Sanatana Dharma for Kids: Hindu Trinity: Shiva - Parvati

[Guest guest]

The family was at the dining table. Mummy, and the twins Arvind and

Padma, were happy that it was a Sunday morning, when daddy devoted a

large amount of time for the family. When everybody was seated,

mummy served the breakfast--toasted bread with a side dish of channa

masala and bread slices that sandwiched butter-and-jam, cheese, and

a paste of ground cucumber, tomato and onion. Mummy took a seat near

Arvind. Padma sat near her daddy.

 

"We are going the English way!" said daddy, looking at the pile of

toasted bread and sandwiches neatly stacked on the table. "Whose

idea?"

 

"Mummy's," said Arvind.

 

"A change from the routine of our usual stuff," said mummy."Padma

prepared the vegetable sandwiches. Arvind prepared the

butter-and-jam variety."

 

"Makes me hungry," said daddy, and started with bread-channa. The

others followed suit.

 

"Dad, you said last evening that Shiva is unique among the Hindu

Trinity," said Arvind. "Why is that so?"

 

"Shiva is unique because he is the destroyer and regenerator," said

daddy, as he loaded a picture of Shiva on the laptop.

 

"But creation is Brahma's work," said Arvind.

 

"Regeneration is not just creation. To regenerate is to cause a

spiritual rebirth, completely reformed and improved, either in the

same form, or in a different form."

 

"I don't understand, dad".

 

"This world of ours, in fact all the creation, hangs on a delicate

balance between two opposing forces of good and evil. When this

balance is upset, the universe cannot function in the proper order.

Shiva saves the souls from pain and suffering in a dysfunctional

universe, and dissolves the universe for the next cycle of creation,

so the souls that are not liberated can have another chance of

living."

 

"But that is Vishnu's job, daddy," said Padma. "Vishnu takes an

avatar and destroys the evil forces when adharma becomes too much to

bear."

 

"Vishnu takes an avatar at the end of each yuga of the cosmic time

cycle. He destroys evil forces, sure, but doesn't dissolve the

universe. That is Shiva's job. The time we are talking about here is

the end of all the yugas, kalpas and manvantaras--the time called

mahapralaya,or great deluge, when the time is up for the entire

universe. That is the end of the life of a Brahma."

 

The children looked startled. "Even Brahma dies, daddy?" said Padma.

 

"And Shiva causes this mahapralaya, dad?" said Arvind.

 

"Every Brahma has a hundred Brahma years of life. That will be over

309 trillion solar years. The life of Brahma is the life of the

universe he has created. When the universe is dissolved, Brahma

dies, and later, a new cycle of creation will be started by a new

Brahma. Our present Brahma is 51 years old, so we have just crossed

the middle point of the life of our universe."

 

"Daddy!" exclaimed the children. "If Brahma dies, what happens to

Vishnu?"

 

"Vishnu goes back to his yoga nidra on the sesha sayanam, the bed of

the snake called Adi Seshan. Understand children, Brahma, Vishnu and

even Shiva, at the end of their lives, go back into the One God

Brahman, who is infinite space."

 

"What does Brahman do when his forms are withdrawn?" asked Padma.

 

"Maybe Brahman needs rest and sleeps," said Arvinid.

 

"Right, Arvind" said daddy. "Brahman, the endless space, lies inert,

or sleeping, keeping all his energy, forms and life to within

himself, after a mahapralaya. But Brahman is never dead. He has no

beginning, no end. He is eternal and infinite. When he wills to

create a new universe, new forms and life, and a new cycle of time,

again, he manifests the Trinity out of Him."

 

"Mind-boggling!" said the children. Daddy shrugged. "Such stupendous

truths of our timeless religion, Sanatana Dharma, revealed to our

ancient rishis, and passed down to us, are hard to understand, even

for us adults."

 

"Tell us more about the cycles of time, dad," said Arvind.

 

"We shall discuss time next Sunday. Now, about the forms of Shiva."

 

"Shiva has forms?" said Arvind, a little puzzled. "Other than what

is shown in this picture?"

 

"Think about the name of your friends Natarajan and Ramalingam,"

quipped Padma, "and you will know."

 

Mummy and daddy laughed. "This girl has a sense of humour," said

mummy.

 

Arvind knuckled himself on the head and said, "Oops, I forgot. Shiva

has three forms."

 

"Yes. We worship Shiva in three different forms. Brahma and Vishnu

do not have such forms. We worship Shiva as Yogesvara, the Mahayogi

doing tapas, as the auspicious Shiva Lingam, and as Nataraja, the

great cosmic dancer. Shiva performs a cosmic dance at the time of

mahapralaya and with his infinite energy dissolves the universe. The

picture you see here is Shiva, the Yogesvara."

 

"In the Hindu Trinity, Brahma has only one form, and is mostly known

as Brahma or Brahma Deva," said mummy. "Vishnu has many names but

has a single form, the resplendent shanku-chakra-dari, represented

differently as MahaVishnu, SatyaNarayana, Venkatesvara and so on.

Vishnu takes avatar in a different form in every yuga. Whereas Shiva

has countless names and three different forms that are all Shiva, to

represent his three powers: the power of yoga, the power of

regeneration as daddy said, and the power of dissolution."

 

"Very well said," said daddy. "I am glad your mummy devotes some of

her time for spiritual reading. Unlike many of her friends who are

always hooked to the cable TV serials and films."

 

"Dad, tell us about Shiva's symbols," said Arvind. "There are lots

of them in this picture."

 

"Let's have a padaadi kesha description of Lord Shiva. From foot to

head, remember, and tell me, one by one, what you see."

 

"Shiva is sitting on a tiger skin," said Arvind.

 

"The tiger skin is the mat of a yogi, on which he sits while doing

tapas. With Shiva, it signifies the energy that is potent in him.

Notice that he also wears a tiger skin. In some pictures he wears an

elephant's skin indicating that he has conquered pride."

 

"He is sitting on the cremation ground," observed Padma, "and has

ashes all over his body." Arvind tried a mimicry of the nocturnal

sounds of cremation ground.

 

"Shiva controls death and thereby controls rebirth of a soul. When

the body of the present birth is reduced to ashes, Shiva blesses the

soul with another birth, giving it another chance of spiritual

advancement. The ashes indicate the impermanence of this physical

body."

 

"There is a white bull standing behind Shiva," said Arvind.

 

"Called Nandi, this bull or vrushaba is Shiva's vehicle. The bull is

white in color. White is Shiva's color. His abode Kailash is

surrounded by snowy mountains. White is the color you get when all

colors merge, so it signifies purity and wisdom."

 

"Shiva has kept a kamandalam or water pot behind him," said Padma.

"When he has a jet of Ganga issuing from his head, why does he need

water in a pot daddy?"

 

"A good question. Shiva's kamandalam contains amrutam or nectar. You

know how a kamandalam is made?"

 

Padma sprouted her lips. Arvind nodded his head sideways.

 

"From a dry pumpkin," said mummy.

 

"Yes, a kamandalam is made of the shell of a dry pumpkin, after

removing the pulp. Shiva's kamandalam indicates that a human who

gives up the pulp of worldly desires and hollows the body with

breath control, fasting and meditation, will ultimately get the

bliss of amrutam welling up within himself."

 

"Looking at the things around Shiva," said Arvind, "there is a

trident or trisulam."

 

"The trident stands for Shiva's three shaktis or powers. They are

ichcha shakti or the power of the will, kriya shakti or the power of

action and jnana shakti or the power of knowledge. At a lower level,

it represents the three gunas satva, rajas, tamas found in nature."

 

"There is a small drum tied to the trident", said Padma.

 

"Called damaru, this is the drum Shiva uses to issue the primordial

cosmic sound aum, the pranava mantra using which Brahma creates the

universe. It was Shiva's damaru that produced the 52 alphabets of

Sanskrit, the root language of the world. It is also the origin of

music. Shiva in the form of Nataraja, is considered the origin of

dance and song."

 

"And then there is a crescent moon," observed Arvind.

 

"The crescent moon indicates the waxing and waning phases of the

cycles of time. The moon is not part of Shiva. He only wears it

showing that he is beyond the time cycle."

 

"Shiva shows the abaya mudra, the sign of protection and blessing,"

said Padma. "Plus he wears garlands of rudrakshaa beads all over his

hands and neck."

 

"The term rudra, which is a name for Shiva, means strict and

uncompromising, and akshaa means the eye. Thus the rudrakshaa beads

indicate that Shiva is strict in enforcing the cosmic laws. The

rudrakshaa beads have great significance in yoga and meditation.

Legend says that the beads were formed out of Shiva's tears of

compassion for the souls, whose drops he let fall on the earth. The

beads have healing properties. But one thing. The person who wears

even a single rudrakshaa bead has to strictly observe certain niyama

or regulations."

 

"I have seen our priest wear a large, gold-laced bead of rudrakshaa

on his neck," said Arvind. "Shiva wears a large snake, a cobra,

coiled thrice over his neck."

 

"Snakes, specially cobras are sacred for us Hindus. We worship them

because they are associated with the entire Shiva family. Ganesha

has a snake for the sacred thread. Muruga has a peacock for his

vehicle at whose feat is a cobra. Shiva wears snakes all over his

body as seen in some pictures. And snakes are holy for his consort

Parvati in her many forms. Vishnu sleeps on the bed of Adi Sesha,

the snake with a thousand heads. Snake at a lower level signifies

passion and worldly desires. Shiva wears them to assure that he

would control the snakes of passion and desire of devotees who

surrender to him. At the highest level, a snake stands for the yogic

kundalini shakti. Yogis who have this power under control enjoy the

bliss of Shiva's nectar."

 

"Is there any special meaning for the three curls of the snake

around Shiva's neck in this picture, dad?"

 

"The snake that Shiva wears on his neck is the Vasuki, using which

the devas and asuras churned the sea of milk. Its three curls denote

the passage of time from future through the present to the past.

Shiva wears the snake to indicate that he is the master of time, the

kala bhairava."

 

"Very interesting, daddy," said Padma. "Let's move on to Shiva's

eyes. Mummy told us that Shiva has three eyes. Isn't the third eye

seen as a vertical slit across the three vibuti bands he wears on

his forehead?"

 

"Shiva is called Tryambaka and Trilochana because of his three eyes.

Sun is his left eye, moon the right and fire the third. The two eyes

of sun and moon indicate Shiva's activity in the physical world. The

third eye of fire stands for his activity in the spiritual world.

Shiva uses the third eye at the time of dissolution of the

universe."

 

"We have three eyes too, dad?"

 

"Definitely. The third eye is called the eye of wisdom. It is

located between the two eyebrows. When you stimulate this area, as

you do when you fix a tilak at that spot, your powers of grasping

and learning are roused. This is the reason Hindus, specially women,

wear a tilak. When we do constant yoga and meditation, this eye

opens gradually. A coconut has three 'eyes', did you ever notice?

Which is why we break a coconut in our pujas, to indicate that we

have to break our egos to bring out the nectar of sweet water and

the sweet, white pulp of the fruit."

 

"His two eyes are only half-open," said Padma.

 

"The typical yogic posture. When you are a matured yogi, you don't

need to close your eyes fully. Ramana Maharshi used to get into

yogic samadhi with his eyes wide open. Shiva's half-open eyes

indicate at another level that he is watching the cycle of time

between creation that commenced when he opened his eyes, and

dissolution that would follow when he would close his eyes

ultimately."

 

"I think we have covered most of the symbols," said Arvind. "Only

the locks of hair and the Ganga remain."

 

"Shiva is known as jataadara, indicating his three matted locks of

hair. The three locks indicate the physical, mental and spiritual

energies, the ideal of yoga. The Ganga is the most sacred river of

the Hindus. She was brought to the earth by Bhageeratha through his

long and intense tapas. When Ganga came down from the heavens in a

torrential downpour, the merciful Lord Shiva received her on his

matted locks and let her flow as seven different rivers, three

towards the west, three towards the east and one to the patala loka,

to resurrect the 60,000 ancestors of Bhageeratha, who were held

there in the form of ashes because of a curse from Kapila rishi. At

a higher level, Ganga indicates divine consciousness that flows from

the heavens through the human body in the form of kundalini shakti

and lies dormant in the base chakra, the equivalent of patala loka.

Shiva wearing Ganga is known as gangaadara."

 

"Arvind, we missed the kundalams or ear rings."

 

"The ear ring on the left side is the type worn by women, here it

signifies Shiva's consort Shakti who is always joined to him on the

left side. Shiva is the god who is woman on the left half side and

man on the right half-- ardhanarisvara. The right ear ring is the

type worn by men. The rings are called alakshya meaning that which

can't be shown by signs or symbols and the niranjana, that which

can't be seen with mortal eyes."

 

"We understand now why Shiva is unique," said the children. "His

consort is unique too?" asked Arvind.

 

"Shiva's consort Parvati is unique in the sense that she has all the

three powers of Shiva: ichcha, kriya and jnana--the power of will,

action and wisdom. The picture we have here is that of Durga, a form

of Parvati. She is all action here, waging war against evil forces.

She has eighteen hands. Her ten hands possess the powers of

MahaVishnu in his ten avatars, the remaining eight, which you see

here, have weapons. Notice they include a conch, a chakra and a

mace--all Vishnu's symbols. She also holds a trident and a sword,

and her vehicle is the powerful and ferocious tiger."

 

"Parvati is normally seen with Shiva," observed Padma, "but she is

alone in her other forms, isn't it so mom?"

 

"You're right," said mummy. "Parvati in her own, native form is

always part of Shiva. Her hallmark is tapas. Whenever she happens to

take an avatar in human form and stay away from Shiva, she performs

intense tapas to get back to him. Her other forms such as Durga,

Kamakshi, Lalita and so on show her different powers and features."

 

"People who worship Shiva primarily are called Saivites. People who

worship Vishnu are called Vaishnavites. There are thousands of

people who worship Shakti primarily, and they are called Saktas.

These are the three main bakti streams of Sanatana Dharma."

 

They were sipping strong, hot tea at the end of a sumptuous

breakfast. Mummy finished first and started clearing the dishes.

Padma finished her tea and rose to help mummy.

 

"A very nice discussion dad," said Arvind. "Since we have already

finished our school homework, can we watch the cartoon channels on

TV now?"

 

"Enjoy yourselves," said daddy, "but don't skip your studies or

household work."

 

Regards,

saidevo