Category: Religion and Spirituality

People, often in the name of worship or Devotion, indulge in acts of bartering, like getting desires fulfilled in return for acts of worship or chanting of hymns. Sometimes it is like an act of bribery offering sweets and other offerings in exchange for meeting one’s needs. Some bribery acts are offering money, gold etc., to the deity expecting worldly favours from the deity in return.

As you find in the world and practiced by most people, Devotion essentially involves ritualistic practices for self-appeasement. Something like visiting temples, shrines or mosques, worshipping Gods and Goddesses, offering prayers/namaz, formal worship with lit wicks soaked in clarified butter, chanting hymns, donating money, and going on pilgrimage, with the aspiration to attain peace, health and wealth.

Shivji is, in reality, a master of spiritual practitioner and is ever engrossed in the meditational concentration of the Supreme Lord.

Shiva is mythologically represented in a variety of forms: in a pacific mood with his consort Parvati and son Skanda, as the cosmic dancer (Nataraja), as a naked ascetic, as a mendicant beggar, as a yogi, as a Dalit (formerly called untouchable) accompanied by a dog (Bhairava), and as the androgynous union of Shiva and his consort in one body, half-male and half-female (Ardhanarishvara).

Shiva is a derivative of Vedic Rudra. Rig Veda has three hymns and a complete chapter (16th) in Yajurveda called Rudraardhyaaya dedicated to Rudra and his beautiful form.

The meaning of the word Shiv is ‘the benevolent’, and in Sanskrit, it means ‘auspicious one’. In this sense, Shiv is actually a synonym word for the Supreme Lord as he is a gauge less ocean of benevolence.

As we find in the world and practised by most people, devotion essentially involves ritualistic practices for self-appeasement. Something like visiting temples, shrines or mosques, worshipping Gods and Goddesses, offering prayers/namaz, formal worship with lit wicks soaked in clarified butter, chanting hymns, donating money, and going on pilgrimage. The question is, why do we do these and what for? By and large, it is for gaining material benefits or getting good husbands or wives for our daughters or sons or health and wealth. We also do these acts with the aspiration to attain peace, health and wealth.