ardhanArIshvarar

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ardhanArIshvarar

shlokam:

In the form of male and female, matted hair with moon, axe, smeared in

red (aruNa), wearing snakes and the skin of tiger, embracing the bull

and with a bent leg, this the right half, and the left black in

color, hand holding a (lily) flower close to the chest, with a silk

like lotus foot, wearing gold ornaments, salutations to the Half

female God. purANa of the deity

ardha nAri Ishvarar : half female God (bhOga mUrti) Sage bR^ingi is

one of the ardent devotees of Lord shiva. He used to worship only

Lord shiva and not shakti. Goddess shakti, being the power as the

name indicate, pulled out the energy from bR^ingi mahaR^ishi's body.

Now he was even unable to stand. He pleaded to God. God shiva

provided him with a stick. On its support he stood and still

worshipped Lord shiva alone. Goddess shakti wanted to become an

inseparable part of Lord shiva's form. She oberved the kEdhAra mahA

vrata (1) austerity, which is now known as deepAvaLi. Pleased with

her austerity, Lord shiva granted her the boon of being part of His

form. So the Lord now appeared male on the right side and female on

the left side and hence became archanArIshvara. Significance of this

form

This is one of the very important form of God, Hindus worship. This is

a much-hailed form in scriptures of various languages. Hindus do not

say that the God is only male. God is male - female and neuter too !

Since God is conceptually beyond sex, though gets referred as He/She

many times, it is more appropriate to refer as It, especially at Its

intrinsic condition, as do many hindu scriptures. Philosophically,

this form is quite associated with the Grace of God. shiva and shakti

are one and the same Supreme. The formless God is called parashiva. On

Its own free-will for the benefit of pashus (souls), which are drowned

in pAsha (bondage), It thinks to create the worlds. Its dynamism of

creation thus springs out of It, which is called shakti. Now shiva

and Its power shakti create everything. This is the form of their

togetherness that springs out of Lord shiva. Because of this the form

is associated with the grace of God. shiva and shakti though the same

may also act independently. They are associated like the person and

the action of the person. They are one and the same like the ice and

the water - one becomes the other. For this reason scriptures

describe that shakti to shiva is a wife (they are together), mother

(shakti becomes shiva - so shiva comes out of shakti) and daughter

(shiva become shakti). Poet kAlidAsa hails them as inseparable

like the word and its meaning, the letter and pronunciation !!

http://siddhanta.shaivam.org//maardh.html

 

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