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1975-2006. All rights reserved. Noneof this material may be

reproduced, apart from purely personal use, without the express

permission of the Webmaster

Web pages designed by Mike Magee.

mike.magee@btinternet.com

Original artwork is Jan Bailey, 1996-2006. Translations are Mike

Magee 1996-2006.

The U.K. Main Site

at www.shivashakti.com is

Hosted by Register.com

The North American Mirror Site

at www.religiousworlds.com/mandalam/index.htmlis

Hosted by Gene R. Thursby

Shiva to Shankara: Decoding the Phallic

Symbol

By Dr Devdutt Pattanaik

ISBN 81-88569-04-6

Price: Rs 225, paperback, 167 pages

Web site Indus Source

I like this book a lot. It explores the emergence of Shiva through Veda,

Purana, Tantra and other places and illustrates some deep philosophy

with reference to stories and legends in texts, through folklore and with

some interesting diagrams.

While Shiva is the ice-cool ascetic extraordinaire, that aint necessarily so

always and at all times. A whole body of material illustrates the Shiva

phenomenon in the light of Shakti in her various guises, whether as Sati,

Gauri, Kali or Annapurna.

Daksha didnt like his yajna disturbed by Mahadeva with his retinue of

misshapen mates, the ganas, but in the end the old Vedic ways of worship

were supplanted in favour of ascetism or alchemy, or perhaps sometimes

a combination of both. While many Shiva devotees in India itself will seekto downplay the phallic significance of the lingam, Dr Pattanaik shows by

reference to many different short texts that Mahadevas real nature is

ambiguous in the extreme but fundamentally posited on the lingam as a

transcendent symbol, played out on the canvas of the reality of female

and male relationships.

The book contrasts the Vaishnav approach with the Shaivite. Dr Pattanaik

illustrates the differences between Vishnu and Shiva in this table below.

Shiva (Hara) Vishnu (Hari)

Abode

Snow-capped

mountain Ocean of milk

Clothes Animal skins Silk robes

Cosmetic Ash Sandal Paste

Jewellery Snakes and Beads Flowers and Gold

Association with the

creative aspect of

God, Brahma

Carries Brahmas

skull as his begging

bowl

The lotus that

rises from his

navel gives birth

to Brahma

Offering Raw milk Butter

At one time each cult sought to portray each devata as the supreme

symbol of the Brahman - according to early European accounts this led to

bitter squabbles and even violence between the adherents. The denial of

Shivas lingam being an emblem of the phallus even led to the column

being sheathed by male faces in some temples.

"Shivas association with low-caste people and his disregard for formal

ritual made him popular among the masses... Shivas entourage of ganas

as described as an unruly and rowdy bunch of wild ogres who obtain true

unconditional acceptance from Shiva. He drinks with them, smokes with

them and never gets annoyed with their rather antisocial behaviour." -

page 114.

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Theres a nice quote from the Navnath Charitra which has Shiva and

Parvati talking about the existence of the world in a cave, deep in the

Himalaya. He explains to her, tantra fashion, how secret the knowledge is.

But, unknown to both, a small fish inside a pond in the cave heard the

conversation and was able to make himself into a man with the

knowledge. "He travelled the earth, sharing with everyone what he had

heard Shiva tell Parvati. He was known as Matsyendranath. He had eight

disciples who went to the eight corners of the world, carrying the word of

Shiva."

Despite Shivas role as an ascetic, an emergency rose in the heavenly

spheres and he had to father children, ending up with an unusual family

consisting of his wife Gauri, the elephant-headed god Ganesh, and

Skanda. The child he fathered through his relationship with Vishnu in his

female guise as Mohini produced a child, Ayappa, still worshipped in

South India and somewhat reconciling the sectarian divisions between

Vaishnav and Shakta cults.

The book is illustrated throughout, and includes some unusual and rare

photographs, including one of the famous ice linga, strewn with bel leaves.

Dr Pattanaik uses the texts and the folklore to make some subtle and

deep insights into the legends and the stories. When Shiva as the ice cold

ascetic was woken to the reality of Shakti, he becomes Shankara and the

interplay of both represents harmony between the "inside" and the"outside", which are both and neither. This is a fine book, thoroughly

recommended. MM

Artwork is Jan Bailey, 1996-2006. Translations are Mike Magee 1996-2006. Questions or

comments to mike.magee@btinternet.com

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