An article on Shiva Linga

[Guest guest]

Shiv-ling and Agni worship (yajna)

 

Ever since man first lighted fire and used it

to his benefit, he has tried to become the master of his own destiny.

Right from the beginning, fire was considered an important gift to man

from nature and was revered by him as the terrestrial manifestation of

Brahman (Isvara or God). Among the ancient Hindus, the fire deity was

known as Agni (the nourisher or generator of life and the destroyer)

and they even had several scriptural (Vedic) hymns dedicated to him.

For example, in the Rig Veda (the most ancient Hindu scripture composed

several millenniums ago) the first hymn (RV, book 1: hymn 1.1) is to

Agni, " I Laud Agni, the chosen Priest, God, minister of sacrifice, The hotar,

lavishest of wealth".

Moreover, it used to be a common Vedic practice

(including during the Ramayana) to seek assistance from Agni while

proving one's innocence (such as during Agni-pariksha or the fire test)

or even asking for forgiveness. Thus a ritual fire would be ignited

(invoking Agni) during such situations and people would pray and use it

as a witness to their statements (including innocence). Note for

example the following hymn from the Yajurveda (Kanda 1, Prapathaka 8,

Hymn i.8.3.d): "O Agni...each fault done in a

village or in forest, in society or mind, each sinful act that we have

committed to Shudra or Vaishya or by preventing a religious act, even

of that sin, you are the expiation..."

As people came to realize that God was functionally

and phenomenally limitless and not confined just to the terrestrial

regions related to Agni, He was revered in other ways too. They called

him Indra in the midair and Savitar in the heavens, for example. Though

the list of names for God was endless according to his attributes,

worship of a deity (even other than Agni) would almost always involve a

sacrificial fire. Thus, whether the deity was Indra, Savitar or Varuna,

the yajna (worship involving a sacrificial fire and dedicated usually

to Agni) would always be performed offering libations into it to that

particular deity.

Note that the fire used to be ignited long ago by

using sticks of special materials and rubbing them against each other.

Lighting a fire afresh thus used to be a difficult task. It was a

time-consuming and laborious process requiring a great amount of effort

and energy. Such difficulties in obtaining a flame would be quite

serious during religious and ceremonial rituals requiring fresh fire.

Note, in this regard, a prayer in the Rig Veda (Book 1: hymn 94.3), "O Agni, may

we have power to kindle thee,"

implying the need for a healthy person to ignite a ritual fire. To

overcome these difficulties in igniting the fire and make their life

easy while worshipping, people started making use of an image of flame

(called 'ling' or 'linga') in place of the actual live fire. This was

carried out by choosing a linga drawn or sculptured roughly in the

shape of a live flame symbolizing the fire in a yajna.

Agni (the terrestrial manifestation of Brahman) in

the male aspect is known as Shiva (the auspicious, signifying perhaps

the beneficial side of Agni) and as female Shakti. Shiva is sometimes

also identified with Agni-jwala (flame). The long and stubby lings

(solid symbols) representing the fire of Agni usually depict Shiva and

Shakti, respectively. Shiva and Shakti also generally appear together,

perhaps due to their common association with Agni. Agni, in addition to

being the giver or enhancer of life, is probably also the biggest

destroyer. Thus Shiva and Shakti are considered the life-givers as well

as the life-destroyers. Furthermore, Shankra is known as the fiercest

among Rudras (destroyers). Thus Shiva (through his association with

Agni as the great destroyer) is also sometimes considered (at least in

his destructiveness) as Shankra (the greatest Rudra). Note that Agni,

in addition to being the basis for Shiva and Shakti, probably is also

the cause of a number of other dark colored gods, where their darkness

symbolizes the black ash in the yajna.

Thus the solid ling or linga (symbol, image)

representing sacrificial fire during the worship of Agni was created

originally as a duplicate of yajna flame. The ling or Shiv-ling made

the worship of Agni (Shiv or Shiva) possible anywhere anytime by using

it in place of live fire and pouring oblations over it. The tradition

of smearing the Shiv-ling with ash indicates that it has close ties to

fire (Agni) worship. When the Shiv-ling is placed under a pitcher

(containing libation) from which the liquid slowly and continuously

drips over it, there is a semblance of celebration of an uninterrupted

yajna even when there is no worshipper present. Solid ling (or

Shiv-ling) in that case represents the live fire (in yajna) and

the pitcher (with dripping libation) symbolizes the worshipper pouring

oblations into the fire. It is a simulation of the Vedic yajna even

without lighting a fire; and it involves basically the worship of a

ling (Shiv-ling) representing the deity Agni (as related to a yajna).

This substitution of the solid image (ling) for a real flame long ago

transformed various rituals and worships making them quite simple and

easy. Moreover, it is clear that fire -- in actual form (as a flame) or

symbolically (as a ling or image of flame) -- has been an integral part

of Vedic (Hindu) yajnas (worships) for a long time whether or not the

service is dedicated to Agni.

Note that Agni (the nourisher and the destroyer) is

Isvara (Brahman manifested) and it is represented by Shiva in the form

of a Linga or Shiv-ling. The Sanskrit word Linga can be split as Lin +

ga, where Lin (or its equivalent nasal lim) corresponds to the second

(object) case singular form of Li (meaning breakage, loss or

destruction) and ga means 'to go'. Thus Linga implies the remover of

loss and signifies Shiva (the auspicious or propitious) as the

benevolent aspect of Agni. This leads Shiva (or Shiv-linga) to be that

aspect of Brahman which restores the broken (or dridra) to

their original and complete form. Perhaps this quality of Shiva

indicates the ability of Agni (fire) to fuse together and restore the

cracked or broken objects. Note, Shiva (as the restorer) and Visnu (as

the preserver) complement each other and with these analogous

attributes even appear interchangeable.

It is worth noting that some of the practices involving worship

these days relate closely to the original fire sacrifice. For example,

lighting of lamps and candles during present rituals may symbolize the

original yajna fire. Similarly, the use of incense these days indicates

the aroma given off by the burning oblations (soma etc.) poured

into the ancient fire. In fact, the present day Hindu Aarti (prayer to

alleviate suffering) is itself a type of ancient yajna. For example,

the bhajans (songs in local tongues) and mantras during an aarti these

days represent the chanting and singing of Sanskrit hymns during the

ancient Vedic yajna. Similarly, igniting the camphor (or lamp, candle)

and using the incense in a plate nowadays corresponds to the ancient

yajna fire which also used to give off aromatic fumes due to the

burning of oblations.

Note that the unfortunate confusion of Shiv-ling

as a phallus is probably due to the similarity in their shapes and

nothing more. Note that the former represents only the Agni symbol

(flame or jwala in a yajna) and at no time it should be

confused with the latter. Same thing applies to the linga-pedestal. Due

perhaps to its crude and mistaken depiction, it is misinterpred and

even wrongly glorified (in some songs and literatures) as an image of

yoni (female sex-organ). Note that in reality it is not so. The

pedestal holding a ling is nothing more than an ordinary base intended

to keep the ling (Shiv-ling) pointing upwards so that it represents a

live fire (flame) properly. Moreover, the pedestal is shaped in such a

way (with an orifice on its side) that it is able to collect the

oblations (liquids) poured on the ling and discharge them through the

orifice into a pitcher placed underneath.

The pedestal for Shiv-ling should neither be confused as symbolizing

yoni nor is to be considered an essential part of the Shiv-ling.

Moreover, even when attached to the Shiv-ling, the pedestal does not in

any way depict a male-female sexual or reproductive union. Note that

when and where the ling can stand on its own -- such as when protruding

out of ground -- no extra pedestal (base) is required or superimposed

to hold the ling, indicating that this base (pedestal) is not essential

to the Shiv-ling. This includes examples of Mount Kailash etc.

(considered natural lingas) which have no pedestals or anything similar

underneath them. They simply rest on the ground and people still revere

them as the true lingas (symbols for Shiva). In a related story from

the Ramayana involving Rama, when he was to embark on a journey to

Lanka to fight Ravana and free Sita from his prison, Rama worshipped in

a hurry the Shiv-ling made from sand. This worship involved a linga

(made from sand) to substitute for the actual fire (as in a yajna). As

can be understood, Rama's intention in that case was to simply and

quickly worship Brahman (as Agni or Shiva) by using the sand-linga

symbolizing a fire (yajna) rather than a phallus. This shows that the

Shiv-ling basically relates only to fire (yajna) and nothing else.

---

By: Dr. Subhash C. Sharma

Email: lamberdar

June 6, 2005

-- devishakti_india( divyabhakti )(

http://spiritualhinduism.blogspot.com

)

[Guest guest]

The Siva Linga

 

The popular belief is that the Siva Lingam represents the phallus or

the virile organ, the emblem of the generative power or principle in

nature. This is not only a serious mistake, but a grave blunder. In

the post-Vedic period, the Linga became symbolical of the generative

power of Lord Siva. Linga is the differentiating mark. It is certainly

not the sex mark. You will find in the Linga Purana:

Pradhanam Prakriti Yadahurlingamuttamam

Gandhavarnarasaiheenam Sabda-sparsadi-varjitam

 

The foremost Lingam which is primary and is devoid of smell, colour,

taste, hearing, touch, etc., is spoken of as Prakriti (Nature).

 

Linga means "Mark" in Sanskrit. It is a symbol which points to an

inference. When you see a big flood in a river, you infer that there

have been heavy rains the previous day. When you see smoke, you infer

that there is fire. This vast world of countless forms is a Linga of

the Omnipotent Lord. The Siva Linga is a symbol of Lord Siva. When you

look at the Linga, your mind is at once elevated and you begin to

think of the Lord.

 

Lord Siva is really formless. He has no form of His own and yet all

forms are His forms. All forms are pervaded by Lord Siva. Every form

is the form or Linga of Lord Siva.

 

There is a mysterious power or indescribable Sakti in the Linga to

induce concentration of the mind. Just as the mind is focussed easily

in crystal gazing, so also it attains one-pointedness when it looks at

the Lingam. That is the reason why the ancient Rishis of India and the

seers have prescribed the Lingam for being installed in the temples of

Lord Siva.

 

Siva Linga speaks to you in the unmistakable language of silence: "I

am one without a second, I am formless." Pure, pious souls only can

understand this language. A curious, passionate, impure foreigner of

little understanding or intelligence says sarcastically, "Oh! The

Hindus worship the phallus or sex organ. They are ignorant people.

They have no philosophy." When a foreigner tries to learn Tamil or

Hindustani language, he first tries to pick up some vulgar words. This

is his curiosity nature. Even so, the curious foreigner tries to find

out some defects in the worship of symbol. Linga is only the outward

symbol of the formless being Lord Siva who is the indivisible,

all-pervading, eternal, auspicious, ever-pure, immortal essence of

this vast universe, who is the undying soul seated in the chambers of

your heart, who is your Indweller, innermost Self or Atman, and who is

identical with the Supreme Brahman.

 

Sphatikalinga is also a symbol of Lord Siva. This is prescribed for

Aradhana or worship of Lord Siva. It is made up of quartz. It has no

colour of its own but takes on the colour of the substances which come

in contact with it. It represents the Nirguna Brahman or the

attributeless Supreme Self or formless and attributeless Siva.

 

For a sincere devotee, the Linga is not a block of stone. It is all

radiant Tejas or Chaitanya. The Linga talks to him, makes him shed

profuse tears, produces horripilation and melting of heart, raises him

above body-consciousness and helps to commune with the Lord and attain

Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Lord Rama worshipped the Siva Linga at Rameshwar.

Ravana, the learned scholar, worshipped the golden Linga. What a lot

of mystic Sakti there should be in the Linga!

 

May you all attain the formless Siva through the worship of the Linga,

the symbol of Lord Siva which helps concentration of mind and which

serves as a prop for the mind to lean upon in the beginning for the

neophytes!

 

http://www.dlshq.org/download/idolworship.htm

 

 

, devishakti_india

<devishaktiindia@g...> wrote:

> Following an article from http://www.geocities.com/lamberdar/agni.html

>

> Shiv-ling and Agni worship (yajna)

>

> Ever since man first lighted fire and used it to his benefit, he

has tried

> to become the master of his own destiny. Right from the beginning,

fire was

> considered an important gift to man from nature and was revered by

him as

> the terrestrial manifestation of Brahman (Isvara or God). Among the

ancient

> Hindus, the fire deity was known as Agni (the nourisher or generator

of life

> and the destroyer) and they even had several scriptural (Vedic) hymns

> dedicated to him. For example, in the Rig Veda (the most ancient Hindu

> scripture composed several millenniums ago) the first hymn (RV, book

1: hymn

> 1.1) is to Agni, " *I Laud Agni, the chosen Priest, God, minister of

> sacrifice, The hotar, lavishest of wealth*".

>

> Moreover, it used to be a common Vedic practice (including during the

> Ramayana) to seek assistance from Agni while proving one's innocence

(such

> as during Agni-pariksha or the fire test) or even asking for

forgiveness.

> Thus a ritual fire would be ignited (invoking Agni) during such

situations

> and people would pray and use it as a witness to their statements

(including

> innocence). Note for example the following hymn from the Yajurveda

(Kanda 1,

> Prapathaka 8, Hymn i.8.3.d): "*O Agni...each fault done in a village

or in

> forest, in society or mind, each sinful act that we have committed

to Shudra

> or Vaishya or by preventing a religious act, even of that sin, you

are the

> expiation...*"

>

> As people came to realize that God was functionally and phenomenally

> limitless and not confined just to the terrestrial regions related

to Agni,

> He was revered in other ways too. They called him Indra in the

midair and

> Savitar in the heavens, for example. Though the list of names for

God was

> endless according to his attributes, worship of a deity (even other

than

> Agni) would almost always involve a sacrificial fire. Thus, whether the

> deity was Indra, Savitar or Varuna, the yajna (worship involving a

> sacrificial fire and dedicated usually to Agni) would always be

performed

> offering libations into it to that particular deity.

>

> Note that the fire used to be ignited long ago by using sticks of

special

> materials and rubbing them against each other. Lighting a fire

afresh thus

> used to be a difficult task. It was a time-consuming and laborious

process

> requiring a great amount of effort and energy. Such difficulties in

> obtaining a flame would be quite serious during religious and

ceremonial

> rituals requiring fresh fire. Note, in this regard, a prayer in the

Rig Veda

> * *(Book 1: hymn 94.3), "*O Agni, may we have power to kindle thee*,"

> implying the need for a healthy person to ignite a ritual fire. To

overcome

> these difficulties in igniting the fire and make their life easy while

> worshipping, people started making use of an image of flame (called

'ling'

> or 'linga') in place of the actual live fire. This was carried out by

> choosing a linga drawn or sculptured roughly in the shape of a live

flame

> symbolizing the fire in a yajna.

>

> Agni (the terrestrial manifestation of Brahman) in the male aspect

is known

> as Shiva (the auspicious, signifying perhaps the beneficial side of

Agni)

> and as female Shakti. Shiva is sometimes also identified with

Agni-jwala

> (flame). The long and stubby lings (solid symbols) representing the

fire of

> Agni usually depict Shiva and Shakti, respectively. Shiva and Shakti

also

> generally appear together, perhaps due to their common association with

> Agni. Agni, in addition to being the giver or enhancer of life, is

probably

> also the biggest destroyer. Thus Shiva and Shakti are considered the

> life-givers as well as the life-destroyers. Furthermore, Shankra is

known as

> the fiercest among Rudras (destroyers). Thus Shiva (through his

association

> with Agni as the great destroyer) is also sometimes considered (at

least in

> his destructiveness) as Shankra (the greatest Rudra). Note that

Agni, in

> addition to being the basis for Shiva and Shakti, probably is also

the cause

> of a number of other dark colored gods, where their darkness

symbolizes the

> black ash in the yajna.

>

> Thus the solid ling or linga (symbol, image) representing

sacrificial fire

> during the worship of Agni was created originally as a duplicate of

yajna

> flame. The ling or Shiv-ling made the worship of Agni (Shiv or Shiva)

> possible anywhere anytime by using it in place of live fire and pouring

> oblations over it. The tradition of smearing the Shiv-ling with ash

> indicates that it has close ties to fire (Agni) worship. When the

Shiv-ling

> is placed under a pitcher (containing libation) from which the

liquid slowly

> and continuously drips over it, there is a semblance of celebration

of an

> uninterrupted yajna even when there is no worshipper present. Solid

ling (or

> Shiv-ling) in that case represents the live fire (in *yajna*) and the

> pitcher (with dripping libation) symbolizes the worshipper pouring

oblations

> into the fire. It is a simulation of the Vedic yajna even without

lighting a

> fire; and it involves basically the worship of a ling (Shiv-ling)

> representing the deity Agni (as related to a yajna). This

substitution of

> the solid image (ling) for a real flame long ago transformed various

rituals

> and worships making them quite simple and easy. Moreover, it is

clear that

> fire -- in actual form (as a flame) or symbolically (as a ling or

image of

> flame) -- has been an integral part of Vedic (Hindu) yajnas

(worships) for a

> long time whether or not the service is dedicated to Agni.

>

> Note that Agni (the nourisher and the destroyer) is Isvara (Brahman

> manifested) and it is represented by Shiva in the form of a Linga or

> Shiv-ling. The Sanskrit word Linga can be split as Lin + ga, where

Lin (or

> its equivalent nasal lim) corresponds to the second (object) case

singular

> form of Li (meaning breakage, loss or destruction) and ga means 'to

go'.

> Thus Linga implies the remover of loss and signifies Shiva (the

auspicious

> or propitious) as the benevolent aspect of Agni. This leads Shiva (or

> Shiv-linga) to be that aspect of Brahman which restores the broken (or *

> dridra*) to their original and complete form. Perhaps this quality

of Shiva

> indicates the ability of Agni (fire) to fuse together and restore the

> cracked or broken objects. Note, Shiva (as the restorer) and Visnu

(as the

> preserver) complement each other and with these analogous attributes

even

> appear interchangeable.

>

> It is worth noting that some of the practices involving worship

these days

> relate closely to the original fire sacrifice. For example, lighting of

> lamps and candles during present rituals may symbolize the original

yajna

> fire. Similarly, the use of incense these days indicates the aroma

given off

> by the burning oblations (*soma* etc.) poured into the ancient fire. In

> fact, the present day Hindu Aarti (prayer to alleviate suffering) is

itself

> a type of ancient yajna. For example, the bhajans (songs in local

tongues)

> and mantras during an aarti these days represent the chanting and

singing of

> Sanskrit hymns during the ancient Vedic yajna. Similarly, igniting the

> camphor (or lamp, candle) and using the incense in a plate nowadays

> corresponds to the ancient yajna fire which also used to give off

aromatic

> fumes due to the burning of oblations.

>

> Note that the unfortunate confusion of Shiv-*ling* as a phallus is

probably

> due to the similarity in their shapes and nothing more. Note that

the former

> represents only the Agni symbol (flame or *jwala *in a yajna) and at

no time

> it should be confused with the latter. Same thing applies to the

> linga-pedestal. Due perhaps to its crude and mistaken depiction, it is

> misinterpred and even wrongly glorified (in some songs and

literatures) as

> an image of yoni (female sex-organ). Note that in reality it is not

so. The

> pedestal holding a ling is nothing more than an ordinary base

intended to

> keep the ling (Shiv-ling) pointing upwards so that it represents a

live fire

> (flame) properly. Moreover, the pedestal is shaped in such a way

(with an

> orifice on its side) that it is able to collect the oblations (liquids)

> poured on the ling and discharge them through the orifice into a

pitcher

> placed underneath.

>

> The pedestal for Shiv-ling should neither be confused as symbolizing

yoni

> nor is to be considered an essential part of the Shiv-ling.

Moreover, even

> when attached to the Shiv-ling, the pedestal does not in any way

depict a

> male-female sexual or reproductive union. Note that when and where

the ling

> can stand on its own -- such as when protruding out of ground -- no

extra

> pedestal (base) is required or superimposed to hold the ling,

indicating

> that this base (pedestal) is not essential to the Shiv-ling. This

includes

> examples of Mount Kailash etc. (considered natural lingas) which

have no

> pedestals or anything similar underneath them. They simply rest on the

> ground and people still revere them as the true lingas (symbols for

Shiva).

> In a related story from the Ramayana involving Rama, when he was to

embark

> on a journey to Lanka to fight Ravana and free Sita from his prison,

Rama

> worshipped in a hurry the Shiv-ling made from sand. This worship

involved a

> linga (made from sand) to substitute for the actual fire (as in a

yajna). As

> can be understood, Rama's intention in that case was to simply and

quickly

> worship Brahman (as Agni or Shiva) by using the sand-linga

symbolizing a

> fire (yajna) rather than a phallus. This shows that the Shiv-ling

basically

> relates only to fire (yajna) and nothing else.

>

> ---

> *By:* *Dr. Subhash C. Sharma **

> Email:* lamberdar

> **June 6, 2005

>

> ***

> * <http://www.geocities.com/lamberdar/author.html>

>

> [image: setstats]

> --

> devishakti_india

> ( divyabhakti )

> ( http://spiritualhinduism.blogspot.com )