I’ve been yapping about Lord Shiva a lot today so thought it would be fitting to make a long-ass post regarding what I have written. I may not be able to quote all the sources I learnt these things from, and certain combinations of topics like science etc is more part of my own musings and conclusions. Just a quick FYI! If any of you are interested on any related sources just ask in the comments I’ll do my best to find them.
Ok so basic grounds… in common belief in Hinduism he is seen as a member of the Trimuthi where he operates as the destructive force behind the collapse of creation in order for renewal to take place. He resides on Mt Kailash in the Himalayas with his family of Parvati, Ganesha, Karthikeya and more. When talked about from a spiritual lense, his name ‘Shiva’ is derived from ‘Shava’ which translates to inert. It is said he represents the ether/antimatter principles that reside in the universe, consciousness itself. When his eternal soulmate Shakti arrives, who is the energy force behind the functioning of the universe, her energies fuse with his to awaken the consciousness that is Shiva. Making him alive from the inertness of the universe.
From then on, he manifests himself in numerous forms depending on the school of thought and regions you visit that worship him. I want to focus on a more yogic perspective as it’s more less commonly known about. From a yogic perspective, his first interactions with humans was when he was in deep deep meditative trances. He attracted many people from all across the region to just sit by him and soak in his interdimensional ecstasy, but when time bled into years upon end sitting in his meditative posture only seven sages remained. Those seven who remained are known as the Saptarishis. Recognising their rigidity n their discipline to wait for him still after all these years, Shiva also known as the Adiyogi (first yogi) finally opened his eyes and decided to transmute the 112 ways to know the universe in it’s entirety - through yogic practices.
These seven rishis trained for long periods of time under his guidance, and when they finally mastered these 112 arts they were charged by Shiva to go across the globe from the Himalayan regions. Their teachings spread far and wide across the continents, including places like South America and Europe where there have been archaeological evidences found of remains of shiva lingams (his famous statue iconography) and the likes. These 112 yogic teachings are interestingly equivalent to the same number of energy centres or chakras that we have throughout out body, where roughly four or so reside outside the physical body, so the number was not random. The famous Saptarishis that are worshipped to this day in India include Sage Agastya Muni who travelled to South India, who is one of the more famously known ones. They helped advance spiritual thought, practice, science, architecture and much much more in ancient India and the globe
In the more Hindu practices, Shiva is seen as the destroyer in the Trimurthi. He is usually depicted as a family man rather than an ascetic due to this form being more accessible and beneficial for worshippers who still follow the householder way of life and not wanting to become a sage. His wife is Parvati, a devi who has many many forms herself, and some of his godly children include Ganesha and elephant headed god (although his head is actually said to be from a Ganda chief where Ganas are like these otherworldly demented looking attendants of Shiva, kept very very close to him), Lord Muruga the god of war in Hinduism, Ashoka Sundari who is the only known daughter of his I believe, and a not so well known child of his between Vishnu’s Mohini avatar and Shiva called Lord Ayyappa Swami. Shiva’s most worshipped form is in the Shiva lingam form.
Another form of Shiva very well known nowadays is Lord Bhairava, which is a much more ugra (intense) form that deals with the tantric side of Shiva practices. There are a total of 64 bhairava forms all for different purposes and representing different aspects of him. Of which the Ashtabhairava (primary eight forms of Bhairava) are the most well known as each represents a cardinal direction he guards and lords over. Mahakaala Bhairava is the most well known, who is a form that was created by Shiva to discipline the creator god Bramha when he tried to cheat in a contest Shiva set between him and the preserver god Vishnu when the two of them were arguing over who was the greatest. This form of Bhairava cut off one of Bramha’s five heads, leaving him with his current four. As this was the first act of killing a brahmin recorded, Mahakaala Bhairava was told by Shiva (the consciousness of Shiva connected to the primary one source in Hinduism) to do a severe penance for this crime even if there was apt reason behind it to show cosmic order must be obeyed even by the gods. So he went on a long long pilgrimage with just the kapala, meaning skull, as his begging bowl. When the skull finally fell from his hand, landing onto the sacred land of Kashi, that is when Mahakaala Bhairava set up his home their and became the guardian of the sacred city Kashi which still stands to this day. An amazing place it is indeed, you can still feel the energy of the ancients there!
But yes, Bhairava is also known for guarding the Tantric texts. Is is said when his consort Bhairavi (same Parvati but in her form that complements Bhairava) asked for him to teach her how to achieve his states, Bhairava recited the sacred Tantric texts to her and it was recorded to be taught to practitioners who want to learn the tantric ways. In its essence Tantra is the path of the Goddess, and to be able to reach the AdiShakti or Supreme Goddess’s favour you must first please Lord Bhairava and have his blessings to succeed on that path. Tantra is something you get initiated into by a Guru, but if one cannot obtain an actual well-versed traditional Guru to guide you you keep working on the fundamental practices you can until you are deemed worthy enough to be under a Guru’s guidance to become one with the Divine.
To add onto this before I completely move on from Bhairava, who is one on the closest Shiva forms to me, Bhatuka Bhairava is also a very famous form of him outside of the main eight. In this form he is depicted as a child and is often given the title as a child of Kaali. This form is extremely fast and potent to worship because he has the full blessings of the Dasha Mahavidyas (the ten primary forms of tantric Devi/Goddess), and so is very good when it comes to protecting the devotees. This form is much more accessible for practitioners who live a householder life and are not initiated into any proper Tantric practice by a Guru. This is the first form of Bhairava I actually approached. He is very sweet and caring, and defends those under his protection fiercely. Thanks to him I was able to protect myself and others in bad situations encountering rather problematic people online.
One thing about Bhairava is that he is the personification of raw, intense, unbridled truth of the universe. Mainly depicted as *digambara* meaning clad only with the clouds for clothes, he is the bare and indisputable truth that we all as spiritual seekers seek to know about the universe. He will cut out all falsities in your life like nobody’s business, and once his values touch your heart you become restless to know what lied beyond the maya/illusion of the three dimension. No matter how much you deviate from the path your spiritual restlessness will never die once Bhairava decided to take your hand and guide your path spiritually
Another side note: even when doing Tantra style practices there is always a basic procedure to follow when doing the simplest un-initiated sadhana. For example the chanting of mantras. Ideally you should do it after you are clean, no shows on, sat cross legged facing the required direction for maximum benefits. If using a mala (basically what y’all might know as a rosary) to aid the counting of the number of times a mantra is recited, make sure that mala has a total of 108 beads with a guru bead at the top as a tactile signal for when you complete a round on it. 108 is a significant number as it is the approximate number of distance between the Sun and the earth when the Sun’s diameter is multiplied by 108. Very insane scientific precision can be found through Hindu and Yogic practices. I’ll copy below is a more condensed format what I mean by the spiritual and astrological significance of 108:
Sun-Earth Ratio: The average distance of the Sun from Earth is approximately 108 times the diameter of the Sun. Moon-Earth Ratio: The average distance of the Moon from Earth is approximately 108 times the diameter of the Moon.Sun-Earth Diameter Ratio: The diameter of the Sun is approximately 108 times the diameter of the Earth. Astrology: There are 12 zodiac signs and 9 planets. \(12 \times 9 = 108\).Mathematics: 108 is a Harshad number (divisible by the sum of its digits: \(1+0+8=9\)) and is considered a self-number in some contexts. Ancient Light Calculation: According to the Surya Siddhanta, an ancient text, 108 aligns with calculations of the speed of light.
But mantra chanting doesn’t require a mala, you can count via a method on your fingers. The best mantras to use are the simple short ones for beginners if anyone is looking to try it out. For example ‘Aum Namaha Shivaaya’ is perfect for Shiva and for bhairava ‘Aum Bhairavaaya Namaha’ is perfect for beginners.
He is often misinterpreted as a ‘death god’, which is not entirely false. There’s a very niche perspective imo that he deals in terms of death. He brings about endings, changes, ‘death’ in a sense of maya/illusion, ego, and anything that does not serve the practitioner. Yes, he causes cosmic destruction at times and is a truly formidable force in battle (I’ll get into that side of him soon hehe) but he doesn’t do any underworld chauffeuring. That is the duty of Yamaraj, the Hindu deity of Death and Patala Loka’s ruler (essentially ruler of the Underworld one may compare with Osiris, Hades and the likes). Shiva is the causal primordial force behind the concept of destruction itself, because all matter returns to its ‘shava’ state once destroyed. Shiva in that sense in the potential that comes after a destruction, the true nature of the universe left when the illusions surrounding the 3D and even the 4D collapse as per the cosmic design back into itself to start anew.
Concept of Vairagya/Detatchment:
One of Shiva’s primary domains focuses on his manifestation as an ascetic. If one searches up an iconography of Shiva, he is depctied wearing the skin of a tiger, carrying his trishula (which y’all probably know as a trident). His sacred animal is a bull called Nandi, and he is often portrayed meditating and being an ascetic when not portrayed with his family. Each of these have very poignant significance in Shiva’s symbolism of vairagya, which is the concept of detachment.
Wearing the tiger skin is showing how he wears ‘ego’ like a cloth, something easily discarded and mastered over in order to form that garment. His Trishula weapon is symbolic of how he rises over the three gunas, which are three states of energy ‘being’ in a sense. These include Saatvic which is a righteous lifestyle akin to one brahmins follow with respect to all living creatures, keeping clean in body and thought etc akin to the state of the gods, Rajasic which is a kingly state of being where there is energetic courage and selflessness needed in order to help other people like a righteous king would, and tamasin where it is said to be a more lethargic energy state akin to regular people. He rises above all three and masters them all, where usually deities will be categorised into those three brackets. He also is often shown with a damaru/double hand drum, as it is depicting his knowledge over the cosmic sounds including AUM that help create and dissolve the universe when the time comes.
His vahana/sacred animal Nandi is also very significant. He symbolises utmost patience and waiting for the Divine, as in temples he is shown seated before Shiva eternally captured in stone. He simply looks up at his Lord and waits, not expecting anything in return. As the symbol of one of Shiva’s most devout devotees, his patience teaches us to not expect anythign or demand anythign from Shiva when coming into his domain to pray. Just simply soaking in his ecstatic presence one can have their troubles removed through surrender and pure devotion. This is the greatest offering one can give Lord Shiva imo.
These all tie into the concept of Vairagya because Shiva himself never fit into any labels. He never fully fit into any one type of religion or practice either (yes, I’m saying this as a Hindu). Shiva is an ultimate being of detachment when it comes to labels. belief systems, caste, creed, race etc. Nor does he care if you do every ritual meticulously to the T. He is a being that helps you strives towards the truth of universal experience, through the offerings of practices he bestowed upon humanity. His ascetic image encourages us to seek into ourselves who we truly are beyond the identifications of the body and social ideologies we have accumulated in our lifetimes.
Detach from all this, unzipping your soul self from your body as if it was just another body suit clothing you wore to experience another human lifetime, and what remains? This is what he encourages us to seek - our true energetic selves. So the art of Vairagya is just that - going beyond what was imposed as identities, whilst still existing within those identities. Just have the knowledge that yout true self is not Plouto, but you exist as Plouto on this moment of life. Detatchment without going towards nihilistic tendencies is crucial, hence why processes like yoga and meditation exist so you still remain at one with the universal body at large.
Concept of Shiva as a unification of opposites:
Shiva also is heavy on the imagery of unifying what one considers as opposing concepts or lifestyles. For example, one one hand he’s an ascetic that resides in the cremation grounds to undergo deep intense occult practices. One the other, he’s the sweetest family man with divine children and a soulmate for a spouse. How is this possible? Because again, his purpose is to show detachment from rigid identities and beliefs. What better way to demonstrate this than to show the fluidity of his own identities and roles? Another good example of this is his and Parvati’s form of Aaardhanaarishwara, which translates to ‘the Lord who is half woman’. While yes in modern times this figure is shown to be representing more gender-fluid ideas and an LGBTQ+ icon amongst modern age spiritualists, his concept goes much much more deeper than that. We can trace this into more scientific/energy terms and into spiritual terms.
At the base fundamental yogic energy theory of the body, we have two energetic nadis or ‘streams’ that wrap around our spinal column area. These two are called Purusha and Prakriti, where Purusha is more to do with ‘masculine like’ energies and Prakriti is more to do with ‘feminine like’ energies. The concept of this form of Shiva and Parvati where they are both one in body and spirit is an alchemical symbol of everyone on planet earth regardless of gender having these two entwining nadis (basically a symbol of unity between the two in order for a human being to energetically function). Even the most misogynistic of men and the most misanthropic of women harbour BOTH ENERGIES inside of them. In order to be a complete human being, one must embrace both sides and both energies to be able to evolve spiritually, is this symbolism. It might take some time if people have traumas with it etc, but this is a very fundamental concept of pairings/duality within Hinduism outside of any of its’ socially added nonsense, and within yogic knowledge.
Universal side of Ardhanaarishwara (energetic principles)
One who has studied the basics of science, physics in particular, can tell you that the fundamental building blocks of matter usually come in pairs to help make the ‘whole’. Let’s look into the atom first. Protons have their counterparts electrons, which play on the concept of positive and negative energies. This concept can also be applied to magnets, where there are polar sides that are both negative and positive. In both these scenarios the opposites attract and like parts repel. This is a fundamental concept in my mind as it arguable teaches us that the base state of neutrality and wholeness can never be achieved without equal parts of both the positive and negative existing within us. Back to the atomic example, an atom that does not have a full outer shell of electrons equivalent to the positive charge of photonic energy in its nucleus, the atom will always strive to gain more electrons or lose excess electrons until it reaches this concept of charge balance within its structure. This very concept is the reason why atomic bonds form and complex structures like living creatures and planets are able to exists as matter in the cosmos (I’m refraining from getting too scientific and technical here lol)
Where am I going with this? If even the smallest molecule that makes up the universe and you and I as we know it required the balance of dual opposing principles within themselves, why would it be so far fetched to assume that this is the same for the spiritual evolution and balance within a human being?? Regardless if you assign yourself to one gender, no gender, all genders or a completely different gender altogether, this fundamental energetic makeup remains unchanged in the eyes of yogic science. Union between the masculine and feminine within you is a key step into reuniting yourself with the universal energies.
There is so so so much more I can dive into regarding Shiva, but I shall leave this here for now. If you did manage to read this essay of a post, thank you and I hope you both enjoyed it and learnt something new from this post. Blessed be, Har Har Mahadev!
