How many arms does shiva have, I’ve seen some pictures with 4 and others with 6, is it within this range? Also is it just the two legs, and why only two?
And what colour is shiva, again sometimes I get blue on a google search and sometimes green.
Help much appreciated.
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
Aspects of God such as Shiva or Vishnu are personal attributes of the impersonal Nirguna Brahman, God without attributes, the type of God similar in Semitic religions such as Islam or Judaism (i.e., God without form or without personal characteristics.) The term “Hindu god” should not be equated with Shiva and is confused with Devas. Devas or demigods, are celestial beings similar to angels as discussed in Judaeo-Christian traditions. Devas in Sanskrit literally means "shining beings
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
I hear yah.
But what's all this about then:
[thumb=H]shiva067414_5006053.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=H]shiva(2)7414_5006053.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=H]untitled7414_5874570.JPG[/thumb]
[thumb=H]shiva47414_6317291.JPG[/thumb]
Now we've got one that's blue with 2 arms, a blue one with 4 arms then a green one with 4 arms and then a yellow one with 6 arms.
This is enough to leave the best of us confused.
What are the extra arms for? Other than that cool scene in one of the sinbad films where the statue with 6 arms carries six swords, it must take an age to wash up before dinner?
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
The concept of Devta sounds a lot like the trinity, how Christians believe Jesus (salutations of peace be upon him) to be an incarnation of God, only the number of incarnations is more in Hinduism, or the beliefs of some non-orthodox Muslims (such as the Ismaeli’s) regarding their Imams.
But wouldn’t everything (including me n u) be considered manifestations of God in Hinduism? Since (I read somewhere) Hindus believe the “Ultimate Reality” permeates everything and that everything is God (non-orthodox Sufi Muslims also believe this; Pantheism).
It is kind of similar to the concept of angels too, the way each Devta is responsible for a certain department (death, food, protection, rain etc.) of the cosmos just like the Arch-Angels in our Abrahamic traditions.
[quote]
Devas in Sanskrit literally means "shining beings".
[/quote]
Again that's similar to Islam, we believe Angels were created from Light.
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
Guys great stuff , but the arms, 2, 4 or 6?
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
who cares.. :)
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
Me!
That's why I'm going to all this trouble with this thread, duh.
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
But isn't shivaa the one that does not even have any human features..
In one of the Anthropology class, our teacher told us that it is actually Penis that is termed with that name. I am not sure but no indian in the class objected. Correct me if I am wrong.
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
God is formless, attributeless and omnipresent. This state is called arUpa (formless). For the benefit of the pashus, He took the form of shiva li.ngam which is neither form nor formless but is a symbol. This symbol of Him is called arUparUpam (formless form). He took many forms out of His mercy to bless all, which are called rUpams. (2). shaivam worships the God in all these three states. The oldest form that the formless God took namely the shiva li.ngam is called sadAshiva mUrtam and is worshipped in the altar of His abodes (temples). The forms that He later took which are called mAhEshwara mUrtam are worshipped in the outer circles in a temple.
http://www.shaivam.org/shplinga.htm
The Goddess
her eternal symbols and her love for men
The secret symbols of the Goddess
Ankh = ‘The Life’
The Egypt Hieroglyph Ankh is composed of both, the female symbol and the male symbol.
http://doormann.tripod.com/the4.htm
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
^
So, besides that use of Philosophy, am I right or wrong?
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
you are wrong.
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
Interesting sites. I dont mean to derail the thread, but what does this mean.
what do they mean by “concept”? and “could be”.
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
Hyen?
How so? prove it please.
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
the name “Shiva” refers to the Lord of Destruction, the 3rd member of the Hindu trinity…the above pictures represent His visualization in the minds of Indian religious artists.
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
and why the visualization of a penis?
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
this looks like a penis?
[thumb=H]siva22370_5780447.JPG[/thumb]
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
Nikhil, Anwaar was talking about the Shiv lingam…
Thap, my father tells me, Shiva became blue because a god called Naag (serpent), bit him due to which he didn’t die, but his skin became blue because of the poison…
Shiv is also the pinnacle in the chain of gods…It was him who gave the advice to the other gods to put someone’s head on his beheaded god-child as the only means to save him…The gods and demons, who were sent to bring a head ASAP to replace the beheaded god-child, made a booboo…In their endeavours, the first thing they came upon was an elephant mother with her calf in Shiva’s gardens, so they decided to go for the calf instead of a human head…
Some of the demons coaxed the mother away while the rest went for the calf…As they were about to cut its head, the beautiful maiden caretakers of Shiva’s gardens came rushing in and stopped them from doing such a heinous deed…The gods and demons implored the maidens to let them have it and for whose son (Shiva and Parvati) it was meant…
The maidens wouldn’t allow it…So the gods and demons again employed the same tactic as before, and diverted the maidens away from the calf…As a few gods and demons argued their way with the maidens away from the calf, one god sneaked away from the group and with one fell swoop, sliced the head clean off the calf’s body…
The head was brought, the parents were horrified at seeing the elephant’s head, but they had no choice because the life was ebbing out of him…The head is attached succesfully, and today Ganesha is also known as Aik-Dunt or One Tooth…
But that is another story…
Going back to your question, asking questions relating to the reason behind a belief in which a god almost dies and is resurrected with the head of an elephant, about whether Shiva had six, four or two arms, seems a tad bit frivolous and trivial…
I mean I wouldn’t have asked anyone…But you are just saying what I am thinking…
Seems a lot like if anyone would ask us how do you explain a virgin birth, the Quran, The Holy Prophet :saw: as being true, the story of Musa :as:, you don’t argue…You simply say, my friend, that is my belief, believe it or not, and this is what I believe, and I hear and obey…You to your way with respect and me to mine with respect…Peace…
Islam was never sent as a source for argument…‘Of’ maybe, but only amongst the Muslims, even then opinions may vary, but we tolerate as told to do so…
This ‘Close your madrassas, change your behavior, do as we tell you, change this change that’, is only suited to the narrow-minded and bigoted and most probably the afraid…
Anyways, interesting question and i"d definitely wanna know…Does any Hindu here have an answer?
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
Lingam
(Redirected from Linga)
MI
LingaWorship.jpg
Linga worship
(Estate of Cynthia and Harlen WelshLingam or Linga is the Sanskrit word for phallus. As well as being used as a symbol for the worship of the Hindu God Shiva, the term is also used for a representation of the male sexual organ. A stone lingam is a naturally occurring ovular stone, also associated with Hinduism. The term is not used in the Vedas but used frequently in the Mahabharata.
The linga (sign) is a symbol of Shiva, just as the cross (logos) is a symbol of Christ. The linga is not a symbol of the penis, but instead represents the fertility of Nature.
Since God is without form, the linga represents Shiva or God. Many educated Hindus consider it wrong to worship images of Shiva himself. Other occurences of this practise occur in Arabia with the Black Stone of Mecca, the Omphalos of the Greeks, and the Ben Ben stones of Heliopolis, Egypt.
See also yoni.
Re: Shiva, arms and colour.
So, I actually worship the Black Stone (Hajra-e-Aswad) in Makkah? Damnit…
And all this time I thought I was praying to Allah :swt:…
rvikz, why don’t you tell them where the lingam came from…What is the origin of the lingam?