Love of God in Saivism

Love is an experience of every throbbing heart. Consciously or unconsciously every being is in love with life, light and joy. One is, therefore, essentially in love with the Self, for it is the very name of Existence-knowledge-Bliss, or in other Words light, life and joy. And they are verily the Love. As such there is love and love alone ever fragrant, vibrant, bright and sweet embracing all in the blissful warmth of oneness. And this is Shivahood or Shiva the embodiment of love. As Saint Thirumular says, only the ignorant distinguish between God Shiva and love. And it is wisdom to identify the two.

All in the universe are the manifestations of love (or Shiva) in varying degrees. But this Shivahood remains hidden in many for want of the Jiva’s wisdom. The all-embracing, effulgent love appears impure and ignoble because of the false identification of the Self with the non-self due to ignorance, although love in itself is ever pure, irrespective of its object. Despite its purity fire receives blows on account of its association with iron. When it is love for the gratification of senses, it is dubbed ignoble and called lust. This ego-centric lust shoots its branches into the world of materialism as lust for wealth, woman, power, position, fame and so on, causing competition, separatism and segregation at every stage and situation in life. Obstructed desire is anger. And lust is but love adulterated and polluted with desire born of ignorance. Thus fear, anger, hatred, envy and enmity are the manifestations of this pollution.

To realise the Self is to be free from ego. To attain Shiva-hood is to free the Jiva from ignorance. To enjoy love is to be free from the pollution. Ways suggested to erase the ego, dispell the ignorance, and purge the pollution are many. Broadly, they are positive and negative. Suppression of the senses, control of the mind, mortification of the body are the negative path of stress and strain. Austerity and sacrifice in this are hard to practise. The positive path is that of love. It is by the sweet path of love, that we become pure and pious. It is the love of the higher that prompts us to be austere and sacrifice the lower. Love of the Lord, in proportion to its intensity, modifies the course and impetuosity of the senses and desires; and at one stage regains its original splendour and glory. It shines in its purity and bliss. As such, love is sweet and seeks no return. It is self-dedication with no thought of profit. It is all-embracing and knows no rivalry. It is all compassion and sparkles in sacrifice and blossoms in service.

Love and Shiva ate alien to none. Man loves love for he is intrinsically love. And he is drawn instinctively to the pure love, wherever it is. It is the pure love which is auspicious. Every feeling heart invariably seeks the good and the auspicious. Man is all admiration to them and is in love with them; and displays his love and admiration in worship, song and service. ‘Shiva’ is auspicious. He is Subhamkara, the doer of the good; Shivamkara the doer of the auspicious and hence He is Samkara. And whoever longs for the auspicious is a devotee of Lord Samkara.

This Shiva the auspicious is the premapayonidhi, Premasagara, the ocean of love, source of love, and the very love, Premamurti or Premaswaroopa, for He is ever free from the shackles of sensuality. It is pure love, when it is not tarnished by the erosion of sense pleasure. In Shiva’s purity of love lust is burnt. Manmadha in mythology is reduced to ashes by the divinity in Shiva. “Vulgar sense pleasure can no more lurk in His heart than a tiny dew drop settle in the blazing sun.” Carnality has to be subdued for the manifestation of divinity; for the attainment of Shivahood; for the realisation of the Self. And the path is but the love of Shiva in which senses ate not suppressed but sublimated.

It is love, when distinctions disappear in integrity, fear is dispelled in the feeling of oneness, and enmity in amity. In the radiance of the all-embracing Shiva’s love, there is no place for fear and oppression. He is the loving Lord of the Universe, the compassionate Father of the Cosmos, the Triloka Kutumbin. Samkara Mahadeva, the auspicious great God is majestically seated in Kailasa, the cosmic sanctuary. Peace, bliss and love are embodied in Him, emanating wisdom and illumination Uma or the Ma of the universe is all tenderness by his side. Displaying the glory of the Holy Parents of love and compassion are the two sons nearby Ganesha and Karthikeya, the very embodiments of wisdom and valour. The family is free from all want in the overflowing affluence of love. So inviting and bracing is the Lord’s love that all fear, hatred, envy and enmity in the vicinity lose their identity and merge in the all-absorbing love. Illustrating this all-conquering efficacy of pure love, we find in mythology, creatures of various species, of divergent functions and distinct natures, opposed to one another, living in a wholesome harmony at the Lord’s abode, Kailasa. Lord’s vehicle is a robust bull. In this proximity is the Mother’s vehicle, another beast the lion, opposed and antipathic to the bull in every respect. In between is Ganesha’s tiny mouse enjoying the edibles with no fear of the crawling cobras on the Lord’s body. Nor are the snakes afraid of Kumaran’s peacock. All feel secure in His presence. All enjoy His love. All beings, vile and noble, live in harmony. No wonder, man is drawn to this love of the Lord Shiva!

Love knows no reservation and gives itself spontaneously for the welfare of one and all. Sacrifice and service are verily the core of genuine love. And here is the great God of Hindus, who is the embodiment of sacrifice. In the days of yore, the ocean of milk was churned by the Devas and demons to obtain ambrosia. The sweet fruits of their labour were snatched away by the gods. But the bitter yield of their toil was the dreadful poison. At its sight, all took heels in fear of destruction. The poison was at their heels to devour them. None came to their rescue. The helpless churners rushed to Mahadeva, presented their despicable plight and surrendered at His lotus feet. The compassionate God assumed protection to the panickied beings. The Lord of love, the king of sacrifice swallowed the poison and restored peace to the agitated multitudes. In the words of Sister Nivedita, “He accepts that which all else reject (and dread). All the pain and evil of the universe, He took as His share, to save the world, when He drank the poison of things and made His throat blue forever.” Thus, the Lord proved the all-absorbing nature of love and established Himself through love, as Thyagaraja or Thyagisa, the King of Sacrifice. His body of burnished gold colour and throat of blue tinge, resemble the fire of sacrifice with a blue spot in the flame, symbolising Tyaga in love. The episode is not a mere myth of fiction of an idle mind to be brushed aside by those who profess themselves to be great thinkers. Fiction has its foundation in fact and myth has its roots in truth. This loving act of Shiva’s sacrifice is a veritable fact of everyday experience. Bringing out the truth of love our Swamiji interprets the myth, “In their act of churning the ocean of life, the human beings (both of vile and noble nature) are constantly producing poison. They inhale pure air and exhale foul air; they drink good water and bring it out as urine; they partake of tasty food and evacuate it as excreta. Through all the apertures in their bodies men are constantly ejecting bad matter amounting to poison. Assuming the form of Mother Nature, Neelakanta is ceaselessly consuming that poison and converting it into ambrosia. This benign act of His goes on eternally.”

Love conquers death and so is eternal. Shiva humbled Yama, when the latter attempted to snatch away the young Markandeya. A lad of intense devotion, Markandeya at the tender age of sixteen, transcended death in the sweetness of his love for Shiva. He who is all love conquers all including death, for true love attracts, embraces and absorbs all in its vastness and oneness. And Shiva is this love and so He is Mrityunjaya. He is Tripurahara, Tripurantaka, and Trigunateeta, for in the stillness of his blissfull love, all Gunas, distinctions and distractions disappear.

The next essential trait of love is that it seeks no possession. And the Lord of Saivism possesses so little! He has the cremation ground for His dwelling place, the ten sides for His clothes, cobras for His oraaments, ash for His cosmetics and skull for His begging bowl. Yet He possesses all. He is Viswanatha for He is Love that gives Itself to all those who seek It. Renunciation is really the wealth to be coveted. Sacrifice ennobles life, enriches love and sweetens our existence.

And finally, the benevolent Shiva is of rigorous austerities and is ever established in the blissful trance for the welfare and guidance of all seekers after Bliss.

Love is beauty and beauty is love and this is the nectar of life here and hereafter. So is our dear Lord Sundareswar. He is, at the same time, the strange but sublime mixture of monasticism and motherhood as Arthanariswara. What else does a man seek, other than the love for him, who is but love?

Intense love is devotion. Nothing in the world is mean or bad to the one of true devotion. In the field of love, nothing is profane or derogatory. No word or action is wrong or vulgar when prompted by genuine love. Nothing is unworthy of offering, when there is the accompanying heart. There is divinity shining in all. And divinity draws all towards it in devotion. Devotion is born of love and knows no distinction. Devotion becomes visible in service and worship. It is the sublimation of senses that is in evidence in a devotee. It is the love of the Infinite that is the life-blood in him. Ugliness is lost in the radiance of love; Self-esteem and self-comfort are contrary to the love of the universal Self. Separatism and segregation are ways of the worldly men. Humility and sacrifice are but the basis of sincere love. Love seeks no possession, knows no fear, sees no rival and is at bliss to merge in the Absolute. Offer of the individual self is the highest of all offers. And this highest philosophical truth finds its sweet expression in the devotional literature of Saivism and Shiva Bhaktas.

Devotees enjoy God in various ways. It is the ambrosia of love in different shapes that the votaries of Shiva enjoy. The four Bhavanas of Dasya, Vatsalya, Sakhya and Mathura are the four delicacies of the same delicious love with four different and distinct spices. While it is deliverance in the terminology of a spiritual aspirant, it is enjoying the Bhagavan for a Bhakta. It is the union with the beloved Lord that is the be all and end all of all love and devotion.

The reverential service of the Dasa or servant, the filial affection and duty of the Satputra or son, and the fond and proud intimacy of the Sakha or friend are sweetly blended in the Mathura Bhakti with the additional flavour of absorption in the union. Like a river becoming broader and broader, while rushing to merge in the vast sea, the Dasya Bhakti, Vatsalya Bhakti and Sakhya Bhakti add to the flood of Mathura Bhakti.

Among the great Shivabhaktas, Sri Appar, Sri Jnana Sambandar, Sri Sundarar and Sri Manikavasagar illustrate the four Bhavanas in their lives and songs of devotion. Each is intensely in love with Shiva with the specific fragrance of one distinct Bhavana.

Fear is something unknown to the Lord’s servant. Danger and destruction cannot come near the Lord’s devotees. Death is humbled by the Shivabhaktas. Eternal Bliss they enjoy in the service at His feet. And that is Saint Appar, the servant of the Lord, the apostle of God, the Dasa of Shiva, the dauntless hero of spirituality, the past master in singing His glory in picturesque poetry and the inspirer of Saivism. His divine defiance to the command of the local ruler speaks of the strength of faith. His songs are the enchanting utterances of his devotional fervour. A savant of Truth and a servant of Shiva, he has entertained enmity with none and has seen divinity in all. A devotee of a very high order, he is devoid of narrow views and declares in one of his hymns, “If people out of their narrowness of mind promulgate new systems out of hatred or jealousy, even such would be acceptable to our Lord.” His is a prayer for the uninterrupted love and service of Shiva. Nothing is more enjoyable to him than service at the lotus feet of Shiva.

Blessed is Bala Sambandar to partake of the milk of Jnana even when he was a small child. How fortunate he is to be fondled by the divine Mother Uma! Shankara the auspicious Lord graced him with the dawn of knowledge and splendour of divinity. Bala Jnana Samhandar considers himself the son of Shiva and finds pleasure in serving the lotus feet of his Holy Parent. It is his filial duty to spread and sing the glory of the Father. A son of Shiva he has the blazing splendour of wisdom, energy of divine grace, and the glow of love with which he puts down all alien faiths. He believes that his thoughts, words and deeds are ever prompted by the Father. Wrong words and deeds, if any, are also ascribed to the will of Shiva, for Shiva is his very life-blood. How balmy it is for the son of Shiva to sing: Father dear, thou art responsible for all my follies and virtues alike. Thou art my knowledge, thou art my light and very breath. What else do I seek, when I have your grace and enjoy your love always! My existence is meaningful and sweet because of you. Hara, Paramesa, Paramapita, Parandhama, am I gifted with the tongues infinite to sing thy glory?

Saint Sundarar is Shiva’s Sakha or friend. There is nothing secret between the two. With the liberty of an intimate friend St. Sundarar opens his heart of diverse feelings and longings to the God Sundareswar. He, in the intensity of love, goes to the extent of assigning tasks to Shiva. And with the magnanimity of an associate, Shiva does fulfil the wishes of His devoted friend. Shiva descends from Kailasa and arranges the marriage of his chum with a girl of Sundarar’s choice. And how blessed is a comrade to sing: Shankara you are the glow of my heart and joy of my breath; yow are the music of my life, Bliss of my soul. Thou art my bosom friend and the associate in all my actions. You got me for your Sakha and should I be grateful? Shiva, Kalyanakara, Kanakasabesa, words lack feeling and ecstacy transcends expression in words, how then can I thank Thee for Thy Grace?

And finally we have the great Manikavasagar. While the hymns sung by the former three coustitute the Thevaram, of the Thiruvachakam of Manikavasagar, it has been said that he whose heart is not melted by it must have had a stone for his heart. In the words of Dr. Radhakrishnan, “Tiruvachagam depicts in beautiful hymns the progress of the soul from the bondage of ignorance and passion into liberty of light and love; its first awakening, its joy and exaltation, waywardness and despondency, struggle and unrest, the peace and joy of union.” In the intuition of God the distinctions of knower, knowledge and known are said to disappear. And that is the ecstatic experience of Manikavasagar in the love of Shiva. It is in Manikavasagar again that we find love in its varied fragrance, notes, colours, tastes and experience. It is the Mathura Bhakti or the sweet love between Nayaka and Nayaki or hero and heroine, which includes and transcends all emotional exuberance and ecstacies of experience in love. It is the abundance of love that finds the universe, Sivamayam, leading the lover to the union in the thrill and bliss of Sivoham, where Jivahood merges in Shivahood. In such a state of blissful love, every utterance is sweet and sublime. How fortunate and intimate is the lover to sing: Shiva, Thou should’st be mad to roam about in the cremation ground; Hara, Thou should’st be mad to bear the matted hair; Sankara, Thou should’st be mad to let the cobras crawl on you; Iswara, Thou should’st be mad to beg for alms in a skull; Kripasagara, Thou art really mad to choose me for your votary. Verily you are the maddest to give Yourself to me and receive me in exchange. What a bad bargain for you! I pity your loss. I am happy and proud for I deceived you successfully and gained you in full. You are caught like a fish in the net of love. You are bound. You cannot escape from my heart.

Love of Shiva is neither a fit of madness, nor an incredulous mysticism. Nor is it merely a myth detailing the love and wedlock of Parvati and Parameswara. It is a veritable truth of evolutionary process. It is at once scientific and poetic, rational and emotional. Magnetic needle points to the North always. Rivers roll into the sea. Jiva longs to attain Shivahood. Interpreting the marriage of Uma and Shiva, our President Swamiji expounds the physical and philosophical truth behind the myth: Parvati is Mulaprakriti–the Primordial Energy. Because of her being in her unsullied native state she is called Kanyakumari–the young virgin. Nature in her original state is addressed in this manner. She pledges to make herself worthy partner of Shiva. The resolve transforms itself into penance or self-preparation. So, she becomes the awe-inspiring embodiment of austere penance. This act of Shakti when translated into simple scientific language means that inert matter struggles through aeon to evolve into conscience. This is the picture that nature presents everywhere. It is like the iron filings trying to get themselves cleansed of all dross and at the same time to be drawn to a mighty magnet. Nature is ever presenting herself as undergoing self-purification. Ultimately she aims at merging in the cosmic consciousness which is Shiva. The dross is removed and the union takes place. “Nature regains her original state which is pure consciousness. The seeming insentient is being reunited with the sentient and this process is incessantly taking place in the phenomenal world.”

Love of Shiva and longing for the Bliss of Union with Him, are thus inborn and it is by the path of devotion that the self is purified and love is enjoyed. While many struggle, suffer and plod through various ways to reach the Highest, Bhaktas dance their primrose path of love to embrace Shiva, the Sublime, in the eternal Bliss of Union.

Swami Vivekananda gives the philosophy and practice of love, which is the very quintessence of all experience and knowledge in the march towards perfection and of perfection. He says: “Listen, friend, I will speak my heart to thee; I have found in my life this Truth Supreme; Buffeted by waves in this whirl of life there is one ferry that takes across the sea–formulas of worship, control of breath, science, philosophy, systems varied, relinquishment, possession, and the like, all these are but the delusions of the mind...Love, Love,...that is the one thing, the Bole treasure. Aye, born heir to the Infinite thou art, within the heart is the ocean of love, “give”, “give away”–whoever asks return, his ocean dwindles down to a mere drop. From highest Brahman to the yonder worm, and to the very minutest atom, everywhere is the same God, the all-love, friend, offer mind, soul, body at their feet.