Shiva the Destroyer

[Svapnaja]

I have heard Shiva referred to as the Destroyer, but the Destroyer of what exactly?

Some I've spoken to say Shiva is the Destroyer of the world, giving me the impression of an apocalyptic salvation: the Earth must be wiped clean and given a fresh start in order for there to be purification.

Others have told me Shiva is the Destroyer of ignorance. This seems more of a symbolic nature than the first description I received.

I'm wondering how others here understand Shiva the Destroyer.

What is Shiva the Destroyer of?

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam Svapnaja: I understand 'destroyer' as a mistranslation primarily. This is a result of Europeans not being able to find suitable words, or worse, another attempt at showing Hinduism in a bad light.

Therefore, I take minor exception to its use. I say minor, because nothing really upsets me personally any more. There are other English words that better convey the message, like dissolution, or even dissolve. It is all a natural process, not some Evil God rushing in with weapons to an Acopolypse. (See, that's how much I know about Abrahamics.. can't even spell their words.)

I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of any just now.

Aum Namasivaya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~

namaste

Let me offer the following to perhaps expand the view of this... to 'corner' śiva into one quality is to limit the unlimitable. Yet let's talk of the other qualities of śiva and put this ~destruction~ in perspective.

Pañcavaktrāya पञ्चवक्त्राय pañ पण् is to honor or praise; pañca is 5; vaktra वक्त्र is face or mouth. Hence śiva is known as the 5 faced One.
What are those 5 faces? Some call this pañcakṛityavidhiḥ - śiva's 5 great acts.
They are:

• sṛiṣṭi - the creative act
• sthiti - the protective or maintenance ( stability) act
• saṁhāra - drawing back in ~ contracting~ ; some use the idea as 'the destructive act'
• tirodhāna - the act of enfolding or concealing His nature
• anugraha - that act of revealing his nature - His Grace

So, here we put in perspective this notion of drawing back, saṁhāra, and the hint of destruction within the 5 great acts. Yet let's poke around with this ~ destruction~ a bit more.


Śiva is also known as kāmāraya and is called out in the śiva aṣṭottaraśata nāmāvali as:
ॐ कामारये नमः oṁ kāmāraye namaḥ
oṁ I bow (salutations) to kāmāraye
Kāmāraye is composed of kāma काम desire, passions or sensuality; kāmā कामा is a wish or desire; ra र is rooted in rā to grant or give or bestow; and ara अर is swift or speedy. The key to this word (IMHO) is in the letter a; kāma-a-ra. This 'a' is used in the contrary or opposite sense. Hence this would read He who stops (a) desires (kāma) swiftly (ara). Śiva is being hailed as the destroyer of passions.

Yet how? By the absorption (saṁhāra) into 'a'. This 'a' is the first letter of sanskrit devanāgarī . According to Śaivāgama and reviewed in the Parā-trīśikā Vivaraṇa we find Śiva aligned from a अ to aḥ अः, the vowels.
Also note the significance of the first and the last vowel ( vowels are called svara) a अ to aḥ अः . When we put them together a अ + aḥ अः we get aham अहम् or 'I' , The Supreme or anuttara, śiva. It is by the absorption into 'a' that passions are destroyed. Absorbed into śiva.

Śiva is niṣkala and sakala-niṣkala at the same time. Niṣkala means, out of the way from, (nis) + kala which is time i.e. He is part-less, Whole, Fullness, Bhuma. And He is sakalaniṣkala - consisting of parts (sakala) & niṣkala or partless together. So , He is whole and He is parts at the same time.


Let's look at another,

ॐ अन्धकासुरसूदनाय नमः
oṁ andhakāsurasūdanāya namaḥ
oṁ I bow (salutations) to andhakāsurasūdana
Andhakāsurasūdana is andhaka + asura + sūdana : andhaka अन्धक means blind + asura असुर a demon, evil opposed to the deva-s + sūdanā सूदन - is killing or destroying. Hence Śiva is hailed as He who is the destroyer of the demon of blindness.
This demon brings the mala ( blemish) of ignorance or avidya . In Śaivism there is a condition called abuddhaiḥ. This condition is when one does not know that he/she does not know. This is a deep level of ignorance that is available to the human being. Some call it total objectivity. The only thing that exists is objects with no sense of subjectivity of the SELF, aham अहम् or 'I' . Hence śiva destroys this blemish.

pranam

[chimera]

"He is part-less, Whole, Fullness, Bhuma. "
Do you mean Sanskrit "bhauma" earth, the world? Bhauma waters are clean springs, such as Indra gave .
In Bali , Indonesia , bhumi means "earth" and Boomi is a place on the Barkindji river in Australia with springs of water. A ship arrived from Bali in Banjalang country and the strong god there is Mahaji, which is "almighty father" in Balinese, and a title of Shiva in Thailand. Maha Gauri seems to be the creator of an island:
Parvati (or Gaura) the wife of Shiva was washed by him in the white snow of the Himalayas. Perhaps this was the reason for linking Gurri the shining white sky-princess with the white sands of the island which is named for her. She looks at the sky reflected in the pure lakes. Gurri is north of Brisbane, near where the ship from Ngareenbeil arrived in Australia.
--------


wikipedia _"The earliest known name of the island is 'K'gari' in the Butchulla people's language (pronounced 'Gurri'). It means paradise.[5]

According to Aboriginal legend, when humans were created and needed a place to live, the mighty god Beiral sent his messenger Yendingie with the goddess K�gari down from heaven to create the land and mountains, rivers and sea. K�gari fell in love with the earth�s beauty and did not want to leave it. So Yendingie changed her into a heavenly island � Fraser Island."

-------
"But Butchulla elder Mackie Burns, who has campaigned for decades to rename the island, believes while the battle is over the war is not yet won.
�I feel good that it has been made official,� Mr Burns said. �But when it is just called K'gari, not Fraser Island, I'll feel even better.�
He said the Butchulla name came from legends about the princess k'gari, pronounced "gurri", who did not want to leave the beautiful area so was transformed into the island itself.


गौरgaurafair गौरgaurawhiteगौरgaurapale red गौरgauraclean गौरgaurashining गौरgaurasplendorous गौरgaurabeautifulगौरgaurabrilliant Goddess, wife of Shiva.


fraser island - fraser island lake mckenzie




http://www.fraserislandbeachhouses.com.au/attractions/lake-mckenzie.html
, its crystal clear fresh water, the surrounding pure white sand on its ...

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~

namaste

"He is part-less, Whole, Fullness, Bhuma. "
Do you mean Sanskrit "bhauma" earth, the world? Bhauma waters are clean springs, such as Indra gave .

bhuma should be written bhūman - abundance , plenty , fullness.
now this bhūman is also the earth, world. And bhūma = bhūmi or bhūman

bhūmi = the earth , soil , ground ; it can be applied to the divisions of the world i.e. bhūmi-traya ( 3 worlds).
This bhūmi also means a territory , country , a place, a position , posture , attitude.

So, what of this bhauma ? It means coming from or relating or dedicated to the earth , produced or coming from the earth , earthly , terrestrial. It is also another name for Mars.

So if this word means ' produced from the earth' it can also mean the name of sīta or sītā meaning furrow, one that was producted from the earth. She is the wife of rāmacandra and daughter of janaka , king of mithilā.

pranam

[chimera]

Hi yajvan,

[Bhoomi Amma, The wife of Madurai Veeran, She is a form of Mariamman at times but a single deity by her self. Bhoomi Amma is worshiped as Mother Earth the creator of all Beings, Life and Death. .- amma meaning "Mother".
Bhoomi Amma is also well known as Prithivi Maa or Dharti Maa. In the Sacred Maha Shiv Puran Prithivi Maa was blessed with a son by Lord Shiva, Her son was Mangala, Bhauma.]
---
Does this mean that Shiva, his wife and son are all "bhuman"? Bhauma as god of war may be the destructive aspect of Shiva. Bhauma's goat is interesting, and Greek "Aries" as war-god also means "goat".
Do you know if there is a ceremony for Sanskrit "ring balin", meaning "following the warrior"? This may be more suited to Indra (and Bhauma) than to Shiva.

[kundanghanekar]

i truly agree with eastern mind. Destroyer is truly not the right word but it should be dissolver. He is there when we reach our final destination. Our souls dissolved in him. Soul cannot be destroyed.

[Jetavan]

Only the Destroyer can Destroy death.

[Jainarayan]

Namaste.

...Acopolypse. (See, that's how much I know about Abrahamics.. can't even spell their words.)

Apocalypse? Actually it's Greek and simply means 'to unveil' or 'to reveal'. But yes, it's been co-opted by Christians and the meaning changed. Just as Har-megiddo, the site of a battle was changed into 'armageddon'.

Carry on.