With Mahashivaratri around the corner, it would be good to understand Bhagwan Shiva. 'Shiva' the word means mangalam, all auspiciousness. Shiva, in the ancient tradition, is considered as nothing but Ishwara himself — the source of origination, the sustenance and the resolving point of the whole creation is pure existing consciousness. This is how Shiva is presented in the Vedas and the Upanishads.
We can appreciate that there are many facets to what we call Shiva or Ishwara as he is everything. Some modern teachers presenting Shiva as Adi Yogi are not correct. It is that person’s own way of looking at Shiva, which is acceptable within the tradition.
But to present Shiva as only that is not right. He is the Adi Yogi because the yoga tradition traces its origins to him. He is also presented as Nataraja, because the classical dancing tradition is traced back to Shiva. In fact, all knowledge is about what is Ishwara — all knowledge is Ishwara. Hence, Ishwara is nothing but the source of knowledge in the Vedic tradition. Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody would like to present Shiva as the source of physics and science as well. In fact, some of the scientists have already presented the cosmic dance as the source of sciences. Shiva is everything.
Some modern teachers present him as nothing. They break up the word as ‘Shi’ and ‘va’ and state that it is not there. These teachers are highly mistaken. The definition of Maya is that which is not (ma) there — Maya. Shiva is the basis of Maya. So, presenting Shiva as nothingness or Adi Yogi is a great disservice to the lay interested public, serious students in the Vedic tradition and to Bhagwan himself. If some people would like to know more, they should delve into more serious traditional disciplines, which will give them a better idea of what Shiva, Bhagwan and Ishwara are and not just look at one dimension of Shiva.
(The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com)
