Namah Shivaya

[Spiritualseeker]

Namaste,

(Quoting from Lord Shiva and His Worship by Swami Sivananda pg. 52-54 [A Divine Life Society Publication])

"Namassivaya is the Mantra of Lord Siva. 'Na' represents earth and Brahma; 'Ma' represents water and Vishnu; 'Si' fire and Rudra; 'Va' Vayu and Mahesvara; 'Ya' Akasa and Sadasiva and also the Jiva.

Lord Siva has white complexion. What is the significance of white colour? He teaches silently that people should have pure heart and entertain pure thoughts and should be free from crookedness, diplomacy, cunningness, jealousy, hatred, etc.

He wears three white-lined Bhasma or Vibhuti on His forehead. What is the significance of this? He teaches silently that people should destroy the three impurities, viz., Anava (egoism), Karma (action with expectation of fruits), and Maya (Illusion), and the three desires or Eshanas, viz., desire for landed property, desire for woman, desire for gold, and the three Vasanas, viz., Lokavasana, Dehavasana and Sastravasana and then attain him with a pure heart.

What does the Balipitha or altar which stands in front of the sanctum sanctorum of the Siva's temple represent? People should destroy their egoism and mineness (Ahamta and Mamata) before they attain the Lord. This is the significance.

What does Nandi or the bull which is in front of Sivalinga represent? Nandi is the attendant or doorkeeper of Siva. He is the vehicle of Lord Siva. He represents Satsanga. If you make association with the sages, you are sure to attain God-realisation. Sages will show you the way to reach Him. They will remove pitfalls or snares that lie on your path. They will clear your doubts and instil your heart dispassion, discrimination, and knowledge. There is no other safe boat than Satsanga to reach the other shore of fearlessness and immortality. Even a moments Satsanga or association with the sages, is a blessing to the aspirants and the worldly=minded persons. They get firm conviction in the existence of God through Satsanga. The sages remove the worldly Samskaras. The company of sages is a formidable fortress to protect oneself from the temptations of Maya.

Lord Siva represents the destructive aspect of the Godhead. He is seen absorbed on the mountain peak of Kailas. He is an embodiment of serenity, renunciation, and indifference to the world. The third eye in the centre of His forehead represents His destructive energy which when let loose destroys the world. Nandi is His favourite. He is the door-Keeper. He is seen hushing all nature, so that the Lord may not be disturbed in His Samadhi. The Lord has five faces, ten hands, ten eyes, two feet.

Vrishabha or the bull represents Dharma Devata. Lord Siva rides on the bull. Bull is His vehicle. This denotes that Lord Siva is the protector of Dharma, is an embodiment of Dharma or righteousness.
Deer represents Vedas. Its four legs are the four Vedas. Lord Siva is holding the deer in His hand. This indicates that He is the Lord of the Vedas.

He has sword in one of His hands. This signifies that He is the destroyer of births and deaths. The fire in one of His hands shows that He protects the Jivas by burning all fetters."

[satay]

Shambu!

[Arjunī]

Namasté, all,

Spiritualseeker, thanks for this thread! I finished that book about a month ago and learned so much from it. It's a beautiful picture, too.

Indraneela
===
Oṁ Indrāya Namaḥ.
Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

oṁ maheśvarāya namaḥ


namasté

Originally Posted by Spiritualseeker

Lord Siva has white complexion. What is the significance of white colour? He teaches silently that people should have pure heart and entertain pure thoughts and should be free from crookedness, diplomacy, cunningness, jealousy, hatred, etc.

The white also suggests that He, śivabhaṭṭārka¹ is perfectly pure, without blemish.
We know that white contains all other colors inside of it. Just as śiva is the all-and-everything of this known and unkown universe on all possible levels.

praṇām

1. śivabhaṭṭārka - we attach bhaṭṭārka to śiva's name in reverence of the Supreme.

• This bhaṭṭārka = bhaṭṭāra means honourable .
  If we click down one more level we find bhaṭṭā that comes from bhartṛ meaninglord , my lord;
• It is also considered a title of respect used by humble persons addressing a prince

[sunyata07]

Namaste SS,

Thank you for sharing that little piece from Swami Sivananda. I must try to get a hold of that publication soon.

As an alternate interpretation, I have read somewhere before that the deer Lord Shiva holds in His hand can also be said to represent the human mind which can be undisciplined and prone to nervousness, constantly and feverishly jumping from one thought to the next. To meditate on Shiva then is to quell such restlessness and attain true stillness of samadhi.

Om namah Shivaya

[Spiritualseeker]

Originally Posted by sunyata07

Namaste SS,

Thank you for sharing that little piece from Swami Sivananda. I must try to get a hold of that publication soon.

As an alternate interpretation, I have read somewhere before that the deer Lord Shiva holds in His hand can also be said to represent the human mind which can be undisciplined and prone to nervousness, constantly and feverishly jumping from one thought to the next. To meditate on Shiva then is to quell such restlessness and attain true stillness of samadhi.

Om namah Shivaya

Namaste,

How true this is. I notice that when my mind is racing and anxiety is overwhelming this physical body, I chant Om Namah Shivaya and it dissipates easily.

Om Namah Shivaya

[Ramakrishna]

Namaste SS et. al,

Thanks for sharing. A couple of months ago I came across a wide selection of Swami Sivananda's writings as free ebooks from the Divine Life Society website: http://www.dlshq.org/download/download.htm

I recently finished reading his great book about Brahmacharya, and his Lord Shiva book is on my to-read list.

Originally Posted by sunyata07

I must try to get a hold of that publication soon.

Here you go: http://www.dlshq.org/download/lordsiva.pdf

Jai Sri Ram

[Spiritualseeker]

Namaste,

Many thanks Ramakrishna what a treasure in those collections. I never seen the other works by Swami Sivananda. I am now reading 'Self Knowledge' from that link. This is what I needed for this morning.


Om Namah Shivaya

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam SS et al: It may be of interest to you that despite what it seems, Swami Sivananada was of the Smarta tradition, not of a pure Saiva school. So the line between Smarta leaning to Saivism, and the pure Saiva is always somewhat blurred. This is not in any way a judgment statement, just an observation. As in the other thread on false assumptions I started, this is another one. This assumption is all because of His name of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartism See list of prominent teachers.

Aum Namasivaya

[Spiritualseeker]

Namaste EM,

thanks for the correction. I do enjoy his work 'Lord Siva and His Worship' which focuses on Lord Shiva (obviously lol). I didn't know his affiliation, though according to the back of the book it states Sivananda studies Vedanta. In the book there is mention of Advaita Shaivite. Not sure exactly what that means. But nontheless there is some interesting information on getting closer to Lord Siva in his book. Self Knowledge so far is very interesting. I will have to read more. BTW i finally ordered Merging with Siva. Can't wait for it to arrive (might arrive today or tomorrow).

Om Namah Shivaya