OM. Tryambakam yajamahe
Sugandhim pushti-vardhanam
Urvarukamiva bandhanan
Mrityor mukshiya mamritat
The above Mahamrityunjaya Mantra loosely translated means the following:
Almighty God, three-eyed, we worship and revere
Sweet fragranced with spiritual essence.
One who nourishes
May He severe our bondage of worldly life
Thus liberate us from the fear of death
Make us realize that we are never separated from our Immortal Nature
If we examine Lord Shiva’s form and analyze his habiliments, possessions and markings, we start to understand the symbolisms associated with him, and why He is regarded in Hinduism as a prominent God who is one of the “Trimurti”, the Holy Trinity, the destroyer and restorer.
Allowing almost everything which is otherwise considered a taboo in religion, here's a God who apparently makes mistakes fearlessly and deals with them in a surprisingly calm way. Whaaaat?! Definitely, someone who is not a sucker for rules, he is fairly easy to please and breaks all stereotypes of being a God.
Cool, chic (he wears a dreadlock), fun, unpredictable (unlike most Gods), and extremely popular with the young and the old alike, Lord Shiva deals with the cosmos, meditates most of the time, likes to mind his own business, has a crazy mix of anger and calm.
Lord Siva represents the destructive aspect of Brahman. That portion of Brahman that is enveloped by Tamo-Guna-Pradhana Maya is Lord Siva who is the all-pervading Isvara and who also dwells in Mount Kailas. He is the Bhandara or store-house for wisdom. Siva minus Parvati or Kali or Durga is Nirguna Brahman Himself. With Maya-Parvati He becomes the Saguna Brahman for the purpose of pious devotion of His devotees. Devotees of Rama must worship Lord Siva for 3 or 6 months before they take to worship of Rama. Rama Himself worshipped Lord Siva at the famous Ramesvaram. Lord Siva is the Lord of Ascetics and Lord of Yogins, robed in space (Digambara).
If we examine Lord Shiva’s form and analyze his habiliments, possessions and markings, we start to understand the symbolisms associated with him.
One of the first things one may notice is Lord Shiva’s third eye.Shiva’s left eye is the first eye, the right eye is the second and the verticle one in the subtle form, just above the midpoint of the eyebrows is the third one. The upper eye is a representation of the combined energy of both the right and left eyes.The third eye is associated with alertness and awareness.!
There is one very favourite story of mine related to shiva third eye.When Devas were waging a war against Tarakasur, they needed Shiva's help but Shiva was busy meditating. So the Devas asked Kamadeva to pierce Shiva with his love arrows. But Shiva, who was in deep meditation, woke up in rage and burned !Kamadeva down to ashes with his third eye.
Secondly Damru symbolizes the Universe which is always expanding and collapsing. From an expansion it collapses and then it re-expands, this is the process of creation.
If you see your heartbeat, it is not just one straight line but it is a rhythm that goes up and down. The whole world is nothing but rhythms; energy rising and collapsing to rise again. So the damru signifies that. Look at the shape of the damru, from expansion it collapses and again expands.
The darmru is also a symbol of sound. Sound is rhythm and sound is energy. The whole universe is nothing but a wave function, it is nothing but rhythms and Lord Shiva with a “Trishul” a spear with three prongs. This symbolizes His power to punish evil on all spiritual, subtle and physical level. The three points of the spear are also symbolic of the three fundamental powers will, action, and knowledge.!
Significance of River Ganga flowing from Lord Shiva’s Head simply means knowledge; knowledge that purifies your soul. Head is always the symbol of knowledge. Heart is the symbol of love.
If Ganga were to be love, it should have come out of the heart of Lord Shiva. It is coming out of the head, because it simply means knowledge.
Knowledge is liberating, knowledge brings freedom, knowledge is purifying. All these are the characteristics of knowledge. Knowledge is also movement; motion. So Ganga (knowledge) has to come out of Lord Shiva’s (the divinity’s) head.
The significance of the snake around the throat chakra is even more subtle and beautiful. Snakes are both revered and feared. They are known for their poisonous venom but also as a dominant embodiment of universal energy. This powerful energy connecting with the energy of the throat chakra create a beautiful symbol of opposing tendencies bringing on spontaneous eradication.!
On the auspicious day of Shivaratri, the Shaivites, a sect of followers, consume Bhang (a beverage prepared from cannabis) and smoke weed. Popular among the followers, this is one hell of an offering for a God!
The ash Shiva is smeared with symbolizes permanence and destruction
Like we all know, Shiva is smeared with ash. It is a symbol of destruction as well as permanence for it is created by burning things but cannot be burnt itself. It is a symbol indicating the permanence of the immortal soul, which is released when the matter is destroyed.
Significance of Shiva Tandav
The whole creation is the dance of one consciousness (Shiva). The one consciousness danced and manifested into a million species in the world. So this infinite creation is the dance of Lord Shiva or Shiva Tandav. The whole world is a place of Shiva.
Lord Siva represents the destructive aspect of the Godhead. He is seen absorbed on the mountain peak of Kailas. He is an embodiment of serenity, renunciation and indifference to the world. The third eye in the centre of His forehead represents His destructive energy which when let loose destroys the world. Nandi is His favourite. He is the door-Keeper. He is seen hushing all nature, so that the Lord may not be disturbed in His Samadhi.
Thus,Lord Shiva is the coolest of all God.
The above is the picture of Mahabhairab mandir in Tezpur.
Bull has been used as a symbol of dharma (righteousness) from a long time, throughout the world. Lord Shiva riding on the bull simply means that when you are righteous and truthful, the infinite consciousness, the innocent consciousness is with you.
By seeing all this i can only say that he who gives man spiritual knowledge is the greatest benefactor of mankind and as such we always find that those were the most powerful of men who helped man in his spiritual needs, because spirituality is the true basis of all our activities in life. A spiritually strong and sound man will be strong in every other respect, if he so wishes. Until there is spiritual strength in man even physical needs cannot be well satisfied.