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But Shiva burns away ignorance, and he is the giver of perfect
knowledge. Shaivism gives greater importance to "raja" yoga
(meditation and hatha yoga), and "gyana" (knowledge) yoga than it does
"bhakti" (devotion) yoga. And now Shiva shall burn away the ignorance
of those attempting to interpret these stories within the context of
supernatural beings from outer space or the typical good and evil
accounting system.
I will attempt to explain in greater detail the meaning of Shaivite
legends by correlating it with the progression of Shaivite philosophy
during the course of which Rudra was elevated to the Mahadeva, the
Brahman, namely Shiva. For the sake of brevity, I shall only provide
a brief summary, but am willing to debate those who desire a detailed
discussion.
1. Churning of the Ocean for the nectar of immortality
Sage Silada founded the deity Nandi in an attempt to develop a
deity that would be free from death. The Devas needed this concept
to avoid death and in this effort were willing to even invite the
competing deities, the Asuras, for a discussion, for they knew that
they couldn't obtain the nectar of immortality by themselves. The
deity of Nandi was probably what enabled Shiva to hold the great
poison in his throat without dying.
2. Manifestation of the Fiery Lingam
Shaivites demonstrate the concept of consciousness (the fiery
lingam) to Vishnu and Brahma who are quite fascinated by it but
fail to explain it in terms of their own philosophy.
At the time Vishnu and Brahma were battling each other for
supremacy.
3. The birth of Sati
Materialists claim that consciousness is the byproduct of Prakrti.
4. The Marriage of Shiva and Sati
Materialists want to unite with the theory of consciousness. Sati
goes to Shiva and is convinced by Shiva that Prakriti is a
manifestation of consciousness. She accepts that and the two are
married. Yogic Shaivites are fascinated for the first time by
Prakrti and their fascination is expressed as an amorous relationship
between a man(Shiva) and a woman (Sati).
5. The Death of Sati
During Daksha's "yagna" (large gatherings where debaters met and
winners acquired considerable wealth), Daksha refuses to accept the
supremacy of consciousness over the material in an effort to claim
a higher status for himself, the father of Sati. The leading
proponent of Sati attempts to prove it by performing yoga. Sati
enters a trance and casts off her body in an effort to prove that
she can consciously bring an end to the material body. But while
in trance Sati falls into the fire. The Shaivites' claim is dismissed by
Bhrgu who attributes the death of Sati to "demons" from the fire.
There is a great uproar among the Shaivites who are routed and return to
Shiva who sends Virabhadra and Kali to assist them. Virabhadra and
Kali arrive to avenge Sati's death by doing damage
to several deities including Vishnu but are not able to revive Sati
for obvious reasons.
6. The Birth of Parvati
Parvati represents the Samkhya doctrine who are initially
materialists. She is considered a reincarnation of Sati, now a
daughter of Himavat. Parvati is fascinated by Shiva from an early
age and is sent by her father to Shiva to help him in his penance.
The Samkhya devotees want to unite with the theory of
consciousness. Shiva is almost convinced by the Kamadeva deity to
marry Samkhya based on the male/female being complete principle.
Shiva thinks for a while and ends up burning the deity of Kamadeva
perhaps by realizing that not all creatures have male and female
counterparts (asexual reproduction).
7. The Penance of Parvati
The Samkhya advocates have to justify their need to the Vedanta
theorists of consciousness. In a debate Parvati attempts to convince
Shiva that he is within the realm of Prakrti, Shiva claims to be
beyond it. Parvati finally manages to convince Shiva that only
Prakrti can lead to higher consciousness (i.e. even yogis need to pay
homage to their material cycles in order to practice yoga long enough
to attain to higher consciousness). Shiva is convinced and agrees
to marry Parvati.
8. The marriage of Shiva and Parvati
The marriage is not without incident. A Vaishnav Brahmin objects
to the marriage and tells Parvati's mother that Shiva is not the
right husband for Parvati. The seven celestial sages convince
Parvati's mother that the marriage is most auspicious. Brahma is also
fascinated by Prakrti and naturally so as the followers of Brahma had
long attempted to explain and categorize creation and its
evolution. Thus Brahma is caught by Shiva looking under Parvati's
veil and dropping a few drops of semen. The Vedantic Shaivites are
furious at Brahma's desire to unite with Samkhya. Vishnu convinces
Shiva to spare Brahma.
This is most definitely a momentous occasion celebrated throughout
Bharat Varsha. The materialists have justified themselves to the
Vedantins. The Vedantins have accepted the materialists as both
necessary and useful if still somewhat illusory. Reminds me of the
Magghi song "Shiva ji bihane chale palki sajayee ke, vibhuti lagayee ke
la.."
9. The Birth of Ganesha
The relationship between Shiva and Parvati was still quite unequal.
Parvati felt that most of Shiva's "ganas" sang his glories and
decided to create her own "gana." Ganesha was created by Parvati
from her own body. And Ganesha would raise the issue of buddhi. For not
only is Prakrti necessary to maintain material cycles, it is the
basic foundation of buddhi (knowledge). For most of what man
perceives, he perceives in nature and his reasoning is verily based
on entities which he identifies in Prakrti. Ganesha seems to argue
for completely excluding consciousness from the functioning of buddhi
(refuses to allow Shiva to meet Parvati). He fights a tremendous
battle which challenges even Shiva. Shiva wins in the end,
beheading the deity of Ganesha only to restore it upon later
thought as the deity of buddhi or knowledge by attaching the head
of an elephant (memory ?) to Ganesha's body.
10. The Conclusion
The Samkhya doctrine proposes that Prakrti excites Purusha
(individual consciousness). Prakrti dances for Purusha because she
wants to be seen by Purusha. Purusha is excited by Prakrti and
wants to understand Prakrti. When Purusha (individual
consciousness) understands the essence of Prakrti it is no longer
fascinated with Prakrti as it becomes satisfied. Prakrti likewise
realizes that it has been seen by Purusha and thus no longer dances for him.
And when this happens, the Purusha (individual consciousness) is
united with supreme consciousness whose existence can only be
proven by yogis. Thus Prakrti (nature) is what excites Purusha
sending the soul on its journey towards unity with the supreme
consciousness.
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