Siva and Saivism
®aivism (®aiva in Sanskrit) is the sect of Hinduism which holds that ®iva is the supreme deity. The worship of a proto-®iva may go back to pre-Aryan times with the Indus Valley civilization, though this is uncertain. Recent scholarly research has called into question that claim made by earlier anthropologists. In any event, ®iva had his beginning in the Vedic god Rudra whose name is said to mean either “roaring” or “howling” or to be derived from the root rudh (“red” or “shining”) or from the verb rudr€vayati (“he drives away evil”). Rudra is first called ivam or “auspicious” in the Yajur Veda and it is this title which eventually became his name. He is also known as Mah€deva (“great god”), Mahevara (“great creator”), Mahea (“greatly desired”), and ®aŠkara (“beneficent” or “causing prosperity,” a name taken by one of India’s greatest philosophers as well as by his successors in the religious establishments or ma˜hs he founded).
In some early writings (c. 600 BCE-200 CE), ®iva was said to be “The Destroyer,” but such destruction is considered to be the prelude to re-creation and therefore the actions of ®iva are thought to be ultimately benign. While the best known Pur€Šas, especially the Bh€gavata Pur€Ša, are dedicated to ViŠu and his several incarnations, there are six Pur€Šas devoted to ®iva. The consort or akti of ®iva is Ambik€ or Amb€, the Mother, who is known by various other names including Durg€, P€rvat…, Um€, Annap™rŠ€, Kany€, Dev…, and K€l…, some of which have sects of their own. The latter is especially dominant in Bengal, as suggested by the name of its principal city, Calcutta (i.e., K€l…-gha˜a). ®iva and his consort have two sons named GaŠapati (“leader of the multitude”) or GaŠea (“beloved by the multitude”) — anglicized in its Hindi form as Ganesh — and K€rttikeya (“one who acts”) or Skanda (“attacker”). The latter is now a war god in the Hindu pantheon; the former is now the god of wisdom and of overcoming obstacles, patron of letters, etc. According to mythology, the former was born directly from sloughed-off skin of P€rvat…; the latter was born directly from ®iva when he cast his seed into the fire (hence is known as Agnibh™ or “Fire-born”) according to one story or directly from the sweat of ®iva (hence is known as Gharmaja or “sweat-born”) according to another.
®iva is usually depicted as austere and rather fearful. In popular literature, when his anger is aroused, he opens his third eye and reduces the object of his wrath to ashes, for example in the story of Manmata, the god of love. His characteristic icon is a stone pillar, rounded at the top, termed a li‰ga (literally “mark” or “sign”), usually interpreted (sometimes even graphically depicted) as a phallic symbol. His vahana or vehicle is Nandi the bull. All temples devoted to ®iva have a li‰ga as the focal point of the shrine and an image of Nandi, usually outside the main shrine. Worship often consists of the priest pouring various sacred substances, such as clarified butter (ghee), milk, or curds, over the li‰ga while chanting appropriate hymns. This li‰ga is placed in a receptacle, called a yoni, usually thought of as a stylized female sexual organ, which catches the offering and drains it off.
In iconography ®iva is depicted with multiple arms (often four, but sometimes many more), a kind of small two-headed drum (amaru), a crescent moon, a serpent, and a trident. In paintings, he is depicted sitting cross-legged on a tiger skin; in bronze images he is sometimes portrayed as Lord of the Dance (Na˜ar€ja), poised on his left foot with his right foot raised and crooked, standing on a dwarfish human figure, surrounded by a flaming aura. All these elements have a symbolic significance to Hindus. Multiple arms symbolize omnipotence. The drum, which is sounded by flipping it back and forth rapidly so that a small ball tied to a thong around its middle strikes the two heads alternately, indicates the rhythm of time and also creation by sound or vibration (an idea predominant in Kashmiri ®aivism). The crescent moon, reminding us of the phases which measure our months (or “moonths”), symbolizes the cyclic nature of manifestation. The serpent, which either coils around his neck or is held in one of his hands, symbolizes the occult force called kuŠalin… (literally “circular” or “serpentine”), which one can handle safely only when one attains to one’s inherent divinity. The prongs of the trident symbolize the three parts of time — past, present, and future — which to the god unite in a single timelessness (indicated by the handle of the trident). The tiger skin reminds one of his consort, Durg€, whose vehicle is a tiger. The Na˜ar€ja symbolizes the triumph of our inherent divinity over our human nature and also suggests that creation is, for the gods, l…la (“sport” or “play”) rather than desire-motivated activity. ®iva’s vehicle, an Indian (sometimes called brahmin) bull, involves a Sanskrit pun, since the word for “bull” (va) also means “virtue” or “righteousness” and connotes creative activity (derived from the root v, “pour forth”). His name, Nandi, means “joy” or “the happy one,” reminiscent of creation as l…la.
There are four main schools of ®aiva philosophy, ranging from absolute monism (Kashmiri ®aivism and ®iv€dvaita) to various forms of pluralism (V…raaivism, also called Ling€yata, and ®aivasiddh€nta). The former tend to emphasize jñ€na or knowledge as the path to liberation (moka); the latter tend to emphasize bhakti or devotion. In ®aivasiddh€nta, predominant in south India, there are three basic principles: pati or Lord (i.e. ®iva), pau or individual soul (literally “domestic animal”), and p€a or fetter (literally “rope”). The latter is composed of three strands, €nava or “humanness” (akin to egoity or ahamk€ra in other philosophic systems), karma or “action” (implying the action-reaction cycle), and m€y€ or “illusion.” The goal set for the soul is to get rid of these bonds and gain mystical union with or understanding of the nature of ®iva.
In theosophical literature, a deeper interpretation of ®iva can be found. As Helena P. Blavatsky points out, “It is from the exoteric religions that we have to dig out the root-idea before we turn to esoteric truths, lest the latter should be rejected. Furthermore, every symbol — in every national religion — may be read esoterically . . .” (SD I:443). I. K. Taimni suggests that ®iva, Mahea, and Rudra represent different functions of the same reality, the first representing the underlying Reality of the universe, the second the Logos of a solar system, and the third the destructive function of the first two (An Introduction to Hindu Symbolism, p. 13). Blavatsky, however, explicitly rejects the idea that ®iva is the ultimate Reality and suggests that Rudra represents ®iva in his pre-manifested, latent form (SD II:282) and his consort “Devi-Durga . . . also called Annapurna, and Kanya, the Virgin” represents Root Matter or “the Astral Light” (SD I:91-92; cf. p. 460 on Amb€ as representing the “Great Deep” or “Celestial Virgin-Mother of the visible universe”). In other words, ®iva represents the “male” creative power which manifests a universe, a galaxy, a solar system, or a world by utilizing the “female” receptive matter.
Taimni, in fact, develops this idea further in his explanation of the symbolism of the li‰ga. He points out that the shape of the li‰ga is very close to an ellipsoid. He states that, whereas a sphere represents a static Reality (since every point on its surface is equidistant from the center, therefore it is incapable of change), an ellipsoid, with two foci, represents a dynamic, creative principle, which he calls ®iva-®akti tattva or the basic principle of ®iva and his consort-power. But, just as in a solar system, only one of the foci (i.e., the sun) is visible, so also in the ®iva li‰ga only half — the upper portion of it is represented, the lower half being implicit (cf. ibid., pp. 26-28). That would make the yoni, which intersects the axis between the two foci, representative of Root Matter. And that further suggests that even though the li‰ga and yoni symbols have been degraded into sexual organs in popular imagination, that degradation is not altogether inappropriate, since sex is a creative function involving both masculine and feminine principles.
Blavatsky points out that ®iva represents a number of other things as well. As the great ascetic and patron of Hindu yogis, he is associated with attainment of paranormal powers as well as “the highest spiritual knowledge . . .” (SD II:613). This is symbolized in his third eye. As ®iva-Rudra, he is the “destroyer of human passions and physical senses, which are ever in the way of the development of the higher spiritual perceptions and the growth of the inner eternal man . . .” (SD I:459). As ®iva-Kum€ra he “represents . . . allegorically the human races during the genesis of man” (SD I:324; cf. II:249-50, 282). And in the interlaced triangles (which one finds in early Hinduism, antedating the Jewish Seal of Solomon or Star of David), he represents the upward pointed triangle and fire, as ViŠu represents the downward pointed triangle and water (SD II:591). She also has an extended discussion of the relation between the ®aivasidd€nta concept of p€a, the ®iva li‰ga, and the Egyptian “ankh-tie” or “cruciform noose” (SD II:548-9).
Astrologically, she equates ®iva with Saturn (SD I:459) and his son K€rttikeya with Mars (SD II:43, 124). Hindu mythology associates the first of the Pleiades with Amb€ and identifies seven of them, rather than the six known to astronomy; since each of the seven females is married to one of the seven males, known as Kttik€s (the actual name of the Pleiades in Hindu astronomy), this may be a metaphor for the seven planes of manifestation (the term ktti, derived from the root k, means “action”), the “masculine” powers, again, working through the “feminine” matter of differing density. If this is correct, Amb€ would correspond to the Root Matter or M™laprakti, as suggested in discussing the yoni above.
Interestingly, the names of each of ®iva’s consorts are also of symbolic significance. Amb€ means “mother” and has already been discussed. Annap™rŠ€ means “filled with or possessing food” a suggestive name for matter. Kany€ means “virgin,” (i.e., “young girl”), again suggestive of primal matter. Durg€ means “difficult to attain,” which certainly is true of Root Matter, since we perceive only its manifested forms, never its primal reality. And K€l… is the feminine form of “black,” again suggestive of an unmanifested, primal matter. Parvat… and Um€, however, have quite a different significance. The former means “rugged” or “mountainous” and alludes to Parvat…’s efforts to woo ®iva by ascending the mountain where he was meditating; symbolically it could refer to the high state of consciousness necessary to attain to ®iva’s realm. The latter is said to derive from the Sanskrit words um€ (“O no!”) said by Parvat…’s mother in an attempt to dissuade her from practicing austerities in order to win the affection of ®iva. In other words, Um€’s mother could refer to our ever-prudent lower mind which initially resists all attempts to attain spiritual awareness — but which, nonetheless, eventually gives birth to the effort at self-realization.
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