8/7/2017 Aspects of Shiva SivaSakti

Aspects of Shiva
Bhairava or
Paramashiva are
names given to
the Supreme
Absolute, the
One without the
Second in the
Shivaic tradition.
Nevertheless, this
Pure
Transcendent

[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/transcendence/]
Consciousness can be perceived and conceived by the
common human mind only by means of a personalized
form, capable to be addressed to by the human
understanding. This aspect of the Divine Supreme

http://sivasakti.com/tantra/other-hindu-deities/aspects-of-shiva/ 1/7
8/7/2017 Aspects of Shiva SivaSakti

Force bears names such as Maheshvara, Shankara,

Bhagavan, Isha, Shambhu, etc., the transcendent and at
the same time the immanent Deity whom all believers,
regardless of religion, form or appellative worship and
adore. As Swami Vivekananda put it, this somewhat
personalized form of the Divine is the supreme form
the human spirit may grant/confer to the Absolute.
The Tantric [http://sivasakti.com/glossary/tantra/] nds
in Shiva the Deity of love, living and vibrant reality, full
of spontaneous energy, a divine force whose presence
he perceives directly, but whom he considers as a
person: you are the great being (mahapurusha
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/mahapurusha/] ), the
unique, refuge of all beings. The great mystic poet
Utpaladeva addresses to Shiva: you are the Splendid
Being (adhipurusha), permanently awake in a sleeping
world. In fact, Shiva does not have any observer but
himself. He cannot be an object of human perception
for He is the Supreme Subject himself, that which is
attained by the beings who reach the top, the knower
of the knower, the only Subject who is truly and totally
conscious.
For the Tantric metaphysics, the Absolute Reality
encloses /comprises within Itself all dualities and
polarities reunited, reintegrated in a state of absolute
Unity. Creation and all development it implies represent
the destruction of primordial Unity and the separation
of the two principles (Shiva-Shakti
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/shakti/] , etc.); the
su ering, the illusion, the slavery we experiment as
human beings consist precisely in this acute state of
duality (subject-object, etc.). The purpose of Tantric
sadhana [http://sivasakti.com/glossary/sadhana/] is to
reunite the two principles inside the disciples own
heart and body.
Leaving aside the metaphysical and intellectual
problems rose by the simultaneous transcendence
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/transcendence/] and
immanence of the Divine, we will now mention the
di erent aspects of Shiva, as transmitted by the
tradition of purana
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/purana/] -s and agama-s.
These aspects of Shiva are essential guidelines in the

http://sivasakti.com/tantra/other-hindu-deities/aspects-of-shiva/ 2/7
8/7/2017 Aspects of Shiva SivaSakti

understanding and practice of Tantra

[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/tantra/] .
MAYAVIN, the
Supreme
Magician, or the
Master of the
Cosmic Illusion,
MAYA

[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/maya/]
Shiva is a perfect magician, who creates the
phenomenal world by means of his Cosmic spell. He is
the perfect painter as he puts on the wall of his own
consciousness, without instruments and materials, the
fresco of the universe. Through his hand gesture
(mudra), he impresses upon the whole world the
di erentiation between masculine and feminine. As an
actor, he plays alone in the theatre play of the three
worlds, identifying Him
Pashupati, the good Shepherd or The keeper of the
herd
Shiva is also the deity of compassion and in nite grace.
As Pashupati, he is adored as the shepherd of the souls
subdued by ignorance, which he protects and
constantly impels towards reaching the supreme
freedom.
Umapati, Umas lover
This aspect of Shiva portrays the Deity of Love, the
beloved husband of the essential creative divine
energy/ cosmic mother, named Shakti, Uma or Parvati,
whom he eternally embraces. To this universal love
http://sivasakti.com/tantra/other-hindu-deities/aspects-of-shiva/ 3/7
8/7/2017 Aspects of Shiva SivaSakti

between the two cosmic principles corresponds on a

human level, the happiness and ecstatic beatitude of
two hearts that share ardent feelings of love.
Virupaksha, Shiva transcendent
As Virupaksha or Trilocana, Shiva is endowed with a
third eye, terrible and mysterious, destroyer of duality
and death, but at the same time the eye of in nite
compassion which radiates permanently divine
happiness and love.
Dhurajati, the
hermit and
Shivaratri, the
mysterious night of
Shiva
For yogis

[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/yogi/] , Shiva appears

sometimes as the archetypal hermit, symbol of
detachment and transcendence, the Supreme initiator
in Yoga [http://sivasakti.com/glossary/yoga/] and Siddhi
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/siddhi/] .
Shiva, in his aspect of Dhurajati reduced to ashes the
God of sensuous love owing to the perfect sublimation
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/sublimation/] of sexual
energies on the level of Ajna
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/ajna/] chakra
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/chakra/] (the third eye),
while practicing yogic techniques beside the Parvatis
pyre, symbol of the transcendence of all that is
evanescent and transitory.
But from that moment on, he is the terrible Bhairava,

http://sivasakti.com/tantra/other-hindu-deities/aspects-of-shiva/ 4/7
8/7/2017 Aspects of Shiva SivaSakti

dreading for the egoistic and ignorant. He is depicted

completely naked, (owing to the fact that he is beyond
all forms, determinations and attributes).
Nataraja, the Master of Cosmic Dance
Finally, Shiva is the Cosmic Dancer, who creates and
destroys the universe through his impetuous, terrible
or impassioned movements or which he sustains by
means of his own harmonious rhythms.
The fully liberated being takes part as well to this
sublime ballet, dancing spontaneously and freely along
with all universal phenomenal manifestations and
energies because now he is perfectly integrated in the
secret rhythms and cycles of Nature. He is dancing now
with the whole of creation, with Life itself, in its multiple
aspects, which he recognizes now as expressions of the
divine energy, Shakti.
For millenniums, Shiva
Maheshvara was
worshiped on the whole
Hindu territory as the
Dancer, the Supreme
Master of the Creations
rhythms and vibrations.
Through his dance, by
means of his hand
gestures (mudra) and the
symbolic objects he holds,
he expresses the most
disparate and apparently
incompatible aspects of
Life.
As the cosmic Dancer, he
dances holding a
tambourine and wearing
bells at his ankles. As a
hero (Vira) he victoriously waves a trident above his
head. As a hermit, he is anointed with the ashes of the
universe, wears his hair in a loop, and has snakes as
ornaments. As a destroyer of human ignorance and
misery, he is armed with bow, arrows, sword and
bludgeon. As a shepherd of his herd, he holds a noose,
a stake to prompt his herd and a hook. As the supreme
Sovereign of the universe, shining in glory, he weook.
http://sivasakti.com/tantra/other-hindu-deities/aspects-of-shiva/ 5/7
8/7/2017 Aspects of Shiva SivaSakti

As the supreme Sovereign of the universe, shining in

glory, he wears the signs of this sovereignty: the white
umbrella of the full moon, the Milky way fan, the
celestial Ganges springing from his hair, which gives
birth to the universe and keeps it alive. As Supreme
Yogi [http://sivasakti.com/glossary/yogi/] , he wears the
blinding brightness of his cosmic body, having a
crescent moon in his hair, while the third eye is open on
his forehead.
Thus, Shiva, the masculine universal principle, may
assume di erent forms and faculties in order to ful ll
the aspirants most ardent and profound desires.
Nonetheless, in the Tantric view, Shiva does not remain
distant, somewhere in the clouds, looking down to his
devotees. He is to be found in he very heart of every
human being, in every act of compassion, learning,
right guidance, and ardent aspiration towards spiritual
perfection. And moreover, he is not limited to all these.
Join us again in order to nd out the ways to recognize
and love Shiva at a human level.

Copyright - SivaSakti.com info@hridaya-yoga.com Content Disclaimer - Medical Disclaimer

http://sivasakti.com/tantra/other-hindu-deities/aspects-of-shiva/ 6/7
8/7/2017 Aspects of Shiva SivaSakti

http://sivasakti.com/tantra/other-hindu-deities/aspects-of-shiva/ 7/7