Shiva, one of the members of the Hindu Trinity, represents the supreme Reality in its aspect of annihilator, the other two aspects being those of maintainer (Vishnu) and creator (Brahma). Shiva symbolises constructive destruction in the continuous process of creation, preservation, destruction and re-creation.
The Annihilator
The supreme Reality (Brahman) is described as the substratum upon which all creation, sustenance and destruction take place. This continuous chain of creation and destruction maintains the entire universe. The destruction of the morning is the creation of the afternoon, the destruction of the afternoon is the creation of the evening, the destruction of the evening is the creation of the night. As a result of this chain of destruction, creation, day and night is maintained.
Shiva is married to the Goddess Uma, who represents perishable matter (Prakriti). The power of destruction is always associated with destructible matter, since this power can manifest only when perishable matter is available.
Shiva – As Dakshinamurti
Shiva is also known as the eternal Lord of meditation. With a serenely peaceful countenance, He sits in deep meditation on the top of the world, facing south – on Mount Kailas in the Himalayas. In this aspect, He is known as Dakshinamurti, the dispenser of supreme Knowledge. The term dakshina means that divine power of subtle perception generated in a fully integrated, pure intellect. When this dakshina or power flows towards the Vasana conditioned hearts of the disciples, it is said to be turned ‘southward’. Shiva thus assumes the form of a Guru and sitting on the peak of Kailas, turns southward to serve all seekers.
Shiva – The Meditator
The meditating Shiva is seen against the background of the snow capped Himalayas. The white snow represents the absolute purity of His mind. His posture symbolises the ideal of harmony and poise experienced by a realised person. In that state of perfection, He is in total harmony with the external environment and happenings.
A seeker, who wishes to meditate upon and reach the peak of human perfection, must first endeavour to maintain the purity of mind, symbolised by snow. An impure and agitated mind cannot concentrate and meditate upon the Truth. Purity of the mind is obtained by practising a life of harmony in the face of the challenging situations of the world, and by steadily applying oneself thus, until one gains subjective poise.
A life of harmony is attained by rising above one’s egocentric view of life and expanding one’s mind so as to accommodate a constant awareness of the totality of the world, the entirety of humankind, and the vastness of the universal problems. A life of harmony brings to one’s heart an inward peace and poise. By consistently living in harmony with the outer world, one gains sufficient poise and the problems and challenges of life do not affect one at all. Lord Shiva sitting in meditation is a figurative representation of an ideal ‘man of poise’ who remains ever unaffected by all surrounding disturbances.
A ‘man of poise’ is not to be construed as living a life of idle acceptance or unintelligent surrender to external challenges. On the contrary, such a person is dynamic and serves as the leader of all beings. Drawing inspiration from the dynamic silence within, such a person applies a steady mind in the din and roar of the marketplace.
Shiva’s Half Closed Eyes
Shiva’s eyes are half closed; they view the outer world with inner wisdom. Closed eyes would represent one wholly introverted and oblivious to the world. Fully open eyes would signify total extrovertedness. Shiva’s half closed eyes, however, indicate that He is fully conscious of the within and without. He understands the world outside to be only a reflection of the Self within. With this intuitive experience, His actions sing the song of the Self in all transactions in the world.
Serpents Around His Neck
A realised person is one, who has conquered the ego and kept it under perfect control. In contrast to such a one, worldly persons are victimised by the demands of the ego. In such people, the ego gains the upper hand, and they become subservient to its whims and fancies. The glory of a ‘man of perfection’ is, therefore, in transcending the ego. This transcendence is symbolised by Shiva’s coiling a serpent around His neck as a decoration for His body. The serpent represents the ego. It is used for adorning His personality instead of destroying Him.
Third Eye
Shiva is said to have a third eye called the eye of wisdom (Jnana chakshu). With the help of this eye, Shiva gains an intuitive vision of the Truth, which is denied to the two eyes of an ordinary mortal. This idea of the third eye is not to be taken literally to mean that a third fleshy organ exists. The intuitive wisdom of Truth is born with perfect integration of the mind and the intellect, that is, when devotion for the Lord blends with subtle contemplation upon the transcendental Truth.
Devotion and contemplation are the two limbs which take one to the abode of Truth. When these two combine – that is, when, with an attitude of devotion, a seeker uses intellectual discrimination to penetrate the mysteries of the Truth – a subjective apprehension – experience of the Reality arises in the seeker’s bosom. This is symbolised by the opening of the third eye of wisdom.
Dancing Shiva
When Shiva, the yogi among the gods, lays down His trident, He assumes the form of Nataraja, the king of the dancers. His divine dance is the thrilling expression of God-realisation by one who has transcended the limitations of the material layers of the personality. It represents the finite exploding into Infinite stature.
His Trishul or Trident
The three prongs of the trident stand for the three thought textures (gunas), namely Sattva (pure and noble), Rajas (passionate and agitated) and Tamas (dull and inactive). Combinations of these three thought textures in various permutations determine the different individual personalities. The noble, the ignoble or the indifferent traits in the human character are determined by the varying proportion in which these three constituents are mixed. When the thought textures are eliminated, one loses one’s individuality and merges with the all-pervading Reality. The laying down of the trident indicates the transcendence of the gunas and the consequent merger of the individual with the Reality.
Shiva – God of Austerity
Shiva is also known as the god of austerity (tapas). He is often pictured clad in a deer skin, His body besmeared with holy ashes, and His long hair matted – all symbols of supreme renunciation. When, as Nataraja, He dances in triumphant frenzy His dance of realisation, the tresses loosen, suggesting that the state of realisation transcends austerities. Austerities are only a means – a path to the goal of God-realisation. When one has reached the goal, no need remains to adhere to the means.
The Sacred Ganga
Shiva is represented as carrying the Ganga (Ganges) in His locks. The Ganga stands for spiritual perfection. According to a mythological story, the origin of the Ganga is Akasha-Ganga (Ganges of space), which was located in the heavens. King Bhagiratha prayed to the Akash-Ganga to descend to the earth and bless humankind. The prayer was granted. So he implored Lord Shiva to receive her torrential flow with His strength, for none else could bear the force of her descent. Shiva, accordingly, received the waters in His locks and disappeared into the jungle for meditation. The king once again prayed to Shiva to release the waters of the holy Ganga for the benefit of the earth. The story goes that the flow of the present Ganga is made up of water trickling from Shiva’s locks.
Spiritual perfection is beyond intellectual comprehension, which is indicated by the Akash-Ganga located in the heavens. In order to obtain it, one must first develop self-control, which Shiva proverbially stands for. After intellectually grasping the objective knowledge of the Truth, one has to retire to a quiet place for contemplation upon the knowledge so gained in order to bring about a subjective owning up of the Truth. Thereafter, spiritual knowledge can be communicated to others only in gradual doses, since their power of understanding the abstract knowledge is limited. This idea is indicated by the fact that the Ganga water descends from Shiva’s locks in a trickle. A dip in the sacred Ganga, therefore, is considered sacred, for it symbolises that the seeker has cleansed the ego and become one with supreme Reality.