Lord Shiva The Rudra

Lord Shiva the supreme

 Lord Shiva is the ultimate reality; He is the supreme God given a form  to be enjoyed by the devotees. He is the only one without a second; the  creator, preserver as well as the destroyer of our world. As per our  puranas, scriptures, mythology and popular beliefs, Lord Shiva spends  his life meditating in the Kailash Parbat, one of the highest peaks in  the Himalayas. We know him as the husband of Devi Parvati and father to  Kartikeya and Ganesha. The most venerated among the trinity, here are  the most interesting and unknown facts about Lord Shiva. 

Lord Shiva is everything!

 Popular known as Mahadeva, Lord Shiva is the main god in Hinduism as  well as Shaivism. He is also one of the three most influential male  deities in Hinduism - Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. As per the Smarta  traditions, he is one of the five primary forms of Gods. Shiva is  transcendent, limitless, formless, eternal, changing and unchanging, all  at once! He is at once benevolent and invokes fear of the highest form.  He symbolizes the life after death or Moksha. He directs the creations  towards the changeless and eternal source from which they all emerged. 

Lord Shiva's third eye

One  of the iconographical attributes that sets lord Shiva apart is the  presence of the third eye on his forehead. Shiva’s third eye represents  the future. Therefore He is viewed as the Lord of all three times –  past, present and future. Also, while the two eyes stand for sun and  moon, the third eye stands fo Agni or fire. He is depicted wearing a  snake named Vasuki, coiled around his neck; a crescent moon adorns his  hair as Holy River Ganga flows out from his head. His trident or Trishul  is an important part of his identity that he uses as his weapon and the  damru, his musical instrument of choice. The objects Shiva carries in  his hands signify the five elements projecting the Lord as the Supreme  head of creation.  

 

108 names of Lord Shiva

 He is known by many names such as Mahadev, Neelkantha, Shiva, Shankar,  Mahakaal, Shrikanth, Triolokesh, Gangadhar, Jatadhar, Visveshwar,  Tripurantaka, Mrityunjaya, Sarveshwar, Sadashiva, etc. Lord Shiva has  more than 108 names. Each of Lord Shiva’s names talk of his special  attribute or a quality or a mythological event. Therefore it is very  interesting to know them and research the meaning behind His names 

Importance of 108 in hinduism

 Just like there are 108 names of Lord Shiva, the number 108 has a huge  significance in Hinduism. Click to know why the number 108 is important  in Hinduism  Here Let us explore the unknown facts about Lord Shiva! 

Lord Shiva tha Nataraja

 Often depicted in the form of a Nataraja, the dancing form of Lord  Shiva, he is the God of dance. Unleashing his fierce temple, he performs  the tandav to destroy the universe and makes way for Lord Brahma to  restart the process of creation. Therefore, Lord Shiva is also a symbol  of change as change is the only constant. Birth, death and rebirth are  part of the same lifecycle. Therefore Shiva indicates timelessness  through his divine dance. His dances depict different moods and acts  associated with the godhead. Shiva’s tandava is the source of origin of  all the dance forms on the earth. 

 Lord Shiva's crescent moon and Trishul's significance

 The Crescent moon on his head is the symbol of a time cycle. Lord Shiva  carries a Trishul or a Trident. This Trishul has three spikes and these  three spikes represent the three gunas such as sattva, rajas and tamas.  Sattva is the basis of creation while rajas stands for continuity and  Tamas is the base of destruction. Lord Shiva is the creator, preserver  as well as the destroyer of all creation. Trishul is the symbol of  spiritual progress wherein a devotee overcomes all the three gunas and  marches forward in the spiritual life. 

 

Why Lord Shiva wears snakes around his neck?

 Lord Shiva has the serpent king Vasuki coiled around his neck. As per  various legends, there are many theories as to why Shiva wears snakes on  him. Snakes, the very creatures evoked a lot of fear and danger in  human beings. By wearing snakes, Shiva portrays that he controls death  and fear. The three snakes on Lord Shiva are symbols of past, present  and future. This depicts that Lord Shiva is untouched by time and  controls it. Staying amidst deadly snakes, he is unperturbed. Similarly  he indicates that the devotees must not be disturbed by the external  world. 

 Lord Shiva as Neelkantha

 Shiva is also known as Neelkantha. As per legends, during Samudra  Manthan, i.e. churning of the milky ocean in search of the amrit, the  demons and gods came across a deadly poison that could kill the entire  creation. Therefore, they sought Lord Shiva's help. Lord Shiva drank the  poison in order to restore peace and due to the poison, his throat  turned blue. Hence, he is known as Neelkantha. This incident reveals the  highest compassion of Lord Shiva for His children.  

Lord Shiva as Ardhanarishvara

 Many a times, lord Shiva is portrayed as half himself and half his  female counterpart who is known as Shakti or Uma, Parvati and even Sati.  This form of Lord Shiva is known as Ardhanarishvara, i.e. half male and  half female, split down right from the centre. The right is male and  left side is female. This form is a representation of combination of the  masculine energy and the feminine energy, the Purusha Prakriti. This  form enunciates that the male form is incomplete without the female  form. It indicates that womanhood on the earth deserves equal importance  as that of men.  

Lord Shiva is the active as well as the passive force

 The half-male and half-female combination is the symbol for the unity of  opposites in the world. Male is seen as a passive force while the  female is the active force. It depicts that God is neither man nor woman  but is both.The left side of Shiva is always female because it is on  the left side where the heart resides. The heart represents intuition,  creativity, gentleness and love. The right side represents the brain,  logic and power.  

Shivling, the unique depiction of Lord Shiva

 Shivling is an aniconic image used to represent Lord Shiva. It indicates  the formless aspect of Shiva. It says Lord Shiva is without a beginning  and an end. Like the ‘Big Bang’ theory, scriptures say Shivling is the  origin and destination of the entire cosmos. The word Linga is made of  two sounds namely ‘Li’ that stands for ‘Liyate’ or emergence and ‘Ga’  that denotes ‘Gamyate’ or the final destination.  

Lord Hanuman was Shiva's 11th reincarnation

 As per Hanuman Chalisa, Lord Hanuman was the 11th reincarnation of  Shiva. Further, the Monkey God is often referred to as Rudraavataar,  i.e. the reincarnation of Rudra and Lord Shiva is also known to be an  aspect of Rudra. Hanuman’ s Vanar sena helped Lord Rama win the war  against Ravana. Therefore, Maruti Bhagwan, as lord Hanuman is also  known, is worshipped by people for his devotion to lord Ram.