ॐ नमः शिवाय
When we talk about Yoga, Lord Shiva is considered the Adi
Yogi. He is referred to as the Adi Guru because it is from him that Yoga got
down to us. He is the foremost among the yogis and the first teacher of the
science of Yoga. Lord is both, an ideal renouncer and also an ideal
householder. He is depicted as sitting in lotus pose on mount Kailas, in deep Samadhi.
The crescent moon on his head symbolizes mystical vision and knowledge while the
serpent coiled around his neck symbolizes the mysterious kundalini energy
present in all of us. River Ganges flows down from the crown of his head
symbolizing perpetual purification that he bestows upon his devotees. He is the
three-eyed one or Trilochana, the third eye or the eye of wisdom in the centre
of the forehead. He is described as the “blue-throated” or Neelakanta as he
drank the poison which came out during ocean churning to save this world. His
trident represents the three gunas, namely tamas, rajas, and sattva.
Lord Shiva is aptly called as Yogeshwara, the lord of
Yoga; Maheshwara, the Great God and Bhuteshwara, the lord of the five elements
from which the universe is created.
It is said that Shiva first imparted his knowledge of
Yoga to Parvati or Shakti, his consort. Also, for the good of mankind, he
taught the science of Yoga to the ancient rishis who passed on this knowledge
to the rest of humanity. This passing of knowledge is supposed to have taken
place at the base of Kailash itself on the banks of Manasarovar Lake. All yogic
and tantric systems consider him as the first Guru. These teachings by Lord
Shiva have come down to us in the form of “Agama Sastras”. From these
teachings, came various traditions which still exist. One of them is the
Nava-Nath Tradition founded by Matsyendranath, Gorakshnath and the seven other
Gurus of the Nath Tradition, which is still prevalent mostly in North India. In the South, it was
the Siddha Agastya Muni, who disseminated this knowledge and created a lineage
of Siddhas who specialized in Yoga, Tantra, Medicine, Astrology and other
sciences.
In his teachings, Lord Shiva does not give any
philosophical explanations, but instead gives very direct instructions on the
methods to liberation. Shiva Sutras and Vigyana Bhairava Tantra are popular
texts that contain specific techniques to liberate the embodied soul and
experience his true blissful nature. These techniques got refined over the
centuries through various masters, who perfected this art and then taught it
their disciples. Thus a Guru-disciple tradition was developed and the wisdom of
yoga was passed on through the ages.
Lord Shiva is worshipped both in his form or formless
aspect. The Shiva described with form is worshiped as a powerful deity and a
whole system of rituals have developed around it. He is one of the gods of the
Trinity. Shiva as a God represents the destructive aspect of the Supreme
reality, Brahman.
On the other hand, Shiva as formless is worshipped as the
Siva Linga and is considered the ultimate reality itself. Even though the
formless cannot be given a form, the oval shaped Shiva Linga is said to the
first form taken during creation. Shiva is considered the supreme consciousness
in which the play of creation happens in the form of Shakti. Shiva and Shakti
are inseparable, just as the creation cannot be separated from the creator. The
whole of creation is described as Shiva Tandava or the dance of Shiva.
Our Prostrations to the formless One, who has taken a
form out of Compassion!
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