The Allegory of Shiva and his Family
A metaphysical intellectual enquiry on the Iconography & the messaging encoded in the form of Shiva and his family.
Let’s look at Shiva in his most common iconography. A tall, youthful lean radiant man who appears in various colors, Pururupa. In contrast to most deities in Hindu lore, his attire is quite unique but for good reason. Let’s see all the elements in his form.
The Iconographic Epithets & the meaning associated with it
Bhasmadhari: The one who wears ash. Ash. Ash is what remains in the end. You cremate or enclose something in the sarcophagus, it just becomes ash in the end. This ash is what he wears. Symbolising the ultimate reality of impermanence & dissolution.
Gajacharmambara: The one clad in Elephant hide. The Elephant symbolizes ego, obstacles, rage, anger & pride. Him wearing that is symbolic to it being powerless to the end. Nothing escapes the end.
Rudrakshamaladhara: Rudra wearing his own Teardrops as a garland. The Rudraksha symbolises Rudra’s own Teardrops as per Hindu lore. While the popular narratives say that it symbolises his compassion to the suffering of living beings, the esoteric/poetic reading shows that the Teardrops symbolize sadness emerging from departure, which is unavoidable. Dissolution wears the garland of unavoidable sadness.
Trishuladhara who plays the Damru: The bearer of the 3 pronged spear, a trident symbolising the 3 yogic channels, Ida, Sushumna & Pingala, the Damru symbolises the cosmic sound. Trishula with Damru also symbolises Formation, Being & Dissolution, & the cosmic undercurrent of time & rhythm. Esoteric, yes. Everything happens in the jurisdiction of time and rhythm.
Vyaghrambaradhara: The one clad in Tiger skin. The Tiger symbolises raw power, passion, anger & uncontrolled desire. Him wearing that is symbolic to it being powerless to the end. All that cannot escape the end.
Nilakantha: The Blue throated. During the Samudramanthan, the Cosmic Churn, the Halahala emerged, the Cosmic Venom, to save the world from destruction, Shiva swallowed the Halahala and held it in his throat. The story has an esoteric message encoded in it, which I’ll be elaborating in the Samudramanthan lore essay. But in the iconography, it symbolises dissolution of toxins. Thus he’s also Vaidyanatha. The dissolver of disease & the restorer.
Jatadhara who is also Gangadhara: The one with matted hair. Symbolising detachment from material vanity. Dissolution is detachment. At the peak of his matted hair, rests Ganga who is the life giving waters, who also is capable of taking life in her current. Shiva held her in his locks of hair, withholding her harsh destructive current. Symbolically, it also means he absorbs the impact and reduces the destructive current. Symbolising Dissolution of a different kind.
Trinetra: The three eyed one. The 3 eyes symbolise omniscience. This shows Shiva as the Adiyogi. There is a deep connection between Yoga and Dissolution. I don’t know how to explain it. It is something you experience.
Gaureesha: The White Lord. White as Camphor, Karpuragauram. Symbolizing Purity. White. Also the color of ash, of bone, of the hollow husk. The Lord of Death.
Mahakala: The Great Black One. Supreme Time. Symbolizing the Void. The Inevitable. Black. The color of fertile soil, also the color of the ancient remains of beings. The color to which everything returns. The great rest. Back to the great matter. The Lord of Dissolution.
The Deep Symbolism in the semantics and iconography of his Family
Nandi, his chief attendant, friend & mount
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Nandi, the divine Bull. The Bull symbolises strength. Him riding the Bull symbolises the surrender of material strength to the primordial Dissolution. At the same time, his name means “The Blissful”. Also, he is a dear friend and attendant of Shiva. Which adds another layer to the dynamics, meaning it symbolises the Primordial state of “Sat-Chit-Ananda”, the Eternal Bliss achieved during Yogic Dissolution.
Vasuki, the ornament of Shiva who is Nagendrahara
Shiva is Nagendrahara, because he wears Vasuki as a 3 coiled garland. But who is Vasuki? He’s the Dweller of the Deep. Is this deep, underground? Or below this plane? What is below this plane? Time. He symbolises time, alongside many other things. The 3 coils of his symbolise the past, present & future respectively. Shiva wears time on his neck. This is the Same Vasuki that we see in the Samudramanthana episode.
Shakti, Shiva’s Ardhangini, his wife
Shakti is Power, that is what is required to enable everything. She first manifested as Sati & then as Parvati. She is in her dormant form most of the time. Symbolising the invisible default nature of cosmic power. Dissolution happens through the invisible but naturally active Shakti. It simply enables dissolution.
Ganesha, Vinayaka, Vighneshwara. Shiva-Shakti’s son
Ganesha. His birth story is interesting. He was made by Shakti from her sacred dust. He was decapitated by Shiva when he blocked his way (Vighna), Using an Elephant head, Shiva restored him & thus became his father. If you ignore the dramatisation, you’ll see a beautiful reality in the form of poetry. Ganesha when crafted by Shakti, he symbolised Prosperity born through Power. But Prosperity unchecked perishes due to dissolution. But gnosis of impermanence & effort restores prosperity. His blocking of path also renders him Vighneshwara. Modern Hindus often think Vighneshwara means the “Remover of Obstacles”, but esoteric reading and deeper study reveals something unusual. There is a form of Bhairava in Vajrayana which survived called Vighnantaka Bhairava which resembles Bhairava slaying an Elephant headed being. This is Vighna. In modern Hinduism people think of this as Gajasura. But deeper metaphysical reading implies this is Vighna. Buddhism saw it as a Demon, but modern Hinduism split it. But ancient Hinduism kept it alive in sound & form. Ganesha is both Vighnakaraka and Vighnanivaraka. But is remembered as the latter as that is how we want him to be. The son of Power & Gnosis of Impermanence is Prosperity. Also, the son of Power & Impermanence is the factor of “Vighna” (obstacles).
Skanda, Murugan (or Murukan?), Shiva-Shakti’s son born through the Krttikas
Skanda, semantically meaning “The Leaper” or “The Charger”, implying the “The Attacker” in Sanskrit, is the God of War. His name Murugan in Tamil means, “The Youthful”, “The Beautiful” & “The Fragrant”. But this is actually a more recent softened Medieval era revision. His older name was Murukan, meaning, “The Breaker”, “The Destroyer” & “The Slayer” in Tamil. The interesting part is, the names Murugan and Murukan are written in the same manner in Tamil (முருகன்). But the later Tamil people preferred to see him as their dear and beautiful boy god, Kumaraswami. Coming back to Murukan, this aligns perfectly with his Sanskrit name, Skanda. For we are talking about the same deity. Skanda is Murukan & Murukan is Skanda. He was a result of the union of Shiva & Shakti, but he was not born, he turned into a concentrated energy seed which made its way across worlds until it reached the Krttikas, which literally translates to “the Cutters” or “The Blades”. There he was born, as their Son, Karttikeya. You see the metaphor here? The son of Power & Death/Dissolution, that channels itself in the clashing of blades is — War.
The Symbolism in his name
Shiva. The name means, “The Auspicious one” in Sanskrit. But it also is a verb comprised of the words “शि” & “व”, meaning “Bliss Bringer”. Embodying the peaceful aspect of dissolution. This also symbolises the Yogic Dissolution. He’s also Rudra. “The Howler”. The one who rages & also grieves. Showing the destructive aspect of dissolution. He’s also Shankara “The Benefactor”, and also Bhairava, “Whose voice induces fear”. All in all they symbolise Dissolution & what is inevitable.
The Symbolism in his Vigraha swarupa
It’s also worth noting his Vigraha swarupa, the consecrated and worshipped icon. It is always a union of Shiva and Shakti. They are always inseparable. Be it Umamaheshwara, Ardhanarishwara, or simply the Shivalingam. Shiva and Shakti are always together. It’s like the Hindu Yin-Yang, the masculine and feminine. But there’s more. Umamaheshwara is the beautiful sacred union of Shiva and Shakti embracing each other. Ardhanarishwara is a more artistic depiction of them in union as one. Modern literalists think it’s a “Bi-gendered God”, but it’s not. Shivalingam is the most fascinating. While it symbolises the raging cosmic pillar and the cosmic energy holding the pillar in place, it also symbolises the interlocking male and female organs, the union of the Divine Father & the Divine Mother, that enables the generation of new life. These are the organs that both act as the medium for new life & also the organ that expels waste from the body. It looks paradoxical & vulgar for the modern mind, but this was a divine paradox that the ancients saw, & accepted it. This symbolises his boundlessness. He is Shiva indeed.
At every level Shiva symbolises Dissolution, and at the same time he symbolises a lot more. I have understood it to some extent, but it is something you feel, know and experience. He’s the Primordial indeed. For he is, along with Dissolution, Gnosis, Awareness, & Moksha at the same time. He is not separate from you. He is the inner Guru within. The Primordial teacher. The Adiguru.
Dissolution is a necessary function, but underappreciated, disregarded & straight up vilified in the society
A manifested entity must eventually return to the universe. That is the law of Prakrti. An animal is born, lives and dies, and when it dies thousands of micro-organisms dissolve the remains and return it back to Earth in the form of nutrients that serve other beings, allowing life to thrive. In the same way we humans manufacture stuff, yet we have failed tremendously when it comes to rendering the remains useful once the usefulness of the product has been exhausted. We talk about recycling & waste management a lot, and the government is bringing in policies to uplift & empower the ones who are already working in this field. But this approach isn’t feasible as the ones operating in these roles are following the age old simple technique of “cleaning” and not “holistic recycling”. Because this is a form of work that requires high levels of knowledge, intelligence, responsibility & environmental consciousness. This is not something that should be pushed upon the most disenfranchised & undereducated of people. It is such a tragedy that we ended up doing the very thing that should never have been done. We forgot Shiva. We disrespected and disregarded the role that is supposed to be the Shiva function in the material realm. We labelled the job of cleaning as “Asaucha” (The Irony) & considered the people working in these jobs as unclean, and the tragedy is, a chunk of them don’t keep themselves clean, thus the stereotype. If the educated had taken up the responsibility of this, meaning if we had consciously understood the allegorical messaging in our sacred lore, then maybe, we would have been an advanced civilizational state by now. But for some reason, I am confident that we will understand this soon & work upon this mess, & solve it. May the Adiguru grant us this Gnosis.
Om Shivoham
Rtavan
