“His rise to a major position in the pantheon was facilitated by his identification with a host of Vedicdeities,including Purusha, Rudra, Agni, Indra, Prajāpati, Vāyu, and others”
The difficulty arises when tries to identify Shiva with Iswara is the fact that Iswara means Personal God.
This term Isvara appears for the first time in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, where the meaning is Personal God.
Among the six systems of Hindu philosophy, early Samkhya and Mimamsa do not consider the concept of Ishvara, i.e., a supreme being, while later Samkhya, Yoga, Vaisheshika,Vedanta and Nyaya believe in the existence of an Ishvara..
It is in origin, The term ‘Shiva’ a nominalized adjective meaning “capable, able, being in control”, like īśa “owning, possessing” derived from a root īś- “to own, possess; rule over”, ultimately cognate with English own (Germanic *aigana-, PIE *aik-). The theological meaning “the Supreme Being” first arises in the Manu Smriti, while īśa is used as a name of Rudra somewhat earlier, in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad(c. 300 BCE), considered the first evidence of the development of that deity, the later Shiva, into a supreme, cosmological god.
In Saivite traditions of Hinduism, the term is used as part of the compound “Maheshvara” (“great lord”) as a name for Shiva. In Mahayana Buddhism it is used as part of the compound “Avalokiteśvara” (“lord who hears the cries of the world”), the name of a bodhisattva revered for her compassion. When referring to divine as female, particularly in Shaktism, the feminine Īśvarī is sometimes used.
According to Purans Shiva is different from Rudra, Rudra being an Amsa, Manifestation of a part of Shiva.
Shiva has been given the following Prime Attributes in terms of functionality,
Visweswara,
Mahadeva,
Triyambaka,
Thripuraanthaka,
(Thrikaakgni) Kaala,
(Kallakgni) Rudra,
Neelakanta,
Mrthuyunjaya,
Sarveswara,
Sadashiva,
Rudra is one among and Chief of 11 Rudras, Ekadasa Rudras,
The Vamana Purana describes the Rudras as the sons of Kashyapa and Aditi.
The Matsya Purana notes that Surabhi – the mother of all cows and the “cow of plenty” – was the consort of Brahma and their union produced the eleven Rudras.
Here they are named Nirriti, Shambhu, Aparajita Mrigavyadha, Kapardi, Dahana, Khara, Ahirabradhya, Kapali, Pingala and Senani – the foremost.[4] The Harivamsa, an appendix of the Mahabharata, makes Kashyapa and Surabhi – here, portrayed as his wife – the parents of the Rudras.[3][5] In another instance in the Mahabharata, it is Dharma (possibly identified with Yama) who is the father of the Rudras and the Maruts.[1]
Rudra, identified with the Puranic Shiva (pictured) is associated with the Rudras.
The Vishnu Purana narrates that Rudra – here identified with Shiva – was born from the anger of the creator-god Brahma.
The furious Rudra was in Ardhanari form, half his body was male and other half female. He divided himself into two: the male and female. The male form then split itself into eleven, forming the eleven Rudras. Some of them were white and gentle; while others were dark and fierce.
They are called Manyu, Manu, Mahmasa, Mahan, Siva, Rtudhvaja, Ugraretas, Bhava, Kama, Vamadeva and Dhrtavrata.
From the woman were born the eleven Rudranis who became wives of the Rudras. They are Dhi, Vrtti, Usana, Urna, Niyuta, Sarpis, Ila, Ambika, Iravatl, Sudha and Diksa. Brahma allotted to the Rudras the eleven positions of the heart and the five sensory organs, the five organs of action and the mind.Other Puranas call them Aja, Ekapada (Ekapat), Ahirbudhnya, Tvasta, Rudra, Hara, Sambhu, Tryambaka, Aparajita, Isana and Tribhuvana.
In one instance in the epic Mahabharata, the Rudras are eleven in number and are named Mrgavadha, Sarpa, Nirriti, Ajaikapad, Ahi Budhnya, Pinakin, Dahana, Ishvara, Kapalin, Sthanu and Bhaga.
While Kapalin is described the foremost of Rudras here, in theBhagavad Gita – a discourse by the god Krishna in the epic – it is Sankara who is considered the greatest of the Rudras. Both Kapalin and Sankara are epithets of Shiva
.In another instance, they are described as sons of Tvastr and named: Vishvarupa, Ajaikapad, Ahi Budhnya, Virupaksa, Raivata, Hara, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Savitra, Jayanta and Pinakin.
While usually the Rudras are described to eleven, in one instance in the Mahabharata; they are said to be eleven thousand and surrounding Shiva.
The eleven groups of hundred are named: Ajaikapad, Ahi Budhnya, Pinakin, Rta, Pitrrupa, Tryamabaka, Maheshvara, Vrsakapi, Sambhu, Havana and Ishvara..
It seems to me that though Shiva is not mentioned in the Vedas directly,considering the meanings of the Attributes to the Nirguna Brahman,
The Reality, it would seem that the term Shiva is an indicator of the Nirguna Brahman in its entirety without Name and Form but called as Shiva to
enable us to understand the Concept of Nirguna Brahman as Auspicious.
Yoga Sutra 1.25. Here Patanjali is reinforcing the notion of a unique original and unsurpassable soul. Apparently God is smarter than all of us put together. Still this brings up and interesting paradox around the issue of infinity. If all souls are purusha, and purusha is pure consciousness, i.e. sat-chit-ananda (eternal-knowing-blissfull), then how can God the Soul be more of anything?
Events, Actions follow each other.
An action or event is the reason for another action, event.
Therefore, Cause may be the result of a Cause and be a Result of another.
Again a Cause may lead to many results,
A Result may be due to many Causes.
If this were to be true, then the First Cause becomes a Logical fallacy.
It is interesting to the Theory of Causation in Indian Philosophy, Hinduism.
There are three Vadas or doctrines viz., Parinama Vada of Sankhya Philosophers, e.g., like milk changing into curd, Vivarta Vada of Sri Sankaracharya, e.g., snake in the rope, and Ajati Vada, the theory of non-evolution of the universe of Sri Gaudapada. The first Vada is the lowest. Vivarta is in the middle. Ajati Vada is the highest.
To understand this we may like this.
The Effect is different from the Cause as in Parinama Vada,
This is fallacious as this theory assigns an Object without a Cause, which defeats the Theory of causation which is being defined.
And an Object comes into being without a cause means we allude to Multitudes of realities.
This is Philosophically incorrect as the presence of more than One Reality would limit the other or at least interact with the other.
It it interacts with the other, it would again lead to other Reality.
If it exists in parallel, it should have an origin either with that of the other Reality that has caused the other Reality.
In both cases it is fallacious.
Therefore the Theory that the Effects are different from Causes is untenable.
The other one is the Effect is contained in the Cause.
This is The Ajati Vada, the theory of non-evolution of the universe of Sri Gaudapada.
Though logically correct, this does not explain our experience of the external world of Things.
Shankaracharya explains this contradiction of both the Theories in his Vivarta Vada.
The world is Real, yet Illusory.
He cites the example of a Rope being mistaken for a Snake in poor light.
Once we flash a light, we know that it was not a Snake but a Rope.
So the fact that we saw a Snake was real for that limited point of Time when we did not have correct Knowledge.
That it is a Rope is Real in the Absolute sense.
Therefore both are Real but differentiated because of our Knowledge/inadequate Knowledge.
This is Sankara’s Vivarta Vada.
What does Yoga say on this?
Definitions
Tatra – He (referring to Ishvara)
Niratishayam – unsurpassable (beyond being bound)
Sarva – all
Gya – knowing
Bijam – seed, primary cause
God Is unsurpassable , this indicates he is The First Cause.
He is the Root , Seed for Beings.
Krishna says in The Bhagavad Gita ‘The Prakriti is the Mother and I am the Father, I am The Seed’
Patanjali though seems to adhere to Parinama vada doctrine of Sankhya, he actually follows Vivarta vada of Shankaracharya, when he declared that the concept of God is necessary,though need not be Real in the Absolute sense of Samadhi
ishvara = (ishwara) God, Goddess, Divine, Deity, purusha, pure consciousness, our true nature, pure awareness, Supreme Being
Translated loosely into English;
Ishvara is a distinguished supreme consciousness untouched by the colored results of actions or the pain of suffering.
In this Sutra, Patanjali is defining the qualities of Ishvara, the Supreme Being. ByPurusha– vishesha, Patanjali draws the student in deeper to this most unique and special form of consciousness. To understand the qualities clearly I made a chart;
The Qualities of Ishvara (Ishwara, purusha, the Supreme Being)
free from the 5 modes of suffering (Yoga Sutra 1.5); ignorance, desire, aversion, fear, Egoism/I-am-ness
free from the results of karma/action whether good or bad
free from the anguish of the life-death cycles
free from the subconscious impressions of Samkaras (karmas from past, present and future)
You must be logged in to post a comment.