March 12, 2021 Blog

Who is Lord Shiva- Know the unknown and untold meaning of Lord Shiva

BY : STARZSPEAK

Who is Lord Shiva?

Lord Shiva is someone sitting somewhere?

What is Shiva?

Is he a form?

For centuries, historians and devotees have idealized the image of Lord Shiva. Ash-stained body, tiger skin, crescent moon, snake around neck, third eye, curvy hair, Ganges river flowing from hair, a trident in one hand, Dumroo in the other, and sometimes consumed in cosmic dance and sometimes sits like a rock. Besides this, there are also 1008 names for Lord Shiva to describe his attributes.

To truly understand Shiva, it is imperative to know that Shiva is not limited to three things: name, form, and time. The most important thing is that Shiva is not a person who sits somewhere or in heaven.

What is the meaning of Lord Shiva?

Shiva is sha + ee + va

Sha means Shareeram or Body

ee means eeshwari or life giving energy
Va means vayu or movement

Thus, Shiva represents the body with life and movement.

If "ee" is removed from Shiva, it is reduced to sha + va = shava.
Shafa means lifeless body. Shiva has life potential, while Shava has no life.

Which leads us to a deeper understanding that Shiva is life, that Shiva is the potential of life, and that Shiva encompasses them all: spirit or general consciousness. The realization of this Shiva Tattva leads to Ananda or bliss.

What is the nature of Lord Shiva?

The complete concept of Shiva is sublime. Our ancient people wonderfully classified this sublimity into three states:

Arupa: no form
Rupa clothing: the formless form
Sarupa: With form

The case of arupa is where there is no form, shape, or color, which means that there is no place, time, or anything that can be used to describe the state of arupa. Such a state is only possible when the universe has not yet been created.

Shiva's arupa state is such that it is beyond manifestation. The following six distortions do not apply in this case:

Adhi - Antha: the beginning and end
Sankocha-Vistara: contraction and expansion
Prasarana - Abhisarana: spreading and Converging

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These characteristics are applicable only to apparent creation. The arupa state is said to refer to Lord Shiva as Chaitanya or the pure consciousness that exists but is still. This state is the source of all creation and all deities owe their origins to this state. Hence the name Mahadeva, the source of all gods.

The Rupa-Arupa condition is a formless state that manifests itself in a form or form that emerges from the form. This is a state of transition from sukshma (subtle) to sthoola (gross).

The state of Sarupa is the state in which Shiva manifests into multifarious forms. Sa means accompanied or accompanied. Thus, the word saruba means manifested form or state.

How can Lord Shiva be understood?

One of the places where Lord Shiva is talked about a lot is Kashmir in India. Kashmir Shiva thinking is considered very advanced even today. He was called Trika. According to Trika, it can be understood that Shiva comes from three states, hence the name Trika. To get to know it, they recommended four steps:

Anavopaya: disciplining the ego
Anava: meditate
Saktopaya: developing attention in silence
Sambavopaya: Freeing oneSelf from Thought
Therefore, Shiva represents the chain from the subtle to the particle and the subtle, and therefore Shiva's therefore requires subtleness and meditation.

This is emphasized through Shiva's description:

"Shivam Shantham Advaitham Chaturtham
Manyante sa Atma Sa vigneyaha

(That state that transcends the three states of wakefulness, dream and sleep and that permeates them all is what Shiva is and is worth knowing).

Since this state is beyond our understanding or has no perceptible or perceptible shape, it is similar to no shape. It can also be called Arupa and is known as Turiya avastha, or the fourth state. In this state, the body is at rest and the mind is at its highest level of consciousness.

Lord Shiva is the place where everything came from, where everything is preserved and everything dissolves. This is Shiva or Shiva Tattva. There is no way you can get out of Shiva at any time because creation consists of Shiva. Your mind and body, everything is made by Shiva Tattva. That is why Shiva is called "Vishwaroopa", which means that the entire universe is what it seems.

Why Lord Shiva Eternal?

There is a beautiful story related to God Shiva. Once, Brahma (the creator of the universe) and Vishnu (the preserver of the universe) wanted to find an answer to the question, "Who is Shiva?" They wanted to fully understand it. Brahma said, "I will go find his head and find his feet." For thousands of years, Vishnu descended and found Shiva's feet, but he could not find them. Brahma ascended and ascended to find his head but did not find it either.

The meaning here, there is no head or feet of Shiva. There is no beginning and no end for Shiva. Finally, they meet in the middle and agree that they cannot find Shiva. This is all about Shivalinga. It is a symbolic representation of Infinite Shiva.

How big is Lord Shiva?

While Shiva is not a person, but if one wants to see the scale of Shiva consciousness, one can say:

Brahmananda vyapta deha

Shiva's body beyond the galaxies. The entire universe is the body. All the stars, the nebulas make hair, thousands of suns together, eyes. Water the stomach. The snake is the mind. The world is full of millions of vibrations interconnected with the mind, planets, and even food. Everything is connected to the network.

Rudrashtakam says:

Namami-Shamishannirvan roopam, vibhum vyapakam brahma-ved swaroopam. Nijam Nirgunam nirvikalpam Niriham Chidakashmakshavasam Bhajeham

Meaning: He is the Lord, He is the strongest, it is all over, spread everywhere. No place not found. It is that space, that consciousness where all knowledge is. He was never born and had no qualities. It is a state of samadhi where there is nothing but the inner sky of consciousness. This is Shiva.

Lord Shiva is the entire creation

Creation is a mixture of opposite values: positive and negative attributes. The universe has fire and water, good and bad, etc. Shiva is present in all opposite values. That is why Shiva is called Rudra (Fierce) and at the same time, he is called Bholenath (Most Innocent). He is called Sundaresha (beautiful) and also aghora (terrifying). Shiva's famous prayer describes Shiva as gawram (fiery), and in the same prayer, he is called karunavataram (embodiment of mercy).

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