7 Secrets From Hindu Calendar Art
by Devdutt Pattanaik
Chapter 4 -- Shiva's Secret (Part 1)
Part 4
Via Video Book on YouTube
I'm continuing working my way through Devdutt Pattanaik's book, 7 Secrets From Hindu Calendar Art, and it is so informative! I am digesting it through a new "book medium" for me: YouTube Video! It's called "Video Book" format, and it's free and accessible on YouTube. The chapters have been broken down into chunks, and while quite dense, they're only about 20 minutes in total length (each). I am thoroughly enjoying this method of learning, and I cannot recommend it enough!
I'm combining Shiva's Secret Parts 1 & 2 into this post, even though for the Indian Epics Reading Guides they are split between parts C and D.
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| Flower Offering on top of a Shiva Lingam |
Shiva's Secret
Part 1
- Withdrawal leads to Destruction
- Shiva is a destroyer. However, he is calm, cool, composed, and withdrawn. Has it ever occurred to you that these two things don't usually go hand in hand? How, then, can he be a destroyer?
- Shiva is the destroyer of desire, death (Yama), 3 Worlds
- His 3rd eye destroys desire (Kama), therefore destroys the 3 worlds (Tripura)
3 Worlds
Earth = Private World
Atmosphere = Public World
Sky = All the rest there is
- Shiva destroys desire for life and the fear of death
- ||| Ash marks on forehead = symbol of immortal soul, 3 destroyed worlds, state of dissolution
- Shiva destroys by indifference (eyes shut) = self-containment
- Shiva Linga: He who destroys is also the creator
- Brahma (Creator) and Shiva are one and the same, why are they both not worshipped?
- They are in the form of the Shiva Linga
- Kali -- most primal form, dances on Shiva, who lies indifferently on the floor, to cause him to care
- Kali is MOVEMENT
7 Secrets From Hindu Calendar Art
by Devdutt Pattanaik
Chapter 4 -- Shiva's Secret (Part 2)
Part 4
Via Video Book on YouTube
Part 2
Shiva Transforms from Hermit to Householder (by force of Kali!!)
- Shiva's 1st Marriage to Sati was a disaster
- The first time that Shiva chooses to respond to the world is after the death of Sati, which his response is no small thing
- Sati is then reborn as Parvati -- goddess of the mountains
- Shiva then marries Parvati
- Shiva ----------> Shankara
- Standards, which are essential for the householder as cornerstones of society, not so for the hermit or the mendicant
Shiva had to be forced into fatherhood by Parvati, as she sat upon his ever-present erection to impregnate herself. HA! As far as forced into it, I can relate, with my husband having no choice but to become a father, although he was more of a participant in the action.
Shiva's Sons:
Kartikeya - 6 heads, incubated by 6 gods. 6 pointed star -- Yantra, geometrical communications of metaphysical ideas, which therefore becomes 3D in the Shiva Linga - Linga and Womb
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| Sri Yantra |
- Shiva Linga - water drips continuously, representing movement, the ebb and flow of time, and also the pot above it representing the finite matter of time
- I really enjoyed learning these concepts/aspects of the Shiva Linga
Wedded to the sky and the earth (S. Indian Traditions)
- North Indian Traditions: Kartikeya is the god of Bachelorhood, he did not marry, and therefore to this day no woman is allowed to enter his shrines
VS
Ganesha
