SHIVA
Home
Philosophy & Religion
Ancient Religions & Mythology
Shiva
Hindu deity
BY Wendy Doniger View Edit History
2-Min Summary
TOP QUESTIONS
Who is Shiva?
What does Shiva look like?
What forms does Shiva take?
FULL ARTICLE
Shiva, (Sanskrit: “Auspicious One”) also spelled Śiwa or Śiva, one of the main deities of Hinduism, whom Shaivites worship as the supreme god. Among his common epithets are Shambhu (“Benign”), Shankara (“Beneficent”), Mahesha (“Great Lord”), and Mahadeva (“Great God”).
Shiva and his family at the burning ground
Shiva And His Family At The Burning Ground
See all media
Key People: Lalla Ded
Shiva is 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). He is both the great ascetic and the master of fertility, and he is the master of both poison and medicine, through his ambivalent power over snakes. As Lord of Cattle (Pashupata), he is the benevolent herdsman—or, at times, the merciless slaughterer of the “beasts” that are the human souls in his care. Although some of the combinations of roles may be explained by Shiva’s identification with earlier mythological figures, they arise primarily from a tendency in Hinduism to see complementary qualities in a single ambiguous figure.
