Jata and Siva

[Guest guest]

I thought I would share with all here some of my favorite verses

from ancient India that relate Siva's jata or 'matted

locs'.

 

"Search where you will, there is no God like Siva.

None here below to equal His glory;

Lotus-like, He of the gleaming matted locks, is

Fiery in splendour, beyond the worlds - apart."

- Tirumandiram, verse 5

 

COMMENTARY: Siva's jata, 'matted locks', are sacred and are

considered the manifestation of spiritual understanding.

 

Jata are the manifestation of Vairagya / detachment / disillusion

with Samsara / material existence. Yet, more than an outward

statement, jata are symbols of the profound inner transformation of

sannyasin.

 

>From sacred scripture, Gangadhara Siva's jata capture and direct the

unruly power of the wild Ganga; protecting the world from Her wild

and destructive torrents.

 

In the Tandava - Siva's dance of violent divine intoxication - His

hair once piled high upon His head, falls loose and crashes into all

the worlds and heavenly bodies; causing all of them to be thrown

free of their gravitational pull and so destroyed.

 

Siva, as the Lord of ascetics, is the only God (that I am aware of)

who wears jata, which indicates they may also by symbolic of sadhus,

creation and destruction, potency and control of power, and divine

intoxication/mada.

 

"The jata-haired one endures fire,

The jata-haired one endures poison,

The jata-haired one endures both worlds.

The jata-haired one gazes full onto heaven,

The jata-haired one is that light among us;

For him has the Lord of Life churned

and pounded the unbendable,

When the jata-haired one, in Rudra's company,

Drank from the poison cup."

- Rig Veda, 10.136, the Keshin Sutra or "Hymn of the Longhaired

Sage", connects sadhus with jata, the mastery of fire, and

communication with spirits.

 

Be Whole!

Siddhananda Devi

[Guest guest]

jata are symbols of the profound inner transformation ofsannyasin.From sacred

scripture, Gangadhara Siva's jata capture and direct theunruly power of the

wild Ganga; protecting the world from Her wildand destructive torrents.In the

Tandava - Siva's dance of violent divine intoxication - Hishair once piled high

upon His head, falls loose and crashes into allthe worlds and heavenly bodies;

causing all of them to be thrownfree of their gravitational pull and so

destroyed.Siva, as the Lord of ascetics, is the only God (that I am aware

of)who wears jata, which indicates they may also by symbolic of sadhus,creation

and destruction, potency and control of power, and divineintoxication/mada."The

jata-haired one endures fire,The jata-haired one endures poison,The jata-haired

one endures both worlds.The jata-haired one gazes full onto heaven,The

jata-haired one is that light among us;For him has the Lord

of Life churnedand pounded the unbendable,When the jata-haired one, in Rudra's

company,Drank from the poison cup."- Rig Veda, 10.136, the Keshin Sutra or

"Hymn of the LonghairedSage", connects sadhus with jata, the mastery of fire,

andcommunication with spirits.Be Whole!Siddhananda Devi Send instant messages

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