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Symbolism of Shiva

11/24/2023

Symbolism of Shiva

Shiva (Sanskrit: “Auspicious One”) is aspect of supreme being, explained as Brahman in the Upanishads that continuously dissolves to recreate the universe. Shiva, i.e., formless, pure, eternal, root of cosmic sound “Om”, originator of Vedas, creator of oldest language “Sanskrit” and dance. Shiva is known by many names – Mahadeva, Mahayogi, Pasupati, Nataraja, Bhairava, Vishwanath, Bhava, Bholenath and so on. Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer. Shiva is the original creator of world, language, dance, music, yoga etc.

According to the Shiva Purana, Brahma lacked the power to create women, until Shiva appeared before him in the androgynous form of Ardhanarishvara, “the Lord whose half is woman”, the right being the male manifestation.

Panchanana Form of Shiva -
In some temples Shiva is shown with five faces. Each of the faces has a name and represents a specific aspect. These five faces are Isana, Tatpurusa, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadyojata.

Isana faces south east and represents Iswara aspect of Shiva known as Sada Shiva, or the Eternal Shiva.
Tatpurusha faces the east. He is Shiva in his aspect as a deluded purusha or ego.
Aghora faces the south and represents the destructive and regenerative aspect of Shiva that, like fire, first devours life and then prepares the ground for its renewal.
Vamadeva faces north. He is healer and preserver.
Sadyojata faces west and represents the creative power of Shiva.
The upper right hand holds a drum or damaru which is a musical instrument that produces rhythmic sounds. It is suggestive of the sound of breath, the sound of life, the vibrations underlying all currents of creation and manifestation. It also represents the vibrations that arise from our thoughts, emotions, mental activity, movement of the senses and the very samsara in which the jivas continue their existence till they find an escape.
The second right hand is shown pointing towards the downside with the palm upside drawing our attention to the figure lying beneath his feet suggesting that the lord is not holding anything back but revealing the knowledge of creation and the secrets of our bondage so that jivas can find means of escape through the assurance they find in his lower left hand.
The upper left hand holds agni, the fire that will destroy the universe.
The lower left hand is held in an assuring mode (abhaya-mudra) suggesting that the jivas need not have to despair and that they can escape from the impurities of samsara (anava, karma and maya) and achieve sameness (saujya) with Shiva through his grace (anugraha) and intervention.

Attributes:
Tulsidas ji who composed Ram Charit Manas, has explained the various attributes of Shiva in the devotional hymn "Rudrashtakam" appear in the Uttara Kand of Ram Charit Manas. The above hymn explains the attributes of Shiva as under:

who is omnipresent, embodiment of nirvana bliss, having full knowledge of creation of Brahman (universe), originator of the Vedas,
who dwells in his own self, who is quality-less, beyond attributes / origin of qualities, hence cannot be measured by standards of qualities,
who is immutable, who is desire less, who is immeasurable like the sky,
who dwells in the sky,
who is formless,
who is root of Om (sound of universe),
who is always in “Turiya” (the fourth and sublime state of existence),
who is beyond the scope of voice, knowledge and words,
who dwells on Mount Kailash,
who is fierce, destroyer of death / Mahakaal, benevolent and compassionate,
who is treasury of all qualities, beyond the mundane universe,
whose face is sweet & fair like snowy mountain,
who is so deep that to understand him one has to go to absolute depth of divinity, who is mind of all beings / elements,
who is of immense splendour, beautiful bodied with shiny forehead, wavy and enticing sacred Ganges flows from his head, a young moon is shining on his forehead, who wears snake garland around the neck and lion skin around his waist,
who is eternal bliss, and Who absolves abundant passion (absorbs happiness which comes from materialistic wishes)

Symbolism of attributes:

Unclad body smeared with ashes –

This attribute represents the transcendental aspect of his nature. Since most things reduce to ashes when burned, ash symbolizes the physical universe. The ash on the body of Shiva signifies that Shiva is sources of entire physical universe which emanates from him and Shiva is beyond the realities of life and death.

The ash is not a normal one, but instead the ash from a cemetery. It corresponds to the Hindu philosophy of life and death, that death is the ultimate reality of life. The ashes represent a reminder that all of material existence is impermanent, comes to an end becoming ash, and the pursuit of eternal Self and spiritual liberation is important.

Matted Hairs –

The symbol of matted hair is that Shiva is the Lord of Wind or Vayu, that every moment, all living beings breathe him. It represents Shiva as the Pashupatinath, the Lord of All Living Beings.

The three matted locks on the head symbolizes the idea of integration of physical, mental and spiritual energies is the ideal of yoga. So, Shiva is master of yoga.

Ganga –

Ganga flowing from his hairs denotes Shiva destroys sin, removes ignorance, and bestows knowledge, purity and prosperity to devotees. Shiva is called Gangadhara as holding mother Ganga on his head.

The crescent moon –

The moon is the measure of time. Waxing and waning of moon symbolizes the time cycle. In earlier times, time was measured by the waxing and waning of the moon. Crescent moon is the ornament of Shiva which signifies Him as eternal reality and his control over time. So, He is called Chandrashekhara. It helps him in concentrating while He is meditating but he always remains conscious even if he is intoxicated.

Three eyes –

The two eyes indicate his activity in the physical world, while the third eye is the eye of spirituality, one who sees beyond the obvious. His third eye can look beyond obvious and annihilate any negative energy. The third eye is a symbol for Shiva devotees to develop the sight of spiritual wisdom. Our two eyes are not always sufficient to judge things and know realities. The third eye is representation of the Pineal gland. Proper activation of this gland can help in proper meditation, spirituality and intelligence. Shiva’s third eye represents the rejection of desire. He is three eyed Lord, Triyambhkam.

Neelkanth -

Symbolically, the blue throat denotes him being willing to undergo any distress for the sake of happiness of others. The blue colour symbolizes poison or negative thoughts. Thoughts, which should neither be digested or spitted out, but kept temporarily, to neutralize at an appropriate time.

Half-open eyes –

The half-eyes show that creation is an eternal cyclic process that has no end or beginning. When he opens his eyes completely, then a new cycle of creation begins, and when he closes them, then the universe is destroyed until the next phase of creation. It also symbolizes yogic posture.

Kundalas (Earings) –

Two kundalas – Alakshya (i.e., which cannot be shown by any sign) and Niranjan (i.e., that cannot be seen by mortal eyes) in the ears of Shiva signify that He is beyond ordinary perception. Interestingly, Shiva is always shown with a larger Kundala in the right ear and a smaller in left. The right Kundala denotes the male attributes of existence while the left Kundala denotes the female aspects. He wearing them together denotes male-female equality in the universe, akin to Shiva-Shakti.

Snake around the neck –

Snake symbolizes yogic power of Shiva which dissolves and recreates the universe. The coiled snake around Shiva's neck also reminds devotees to keep their ego under control. When the ego is in check, peace prevails in life forever. Interestingly, Shiva is also known as Nageshwar, meaning Lord of the snakes.

Vasuki Naga –

Shiva is shown with a snake coiled three times around the neck and is looking towards the right side. Three coils represent the past, the present and the future. The coiling signifies the creation is cyclic in nature and time dependant, but Shiva Himself transcends time. Shiva wears the snake as an ornament, signifying he is above time and death.

The right side of the body symbolizes the human activities based upon knowledge, reason and logic. It signifies Shiva preserves natural order in the universe.

The snake also denotes dormant energy of a man, also called Kundalini energy.

Rudraksha Necklace –

Rudra means uncompromising and aksha means eyes. Rudraksha illustrates that He uses His cosmic laws firmly - without compromise – to maintain law and order of universe. The necklace has 108 beads which represent the elements used in creation of universe. 108 beads also signify that nine planets revolve through twelve zodiacs.

It is believed that the Rudraksha contains the secrets of the entire evolution of Cosmos within it. Disciples devoted to Lord Shiva always wear Rudraksha to lead a peaceful life and also for deeper meditation. It helps maintain good health, gain self-empowerment and lead a fearless life.

Trident or Trishul –

Trishul or trident represents the three aspects of consciousness — waking, dreaming and sleeping, and it also represents the three gunas — sattva, rajas and tamas. Holding a trishul signifies that Shiva, Divinity, is above all the three states — waking, dreaming and sleeping; yet is the upholder of these three states. The Three powers are Will (ichcha), Knowledge (jnana) and Action (kriya). It also represents that the evildoers are punished by the Lord in three planes: spiritual, subtle and physical.

Damaru -

The two sides of damaru represent two states – unmanifest and manifest. When damaru is vibrated, it produces two dissimilar sounds which are fused together by resonance to create one sound. The sound thus produced symbolizes Nada, the cosmic sound “Shabda Brahma or Om” which can be heard in deep meditation. According to Hindu scriptures, Nada is the source of creation.
In the scriptures, it is said that when Shiva mode of creation, his damru vibrates 14 times. These 14 basic formulae contain all the alphabets in Sanskrit arranged in ways to facilitate various grammatical processes. Therefore, the Damaru represents alphabets, grammar, and language itself.

Kamandalu –

Kamandalu is another accessory of Shiva. It’s a water pot made from dry pumpkin and it contains Amrit. It represents the Yogi side of the Lord, but it has a deeper meaning. Just like how the rice pumpkin is plucked from the plant, with its fruit removed and the shell cleaned to carry the pure Amrit, an individual must give up the attachment of material world and remove the self of egoism, in order to experience the bliss of the self, symbolized by the nectar in the kamandalu.

Tiger Skin -

Tiger skin symbolizes the potential energy. Shiva on his own divine will activates the potential form of creative energy to project the universe in the endless cycles.

The tiger in Hindu dharma represents the vehicle of Shakti, the Goddess of power and force. Shiva wearing the tiger skin represents his power and that he is the master of Shakti that goes beyond any other force.

Tiger also represents lust, and Shiva sitting on it shows that he has conquered lust.

Nandi –

Nandi is the vehicle of Shiva, and it symbolizes both power and ignorance. The bull is called “vrisha” in Sanskrit, and it means “righteousness”. Nandi with Shiva, thus, symbolizes Shiva as a companion of righteousness.

Mount Kailash –

Mount Kailash is abode to Lord Shiva, and according to the Hindu dharma, the mountain is said to be the centre of the universe. It means that Shiva is Kailash, the bestower of peace.

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