“Lord Shiva takes charge of reforming persons who are ghosts and demons, not to speak of others, who are godly; therefore he is the spiritual master of everyone, both the dull and demoniac and the highly learned Vaishnavas. It is also stated, vaishnavanam yatha shambhuh: Shambhu, Lord Shiva, is the greatest of all Vaishnavas.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 4.2.2 Purport)

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1. A conqueror of lust

A worshipable figure known to the prominent and rank-and-file alike within the Vedic tradition, we see Mahadeva seated in meditation. This is one of the more common depictions, particularly in paintings and statues serving as forms of worship. If sanatana-dharma in the external sense could be described in one word, it would be appreciation. The human being follows the call to inquire into Brahman, the spiritual energy, through appreciating. From beginning to end, from birth to death, from the parents to the teachers, from the good to the bad, and from the winter to the summer. We should try to appreciate everything and everyone, in seeing Divinity shining from within, in the true meaning of dharma.

मात्रा-स्पर्शास् तु कौन्तेय
शीतोष्ण-सुख-दुःख-दाः
आगमापायिनो ऽनित्यास्
तांस् तितिक्षस्व भारत

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ
āgamāpāyino ‘nityās
tāṁs titikṣasva bhārata

“O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.14)

Mahadeva refers to the great deva, or god. The same person is known as Shiva, which refers to auspiciousness. He is Ashutosha, since he is easily pleased. He has many names in fact, and these names describe different features and attributes. Though he is a god, Mahadeva is still a person. He is not an ordinary person, but he is still a distinct individual, with movements, traits, and features, who has interactions with others.

Mahadeva is something like the greatest yogi, particularly within the definition of meditation. Dhyana is one aspect of yoga, and Mahadeva is always in dhyana, meditating on the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is his choice. No one has to force him into this decision. No one has to convince him. Rather, no one can convince him out of it.

As his object of worship is Shri Rama, Mahadeva is known as a Vaishnava. This refers to a follower of Vishnu, who is another god described in the Vedic tradition. Authorities of high repute and understanding declare that Mahadeva is the best of the Vaishnavas. In other words, no one can be a better worshiper of Vishnu than Mahadeva. The worship flows particularly to the avatara of Vishnu known as Rama.

निम्नगानां यथा गङ्गा देवानामच्युतो यथा
वैष्णवानां यथा शम्भु: पुराणानामिदं तथा

nimna-gānāṁ yathā gaṅgā
devānām acyuto yathā
vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ
purāṇānām idam tathā

“Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Achyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Shambhu [Shiva] the greatest of Vaishnavas, so Shrimad-Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 12.13.16)

As the topmost yogi, Mahadeva has conquered lust. The Sanskrit word is kama. If we want to understand the cycle of birth and death and why a single person might travel from lifetime to lifetime across different bodies and circumstances, the root cause is kama. This word has several different meanings, but they actually merge into one in the proper understanding. Kama is desire. Kama is also lust. Kama is also sex life.

Material living, which is a state of being, something like a consciousness, is on the side opposite to yoga. As material life continues through the fuel of kama, filled into the engine of karma, so material life stops through advancement in yoga. This means that the goal of the yogi is to gradually reduce kama to the point that it no longer has an influence. We can say that Mahadeva is the topmost yogi because kama cannot touch him.

This is true in the literal sense, as well, as there is a story involving the god of kama. He is something like the equivalent of cupid in the Vedic tradition. One time, the celestials needed to complete a task. This task required the assistance of Mahadeva, who was otherwise in meditation. The celestials enlisted Kamadeva to help. Kamadeva was to strike a meditating Mahadeva with an arrow.

Upon following through with this plan, in succeeding in breaking the meditation, the end-result was destruction for the perpetrator. Mahadeva looked to see who had hit him. Upon spotting Kamadeva, Mahadeva immediately burned him to ashes. This was simply through looking at the victim. In this way, we know that Mahadeva literally conquers lust.

2. A husband

It may seem paradoxical, but then that is why a person should study sanatana-dharma thoroughly, stretching across the duration of a lifetime. There are many lessons to learn, and the full assimilation rarely takes place in a short amount of time. The topmost yogi who conquers lust also gets married. Not surprisingly, his wife is the topmost ascetic. This is proven through her dedication to tapasya. Upon hearing that her fate is to marry Lord Shiva, Parvati Devi decides to retreat to the forest and follow austerity and penance. She cannot be bribed out of the decision. She will not break her vow until the marriage arrangements are finalized.

Mahadeva is a little hesitant, as there is concern of interference with meditation. But Vishnu gives assurance that the marriage with Parvati, who is the daughter of the mountain king, will only increase the attachment in devotion. In other words, the marriage itself will be like yoga. In this way, Shiva and Parvati are the ideal married couple. Beautiful descriptions of their marriage ceremony can be found in the works of Goswami Tulsidas, such as Ramacharitamanasa and Parvati Mangala.

3. A destroyer

We try our best to identify a point in time known as the beginning. We attempt the same with the end. The truth is that time travels infinitely in both directions. There really is no beginning. There is no end. The same applies to space, as well. Only the highest being of all can comprehend this concept. We are limited in our ability to contemplate, and so we choose arbitrary points in time as beginning and end, for our understanding.

In this regard, Mahadeva is someone who is set to act at the end. He is the destroyer, while Lord Brahma is the creator. Lord Vishnu maintains always, all the time. This is why devotion to Vishnu is not bound by the limits of time. Someone can worship Vishnu everywhere and always, sarvatra and sarvada. Vishnu maintains the creation of Brahma, but Vishnu is also the origin of everything. Brahma is svayambhu, or self-born, but he actually emerges from the lotus flower attached to the stem originating in the navel of Vishnu.

तस्मात् सर्वात्मना राजन् हरि: सर्वत्र सर्वदा
श्रोतव्य: कीर्तितव्यश्च स्मर्तव्यो भगवान्नृणाम्

tasmāt sarvātmanā rājan
hariḥ sarvatra sarvadā
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca
smartavyo bhagavān nṛṇām

“O King, it is therefore essential that every human being hear about, glorify and remember the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, always and everywhere.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.2.36)

Mahadeva destroys. This does not mean Vishnu is deficient at maintaining. This does not mean the creation of Brahma has flaws. The cycle of birth and death includes the universe, along with everything that appears within it. Our current cycle, from start to finish, is but one of countless instances of the same applying across the vast expanse of time and space. Mahadeva has potency sufficient for destroying everything, and he follows through at the appropriate time, which can be billions of years after the initial creation.

4. A benefactor

Someone who can destroy everything has tremendous potency. Mahadeva can also act in the capacity of a benefactor. He can offer gifts and rewards to people who worship him. Another symbol commonly associated with sanatana-dharma is the shiva-linga. This is the mechanism for worship, in the physical sense. In formal worship of Mahadeva, there is often the shiva-linga.

As Goswami Tulsidas describes, by making a simple offering of water and a leaf someone can become a king. They can become the greatest person in the world, in terms of opulence and influence. Indeed, the history passed forward in Vedic literature describes many figures who were benefitted directly by worshiping Shiva. They often did not have the best intentions, but since he is Ashutosha, Mahadeva does not give much attention to the motive. If you worship sufficiently, he tends to be pleased with you, giving you what you want.

5. A storyteller

Of course, we see that Mahadeva is completely renounced. Despite living in a home, in the grihastha-ashrama, with the most beautiful woman as his wife, the conditions are as austere as can be imagined. He lives in a cave somewhere on the highest mountain peak. This is like the coldest place, and so who would ever choose to live there? Mahadeva wears a garland of snakes and he smears ashes on his body. In this regard, who would want to go near him?

He can live so renounced because he has the most valuable treasure in devotion to Vishnu. Mahadeva can speak endlessly on the glories of Vishnu. He has done so many times in the past. He has passed along his own version of the Ramayana, which continues to be told to this day. He liberates those who pass away in his sacred city of Kashi, by whispering the name of Rama in their ear.

“According to some, Lord Vishvanatha is the great physician who cures the disease of material existence by delivering a person through the ear, which receives the vibration of the holy name of Lord Rama. Because of this, this holy place is called Manikarnika. It is said that there is no better place than where the river Ganges flows, and the bathing ghat known as Manikarnika is especially sanctified because it is very dear to Lord Vishvanatha.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 17.82 Purport)

In Closing:

Hurdle of kama to clear,
Ashes on body to smear.

Garland of skulls to wear,
Situated full vairagya there.

Mahadeva boons easily to grant,
But for him only the name to chant.

To the dying whispering in their ear,
Blessed the name of Rama to hear.

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Tags: dailyprompt, feature, hare krishna, mahadeva, poem, poems, poetry, shiva, yoga