Shiva (; , , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , [mɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh], ) and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism.
In the Shaivite tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates, protects and transforms the universe. In the goddess-oriented Shakta tradition, the Supreme Goddess (Devi) is regarded as the energy and creative power (Shakti) and the equal complementary partner of Shiva. Shiva is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. Shiva is known as The Destroyer within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma and Vishnu.
Shiva has many aspects, benevolent as well as fearsome. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient yogi who lives an ascetic life on Kailasa as well as a householder with his wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya. In his fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also known as Adiyogi (the first yogi), regarded as the patron god of yoga, meditation and the arts.Shiva Samhita, e.g. ; ; for Jnana Yoga. The iconographical attributes of Shiva are the serpent king Vasuki around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the third eye on his forehead (the eye that turns everything in front of it into ashes when opened), the trishula or trident as his weapon, and the damaru. He is usually worshiped in the aniconic form of lingam.
Though associated with Vedic deity Rudra, Shiva may have non-Vedic roots, evolving as an amalgamation of various older non-Vedic and Vedic deities, including the Rigvedic storm god Rudra who may also have non-Vedic origins, into a single major deity. Shiva is a pan-Hindu deity, revered widely by Hindus in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia (especially in Java and Bali).
Etymology and other names
According to the Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary, the word "" (, also transliterated as shiva) means "auspicious, propitious, gracious, benign, kind, benevolent, friendly".Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Sanskrit to English Dictionary with Etymology , Oxford University Press, pp. 1074–1076 The root words of in folk etymology are śī which means "in whom all things lie, pervasiveness" and va which means "embodiment of grace".
The word Shiva is used as an adjective in the Rig Veda (), as an epithet for several Rigvedic deities, including Rudra.For use of the term as an epithet for other Vedic deities, see: . The term Shiva also connotes "liberation, final emancipation" and "the auspicious one"; this adjectival usage is addressed to many deities in Vedic literature. The term evolved from the Vedic Rudra-Shiva to the noun Shiva in the Epics and the Puranas, as an auspicious deity who is the "creator, reproducer and dissolver".
Sharma presents another etymology with the Sanskrit root -, which means "to injure" or "to kill",For root - see: . interpreting the name to connote "one who can kill the forces of darkness".
The Sanskrit word means "relating to the god Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect. It is used as an adjective to characterise certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism.For the definition "Śaivism refers to the traditions which follow the teachings of () and which focus on the deity ... " see:
Some authors associate the name with the Tamil word meaning "red", noting that Shiva is linked to the Sun (, "the Red one", in Tamil) and that Rudra is also called Babhru (brown, or red) in the Rigveda. The Vishnu sahasranama interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", and "the One who is not affected by three Guṇas of Prakṛti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)".
Shiva is known by many names such as Viswanatha (lord of the universe), Mahadeva, Mahandeo, Mahasu, Mahesha, Maheshvara, Shankara, Shambhu, Rudra, Hara, Trilochana, Devendra (chief of the gods), Neelakanta, Subhankara, Trilokinatha (lord of the three realms),For translation see: .For translation see: ., Siva Sahasranama Stotram. and Ghrneshwar (lord of compassion). The highest reverence for Shiva in Shaivism is reflected in his epithets ("Great god"; "Great" and deva "god"),For appearance of the name in the Shiva Sahasranama see: ("Great Lord"; "great" and "lord"),For appearance of the name in the Shiva Sahasranama see: and ("Supreme Lord").For as "Supreme Lord" see: .
Sahasranama are medieval Indian texts that list a thousand names derived from aspects and epithets of a deity.Sir Monier Monier-Williams, sahasranAman, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Oxford University Press (Reprinted: Motilal Banarsidass), There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 () of the Mahabharata provides one such list. Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.For an overview of the Śatarudriya see: .For complete Sanskrit text, translations, and commentary see: .
Historical development and literature
Assimilation of traditions
The Shiva-related tradition is a major part of Hinduism, found all over the Indian subcontinent, such as India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia, such as Bali, Indonesia. Shiva-Rudra may have non-Vedic tribal roots, having "his origins in primitive tribes, signs and symbols," but the oldest literary attestation is the associated Vedic minor deity Rudra, who may also have non-Aryan origins. The figure of Shiva as he is known today is an amalgamation of various older deities into a single figure, due to the process of Sanskritization and the emergence of the Hindu synthesis in post-Vedic times. How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not well documented, a challenge to trace and has attracted much speculation.For Shiva as a composite deity whose history is not well documented, see According to Vijay Nath:
An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes. The foremost center of worship of Khandoba in Maharashtra is in Jejuri.For Jejuri as the foremost center of worship see: . Khandoba has been assimilated as a form of Shiva himself, in which case he is worshipped in the form of a lingam.For worship of Khandoba in the form of a lingam and possible identification with Shiva based on that, see: . Khandoba's varied associations also include an identification with Surya and Karttikeya.For use of the name Khandoba as a name for Karttikeya in Maharashtra, see: .
In Shiva myths that were roughly contemporary with early Christianity, Shiva and ascetics were portrayed as succumbing to temptation, combining both asceticism and lust. For example, when other gods, jealous of Shiva's asceticism, send a prostitute, he is successfully tempted.
Pre-Vedic elements
Prehistoric art Prehistoric rock paintings dating to the Mesolithic from Bhimbetka rock shelters have been interpreted by some authors as depictions of Shiva. However, Howard Morphy states that these prehistoric rock paintings of India, when seen in their context, are likely those of hunting party with animals, and that the figures in a group dance can be interpreted in many different ways.
Indus Valley and the Pashupati seal
Of several Indus valley seals that show animals, one seal that has attracted attention shows a large central figure, either horned or wearing a horned headdress and possibly ithyphallic,; . For a drawing of the seal see Figure 1 in seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position, surrounded by animals. This figure was named by early excavators of Mohenjo-daro as Pashupati (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit ),For translation of as "Lord of Animals" see: . an epithet of the later Hindu deities Shiva and Rudra. Sir John Marshall and others suggested that this figure is a prototype of Shiva, with three faces, seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined. Semi-circular shapes on the head were interpreted as two horns. Scholars such as Gavin Flood, John Keay and Doris Meth Srinivasan have expressed doubts about this suggestion.
Gavin Flood states that it is not clear from the seal that the figure has three faces, is seated in a yoga posture, or even that the shape is intended to represent a human figure. He characterises these views as "speculative", but adds that it is nevertheless possible that there are echoes of Shaiva iconographic themes, such as half-moon shapes resembling the horns of a bull. John Keay writes that "he may indeed be an early manifestation of Lord Shiva as Pashu-pati", but a couple of his specialties of this figure does not match with Rudra. Writing in 1997, Srinivasan interprets what John Marshall interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man.
The interpretation of the seal continues to be disputed. McEvilley, for example, states that it is not possible to "account for this posture outside the yogic account". Asko Parpola states that other archaeological finds such as the early Elamite seals dated to 3000–2750 BCE show similar figures and these have been interpreted as "seated bull" and not a yogi, and the bovine interpretation is likely more accurate.Asko Parpola(2009), Deciphering the Indus Script, Cambridge University Press, , pp. 240–250 Gregory L. Possehl in 2002, associated it with the water buffalo, and concluded that while it would be appropriate to recognise the figure as a deity, and its posture as one of ritual discipline, regarding it as a proto-Shiva would "go too far".
Proto-Indo-European elements The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion, and the pre-Islamic Indo-Iranian religion. The similarities between the iconography and theologies of Shiva with Greek and European deities have led to proposals for an Indo-European link for Shiva,, Quote: "The parallels between the names and legends of Shiva, Osiris and Dionysus are so numerous that there can be little doubt as to their original sameness". or lateral exchanges with ancient central Asian cultures.Pierfrancesco Callieri (2005), A Dionysian Scheme on a Seal from Gupta India , East and West, Vol. 55, No. 1/4 (December 2005), pp. 71–80 His contrasting aspects such as being terrifying or blissful depending on the situation, are similar to those of the Greek god Dionysus, as are their iconic associations with bull, snakes, anger, bravery, dancing and carefree life. The ancient Greek texts of the time of Alexander the Great call Shiva "Indian Dionysus", or alternatively call Dionysus "god of the Orient".Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1980), Dionysus and Siva: Parallel Patterns in Two Pairs of Myths , History of Religions, Vol. 20, No. 1/2 (Aug. – Nov. 1980), pp. 81–111 Similarly, the use of phallic symbol as an icon for Shiva is also found for Irish, Nordic, Greek (Dionysus) and Roman deities, as was the idea of this aniconic column linking heaven and earth among early Indo-Aryans, states Roger Woodward. Others contest such proposals, and suggest Shiva to have emerged from indigenous non-Aryan tribal origins.
Vedic elements
Rudra