Shiva

We all know Lord Shiva as the “destroyer”. However, very few of us know him as a spiritual figure. It is hard to believe that a God known as the destroyer can be associated with spirituality. Let us take a closer look at the text called Thevaram, which talks about this concept.

The Magnanimous statue of Shiva; Source: Wikimedia

The Thevaram's poetic-lyrical lyrics, which are part of the Thirumurai collection of Tamil hymns, satisfy Shiva, who is the source of all spiritual quests and the bestower of all boons in his Ashutosh swarupa, the God who melts at the cry of genuine supplication. The Thevaram, composed by three seminal Tamil Shaiva saint-poets, Jnana Sambandhar, Appar, Shiva's mature poet, and Sundarar, Shiva's amusing debating companion, calls out to the seeker to seek the Self through music, song, and dance while celebrating Shiva's name.

By imagining oneself as Shiva-Rudra himself, the Thevaram resurrects the spirit of the Yajurveda's Satarudriya hymns. Tamil Shaivite poets awaken spiritual consciousness through their devotional poems, honoring Shiva in all of his forms, not just as the austere and renounced Yogi, but as The Fountainhead of the creative impulse itself, just as the famous mantra 'Namah Shivaya' appears first in these Satarudriya hymns.

The dikshitar priest of Chidambaram portrays one of the thousand-pillared halls where the Periyapuranam, the Thirumurai's 12th and final volume on the lives of 63 Tamil Shaivite saints known as the Nayanars, is said to have been composed. The first three steps, from Sambandhar to Sundarar, are given precedence by Sekkizhar in establishing Shiva bhakti as the way to salvation.

The Nayanars inspired the individual to see all dimensions of existence as Shiva's Leela, the manifest universe as his play, and to celebrate it with song and dance, according to the Dikshitars. Shiva's bhakti was a call to gather together and engage in the celebration without distinction of class or creed, not just to arouse the nobler inclinations of the mind.

Which Shiva is the real one? Is it Shiva's ascetic yogic aspect, marked by dispassionate retreat and penance, or Shiva's artistically throbbing vitality, which calls for active interaction with the world, in the recognition that the outer embodied universe emerges from and reflects the disembodied one? Shiva's all-encompassing compassion and love for both devas and asuras, according to legend, depicts a deity in love with creation rather than a destroyer. Perhaps the negativity and baser aspects of our nature are what he strives to eradicate.

With its concept of three eternal entities: Pati, Pasu, and Pasam– God, soul, and bondage– the Thirumurai tradition lays out the philosophy of Shaiva Siddhanta. God is one, souls are numerous, and bondage is caused by three impurities: Anava, which causes soul negativity; Karma, the law of action-reaction; and Maya, which is the root of all materiality, according to the Shaiva Siddhanta.

The soul's knowledge of the relationship between the nirakar element of the self and the dynamic aspect of the Self's energy expression can only be enhanced by Shiva's grace.

That Thevaram honors both Shiva's outer form and the visible universe Shiva's grace will take the devotee on an inner journey from wanting to a dispassionate awareness of life.