ARDHANARISHWARA

[Guest guest]

ARDHANARISHWARA: In this manifestation, Siva appears in a bodily

form – the left half of which is a female and the right half that of

a male. The left half represents Shakti in the form of Parvati and

the right half Siva. Whereas Parvati is the cause of the arousal of

kama or desire, Siva is the killer of Kamadeva, the god of desires.

Parvati creates the phenomenal world through her dance called

laasya. Siva destroys the same through his dance called taandava.

So, Ardhanarishwara incorporates a synthesis of opposites and also

integrates the opposites to show that they complement each other. It

is a perfect example of Hegelian dialectics. The images of

Ardhanarishwara give a mistaken impression that it represents a

being which is half female and half male. In reality there is no

such being. The symbolic representation of Ardhanarishwara is to be

seen as a metaphor, which represents a being the whole of which is

Siva and the whole of which is Shakti at the same time. Siva and

Shakti are two beings only by connotation. They in fact denote one

and the same being Siva. Siva is knowledge (jnana) and activity

(kriya) in one . Jnana without kriya is redundant and kriya

without jnana is wayward. It is only when Siva is united with

Shakti that He acquires the capability of becoming the Lord of the

Universe. In the absence of the Shakti, Siva is not even able to

stir; it is then shava, dead body.- Ashok Vohra

 

prof laxmi narain (prof_narain)

 

Source and courtesy: Sri Ramana Kendram, Hyderabad

This article was published in Sri Ramana Jyothi,

monthly magazine of the Kendram.