Lord Shiva - God who thrives with all contradictions

Happy MAHA SHIVARATRI.

Can you be both Calm and Angry? Can you be Loving and Ferocious? Can you be gullible and knowledgeable? Can you be an ascetic and have a family? 

Lord Shiva. He is one God, who thrives amidst contradictions. 

.He is the ADI YOGI..the first YOGI of this world. Calm like  a Yogi BUT fast as the greatest dancer, Nataraja.

.He is considered the destroyer but also the life giver. 

.He is considered an ascetic but also a family man. No one knows where he is from, who are his parents, which city etc. Perhaps a Tibetan from Mount Kailash. BUT his family is well known. Wife Parvati Shakti, sons Ganesh the cute elephant headed God and Lord Kartikeya (or Murugan in south)

.He is innocent like a child (Bholenath) BUT considered OMKARA the fountain of knowledge

.He is Agni roopa BUT his abode is the icy himalayas.

.The only GOD who both Devas and Asuras worship. Who men and animals worship. 

.No protocols to worship him. He is easily pleased even with an offering of water and bilva leaf. BUT he gives boons as big as the ability to save oneself from any curse.

ANBE SIVAM அன்பே சிவம் in Tamil means, Shiva is the embodiment of love. Lets see why.

.He gave the Chakra, the destructive weapon to Lord Krishna. From Rama to Ravana, From Krishna to Kamadeva every one has been blessed by the Maha Deva. Even he took form of Sarbeshwara to reduce the rage of Lord Narasimha 

.He drank the poison and held it in his neck, to save all living beings, earning the nick name neela kanta (blue necked one)

.He treats his wife Parvathi with great love and respect, and made her inseparable part of him by being an ardha nar eshwara

.He has great love and compassion for all animals. He protects them from disease (even perhaps corona virus) death and destruction. Hence he is known as Pasupathinath (Nepals chief temple)

.Shiva is the world teacher, ultimate Guru. He is a Yogi. He is a good musician, dancer and singer. He is Omkar the source of all Om and Vedas. 

And yet he remains simple and ready to serve his devotees who call out for his help.

I was blessed to see some very famous temples of Lord Shiva in this birth. All the five pancha bootha sthalams.

Earth, Ekambareswarar Temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.

Water, Jambukeswarar Temple in Thiruvanaikaval, Tamil Nadu.

Fire, Arunachaleswarar Temple in Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.

Air, Srikalahasteeswara Temple in Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh.

Ether/Space (Akasha): Thillai Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu. 

And Five out of 12 Jyotir Lingas sthalams below .

Somnath and Nageshwar (Gujarat), 

Ujjain Mahakaleshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Kashi Vishwanath (Uttar Pradesh)

Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu). 

These are not just temples. But living embodiments of spirituality, divinity, culture and worship we must be very proud about as Indians. If you have not seen, please visit them, you will understand what i mean.

To end this article I would like to produce the first stanza of Linga-ashtakam and a stanza from Thevaram.

"Brahmamurari suraarchita lingam

Nirmala bhaasita sobhita lingam

Janmaja dukha vinaasaka lingam

Tatpranamaami sadaasiva lingam"

"I bow before that Lingam, which is the eternal Shiva, which is worshipped by Brahma, Vishnu, and the Devas, which is pure, radiant, and well-adorned, and which destroys the sorrows associated with the cycle of birth." 

The 63 Nayanmars (Shaivite poet-saints of Tamil Nadu) composed a vast body of devotional poetry, which contains 18,426 songs dedicated to Lord Shiva between the 6th and 10th centuries CE.  Just one stanza, by திருநாவுக்கரசர் thiru-navukku-arasar from Thevaram, his immortal work is reproduced below.

மாசில் வீணையும் மாலை மதியமும்,

வீசு தென்றலும் வீங்கிள வேனிலும்,

மூசு வண்டறை பொய்கையும் போன்றதே, ஈச னெந்தை யிணையடி நீழலே.

""The shelter under the feet of Lord (Shiva), is as cool and refreshing as a flawless Veena's music, the soft moonlight of the evening, a gentle breeze, the pleasant spring season, and a, pond filled with humming bees"

OM NAMA SHIVAYA we seek your blessings on this day for world's prosperity.

Har Har Mahadev.

Nash Narasimhan Tupil