Shiva (Hindu god)

Who is Shiva?

Shiva is one of the most important gods in Hinduism, capable of creating or destroying whatever he wishes because he is considered to dominate various supernatural forces in the cosmos.

The god Shiva represents universal destruction and transformation. His name derives from the Sanskrit Siva and means "the benevolent one". He is also known as the lord of destruction, the lord of beasts, god of chaos, god of mystery, god of nature, god of knowledge, Rudra, among others.

In the Hindu tradition, Shiva fulfills the function of the destroyer god in the Trimurti (three-forms) or Hindu Triad, composed of the gods Brahma and Vishnu. However, he also has the ability to recreate from death, which, understood from Hinduism, represents a change in the way of life and not non-existence as such.

As a destroying god, Shiva destroys everything that exists so that the new arises and life and the universe regenerate, therefore, he is also considered a creator god. In the field of spirituality, destruction is necessary to evolve, which is why he is also considered the most important yogi or god of yoga.

Likewise, Shiva is the revered god of Shivaism, one of the oldest and most influential beliefs of Hinduism.

Characteristics and attributes of Shiva

In Hinduism, Shiva is one of the most powerful gods for having the ability to create and destroy in order to achieve spiritual renewal and balance in the universe. Therefore, Shiva has various physical characteristics and attributes that differentiate him from other gods.

Characteristics (physical)

• His skin is represented as blue gricásea since he took the poison created to destroy all beings in the universe, whom he saved. It is nectar created by the gods to make themselves immortal.
• His skin is depicted as covered in ash, which represents life and death as a reality of life.
• He has messy hair. The waves of his hair represent him as the god of the wind (Vaiu) and the form of breath that is present in all living things.
• From his head and hair flows the river Ganges, which represents the purification of the sins of himself and his ancestors.
• He has three eyes, one of which is located in the middle of his forehead. It is said that her eyes can see the past, the present, and the future.
• It has four arms. In one he holds a trident that, for Shivaism, represents the attributes he possesses as a creator, destroyer, and regenerator god. In another arm, he holds a drum in the shape of an hourglass.

attributes

• On the forehead is the crescent moon, near the third eye. The moon serves as a measure of time, which is why Shiva is also depicted as the master of time.
• On his forehead, he also has three lines of ash (vibhuti) drawn, which represent the essence of our being (the ego, the impurities of ignorance, likes, dislikes, among others).
• On his neck, he wears a cobra. Shiva had ingested kalketu poison to protect the welfare of the universe, but it is believed that his wife Parvati tied a cobra to him to hold the poison in her throat, and so she turned blue.
• It has a beaded necklace that represents the extinction and generation of humanity.
• Dressed in elephant skin symbolizes pride, and deerskin symbolizes mind control to perfection.
• On his wrists, he has wooden bands to which medicinal powers are attributed.
• He is sitting on a tiger skin, which symbolizes victory over any force, and represents his conquest over desire.

Shaivism

Shaivism is one of the oldest and most practiced Hindu beliefs. He worships only Shiva as the supreme god, who represents destruction and creation to achieve the purification of the universe.

This is a fairly broad belief, encompassing various monistic and dualistic philosophical positions on the origin of the universe, as well as myths, rituals, and yoga practices.

Shaivism is based on the sacred texts of the Vedas (four books of Indian literature) and the Agamas (Buddhist, Hindu, and Yaina literature). In the Vedic texts, Shiva is referred to as Rudra or Maheshwaram.

Shiva is usually worshiped as:

• a supreme god of the Trimurti, (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva),
• god of reproduction, whose symbol is called lingam (phallus),
• destroyer god, so he can be called as Kāla,
• in his various human forms, such as Nataraja or Natarash (dancer) or Dakshina-murti (image of a teacher who teaches the absolute truth to four sages).

Those who practice Shivaism are called Shivaists or Shaivas, for worshiping Shiva as the creator, destroyer, and preserver god. This belief is mainly practiced in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, although it has spread around the world.

Shiva worship is performed both in temples and on homemade altars by those who practice this belief.

Shiva's story

The main sources of information on Hindu mythology are the ancient Vedas, Puranas, and Tantras, which collect and describe the stories, epics, and traditional myths about the gods of Hinduism and date back to at least the 2nd millennium BC.

In these stories, Shiva's story is not clear and does not have a coherent narrative thread. For example, in the Vedic texts the name of the god Shiva does not appear, but to increase his veneration it was associated with the god Rudra, who does appear in the Rig-veda (the oldest text of the Vedic tradition).

In the Vedic religion, one of the oldest beliefs in India, the only deity with great destructive potential is Rudra, god of "terrible" strength, later identified as Shiva "the benevolent". Both gods have the same qualities in Hindu scriptures and are recognized as the same god by scholars.

For his part, in the Puranas texts, Shiva is referred to as Siva, Linga, Skanda, Agnim, among others. But in none of these texts or myths is his origin clarified, although he stands out as one of the main gods of Hinduism.

However, it is known that Shiva is part of the Trimurti or Hindu Triad, formed by the three great gods of Hinduism. Shiva represents the destroying god, Brahma the creator god, and Vishnu is the preserving god. In this way, the cycle of creation, preservation, and destruction is completed.

For Shiva, destruction is necessary to achieve spiritual purification. The destructive aspect of it is also associated with the idea of ​​change and the transformation of life and the universe as a continuous cycle.

His home is also known to be Mount Kailasa, an image that can be seen in the background when he is depicted doing the Mahāyogī yoga posture, and where he has lived with his wives.

Main myths of Shiva

Shiva and Sati

Sati, the goddess of marital happiness and longevity, daughter of Daksha and Prasuti, was Shiva's first wife. Sati was born from the reincarnation of the goddess Adi Parashakti, to whom her parents were devoted and to whom she warned that they could not mistreat her daughter because it would cause her death.

Sati married Shiva, but Daksha did not approve of the union. She held a party to which he invited all the gods except her daughter Sati and Shiva. Sati insisted Shiva to go, but he did not want to. Satí went to confront her father, who yelled at her and forbade her entry, which caused her to commit suicide by setting herself on fire.

When Shiva found out, he was enraged at Dashka's house, whom he killed along with thousands of innocents through the dance of destruction or his representation of Shiva Nataraja.

Finally, Shiva brought back to life all those he had killed, took the charred body of Sati, and walked through the universe. Various parts of Sati's body fell in various places now considered sacred in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, and other Asian countries.

Shiva and Parvati

Shiva's second wife was Parvati (also called Uma), with whom he lived on Mount Kailasa, his home. Parvati is the reincarnation of Sati.

Parvati represents the cosmic energy that enables renewal, transformation, and regeneration. She also appears in other stages of Shiva's life such as Durga, Kali, among others. Shiva and Parvati form a complementary pair of universal forces.

Together they had a deep love story, and represent the search for the loved one from our own being. In the Hindu tradition, Parvati represents the feminine principle and Shiva the masculine principle.

Together they formed a cosmic family with three children:

• Aiapa (female incarnation of Vishnu).
• Kartikeia (god of war or violence), has six faces.
• Ganesha (god with the head of an elephant), represents intelligence.

Shiva Nataraja

Shiva Nataraja or Lord of the Dance is the representation of the dancing god Shiva. It is usually represented in stone or metal sculptures that form the dance of fury, used by Shiva in order to destroy something and then make it reborn.

Shiva Nataraja is represented dancing in a circle of fire and on top of Apasmara (a dwarf who represents ignorance).

It shows a dynamic posture in which it is supported on the right leg, while the left is raised and crossed. Her hair moves and her four arms are outstretched.

 

Shiva and yoga

Shiva is considered the god and spokesman for yoga or the Great Yogi. Yoga is an ancient physical and mental discipline, whose objective is to free the material ties of the soul. In yoga, spiritual purification is necessary to evolve.

Shiva is considered the most important yogi because he symbolizes creative and destructive energy. His teachings serve as a bridge for the human being to understand himself and everything that surrounds him, in order to live a better existence without attachments, developing inner strength and mental concentration.

One of the most common representations of Shiva in yoga is that of Mahāyogī, in which he appears seated, in front of Mount Kailasa, on the skin of a tiger in the perfect posture or lotus posture. The third eye on his forehead represents the energy of wisdom.

 

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