Hinduism is one of the most widespread beliefs in the Asian continent, centered on India. It is also possible to call it mythology, but considering that there are people with this belief even today, it would be more correct to behave respectfully. Among the numerous Hindu gods, Shiva is one of the most notable because he has an interesting character who represents good in some aspects and evil in others.
God Shiva is one of the three most powerful figures of Hindu faith. Being part of a system similar to the trinity belief in Christianity, Shiva has the power to create the world over and over. As he also has a warrior spirit, we can see him performing important heroic deeds in countless stories. Who is Lord Shiva, what does he represent, what is his symbol, let’s see in all its details.
Who is the god Shiva, endowed with superior abilities?
Shiva, also known as Siva, is one of the most important deities in the stories that developed around the Hindu belief. The trimurtide, known as the Indian trinity, is associated with Brahma and Vishnu. If we look at the meaning of the word Shiva; It means the one who purifies everyone with the mention of his name.
Good and evil are in his hands:
An interesting feature of the god Shiva is that he is both good and evil. While he represents goodness and generosity on the one hand, he is the lord of thieves, wicked and beggars on the other. As if that were not enough, he is both the protector and leader of evil spirits, vampires and ghosts.
Shiva, the owner of the power that destroys and recreates the universe:
According to Hindu belief, the universe is destroyed and recreated every 2,160,000,000 years. This power to destroy and recreate is in the hands of the god Shiva. This is why, in the trimurti, Brahma is the creator and Vishnu is the protector, while Shiva is the destroyer. Each cycle eventually destroys the entire universe and immediately recreates it.
The greatest devotee:
The god of Shaivism, one of the sects of Hinduism, is Shiva. Because he is a devotee who avoids all kinds of worldly pleasures and gives himself to meditation and tries to reach absolute happiness in this way. Because of this feature, yogis belonging to Shaivism, Brahmans and Vedas, that is, the group of caste system that can be described as saints make him the main god. He is also the custodian of Hindu scriptures.
God Shiva has a legendary love story:
Reincarnation in the Hindu belief applies not only to humans but also to gods. It even has a story to it. It is said that Shiva and Sati wanted to marry, but Sati’s father, the god Daksha, did not allow it, and to humiliate Shiva, he arranged a sacrificial ceremony that he did not invite.
Sati got very angry with her father and threw herself into the sacrificial fire. Seeing this, Shiva made two demons out of his hair, made a mess and killed Daksha. The gods barely calmed Shiva and Shiva resurrected Daksha using a few heads. Sati was reincarnated, reborn as Parvati and married to Shiva.
He killed his son, who was created unaware of himself, and returned him with an elephant’s head:
Since Shiva often went away and meditated when he was at home, Parvati made a son named Ganesha from the earth to protect him and be a companion. When Shiva came home one day, he saw Ganesha in front of the room where Parvati was taking a bath. Because she was unaware that he had a son, she mistook him for a beggar and started to fight.
Shiva immediately summoned the demons and killed his son. When Parvati came out of the bath and saw her son die, she cried out and asked Shiva to return him. Shiva brought Ganesha back to life by bringing a head. However, Ganesha had to be brought back to life with an elephant head, as it was the nearest elephant head.
The Ganges river was given to the god Shiva because of the quarrel:
The god Vishnu had three wives; Lakshmi representing good fortune, Saraswati representing wisdom and Ganga representing the river Ganges. Tired of the fights among them, Vishnu sent Ganga to the earth. In order not to destroy all life while falling to earth, Ganga was caught by Shiva with a hair bun, and the Ganges river as we know it today was formed.
God Shiva is one of the greatest heroes in Indian stories:
One day, Vasuki, the king of snakes, started to threaten the environment. His greatest threat was to cover all the seas with snake venom. God Shiva transformed into a sea turtle. He collected all the poison released into the seas by Vasuki in his palm and drank it. The poison he drank burned through his throat, leaving a blue streak. That is why one of the names of Shiva is the blue throat.
In another story, Surabhi, the mother of all cows, gave birth to white cows one after another. The milk of the cows crossed the mountains and flooded the house of Shiva. Shiva, whose meditation was disturbed, shot the cows with fire from his third eye, and after that day the cows had brown spots. Fortunately, when the bull was given to Nandi Shiva, he calmed down and became the protector of all animals from that day forward.
There are those who worship the phallus because of Shiva:
Shiva was in mourning when Sarti died and was not yet reincarnated. Jealous of the attention of women to Shiva, who lived in a forest with the sages, the wise Rishis sent him an antelope and a tiger. Shiva killed them both. The Rishis then cursed his manhood and his phallus fell to the ground. After the phallus fell to the ground, after earthquakes followed, the Rishis begged him for forgiveness. Shiva forgave them on the condition that they worship the phallus. This is the penis we call the phallus.
What does the symbol of god Shiva represent?
Even today, it is possible to encounter the god Shiva figures, who are an important part of Indian culture, everywhere. God Shiva is the symbol of rebirth, goodness, evil, fertility, strength, courage, asceticism, devotion. It is a sign that the universe is being destroyed and recreated over and over again.
We have told some of the stories that brought him into existence by answering questions such as who is the god Shiva, one of the most important figures of Hinduism, and what does he represent. The stories were good until the phallus thing, but I guess we were all a little uncomfortable at that point.
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