Wearing the king of snakes as garland, the three eyed-one,
Ash smeared on your body as is your wont, lord of lords,
Eternal, pure, clad with the sky,
Known with the letter ‘Na’, we bow to you, the auspicious One!
-Shiva Panchakshara Stotram, Shankaracharya
Raja Ravi Varma’s depiction of Ardhanareeswara is my metaphor. The androgynous Shiva-Shakti, He-She, masculine-feminine, passive source-active creation, energy-force, integrated as the Purusha-Prakriti of the Samkhya philosophy underlying the Vedic culture is the mystery of the unknowable truth of Shiva.
Shiva is the yogi, meditating beside the dead in the cremation grounds, smeared with the ashes. Shiva is the tireless dancer who keeps the Universe and rhythm, and potential destruction if he were to stop. The dancer is the meditator.
Shakti is the puppeteer of all that exists. She creates the illusion of reality. Those who understand it to be the illusion and stay disengaged reach Shiva. Those who get immersed in the illusion, get sucked in, to suffer again and again in the cycle of life and death. This is the immutable, eternal truth.
Raja Ravi Varma’s depiction of Ardhanareeswara is my metaphor. The androgynous Shiva-Shakti, He-She, masculine-feminine, passive source-active creation, energy-force, integrated as the Purusha-Prakriti of the Samkhya philosophy underlying the Vedic culture is the mystery of the unknowable truth of Shiva.
On this Night of Shiva, Maha Shiva Ratri, Hindus celebrate when Shiva swallowed the hala-hala poison that emerged from the ocean of milk that Vishnu churned with Vasuki, the king of snakes, using Mount Meru, Shiva’s abode as the fulcrum. Shiva swallowed the poison to save the universe. Shakti held his throat to hold the poison, turning his throat blue. Shiva adorned Vasuki on his neck in gratitude, and the moon on his hair to heal the poison’s effect. The nectar that eventually was brought out made the light beings immortal. So says the Purana mythology.
On this night, pious Hindus fast and stay awake chanting the five letters of his name, Aum Na Ma Si Va Ya, referring to the 5 constituent elements of the universe and its creatures.
Shiva is my metaphor and my desired reality. He is more than compassionate. He is dispassionate. Love and compassion need a recipient. Dispassionate auspiciousness of Shiva flows, for no reason and eternally. He is disengaged, mindless, never judging good from the bad. He is tolerant, despite the notoriety of the third eye’s destructive power. He is the particle and the wave, matter and energy. He is the Universe.
On this night, which this year is the night of March First, I pray to that Shiva to make this world fit for our progeny to survive and grow.
