WHAT IS THE MYSTERY OF FIVE FACES OF SHIVA ?...SHIVA..03

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF SHIVA ?--

04 FACTS;- 1-Shiva - The Cause Of All Causes 2-Shiva can be split as Sha+ee+va where A-Sha stands for shareeram or body B-Ee stands for eeshwara or life giving energy C-Va stands for vayu or motion Thus Shiva represents the body with life and motion. 3-If the 'ee' is removed from Shiva, it gets reduced to sha+va or Shava which means a lifeless body. Anything with Shiva is with life, and anything without Shiva is Shava, or without life. 4-So Shiva is auspicious, Shiva is potential, and Shiva is life. Shiva is all encompassing - the universal soul or consciousness. Realizing this Shiva Tattva leads to Ananda (bliss).Shiva is the entire universe. He is in every atom of the universe. WHAT IS THE MYSTERY OF SHIVA TATTVA ? 17 FACTS ;- 1-The Shiva Tattva Has Three Stages: 1-1-Arupa - Without form 1-2-Rupa-arupa - Form emerging from the formless 1-3-Sarupa - With form Before creation, the process of creation and the creation, is Shiva. Shiva doesn’t have a body, he was never a person at all. To symbolize the unfathomable, the infinite divinity, and to make it comprehensible for young people, for children and others, they made a form. In fact, there is no form to Shiva. 2-Shiva is a principle (Tattva) from where everything has come, everything is sustained in it, and everything dissolves into it. Shiva is the space, it is the consciousness. 3-There is no way that you can even step out of Shiva at anytime because Shiva is the summum bonum of the whole creation. That is why Shiva’s body is depicted in blue because blue signifies the sky; the all pervading infinity which has no limits, and no shape. 4-The consciousness which is bliss and innocence, the consciousness which is the bestower of dispassion - is Shiva. The whole world is moving in an auspicious rhythm of innocence and intelligence - that is Shiva. 5-The permanent and eternal source of energy, the eternal state of being, the one and only one - is Shiva. The soul (of everything) is called Shiva – there is no difference between the soul and Shiva. 6-It is a miracle how the same consciousness is present in every being in this creation! There is no other miracle greater than this. 7-It Has No Form Yet It Is In All Forms In the Rudra-abhishekam, it is said, 'Virupe-bhyo vishva-rupe bhyash-cha vo namo namah'. Virupe-bhyo means, that one which has no form and, Vishva-rupe-bhyo means, yet it is in all the forms of the universe. Everything, all forms are the manifestation of the formless Shiva. Shiva is the consciousness that present all over; it is an energy field. 8-It Never Began and It Will Never End Shiva is never born and he has no end. He is eternal. He is the fourth state of consciousness, known as the 'Turiya avasta' (the meditative state), that is beyond the waking, sleeping and dreaming state. 8-1-There is a beautiful story related to Shiva. Once Brahma the creator, and Vishnu the preserver of the Universe wanted to find Shiva and understand it completely. So Brahma said, I will go and look for his head and you find his feet. So for thousands of years Vishnu went down and down to find Shiva’s feet but couldn’t find it. Brahma went up and up to find his head but couldn’t find. 8-2-The meaning here is, there is no feet and no head to Shiva. There is no beginning and no end to Shiva.Finally they both met at the middle and said that they couldn’t find either. 9-This universe is Ananta vistara (of infinite expanse). The consciousness pervading this infinite universe is also infinite and is Agneya (not knowable). It is only lovable.

10-Lord Shiva Salutations to Lord Shiva, the vanquisher of Cupid, the bestower of eternal bliss and immortality, the protector of all beings, destroyer of sins, the Lord of the gods, who wears a tiger-skin, the best among objects of worship, through whose matted hair the Ganga flows. 11-Lord Shiva is the pure, changeless, attributeless, all-pervading transcendental consciousness. He is the inactive (Nishkriya) Purusha. Prakriti is dancing on His breast and performing the creative, preservative and destructive processes. 12-When there is neither light nor darkness, neither form nor energy, neither sound nor matter, when there is no manifestation of phenomenal existence, Shiva alone exists in Himself. He is timeless, spaceless, birthless, deathless, decayless. He is beyond the pairs of opposites. He is the Impersonal Absolute Brahman. He is untouched by pleasure and pain, good and evil. He cannot be seen by the eyes but He can be realised within the heart through devotion and meditation. 13-Shiva is also the Supreme personal God when He is identified with His power. He is then omnipotent, omniscient active God. He dances in supreme joy and creates, sustains and destroys with the rhythm of His dancing movements. 14-He destroys all bondage, limitation and sorrow of His devotees. He is the giver of Mukti or the final emancipation. He is the universal Self. He is the true Self of all creatures. He is the dweller in the cremation-ground, in the region of the dead, those who are dead to the world. 15-The Jivas and the world originate from Him, exist in Him, are sustained and rejected by Him and are ultimately merged in Him. He is the support, source and substratum of the whole world. He is an embodiment of Truth, Beauty, Goodness and Bliss. He is Satyam, Sivam, Subham, Sundaram, Kantam. 16-He is the God of gods, Deva-Deva. He is the Great Deity—Mahadeva. He is the God of manes (Prajapati). He is the most awe-inspiring and terrifying deity, Rudra, with Trisul or trident in His hand. He is the most easily pleased (Asutosha). He is accessible to all. Even the untouchable Chandalas and the illiterate rustics can approach Him. 17-He is the source of all knowledge and wisdom. He is an ideal Yogi and Muni. He is the ideal head of an ideal family with Uma as His devoted wife, Lord Subrahmanya, the brave general of strength and courage, Lord Ganesa, the remover of all obstacle.

WHO IS MAHESWARA?-

05 FACTS;- 1-The word maheśvara means "the supreme proprietor."He is the source of knowledge (jñāna), will (iccha), and action (kriya). 2-The Shiva Purana says that Shiva is beyond both Prakriti and Purusha. Shiva is Mahesvara. He is the witness, well-wisher and nourisher of all beings. The Gita says: ‘Upadrashtanumanta cha bharta bhokta mahesvarah’. 3-Mahesvara conducts the work of creation according to His will and pleasure. The Sruti says, ‘Mayam tu prakritim viddhi mayinam tu mahesvaram’. Know Prakriti to be Maya and Mahesvara to be the wielder of Maya or Prakriti. The SHakti of Shiva works in two different ways. Mula Prakriti and Daivi Prakriti. Mula Prakriti is Apara Prakriti from which the five elements and other visible objects and the Antahkarana are evolved. Para Prakriti is Chaitanya SHakti which converts the Apara Prakriti and gives name and form to it. Apara Prakriti is Avidya and Para Prakriti is Vidya. The controller and dispenser of these two Prakritis is Lord Shiva. 4-Shiva is distinct from Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra. Lord Shiva is the Lord of innumerable crores of Brahmandas or worlds. Isvara united with Maya gives rise to Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra out of Rajas, Sattva and Tamo Gunas respectively, under the command of Lord Shiva. Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra are the trinities of the world. 4-1-There is no difference among the trinities, Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra. By the command of Mahesvara these three do the creative, preservative and destructive duties of the world. The work of all the three deities is done conjointly. They all have one view and one definite purpose in creating, preserving and destroying the visible universe of names and forms. He who regards the three deities as distinct and different, Shiva Purana says, is undoubtedly a devil or evil spirit. 5-The Lord who is beyond the three Gunas, Mahesvara, has four aspects: Brahma, Kala, Rudra and Vishnu. Shiva is the support for all the four. He is the substratum for Shakti also. Shiva is distinct from the Rudra included in the trinities.

WHAT DOES SADASHIVA MEAN?-

07 FACTS;-

1-Sadashiva is one of the forms of Shiva, which, by some, is considered the highest form. He is usually depicted with five faces, representing the five elements and five powers of Shiva, and his 10 arms and hands.Shiva means auspicious & Sadashiva means ever auspicious.

2-The Sanskrit prefix, sada, translates as "always" and "forever." As such, Sadashiva is perceived as eternally pure and auspicious.

3-If sada translates to "always" and Shiva to "auspicious," Sadashiva is "the one who is always happy, loving and auspicious." In yoga, it is believed that one can find Sadashiva deep within oneself.

5-While the whole world is changing, the body, mind and energies change, but deep inside Sadashiva remains the same. Although challenges may arise on the external level, Sadashiva exists within one's core and even a suffering human being can find happiness from deep within. 6-At the end of Pralaya, the Supreme Lord thinks of re-creation of the world. He is then known by the name Sadashiva. He is the root-cause of creation. From Sadashiva creation begins.

7-In Manusmriti He is called Svayambhu. Sadashiva is unmanifested, He destroys the Tamas caused by Pralaya and shines as the self-resplendent light bringing forth the five great elements, etc., into being.

WHAT ARE THE NAME OF FIVE FACES OF SHIVA?-

05 FACTS;-

1-Shiva is the gist of life tattva. Lord Shiva has five faces called Ishana, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadyojatha. These five faces of Shiva represent the five basic elements viz. akash, air, fire, water and earth. In fact these faces can be called five forms of Shiva. Any creation has to be made out of these five gross elements.

2-The supreme deity has taken various avtars, sometimes to protect his devotees and sometimes to make the proud Gods understand their real purpose. In today’s world we know about 5 most prominent incarnations of Lord Shiva, Tatpurush, Vamadeva, Aghoresh, Sadhojat and Ishan.

3-The first face of Shiva does Krida or play,the second does penance, the third destroys or dissolves the world, the fourth protects the people and the fifth, being knowledge, fully covers the entire universe by its power. He is Isana the creator and promoter of all beings, from within. 4-The first form of Shiva-ISHANA is the enjoyer of Prakriti as Kshetrajna Purusha. The second is Tatpurusha resting in Sattva-guna, rooted in Bhogya-Prakriti, the Prakriti-enjoyed. The third is AGhora rooted in the eightfold Buddhi like Dharma, etc.

5-The fourth is Vamadeva rooted in Ahankara and the fifth is Sadyojata, the presiding deity of the mind. The eight forms of Shiva are Sarva, Bhava, Rudra, Ugra, Bhima, Pasupati, Ishana and Mahadeva, rooted respectively in earth, water, fire, air, ether, Kshetrajna, sun and moon.

THE FIVE FACES;-

1-ISHANA;-

Ishana, is the first physical form of Shiva. This form gives us pleasure that is enjoyed by our physical body. This is represented in the form of organs of hearing and speech in our body and in the form of subtle sound and the celestial sphere or akash. It may be recalled that ancient rishis got the sound of Vedas only from akash.

2-TATPURUSH

The second form or face is called Tatpurusha, the second physical form of the Lord. This form is identified with prakrti or the source of objectivity. This is the home of atman. This form is represented by organs of touch, organs of action, and is the subtle form of air.

3-AGHORA

The third form is Aghora is the third physical form of Shiva. This is identified with cosmic intellect. This form is represented by eyes, feet and dharma. This is identified with rupa or physical structure and the subtle form of fire.

4-VAMADEVA

The fourth form is Vamadeva, the fourth physical form of Shiva and exists in man in the form of ego, tongue, rectum and subtle form of water.

5-SADYOJATHA

The next form Sadyojatha is the fifth physical form of the Lord and exists in the form of mind, organs of smell, organs of generation, and the subtle form of earth. Shiva created these five gross elements and his only other creation is Shakti, the vimarsha form or the kinetic energy. The five faces Shiva should not be taken in literal sense and these faces represent five basic elements, five organs of action, five organs of knowledge.

.WHAT IS THE WAY TO KNOW & UNDERSTAND SHIVA ? 'Tapo yoga gamya' (a verse from Veda Saara Shiva Stotram by Adishankaracharya). He can be known through tapa (penance) and yoga. Through Omkaara you can know it, i.e., if you go deep into Omkara, the primordial sound of the Universe. Om is not something that you repeat. It is something that you hear. HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND SHIVA ?-

07 FACTS;- 1-To understand Shiva the ancient Rishis recommended 4 steps: 1-Anavopaya - disciplining the ego 2-Anava - meditation 3-Saktopaya - activating the energy centres by centering one's attention in silence 4-Sambavopaya - freeing oneself from thought 2-'Shruti Gyan Gamyah' (a verse from Veda Saara Shiva Stotram by Adishankaracharya)---He can be understood through the knowledge of the shrutis that you hear deep in meditation. Only through meditation; through the depth of the wisdom of the shrutis. WHAT IS SHRUTI--Sacred Hindu text that is believed to be a direct revelation of the “cosmic sound of truth” heard by ancient Rishiswho then translated what was heard into something understandable by humans. 3-Without yoga, Shiva can’t be experienced. Yoga doesn’t mean only asanas (physical postures) but yoga is that experience of Shiva which happens in meditation. It is when that ‘wow’ happens from within. 4-We have three states of consciousness – waking, dreaming and sleeping, and there is a fourth state of consciousness where we are neither awake, nor dreaming, nor sleeping. It is a state where the mind is awake but the body is resting, and you know you are present, but do not know where you are - this is Shiva. And this state is experienced in meditation. 5-If you start to enter that state where you are not dreaming or sleeping, you enter the state of samadhi, where you are free from worries. So where should you search for the Shiva Tattva? Search for it in-between the states of waking and dreaming, or in-between deep sleep and waking, not far away in Mount Kailash. 6-When you are meditating, what is the experience that you have? It is neither waking nor sleeping. That glimpse of the fourth state is what is called Shiva Tattva. When you sit and meditate, you get in touch with the Shiva Tattva deep inside you. This state gives you the deepest rest possible that you can experience. The mind becomes fresh, delicate, beautiful and innocent. 7-There are some versus in Sanskrit in which Shiva’s description is so beautiful. 'Namami-shamishan nirvan roopam, vibhum vyapakam brahma-ved swaroopam. Nijam nirgunam nirvikalpam niriham chidakashmakashvasam bhajeham.' It is an Opening verses of the Rudrashtakam – An Ode sung in the glory of Lord Shiva, by Shri Goswami Tulsidas. MEANING;--

It is the lord, it is the most powerful, it is all over, spread everywhere. There is no place that it is not. It is that space, that consciousness where all the knowledge is present. It was never born and it has no attributes. It is a state of Samadhi where there is nothing, just the inner sky of consciousness. That is what is Shiva In Me the universe had its origin, In Me alone the whole subsists; In Me it is lost—Shiva, The Timeless, it is I Myself, Sivoham! Sivoham! Sivoham!

.......SHIVOHAM.......