Śiva is the paradox held still: the great ascetic wrapped in silence on Kailāsa, and Natarāja, the king of dancers whose ring of fire is the universe’s rhythm. He is worshipped as the lingam, the undifferentiated mark of the formless, and loved in a thousand folk forms.
What he carries
The crescent moon (time), the Ganges (grace descending), the drum and the fire (creation and destruction), the third eye (seeing through appearances). His vehicle is the bull Nandin; his consort, in her own right a great deity, is Devī.
In the living tradition
Śiva is Ādinātha, the first teacher of yoga; the Yoga Sūtras name him among yoga’s exemplars, and Śivarātri’s night of chanting keeps his mantra; oṁ namaḥ śivāya, among the most sung on earth (the site’s mantra collection carries it).
Related entries
- Devī: the Goddess , The Goddess in her ten thousand names, Sarasvatī, Lakṣmī, Pārvatī, Durgā, Kālī; the divine as power, wisdom and fierce love.
- Viṣṇu , The preserver, resting on the cosmic ocean between worlds, descending as avatar whenever dharma wanes.
- Āratī , The circling of the flame, the climactic moment of pūjā when light is waved before the deity and returned, blessed, to every eye.
Mentioned in
References
- Śaiva tradition, the Purāṇas & Tamil Śaiva hymns (the Śaiva corpus)
- The Presence of Śiva , Stella Kramrisch