10/08/2023
# Lord_Shiva. & .
🔱🔱🔱Shiva God in Vedas.
There is a famous Rig vedic Verse that says "Ekam Sat" that is "There is one Being, the sages call Him by many names." The God (Parmeshwara) has three deities who carry on the world.
This is Known as Holy Trinity.
1◆Brahma - the creator,
2◆Vishnu - the perpetuator of life and
3◆Shiva (Mahesh ) - the purifier and perpetuator of good and destroyer of evil.
🔱Rig Veda refer Shiva as Rudra as in its following verse . "We Worship Tryambaka (Rudra) , Who spread Fragrance and Increases Nourishment , May He release me ,like the cucumber from its stem , From Mortal Life , But not From Immorality . "(Rig Veda Mandal VII Sukta 59 and Mantra 12)
🔱The Yajurveda describes Shiva as ascetic kalaripayat warrior whose robe is of Deer Skin and He carries Trishul (triśula). According to the verse Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, the life is described as having three facets Truth (Satyam), Good Grace (Shivam) and the Beautiful (Sundaram). Shiva is also worshipped for internal strength to carry on good deeds.
🔱As Guru Govinda Singh pray "Deh Shiva Var Mohe Ahey, Shubh Karman Te Kabhun Na Tarun, Na Darun Arson Jab Jaye Laroon, Nischey Kar Apni Jeet Karoon." (O! Shiva bless me that I could never desist from Good deeds, I shall never fear if I have to fight Evil, I Shall be victorious with certainty."
🔱Shiva is a living Heavenly God, Supreme Deva, Mahadeva. The most Sacred and ancient books of India, the Rig Veda narrates His presence in the hymns. Vedic myths, rituals and even astronomy testifies to His existence from the dawn of time.
🔱The MohinJodaro and Harappa findings confirm Shiva worship in the ancient India. According to the older scriptures, He has three places of His residence. One is Kailasa Parvata another is Lohita Giri under which Brahamputra flows and third is Muzwan Parvat. Another Rigveda name for Shiva is 'Yahvah' means "The Great Lord"!
🔱The four sacred Vedas, mankind's oldest scriptures, intone, "To Rudra (Siva), Lord of sacrifice, of hymns and balmy medicines, we pray for joy and health and strength. He shines in splendor like the sun, refulgent as bright gold is He, the good, the best among the Gods (Rig Veda 43.45)."
💥"He is God, hidden in all beings, their inmost soul who is in all. He watches the works of creation, lives in all things, watches all things. He is pure consciousness, beyond the three conditions of nature (Yajur Veda, Svet.U.6.11)." Śiva also assumes many other roles, including the Lord of Ascetics (Mahadeva), the Lord of Boons (Rudra), and also the Universal Divinity (Mahesvara). Worshippers of Śiva are called Śaivites who consider Śiva as representing the Ultimate Reality (see Ishta-Deva for fuller discussion).
💥Shiva or Śiva (Sanskrit: शिव, lit. "Auspicious one") is one of the principal deities or a form of Ishvara (God).
🔱Shiva is referred to as 'the good one' or the 'auspicious one'.
🔱Shiva - Rudra is considered to be the destroyer of evil and sorrow.
🔱Shiva - Shankara is the doer of good.
🔱Shiva is 'tri netra' or three eyed, and is 'neela kantha' - blue necked (having consumed poison to save the world from destruction).
🔱Shiva - Nataraja is the Divine Cosmic Dancer.
🔱Shiva - Ardhanareeswara is both man and woman. "There the eye goes not, nor words, nor mind.
We cannot understand how He can be explained.
💥He is above the unknown (Sama Veda, Kena U. 1.3)." "Fire is His head, the sun and moon His eyes, space His ears, the Vedas His speech, the wind His breath, the universe His heart. From His feet the Earth has originated. Verily, He is the inner Self of all beings. (Atharva Veda, Mund.U. 2.1.4)."
🔱💥Adi Sankara, in his interpretation of the name Shiva, the 27th and 600th name of Vishnu sahasranama, the thousand names of Vishnu interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", or "the One who is not affected by three Gunas of Prakrti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)" or "the One who purifies everyone by the very utterance of His name.
💥Swami Chinmayananda, in his translation of Vishnu Sahasranama, further elaborates on that verse: Shiva means "the One who is eternally pure" or "the One who can never have any contamination of the imperfection of Rajas and Tamas".
🔱Shiva is considered as the Hindu God who has no Aadi or Anta i.e. no birth/death. Shiva's role as the primary deity of Shaivism is reflected in his epithets Mahādeva ("Great God"; mahā = Great + deva = God), Maheśhvara ("Great Lord"; mahā = Great + īśhvara = Lord), and Parameśhvara ("Supreme Lord").
🔱There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 (Anuśāsanaparvan) of the Mahabharata is considered the kernel of this tradition.
💥Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names. The worship of Shiva is a pan-Hindu tradition, practiced widely across all of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Some historians believe that the figure of Shiva as we know him today was built up over time, with the ideas of many regional sects being amalgamated into a single figure.
👉👉How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not well documented. Axel Michaels explains the composite nature of Shaivism as follows:
💥Like Vişņu, Śiva is also a high god, who gives his name to a collection of theistic trends and sects: Śaivism. Like Vaişņavism, the term also implies a unity which cannot be clearly found either in religious practice or in philosophical and esoteric doctrine. Furthermore, practice and doctrine must be kept separate. An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes.
🔱👉According to the mystic mythology of the Puraanaas, the Kailasa peak of the Himalayas is the abode of Shiva and He bears the Ganges on His head. As the Lord of creatures, He is metaphorically called as Pashupathi (with Nandi, the bull, His favourite animal) and His fearless nature is euphemised as Sarpabhushana. Shiva's posture in the meditation is ascribed to Him as the Head of Yogis (Yogiraja) who practises various spiritual feats to attain salvation.
🔱Lord Shiva's divine consort, Goddess Parvati (who is also the daughter of Himalaya), is the deity of strength. Numerous stories in mythology describe the births of their two sons - Lord Ganesha and Lord Kartikeya (or Guha or Shanmukha or Skanda or Murugha) and their various significances.
🔱Har Har Mahadev.🔱
