21/06/2023
In Yoga, Lord Shiva is considered the Ādi Yogi and the Adi Guru. He is the foremost among the yogis and the first teacher of the science of Yoga. 🧘 He is an ideal ascetic and an ideal householder, all in one.He is depicted as sitting in lotus pose on mount Kailāså, unmoved by the events of the universe. He body is smeared with sacred ash. In his hair is the crescent moon symbolizing mystical vision and knowledge. The serpent coiled around his neck symbolizes the mysterious kundalini energy present in all of us. The river Ganges cascades from the crown of his head symbolizing perpetual purification, which he bestows upon his devotees. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
He is the three-eyed one or Trilochana as he has the third eye or the eye of wisdom in the centre of the forehead. Shiva is described as the blue-throated or Neelkanth. He is said to have drank the poison that emerged during the mythological churning of the ocean 🌊 by the gods and the Asuras, thereby protecting the world from its harmful effects. His trident represents the three gunas or qualities of Nature, namely tamas, rajas, and sattva. He is Yogeshwara, the lord of Yoga; Maheshwara, the Great God and Bhuteshwara, the lord of the five elements from which the universe is created. 🙏🏻
It is said that Shiva first imparted his knowledge to Pārvati or Shakti, his spouse. Also, for the good of mankind, he taught the science of Yoga to the ancient rishis who passed on this knowledge to the rest of humanity. All yogic and ta***ic systems consider him as the first Guru. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
These teachings have come down to us in the form of Agama Sastras. From these teachings, came various traditions which still exist. One of them is the Nava-Nāth Tradition founded by Matsyendranath, Gorakshnath and the seven other Gurus of the Nath Tradition, which is still prevalent mostly in North India. In the South, it was the Siddha Agastiar or Agastya Muni, who disseminated this knowledge and created a lineage of Siddhas who specialized in Yoga, Ta**ra, Medicine, Astrology and other sciences. The tradition of 18 Siddhars is well known in South India. 🙏🏻
Happy International Day of Yoga 🧘♀️🧘