Ardhangini

The Story of Parvati
After the death of Shiva’s first love Sati, Shiva isolated himself into a dark cave buried amongst the snow covered peaks of the Himalayas. He rejected the world outside so distraught was he by the lose of his first true love.
Meanwhile the demons lead by Taraka, rose from the netherworld and drove the devas, gods, out of the heavens. The gods sought a warrior who would help them regain the celestial realm.
"Only Shiva can father such a warrior," informed Brahma.
But Shiva, immersed in meditation, was oblivious to the problems of the gods. As he performed tapas, meditations that produce great heat and energy, his mind was filled with great knowledge and his body became resplendent with energy. But all this knowledge and energy, bottled within his being, was of not use to anyone.
Parvati as Shivakami. Most Shiva or Nataraja Statues have a Parvati statue of similar proportions next to them.
Birth of Parvati
The gods invoked the mother-goddess, who appeared before them as Kundalini, a coiled serpent.
"I will coil myself around Shiva, wean out his knowledge and energy for the good of the world and make him father a child," said Shakti.
Shakti took birth as Parvati, daughter of the Himavan, lord of the mountains, determined to draw Shiva out of his cave and make him her consort.

Parvati as Bogashakti, "Boga" Pleasure. "Shakti" Goddess, Energy. Priti and Rati
Everyday Parvati would visit Shiva’s cave, sweep the floor, decorate it with flowers and offer him fruits hoping to win his love.
But Shiva never opened his eyes to look upon her charming face. Exasperated, the goddess invoked Priti and Rati, goddess of love and longing, to rouse Shiva out of his mediation.
These goddesses entered Shiva desolate cave and transformed it into a pleasure garden filled with the fragrance of flowers and the buzzing of bees.
Death of Kama
Guided by Priti and Rati, Kama, the lord of desire, raised his sugarcane bow and shot arrows dripping with desire into the heart of Shiva.
Shiva was not amused. He opened his third eye and released the flames of fury that engulfed Kama and reduced his beautiful body to ashes.
The death of Kama alarmed the gods. "Without the lord of desire man will not embrace woman and life will cease to be."
"I shall find another way to conquer Shiva’s heart. When Shiva becomes my consort, Kama will be reborn," said the daughter of the mountain, Parvati.
Not Even a Leaf
Parvati went into the forest and performed rigorous tapas, wearing nothing to protect her tender body form the harsh weather, eating nothing, not even a leaf, earning the admiration of forest ascetics who named her Aparna.
Aparna matched Shiva in her capacity to cut herself from the world and completely master her physical needs. The power of her tapas shook Shiva out of his mediation. He stepped out of his cave and accepted Parvati as his wife.
Shiva married Parvati in the presence of the gods following the sacred rites and took her to the highest peak of the cosmos, Mount Kailasa, the pivot of the universe. As the world revolved all around them the two became one and Kama was reborn.
Hermit to Householder
Parvati melted Shiva’s stern heart with her affection. Together they played dice on Mount Kailas or sported on the banks of Lake Manasarovar, discovering the joys of married life.
The goddess awakened Shiva’s concern for the world by questioning him on various issues. As he spoke, he revealed the secrets of the Tantras and the Vedas that he had gathered in eons of mediation.
Inspired by her beauty, Shiva became the fountainhead of the arts, of dance and drama. He sang and danced to the delight of the gods who were pleased to see his enchantment with the goddess.
The Birth of the Celestial Warlord
Parvati gave Shiva’s aura to the gods. "From this will rise the warlord you seek," said the goddess.
The gods gave Shiva’s aura to Svaha, consort of Agni, the fire god. Unable to bear the heat of the auro and the god Agni for long, Svaha gave the aura to Ganga the river goddess who cooled it in her icy waters until Shiva’s aura turned into a seed.
Aranyani, the goddess of the forest, embedded the divine seed in the fertile forest floor where it was transformed into a robust child with six heads and twelve arms.
Six forest nymphs called the Krittikas found this magnificent child in a lotus. Over come by maternal affection they began nursing him. The six headed son of Shiva, born of many mothers, came to be known as Kartikeya.
Parvati taught Kartikeya the art of war and turned him into a the celestial warlord called Skanda.
Skanda took command of the celestial armies, defeated Taraka in battle and restored the heavens to the gods.
Kali drinks Raktabija’s Blood
Skanda, guardian of the heavens, went on to destroy many demons who opposed the reign of the gods.
But he could not defeat the demon Raktabija. Whenever this demon’s blood touched the ground, a thousand new demons sprang to life. He seemed unconquerable.
To aid her son in his endeavor to rid the three worlds of the demon, Parvati entered the cosmic battlefield as the dreaded goddess Kali - dark as death, gaunt with sunken eyes, gaping mouth, with long disheveled hair covering her naked body.
Kali spread her tongue over the battlefield and licked the demon’s falling blood catching on her long, outstretched tongue before the drop could find its way to the ground springing a demonic life anew. Raktabija, without his multiplying numbers was left powerless. Skanda was able to dispatch Raktabija and all his remaining duplicates with ease.
Skanda thanked his mother for her timely help. To celebrate her victory, Kali danced wildly on the battlefield, bedecking herself with a garland of served heads and a girdle of severed hands.
Shiva Calms Kali
Intoxicated with Raktabija’s blood, Kali ran amuck across the three worlds, destroying everything and everyone in her sight.
To restrain her, Shiva took the form of a corpse and blocked her path. As the goddess, blinded by bloodlust, tripped on his lifeless body, she was jolted out of her frenzy. She wondered if she had killed her own husband. She placed a foot on Shiva’s chest and brought him back to life.
Shiva then took the form of a little child and began to cry, stirring maternal love in the heart of Kali. This forced her to shed her fierce form; Kali became Gauri, the radiant mother, bestower of life.
Parvati’s Son
Guari told Shiva that she wanted a child.
But Shiva was not interested in a family. He turned away from her and went into to the forest to perform tapas.
Determined to be a mother, Parvati decided to create a son for herself without the aid of her husband. She scrubbed her skin with sandal paste, scrapped off the dead skin, mixed it with clay and molded out of it a beautiful doll into which she breathed life.
She ordered her newly created son to keep watch over her cave and keep out all strangers.
Guardian of Thresholds
When Shiva returned to Kailas, Parvati’s son failed to recognize his mother’s consort and prevented him from entering the cave.
Irritated by the child’s insolence, Shiva raised his trident and cut off his head.
When Parvati saw her son’s headless body she wept and out of her tears came her fierce handmaidens, the Yoginis, who threatened to destroy the whole world.
To placate Parvati, Shiva resurrected the child by placing an elephants head on the severed neck. Shiva also accepted Ganesh as the first of his sons.
Ganesh, who had prevented Shiva from crossing the threshold of his mother’s cave, became keeper of thresholds, an obstacle to all that is undesirable.
He who seeks access to the wisdom, bounty and mystery of Nature worships Ganesh beloved son and sacred doorkeeper of Shakti.

The Divine Homemaker
With Parvati by his side, Shiva became a family man. But he did not abandon his ways as a hermit: he continued to meditate and immerse himself in narcotic dreams. His carefree attitude, his refusal to shoulder household responsibilities sometimes angered Parvati. But then she would come to terms with his unconventional ways and make peace. The consequent marital bliss between Shakti and Shiva ensured harmony between Matter and Spirit and brought stability and peace to the cosmos.
Parvati thus became Ambika, goddess of the household, of marriage, motherhood and family.

Alochana

The Fascinating Deity
Shiva is 'Shakti', Shiva is power, Shiva is the destroyer, the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godheads in the Hindu Trinity. Known by many names - Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pashupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bhole Nath - Lord Shiva is perhaps the most complex of Hindu deities. Hindus recognise this by putting his shrine in the temple separate from those of other deities.

Shiva As Phallic Symbol

Shiva, in temples is usually found as a phallic symbol of the linga, which represents the energies necessary for life on both the microcosmic and the macrocosmic levels, that is, the world in which we live and the world which constitutes the whole of the universe. In a Shaivite temple, the linga is placed in the centre underneath the spire, where it symbolises the naval of the earth.

A Different Deity

The actual image of Shiva is also distinct from other deities: his hair piled high on the top of his head, with a crescent tucked into it and the river Ganges tumbling from his hairs. Around his neck is a coiled serpent representing Kundalini or the spiritual energy within life. He holds a trident in his left hand in which is bound the 'damroo' (small leather drum). He sits on a tiger skin and on his right is a water pot. He wears the 'Rudraksha' beads and his whole body is smeared with ash.

The Destructive Force

Shiva is believed to be at the core of the centrifugal force of the universe, because of his responsibility for death and destruction. Unlike the godhead Vishnu, the Creator, Shiva is the dissolving force in life. But Shiva dissolves in order to create, since death is the medium for rebirth into a new life. So the opposites of life and death and creation and destruction both reside in his character.

The Most Fascinating of Gods

He is also often portrayed as the supreme ascetic with a passive and composed disposition. Sometimes he is depicted riding a bull called Nandi decked in garlands. Although a very complicated deity, Shiva is one of the most fascinating of Hindu gods.

The God Who's Always High!

Since Shiva is regarded as a mighty destructive power, to numb his negative potentials he is fed with opium and is also termed as Bhole Shankar, one who is oblivious of the world. Therefore, on Maha Shivratri, the night of Shiva worship, devotees, especially the menfolk, prepare an intoxicating drink called Thandai (made from cannabis, almonds, and milk) sing songs in praise of the Lord and dance to the rhythm of the drums.

Maha Shivratri: The Night of Shiva

Maha Shivratri, the night of the worship of Shiva, occurs on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna. It falls on a moonless February night, when Hindus offer special prayer to the lord of destruction. Shivratri (Sanskrit 'ratri' = night) is the night when he is said to have performed the Tandava Nritya or the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction. The festival is observed for one day and one night only.

Origin Of Shivratri

According to the Puranas, during the great mythical churning of the ocean called Samudra Manthan, a pot of poison emerged from the ocean. The gods and the demons were terrified as it could destroy the entire world. When they ran to Shiva for help, he in order to protect the world, drank the deadly poison but held it in his throat instead of swallowing it. This turned his throat blue, and since then he came to be known as Nilkantha, the blue-throated one. Shivratri celebrates this event by which Shiva saved the world.

A Festival Especially For Women

Shivratri is considered especially auspicious for women. Married women pray for the well being of their husbands and sons, while unmarried women pray for an ideal husband like Shiva, who is the spouse of Kali, Parvati and Durga. But generally it is believed that anyone who utters the name of Shiva during Shivratri with pure devotion is freed from all sins. He or she reaches the abode of Shiva and is liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

Shiva Rituals

On the day of Shivratri, a three-tiered platform is built around a fire. The topmost plank represents swargaloka (heaven), the middle one antarikshaloka (space) and the bottom one bhuloka (earth). Eleven urns or kalash, are kept on the swargaloka plank symbolising the eleven manifestations of the Rudra Shiva. These are decorated with bilva (woodapple leaves) and mango leaves atop a coconut representing the head of Shiva. The uncut shank of the coconut symbolises his tangled hair and the three spots on the fruit Shiva's three eyes.

Bathing The Phallus

The phallus symbol representing Shiva is called the lingam. It is usually made of granite, soapstone, quartz, marble or metal, and has a yoni or vagina as its base representing the union of the male and female sexual organs. Devotees circumambulate the lingam and worship it throughout the night. It is bathed every three hours with the five sacred offerings of a cow, called the panchagavya - milk, sour milk, urine, butter and dung. Then the five foods of immortality - milk, clarified butter, curd, honey and sugar are placed before the lingam. Dhatura and jati, though poisonous fruits, are believed to be sacred to Shiva and thus offered to him.

"Om Namah Shivaya!"

All through the day the devotees keep severe fast, chant the sacred Panchakshara mantra "Om Namah Shivaya", make offerings of flowers and incense to the Lord amidst ringing of temple bells. They maintain long vigils during the night, keeping awake to listen to stories, hymns and songs. The fast is broken only the next morning, after the nightlong worship. In Kashmir, the festival is held for 15 days. The 13th day is observed as a day of fast followed by a family feast.

The Stories Of Shiva

There are a number of mythological tales and legends surrounding Lord Shiva. Here're a few popular ones:
The Ganges Comes Down To Earth

A legend from the Ramayana speaks of King Bhagirath who once meditated before Lord Brahma for a thousand years for the salvation of the souls of his ancestors. Pleased with his devotion Brahma granted him a wish. He requested the Lord to send the river Ganges down to earth from heaven so that she could flow over his ancestors' ashes and wash their curse away and allow them to go to heaven. Brahma granted his wish but asked him to pray to Shiva, for he alone could support the weight of her descent. Accordingly he prayed to Shiva and he allowed the Ganges to descend on his head, and after meandering through his thick matted locks, the holy river reached the earth. This story is re-enacted by bathing the linga.

The Tiger & The Leaves

Once a hunter while chasing a deer wandered into a dense forest and found himself on the banks of river Kolidum when he heard the growl of a tiger. To protect himself from the beast he climbed up a tree nearby. The tiger pitched itself on the ground below the tree fostering no intention to leave. The hunter stayed up in the tree all night and to keep himself from falling asleep, he gently plucked one leaf after another from the tree and threw it down. Under the tree was a Shiva Linga and the tree blessedly turned out to be a bilva tree. Unknowingly the man had pleased the deity with bilva leaves. At sunrise, the hunter looked down to find the tiger gone, and in its place stood Lord Shiva. He prostrated before the Lord and attained salvation from the cycle of birth and death.

Why Shiva Is Worshipped In His Phallic Form

According to another legend, once Brahma and Vishnu, two other deities of the holy Trinity, had an argument as to their supremacy. Brahma being the Creator declared himself to be more revered, while Vishnu, the Preserver, pronounced that he commanded more respect. Just then a colossal lingam, known as Jyotirlinga, blanketed in flames, appeared before them. Both Brahma and Vishnu were awestruck by its rapidly increasing size. They forgot their quarrel and decided to determine its size. Vishnu assuming the form of a boar went to the netherworld and Brahma as a swan flew to the skies. But both of them failed to accomplish the self- assumed tasks. Then, Shiva appeared out of the lingam and stated that he was the progenitor of them both and that henceforth he should be worshipped in his phallic form, the lingam, and not in his anthropomorphic form.

Andhak

Once, Shiva and Parvati were living at the Mandarachal mountain. Parvati, playfully covered both the eyes of Shiva with her palms. This made lord Shiva to perspire from his forehead. From this perspiration manifested a ferocious creature. Parvati asked Lord Shiva as to who this creature was. Lord Shiva told her that he was his son- Andhak. Parvati brought up Andhak with great love and care. Hiranyaksha - the demon did a tremendous penance to please lord Shiva, with a desire to acquires a son. Lord Shiva became pleased with his penance and appeared before him. He asked Hiranyaksha to demand any boon, which he promised to fulfill. Hiranyaksha expressed his desire to have a very powerful and mighty son. Shiva decided to give Andhak to him, who at that time was being brought up by Parvati. Hiranyaksha brought young Andhak along with him. With the help of Andhak, he conquered all the three worlds. He lifted up the earth and proceeded towards the Netherworld. The deities became very terrified. They prayed to Lord Vishnu and when he appeared they requested him to kill Hiranyaksha. Lord Vishnu killed Hiranyaksha in his incarnation of boar. After killing Hiranyaksha, Lord Vishnu made Andhak the king of Netherworld and place the earth at its original place.

Once, Andhak brothers jokingly told him that, since his real parents were somebody else (Shiva and Parvati) therefore he was not fit to rule them. Though they had told this in good humour, yet Andhak was very much saddened by their remark. He relinquished his throne and went to a deserted place in the forest and started to do a severe penance. Lord Brahma became very pleased by his penance and appeared before him. He asked him to demand anything he wished to be fulfilled. Andhak said- "I only long for the love and affection of my brothers. O Lord! Bless me so that nobody should be able to kill one except lord Shiva." Lord Brahma blessed him and said- 'so be it'. Andhak returned to his kingdom and with the co-operation of his brothers like Prahalad etc he brought even the deities under his control. But drunk with power he became very arrogant and started tormenting all the creatures. He did not show any respect to the Vedas, brahmin and the deities.

Andhak had become so arrogant that once, he even dared to dishonour his own mother-Parvati, who at that time was living at the Mandarachal mountain. Shiva became very furious with him. Andhak attacked Shiva with his huge army. Lord Shiva sent his numerous ganas to fight him, but all of them were killed by Andhak. When lord Shiva got the news of the arrival of Andhak with his army, he sent Lord Vishnu and his remaining ganas to fight him. He himself went to perform his austerity named 'Pashupat'. The deities fought with Andhak for one thousand years. Meanwhile Lord Shiva returned after completing his 'Pashupat Vrata' and joined them. Seeing Lord Shiva in front of him, Andhak became furious and attacked him ferociously. His companion, whose name was 'Vidhas', devoured all the deities. The demons who had been killed in the battle, were brought back to life by Shukracharya. Lord Shiva became very angry and swallowed Shukracharya. He also extracted the deities from the stomach of Vidhas who had been swallowed by him earlier. After that, lord Shiva attacked Andhak with his trident, which injured him. But from each drop of his blood which fell on the ground, manifested thousands of demons who resembled Andhak. Lord Shiva then instructed goddess 'Chandika' to drink the blood, while he killed all the demons. Goddess Chandika followed the instructions of Shiva and drank each drop of blood, which oozed out from the wounds of the demons and did not let single drop of blood to fall on the ground. After killing all the demons, lord Shiva lifted Andhak with his trident and hanged him between the earth and sky. Andhak remained there for a very long period of time, bearing the heat of the sun and the showers of rain. But he remained alive. Ultimately he had to take the refuge of Lord Shiva, to save his life. Lord Shiva became pleased by his eulogy and made him his 'Ganadhees' (leader of all the Ganas).

Alaap

"OM TRYAMBAKKAM YAJAMAHE
SUGANDHIM PUSTIVARDHANAM
URVAROOKAMEVA BANDANAAN
MRITYORMOKSHEEYA MAAMRITAAT"

This Mahamritunjaya mantra is from the Rig-Veda and needs initiation for attaining Siddhi. Anybody can recite this mantra and attain good health, release from bondage and other problems. This is the greatest reliever from all evils and can be recited at any time like any other Maha-mantra. It should be recited preferably for forty days both in the morning and evening, after lighting a jyoti and sitting on a woollen asana while facing east. Recite the Maha-mantra 108 times (one rosary) or its multiples in each sitting. This is the greatest work of Maharishi Vashistha. Before commencing the Mahamritunjaya mantra recite the following small prayer to the everlasting spirit of the Maharishi for his blessings and guidance.
OM SUCHIRMARKAIR BRIHASPATIM ADHVARESHU NAMASYATAH (21 Times)
We pray to Brihaspati (the Lord of this Universe and the teacher of this Vedic Knowledge), whose wishes are inviolable, for good thoughts (that will lead to good speech and actions that cannot be violated as it will be the truth).
VYAM VASHISHTHAYA NAMAH (21 Times)
This is the prayer to Maharishi Vashistha (whose Holy Spirit is Omnipresent).
The initiated should practice the Pranayama ten times with the Beejakshara Mantra "OM HOUM JUM SAH". Others can skip this and go to the Maha-mantra directly.
This is to be followed by the Dhyana Mantra (Meditation) of Sri Tryambakeswara (One of the twelve Jyotirlinga) and then meditate on Sri Tryambakeshwara (Lord Shiva) and Sri Amriteshwari (Gouri or Parvati Shakti) with the relevant beejakshara and Rudra Pooja. Meditate for at least 15 Minutes before starting the Japa (Recitation of Mantra).
Then repeat the following Mahamritunjaya mantra 108 times or multiples of this number. The Mahamritunjaya Mantra reads: OM TRYAMBAKKAM YAJAMAHE SUGANDHIM PUSTIVARDHANAM URVAROOKAMEVA BANDANAAN MRITYORMOKSHEEYA MAAMRITAAT.WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MAHAMANTRAIt is important to understand the meaning of the words as this makes the repetition meaningful and brings forth the results.

OM is not spelt out in the Rig-Veda, but has to be added to the beginning of all Mantras as given in an earlier Mantra of the Rig-Veda addressed to Ganapati.

TRYAMBAKKAM refers to the Three eyes of Lord Shiva. 'Trya' means 'Three' and Ambakam' means eyes. These three eyes or sources of enlightenment are the Trimurti or three primary deities, namely Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and the three 'AMBA' (also meaning Mother or Shakti' are Saraswati, Lakshmi and Gouri. Thus in this word, we are referring to God as Omniscient (Brahma), Omnipresent (Vishnu) and Omnipotent (Shiva). This is the wisdom of Brihaspati and is referred to as Sri Duttatreya having three heads of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

YAJAMAHE: means, "We sing Thy praise".

SUGANDHIM: refers to His fragrance (of knowledge, presence and strength i.e. three aspects) as being the best and always spreading around. Fragrance refers to the joy that we get on knowing, seeing or feeling His virtuous deeds.

PUSTIVARDHANAM: Pooshan refers to Him as the sustainer of this world and in this manner, He is the Father (Pater) of all. Pooshan is also the inner impeller of all knowledge and is thus Savitur or the Sun and also symbolises Brahma the Omniscient Creator. In this manner He is also the Father (Genitor) of all.

URVAAROKAMEVA: 'URVA' means "VISHAL" or big and powerful . 'AAROOKAM' means 'Disease'. Thus URVAROOKA means deadly and overpowering diseases. The diseases are also of three kinds caused by the influence (in the negative) of the three Guna's and are ignorance (Avidya etc),falsehood (Asat etc as even though Vishnu is everywhere, we fail to perceive Him and are guided by our sight and other senses) and weaknesses (Shadripu etc. a constraint of this physical body and Shiva is all powerful).

BANDANAAM: means bound down. Thus read with URVAROOKAMEVA, it means 'I am bound down by deadly and overpowering diseases'.

MRITYORMOOKSHEYA: means to deliver us from death (both premature deaths in this Physical world and from the never-ending cycle of deaths due to re-birth) for the sake of Mokshya (Nirvana or final emancipation from re-birth).

MAAMRITAAT means 'please give me some Amritam (life rejuvenating nectar). Read with the previous word, it means that we are praying for some 'Amrit' to get out of the death inflicting diseases as well as the cycle of re-birth.

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The highest Death is the death that comes naturally and takes one to one’s Eternal Abode.

We know everything that is created will one day be dissolved, and that anyone who takes birth will also have to face death. Death is an integral part of living. How we face death will (in many ways) be decided by how we live our life.

Death forces us to let go of our mortality. We conquer Death when we let go of our mortality freely. To do that, we have to live our life free of all images. If we hold on to our self-image our entire life, it is very unlikely that we will drop that image at the time of death. If we are holding on to any image whatsoever, we will have to come back and resume our journey again.

Death is not the final abode. It is only a transmission from one form to another. To reach the Deathless State, we have to reach the Formless, and that Formless is One Without a Second. We are all drawn to that Supreme State (Moksha), because That is our Ultimate Abode. Only the nectar of Deathlessness (AMRITAM) can satisfy the thirst of our soul.

There is no substitute for Moksha, the Divine Bliss, the Supreme Happiness. There is no other Love, there is no other experience, and there is no other way to be fulfilled than to be free this moment and forever. The Past, the Present, the Future, must be dissolved into the NOW.

OM PURNAM ADAH PURNAM IDAM—That is full, this is full. There is no difference between This and That, and the one who sees any difference will have to die again and again until this state becomes that state. We do not have to wait for Death. Death will not wait for us. This does not mean we should force the hand of Death—that is not at all what I am saying—I am saying we should graciously relinquish our ego, our small self, and unite our spirit with the Supreme Spirit, now this moment, and especially at the time of death.

Do not think that the ‘natural death’ means to die of old age. That is only an ordinary death. Even wicked people, killers, thieves, and other evil-doers sometimes live to a ripe old age. The real meaning of ‘natural death’ is to leave this body after we have perfected our nature. The means of our dying, such as by accident, illness, or in the line of duty, does not define the nature of our death. The real nature of our death is defined only by the nature of our living. If we have lived our life in harmony with our true nature (Dharma) then we are naturally freed from all our past karmas at the time of death.

Our past karmas come to an end when we have paid all our debts. But there is one debt we can never repay, and that is our debt to the Creator who gave us the gift of Life. Ultimately, only He can release us from the endless cycle of birth, life, and death, and that He does naturally when we surrender completely to His Will.

There is no man who is the Perfect Man. Everyone has some flaw, some imperfection. The greatest height is reached only by way of the greatest humility. Old age and death humble even the mightiest. We can approach the Supreme Might only with supreme humility. For that, we need to give up our self-will.

Our self-will attracts us to the temporary pleasures of this world, and our attachment to these pleasures makes us hold on to this body and causes us to fear death. We fear death because we fear the loss of what we are attached to, and we also fear the unknown. At the moment of death, all those attachments will flirt before our mind’s eye in a split of a second, and we will see that our only attachment has been the attachment to our ego. In an instant we will see clearly the past, the present, and the future and realize that there is something beyond all of this. That something is the Unknown, which for a moment we will glimpse in our mind’s eye. We will know our destiny and realize that we alone are the author of it. But that moment of death is not the defining moment of our next life. The next birth is defined by our life, and not by our death. Our life is defined by our actions, and our death is determined by our fate (the cumulative effect of the actions of innumerable lives). Our birth, life, and death together will lead to our destiny.

Our true destiny is to reach our Ultimate Destination, and that is the state of Supreme Consciousness. The experience of that Supreme State is AMRITAM, the nectar of Divine Bliss.

From the moment the soul is embodied in human form, it is irresistibly drawn by the fragrance of that nectar to return to its Essence. If we follow the fragrance of divine Wisdom, we will find our way back (to our spiritual roots), and the way forward to our Eternity. From the moment Purush is joined with Prakriti, the Jiva (the living soul) seeks to return home to the Source. We can never rest until we return home to our Supreme Mother and Supreme Father.

In the metaphysical sense, our Mother is PRAKRITI and our Father is PURUSH. We have the qualities of both. When we reach our Eternal Abode, the Prakritic element returns to the Unmanifest, and the Purushic element merges with the divine Spirit (Purush), and we are liberated.

OM

Aamod

Linga (Mark, Symbol)- Samkhya tradition refers linga as "that which hascharacteristics" namely the human personality which includes Antahkarana(its aspects - ego, subconscious, conscious thought and intellect,5 cognitive senses (jnanedriyas), and 5 conative senses (karmendriyas).

Maitraayaniya Upanishad (VI.10) applies the term linga to 'the entirecreation extending from the first principle (Mahat) to the particulars(vishesha)' and contrasts it with linga 'without origin' i.e God itself.

Mahabharat (XII.195.15) describes linga as the vehicle, or body of thetransmigrating psyche (that which passes from one birth to the next).

Metaphysically, linga stands for the unimaginable potency PRIOR to thecreation of universe.
Abhinav Gupta in his Tantra- Aaloka (V.54) explains Linga as "linam-gamyate - This whole (universe) is dissolved (linam) in that, and thiswhole (universe) is perceived (gamyate) as residing within that".

The 'Amaraugh- Prabodh' offers following etymological definition: "Wherethe movable and immovable dissolves by force of 'Laya' (naturaldestruction), that is (known as) linga.

As the mystic law 'As above so below" -Brahmanda manifests in every Pinda, the cosmic linga has its representation within human body also.

ThusTantric and Hatha Yoga literature describe experience of radiant linga indifferent psychic centers (chakras) of the body.

Brahma Upanishad speaksof 3 types of linga that should be made object of meditation: Adho lingaat the base of spine (Mulaadhaar chakra), Shikhin linga at the crown ofthe head (Sahasraar chakra) and Jyotir (light) linga at the center of theforehead (Aajnyaa or Guru chakra).
Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati (II.4) mentions a linga shaped flame in theheart.

The stone in its spherical form untouched by the sculptor, is the form nearest to the formless. And the sexual union of male and female is the farthest the human mind can reach to express the creative action of God. This action, as God Himself, remains a mystery to man. All that man can do is to look at nature and see how a new being comes into existence. Since nature is the work of God, it is logical to conclude that both the male and the female principles must be found in God Himself, the sexes being only a manifestation of God’s nature. At the level of symbolism, the Shiva Linga or the stone with the semi-spherical top, makes a positive contribution in man’s effort to express the Divine Mystery.

Aang

In the early ages Lord Mahadev (Shiva) was at war with a devil name ‘Andhak’. The war continued for years. After Mahadev (Shiva) killed Andhak, out of the perspiration of Lord Mahadev great spirit originated.The spirit consumed all the blood from the body of Andhak. Still his appetite was not satisfied. He then undertook penance Lord Shankar (Shiva) was satisfied by his deep penance & offered him a boon. This spirit then started eating men & animals horaciously.
All the mankind, demons and the Gods were terrified by this. They went to Lord Bramha. Lord Bramhadev asked them to lay the spirit face down. 81 Gods together laid down the spirit face down & sat on different parts of the back. When the spirit begged forgiveness from Lord Bramha. Lord Bramha gave him a boon that “After building a house or any other structure, the people who worship you as Vastudevata & give you your share of food as Balibhoj (Part of the sacrifice ) you give them all the pleasure & prosperity. However, those who start living without your prayers & offerings, you can trouble them. This & many other such myths & fables can be found in different ‘Puranas’. Probably this stories were included in ‘Puranas’ to make people conscious about the subject which would make them build there house as per Vastushastra.

Alankaar

"Because You love the Burning -ground, I have made a Burning-ground of my heart - That You, Dark One, hunter of the Burning-ground, May dance Your eternal dance."

~ Bengali Hymn~

The significance of the Nataraja (Nataraj) sculpture is said to be that Shiva is shown as the source of all movement within the cosmos, represented by the arch of flames. The purpose of the dance is to release men from illusion of the idea of the "self" and of the physical world. The cosmic dance was performed in Chidambaram in South India, called the center of the universe by some Hindus. The gestures of the dance represent Shiva's five activities, creation (symbolized by the drum), protection (by the "fear not" hand gesture), destruction (by the fire), embodiment (by the foot planted on the ground), and release (by the foot held aloft).As Nataraja (Sanskrit: Lord of Dance) Shiva represents apocalypse and creation as he dances away the illusory world of Maya transforming it into power and enlightenment.
A Nataraja Sculpture completely clothed in the finest silk and adorned with flowers in the Sri Ekambaranathar Temple in Kanchipuram.

The symbolism of Siva Nataraja is religion, art and science merged as one. In God's endless dance of creation, preservation, destruction and paired graces is hidden a deep understanding of our universe. Aum Namah Sivaya. Bhashya Nataraja, the King of Dance, has four arms. The upper right hand holds the drum from which creation issues forth. The lower right hand is raised in blessing, betokening preservation. The upper left hand holds a flame, which is destruction, the dissolution of form. The right leg, representing obscuring grace, stands upon Apasmarapurusha, a soul temporarily earth-bound by its own sloth, confusion and forgetfulness. The uplifted left leg is revealing grace, which releases the mature soul from bondage. The lower left hand gestures toward that holy foot in assurance that Siva's grace is the refuge for everyone, the way to liberation. The circle of fire represents the cosmos and especially consciousness. The all-devouring form looming above is Mahakala, "Great Time." The cobra around Nataraja's waist is kundalini shakti, the soul-impelling cosmic power resident within all. Nataraja's dance is not just a symbol. It is taking place within each of us, at the atomic level, this very moment. The Agamas proclaim, "The birth of the world, its maintenance, its destruction, the soul's obscuration and liberation are the five acts of His dance." Aum Namah Sivaya.

"O my Lord, Thy hand holding the sacred drum has made and ordered the heavens and earth and other worlds and innumerable souls. Thy lifted hand protects both the conscious and unconscious order of thy creation. All these worlds are transformed by Thy hand bearing fire. Thy sacred foot, planted on the ground, gives an abode to the tired soul struggling in the toils of causality. It is Thy lifted foot that grants eternal bliss to those that approach Thee. These Five-Actions are indeed Thy Handiwork.."

~ Chidambara Mummani Kovai~

The Nataraja dances within the universe of illusion. The locks of his hair stand out in many strands as he whirls around in his dancing frenzy. His locks are decked with a crescent moon, a skull, and are interspersed with the sacred river Ganges.
Shiva's unkempt hair, a symbol of a rejection of society, shows him to be an ascetic. This contrasts with his role as a grhastha, or householder, with his wife and family.

The fiery ring surrounding Shiva, prahabhamandala, represents the universe with all its illusion, suffering and pain. The outer edge is fire the inner edge the waters of the oceans. Many Nataraja statues have multiple levels of fire and water.

The goddess of the Ganges is here shown nesting in Shiva's dreadlocks. The river Ganges that flows in Nataraja's hair originally flowed in heaven. When the heavenly Ganges was needed on earth, she was unwilling to fall to earth because she realized that her fall from heaven would be too much for the earth to withstand. Shiva as Nataraja agreed to break the violent power of the sacred Ganga's fall by catching her in his tangled hair, breaking the fall with his hair on its way to the Himalayas and Northern India.

The crescent moon in his matted hair keeps Kama, the god of nightly love, alive. Through the waxing and the waning of the moon Shiva creates different seasons and rejuvenates life.

Nataraja wears a snake coiled around his upper arms and neck symbolizing the power he has over the most deadly of creatures. Snakes are also used to symbolize the Hindu dogma of reincarnation. Their natural process of molting or shedding their skin is symbolic of the human souls transmigration of bodies from one life to another.

In the back right hand Shiva often holds an hour glass shaped drum or damaru. The drum represents the rhythmic sound to which Nataraja dances and ceaselessly recreates the universe.The front right hand is in the abhaya-mudra (the "fear not" gesture, made by holding the palm outward with fingers pointing up).

The back left hand carries agni (fire) in a vessel or in his hand. The flames represent the destructive energy with which Nataraja dances at the end of each cosmic age, cleansing sins and removing illusion.

The front left hand is across the chest in the gahahasta (elephant trunk) pose, with the wrist limp and the fingers pointed downward toward the uplifted foot.

His uplifted left foot, grants eternal bliss to those who approach him. The other foot treads firmly upon the dwarf of ignorance, allowing the birth of knowledge.

Nataraja dances above the body of the demon, Apasmara, whom he has killed; in this role he is called Natesa. Apasmara, the dwarf demon, represents the ignorance of teaching that all opposites (for example good and evil) are false.

A Poem

In death and destruction, in terror and fear,

dance Shiva, dance in splendour.

Volcanic eruptions of suppressed anger,

earth sheared with quaking tremble;

running for protection as I stumble,

trying to reach You in confused stupor;

dance Shiva, dance in splendour.

Deceptive logic and dissecting debates,

ruinous to my emotional castles;

dilapidated heaps of forlorn desires,

as they become historical blunders;

dance Shiva, dance in splendour.

Inherited load of genetic files,

lies after lies added to list of liesfutile effort to churn truth from the lies;

in silence tears wet my eyes tender,

dance Shiva, dance in splendour.

The blue collar you wear around your neckof the poison that you drank in our favour,

still we remain ignorant of your nature;

help O effulgent saviour, as I surrender;

dance Shiva, dance your Tandav.

Aashray

A great mass of black rock soaring to over 22,000 feet, Mt. Kailash has the unique distinction of being the world’s most venerated holy place at the same time that it is the least visited. The supemely sacred site of four religions and billions of people, Kailash is seen by no more than a few thousand pilgrims each year. The cosmologies and origin myths of each of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism speak of Kailash as the mythical Mt. Meru, the Axis Mundi, the center and birth place of the entire world.

High on the remote western Tibetan plateau, in the northernmost region of the Himalayas, sits Mount Kailash, the holy mountain. The Tibetan people have named it Kang Rinpoche, or Snow Jewel, and the Indians refer to it as Mount Meru. Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain pilgrims from the world over go to this holy mountain to circumambulate rather than scale the 22,028-foot high peak. In fact, climbing Mount Kailash is forbidden. The only person to have ever been atop the sacred mountain was Milarepa, a 11th century Tibetan Buddhist yogi.
Mount Kailash is commonly referred to as the center of the universe in Eastern religious texts from India to Japan. Rooted in the seventh hell and bursting through the highest heaven, it is also believed to be the World Pillar. Hopi Indians recognize Kailash as being at the opposite side of their Black Mesa, thus it’s a cosmic backbone.

Hindus who walk around the 32-mile circumference of Mount Kailash use the term parikrama. They believe that Lord Shiva, one of their three main gods, resides atop what they call Mount Meru. Tibetans refer to the clockwise circumambulation as a kora. Both words mean the same thing: pilgrimage. Doing a walk around the mountain can wipe away a lifetime’s worth of sins, or negative karma as is the term in Eastern religions. “He who performs the Parikrama, the ritual circumambulation of the holy mountain, with a perfectly devoted and concentrated mind goes through a full cycle of life and death” Lama Anagarika Govinda, ‘The Way of the White Clouds.’
The Jains who refer to Kailash as Mount Ashtapada believe the founder of their faith, Rishabanatha, resides atop the mountain. And the Böns [or Bönpos], the religion which predates Buddhism in Tibet, maintain that the entire mystical region and the Nine-Story Swastika Mountain is the seat of all power. When viewed from the south face, a swastika can be seen. Unlike the Jains, Buddhists or Hindus, the Böns make counterclockwise circumambulations. “According to Bönpo accounts, 18 enlightened teachers will appear in this eon and Tönpa Shenrab, the founder of the Bön religion, is the enlightened teacher of this age. He is said to have been born in the mythical land of Olmo Lung Ring, whose location remains something of a mystery. The land is traditionally described as dominated by Mount Yung-drung Gu-tzeg (Edifice of Nine Swastikas), which many identify as Mount Kailash in western Tibet. Due to the sacredness of Olmo Lung Ring and the mountain, both the counter-clockwise swastika and the number nine are of great significance in the Bön religion.” From ‘The Office of Tibet’
Devout Tibetan Buddhists will do full length prostrations, a feat which takes several weeks, around Mount Kailash, increasing the amount of purification they will receive. Many pilgrims do a complete round of the mountain in one day, an accomplishment made more difficult by the 15,000-foot high altitude. Pilgrimages are by their very nature meant to be arduous, and as the Ngari region of Mount Kailash has no airports or train stations nearby, people arrive at their spiritual destination by foot, horseback, yak or jeep. Tarchen is a small settlement near the south face of the mountain; the place where most pilgrimages begin.
Those unwilling or unable to make the kora around the mountain can hire someone who will, thereby splitting the accumulated merit 50/50. This doesn’t allow either the person who sponsors the kora or the one who actually makes the journey to attain instant enlightenment. For those who make the kora, aside from enduring highly changeable weather conditions, there are four prostration points in which to pay physical homage. Many pilgrims make sure they visit the three monasteries located along the path. Near the top of the kora is the Shiwa Tsal, named after the famed cremation grounds in India. Pieces of clothing, a lock of hair or a drop of blood are left there as an offering, signifying the pilgrim’s understanding of death and rebirth. At the highest point of the circuit, just over 18,000 feet, is Dolma La Pass, meaning ‘She Who Helps Cross.’ [The Sanskrit name for the female Buddha is Tara]. This refers to the crossing over to liberation as well as being able to complete the pilgrimage circuit around Kailash. The great boulder of Tara is swathed with long, colorful strings of prayer flags which send out messages of peace with each flap they make in this windy region.
Mount Kailash is also the source of four major rivers: the Indus, the Brahmaputra, the Karnali and the Sutleg. The comparison to the Indian legend of Mount Meru from whose summit flows four great rivers that irrigate all of Asia is hard to miss.
Eighteen miles southeast of Kailash is the circular, turquoise Lake Manasarovar, or Tso Rinpoche, [Precious Lake], a 64-mile circuit, which is rarely completed except by the most devout. Bathing in the lake, or even dousing one’s head with the holy water, is said to be of enormous spiritual benefit to those who can brave the icy water which many claim contain miraculous powers. Hindus are told that complete immersion into the lake ensures they be reborn as a god. Tibetans, on the other hand, avoid bathing in the lake so as not to make it dirty. This is a freshwater lake, three miles above sea level. There is a saltwater lake, separated by a narrow peninsula, named Raksas Tal, or devil’s lake. Pilgrims don’t bathe or circumambulate this crescent moon-shaped body of water, but do pay their respect by glancing in its direction.
Five monasteries have been rebuilt on the shores of Lake Manasarovar since 1981—before the Chinese invasion in 1959 there were eight. Fatigued pilgrims are allowed to stay in the monasteries. Fewer than 500 Indian nationals are allowed to make the pilgrimage per year due to the Chinese and Indian governments. Most of the Indians allowed in are selected via a lottery and the ability to pay their own way is evident in the fact that the majority of them are middle-aged businessmen from large cities.
Before the Cultural Revolution, pilgrims were selected by their bountiful faith. They traveled on foot or horseback. Some of them made the journey by doing the full-length prostrations along the way, an endeavor which could last for years, depending upon the distance and the weather conditions. Few pilgrims were armed, making them prey to thieves. But even under such extreme conditions, they were unafraid of death; dying during a pilgrimage pretty much guaranteed them a lot of good karma points. Pilgrimages require a degree of flexibility that most people aren’t required to possess in a world with guaranteed insurance benefits and retirement plans. To make a spiritual journey is to rid oneself of habits and to open the heart, making the pilgrim ego less and pure; then allowing this transformation to reach out and positively affect others.
”There is no place more powerful for practice, more blessed, or more marvelous than this; May all pilgrims and practitioners be welcome!" Milarepa, Tibetan Buddhist yogi [circa 1052 – 1136]

Aradhya

Shiva (Sanskrit: शिव, and written Śiva in IAST transliteration) is a form of God in Hinduism. Adi Sankara interprets the name Siva to mean "One who purifies everyone by the utterance of His name" or the Pure One, that is, one who is not affected by the three gunas (characteristics) of Prakrti (matter): Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Additionally, Siva can also mean, "the Auspicious One." He is often depicted as the husband of Uma.
Shiva is the third form of God as the Destroyer, one of the trimurti (popularly called the "Hindu trinity"). In the trimurti, Shiva is the destroyer, while Brahma and Vishnu are creator and preserver, respectively. However, even though he represents destruction, he is viewed as a positive force (The Destroyer of Evil), since creation follows destruction. Worshippers of Shiva are called Shaivaites. For Shaivaites, however, Shiva is the only Ultimate Reality (see Ishta-Deva for fuller discussion).
Shiva is not limited to the personal characteristics as he is given in many images and can transcend all attributes. Hence, Shiva is often worshipped in an abstract manner, as God without form, in the form of linga. This view is similar in some ways to the view of God in Semitic religions such as Islam or Judaism, which hold that God has no personal characteristics. Hindus, on the other hand, believe that God can transcend all personal characteristics yet can also have personal characteristics for the grace of the embodied human devotee. Personal characteristics are a way for the devotee to focus on God.
Hindus believe that if we can hear the voice of God in the way Judaeo-Christian religions believe that God communicates, then it is not neccessarily wrong to view a form of God so long as it is recognized that God is not limited to a particular form. Shiva is aadi (without beginning/birth) and ananta (without end/death).
According to the Bhagavata Purana, Lord Shiva appeared from the forehead of Lord Brahma. When Lord Brahma asked his sons (the four kaumaras} to go forth and create progeny in the universe, they refused. This angered Lord Brahma and in his anger a crying child appeared from his forehead. As the child was crying he was called Rudra, and became Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was asked to go forth and create progeny, but when Lord Brahma observed the power, as they shared the qualities of Lord Shiva, he asked him to observe austerities instead of creating progeny. A slightly different version is told in the Shiva Purana: in the Shiva Purana, Shiva promises Brahma that an aspect of his, Rudra, will be born and this aspect is identical to Him.
Some of his chief attributes are signified by his hundreds of names, such as:-Mahabaleshwar (Great God of Strength)Tryambakam (Three-Eyed One, i.e. All-Knowing)Mahakala (Great Time, i.e. Conqueror of Time)Nilakantha (The one with a Blue Throat), etc.
Shiva is the supreme God of Shaivism, one of the two main branches of Hinduism today (the other being Vaishnavism). His abode is called Kailasa. His holy mount (called vahana in Sanskrit) is Nandi, the Bull. His attendant is named Bhadra. Shiva is usually represented by the Shiva linga (or lingam). He is generally represented in Hindu tradition as immersed in deep meditation, on Mount Kailash (reputed to be the same as the Mount Kailash in the south of Tibet, near Manasarovar Lake) in the Himalaya, which is supposed to be his abode.
Shiva's consort is Devi, God's energy or God as the Divine Mother who comes in many different forms, one of whom is Kali, the goddess of death. Parvati, a more pacific form of Devi is also popular. Shiva also married Sati, daughter of Daksha, who forbade the marriage. Sati disobeyed her father and Daksha held a Yajna (ritual sacrifice) to Vishnu, but did not invite Shiva. In disgust, Sati sacrificed herself in the same fire Daksha used in his sacrifice. Shiva arrived at the scene, angry at the death of his wife, and killed many of the guests, as well as decapitating Daksha, though he later replaced his head with that of a goat. Shiva created the monster Virabhadra during his quarrel with Daksha, and he was the leader of Shiva's men who came to prevent Daksha from conducting the Yajna. According to legend (Shivpurana, Ramcharitmanas and other Hindu scriptures), this same Sati was reborn in the house of Himalaya (who is almost certainly the mountain-range personified) and performed a great tapa (sequence of austerities, culminating in sustained meditation on the object desired, which in this case, was the Lord Shiva). This tapa caused Shiva to break his Samadhi (State of deep, usually ecstatic meditation) and accept Parvati as his consort.
Shiva gave Parashurama his axe. Shiva's great bow is called Pināka and thus he is also called Pinaki. Most depictions of Siva show the three-pointed spear Trishula in the background.
Shiva and Parvati are the parents of Karttikeya (also known as Murugan in South India) and Ganesha (also known as Vinayagar in South India), the elephant-headed God of wisdom. He acquired his head due to the actions of Shiva, who decapitated him because Ganesha refused to allow him to enter the house while Parvati was bathing. Shiva had to give him the new head to placate his wife. In another version, Parvati showed the child off to Shani (The planet Saturn), whose gaze burned his head to ashes, which Brahma told Shiva to replace with the first head he could find, an elephant. Karttikeya is a six-headed god (thus called shadaanan, the one with six heads, Sanskrit: shad, six + aanan, head) and was conceived to kill the demon Tarakasura, who had proven invincible against other minor gods.
According to the foundation myth of Kalism, Kali came into existence when Shiva looked into himself; she is his mirror image.
In another version, she had gone out to kill demons but she went on a rampage. To stop her, Shiva went and lay down on the ground in front of her path. When she stepped on him, she looked down and realized that she had just stepped on Shiva. Feeling ashamed, she stuck out her tongue, and the rampage ended.
As Nataraja, Shiva is the Lord of the Dance, and also symbolises the dance of the Universe/Nature, with all its delicately balanced heavenly bodies and natural laws which complement and balance each other. At times, he is also symbolized as doing his great dance of destruction, called Taandav (Pronounced with a soft 't' and a hard 'd'), at the time of pralaya, or dissolution of the universe.
Some Hindus (non-Saivaites), especially Smartas, believe Shiva to be one of many different forms of the universal Atman, or Brahman, a monistic entity to which all things (essentially), and Shiva, as form of God are identical. Others see him as the one true God from whom all the other deities and principles are emanations, essentially a monotheistic understanding usually related to the bhakti sects of Shaivism.
Although he is defined as a destroyer (or rather recreator), Shiva, along with Vishnu, is considered the most benevolent God. One of his names is Aashutosh, he who is easy to please, or, he who gives a lot in return for a little.
Traditionally, unlike Vishnu, Shiva does not have any avatars. However, several persons have been claimed as avatars of him, such as Shankara. Some people consider Hanuman to be an avatar of Shiva.

Nayanars (or Nayanmars), saints from Southern India, were mostly responsible for development of Shaivism in the Middle Ages.
The important Shaivite sects were Kashmir Shavaites from Northern India, Lingayats and Virasaivas from Southern India. Saiva Siddhanta is a major Shaivite theory developed in Southern India.
This is not complete yet. More details on Shaivite texts/schools needed.
Shiva has produced no full lifetime avatars, but short stage dramas to help his devotees (particularly nayanmars). This is greatly explained in Thiruvilayadalpuram. Basically all this happened in South India, mostly Tamil Nadu. Madurai was the host for most of the short avatars.
Shiva is an aspect of God or Saguna Brahman,(i.e. God with form) who Hindus pray to. In trimurti belief, he is the aspect of God (i.e., God as the Destroyer) of the trimurti (also called the Hindu Trinity), along with Brahma and Vishnu.
Aspects of God such as Shiva or Vishnu are personal attributes of the impersonal Nirguna Brahman, God without attributes, the type of God similar in Semitic religions such as Islam or Judaism (i.e., God without form or without personal characteristics.) The term "Hindu god" should not be equated with Shiva and is confused with Devas. Devas or demigods, are celestial beings similar to angels as discussed in Judaeo-Christian traditions. Devas in Sanskrit literally means "shining beings".

Origin

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Siva does not occur in the Vedic hymns as the name of a god, but as an adjective in the sense of "kind", or "auspicious". One of his synonyms, however, is the name of a Vedic deity, the attributes and nature of which show a good deal of similarity to the post-Vedic god. This is Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents, as a fierce, destructive deity, terrible as a wild beast, whose fearful arrows cause death and disease to men and cattle. He is also called bapardin (wearing his hair spirally braided like a shell), a word which in later times became one of the synonyms of Siva. The Atharva Veda mentions several other names of the same god, some of which appear even placed together, as in one passage Bhava, Sarva, Rudra and Pasupati. Possibly some of them were the names under which one and the same deity was already worshipped in different parts of northern India. This was certainly the case in later times, since it is expressly stated in one of the later works of the Brahmapa period, that Sarva was used by the Eastern people and Bhava by a Western tribe. It is also worthy of note that in the same work, composed at a time when the Vedic triad of Agni, Indra-Vayu and Surya was still recognized, attempts are made to identify Siva of many names with Agni; and that in one passage in the Mahabharata it is stated that the Brahmins said that Agni was Siva.
It is in his character as destroyer that Siva holds his place in the triad, and that he must, no doubt, be identified with the Vedic Rudra. Another very important function appears, however, to have been early assigned to him, on which much more stress is laid in his modern worship, that of destroyer being more especially exhibited in his consort, viz, the character of a generative power, symbolized in the emblem representing Him, (linga) and in the sacred bull (Nandi), the favorite attendant of Him. The non-Aryans have worshipped the linga as a phallic symbol. This feature, however, is entirely alien from the nature of the Vedic god, it has been conjectured with some plausibility, that the linga-worship was originally prevalent among the non-Aryan population, and was thence introduced into the worship of Siva. On the other hand, there can, we think, be little doubt that Siva, in his generative faculty, is the representative of another Vedic god whose nature and attributes go far to account for this particular feature of the modern deity, viz. Pushan.
Siva, originally, no doubt, a solar deity, is frequently invoked, as the lord of nourishment, to bestow food, wealth and other blessings. He is once, jointly with Soma, called the progenitor of heaven and earth, and is connected with the marriage ceremony, where he is asked to lead the bride to the bridegroom and make her prosperous (civatama). Moreover. Lie has the epithet bapardin (spirally braided), as have Rudra and the later Siva, and is called Par upa, or guardian of cattle, whence the latter derives his name Parupati.
Parupa is a strong, powerful, and even fierce and destructive aspect god, who, with his goad or golden spear, smites the foes of his worshipper, and thus in this respect offers at least some points of similarity to Rudra, which may have favored the fusion of the two gods into a monotheistic conception of God, into Shiva.