Om tryambaka yajmahe sugandhi pui-vardhanam

urvrukam iva bandhann m tyormuk ya mm tt

The above verse from Rigveda [7.59.12], known as the Mahamritunjaya or the Death-
conquering Mantra is dedicated to Lord Shiv. Ironica!, it is Shiva "imsef who is revered as the
harbinger of the fina Destruction of the #ord$
#ho is Shiva% #hat are the origins of this might! god in "indu reigion and what are the
different facets of "is &ersonait!% In this &ost, et us tr! to ana!'e this enigmatic god and earn
what it means to be the Lord of Destruction..
Shiva, the Destroyer
(s mentioned in the )age *33 Devas+ of this bog, Lord Shiv, aong with )ra,a&ati -rahma and
Shri "ari .ishnu, forms a &art of the highest echeons of the hierarch! amongst /ods known as
the rimurti. ( three fit into the scheme of things &erfect! with their res&ective roes being
co&imentar! to each other.
!rahma , the 0irst in the Trinit!, is the 1reator and Master of a Divine 1eremonies.
"ishnu , the )reserver god who incarnates to he& mankind face the chaenges &osed
whenever 2vi forces become too dominant in the 3niverse.
Shiva , destro!s at the 2nd of Time and thus sustains the endess rh!thm of the 3niverse
ensuring a continuous c!ce of renewa and growth.
Mahadev-Shiv-)ashu&ati-4udra
In their mistaken beief, some schoars argue that Shiva had a &re-(r!an origin because he was
worshi&ed in the Indus .ae!. -ut, as mentioned in the &age *#indu #istory+ of the bog, the
(r!an 1ivii'ation, if not earier, was at the ver! east contem&orar! to the Indus-Saraswati
1ivii'ation and .edic scri&tures, more ike! than not, refect the itera! as&ect of the same.
That the Maha$harat foows the Indus &erce&tion of Shiva again shows that the two deveo&ed
same imager! and that this &enutimate batte between /ood and 2vi occurred around the same
time as the Indus-Saraswati 1ivii'ation$ In an artice tited *he Ridd%e o& 'ndia(s )n*ient
+ast+, the 0rench &roto-historian Mi*he% Danino beieves there are strong inks between .edas
and the "ara&&an cuture.
'We find statues and seals depicting yogis and yogic postures, we find a hiva-like deity, worship
of a mother-goddess, fire altars, all of which are suggestive of !edic culture" #arappan symbols
include the Trishul, the Swastika, the $onch shell, the Peepal tree, all of which are central to
%ndian culture" &he 'ig-!eda itself is full of references to fortified cities and towns, to oceans,
sailing, trade and industry, all of which are found in the #arappan civili(ation"'
)ashu&ati Sea from Indus-Saraswati e5cavations
The +ashu,ati sea 67899 -12: shows a three-headed figure sitting in a ;ogic &osture
surrounded b! animas, sometimes with an erect &haus, and more ike! than not is an iconic
re&resentation of Shiva-4udra. 25act! simiar descri&tion arises in the Maha$harat, where the
Lord is referred to as Trishira 6having three heads:< Digvasas 6without cothes:< Urddh-linga
6with u&ward erect &haus:, and Yogadhyaksha, or the Lord of ;oga.
(s !ou &robab! know from m! other &osts, I ove to find out the simiarities between the
m!thoogies from different &arts of the word. =ee&ing u& with the tradition, I here share with
!ou the image of the horned god -ernunnos worshi&ed in 2uro&e around >st centur! 12.
The "orned /ods - )ashu&ati ? 1ernunnos
@ust ike Shiva, 1ernunnos is beieved to be the god of Aature and 0ertiit! and is sti revered in
1etic m!thoog! as the 'Lord of Animals' 6quite simiar to the Indus Pashupati$:. #hatever the
connection between the two, it is not eas! to understand Shiva com&ete! as "e is described
various! at various &aces with com&ete! o&&osite attributes.
In .ajurveda, the contrar! attributes are referred to as Rudra, the terrif!ing and Shiva, the
aus&icious 6Sanskrit Shiv Shu!h:. Some schoars beieve 4udra to be the oder form which
was merged ater with a BAon-(r!anB god Shiva or )ashu&ati in ater times. -ut do the scri&tures
su&&ort such a h!&othesis%
Shiva, the 1onsummate ;ogi
4udra, the Destro!er of 1reation
*Image courtes! - Devon ke dev, Mahadev+
Shiva or Rudra/
The stor! of 4udraBs birth is ver! interesting and is identica! reveaed in man! )uranas.
(s I had earier mentioned in the &ost *-reation $y !rahma+, ins&ite of -rahmaBs efforts at
&o&uating the word, the ear! sons of -rahma chose to foow the &ath of S&irituait! instead of
&rocreation and -rahma was sore! disa&&ointed. "is first creations, the Sanat 0umars, in fact
abhorred entering the Samsar "hakra so much that the! continue iving the form of C !ear od
kids and never attain &ubert!$
This, however, frustrated -rahma so much that from his forehead, 6the region of the third e!e:
emerged a dark redDbue chid bawing at the to& of his voice. This angr! bab! was
named Rudra 6The "ower:$
4udra born from -rahmaBs 0rown
"owever, Rudra, was more s&iritua! incined than -rahma, and decided to foow the &ath of
Tapas or )enance and thus entered samadhi in the #ar!hodak $%ean. It was on! after a ot of
ca,oing and &ra!ing b! -rahma, that "e agreed to he& in &rocreation and manifested >9 more
beings with the same a&&earance as him 6-inar! 0ission%$%:. These are the >> 4udras, and Rig
"eda [2.331, describes Shiv as the 0ather-of-(-4udras.
hus, 2e see, that the s*ri,tures &ind 34 di&&eren*e $et2een Rudra and Shiva e5*e,t that
the &irst term en*om,asses e%even gods, the 6irst and 6oremost o& 2hom is Lord Shiv.
here&ore, the hy,othesis that Shiva 2as a non7)ryan god 2ho 2as merged 2ith Rudra is
$ase%ess.
Lord Shiv with the 4udras
-ut -rahma got terrified of these three-e!ed fierce forms$ "e requested Lord Shiv to create a
more benign as&ect of "imsef and that is how Shakti was given a form.
Shiva and Sha8ti
4udra, thus took the form of )rdhanarish2ar and generated a femae &rinci&e from "is eft
haf who was the &udrani. 2ach of the 11 Rudras simiar! obtained a consort thus
&roviding -rahma some satisfaction of seeing his creations muti&!. ShivaBs consort 9ma or
Sha8ti is the &rimeva /oddess who aso re&resents the Yogmaya of Lord "ishnu.
Lord as (rdha-naarishwar
The festiva of Mahashivaratri marks the night when Lord Shiv was married to +arvati, the
fina form of 3ma who was earier born as Da8shaBs daughter Sati.
The union of Shiva and Shakti is re&resented s!mboica! in the form of the Lingam and the
Yoni. It s!mboi'es #ieros7gamos or the BSacred 3nionB between /od and the /oddess that gives
birth to creation. It is !et another tribute to the ancient IndiansB acce&tance of the se5ua act as a
natura &henomenon and one that needs to be worshi&ed and not abhorred.
The same union is ceebrated in i$etan antrism where it is referred to as .a$7.um 60ather-
Mother:. Shiva is de&icted here as .amanta8a or 'nd-of-Yama reveaing the e&isode when "e
rescued Rishi Mar8andeya from ;amdevBs noose itera! at gun-&oint 6Trident &oint if !ou
&ease$:.
;amantaka Shiva in ;ab-;um formation
Mahashivratri is aso beieved to be the night when Shiva a&&eared in the form of a Lingam of
(ire and chaenged the gods -rahma and .ishnuBs contest for su&remac!. That was the night
Lord "ishnuBs magnanimit! came to fore whie !rahmaBs cheating ed to Shiva &utting the
curse that he woud never be worshi&ed.
#e see now a reason wh! Shiva woud have invoked beigerence in his father-in-aw Da8sha
+raja,ati. (fter a, Daksha was the edest )anas-putra of -rahma and coud not have taken
kind! to this denigration of his fatherBs &osition from the "ead-of-the-Trinit! to its bottom$
)erha&s, that was aso the reason, that he baked at the idea of his most favored daughter Sati,
faing in ove with the man he so hearti! des&ised$$
Shiva with "is beoved Sati in ha&&ier times
Sati did eventua! marr! Lord Shiv against her fatherBs wishes and utimate! sacrificed hersef
in the Yagnya fire at 0an8ha%, #arid2ar to &rotect her husbandBs honor. The stor! shows a
com&ete! new side of Shiva where the Su&reme Master-of-Senses oses contro and decides to
take revenge b! beheading Daksha$
MahadevBs anger gives birth to .eerbhadra
.irbhadra, born from ShivaBs ocks beheads Daksha
his is 2hat ma8es Shiva more re%ata$%e to us humans.. it sho2s that even at the highest
%eve% o& s,iritua%ity, the $onds o& a&&e*tion may *ause a ,erson to s%i, and ,%unge into g%oom
or anger.
Shiva carries the cor&se of Sati on "is shouder amenting "is oss ti Lord "ishnu uses "is
"hakra to disintegrate the bod!. 2ach &art of the bod! faing on 2arth &rovides a Divine
foundation and thus are formed the 51 Sha8ti,eeths 6Seats-of-2nerg!:$
#hie both Shiva and Shakti re&resent the Mae and 0emae forms, their vehices aso re&resent
their innate attributes. ShivaBs vehice 3andi, the bu, re&resents magnificence, viriit! and
&roud mascuinit! whie )arvatiBs vehice, the mountain Lion or Singh re&resents her )ower or
Shakti and the taming of anima instincts b! the Mother /oddess.
(rchaeoogica!, we find this refected in the Eebu bu seas of 'ndus7Saras2ati 1ivii'ation
6which ma! re&resent *andi: and sur&rise, sur&rise, in a far-off vae! in Turke! known as .a:i%i
0aya$ The rock-cut frie'es in these caves beong to >Fth->8th centur! -12 and show a /od
eshav riding a bu, whie the accom&an!ing /oddess #a8at rides a Lion and is accom&anied
b! a !oung bo! 0umar$i 6=umar =artike!a%:.
Eebu -u from "arra&an seas
;a'ii =a!a rock-cut frie'e with /od on -u and /oddess on Lion
The worshi& of Shiva and Shakti thus re&resents an ancient rite of recogni'ing the 3niverse as a
baance of the Mae and the 0emae, the Doer and the 2nerg!, the ;in and the ;ang and the ;ab
and the ;um. Simiar Gneness-in-Duait! is aso seen in the combined form of "ishnu ;#ari<
and Shiva ;#ar< that de&icts both deities as two faces of the same coin working hand-in-hand to
ensure smooth functioning of the 3niverse.
"ari-"ara the Divine combination of Shri .ishnu and Mahadev
*(rtist-(nirudh Sainath+
he )$ode o& Shiva
Mount 0ai%ash is beieved to be the abode of Shiv and )arvati. There are man! mentions of it in
the various )uranas and other scri&tures ike 4ama!an and Mahabharat. The mountain is sacred
for not on! "indus but aso -uddhists, @ains and foowers of -on reigion.
Sateite Image of Mt. =aiash with Mansarovar and 4akshas Taa
1atching a gim&se of the "o! Mountain
@ains worshi& the region as their 0irst Tirthankar, Risha$hdev attained Airvana here 61heck the
&ost *'ndia and !harat+ for more on (dinath 4ishabhdev:. Tibetan -uddhists worshi& Mount
=aiash as the home of the -uddha Dem*ho8 or -ha8rasamvara, who re&resents su&reme
biss.
The foowers of !=n reigion credit the entire region, es&ecia! =aiash, as the seat of a
s&iritua &ower. Indeed the area gives one a feeing of entering a more s&iritua &ane es&ecia!
when !ou see mountain &eaks ike that of the Gm )arvat.
.iew of the Gm )arvat en route to Mount =aiash
Ins&ite of numerous references to it, the readers might be sur&rised to know, that =aiash was not
awa!s the home of Shiva$ Infact, some &assages of the Shrimad !hagvat +uraan state that the
origina abode of Sadashiv is at the boundar! of this 3niverse at the Lo8a7a%o8a border$
The Grigina (bode of Lord Shiv
These verses in the "ayu +uraan, -ha,ter 39 shed more ight on the detais of this &aceH
[23>1 )eyond )rahmaloka and beneath the upper crust of the $osmic *gg + in between these
two is hiva,s city, his divine abode called -./O-.0."
[23?1 &he city shines with scattered diamond dust" &hese worlds are lit from within, meaning
their reality does not consist of reflected light, as does our material world"
[2@A72@@1 1ord -aheshwar 2the transcendent 1ord hiv3 of ten arms sports therein4 #e is
respected and diligently worshiped by the people moving about in aerial chariots"
This, then is the Grigina and Su&reme abode of Shiva where "e resides ti the end of 1reation
and is visited b! the other gods in their s&ace-crafts *1heck the &ost Lo8as or )%ien +%anets for
more on this to&ic+. =aiash ma! actua! be the tem&orar! home where the Lord comes for a
sma time, ma!be as a summer-retreat$
Shiva 0ami! on Mount =aiash
his 2ou%d a%so ma8e sense, sin*e geo%ogi*a%%y, the #ima%ayas ;o& 2hi*h Mount 0ai%ash is a
,art<, did not rise u, ti%% a$out 5o mi%%ion years agoB
Since "indu Timeines begin cose to >CC Triion !ears 6the &resent age of !rahma:, hence,
obvious! Lord Shiv woud have had to ive somewhere ese before fina! making =aiash "is
home$$ (so, the "imaa!as wont sta! forever as the +ra%aya or the 2nd-of-the-#ord woud
destro! the #ord as we know it and -rahma woud then remoud it into a new sha&e.
(t that time, Shiva woud &robab! return to the abode known as Manoma!a with "is fami! and
=aiash ma! or ma! not come into being again.
3aimitti8 +ra%aya
The destruction that takes &ace at the end of a da!time of -rahma is referred to as *aimittik,
im&!ing incidenta or occasiona o&&osed to )rakritik )raa!a that takes &ace at the end of
-rahmaBs ifetime. *1heck the &ost - +ra%aya, the Cnd o& Days for more on this+
The characteristic of this destruction is that the three words 6-hur, -huvah and Swarga:
continue to e5ist but are made uninhabitabe. The sous of individuas aso continue to e5ist to be
reincarnated in the ne5t da!time of -rahma.
The Shiv +urana [2.3.2>.1A7191 states that the fa off of the energ! residing in the T"I4D 2;2
of Shiva fe ike ightning and -rahma had to take it to the ocean and kee& it under check there
ese it coud burn the entire creation$
The energ! thus reeased was stored underwater in the sha&e of a mare and is known as the
"adava *1heck this ink for detais - 4n Dings o& 6ire+. The fire-mare resides under the ocean
6Moten 2arthBs core%: and one of the m!ths cas her wife of Yama and hence a harbinger of
Death.
.adava 0ire hidden beow the Gceans
Interesting!, the Pineal gland in "uman beings is ocated at the region of the hird7Cye and
has tissue simiar to that of the norma functioning e!e. Indeed the gand in man! vertebrates has
ces simiar to the &hotorece&tors of e!e used for vision$
1oud it then be another vestigia organ that we humans &ossessed earier but now has a ver!
imited vaue%% Lord Shiv, then woud be the most ancient &rogenitor of our race in whom the
organ functions as it shoud$
The Dee& Seated Third 2!e
Shiva, the on! being with a 1om&ete! functiona )inea /and%
S2ayam$hu Manu states audes to this fire from ShivaBs 2!e again stating that in two cases 0ire
is born out of #ater. Gne, at the time of Lightening and second!, in the case of the under-water
.adava Mare. !rihadaranya8 9,anishad [1.1.21 states that the o&en mouth of this mare kee&s
reeasing fire in the Sea from time to time, &erha&s auding to submarine eru&tions common in
the ocean foor$
Submarine .ocanoes - 0ames of the .adava 0ire%
2ru&tion of an 3nderwater .ocano
Aorma!, the fire is ke&t in check with the waters of the /oba Gcean. -ut as Maha$harat
verses [12.2A?.137171 state, the end of the Da! of -rahma is nigh that 4udra s&arks off the fire
again and this e5&osion from the mareBs mouth in the Southern Gcean begins the &rocess of
)raa!a.
"ishnu +urana [1.7.2A7A>1 aso agrees that this destruction woud begin with an underwater
e5&osion that wi take &ace in the Southern Gcean. It wi be succeeded b! a >99 !ear drought
during which the seas, rivers, and streams wi a be drained of water. The sun is re&aced b!
seven suns 6Sun wi increase in si'e%:, and the three word as we as the underwords are burned
bare of ife.
This then, is the 0ina Destin! of our &anet and this is what we ca andav, the 6ina% Dan*e o&
Shiva. (s each atom is created, another is destro!ed and this continues forever in a c!cica
manner. Lord Shiv who drinks the terribe &oison +alahal to save a Life, aso destro!s Life-as-
we-know-it in the form of 4udra.
Shiva drinks &oison to save Life !et aso annihiates at the 2nd of Time
I concude this &ost with the invocation I started the &ost with as there is nothing better to &ra!
for e5ce&t getting out of this Samsara -ha8ra. This Mahashivratri, et us remember the Lord
with our hearts and minds and &ra! for deiveranceH
Om tryambaka yajmahe sugandhi pu i-vardhanam
urvrukam iva bandhann m tyormuk ya mm tt
O-, We worship hiva, the &hree-eyed fragrant 1ord,
Who nourishes and nurtures all beings,
.s is the ripened cucumber freed from its bondage 5to the creeper6,
-ay #e liberate us from 7eath and take us to %mmortality"
)um ShantiE ShantiE ShantiE
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LabesH The Dance of Shiva
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