Hindu gods are typically radiant, beautiful beings – all except Shiva. His dreadlocks, animal-skin loincloth, long periods of meditation and habit of wandering around in cremation grounds place him in a category of one. Why does he have a blue throat? What’s the significance of his third eye? The symbolism that surrounds this strangest of gods is one way, albeit incomplete, to understanding Shiva.
The moon and the celestial river
The crescent moon glittering in Shiva’s locks is Soma, whom the gods threw into the primordial ocean for a minor indiscretion. In the myth of the churning of the ocean, Shiva rescues Soma and gives him pride of place on his brow. Soma represents the faculty of intuition. Shiva is named Chandrasekhara in this aspect (Chandra = moon).
The divine river goddess Ganga, who flows from Shiva’s locks came down to earth in acquiescence to King Bhagiratha’s plea. The earth could not withstand the force of the waters until Lord Shiva tamed the river in his locks, thereby regulating its flow. An imaginative myth from ancient environmentalists, for what are Shiva’s matted locks but the forested slopes of the Himalayas that prevent the turbulent Ganges from eroding it! Shiva’s name, Gangadhara, derives from this legend. Ganga also symbolizes the ceaseless flow of time and the eternal life-force, over which Shiva rules.
Shiva’s iconography
Shiva is white-skinned, denoting his association with purity and the snow-capped Himalayas. Only his throat is blue, thanks to the poison he swallowed when it emerged during the churning of the primordial ocean. This gives him the name of Neelakanta.
Shiva’s trishul (trident) represents the holy trinity. With pashupata, his spear, he dissolves the universe at the end of each yuga, or ordained time-cycle.
The ashes smearing his body are a reminder of Death, the ultimate reality. A tiger is the symbol of lust. Shiva sitting on a tiger skin represents the conquest of desire. The serpents adorning his frame symbolize eternity.
As Trinetra, Shiva is the Three-eyed One. His “third eye” at the center of his of his forehead is usually turned inward, an organ of inner perception. When turned outward, the object of its gaze is reduced to ash. That fate befell Kama, god of love, when he disturbed Shiva during meditation.
Erotic or ascetic?
Paradox is the essence of Shiva! Mythology abounds with stories of Shiva’s frequent retreats into meditation for millennia. Yet, there are other stories, of how the wives of great sages, upon encountering this naked, fearsome ascetic, lost all their inhibitions and fell upon him with uncontrollable desire!
He is famously worshiped in the form of a lingam or phallus-shaped stone. The Vedic, or mainstream school of thought has it that the lingam is an iconic representation of Shiva, the Formless One, which in one sense is true as Shiva is the conqueror of desire, rather than an erotic deity.
However, followers of darker schools of Tantric thought like the Aghora, Agama and Kapalika practice esoteric rituals in Shiva’s name from necrophilia to consuming intoxicants and meditating upon corpses. Their philosophy arises from the belief that as Shiva embodies perfection, nothing in his creation is imperfect or taboo. Spiritual liberation, they say, is to be attained only through exploring and conquering the senses.
Pictured Above: Brass Natraj Statue from Om Etc.