Om tryambakaṃ yajāmahe sugandhiṃ puṣṭi-vardhanam urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyormukṣīya māmṛtāt
The above verse from Rigveda [7.59.12], known as the Mahamritunjaya or the Death-conquering Mantra is dedicated to Lord Shiv. Ironically, it is Shiva Himself who is revered as the harbinger of the final Destruction of the World!
Who is Shiva? What are the origins of this mighty god in Hindu religion and what are the different facets of His personality? In this post, let us try to analyze this enigmatic god and learn what it means to be the Lord of Destruction..
Shiva, the Destroyer
Lord Shiv, along with Prajapati Brahma and Shri Hari Vishnu, forms a part of the highest echelons of the hierarchy amongst Gods known as the Trimurti. All three fit into the scheme of things perfectly with their respective roles being coplimentary to each other.
The above verse from Rigveda [7.59.12], known as the Mahamritunjaya or the Death-conquering Mantra is dedicated to Lord Shiv. Ironically, it is Shiva Himself who is revered as the harbinger of the final Destruction of the World!
Who is Shiva? What are the origins of this mighty god in Hindu religion and what are the different facets of His personality? In this post, let us try to analyze this enigmatic god and learn what it means to be the Lord of Destruction..
Shiva, the Destroyer
Lord Shiv, along with Prajapati Brahma and Shri Hari Vishnu, forms a part of the highest echelons of the hierarchy amongst Gods known as the Trimurti. All three fit into the scheme of things perfectly with their respective roles being coplimentary to each other.
- Brahma, the First in the Trinity, is the Creator and Master of all Divine Ceremonies.
- Vishnu, the Preserver god who incarnates to help mankind face the challenges posed whenever Evil forces become too dominant in the Universe.
- Shiva, destroys at the End of Time and thus sustains the endless rhythm of the Universe ensuring a continuous cycle of renewal and growth.
The greatest Thing about Lord Shiva is that even when He is Himself Adi Siddha, svayambhu, self realised from the very inception, completely immersed in Dhyana and a master of meditation, yoga and tantra, yet, he always tries to share this great knowledge with all beings. An excerpt in Praise of what such a great God who comes down to Earth to uplift others is:
God, is often worshipped in stone, he thought. Indeed some highly attained souls become stone-like; tranquil in their discovery of the self. The suffering of others and their own suffering seems not to affect them any more. They become accustomed to suffering as a result of past deeds: Karma, about which nothing can be done. Nothing can be done about karma by man, he understood, but what about God? Could He ease things? Many of them held that suffering can be ignored, since life itself is an illusion. But to him, the sufferings were more real than before, demanding more penetration by the seeker. Self-realisation, no doubt is a peak of attainment, but people camped on that peak, they made it a dwelling point, a personal affair, hardly any caring to come down and take a few others to their transcendence. He observed, that there were some groups that closeted themselves in isolated places, fortressing their knowledge. This too, is a limitation, he thought, we create fortresses even though we clamour for freedom. At the larger level, he observed that even organized religions had at least one dilemma: the tendency of being in conflict with the others.
There must be a higher purpose, a higher attainment to reach, Perfectly enlightened beings,that still want to help the others, in fact with a new zeal. Having reached the stage of stone-like tranquility, those who begin to melt back into humanity. A good spiritualist is but a boy scout, he thought, a pathfinder, a transpersonal doer.
God, is often worshipped in stone, he thought. Indeed some highly attained souls become stone-like; tranquil in their discovery of the self. The suffering of others and their own suffering seems not to affect them any more. They become accustomed to suffering as a result of past deeds: Karma, about which nothing can be done. Nothing can be done about karma by man, he understood, but what about God? Could He ease things? Many of them held that suffering can be ignored, since life itself is an illusion. But to him, the sufferings were more real than before, demanding more penetration by the seeker. Self-realisation, no doubt is a peak of attainment, but people camped on that peak, they made it a dwelling point, a personal affair, hardly any caring to come down and take a few others to their transcendence. He observed, that there were some groups that closeted themselves in isolated places, fortressing their knowledge. This too, is a limitation, he thought, we create fortresses even though we clamour for freedom. At the larger level, he observed that even organized religions had at least one dilemma: the tendency of being in conflict with the others.
There must be a higher purpose, a higher attainment to reach, Perfectly enlightened beings,that still want to help the others, in fact with a new zeal. Having reached the stage of stone-like tranquility, those who begin to melt back into humanity. A good spiritualist is but a boy scout, he thought, a pathfinder, a transpersonal doer.
b Shiva or Rudra?
The story of Rudra's birth is very interesting and is identically revealed in many Puranas.
As I had earlier mentioned in the post {Creation by Brahma}, inspite of Brahma's efforts at populating the world, the early sons of Brahma chose to follow the path of Spirituality instead of procreation and Brahma was sorely disappointed. His first creations, the Sanat Kumars, in fact abhorred entering the Samsar Chakra so much that they continue living the form of 5 year old kids and never attain puberty!
This, however, frustrated Brahma so much that from his forehead, (the region of the third eye) emerged a dark red/blue child bawling at the top of his voice. This angry baby was named Rudra (The Howler)!
However, Rudra, was more spiritually inclined than Brahma, and decided to follow the path of Tapas or Penance and thus entered samadhi in the Garbhodak Ocean. It was only after a lot of cajoling and praying by Brahma, that He agreed to help in procreation and manifested 10 more beings with the same appearance as him (Binary Fission?!?). These are the 11 Rudras, and Rig Veda [2.33], describes Shiv as the Father-of-All-Rudras.
The story of Rudra's birth is very interesting and is identically revealed in many Puranas.
As I had earlier mentioned in the post {Creation by Brahma}, inspite of Brahma's efforts at populating the world, the early sons of Brahma chose to follow the path of Spirituality instead of procreation and Brahma was sorely disappointed. His first creations, the Sanat Kumars, in fact abhorred entering the Samsar Chakra so much that they continue living the form of 5 year old kids and never attain puberty!
This, however, frustrated Brahma so much that from his forehead, (the region of the third eye) emerged a dark red/blue child bawling at the top of his voice. This angry baby was named Rudra (The Howler)!
However, Rudra, was more spiritually inclined than Brahma, and decided to follow the path of Tapas or Penance and thus entered samadhi in the Garbhodak Ocean. It was only after a lot of cajoling and praying by Brahma, that He agreed to help in procreation and manifested 10 more beings with the same appearance as him (Binary Fission?!?). These are the 11 Rudras, and Rig Veda [2.33], describes Shiv as the Father-of-All-Rudras.