Shiva - The Destroyer!

Shiva, the destroyer, inspires with the sheer magnetism and dynamism of his personality; he strikes fear among the most powerful since he is “Mahadeva”, the greatest of gods and the “auspicious one”. But, the destruction was not of any innocent subjects, it was the destruction of all that is evil, whether physical or spiritual.

He stayed in an absolute wilderness and sat for meditation in total isolation; this does not imply that he was bereft of compassion and humanly wants and desires. This is displayed by the fact that he was maintaining all his earthly duties towards his family and the community of gods.

Anyone who dared to disturb him in his meditation would face his deadly anger. One of his main weapons was his third eye which, when opened, would reduce to ashes anyone or anything onto which the third eye was directed.

In Hindu mythology he is symbolized as Destroyer also known as “MAHESH”. The power of Shiva is beyond words and imagination.

The First family

Shiva, while himself being the “destroyer”, is also the head of one of the most powerful families seen in Hindu Mythology.

His consort is Parvati, who is power personified, hence referred to as “Shakti”, the goddess of power and divine strength in her fiery role; she displays the gentler attributes in her role as the goddess of love, virtue and fertility.

The belief about the couple is that Shiva is Shava (corpse) if separated from Parvati; she was she so dynamic and explosive that it was only Shiva who could confront her and keep her under control and she was the one who due to the extreme power of her penance could confront Shiva the all powerful destroyer in chief.

The fantastic and powerful Mahadeva was so volatile with his nature that anybody who earned his wrath would be decimated; but the powerful Parvati not only disturbed and stopped him from meditating but she managed to impress and lure him to such an extent that he was helpless in the face of her charms.

And, that’s not all; Shiva was so bewitched by her divine charms that he immersed himself in the amorous pursuits and transformed himself to lead a domesticated life; thus, Shiva’s fiery personality succumbed to the feminine charms of Shakti and made him a homely person.

Shiva and Shakti merged to become Shankar and Parvati and produced two sons and two daughters; the two sons were Ganesha and Karthikeya while the daughters were Ashok Sundari and Mansa Devi. None of their children were a clearcut result of the physical consummation of their sexual union.

The creator, Lord Shiva is respected and dreaded in the same breath; he is believed to be beyond all rules and beliefs since he is the creator of Yoga and Yogis and of spiritual education and Tantra. He is the one responsible for teaching the art of the merger of the matter and spirit. Thus, he is not biased to either spirit or matter and is above harboring prejudices or morality.

His symbol is also about procreation; it is seen depicting an erect phallus upon a female genital which is also about creation. The combined energies of the male and the female are required to make this world whole.

That is why he assumes the form of Ardha-Narishwar which has a half male representing Shiva and another half, the female one representing Parvati, his consort. The concept of half male and half female is also said to be the state where your Kundalini Shakti awakens and unites with her lord Sadashiv after reaching the crown where he resides.

He is the only god referred to as Mahadev, and his birthday is celebrated as Mahashivratri, such is his standing among the deities and followers. He does not preach aloofness; rather he advocates noble thinking while leading a life of pure thoughts and actions without harboring prejudices, ego, lust, hate and malice. Some schools of thought refer to Mahashivratri as the night of the conjugal union of Shiva and Parvati.

Hanuman, the mighty son of Vayu (wind) or of Anjana or Kesari, was also believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva. It is stated that while distributing amrit to the gods, Shiva happened to espy Mohini, the transformed form of Lord Vishnu. The virile god ejaculated but the sperms were collected by some saptarishis and poured through the ears into the womb of Anjani, the wife of the king of monkeys Kesari. This led to the conception of veer Hanuman.

As per Hindu mythology Shiva is the supreme power of this universe, he is the starting and the end point of this universe. To seek the blessings of Mahadev, do the chanting of this mantra for atleast 1008 times in a day.

                                       “OM NAMAH SHIVAY”

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