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Shiva
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- "Siva" redirects here. For the bird, see Blue-winged Siva.
Shiva: (pronunciation: ; Sanskrit: ???, , lit. "Auspicious one" ) is a major Hindu god, and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is one of the five primary forms of God.
Followers of Hinduism who focus their worship upon Shiva are called Shaivites or Shaivas (Sanskrit ).
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- "Siva" redirects here. For the bird, see Blue-winged Siva.
Shiva: (pronunciation: ; Sanskrit: ???, , lit. "Auspicious one" ) is a major Hindu god, and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is one of the five primary forms of God.
Followers of Hinduism who focus their worship upon Shiva are called Shaivites or Shaivas (Sanskrit ). Shaivism, along with traditions that focus on Vishnu, and traditions that focus on the goddess are three of the most influential denominations in Hinduism.
Shiva is usually worshipped in the form of Shiva linga. In images, he is generally represented as immersed in deep meditation or dancing the Tandava upon Maya, the demon of ignorance in his manifestation of Nataraja, the lord of the dance.
In some other Hindu denominations, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva represent the three primary aspects of the divine in Hinduism and are collectively known as the Trimurti. In this school of religious thought, Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva is the destroyer or transformer.
Etymology and other names
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The Sanskrit word Shiva (Devanagari: , ) is an adjective meaning auspicious, kind, gracious. As a proper name it means "The Auspicious One", used as a euphemistic name for Rudra. In simple English transliteration it is written either as Shiva or Siva. Pronunciation is written in the International Phonetic Alphabet as . The adjective meaning "auspicious" is used as an attributive epithet not particularly of Rudra, but of several other Vedic deities. In the Rig Veda, Indra uses this word to describe himself several times. (2:20:3, 6:45:17, 8:93:3)
In Tamil, Shiva literally means "the supreme one". Tamil "Siva" means Red. Adi Sankara in his interpretation of the name Shiva, the 27th and 600th name of Vishnu sahasranama interprets Shiva to mean either "The Pure One", the One who is not affected by three Gunas of Prakrti, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas or "the One who purifies everyone by the very utterance of His name." Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu sahasranama further elaborates on that verse: Shiva means the One who is eternally pure, or the One who can never have any contamination of the imperfection of Rajas and Tamas
The Sanskrit word means "relating to the God Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism, and for a member of one of those sects. It is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism.
The name Shiva, in one interpretation, is also said to have derived from the Dravidian word “Siva” meaning “to be red”. It is the equivalent of Rudra, “the red” RigVeda.
Siva's role as the primary deity of Shaivism is reflected in his epithets ("great god"; = great + deva = god), ("great lord"; = great + = lord), and ("Supreme Lord").
There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 of the Mahabharata is considered the kernel of this tradition. Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Satarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.
Historical development
The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Some historians believe that the figure of Shiva as we know him today was built-up over time, with the ideas of many regional sects being amalgamated into a single figure. How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not well-documented. Axel Michaels explains the composite nature of Shaivism as follows:
Like , is also a high god, who gives his name to a collection of theistic trends and sects: . Like , the term also implies a unity which cannot be clearly found either in religious practice or in philosophical and esoteric doctrine. Furthermore, practice and doctrine must be kept separate.
An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes. The foremost center of worship of Khandoba in Maharashtra is in Jejuri. Khandoba has been assimilated both as a name for Karttikya and also as a form of Shiva himself in which case he is worshipped in the form of a lingam. Khandoba's varied associations also include an indentification with Surya. The derivation of the name Khandoba has been variously interpreted, and M. S. Mate says that the most commonly-held belief is that it was a distorted form of Skanda, but also notes alternate theories.
The Pashupati seal
A seal discovered during the excavation of Mohenjo-daro has drawn attention as a possible representation of a "proto-Shiva" figure. This "Pashupati" (Lord of animal-like beings) seal shows a seated figure, possibly ithyphallic, surrounded by animals. Sir John Marshall and others have claimed that this figure is a prototype of Shiva, and have described the figure as having three faces, seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined. However, this claim is not without its share of critics with some academics like Gavin Flood and John Keay characterizing them as unfounded.
Rudra
Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in a number of Hindu traditions. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.
The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda, which is dated to between 1700–1100 BCE based on linguistic and philological evidence. A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33 he is described as the "Father of the Maruts", a group of storm gods. Furthermore, the Rudram, one of the most sacred hymns of Hinduism found both in the Rig and the Yajur Vedas, and addressed to Rudra, invokes him as Shiva in several instances. But the term Shiva is used as a epithet for Indra, Mitra and Agni many times.
The identification of Shiva with the older god Rudra is not universally accepted, as Axel Michaels explains:
To what extent 's origins are in fact to be sought in Rudra is extremely unclear. The tendency to consider an ancient god is based on this identification, even though the facts that justify such a far-reaching assumption are meager.
Rudra is called "The Archer" (Sanskrit: ) and the arrow is an essential attribute of Rudra. This name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, and R. K. Sharma notes that it is used as a name of Shiva often in later languages. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root - which means "to injure" or "to kill" and Sharma uses that general sense in his interpretive translation of the name as "One who can kill the forces of darkness". The names ("Bowman") and ("Archer", literally "Armed with arrows in his hands") also refer to archery.
Identification with Vedic deities
Shiva's rise to a major position in the pantheon was facilitated by his identification with a host of Vedic deities, including Agni, Indra, , , and others.
Agni
Rudra and Agni have a close relationship. The identification between Agni and Rudra in the Vedic literature was an important factor in the process of Rudra's gradual development into the later character as Rudra-Shiva. The identification of Agni with Rudra is explicitly noted in the Nirukta, an important early text on etymology, which says "Agni is called Rudra also". The interconnections between the two deities are complex, and according to Stella Kramrisch:
The fire myth of plays on the whole gamut of fire, valuing all its potentialities and phases, from conflagration to illumination.
In the Satarudria, some epithets of Rudra such as ("Of golden red hue as of flame") and ("Flaming bright") suggest a fusing of the two deities. Agni is said to be a bull and Lord Shiva possesses a bull as his vehicle, Nandi. The horns of Agni, who is sometimes characterized as a bull, are mentioned. In medieval sculpture both Agni and the form of Shiva known as Bhairava have flaming hair as a special feature.
Indra
The Indologist, Koenraad Elst proposes that Shiva of Puranic Hinduism is a continuation of the Vedic Indra. He gives several reasons for his hypothesis. Both Shiva and Indra are known for having a thirst for Soma. Both are associated with mountains, rivers, male fertility, fierceness, fearlessness, warfare, transgression of established mores, the Aum sound, the Supreme Self. In the Rig Veda the term is used to refer to Indra. (2.20.3, 6.45.17, and 8.93.3.)
Indra, like Shiva, is likened to a bull. In the Rig Veda, Rudra is the father of the Maruts, but he is never associated with their warlike exploits as is Indra. In the present form of Hinduism, Indra and Shiva are considered as distinct deities.
Attributes
 - Third Eye: Shiva is often depicted with a third eye with which he burned Desire to ashes. There has been controversy regarding the original meaning of Shiva's name Tryambakam (Sanskrit: ???????????), which occurs in many scriptural sources. In classical Sanskrit the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "Having Three Eyes". However, in Vedic Sanskrit the word or means "mother", and this early meaning of the word is the basis for the translation "Having Three Mothers" that was used by Max Müller and Arthur Macdonell. Since no story is known in which Shiva had three mothers, E. Washburn Hopkins suggested that the name refers not to three mothers, but to three Mother-goddesses who are collectively called the . Other related translations have been "having three wives or sisters", or based on the idea that the name actually refers to the oblations given to Rudra, which according to some traditions were shared with the goddess .
- Blue Throat: The epithet (Sanskrit ; nila = blue, = throat) refers to a story in which Shiva drank the poison churned up from the world ocean. (see: Halahala). The Hari Vansa Purana, on the other hand, attributes the colour of Shiva's throat to an episode in which Vishnu compels Shiva to fly, after taking him by the throat and nearly strangling him.
- Crescent Moon: Shiva bears on his head the crescent of the moon. The epithet (Sanskrit: "Having the moon as his crest" - chandra = Moon, = crest, crown) refers to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva. The origin of this linkage may be due to the identification of the moon with Soma, and there is a hymn in the Rig Veda where Soma and Rudra are jointly emplored, and in later literature Soma and Rudra came to be identified with one another, as were Soma and the Moon.
- Matted Hair: Shiva's distinctive hair style is noted in the epithets , "The One with matted hair" and Kapardin, "Endowed with matted hair" or "wearing his hair wound in a braid in a shell-like (kaparda) fashion". A kaparda is a cowrie shell, or a braid of hair in the form of a shell, or more generally hair that is shaggy or curly.
- Sacred Ganga: The Ganga river flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The epithet ("Bearer of the river ") refers to this feature. The Ganga (Ganges), one of the major rivers of the country, is said to have made her abode in Shiva's hair.
- Ashes: Shiva smears his body with ashes (bhasma). Some forms of Shiva, such as Bhairava, are associated with a very old Indian tradition of cremation-ground asceticism that was practiced by some groups who were outside the fold of brahmanic orthodoxy. These practices associated with cremation grounds are also mentioned in the Pali canon of Theravada Buddhism. One epithet for Shiva is "Inhabitant of the cremation ground" (Sanskrit: , also spelled Shmashanavasin) referring to this connection.
- Tiger skin: He is often shown seated upon a tiger skin, an honour reserved for the most accomplished of Hindu ascetics, the Brahmarishis.
- Serpents: Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake.
- Drum: A small drum shaped like an hourglass is known as a damaru (Sanskrit: ). This is one of the attributes of Shiva in his famous dancing representation known as Nataraja. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called (Sanskrit for "-hand") is used to hold the drum. This drum is particularly used as an emblem by members of the sect.
- : Nandi also known as Nandin, is the name of the bull that serves as Shiva's mount (Sanskrit: ). Shiva's association with cattle is reflected in his name or Pashupati (Sanskrit ??????), translated by Sharma as "Lord of cattle" and by Kramrisch as "Lord of Animals", who notes that it is particularly used as an epithet of Rudra.
- : The s (Devanagari: ) are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailash. They are often referred to as the Boothaganas, or ghostly hosts, on account of their nature. Generally benign, except when their Lord is transgressed against, they are often invoked to intercede with the Lord on behalf of the devotee. Ganesha was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence Ganesha's title or , "lord of the ".
- Mount : Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is his traditional abode. In Hindu mythology, Mount is conceived as resembling a Linga, representing the center of the universe.
- Varanasi: Varanasi (Benares) is considered as the city specially-loved by Shiva, and is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage in India. It is referred to, in religious contexts, as Kashi.
Forms and depictions
According to Gavin Flood, "Siva is a god of ambiguity and paradox", whose attributes include opposing themes. The ambivalent nature of this deity is apparent in some of his names and the stories told about him.
Destroyer versus benefactor
In the Yajurveda two contrary sets of attributes for both malignant or terrific (Sanskrit: ) and benign or auspicious (Sanskrit: ) forms can be found, leading Chakravarti to conclude that "all the basic elements which created the complex Rudra-Siva sect of later ages are to be found here." In the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as "the standard of invincibility, might, and terror", as well as a figure of honor, delight, and brilliance. The duality of Shiva's fearful and auspicious attributes appears in contrasted names.
The name Rudra (Sanskrit ?????) reflects his fearsome aspects. According to traditional etymologies, the Sanskrit name Rudra is derived from the root rud- which means "to cry, howl." Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means wild, of rudra nature, and translates the name Rudra as "the Wild One" or "the Fierce God". R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as "Terrible". Hara (Sanskrit ??) is an important name that occurs three times in the Anushasanaparvan version of the Shiva sahasranama, where it is translated in different ways each time it occurs, following a commentorial tradition of not repeating an interpretation. Sharma translates the three as "One who captivates", "One who consolidates", and "One who destroys." Kramrisch translates it as "The Ravisher". Another of Shiva's fearsome forms is as (Sanskrit: ), "Time", and as (Sanskrit: ), "Great Time", which ultimately destroys all things. Bhairava (Sanskrit: ), "Terrible" or "Frightful" is a fierce form associated with annihilation.
In contrast, the name (Sanskrit ?????), "Beneficent" or "Conferring Happiness" reflects his benign form. This name was adopted by the great Vedanta philosopher (c. 788-820 CE), who is also known as Shankaracharya. The name (Sanskrit: ), "Causing Happiness", also reflects this benign aspect.
Ascetic versus householder
He is depicted as both an ascetic yogin and as a householder, roles which are mutually exclusive in Hindu society. When depicted as a yogin he may be shown sitting and meditating. His epithet Mahayogin (The Great Yogi: = great, Yogin = one who practices Yoga) refers to his association with yoga. While Vedic religion was conceived mainly in terms of sacrifice, it was during the Epic period that concepts of tapas, yoga, and asceticism, became more important, and the depiction of Shiva as an ascetic sitting in philosophical isolation reflects these later concepts.
As a family man and householder he has a wife, Parvati (also known as ), and two sons, Ganesha and Skanda. His epithet ("The husband of ") refers to this idea, and Sharma notes that two other variants of this name that mean the same thing, and , also appear in the sahasranama. in epic literature is known by many names, including the benign . She is identified with Devi, the Divine Mother, and with Shakti (divine energy). As a householder he is known for the great love and respect he has for his consort.
Shiva and Parvati are believed to be the parents of Karthikeya and Ganesha. Karthikeya is worshipped in Southern India (especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka) by the names Subrahmanya, Subrahmanyan, Shanmughan, Swaminathan and Murugan, and in Northern India, is better known by the names Skanda, Kumara, or Karttikeya. The consorts of Lord Shiva are the source of his creative energy. They represent the dynamic extension of Shiva onto this universe
Nataraja
The depiction of Shiva as Nataraja (Sanskrit: , "Lord of Dance") is popular. The names Nartaka ("Dancer") and Nityanarta ("Eternal Dancer") appear in the Shiva Sahasranama. His association with dance and also with music is prominent in the Puranic period. In addition to the specific iconographic form known as Nataraja, various other types of dancing forms (Sanskrit: ) are found in all parts of India, with many well-defined varieties in Tamil Nadu (in southern India) in particular. The two most common forms of the dance are the Tandava—the powerful and masculine dance as Kala-Mahakala associated with the destruction of the world and Lasya—which is graceful and delicate and expresses emotions on a gentle level and is considered the feminine dance attributed to goddess Parvati. Lasya is regarded as the female counterpart of Tandava. The Tandava-Lasya dances are associated with the destruction-creation of the world.
Dakshinamurthy
Dakshinamurthy or (Sanskrit: ) literally describes a form () of Shiva facing south (). This form represents Shiva in his aspect as a teacher of yoga, music, and wisdom, and giving exposition on the shastras. This iconographic form for depicting Shiva in Indian art is mostly from Tamil Nadu. Elements of this motif can include Shiva seated upon a deer-throne and surrounded by sages who are receiving his instruction.
Mrutyunjaya
Literally translated as 'victor over death', this is an aspect of Shiva worshipped as the conqueror of Death as manifested in the Hindu lord of death, Yama. The particular legend in question deals with the sage Markandeya, who was fated to die at the age of sixteen. On account of the sage's worship and devotion to Shiva, the Lord vanquished Yama to liberate his devotee from death. Shiva is often worshipped as Mruthyunjaya by the aged or ill, to ward off death and mitigate its harshness when it does occur. He is worshipped as such at the temples of Thirupainyeeli, near Trichinopoly, and at a shrine in Thirukadaiyur, near Chidambaram.
Ardhanarishvara
An iconographic representation of Shiva called Ardhanarishvara shows him with one half of the body as male, and the other half as female. According to Ellen Goldberg, the traditional Sanskrit name for this form, () is best translated as "the lord who is half woman", and not as "half-man, half-woman". In Hindu philosophy, this is used to visualize the belief that the sacred ultimate power of the universe as being both feminine and masculine.
Tripurantaka
Lord Shiva is often depicted as an archer in the act of destroying the triple fortresses, Tripura, of the Asuras. Shiva's name Tripurantaka (Sanskrit: , ), "Ender of Tripura", refers to this important story.
Metaphysically, Tripura has been considered by many scholars to mean the three kinds of bodies of man viz. `Sthula sharira'- the external embodiment, `Sukshma sharira' - the intellectual corpus and `Karana sharira' - the consciousness or the soul. The Tripurantaka manifestation of the Lord destroys and extinguishes the tri-partite compartmentalisation of the being and merges all the three essential componenets of man into the supreme consciousness. The Lord as Tripurantaka destroys the veil of maya, agyaan(ignorance) and effects the unision of the indivdual soul with the supreme consciousness.
Lingam
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