Re: Shiva the Destroyer
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
Last edited by yajvan; 17 July 2012 at 08:45 PM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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