Re: how many children did shiva have?
Originally Posted by
Ram116040
Thanks for the reply.
I read that Rudra and Agni are related and often Agni is said to be one of the three eyes of Rudra.Could you elaborate on how Ganesha is associated with Agni and Skanda/Kumara with the Ashwini Twins?
Namaste Ram116040,
Sorry for late reply, I just didn't notice your post.
Ganesha is ashta-vinayaka, Agni is ashta-vasu. Both are pujāri-s. Both pervade all the worlds. Both are the knowers of all the seven worlds, and by the virtue of being the "eighth" they contain the sevens within themselves. Each and every word that has been spoken of in their praise points to the same essence of the two.
Secondly, Rudra represents Shiva is well-known.
AsviniKumar is called "nAsatya", that is, the god who kills ignorance (asat), i.e., "ku-mAra". He is said to be the only god who is nearest to us, as well moves everywhere else. He is related to sacrifice and immortality. Bhakti and Sacrifice are the dual mode of true worship of Him. In Shiva family, clearly, Murugan represents That divinity.
So much so, Murugan is the first among all gods. In this way, greater than even Shiva. The preponderance of Murugan worship in the South India points to the origin of Arya Dharma itself. The power of AsviniKumar makes one a "dvija". In the end of our journey we receive Amaratva from His hands only.
The three eyes of Shiva, the damru, vel of Muruga, trunk of Ganesha -- these are the attributes with which the Vedic deities (if we take them as fundamental, though it's only a relative truth) have decided to appear in the visions of the bhakta-s of this and other Loka-s.
Veda talks about "33 Devatā-s". It can be said that these Devatā-s appear, as much as possible in their fullness of numbers and glory, in all traditions of Dharma -- be it Shaiva or Vaishnava, Shakta or Tantra, Yoga or Science..
KT
Things to remember:
1. Life = yajña
2. Depth of Āstika knowledge is directly proportional
to the richness of Sanskrit it is written in
3. Āstika = Bhārata ("east") / Ārya ("west")
4. Varṇa = tripartite division of Vedic polity
5. r = c. x²
where,
r = realisation
constant c = intelligence
variable x = bhakti
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