Shiva or Mahadeva is the supreme god in Shaivism tradition in Hinduism and one of the chief deities as a member of the Trimurti. Shiva is causeless auspiciousness. An embodiment of ultimate space of enlightenment. He assumed human form to guide humans in the past and thus is known as Adhiguru (first guru).
His space of enlightenment is what all spiritual seekers aspire for. All enlightened masters live in this space of Shiva. Shiva is known as the destroyer god because he removes all evil from the world. His wife is the goddess Parvati or Devi Durga.
According to Hindu legend, he has a blue neck because he swallowed a poison in order to save the universe. He has three eyes, the third eye is on his forehead. Shiva is one-third of the Hindu trimurti including Brahma and Vishnu. Lord Shiva lives in the Mount Kailash with his two sons Kartikeya and Ganesha who is known as the Remover of Obstacles. There is a statue of Shiva in Bangalore which is a great tourist attraction.
Main article: Shiva Sahasranama
An ancient sculpture of Shiva at the Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra
In the earliest of the vedic texts, the word "Shiva" means Auspicious, Sacred. It does not relate to any deity, but refers to the quality of being sacred and auspicious.
In later vedic texts, Shiva becomes a deity. Shiva is also called as "Brahman", the supreme universal consciousness. The word "shivo'ham" translates as "I am Shiva", conveying that one's consciousness is where the lord resides, uniting it with the supreme "transcendence". In Tamil, he was called by different names other than Sivan. Nataraja (Dancing form of Shiva), Rudra (Enraged form of Shiva), and Dhakshinamoorthy (Yoga form of Shiva). Nataraja is the only form of Shiva worshipped in a human figure format. Elsewhere he is worshipped in Lingam figure. Pancha Bootha temples are located in south India. Pancha Bhoota Stalam refers to five temples dedicated to Shiva. Tamil literature is enriched by Shiva devotees called 63 Nayanmars (Nayanars).
A sculpture of Shiva with Moustache at Archaeological Museum, Goa
The Sanskrit word ""śiva"" (Devanagari: शिव, also transliterated as "shiva") means, states Monier Monier-Williams, "auspicious, propitious, gracious, benign, kind, benevolent, friendly". The roots of "śiva" in folk etymology are "śī" which means "in whom all things lie, pervasiveness" and "va" which means "embodiment of grace".
The word Shiva is used as an adjective in the Rig Veda (approximately 1700–1100 BC), as an epithet for several Rigvedic deities, including Rudra. The term Shiva also connotes "liberation, final emancipation" and "the auspicious one", this adjective sense of usage is addressed to many deities in Vedic layers of literature. The term evolved from the Vedic "Rudra-Shiva" to the noun "Shiva" in the Epics and the Puranas, as an auspicious deity who is the "creator, reproducer and dissolver".
Sharva, sharabha presents another etymology with the Sanskrit root ""śarv"-", which means "to injure" or "to kill", interprets the name to connote "one who can kill the forces of darkness".
The Sanskrit word 'śaiva' means "relating to the god Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect. It is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism.
The "Vishnu sahasranama" interprets "Shiva" to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", and "the One who is not affected by three Guṇas of Prakṛti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)".
Shiva is known by many names such as Viswanatha (lord of the universe), Mahadeva, Mahandeo, Mahasu, Mahesha, Maheshvara, Shankara, Shambhu, Rudra, Hara, Trilochana, Devendra (chief of the gods), Neelakanta, Subhankara, Trilokinatha (lord of the three realms), and Ghrneshwar (lord of compassion). The highest reverence for Shiva in Shaivism is reflected in his epithets 'Mahādeva' ("Great god"; 'mahā' "Great" and "deva" "god"), 'Maheśvara' ("Great Lord"; 'mahā' "great" and 'īśvara' "lord"), and 'Parameśvara' ("Supreme Lord").
Sahasranama are medieval Indian texts that list a thousand names derived from aspects and epithets of a deity. There are at least eight different versions of the "Shiva Sahasranama", devotional hymns ("stotras") listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 ("Anuśāsanaparvan") of the "Mahabharata" provides one such list. Shiva also has "Dasha-Sahasranamas" (10,000 names) that are found in the "Mahanyasa". The "Shri Rudram Chamakam", also known as the "Śatarudriya", is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.
See also: History of Shaivism
The Shiva-related tradition is a major part of Hinduism, found all over the Indian subcontinent, such as India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia, such as Bali, Indonesia. Scholars have interpreted early prehistoric paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters, carbon dated to be from pre-10,000 BCE period, as Shiva dancing, Shiva's trident, and his mount Nandi. Rock paintings from Bhimbetka, depicting a figure with a trishul, have been described as Nataraja by Erwin Neumayer, who dates them to the mesolithic.
Main article: Pashupati seal
Seal discovered during excavation of the Indus Valley archaeological site in the Indus Valley has drawn attention as a possible representation of a "yogi" or "proto-Shiva" figure.
Of several Indus valley seals that show animals, one seal that has attracted attention shows a large central figure, either horned or wearing a horned headdress and possibly ithyphallic, seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position, surrounded by animals. This figure was named by early excavators of Mohenjo-daro as "Pashupati" (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit 'paśupati'), an epithet of the later Hindu deities Shiva and Rudra.
Sir John Marshall and others suggested that this figure is a prototype of Shiva, with three faces, seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined. Semi-circular shapes on the head were interpreted as two horns. Scholars such as Gavin Flood, John Keay and Doris Meth Srinivasan have expressed doubts about this suggestion.
Gavin Flood states that it is not clear from the seal that the figure has three faces, is seated in a yoga posture, or even that the shape is intended to represent a human figure. He characterizes these views as "speculative", but adds that it is nevertheless possible that there are echoes of Shaiva iconographic themes, such as half-moon shapes resembling the horns of a bull. John Keay writes that "he may indeed be an early manifestation of Lord Shiva as Pashu-pati", but a couple of his specialties of this figure does not match with Rudra. Writing in 1997, Srinivasan interprets what John Marshall interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man.
The interpretation of the seal continues to be disputed. McEvilley, for example, states that it is not possible to "account for this posture outside the yogic account". Asko Parpola states that other archaeological finds such as the early Elamite seals dated to 3000-2750 BCE show similar figures and these have been interpreted as "seated bull" and not a yogi, and the bovine interpretation is likely more accurate. Gregory L. Possehl in 2002, associated it with the water buffalo, and concluded that while it would be appropriate to recognize the figure as a deity, and its posture as one of ritual discipline, regarding it as a proto-Shiva would "go too far".