Among the ardent devotees of Lord Shiva is sage Bhringi, who is known to worship only Lord Shiva and not Godess Shakti, who being the power, as the name itself suggests, who had pulled out the energy from sage Bhringi 's body. This resulted in his not being able to stand us straight and he therefore requested Lord Shiva for help , on which Lord Shiva provided him with a stick , using support of which to stand still in one place , the sage continued his worship of the Lord !
Now, on the other hand, Goddess Shakti had the desire of becoming an inseparable part of Lord Shiva's form., and for this she observed the Kedhara Maha Vrata austerity, which is now known as Deepawali , and being pleased with this austerity of hers, Lord Shiva granted her the boon of being an integral part of His form. Henceforth , the Supreme Power of the universe appears as male on the right hand side and female on the left side , and is termed as Ardhanarlshivara.
Now, on the other hand, Goddess Shakti had the desire of becoming an inseparable part of Lord Shiva's form., and for this she observed the Kedhara Maha Vrata austerity, which is now known as Deepawali , and being pleased with this austerity of hers, Lord Shiva granted her the boon of being an integral part of His form. Henceforth , the Supreme Power of the universe appears as male on the right hand side and female on the left side , and is termed as Ardhanarlshivara.
Significance of this form
Lord Shiva's this form is one of the important forms which is worshipped by the Hindus in India , and it is a much acknowledged form in the Hindu scriptures , as per which God is not only male, He is male - female and neutral too ! This logic states that since God is conceptually beyond sex, and although gets referred as He/She most of the time , it would be more correct to refer to God as It since this defines God's intrinsic condition, as do many hindu scriptures.
Purely looked at, this form of God is also associated with the Grace of God. Shiva and Shakti are one and the same Supreme Power. The formless God is called parashiva. On Its own free-will for the benefit of pashus (souls), which are drowned in Pasha (bondage), It thinks to create the worlds. Its dynamism of creation thus springs out of It, which is called Shakti. Now Shiva and Its power Shakti create everything. This is the form of their togetherness that springs out of Lord Shiva. Because of this, the form is associated with the grace of God. Shiva and Shakti though the same may also act independently.
They are associated like the person and the action of the person. They are one and the same like the ice and the water - one becomes the other. For this reason scriptures describe that Shakti to Shiva is a wife (they are together), mother (shakti becomes Shiva - so Shiva comes out of Shakti) and daughter (Shiva become shakti). Poet Kalidasa hails them as inseparable like the word and its meaning, the letter and it's pronunciation !!
Lord Shiva's this form is one of the important forms which is worshipped by the Hindus in India , and it is a much acknowledged form in the Hindu scriptures , as per which God is not only male, He is male - female and neutral too ! This logic states that since God is conceptually beyond sex, and although gets referred as He/She most of the time , it would be more correct to refer to God as It since this defines God's intrinsic condition, as do many hindu scriptures.
Purely looked at, this form of God is also associated with the Grace of God. Shiva and Shakti are one and the same Supreme Power. The formless God is called parashiva. On Its own free-will for the benefit of pashus (souls), which are drowned in Pasha (bondage), It thinks to create the worlds. Its dynamism of creation thus springs out of It, which is called Shakti. Now Shiva and Its power Shakti create everything. This is the form of their togetherness that springs out of Lord Shiva. Because of this, the form is associated with the grace of God. Shiva and Shakti though the same may also act independently.
They are associated like the person and the action of the person. They are one and the same like the ice and the water - one becomes the other. For this reason scriptures describe that Shakti to Shiva is a wife (they are together), mother (shakti becomes Shiva - so Shiva comes out of Shakti) and daughter (Shiva become shakti). Poet Kalidasa hails them as inseparable like the word and its meaning, the letter and it's pronunciation !!
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