Devo Na Dev Mahadev

Shiva is known as The Destroyer within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma and Vishnu.[2][15] In the Shaivite tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Lord who creates, protects and transforms the universe.[9][10][11] In the goddess-oriented Shakta tradition, the Supreme Goddess (Devi) is regarded as the energy and creative power (Shakti) and the equal complementary partner of Shiva.[16][17] Shiva is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism.[18] Shiva has many aspects, benevolent as well as fearsome. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash[2] as well as a householder with his wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya. In his fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also known as Adiyogi (the first Yogi), regarded as the patron god of yoga, meditation and the arts.[19] The iconographical attributes of Shiva are the serpent king Vasuki around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the third eye on his forehead (the eye that turns everything in front of it into ashes when opened), the trishula or trident as his weapon, and the damaru. He is usually worshipped in the aniconic form of lingam.[3] Shiva has pre-Vedic roots,[20] and the figure of Shiva evolved as an amalgamation of various older non-Vedic and Vedic deities, including the Rigvedic storm god Rudra who may also have non-Vedic origins,[21] into a single major deity.[22] Shiva is a pan-Hindu deity, revered widely by Hindus in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia (especially in Java and Bali).[23] Part of a series on Shaivism Deities Parameshvara (Supreme being) Shiva Sadasiva Bhairava Rudra Virabhadra Shakti Parvati Sati Durga Kali Ganesha Kartikeya Forms of Shiva Others Scriptures and texts Vedas Agama-Tantras Shivasutras Tirumurai Vachanas Svetasvatara Philosophy Three Components Pati Pashu Pasam Three bondages Anava Karma Maya other aspects 36 Tattvas Yoga Satkaryavada Abhasavada Svatantrya Aham Practices Vibhuti Rudraksha Panchakshara Bilva Maha Shivaratri Yamas-Niyamas Guru-Linga-Jangam Schools Ati marga Pashupata Kalamukha Kapalika Mantra marga Saiddhantika Siddhantism Non - Saiddhantika Kashmir Shaivism Pratyabhijna Vama Dakshina Kaula: Trika-Yamala-Kubjika-Netra Others Nath Inchegeri Veerashaiva/Lingayatism Siddharism Sroutaism Aghori Indonesian Scholars Lakulisha Abhinavagupta Vasugupta Utpaladeva Nayanars Manikkavacakar Meykandar Nirartha Basava Sharana Srikantha Appayya Navnath Related Nandi Tantrism Bhakti Jyotirlinga Shiva Temples Hinduism portal vte Etymology and other names Main article: Shiva Sahasranama According to the Monier-Williams Sanskrit dictionary, the word "śiva" (Devanagari: शिव, also transliterated as shiva) means "auspicious, propitious, gracious, benign, kind, benevolent, friendly".[24] The root words of śiva in folk etymology are śī which means "in whom all things lie, pervasiveness" and va which means "embodiment of grace".[24][25] The word Shiva is used as an adjective in the Rig Veda (c. 1700–1100 BCE), as an epithet for several Rigvedic deities, including Rudra.[26] The term Shiva also connotes "liberation, final emancipation" and "the auspicious one"; this adjectival usage is addressed to many deities in Vedic literature.[24][27] The term evolved from the Vedic Rudra-Shiva to the noun Shiva in the Epics and the Puranas, as an auspicious deity who is the "creator, reproducer and dissolver".[24][28] Sharma presents another etymology with the Sanskrit root śarv-, which means "to injure" or "to kill",[29] interpreting the name to connote "one who can kill the forces of darkness".[30] The Sanskrit word śaiva means "relating to the god Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect.[31] It is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism.[32] Some authors associate the name with the Tamil word śivappu meaning "red", noting that Shiva is linked to the Sun (śivan, "the Red one", in Tamil) and that Rudra is also called Babhru (brown, or red) in the Rigveda.[33][34] The Vishnu sahasranama interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", and "the One who is not affected by three Guṇas of Prakṛti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)".[35] Shiva is known by many names such as Viswanatha (lord of the universe), Mahadeva, Mahandeo,[36] Mahasu,[37] Mahesha, Maheshvara, Shankara, Shambhu, Rudra, Hara, Trilochana, Devendra (chief of the gods), Neelakanta, Subhankara, Trilokinatha (lord of the three realms),[38][39][40] and Ghrneshwar (lord of compassion).[41] The highest reverence for Shiva in Shaivism is reflected in his epithets Mahādeva ("Great god"; mahā "Great" and deva "god"),[42][43] Maheśvara ("Great Lord"; mahā "great" and īśvara "lord"),[44][45] and Parameśvara ("Supreme Lord").[46] Sahasranama are medieval Indian texts that list a thousand names derived from aspects and epithets of a deity.[47] There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva.[48] The version appearing in Book 13 (Anuśāsanaparvan) of the Mahabharata provides one such list.[a] Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names

Myths about Shiva that were "roughly contemporary with early Christianity" existed that portrayed Shiva with many differences than how he is thought of now,[62] and these mythical portrayals of Shiva were incorporated into later versions of him. For instance, he and the other gods, from the highest gods to the least powerful gods, were thought of as somewhat human in nature, creating emotions they had limited control over and having the ability to get in touch with their inner natures through asceticism like humans.[63] In that era, Shiva was widely viewed as both the god of lust and of asceticism.[64] In one story, he was seduced by a prostitute sent by the other gods, who were jealous of Shiva's ascetic lifestyle he had lived for 1000 years.[

Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra,[89] and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in Hindu scriptures. The two names are used synonymously. Rudra, a Rigvedic deity with fearsome powers, was the god of the roaring storm. He is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.[90] In RV 2.33, he is described as the "Father of the Rudras", a group of storm gods.[91][full citation needed] Flood notes that Rudra is an ambiguous god, peripheral in the Vedic pantheon, possibly indicating non-Vedic origins.[21] Nevertheless, both Rudra and Shiva are akin to Wodan, the Germanic God of rage ("wütte") and the wild hunt.[92][93][page needed][94][page needed] According to Sadasivan, during the development of the Hindu synthesis attributes of the Buddha were transferred by Brahmins to Shiva, who was also linked with Rudra.[53] The Rigveda has 3 out of 1,028 hymns dedicated to Rudra, and he finds occasional mention in other hymns of the same text.[95] Hymn 10.92 of the Rigveda states that deity Rudra has two natures, one wild and cruel (Rudra), another that is kind and tranquil (Shiva).[96] The term Shiva also appears simply as an epithet, that means "kind, auspicious", one of the adjectives used to describe many different Vedic deities. While fierce ruthless natural phenomenon and storm-related Rudra is feared in the hymns of the Rigveda, the beneficial rains he brings are welcomed as Shiva aspect of him.[97] This healing, nurturing, life-enabling aspect emerges in the Vedas as Rudra-Shiva, and in post-Vedic literature ultimately as Shiva who combines the destructive and constructive powers, the terrific and the gentle, as the ultimate recycler and rejuvenator of all existence.[98]