Upaniṣad-s with śiva

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté


Often times we hear of śiva ( rudra) in the ved¹, but not that often does one bring up śiva in the upaniṣads. There are a few worthy of review:

skanda upaniṣad
śarabha upaniṣad
dakṣiṇāmūrti upaniṣad
rudrākṣajābāla upaniṣad I found the 4 above insightful. Why so? Let me offer a few snippets that stir my appreciation.

skanda upaniṣad
the heart of viṣṇu is śiva , the heart of śiva is viṣṇu; the ṛṣi informs us, I see no difference.

śarabha upaniṣad
Nobody¹ is able to know about the extreme power of Lord girīśa¹ .That lord is immortal, truth, etc. That Lord is unknown to all,
is Reality and words cannot describe His actual existence.

dakṣiṇāmūrti upaniṣad
this upaniṣad brings us a most wonderful mantraṁ
oṁ namo bhagavate dakṣiṇāmūtrti mahyam medhām prajñām prayacca svāhā

rudrākṣajābala upaniṣad
the key to this upanisad is offered in its name: rudra + akṣa +jā +bāla
The strength (bala) or purity (bāla) born or produced ( ja or jā) by the eye (akṣa) or a seed ( akṣa ) of which mālā's (rosaries )are made of rudra. We know this as rudrākṣa. Hence this upaniṣad informs us about the types and use of rudrākṣa.

praṇām

words

ṛg ved 2.33 , śri rudraṁ from the ṛg ved, yajur ved taittrīya saṃhitā 4.5, etc. We know the renouned namaḥ śivāya appears in the śatarudrīya (śri rudraṁ) 8th anuvaka.
pippalāda - eating the fruit of the peepal tree; The inference - the ṛṣi who as eaten the sweet fruit of wisdom.
girīśa - ' mountain-lord' or śiva ; giri = coming from the mountains ; It can also mean lord of speech as 'gir' = speech, invocation, addressing with praise , praise , verse , song
śarabha upaniṣad - the ṛṣi pippalāda asks lord brahmā , I wish to know who is the most adorable ( ~best~) among lord brahmā, viṣṇu and śiva.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté


atharvaśira upaniṣad

We find Rudra as the theme and is addressed in this upaniṣad. The deva's ask, Who are you?
Rudra answers, I am One; I am past , present and future. There is nothing except Me. Everything is embedded within Me.

Yet why call this upaniṣad atharvaśira ?
We know this upaniṣad is related to the tradition of the atharva-ved. We know atharvan, the eldest son of brahmā to whom He taught/revealed brahma-vidyā.

Here is my view on this matter...

The word atharvaśira can be viewed as atharva +śira ; śira means the head or śiras, hence the definition then unfolds . It is the upper end or highest part of anything , top , peak , summit , pinnacle.
It is my conjecture that if we look a little deeper, we may uncover an insight or two. If I look at this word atharvaśira as atha + arva + śiras, it makes sense ( to me ).

inside of atharva we find 'atha'. This 'atha' is defined as 'now then'.
arva = anarva. This anarva is defined as 'not to be limited , not to be obstructed , irresistible'.
śiras, as mentioned, is the upper end or highest part of anything , top , peak , summit , pinnacle.Hence atha + arva + śiras says - now then, let us sit near ( this a condensed definition of the word upaniṣad) the highest, the summit , the most irresistible.
And what is that? The knowledge and insight of Rudra. This is the brahma-vidyā revealed to brahmā's eldest son, atharvan.


ॐ महेश्वराय नमः
om maheśvarāya namaḥ


praṇām

[NayaSurya]

I do like your thoughts on this...it also makes very good sense to me.


The deva's ask, Who are you?
Rudra answers, I am One; I am past , present and future. There is nothing except Me. Everything is embedded within Me.





Beautiful.

We all live in the manifested reality of the Aham...all of creation exists within His heart.<3

!Aham mahA!
Om Namah Sivaya<3

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namast&#233;

The definitions of the upaniṣad's listed:

skanda upaniṣad
śarabha upaniṣad
dakṣiṇāmūtrti upaniṣad
rudrākṣajābāla upaniṣad
skanda - is 'attacker' ; The son of śiva and the leader of śiva's hosts against the enemies of the deva-s. Skanda is another name kārttikeya.
It is skanda who is the ṛṣi of this upaniṣad. He says , mahādeva I am indestructible though a small portion of they grace. I am śiva.
śarabha
śarabha is a a kind of deer ; it also is considered by some as a young elephant, a camel and several other animals.
Yet śarabha is a form of śiva . In this form He has eight legs ( aṣṭa-pad ) and purportedly inhabits the snowy mountains and considered mahā-skandhin ;
There is a story where śiva in the form of śarabha subdues nrsiṁha, as He was destroying creation. I hve not read this story nor understand the significane ( symbolism), yet it is called out in this upaniṣad.
dakṣiṇāmūtrti = dakṣiṇā+mūrti
dakṣiṇā is defined as 'right' or 'southern' ; as femine gender it is defined as a gift or donation; masciline gender it is a name of śiva.
mūrti - is embodiment , manifestation , incarnation , personification.
Hence this upaniṣad is an embodiment ( mūrti ), the gift of śiva (dakṣiṇā). Yet what of this 'right' or southern meaning?
rudrākṣajābāla
the definition was offered in the previous post:
the key to this upanisad is offered in its name: rudra + akṣa +jā +bāla . The strength (bala) or purity (bāla) born or produced ( ja or jā) by the eye (akṣa) or a seed ( akṣa ) of which mālā's (rosaries )are madeof rudra. We know this as rudrākṣa.Hence this upaniṣad informs us about the types and use of rudrākṣa.ॐ महेश्वराय नमः
om maheśvarāya namaḥ


praṇām