Rudra-Shiva concept (Study)

by Maumita Bhattacharjee | 2018 | 54,352 words

This page relates ‘Physical appearance of Shiva’ of the study on the Rudra-Shiva concept in the Vedic and Puranic literature, starting with the concept of God as contemplated by the Rishis (Vedic sages). These pages further deal with the aspects, legends, iconography and eulology of Rudra-Shiva as found in the Samhitas, Brahamanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads Sutras and Puranas. The final chapters deal with descriptions of his greatness, various incarnations and epithets.

Go directly to: Footnotes.

Lord Śiva’s physical appearance is very delightfully depicted in the Purāṇic literature. In the Śiva Purāṇa, he is depicted as a great yogi and always sits in a yogic posture closing his eyes[1] and he is surrounded by his gaṇas.[2] His right leg is kept over the knee of the left and his hands are placed over the legs.[3] In another reference, it is stated that lord Śiva sits placing his left foot on the right lap and his left hand is placed on his left knee. A rosary of beads is wrapped around his right wrist.[4] In another context, it is stated that Śiva holds tiger’s skin as his upper cloth.[5] In another reference, it is mentioned that he is the wearer of hide of an elephant as his upper garment. He is arrayed in a serpent as his sacred thread.[6] He is the one whose heads, feet, eyes, mouths, hands and ears are everywhere. He is present everywhere of the world.[7]

The colour of his matted hair is red. It is called as kaparda also. Hence, he is known as Kapardī.[8] Śiva holds a skull in his hand as well as serpents around his limbs.[9] He is clad in skin.[10] His neck is blue in colour.[11] Śiva swallowed the poison that emerged at the churning of the milk ocean. As a result of this he became blue-throated and was called Nīlakaṇṭha.[12] The crescent moon adorns his forehead[13] and three lines of ashes mark his forehead.[14] He has five faces. His four faces are in the four quarters and the fifth face is in the middle.[15] His upward face is white in colour, eastern face is saffron, northern face is deep red, southern is blue and his western face is as white as cow’s milk.[16] Because of his five-faces, Śiva is regarded as Pañcānan [Pañcānana?].[17] The brightness of his face is like the brilliance of ten million moons.[18] He is depicted as possessing ten hands and holds a skull in one of them.[19] He has hundred tongues,[20] three eyes.[21] He has an eye in the middle of his forehead. It is said that when he becomes angry, fire is emitted from this middle eye.[22] This third eye becomes the beautiful ornament on his forehead.[23] This eye usually remains closed. But when it is opened its glance causes devastation.[24] The Mahābhārata, puts forward beautifully the reason behind the origin of the third eye. According to the story, one day Pārvatī, the wife of Śiva playfully covered the eyes of Śiva with her hands. As soon as his eyes were covered thus, the entire world falls in darkness. All beings became depress and scared. Suddenly a massive flame of fire came out from his forehead. A third eye had appeared there and gave brightness to the world.[25] In another reference, it is mentioned that he has eyes, faces and feet all around.[26] He wears black snakes.[27] In another context, it is mentioned that he wears a garland of bones and a sacred thread of a serpent. The light from the crescent moon on his head illuminates his face.[28] He wears snakes as his ornaments and his body is smeared with ashes.[29]

In another reference, he is said to be smeared with ashes of the cremation ground.[30] He holds Vāsuki nāga on his neck.[31] Lord Śiva has given shelter to Gaṅgā in his matted hair.[32] He is shining on account of the white foams of the Gaṅgā.[33] Śiva holds the skull in his hands and resides in the cremation ground with his goblins.[34] He is dazzling with the garland of human skulls.[35] Rudrākṣa is a favourite bead of lord Śiva. The rudrākṣa is said to be originated from the drops of tears falling from the half-closed eyes of Śiva.[36] Śiva is said to have dark-blue tuft.[37]

Śiva is described as fair-complexioned with long arms and wide chest.[38] The white colour points out the justice which is observed in the annihilation process.[39] It is said that Śiva takes his seat under a banyan tree along with Kālī and his son.[40] He resides in Kailāsa mountain.[41] His vehicle is a bull named Nandī.[42] Nandī is the son of Śilāda.[43]

In the Purāṇas, it is depicted that the seven oceans are his (Śiva’s) cloths, the quarters are his long arms, the firmament is head, the sky is navel, the wind is nose, the fire, the sun, the moon are his three eyes, the clouds are his hair, the planet and stars are his ornaments.[44]

A reference has been found where lord Śiva is mentioned as four-faced deity. He has four faces looking into the four directions. He manifests Indrahood with the help of his eastern face. He destroys the world by means of his southern face. With the help of his western face, he reveals his Varuṇa-hood and his moon-hood is established by means of his northern face.[45] Viśvakarman made a divine chariot for Rudra.[46] The name of his chariot is mentioned as Puṣpaka.[47]

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Śiva-purāṇa, 2.3.12.13-14

[2]:

Ibid., 3.22.50-51

[3]:

savyottaretarapadantadarhitakarāṃbujam || Ibid., 1.6.25

[4]:

kṛtvarau dakṣiṇe savyaṃ pādapadmaṃ ca jānuni | bāhuṃ prakoṣṭhe’kṣamālāmāsīnaṃ tarkamudrayā || Bhāgavata-purāṇa, 4.6.38

[5]:

vyāghracarmottariyañca pinākavarapāṇinam | Śiva-purāṇa, 2.3.43.60

[6]:

ghanavāhanakṛṣṇāya gajacarmanivāsine | kṛṣṇājinottarīyāya vyālayajñopavītine || Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa, 1.27.99

[7]:

sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṃ tvāṃ sarvatokṣiśiromukham | sarvataḥ śrutimalloke sarvamāvṛtya tiṣṭhasi || Liṅga-purāṇa, 1.71.107

[8]:

cf., Mani, Vettam, Purāṇic Encyclopaedia, p.725

[9]:

vṛṣadhvajo mahādevo bhasmadigdho jaṭādharaḥ | vyāghracarmāmbaradharaḥ saṃvīto gajakṛttinā || kapāladhārī sarpaughaissarvagātreṣu veṣṭitaḥ | viṣadigdho’bhakṣyabhakṣo virūpākṣo vibhīṣaṇaḥ || Śiva-purāṇa, 2.3.27.12-13

[10]:

śipiviṣṭāya bhīmāya bhīmākṣāya namonamaḥ || Ibid., 2.3.24.2

[11]:

śivāya nīlakaṇṭhāya citābhasmāṅgadhāriṇe || Ibid., 2.4.12.40

[12]:

samudro mathitaścaiva ratnānāṃ ca vibhāgaśaḥ || kṛte devaistadā sambho gṛhītaṃ garalaṃ tvayā | rakṣitāḥ sma tadā nātha nīlakaṇṭha iti śrutaḥ || Ibid., 3.10.34-35

[13]:

śīrṣe mandākinīdhārī bhālacandrastrilocanaḥ || Ibid., 2.1.6.25

[14]:

sarvāṅgasundaro bhasmatripuṇḍrāṅkitamastakaḥ || Ibid., 2.1.9.3

[15]:

pañcakṛtyamidaṃ voḍhuṃ mamāsti mukhapañcakam || caturdikṣucaturvaktraṃ tanmadhye pañcamammukham || Ibid., 1.10.9

[16]:

urdhvaṃ vaktraṃ sitaṃ dhyāyetpūrvaṃ kuṃkumasannibham || nīlābhaṃ dakṣiṇaṃ vaktramatiraktaṃ tathottaram | gokṣīradhavalaṃ divyaṃ paścimaṃ parameṣṭhinaḥ || Liṅga-purāṇa, 2.23.8-9

[17]:

(a) pañcānanaṃ pravalapañcavinodaśilaṃ saṃbhāvaye manisiśaṅkaramambikeśam|| Śiva-purāṇa, 1.1.1 (b) Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa, 2.32.20

[18]:

mahālāvaṇyadhāmā ca koṭicandrasamānanaḥ || Śiva-purāṇa, 2.2.17.6

[19]:

kapardinaṃ candramauliṃ daśahastaṃ kapālinam | Ibid., 2.3.43.60

[20]:

vedamantrapradhānāya śatajihvāya te namaḥ || Ibid., 2.4.12.36

[21]:

stutyāya bhūribhāsāya trinetrāya namonamaḥ || Ibid., 2.3.24.1

[22]:

samuddhara ca śāntaṃ tvaṃ krodhaṃ nayanajaṃ kuru | tuṣṭo bhava mahādevaṃ pāhīndraṃ śaraṇāgatam || agnireṣa śamaṃ yātuṃ bhālanetrasamudbhavaḥ || Ibid., 2.5.13.40-41

[23]:

candraśca mukuṭasthāne sānnidhyamakarottadā | locanaṃ sundaraṃ hyāsīttṛtiyantilakaṃ śubham || Ibid., 2.3.39.38

[24]:

cf., Shastri, J.L., Śiva Purāṇa (ed.), Vol.2, p.862

[25]:

tataḥ smayantī pāṇibhyāṃ namārthaṃ cāruhāsinī | haranetre śubhe devī sahasā sā samāvṛṇot || saṃvṛtābhyāṃ tu netrābhyāṃ tamobhūtacetanaṃ...janasya vimanāḥ sarvo’bhavat trāsasamanvitaḥ | tato vitimiro lokaḥ kṣaṇena samapadyata | jvālā ca mahatī dīptā lalāṭāttasya niḥsṛtā || tṛtīyaṃ cāsya saṃbhūtaṃ netramādityasannibham | yugāntasadṛśaṃ dīptaṃ yenāsau mathito giriḥ || Mahābhārata, 13.140.26-30

[26]:

viśvataścakṣurevāyamutāyaṃ viśvatomukhaḥ | tathaiva viśvatobāhurviśvataḥ pādasaṃyutaḥ|| Śiva-purāṇa, 7.1.6.15

[27]:

kālāntakāya kālāya kālabhogidharāya ca | Ibid., 2.5.13.26

[28]:

Ibid., 2.3.30.32-34

[29]:

śmaśānavāsine vyālagrāhirūpāya yogine... vyālabhūṣaṇadhāriṇe || Ibid., 2.3.31.44-45

[30]:

svayaṃ nīlaśikhaṇḍāya śrīkaṇṭhāya namo namaḥ | nīlakaṇṭhāya devāya citābhasmāṅgarāgiṇe || Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa, 1.27.78

[31]:

Śiva-purāṇa, 2.4.5.35

[32]:

padmāsanasthaṃ śivadaṅgaṅgācandrakalānvitam || Ibid., 1.17.38

[33]:

namastripatha gāphenabhāsigārdhandumauline | mahābhogīndrahārāya śivāya paramātmane || Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa, 2.25.11

[34]:

avakīrya jaṭābhūtaiśmaśāne sa kapāladhṛk || Śiva-purāṇa, 2.2.29.52

[35]:

namaste śivamīśānaṃ vibhuṃ vyāpakamavyayam | bhujaṅgabhūṣaṇaṃ cograṃ nṛkapālasragujjvalam || Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa, 2.32.25

[36]:

līlayāparameśāni cakṣurunmīlitaṃmayā | puṭābhyāṃcārucakṣurbhyāṃpatitājalabindavaḥ || Śiva-purāṇa, 1.25.6

[37]:

svayaṃ nīlaśikhaṇḍāya śrīkaṇṭhāya namo namaḥ | nīlakaṇṭhāya devāya citābhasmāṅgarāgiṇe || Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa, 1.27.78

[38]:

mahābāhuṃ mahoraskaṃ gauraṃ nayanabhīṣaṇam || Śiva-purāṇa, 2.5.13.8

[39]:

cf., Mani, Vettam, The Purāṇic Encyclopaedia, p.275

[40]:

vaṭamūle tadā śambhustasthau kālyā sutena ca || Śiva-purāṇa, 2.5.36.18

[41]:

kailāsavāsine śambho sarvalokāṭanāya ca | namaste parameśāya līlākārāya śūline || Ibid., 2.3.11.14

[42]:

cf., Shastri, J.L., Śiva Purāṇa (ed.), Vol.1, p.343

[43]:

śilāda tanayo nandī tejasvī śivavallabhaḥ || Śiva-purāṇa, 2.2.26.29

[44]:

vāsāṃsi sāgarāssapta diśaścaiva mahābhujāḥ | dyaurmūrdhā te vibhornābhiḥ khaṃ vāyurnāsikā tataḥ || cakṣūṃṣyagnī ravissomaḥ keśā meghāstava prabho | nakṣatratā rakādyāścagrahāścaiva vibhūṣaṇam || Ibid., 2.3.49.26-27

[45]:

pūveṇa vadanena tvamindratvañca prakāśase | dakṣiṇena ca vaktreṇa lokān saṃkṣīyase prabho || paścimena tu vaktreṇa varuṇatvaṃ karoṣi vai | uttareṇa tu vaktreṇa saumyatvañca vyavasthitam || Vāyu-purāṇa, 1.55.38-39

[46]:

atha rudrasya devasya nirmito viśvakarmaṇā | sarvalokamayo divyo ratho yatnena sādaram || Liṅga-purāṇa, 1.72.1

[47]:

...daityastrinetraḥ puṣpakaṃ yathā | yena yena mayo yāti prakurvāṇaḥ puraṃ purāt || Matsya-purāṇa, 130.13

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