattara Upanishad. Shiva! The name, the word itself seems

to

> come with so much aplomb to the Hindu mind. Images flood the

> mind'

> eye. The savage one; The handsome one. The fierce one; The ardent

> lover of Parvati. One who wears snakes for ornaments; One who

holds

> the Ganges on his head. One who destroys; One who dances. Wearer

of

> leopard skin; Wielder of cymbals. One with long matted hair; One

who

> wears the moon on his head! Worshipped in the form of a phallic

> symbol; Worshipped for the power of his third eye…

>

> I could go on endlessly. Abandon for a moment, if you can, the

truth

> that you are reading about a deity, a religious figure in the Hindu

> pantheon and look at Shiva for himself. Every time I encountered

him

> in the pages of one Purana (ancient text) or the other or in the

> stories of my grandmother, the came through as a wonderful majestic

> man, not polished and sophisticated like Vishnu, not ornamented and

> decorated as Vishnu, but a man whose every cell speaks, whose every

> moment makes the history of time. His characterization is so

cogent

> and integrated through texts over centuries found across the

length

> and breadth of India that it isamazing. It is real.

>

> If you wonder why that should be amazing, it is because

> historically, the story of Shiva is fragmented. Historians and

> indologists trace the beginnings of the idea of Shiva to very very

> early in history. He was the deity of the Harappa civilization. The

> bull inscribed on the coins of Harappa is in fact, they say,

symbolic

> of Shiva's mount. He was worshipped in the form of Pasupathi, the

> Lord of animals. Researchers even go as far as finding parallels

> between Sumerian civilization and their pantheon which has

> counterparts of Siva and the Lady of the Mountains, Parvati,

> Shiva's

> consort.

>

> So Shiva, going by the antiquity of his worship, must have been

> present long before creation. It is therefore they say that the

> Dravidian God is Shiva. He has always been Siva.

>

> Around the beginning of this millennium, it is said there was a

> revival of Saivism and the power of Shiva. By then the idea of

Shiva

> had built into the vedic texts too. He is identified with Rudra in

> the Rig Veda. Various texts give different versions of his creation

> and each one they say is symbolic of his many facets. He, Shiva, is

> the one who has conquered time, for He destroys and re-creates. He,

> Shiva, is white in colour for white stands for justice in acts of

> annihilation. He, Shiva, is the one who has conquered death and

> historically his resurgence from the Pre-Aryan period to the

present

> day obsession is one way of looking at it.

>

> The Rig Vedic story begins with the Gods watching an incest about

to

> take place. The father of creation is desirous of his own daughter.

> At that time, the gods chant the sacred word. The power of the

sacred

> word. The power of the sacred word is immense. There appears before

> them an archer Sharva, the raudra (the angry one). The archer aimed

> and shot, putting a stop to the act. Time and with it the universe

> had been set into motion with the flight of the arrow in Space.

>

> There, the passionate father was still in pursuit of his daughter.

> The gods hung their heads in shame while the hunter let out a wild

> cry. There he got his name Rudra where rud means to cry. To

appease

> him the father gave him the kingdom of animals. "Be Pasupathi,

> the

> lord of animals," he said. But Pasupathi, in his new form was

> still

> with single purpose. He shot another arrow and the seed of the

father

> flowed down on earth and all creation sprung.

>

> Another story says the Lord of all beings was a householder and of

is

> wife Usha was born a child. The child kept crying so the father

> questioned him as to why he cried. He said he cried for the want of

a

> name. The father was quick to name him if that could bring some

quiet

> and he was called Rudra, from the rot word rud which means, to cry.

>

> The Linga Purana has yet another version to relate. According to

> this story, Brahma, the creator had five mind-born sons. Many

fathers

> may be able to sympathize with Brahma, for the father of creation

too

> was dissatisfied with his sons. None of them showed any promise,

the

> typical progenitor felt. He contemplated on Siva for solution. Siva

> himself appeared and told him He was his son. Siva then assumed the

> ardhanareeswara form.

>

> The ardhanareeswara is yet another concept that Shiva stands for.

In

> this aspect he draws the feminine into his own self. He is half

man,

> half woman. A symbol of the Samkhya philosophy which talks of

> Purusha (the male energy) and Prakriti (the female energy together

> making the cosmic energy.

>

> As Ardhanareeswara, Shiva destroys the old, for in destruction

there

> is renewal, it cleanses and constructs anew. In this new

> construction, he is the Father of Brahma. And the cycle of time,

the

> process of recreation begin all over again.

>

> Shiva the auspicious one, is also known as Ashtamurti and here is

yet

> another myth that tells you of his manifestation thus. If the

number

> of stories on Shiva's birth are discomfiting, remember you are

> not

> the only one, there is a constant struggle to understand them by

many

> because our mind can think only of linear progress of time as

moving

> forward. But here many cycles seem to be described.

>

> Researchers also say, each birth, as we ourselves find now, is

> symbolic of one attribute of Shiva. The happening itself is not as

> important as the symbolism within it. In Hindu mythology, there

are

> many stories that switch the position of the primal creator

between

> the three most important deities: Brahma Vishnu and Shiva, the

triad,

> reaffirming as it were, the equal importance of creation,

> preservation and dissolution.

>

> Story goes Brahma sat in deep meditation holding all his vital

> energies and from the sound of Om that he held close to his heart,

> emerged Shiva He came out of Brahma's forehead. He stood before

> him

> as Ashtamurti that is displaying all his eight manifestations, He

was

> in fact the Vishwarupa or the universe for he had the heaven as his

> head, the quarters as ears, the sun, moon and fire as eyes, the sky

> as umbilicus, the winds blowing at his feet and was clothed in the

> oceans. He wore for ornaments the constellations. In this version

is

> the beginning and the end. He is all.

>

> The description of his eyes as fire bring another mythological

> association where Siva is held almost synonymous with Agni or fire.

> He is the Trinetra or the one with three eyes, the third eye being

> all fire.

>

> In successive kalpas, or age, Shiva donned five roles. The five-

form

> concept later took shape as the Panchamukha Shiva or Five faced

Shiva

> with each face given a direction – the dimension of space had

> thus

> been added to the dimension of time. As Sadyojata he faced East,

as

> tatpurusha he faced north, as Aghora he faced west and as Ishana he

> faced south. As Sadesiva (Eternal Shiva) he was looked above;

> symbolic of him being above all space. In the Linga Purana, Vishnu

> described Sabasiva as a pillar where the Ishana was the crown,

> Tatpurusha, the face, Aghora the heart and Vamadeva his sex organ

> and Sadyojata as his feet. The metaphor had been gathered into a

> manageable symbol and while many other stories exist for the

worship

> of the phallic symbol of Shiva, this was the

> beginning.

>

> A story is told located at the legendary ashram of Daruvana. Today

> some say it is the same place as where the Jageswar temple in

Almora

> stands on the lower Himalayas. Here, some sages were engaged in

> penance. To test their dedication, Shiva began dancing in the

> forests. The wives of the sages who had gone to collect firewood

> remained transfixed. At sundown when the sages cam in search of

their

> wives and caught sight of a man dancing to the joy of their wives,

> they cursed him, not knowing he was Shiva himself. By the curse,

his

> penis fell to the ground and rose with the brilliance of fire in

both

> directions. The earth trembled and Vishnu and Brahma came to look

for

> solutions.

>

> They each went south and north respectively in search of its end,

but

> could not find it; symbolizing both infinity in space and eternity

> in time. Shiva was then accepted as Supreme by both Brahma and

Vishnu

> and he withdrew.

>

> Being of the same rank, there are many stories on the quarrels and

> disputes between Shiva and Vishnu, their assertion of superiority

one

> over another is a debate even today amongst their followers!)

>

> Shiva married twice, once the granddaughter of Brahma, named Sati

and

> then Sati again when she was reborn as Parvati, the daughter of the

> King of the Himalayas, Daksha. He had two sons, Ganesa and

Kartikeya.

>

> One of the derivations of the word Rudra denotes running and

constant

> movement, the pulsation of life, its steps. Therefore Shiva is

also

> perceived as the Cosmic dancer, Nataraja. The magnificent Nataraja

> who dances though life has won many a hearts and imaginations. Many

> temples have been built to the Lord Nataraja across Kanakasabha

> (golden hall) at the temple of Chidambaram.

>

> Of Shiva, one can not write and stop. There are sixty-four lilas

or

> sports in which he is said to have partaken and infinite stories

from

> his tumultuous marriage to his drinking of the poison during the

> famous incident in Hindu mythology of the churning of the ocean.

>

> Through all the myths Shiva emerges the same, powerful, impulsive,

> angry, frightening, charming, one who holds the damru (drum) either

> sides of which makes our night and day and one whose ankle bells

are

> the source of all sound. To write on Shiva is as continuous a

process

> as the idea of Shiva himself.

>

>

> http://www.indiaprofile.com/religion-culture/shiva.htm