Vageesh Express

Deity of the Month – Siva

This is the last of the articles under the title ‘Deity of the month’ and the third one about Siva. He is the greatest of all Devas and hence called Mahadeva. He exists in both ionic (as Nataraja) and aniconic (Sivalingam) form. He is also described without birth (anaadi) and without death (anantha). That means he always exists and will exist. Hence, saint Manickavasakar says he is the most modern of all the things that are modern and oldest of all things that are old.

Siva is also a study in contrasts. He has long matted hair (Jata) indicating that he is a hermit. At the same time, he is also a family man with wife and two children. He is neither man nor woman; he is both. He is a powerhouse of energy always in motion although being Siva means being without any motion, thought or even realizing the ego. He is the angriest deity known to Hindu religion; at the same time is the personification of love and calm. He gives anything and everything to anybody who does penance (tapas) towards him, however, he is begging for food with a skull for a vessel. He is beyond all sins; yet afflicted by Brahma hathi dosha since he killed Brahma once. All learned men want his company for knowledge and truth; however, Bhutha Ganas, who are terrifying in nature, surround him. He is the king of dance, at the same time he dances in smashana bhoomi (place of cremation) with his Bhutha Ganas in the middle of the night. He is most handsome of all gods (hence the name Sundareswarar), still he applies ash from corpses all over his body, has untended matted locks, wears tiger and elephant skins for clothing and live snakes for jewelery. He is the doer of anything and everything; however, he cannot even realize he is Siva without Sakthi’s presence.

How it is possible to be a study in contrast? Siva encompasses everything; therefore, all contrasts lie within Him. Devotees see what they want to see in him according to their spiritual development. When we grow spiritually, we see that Siva is everywhere and He created everything. Then we begin to love everyone and everything as Siva. Satya Saibaba also stresses the same by his famous words, ‘Love all, and serve all’. Jesus also stresses love and forgiveness in his preaching. In a way, all beings in higher plane of spirituality conclude that Siva is love in whatever way they name Siva. Saint Manickavasagar also praises Siva in the same spirit that ‘let us praise the one who does not have even one name with a thousand names”.

Many wise men tried to define who Siva is. Saint Manickavasagar defines him in his ‘Siva Puranam’ as ‘you do not have a beginning, any measurement, and end.’ Why is Siva considered eternal? If Brahma, the creator has a beginning (birth), and an end, then somebody else created Brahma. Hence, there is a higher or supreme soul (paramathma) than Brahma. Hence, any soul that has a beginning and end cannot be a supreme god. He is the creator of Vedas from which all creation started. Therefore, Siva can have no beginning or end which makes him eternal.

We all evolve and reach a higher plane of existence. We start life as a helpless child and evolve ourselves to youth, middle-aged person and old person. The same way life needs to evolve going through the cycle of birth and death until we mature enough to merge or become one with Siva. Until that time, we can ask him anything and everything to attain spiritual growth. He is the most generous giver of boons. Devas, Asuras, Rakshasas and humans have obtained boons from Siva. For example, Ravana obtained such boons from Siva that every deva served him until Rama annihilated him. Lord Rama prayed to Siva to remove his Brahmahathi dosha of killing Ravana. Arjuna even fought with Siva (in the form of a hunter) to obtain pashupathastra to win the Mahabharata war. Chamakam in Sri Rudram describes what we can ask from Siva.

Siva has temples from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in India and all over the world. The oldest sect of Hinduism is Saivism. Each interpretation of Saivism like Saiva Siddhantham, Kashmiri Saivism, and Vira Saivism stand on their own.

Let us worship Siva and pray that this be our last birth and we merge and become one with him and be released from the cycle of birth and death.

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