Significance of Lord Siva's Form

[Guest guest]

Om Namah Sivaya

 

 

 

 

 

 

We conceive God as glory, as creativity and as austerity. Vishnu is glory and magnificence; Brahma is creativity force; and Siva is austerity and renunciation. You might have heard it said that God is the embodiment of six attributes of which renunciation is one. You will be wondering how can God renounce things. He is not a Sannyasin (renunciate). He is not an ascetic like a Vairagin (a dispassionate person) or a Sadhu. What is he going to renounce? How do you conceive Siva as an austere Yogin or a renunciate? What does He renounce? The all-pervading Almighty, what has he to give up or abandon? Here is the secret of what renunciation is! It is not renunciation of anything, because there is nothing outside Him; renunciation does not mean abandonment of an object.

 

If that had been the definition of renunciation, that cannot apply to God. God does not renounce or abandon any object, because all objects are a part of His Cosmic Body. Then how do you represent God as an embodiment of Vairagya (dispassion)? Bhagavan, who is endowed with 'Bhaga' or glories of a sixfold nature, is also an embodiment of Vairagya. Do you identify Him with a Sannyasin, possessing nothing? No, never. God is the possessor of all things. Then, how can you call him a renunciate, a Sannyasin or a Vairagin? The secret behind the concept or the consciousness of Vairagya, renunciation is here, in the identification of this attribute with God. It is only when we interpret things in terms of God that things become clear. Otherwise, we get confused, we cannot know what goodness is, we cannot know

what evil is, we cannot know what virtue is, unless we refer all these values of life to the concept of God in His Perfection. The only standard of reference for us in all matters of life's value is the existence of God. So, the concept of renunciation, which has been very much misused, also gets rectified, clarified and purified when it is understood with reference to the existence of God-whose special manifestation, in this context, is known as Lord Siva.

 

God does not renounce anything. Then, in that case what is renunciation, in this context? It is the freedom from the consciousness of externality. This is called Vairagya. How can you abandon things? All things are there in front of you, like trees in a forest, stones in the jungle. There is nothing like abandonment of things, because they are internally related to you. Nobody can renounce anything, because everything in this world is connected to everything else. Then what is Vairagya? Vairagya is not renunciation of any object; it is impossible. Everything clings to you. But the idea that things are outside you, makes you get attached to them. This false attachment is Raga and its absence is Vi-raga. The condition of Viraga is

Vairagya. As God has no consciousness of externality, because everything is embodied in Him, there cannot be a greater renunciate than God. And in as much as this Consciousness of God is the highest form of Wisdom, He is the repository of Jnana.

 

In our religious tradition, Lord Siva is represented as an aspect of God, the Almighty. He presents before us the ideal of supreme renunciation born of Divine Realisation. Renunciation born of Divine Realisation, not born of frustration, not born of an escapist attitude, not born of defeatism, but born of an insight into the nature of things, a clear understanding of the nature of life and the wisdom of existence in its completeness. This is the source of Vairagya or renunciation.

 

You do not want anything, not because you cannot get things, but because you have realised the interconnectedness of things, and the unity of all purpose in consciousness. All desires get hushed, sublimated and boiled down to the divine Being only when this realisation comes. God does not possess things. Possession is a relationship of one thing with another thing. But, God is super-relative. That is why we call Him as the Absolute; He is not relative. Anything that is related to something else comes under the category of relative. God is not related to anything else, because He is All-comprehensive. And, thus, in His all-comprehensive Absoluteness, which is height of wisdom conceivable, there is also the concomitant character of freedom from the consciousness of externality, and

therefore, as a corollary, freedom from attachment to anything.

 

Thus Lord Siva is the height of austerity, Master Yogin, portrayed as seated in a lotus-pose, as the king of all ascetics; not that He has the desire for self-control but He is what is self-control itself. He does not practise self-control. Self-control itself is symbolised in the personality of Lord Siva. Such a wondrous concept of a glorious majestic picture of the Almighty, as Lord Siva.

 

-----------Sri Swami Krishnananda

 

Sivaya NamahSend instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.

[Guest guest]

Sri Swami Krishnananda,

 

Thank you so very much for your post. It answers many questions about

renunciation that I, for one, have pondered. That is a very lovely

picture, so thank you for that too.

 

Om Namah Shivaya~

 

Joanelyia

 

, Selvaratnam Selvakumar

<selvauk wrote:

>

>

> Om Namah Sivaya

>  

>  

>  

>

>

                                   

    

>  

>

> We conceive God as glory, as creativity and as austerity. Vishnu is

glory and magnificence; Brahma is creativity force; and Siva is

austerity and renunciation. You might have heard it said that God is

the embodiment of six attributes of which renunciation is one. You

will be wondering how can God renounce things. He is not a Sannyasin

(renunciate). He is not an ascetic like a Vairagin (a dispassionate

person) or a Sadhu. What is he going to renounce? How do you conceive

Siva as an austere Yogin or a renunciate? What does He renounce? The

all-pervading Almighty, what has he to give up or abandon? Here is

the secret of what renunciation is! It is not renunciation of

anything, because there is nothing outside Him; renunciation does not

mean abandonment of an object.

>  

>  If that had been the definition of renunciation, that cannot

apply to God. God does not renounce or abandon any object, because

all objects are a part of His Cosmic Body. Then how do you represent

God as an embodiment of Vairagya (dispassion)? Bhagavan, who is

endowed with 'Bhaga' or glories of a sixfold nature, is also an

embodiment of Vairagya. Do you identify Him with a Sannyasin,

possessing nothing? No, never. God is the possessor of all things.

Then, how can you call him a renunciate, a Sannyasin or a Vairagin?

The secret behind the concept or the consciousness of Vairagya,

renunciation is here, in the identification of this attribute with

God. It is only when we interpret things in terms of God that things

become clear. Otherwise, we get confused, we cannot know what

goodness is, we cannot know what evil is, we cannot know what virtue

is, unless we refer all these values of life to the concept of God in

His Perfection. The only standard of

> reference for us in all matters of life's value is the existence

of God. So, the concept of renunciation, which has been very much

misused, also gets rectified, clarified and purified when it is

understood with reference to the existence of God-whose special

manifestation, in this context, is known as Lord Siva.

>  

> God does not renounce anything. Then, in that case what is

renunciation, in this context? It is the freedom from the

consciousness of externality. This is called Vairagya. How can you

abandon things? All things are there in front of you, like trees in a

forest, stones in the jungle. There is nothing like abandonment of

things, because they are internally related to you. Nobody can

renounce anything, because everything in this world is connected to

everything else. Then what is Vairagya? Vairagya is not renunciation

of any object; it is impossible. Everything clings to you. But the

idea that things are outside you, makes you get attached to them.

This false attachment is Raga and its absence is Vi-raga. The

condition of Viraga is Vairagya. As God has no consciousness of

externality, because everything is embodied in Him, there cannot be a

greater renunciate than God. And in as much as this Consciousness of

God is the highest form of Wisdom, He is the

> repository of Jnana.

>  

> In our religious tradition, Lord Siva is represented as an aspect

of God, the Almighty. He presents before us the ideal of supreme

renunciation born of Divine Realisation. Renunciation born of Divine

Realisation, not born of frustration, not born of an escapist

attitude, not born of defeatism, but born of an insight into the

nature of things, a clear understanding of the nature of life and the

wisdom of existence in its completeness. This is the source of

Vairagya or renunciation.

>  

> You do not want anything, not because you cannot get things, but

because you have realised the interconnectedness of things, and the

unity of all purpose in consciousness. All desires get hushed,

sublimated and boiled down to the divine Being only when this

realisation comes. God does not possess things. Possession is a

relationship of one thing with another thing. But, God is super-

relative. That is why we call Him as the Absolute; He is not

relative. Anything that is related to something else comes under the

category of relative. God is not related to anything else, because He

is All-comprehensive. And, thus, in His all-comprehensive

Absoluteness, which is height of wisdom conceivable, there is also

the concomitant character of freedom from the consciousness of

externality, and therefore, as a corollary, freedom from attachment

to anything.

>  

>  Thus Lord Siva is the height of austerity, Master Yogin,

portrayed as seated in a lotus-pose, as the king of all ascetics; not

that He has the desire for self-control but He is what is self-

control itself. He does not practise self-control. Self-control

itself is symbolised in the personality of Lord Siva. Such a wondrous

concept of a glorious majestic picture of the Almighty, as Lord Siva.

>  

>                        -----------Sri Swami

Krishnananda

>

> Sivaya Namah

>

> Send instant messages to your online friends

http://uk.messenger.

>