Draped in animal hide
He sits atop the snow-capped mountain
Skull in hand
Withdrawn, with dogs for company
Destroying the world with his
indifference
He is the God who the Goddess
shall awaken
His name is SHIVA....
These are the lines written on the back cover of the book 7 Secrets of Shiva by Devdutt Pattanaik .(Shiva is the lord of lords (Mahadeva) according to the Hindu mythology.)
Unleashed imagination is what fascinates me about the mythology. I really enjoyed the book , as it explains about what each symbol or representation of Shiva means. It unveils the imagination of people lived long long ago..
This is not a book review. I am just quoting some of the lines from the book, from each chapter.
The author claims that the book is an attempt to unlock the following.
1)Lingeshwara’s Secret
2)Bhairava’s Secret.
3)Shankara’s Secret
4)Bholenath’s Secret
5)Ganesha’s Secret
6)Murugan’s Secret
7)Nataraja’s Secret
Lingeshwara’s secrets
================
The very first para in this chapter goes like this…..
One day a sculpturor was given a rock and asked to carve an image of God. He tried to imagine a form that would best encapsulate God. If he carved a plant, he would exclude animals and humans.If he carved an animal, he would exclude humans and plants. If he carved a human, he would exclude plants and animals. If he carved a male, he would
Exclude the female,if he carved a male, he would exclude all the males……
Overwhelmed, by these thoughts, the sculptor left stone as it was and bowed before it. This is the linga, the container of infinity, the form of the formless, the tangible that provokes insight into the intangible.
In this chapter the author tries to explain how the form of lingam was created and discusses about various types of linga.
The following is the wikipage for linga, if anyone of you want to know more about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linga
Bhairava’s Secret
================
Bhaya means fear and the greatest fear of all living creatures is death.Yama is the God of death.We fear him.We want to survive.
To survive we need food. But to get food we have to kill…..
Act of killing and act of feeding are thus two sides of the same coin. Death ends up sustaining life.This is the truth of nature.
Shiva is called Kaal Bhairava because he removes the fear of kaal , which is the time, the devourer of all living things.
Shankara’s Secret
================
Shiva shuts his eyes and immerses himself into the infinite bliss of an unfetteres consiousness.Liberated from all things sensory,nature has no effect on him.
But what is the point of wisdom if divorced from the world? Wisdom is meaningless if it does not enable the liberation of those who are traped in fear.That is why Goddess stans in opposition of Shva as both the radiant Gauri,producing light, and as the dark Kali,consuming light.
Bholenath’s Secret
================
Shiva is in a state of eternal bliss and so does not seek pleasure-seeking activities. He needs nothing and wants noting. He is therefore autonomous, independent of nature. So when Shiva opens his eyes and accepts the Goddess, he does so out of grace. But being ignorant of worldly ways , he does not know how to make love to her…
He is innocent (bhola)…
Ganesha’s Secret
================
When Parvati –the Goddess- expresses her desire to be a mother,Shiva argues, ‘I owe no debt to my ancestors ,as I have no ancestors;I was never born and I will not die,so I need no children who will help me reborn. ’ When Parvati persists, Shiva walks away froom her to meditate. Parvati anoints her body with a paste of turmeric and ol, then scrapes it off, collects the rubbings which have mingled with her sweat, and moulds out of it a doll into which she breathes life. That is Ganesha.
Murugan’s Secret
================
There was an asura called Taraka who had defeated the Devas and overrun their paradise. The only way to restore cosmic balance was by killing him. But Taraka had a boon: only a little baby who led an army could kill him.The Devas wanted a child like Shiva in all respects,especially that he actively engages with the world, protects against predators and provides sanctuary to the prey. He will be celibate but not innocent, ignorant or gullible.
He is Kumara, the wise and capable boy-god, also known as Murugan.
Nataraja’s secret
================
In this chapter the author explains why Shiva is called Nataraja . Nataraja means the lord of dance. In the below wiki page you can find more about Nataraja.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nataraja
BTW, even my name , Rajesh means, The Lord of Lords, that is Shiva
