'sadAshiva
samArambhAm sankarAchArya madhyamAm
asmdAchArya
pryantham vandhe guru parampara'
"Salutations to
the great tradition of Gurus, that began with SadAshiva, has SankarAchArya in
the middle and culminates in my own Guru"
As we approach the
ShivarAtri in 2020, here are few thoughts on this wonderful deity who is full
of intrigues.
Lord Shiva is unlike
every other God concept in the Hindu tradition. While every other God image in
Hindu tradition is an icon of beauty dazzling in the splendor of Gold, Diamond
and Silk, Shiva is the dark skinned, mendicant looking God who wears nothing
more than a tiger skin (or elephant skin in some descriptions) for attire. His
body is smeared with ashes from the funeral pyres, a venomous snake adorns his
neck, his hair is matted (probably not washed for eons!) and his attendants are
the fiery looking Rudra Gana and PisAchAs. Yet, Shiva is a God of extreme
compassion who stands taller than many other Gods and equal to, and sometimes
greater than, Lord Vishnu himself in power and accomplishments. The oldest
reference to Shiva appears to be on a seal from Indus valley where there is an
image of him as Pasupathi, the Lord of domesticated animals. In the Vedas, we
find the Rudra Shiva who is worshiped as the God of anger, the protector of
trees and the leader of robbers and thieves! How are we to understand this
depiction?
Lord Shiva is the
representation of the Absolute, the oneness that permeates all the diversity we
see in universe. He is generally worshiped not in his form but as a sign, the
Shiva linga. Just as the self is not available for direct perception but is known
by its presence, the Shiva linga stands for indicating the cosmic presence of
God while a direct perception of Him is
not available. What a pity that this was misunderstood as phallus worship by
the ignorant! In simplistic
descriptions, Brahma is considered the God of creation, Vishnu of sustenance
and Shiva is the destroyer. It is not that Shiva is engaged in the role of
destroying everything created but rather he is the destroyer of the apparent
diversity created by the power of Maya, the cosmic delusion. In Him, the
differentiation created by name and form burn down and what remains is only the
pure absolute! The Kashmir Saivism offers a very detailed theory of the emergence
of the world from the absolute who is SadAshiva and how it dissolves back into
Him.
The key mythological
story behind the celebration of ShivarAtri is how Shiva saved the world from
ultimate destruction. In the beginning of times, when there were not many of
things of value in the universe, the Devas and Asura joined hands together to churn
the ocean of milk, kshirasAgara. They used the Mandhara mountain as the
churning stick and the serpent VAsuki as the rope to spin the churning
stick. Lord Vishnu took the Kurma
(Tortoise) avatAr to support the Mandhara from not sinking into the ocean. From
this effort to churn the ocean of milk emerged many things of glory that
enriched the world, including Goddess Lakshmi herself who is the God of wealth
and prosperity. However, as Vasuki had started to tire out, from his mouth
emerged the poison of HalAhala, almost like a nuclear cloud threatening to
destroy everything in the world. While every God stood dumbfounded, it was
Shiva who stepped forward to receive this poison that Vasuki vomited in his
palms. To save the world from destruction, he simply swallowed the poison,
which spread around his neck making the skin blue . This earned Shiva Shiva the
name Neelakanta, the blue necked. Tired from the effects of the poison, Shiva
rested for a night while the grateful world stood guard for him and that night
is commemorated every year as ShivarAtri, the night of Shiva.
Hindu mythological
stories are full of metaphors. In this specific story, the ocean of milk is the
infinite potential that is within each of us. To let the great things to emerge
from this potential, we need to have a single pointed desire to accomplish (the
Mandhara mountain). However, this desire to accomplish needs to be supported
and founded on Dharma, the principles of
ethical living (the Kurma in the story). It is just not enough that we have the
potential and a DhArmik ambition to accomplish but we also need the untiring
passion, the serpent Vasuki, to realize them. And, once we have desire and
passion, then it is a constant battle of effort with the need to balance
between the right and wrong, the Deva and Asura, as we work our way.
Once the
accomplishments do happen, it is invariably followed by the great danger of
AhamkAra (egoism) that emanates from the same passion which helped to produce
the good things. All the good we have
achieved could all be undone in a flash by this AhamkAra of 'It is I who did
it'. Let this AhamkAra be swallowed by Lord Shiva, and dedicate unto Him all
our wonderful accomplishments and struggles. ShivarAtri is when we remind
ourselves to do this and renew the vow to do so for ever.
There are many more
such metaphorical stories of Shiva including the burning of the Tripura that
are of significance to those engaged in spiritual pursuit. For the followers of
Advaita Vedanta, Shiva is an ideal to pursue, the ultimate Guru and the giver
of blessing for liberation from samsAra. For the SannyAsi,
'mAtA cha
pArvatidevi pitah devo maheswarah
bhAndhavA
sivabhaktAscha svadeso bhuvana trayam'
"My mother is
Parvati Devi, my father Lord Maheswara. My kin are the devotees of Shiva and my
world is the entire universe (three worlds)"
Have a blessed
ShivarAtri! Om Namh ShivAyah!
