Swami Tejomayananda

Every god and goddess in Hinduism can be understood from at least four standpoints: the absolute, the cosmic, the “departmental,” and as the incarnation that appears on earth to reestablish dharma.

From the highest standpoint, Lord Shiva is the formless absolute Reality - the nature of pure Consciousness. From the cosmic stance, Lord Shiva represents the Lord of the universe – the creator, sustainer and destroyer of the world. From the departmental standpoint, He is worshipped as the deity in charge of the power of destruction. In His fourth aspect, Shiva is said to have appeared in numerous incarnations as a Guru Avatar, an enlightened master who teaches the knowledge of the Self. Adi Shankaracharya and Dakshinamurti are considered to be His Avatars.

Lord Shiva’s image and attributes have deep significance. On His forehead is the crescent moon and His neck is blue with poison. The moon represents the nectar of life that nourishes the entire vegetable kingdom. But poison brings death. Lord Shiva holds both and yet is ever in meditation. It indicates that our lives are full of pairs of opposites: life and death, joy and sorrow, honor and dishonor, success and failure. We should be able to bear these opposites with calmness of mind and not let them destroy our mental equipoise.

Furthermore, a crescent moon is curved and tilted. Saint Tulsidas explains that even though the moon is a little crooked, we overlook it while worshipping Lord Shiva, and because the moon is in association with the Lord, it is worshipped along with Him. It means that even though some disciples of the Guru may be crooked or imperfect, they are given respect because of their association with the Guru.

The story of the churning of the Milky Ocean, in the Puranas, explains why Lord Shiva’s neck is blue. During the churning, gods and demons argued over the attractive and good things that came out, but none wanted the fatal poison that also emerged. In desperation, they prayed to Lord Shiva to save them. He, the embodiment of compassion, took the poison and drank it. However He did not swallow it entirely, but kept it in His throat without letting it go to His stomach.

The fact that Lord Shiva neither swallowed the poison, nor took it out is noteworthy; He became neither poisonous nor bitter. Ordinary people lay claim only to the good things of life - beauty, comfort, and success. Only good and noble ones have the capacity to suffer. However, one should not grumble and complain while suffering, instead the mind should always remain immersed in inner meditation.

Lord Shiva is Trilochana - the three-eyed One. The third eye is the eye of wisdom. The other two represent love and justice. When the Lord looks at and deals with the world, He is both loving and just. Justice without compassion becomes too harsh. Lord Shiva exemplifies a good ruler who has both love and justice and also looks at the world with the vision of Knowledge that destroys all ignorance and passion.

On Shivaratri Day, devotees chant the name of the Lord and hold the mind in single-pointed concentration until midnight when, it is said, Lord Shiva manifests Himself as the light of consciousness within. At present, we know only two states - the extrovert mind which indulges in the world outside, and the mind in deep sleep when it is in a state of total ignorance. We do not yet know that state wherein the mind is withdrawn from the world, yet fully awake to Reality. One stays awake all night in order to practice the simultaneous withdrawal of the mind from the senses, and yet keep it alert. In this state of objectless Awareness comes the moment of spiritual awakening – the true Shivaratri!

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Swami Tejomayananda is from the Chinmaya Mission