Q.196) I was told that worshipping Lord Siva is
inauspicious because He is related to the destruction.
Is it true?

Ans.) The very meaning of the word Siva is that He is
always auspicious. It is stated that Lord Siva is the
first Guru who gives divine knowledge (Jnanam
Maheswaraat). The divine knowledge is said to be very
auspicious in Gita (Nahi Jnanena Sadrusam). He is
indicating destruction of the world or the death of a
person. One should always remember that this world
will be destroyed and is not eternal. By this you must
know that death is inevitable for the body and for the
body relationships. The old person must be aware of
the death that is going to come shortly and must
become spiritually alert. Even the young man must
think about untimely accidental death and that there
is no guarantee of the old age. Thus if one remembers
the death constantly, he will be spiritually active.
The human being is not turned to spirituality because
he thinks that he will live forever or live for a
very long time. He should constantly remind his mind
about the death and thus should become spiritually
active. Generally people think that death is
inauspicious. But it is the most auspicious Guru that
gives knowledge about the temporary existence of the
body and makes the human being alert in the spiritual
effort. In Mahabharata it is told that one should
constantly remember death as if it is walking by our
side catching hold of our hair. Lord Siva also appears
inauspicious externally. But internally He is the
embodiment of the divine knowledge and most
auspicious. Lord Siva represents the quality of Tamas.
Any quality turned towards God is always good. Tamas
gives rigid firmness in the spiritual path. Prahlada
was firm due to Tamas quality only. Kannappa, a hunter
who is the embodiment of Tamas attained salvation by
donating eyes to Lord Siva. Even Sattvam when turned
towards world is bad. Dhritarashtra was very polite
and was a devotee of Lord Krishna. He possesses
Sattvam quality. But he never followed the word of
Lord Krishna. All his Sattvam quality was diverted
towards the world and he was very greedy. The Lord
punished him. In Nivrutti one has to cross the justice
also by using Tamas. Even the Lord crosses the rules
of justice to protect His real devotee due to the
Tamas quality only. Lord Siva protected Markandeya in
this way. Datta appears as a drunkard and fond of
prostitute due to Tamas only. Datta preaches that in
Nivrutti the devotee shall not leave the Lord even if
the Lord harms him. This is like the drunkard not
leaving the harmful wine and the harmful prostitute.
At that stage to have such a firm desire on the Lord,
Tamas is required. Dharmaraja was the embodiment of
Sattvam quality. But he was not having firm faith on
Lord Krishna. Therefore, even if Lord Krishna forced
him to tell a lie he refused. This is due to lack of
firmness in the faith and the firmness is always due
to Tamas. Thus the importance of Siva is very much in
the spiritual line. Moreover the same Brahman is
called Brahma, Vishnu and Siva based on the
association with Sattvam, Rajas and Tamas
respectively. The same Lord is in three shirts of
different colours. The Lord is not having any colour.
Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are only the three energetic
bodies of the same Lord, which are like three separate
coloured shirts. If you scold Siva, you have scolded
Brahma and Vishnu. Veda says the same (Brahmacha
Narayanah, Sivascha Narayanah). The greatest sin is to
differentiate Brahma, Vishnu and Siva and to
differentiate their corresponding incarnations i.e.,
Madhva, Ramanuja and Sankara.



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