Shiva
Shiva (in Sanskrit,;の;; Śiva 
(hearing)literally “The Auspicious”), also known as Mahadeva (in Sanskrit: أعربية:, romanized:Mahādevaḥ, lit.'The Great God' or HaraIt is one of the main deities of Hinduism. It is the Supreme Being of shivaism, one of the main traditions within Hinduism.
Shiva is known as "The Destroyer" within the trimurti (Hindu trinity), in which he represents the role of the god who destroys the universe, and later renews it, along with Brahmá (Creator God) and Vishnu (Preserver God).). In the Shivaite tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates, protects and transforms the universe. In the Shakta tradition, centered on female deities, the Supreme Goddess (Devi) is considered the creative energy and power (Shakti) and the equal and complementary partner of Shiva. Shiva is one of the five equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism.
Shiva has many aspects, both benevolent and fearsome. In his benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an all-knowing yogi leading an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, as well as the head of a family with his wife Parvati and his three sons Ganesha, Karttikeya and Ashokasundari. At his fiercest side, he is often depicted as killing demons. Shiva is also known as Adiyogi Shiva, considered the patron god of yoga, meditation, and the arts.
Shiva's iconographic attributes are the serpent around his neck, the crescent moon that adorns it, the holy river Ganges flowing from his matted hair, the third eye on his forehead (the eye that turns all that is before it when opened), the trishula or trident as a weapon, and the damaru drum. He is usually venerated in the aniconic form of a lingam.
Shiva has pre-Vedic roots, and his figure evolved as an amalgamation of several older Vedic and non-Vedic deities, including the Rigvedic storm god Rudra, who may also have non-Vedic origins, in a single chief deity. Shiva is a pan-Hindu deity, widely revered by Hindus in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia (especially Java and Bali).
Name
- śivain the AITS system (the international alphabet of Sanskrit transliteration).
- .. (single nominative case), in devanagari writing of the Sanskrit.
- Pronunciation in classic Sanskrit:
- According to AFI (international phonetic alphabet)[chuckles]required]
- [shiva] in Roman letters
- Pronunciation in Procritus:
- [vava] or [,v], according to AFI (international phonetic alphabet)[chuckles]required]
- [shiva] or [shív] in Roman letters
- Etymology: auspicious, favorable, kind, tender, benign, benevolent, friendly.
- In the Rigveda (India's oldest text, from the middle of the second millennium to C.) did not exist the Shiva character. The word shivam it was used only as adjective (’almostly, tenderly’)
Description
Shiva is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of a lingam ('phallus').
Described as an all-knowing yogi living an ascetic life on Mount Kailash, he is also depicted as a homeowner with his wife Parvati, and two children, Ganesha and Kartikeia. Shiva has many benevolent as well as fearful ways. He is often pictured as immersed in deep meditation, with his wife and children or also as the Natarash (the & # 39; king of dance or dance)
Position within Hinduism
Shivaism
In Shaivism (or Saiva or Saivite religion) the main deity is Shiva-Rudra, and in which Brahmá and Vishnu are considered minor gods.
In the oldest Vedic religion, the only destructive deity was Rudra ('terrible'), but later in Hinduism it became customary to give that god the euphemistic name of Shiva, 'auspicious' (as in Greece to the Furies ended up calling them Eumenides, 'the Benevolent').
In his capacity as destroyer, he is sometimes called Kāla ('black'), and is then identified as the representation of time, although his active destructive function is then assigned to his wife under Kali's name.
The supreme representation of Shivá, related to the origin of the universe and as the representation of the ultimate reality (the universal heart), is known as Paramashiva.
As a deity of reproduction (concomitant with destruction), Shiva's symbol is a stone or marble monolith called a lingam.
Originally there were twelve shiva-lingas, the best known being Somanatha (in Gujarat), Maja-Kala (in Uyain) and Shiva or Viswéswara (in Benares). At the end of the 19th century, there were an estimated 30 million lingas in India.
Shiva has three eyes, one of which is in the middle of his forehead (mainly denoting his ability to be immersed in the spiritual plane and his realization as the first yogi; furthermore, the three eyes perhaps also represent the three divisions of the time: past, present and future), his skin is grayish blue (covered with ashes).
A crescent moon located on his forehead represents the division of time into months, a snake around his neck represents the division into years and a necklace of skulls represents the successive extinction and generation of the races of humanity.
It is believed that when materialism and mental constructions in man stifle subtle perceptions, Shiva can teach the three sources of knowledge and realization:
- samkhia: the cosmology that explains the structure of the world.
- yoga: the domain of subtle man through introspection.
- so.: icy and magical rituals and practices through which man can come into contact with the secret nature of things. It's the link between the sā skhya and yoga.
Visnuism
Vaishnava (Vishnu-oriented) literature acknowledges and discusses Shiva. Like Shaiva literature, which presents Shiva as supreme, Vaishnava literature presents Vishnu as supreme. However, both traditions are pluralistic, revering both Shiva and Vishnu (along with Devi). Their texts do not show exclusivism, and Vaishnava texts like the Bhagavata Purana while praising Krishna as the Ultimate Reality, also present Shiva and Shakti as a personalized and equivalent form of the Ultimate Reality itself. The texts of the Shaivist tradition equally praise Vishnu. The Skanda Purana, for example, states:
Vishnu is none other than Shiva, and he who is called Shiva is but identical to Vishnu. - Skanda Purana, 1.8.20-21
Both traditions include legends about who is superior, about Shiva paying homage to Vishnu or Vishnu paying homage to Shiva. However, in texts and artworks of both traditions, mutual greetings are a symbolism of complementarity. The Mahabharata declares that the immutable Ultimate Reality (Brahman) is identical with Shiva and Vishnu, that Vishnu is the highest manifestation of Shiva or that Shiva is the highest manifestation of Vishnu.
Shaktism
The Goddess-centered Shakti tradition of Hinduism is based on the premise that the Supreme Principle and Ultimate Reality called Brahman is female (Devi), but treats the male as her equal and complementary partner. This couple is Shiva.
The earliest evidence of the tradition of reverence for the feminine in the Rudra-Shiva context is found in the Hindu scripture Rigveda, in a hymn called Devi Sukta..
The Devi Upanishad, in its explanation of the theology of Shaktism, mentions and praises Shiva as in its 19th verse. Shiva, along with Vishnu, is a revered god in the Devi Mahatmya, a Shaktism text considered by tradition as important as the Bhagavad Gita.The concept of Ardhanarisvara mixes the god Shiva and the goddess Shakti by presenting an icon that is half man and half woman, a representation and a theme of union found in many Hindu texts and temples.
Main myths of Shiva
When the gods churned the ocean of milk to generate the nectar that would make them immortal, the first thing produced was poison, which could destroy the world. Shiva drank it to save all beings in the world, so his throat turned blue and he was called Nila Kantha ('blue neck'), and he was also called Loka Naiaki (savior of the world).
He is the creator of Virabhadra, an extremely fierce and fearsome form of the Hindu god Shiva, created out of Shiva's anger after Sati—daughter of Daksa and consort of Shiva—immolated herself in the fire of the yajna (fire sacrifice). performed by Daksha.
His servants are called pramathas ('tormentors') and are considered supernatural beings, who form troops (gana), whose leader is the son of Shiva: Ganesha ('lord of the troops') or Ganapati ('leader of the troops'), depicted as a plump boy with the head of an elephant.
Family
His wife Sati is the object of worship of the Shaktas and Tantrics. She goes by many names:
- Dakshayani: ‘Daksha’ daughter
- Durga: ‘carcel’ (literally dur-gā“hard to escape.”
- Kali: ‘negra’
- Gauri: ‘round’
- Uma: ‘lino’ (o Ow!which in Sanskrit means ‘uh, no [hagas austeridades]!’
- Bhavani.
When her father Daksha insulted her absent husband at a religious festival, Sati committed suicide.
Shiva remarried Parvati ('of Mount Parvata'), saying that she was the reincarnation of Sati. He has three children:
- Ayappa (generated with the goddess Mojini, who is a feminine incarnation of the man god Visnu), after the death of the demon Bhaumasura.
- Kārtikeyan or Skanda.
- Ganesha.
Shiva is also worshiped as a great ascetic. There is a myth that on one occasion he burned with his third eye Kama ('erotic desire', the Kamasutras being his aphorisms), the winged god of love, who ―while Shiva was engaged in a severe meditation—he had shot his arrows of flowers to make him fall in love with who would end up being his second wife, Parvati. Since then, Kámadeva has been known as An-anga ('formless', incorporeal).
Shivaist scriptures say that with the fiery gaze of his third eye he burns the universe, including Brahma and Vishnu, and smears their dead ashes all over his body. That is why the worshipers of Shiva cover themselves with ashes. They also use seed beads of rudrāksha ('Rudra's eyes'), which they say arose from tears falling from the eyes of Shiva or Rudra, when he was going to destroy Tripura (the 'three cities' of the asuras or demons).
Current residence
Shiva's heavenly residence, according to Hindus, is located on Mount Kailash, northwest China.
Other names for Shiva
In chapter 69 of the Shiva Purana and in chapter 17 of the Anushasana Parva of the Mahābhārata, 1008 names of Shiva are named, the best known being:
- Hara: ‘destructor’
- śa: ‘sir’
- śvara: ‘The Best Lord’
- Kedaranath: ‘Kedara King’
- Mahādeva: ‘gran-gods’
- Mahéshvara: ‘The Greatest Lord’
- Rudra: ‘terrible’
- Samba
- Śambhú: ‘dador of happiness’
- Śankara: ‘cause of happiness’
Artifacts and attributes of Shiva
In one of his four hands he holds a tri-shula or trident. Shaivists believe it denotes his combination of the three attributes of Creator, Destroyer and Regenerator. He also holds a small damaru (hourglass-shaped) drum.
She has several snakes coiled around her arms, her hair is tangled in several clumps on her head and forms a pointed bun on her forehead. Above this hole you can see the rebound and materialization of the Ganges river (mother Ganga, 'the Quick' or literally ga-n-gā 'goes and goes'), whom he intercepts in his eternal invisible fall from the sky (in Gangotri, a glacier of the Hima-alaya mountains or 'abode of ice') to prevent him from sinking the Earth by his force.
- The third eye: Shiva's third eye on his forehead is the eye of wisdom, known as bindi. It is the eye that sees beyond the obvious. Consequently, Shiva is known as Tri-netri-īshwara (‘Mister of the Three Eyes’). Shiva's third eye is commonly associated with its wild energy that destroys evildoers and sins.
- The cobra necklace: the god Shiva is beyond the powers of death. Ingested the poison kalketu for the welfare of the universe. To avoid being hurt by this poison, it is said that his Parvati consort tied a cobra to his neck. This kept the poison in her throat and therefore turned it blue. Hence his name Nīla-kantha (‘blue throat’). The dangerous charge represents death, which Shiva has conquered completely. Shiva is also known as Nageśwara (‘sir of snakes’). The cobras around her neck also represent the dormant and already-conscious energy, Kundalinī.
- Half moonShiva bears the moon on her forehead on her fifth day (panchami). It is located near the third eye and demonstrates the power of the Soma (the sacrificial offering, which represents the Moon). It means that Shiva possesses the power of procreation along with the power of destruction. The Moon is also a measure of time, therefore it also represents its control over time. Shiva is then known by the names of Somasundara (Soma: ‘gods of the Moon’; súndara: ‘beautiful’) and Chandrashekara (chandra: ‘luna’; śekhara: ‘corona’). Refers also to the symbol of its mount, a bull.
- Small hair (jata): the wave of his hair represents him as the god of the wind, or Vaiu, which is the subtle form of breath present in all living forms. Therefore, it is Shiva as the vital line of all living beings. This is Pashupatinath.
- The river Ganges: the sacred river flows from Shiva's hair. King BhaguiRatha asked Mother Ganga to come down on this planet to purify their sins and those of humans. The god Shiva offered his tangled hair to stop his fall from the heavenly planets. The flow of water is one of the five elements that make up the universe and from which the Earth is born. The Ganges also represents fertility and the creative aspect of Rudra.
- The drum: the sound of Ladyru in the hand of Shiva is the origin of the universal word that gives origin to all language and expression.
- Vibhuti: it is the three ash lines drawn on the forehead and represents the essence of our being, which remains even after the Bad. (prints of ignorance, ego and action) and Basque (gusts and disgusts, attachment to the body, to the world, to fame, worldly entertainments, etc.) have been burned in the fire of knowledge. The vibhuti is revered as the form of Shiva and symbolizes the immortality of the soul and the manifest glory of the god.
- Ceniza: Shiva covers her body with bhasma (beginning cream) which points to the philosophy of life and death and the fact that death is the ultimate reality of life.
- Tiger skin: the tiger is the vehicle of Shakti, the goddess of power and strength. Shiva is beyond and above any kind of force. He's the lord of Śakti. Tiger skin symbolizes victory over all strength. Sitting on it, Shiva teaches that she has conquered desire.
- The Elephant and the Skin: Shiva also dresses with the skin of an elephant. The elephants symbolize pride. Dressing your skin symbolizes the conquest of pride. Similarly, the deer symbolizes the jumping of the mind, its blinking. Visting the skin of the deer symbolizes that has controlled the mind to perfection.
- Rudraksa: Shiva dresses bands on her wooden dolls rudraksha (‘ojos de Rudra’), to which medicinal powers are attributed.
- The trident: the trishula symbolizes the three functions of the triad: creation, maintenance and destruction. The trident in Shiva's hand indicates that all three aspects are under its control. It is said that the ancient city of Kashi (now Benarés), remains just above the Trishul. As a weapon the trident represents the instrument of punishment of the malefactor on the three planes: spiritual, mental and physical. Another interpretation of the trident is that it represents the past, the present and the future. The trident in Rudra's hand indicates his control over time.
Other forms and traditions
The writer Adi Shankara (788-820) interprets Shiva's name as 'pure' or 'one who purifies all by mentioning his name'. That is, Shiva is not affected by the three gunas (characteristics) of prakriti (matter): sattva (goodness), stripes (passion) and tamas (darkness).
In addition, Shiva also means 'favourable' or 'good'. He is frequently depicted as the husband of Uma or Parvati. In the process of manifestation, Shiva is the primitive consciousness and creates the other members of the trimurti. He is symbolized by the wisdom of the serpent. He has many other names, for example, Shankara ('prosperator') and Mahadeva ('great god').
Shiva gave his ax (paraśu) to Parashurama, avatar of Vishnu and disciple of Dattatreya (combined incarnation of Brahmá, Vishnu and Shiva). Shiva's great bow is called Pinaka and therefore he is called Pinaki. Most depictions of Shiva show the Trident, another of his weapons, in the background. He is also known to have given Pandava Arjuna the divine weapon Pashupata, on the condition that he only use it against someone of equal strength or else the weapon would destroy the mortal realm.
According to worshipers of the goddess Kali, she was born when Shiva looked within himself. She is considered to be the reflection of him, the divine Adi-shakti or primordial energy while he is the Supreme Lord without form, time and space.
In another version, Kali went to destroy the asuras that were attacking Suarga, but he became enraged and destroyed them in such a way that he endangered the natural balance between good and evil that creation allows.. To calm her down, Shiva lay down on the ground in her wake. When she stepped on it, she looked at him and realized who she had stepped on, noticing her actions and, embarrassed by her actions, she bit her tongue.
As Natarásh ('king of the dance') in Hindu cosmology, Shiva symbolizes the dance of the universe, with all its celestial bodies and natural laws complementing and balancing each other. Sometimes, he is also symbolized doing his dance of destruction, tandava , at the time of pralaia (dissolution of the universe, at the end of each kalpa ).
Some Hindus, especially the smarta (followers of the smriti regulations), believe that Shiva is one of many forms of the atman or the Brahman, while the Vishnuists see it as an emanated form of Vishnu; instead the shivaists see him as the main deity and the true God from which all other deities and main emanated. This view is usually related to the bhakti (devotional) groups of Shaivism.
Although defined as the destroyer in his Rudra aspect, Shiva is the most benevolent god. One of his names is Ashutosh, the one who is easy to please ( āśu : 'quick'; tosha : 'satisfaction'). His devotees believe that Lord Shiva can give many blessings (both material and spiritual) for little.
Shiva is the ultimate reality of happiness and ecstasy and everything is completed in him. Shiva is beyond description, manifestation, limitation of form, time or space. He is eternal, infinite and ever-abiding, all-knowing and omnipotent.
According to the Puranas that glorify him above other gods, Shiva is the god that Rama (incarnation of Vishnu) worshiped in Rameswaram. Also the god Krisna (incarnation of Vishnu) worshiped him to have a son who was an invincible warrior. The good god Shiva answered Krisna's prayers and blessed him with a son. Krisna named this son Samba, after Shiva.
Another incarnation of Shiva is the wrathful sage Durvasa.
Worship of Shiva outside of Hinduism
Shinto
In Japan, where many Hindu deities are worshiped because of the relationship between these two nations, Shiva is known as Shiba and Daikoku (meaning 'black', for lord Shiva is covered by ashes from cremated corpses and is called Kala or Kali).
Avatars of Shiva
- Agastia. Some propose that this rishi (wise) Vedic was an incarnation of Mr. Shiva. It is said that this rishi began the veneration of Shiva in southern India.
- Agni. In the Majabharata Mr. Agni is said to be an avatar of Shiva.
- Ardhanaríshwara: ‘mitad Shiva, half Parvati’ ardha: ‘mit’, narī: ‘woman’, female Nara ‘Man’; īshuara: ‘sir’), combined incarnation of husbands.
- Asta Murti: ‘that has eight forms’
- Bhairava: another form similar to the Kali de Durga.
- Durvasa, a mythical celibate and colric sage, who declared that he could not control his anger because it was an incarnation of the raging Rudra.
- Indra. It is said that Mr. Shiva is the same Indra. The Pauravas are heroes of Rig-veda (the oldest text of India, from the mid-second millennium to the C.) and his master was Indra. In the Rig-vedaMr. Indra calls himself Shiva on many occasions (2.20.3, 6.45.17, 8.93.3). Both are gods related to the soma psychotropic plant.
- Jánuman. In the Jánuman-chalisa and in Shiva-purana It is said that Śrī Jánuman (the anthropoid devotee of Lord Rama) is a Shiva incarnation.
- Lingam: Mr. Shiva is venerated in the form of Shivling (Shiva's phase) because he is a yogi that denies his body and sexuality.[chuckles]required] The Purus symbol was this phallus.
- Shankar (788-820): teacher who started the vedanta doctrine (one of the six dárshanas) and restored brahmanism, against Buddhist pacifism. In several texts he declared to be a Shiva incarnation (this form of self-propagand is still used in India today). Though Shankar believed in nighna Brahman (God without any attribute), yet worshiped Shiva.
- Subrahmanya (marginसのの a。), which means ‘the one who is favorable to the priests’, being his: ‘very’; and brahmanya: ‘friend with the brahmans’.
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