Siva Tattwa
ÇIVA-TATTVA LORD ÇIVA’S HIGHEST BENEDICTION
Preface
Lord Çiva is manifest from the Supreme
Lord’s own divine desire. An
understanding of çiva-tattva (the
principle of Çiva) is therefore essential in
realizing the deep purpose behind human
life and its relationships. Lord Çiva is
a personality of many forms and names,
such as Çaìkara, Çambhu and Maheça.
He is situated eternally in his
original form as Gopéçvara, and in that form he
guards the doorway to that which
matters most – our transcendental life. By his
own selfless dedication, this gentle
and mysterious figure patiently guides those who
traverse the path to the Absolute,
assuring them safe passage through all the stages
of devotion.
In this book Çiva-Tattva, Çréla
Bhaktivedänta Näräyaëa Mahäräja brilliantly
clarifies the holy Hindu trinity:
Brahmä, Viñëu and Çiva. Empowered by his spiritual
masters in the disciplic succession of
the Gauòéya Vaiñëava tradition, he reveals the
conclusive truth (tattva) of Lord
Çiva’s original position and gives us a look into his
endearing and affectionate nature.
The many intriguing historical
narrations herein, all from authoritative
Vedic literatures, are interwoven with
conclusive philosophy. In this way,
Çiva-Tattva reveals the beautiful harmony in Lord
Çiva’s apparently contradictory
qualities. He is the destroyer and
simultaneously the ingredient cause of creation. He is
the predominating deity of the mode of
ignorance and simutaneously the reservoir of
absolute knowledge. He is the clever
cheater and at the same time the giver of mercy.
His associates are ghosts, hobgoblins
and witches, and at the same time he associates
with the most exalted demigods and
sages, and even God Himself.
The profound topic of çiva-tattva is
so vast that this work could have included
entire chapters on each of Lord Çiva’s
glories, pastimes and manifestations. The
intention of this edition, however, is
to inspire the reader with its essence, and to
awaken interest in the evolution of
consciousness.
Çiva-Tattva opens with the history of a special
mission, originally told in Çréla
Sanätana Gosvämé’s epic, Çré
Båhad-bhägavatämåta. The aim of this mission was to
establish in the world the ultimate
goal of all yogic practices, prema-bhakti. In a
heart-to-heart conversation with the
sage Närada Muni, Lord Çiva brings to light
the qualifications of a genuine
Vaiñëava or devotee of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. Setting the scene for this
divine conversation, Çréla Sanätana Gosvämé
writes:
In his own abode, Lord Çiva was just
completing his worship of Lord
Saìkarñaëa and, absorbed in ecstatic
love, he began dancing and
performing kértana. His
followers, headed by Çré Nandiçvara, were lovingly
praising him by singing, playing
musical instruments and calling out,
“Jaya! Jaya!
All glories to you! All glories to you!” With her lotus hands,
8 ÇIVA-TATTVA LORD ÇIVA’S HIGHEST
BENEDICTION
Pärvaté-devi was creating an enchanting
rhythm with karatälas, and Lord
Çiva was praising her for that. Seeing
all this from a distance, the sage
Närada jubilantly offered obeisances
and began playing his vina. Time
and again he said, “You are the
greatest recipient of Çré Kåñëa’s mercy.”
Repeating Lord Brahmä’s words, he began
glorifying Çiva in a melodious
voice. When Çré Närada approached Çré
Rudra (Lord Çiva) to take the
dust from his lotus feet, Çiva, who was
intoxicated in the nectar-stream of
kåñëa-prema andwhoisverydeartotheVaiñëavas,
pulledthesagenear, embraced
him, and respectfully said, ‘Oh, son of
Brahmä! What are you saying?!’ (Çré Båhadbhägavatämåta
Chapter Three, verses 1-5)
Lord Çiva’s fame as the greatest
devotee of Lord Kåñëa was first presented to
the English-speaking world by His
Divine Grace Çréla A.C. Bhaktivedänta Swami
Prabhupäda. The foremost world-wide
teacher of Gauòéya Vaiñëavism, Çréla Prabhupäda
inspired an international movement. He
gave to the world a veritable treasure-chest
in his English translations of Vedic
literature. It is that treasure-chest upon which we
continually drew, to enrich this
publication with footnotes and supplements. It was
on the request of Çréla Prabhupäda that
Çréla Näräyaëa Mahäräja now travels and
teaches audiences world-wide, nurturing
the spiritual lives of thousands.
Çiva-Tattva is a compilation of four transcribed lectures
of Çréla Näräyaëa
Mahäräja which, although not spoken in
a series, takes the reader on a marvelous
journey. Chapters one and two were
spoken during his 1997 World Tour in
Holland, on the morning and evening of July 3.
Chapter three came from the
English translation of his Hindi
lecture, given in Mathurä, India on the eve of
Çiva-ratri, March 5, 2000. Finally, in the fourth
chapter, in a discourse spoken on
October 10, 2001, he takes us on a
pilgrimage to a temple in the ancient city of
Jagannätha Puré, where Lord Çiva
resides as Lokanätha Mahädeva.
The chronicles and personalities
discussed in this book do not belong to the
realm of religion or mythology; rather,
they encompass universal truth. Usage of
Sanskrit, the language in which the
Vedic science was originally told, has been kept
to a minimum for easy reading. The
occasional word used, such as bhakti, meaning
devotion, is clearly explained in the
text. Following the tradition of our spiritual
preceptors, we use standard diacritical
markings to indicate the pronunciation of
Sanskrit words. Pronounce ä like
a in father, é like ea in neat, ü like
oo in root, å like
ri in rip, à and ì like ng in hung,
ç and ñ like sh in shy, and c like ch in chap.
Begging for the mercy of Çré Hari, Guru
and Vaiñëava, we humbly present Çréla
Näräyaëa Mahäräja’s glorifications of
that most unconventional of transcendental
personalities, Lord Çiva. We also beg
the reader’s forgiveness for any mistakes
or shortcomings in our delivery of his
offering to Lord Çiva, on the auspicious
occasion of Çiva-ratri – March,
2005.
The Editors
ii
2 ÇIVA-TATTVA LORD ÇIVA’S HIGHEST
BENEDICTION 3
Once, the great sage Närada Muni
traveled to the abode of
Lord Çiva and began to glorify him,
saying, “You are very near and dear to
the Supreme Lord Kåñëa. Not only that,
you are Kåñëa’s manifestation; you
are non-different from Him. You can
give liberation and also kåñëa-prema,
the rare jewel of transcendental love
for Kåñëa.”
Hearing Närada glorify him in numerous
ways, Lord Çiva became
angry and said, “Your glorification of
me is false. I am not at all dear to
Çré Kåñëa.”
Lord Çiva is actually most dear to Çré
Kåñëa, and therefore Kåñëa
can give him services which He cannot
give anyone else. When the
demigods and demons were churning the Milk Ocean
in order to obtain
the nectar of immortality, the first
substance produced was a powerful
and dangerous poison, burning the
entire world. The demigods appealed
to Çré Kåñëa, and He advised them to
request Lord Çiva to drink the
poison. Thus, they worshiped Lord Çiva
and prayed, “Please save us!
Only you can protect us!” Lord Çiva
collected the poison and took it in
his mouth, but he hesitated to swallow
it, considering, “Lord Kåñëa is in
my heart. The poison will affect Him.”
He therefore kept the poison in
his throat, which was burned, and his
neck turned the color blue.
Now, out of genuine humility, Lord Çiva
told Närada: “I want to be
His beloved devotee, but actually I am
not. You know that I always wear
ashes from the burial grounds, and a
garland of skulls. All my associates
are ghosts and witches, so I am not
qualified to be Kåñëa’s dear devotee.
If I am so dear to Him, why would He
have ordered me to engage with
the mode of ignorance in the terrible
function of destroying the universe?
If I am such a great recipient of His
mercy, why would he have ordered
me to become Çaìkaräcärya and preach a
philosophy that is adverse to
Him?”
Actually, although he expressed
otherwise, it was because Çiva
is so dear to Kåñëa that Kåñëa was able
to give him the difficult task
of appearing as Çaìkaräcärya.1 Many
people had been worshiping the
Supreme Lord only to fulfill their
selfish purposes, thinking, “Simply by
our worship of God, He will be pleased
with us and satisfy all our worldly
desires.” They worshiped Him only so
that He would rapidly arrange for
all of their needs, not to please Him.
Lord Kåñëa thought, “This is very
dangerous.” He called Lord Çiva and
instructed him, “Such false devotees
will create great disturbances, so keep
them far away from Me. Create a
philosophy which teaches, ‘brahma
satyaà jagan mithyä – the Absolute is
true, this world is false.’ You should
preach, ‘All souls are Çiva; all souls are
Brahmä; all are one. You are brahma,
the impersonal Absolute. There is no
need to worship any other God; you are
the Supreme God.’ ” Reluctant,
Lord Çiva asked Kåñëa, “Can you please
tell someone else to do this? I am
not qualified for this service.” Kåñëa
replied, “No, you will have to do this.
In the entire world, I see no one else
who is as capable.”
Feeling ashamed, Lord Çiva now told
Närada, “At last, I had to agree to
follow His order. Appearing as
Çaìkaräcärya I preached everywhere, ‘You
are brahma, you are brahma,
you are the impersonal brahma. The entire
world is false.’ I am so much regretting
this. I know I have committed a
great offence by causing so many people
to be averse to Lord Kåñëa. Still,
to carry out His order I spread this
doctrine. It is clear by the fact that He
sometimes gives me such orders that I
am not His dearest one.”
Cheating the Cheaters
Lord Çiva also expressed to Närada his
regret in having given
benedictions to Lord Kåñëa’s enemies.
To fulfill his Lord’s desires, he had
given benedictions to demons like
Rävaëa, Våkäsura, Çälva and Jayadratha,
and thus he had performed many
activities that were seemingly opposed
to Kåñëa and kåñëa-bhakti.
Närada Muni said, “Master, please don’t
try to mislead me. I know
that whatever you do is to please Lord
Kåñëa and to assist Him in His
pastimes, for the benefit of all
beings. You told me that you have many
1 Lord Çiva was referring to the long
history in relation to Çrépäd Çaìkaräcärya’s
propagating the concept of the living
entities’ oneness with God in all respects.
Before the appearance of Çaìkaräcärya
fifteen hundred years ago, voidist Buddhism,
which rejects the Vedas, was prominent
in India.
Çaìkaräcärya is an incarnation
of Lord Çiva, the topmost devotee of
the Lord. However, in order to drive away
Buddhism and re-establish Vedic
authority, he had to compromise with the atheistic
Buddhist
philosophy and preach a non-devotional doctrine.
4 ÇIVA-TATTVA LORD ÇIVA’S HIGHEST
BENEDICTION 5
times given benedictions to His
enemies. I know that His enemies, as well
as the enemies of His devoted cousins,
the Päëòavas, worship you for
ill-motivated benedictions. I also know
that you grant them benedictions.
But those benedictions are not
foolproof; they always have some loophole.
Actually, you cheat these beneficiaries
in order to please Lord Kåñëa. You
are undoubtedly His dearest friend.”
Çiva and Närada continued to discuss
some historical incidents which,
according to Çiva, proved that he was
not dear to Kåñëa – but according to
Närada, proved the opposite.
A Loophole
The great epic Mahäbhärata tells
of King Jayadratha, one of the
many demons who received such a clever
benediction from Lord Çiva.
Duryodhana, the paternal cousin of the
five Päëòava brothers, had given
his sister Dushala in marriage to King
Jayadratha, and therefore the king
had also become like a brother-in-law
of the Päëòavas. Once, Jayadratha
tried to kidnap the Päëòavas’ wife,
Draupadé, desiring strongly to make
her his own wife. As he forced her onto
his chariot, she admonished him,
crying, “I am the wife of the Päëòavas.
When they catch you, they will
punish you and kill you!”
Jayadratha’s arrogance prevented him
from hearing her, and he
continued his abduction. Meanwhile, the
sage Närada approached the
Päëòavas and informed them, “Oh, I saw
Jayadratha taking away Draupadé,
and she was weeping!”
Two of the Päëòavas, Bhéma and Arjuna,
immediately chased after
Jayadratha. Bhéma dismounted his
chariot and ran faster than Jayadratha’s
horses. With his bow and arrows, Arjuna
created a fire that surrounded
the chariot of Jayadratha, who was then
captured and could not move.
Severely beaten by Bhéma and arrested
by Arjuna, Jayadratha was bound
to the chariot and taken to where
Yudhiñöhira Mahäräja had been staying
with Draupadé.
Bhéma and Arjuna spoke to Yudhiñöhira,
their respected senior
brother. Bhéma urged him, “I want to kill
Jayadratha. Please order me to
kill him.”
In support of Bhéma, Arjuna said,
“Jayadratha has performed a heinous
act and should be killed.”
King Yudhiñöhira replied, “The offense
was committed against Draupadé.
We should take the case to her, and we
will do whatever she orders.”
When Jayadratha was brought at the feet
of Draupadé, she mercifully
told her husbands, “Don’t kill him;
forgive him. He is our brother-in-law.
If you kill him, your cousin-sister
will be widowed and she will weep for
the rest of her life.”
Bhéma and Arjuna then approached Lord
Kåñëa and appealed to Him:
“What should we do? We have vowed to
kill Jayadratha, and now Draupadé
tells us to forgive him.”
Kåñëa replied, “For one who has been
honored, dishonor is worse
than death.”
Arjuna then shaved King Jayadratha’s
head, leaving five patches of
hair, and he shaved one side of his
face, leaving the other side unshaven.
Jayadratha felt humiliated, and after
being released by Bhéma and Arjuna
he considered it better to have died.
He thought, “I will somehow take
revenge.” Thus absorbed, he went to
Gangotré in the Himälayas and
undertook a severe type of penance to
please Lord Çiva.
After some months he gave up all food,
water, and bodily activities,
and was about to die. At this point
Lord Çiva came before him and asked
what boon he wanted as a result of his
austerity. Jayadratha replied, “I
want revenge against the Päëòavas. I
want to defeat and kill all of them.”
Lord Çiva told him, “You can defeat the
Päëòavas, but only Yudhiñöhira,
Bhéma, Nakula and Sahadeva; not
Arjuna.” Jayadratha said, “If you cannot
benedict me to my full satisfaction,
then please grant that neither Arjuna
nor anyone else will be able to kill
me.” Lord Çiva replied, “I can grant
you this: if your head is severed and falls
on the ground, the person who
caused this will die immediately. Your
life will be saved and your head
will rejoin your body. You may be
‘killed’ hundreds of thousands of times,
but you will not die. On the other
hand, if your severed head falls into
your father’s hands and he throws it on
the ground, then you will die.”
Jayadratha was satisfied, thinking, “My
father would never do this.”
When the battle of Kurukñetra began,
Jayadratha took the side of
the Päëòavas’ enemy, Duryodhana. One
evening during the battle, as the
sun was setting, Jayadratha’s father
was absorbed in prayer and making
an offering of water to the Sun-god.
Arjuna saw this opportune moment.
With the skillful release of an arrow,
he severed Jayadratha’s head from his
body and caused it to fall into the
hands of his meditating father. Startled
and without thought, Jayadratha’s
father tossed the head on the ground.
Then, opening his eyes he exclaimed,
“What was that wet thing?” Seeing
that he had just thrown his son’s head,
he began to cry, “Oh my son! Oh
my son! You
are dead now!”
6 ÇIVA-TATTVA LORD ÇIVA’S HIGHEST
BENEDICTION 7
A Clever Benediction
Envious of Kåñëa and with a desire for
the strength to destroy him,
the demon Çälva also took shelter of
Lord Çiva. He performed a severe type
of austerity and ate no more than a
handful of ashes daily. After one year,
Lord Çiva became pleased with him and
asked him to beg for a boon.
Çälva begged from Lord Çiva the gift of
an airplane, saying, “This
airplane should perform as I wish; it
should be operated by my mind. On
my order it should go to heaven or
anywhere I desire. In summer it should
be air-conditioned. If there are only
two men, there should only be two
seats, and if I want to travel with
hundreds of thousands of persons, many
seats should manifest. It should never
crash due to mechanical difficulty,
and it should be equipped with all
varieties of weapons. It should be
dangerous and fearful to the Yadus.”
Lord Çiva agreed, and Çälva was helped
by the demon Maya Dänava
to manufacture a mystical airplane that
began to destroy Dvärakä, Lord
Kåñëa’s abode. Çälva personally
attacked from above, and his soldiers
attacked on the ground. Headed by
Pradyumna, the Yadu dynasty warriors
fought with Çälva and his army, but
they could not defeat him.
Finally, Lord Kåñëa personally appeared
on the battlefield, and after
much intense fighting on both sides and
many mystic displays by Çälva, the
Lord took up His disc, cut off the
demon’s head, and gave him liberation.
In this way, the benedictions given by
Lord Çiva to the enemies of
Lord Kåñëa always have a weak point – a
loophole. Lord Çiva is extremely
clever, and he is always serving his
Lord, Çré Kåñëa. Närada knew this fact,
and he wanted to publicize Lord Çiva’s
glories. Çiva is very near and dear
to Kåñëa, and non-different from Him.
Try to always honor him, for he is
Kåñëa’s greatest devotee.
nimna-gänäà yathä gaìgä
devänäm acyuto yathä
vaiñëavänäà yathä çambhuù
puräëänäm idam tathä
Çrémad-Bhägavatam (12.13.16)
Just as the Gaìgä is the greatest of
all rivers, Lord Acyuta [Kåñëa]
the supreme among deities and Lord
Çambhu [Çiva] the greatest of
Vaiñëavas, so Çrémad-Bhägavatam is
the greatest of all Puräëas.
The Principle of Çiva
The principle of Çiva – çiva-tattva –
is extremely complex. The principle
of Brahmä is not as complicated,
because Lord Brahmä is always a jéva, a
finite spirit soul. Sometimes, when
there is no qualified jéva, Lord Viñëu
(Kåñëa’s expansion) personally takes
the post of Brahmä, but that is rare.
Lord Çiva is not like that; he is not a
finite soul.
After passing through the eight
material coverings, and after crossing the
Virajä (the river that divides the
material world and the spiritual world) and
the planet of Lord Brahmä (the highest
material planet), one comes to the
planet of Çiva. There he is known as
Sadäçiva, a manifestation of Lord Viñëu.
Çiva-tattva can be understood by the analogy of
yogurt and milk.
Yogurt is nothing but a transformation
of milk. Milk can become yogurt, but
yogurt cannot become milk. This analogy
is found in Brahma-saàhitä and
elucidated in Çréla Jéva Gosvämé’s
commentary: “Just as milk is transformed
into yogurt by contact with a
transforming agent, Çré Govinda, Lord Çré
Kåñëa, similarly accepts the form of
Çambhu (Çiva) in order to accomplish a
specific purpose. The example of yogurt
is actually given in order to convey
the idea of cause and effect, not the
idea of transformation. Çré Kåñëa is reality
and cannot be transformed, so it is not
possible for Him to undergo any kind
of distortion. A wish-fulfilling gem
manifests many things according to one’s
desire, yet its constitutional nature
remains untransformed.”2
Rämeçvara Mahädeva
When Çré Rämacandra was making the
bridge to Laìkä, he established
a Çiva-liìga (deity form of Çiva)
called Rämeçvara. All the common people
began glorifying Lord Çiva, shouting,
“Rämeçvara ki jaya! You are Räma’s
éçvara: you are the lord of Räma.” The
demigods were unsatisfied by this and
announced through an arial voice, “Rämas
ca asau éçvaraù: Räma is God, and
Çaìkarä is also God; they are the
same.” Hearing this, the Çiva-liìga broke.
Lord Çiva emerged from the liìga and
told them all, “You are all foolish; you
do not know my tattva, the
established truths regarding my identity. Räma is
my beloved and my God, and that is why
I am called Rämeçvara.”
2“ In this case the special
transforming agent is constituted of a mixture of mäyä’s
aspect of the mode of ignorance, the
minuteness aspect of the marginal potency,
and a slight degree of the combined
knowledge (saàvit) and bliss (hlädiné)
aspects of the transcendental potency.
The effulgent subordinate controller in
the form of Çambhu-liìga, being united
with this special transforming agent, is
constitutionally the semblance of God’s
expansion.” (Brahma-saàhitä commentary
by Çréla
Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura)
8 ÇIVA-TATTVA LORD ÇIVA’S HIGHEST
BENEDICTION 9
Granting Perfect Love
Lord Çiva eternally resides in Lord
Kåñëa’s abode, Våndävana, where
he manifests many forms to render
devotional services to Him. The form of
Gopéçvara Mahädeva3 was manifested by
Lord Kåñëa’s desire. When Kåñëa
desired to perform His räsa dance,
Çrématé Rädhikä, the embodiment of His
pleasure potency, manifested from His
left side and Gopéçvara Mahädeva
manifested from His right side. The
form of Çiva who lives in Käçé or Kailäsa
in the material world is a partial
manifestation of the original Sadäçiva in
Våndävana. The many other commonly
worshiped forms of Lord Çiva are
expansions of Sadäçiva. They are not
the original. Partial expansions such
as Péppaleçvara Mahädeva, Bhüteçvara
Mahädeva, Raìgeçvara Mahädeva
and so on cannot award the benediction
that can be attained by the mercy of
Gopéçvara – the highest perfection of
love, namely gopé-prema.
Çréla Raghunätha däsa Gosvämé has
composed a prayer in his
Vraja-viläsa-stava:
mudä gopendrasyatmaja bhuja parisranga
nédhaye
sphurad gopirvrndair yam iha bhägavatam
pranayibhih
bhajadbhistair bhaktyäs vamabhilasitam
präptam aciräd
yamitire gopéçvaram anudinam taà kila
bhaje
I daily worship Gopéçvara Mahädeva, who
is situated on the
bank of Yamunä. That very Gopéçvara was
worshipped with deep
devotion by the gopés, and he
quickly fulfilled their desire to attain
a supremely precious jewel in the form
of the embrace of the son of
Nanda Mahäräja [Kåñëa].
Çréla Sanätana Gosvämé, the great
Vaiñëava saint who resided in
Våndävana near the old Çré Madana-Mohana
Temple, would go daily
to see Çré Gopéçvara Mahädeva at his
temple. Once, in his older years,
Sanätana Gosvämé had a dream wherein
Gopéçvara Mahädeva appeared
and instructed him: “Now that you are
old, please do not go through so
much trouble to see me.” Sanätana
Gosvämé replied, “I will continue to
come. I cannot change this habit.”
Gopéçvara Mahädeva said, “Then I will
come and stay very near to your
residence, manifesting in Bankhandé.” The
very next day, Çré Gopéçvara Mahädeva
appeared in Bankhandé, halfway
between his orginal temple and Çréla
Sanätana Gosvämé’s residence. Seeing
this, Sanätana Gosvämé became
overwhelmed with transcendental ecstasy,
and from that day on he visited
Bankhandé Mahädeva every day.
Wherever he was, Çréla Sanätana Gosvämé
could not live without his
beloved Lord Çiva – Gopéçvara Mahädeva
and Bankhandé Mahädeva in
Våndävana, and Kämeçvara Mahädeva in
Kämyavana forest. In Govardhana
he would stay near his very dear
friend, Cakreçvara Mahädeva, who acquired
the name when he served Govardhana Hill
and the Vrajaväsés by holding up
his trident like a cakra (disc
weapon), protecting them from the torrential
deluge sent by King Indra.
Prior to this, Lord Çiva had asked Çré
Kåñëa for the boon to witness
His childhood pastimes. Kåñëa ordered
him to situate himself in Nandagaon
in the form of a hill. Çiva followed
this order and became Nandéçvara
Hill, and he thus became known as
Nandéçvara. (Lord Brahmä became
Brahma-parvata, the mountain in Çrématé
Rädhikä’s birthplace, Varñäëä.
Because Brahmä is so near to Rädhikä,
he is also our Gurudeva.)
We honor Lord Çiva as a great Vaiñëava
and as Guru. We do not worship
him separately. We observe Çiva-ratri,
Lord Çiva’s appearance day, and we
glorify him in connection to his
relationship with Çré Kåñëa. Çréla Sanätana
Gosvämé has written in his Hari-bhakti-viläsa
that all Vaiñëavas should observe
Çiva-caturdaçé (Çiva-ratri). Lord Çiva,
in whom all good qualities reside, should
certainly be honored by the observance
of this day.
3 In his original and most pure form,
Çiva is eternally Gopéçvara Mahadeva. Yet, he
performed the following human-like
pastime in which he ‘became’ Gopéçvara:
“Lord Çiva wanted to become a gopé. He
performed austerities, and when
Paurëamäsé Yogamäyä became pleased and
appeared before him, he prayed
to join Kåñëa’s räsa-lila.
Paurëamäsé mercifully assisted him in dipping in
Brahmä-kuëòa, and he immediately
assumed the form of a teenage gopé. He then
went to the place where räsa-lila
was being performed, and hid there in a grove.
“Kåñëa and the gopés sensed that
someone of a different mood had come. They
asked each other, ‘Why are you not so
happy today? What is the matter?’After searching,
they discovered the new gopé and
asked ‘her’, ‘Who are you? What is your name? Who
are your parents? What is your
husband’s name? Where is your in-laws’ house?’
“When Çiva could not reply, they began
to slap her so much that her cheeks
became swollen and she began to cry,
‘Yogamäyä, Yogamäyä. Save me. I will never
again come to Våndävana, and I will
never dare take part in räsa-lélä.’ Paurëamäsé
arrived, and she requested the gopés
to show Lord Çiva mercy. ‘She is the object
of my mercy,’ Paurëamäsé told them.The gopés
then accepted her as a gopé and
Kåñëa named her Gopéçvara (she whose éçvaras,
controllers, are the gopés). He
blessed her to become the guard of the räsa-lélä
and said, ‘Without the sanction of
Gopéçvara, no
one will be able to enter the räsa-lélä.’ ” (Pinnacle of Devotion)
10 ÇIVA-TATTVA LORD ÇIVA’S HIGHEST
BENEDICTION 11
We offer obeisance to Lord Çiva with
prayers like this:
våndävanävani-pate! jaya soma
soma-maule
sanaka-sanandana-sanätana-näradeòya
gopéçvara! vraja-viläsi-yugäìghri-padme
prema prayaccha nirupädhi namo namas te
(Saìkalpa-kalpadruma 103)
O Gatekeeper of Våndävana! O Soma, all
glories to you! O you whose
forehead is decorated with the moon,
and who is worshipable by
the sages headed by Sanaka, Sanandana,
Sanätana and Närada! O
Gopéçvara! Desiring that you bestow
upon me prema for the lotus
feet of Çré Çré Rädhä-Mädhava, who
perform joyous pastimes in Vrajadhäma,
I offer obeisances unto you time and
again.
By Çiva’s Benediction
A brähmaëa in Käçé Väräëasé once
prayed to Lord Çiva, “I want to give
my daughter in marriage, but I have no
money. Please give me money.” Lord
Çiva told him, “Go to Våndävana and
meet with Çréla Sanätana Gosvämé.
You can ask him to give you some wealth
for your daughter’s marriage.” The
brähmaëa went to Våndävana, by foot, and there
he asked the villagers there
for the whereabouts of a person named
Sanätana Gosvämé. As they all knew
him, they pointed out his residence.
Çréla Sanätana Gosvämé was practicing bhajana
near the Yamunä
River
at Käliya-hrada, the former abode of
the very poisonous snake named Käliya.
Käliya-hrada was close to the Yamunä,
and therefore its surrounding area was
full of sand. Çréla Sanätana Gosvämé
wore only a loincloth. He used to go
begging door-to-door for a small amount
of prasäda (Kåñëa’s food remnants),
and would take as his meal only one dry
chapatti (flat bread), with no salt.
The brähmaëa arrived at his
cottage and told him, “I went to Çaìkara
Mahädeva, Lord Çiva, and he told me to
meet you. He said you will give me
some wealth for my daughter’s
marriage.” Sanätana Gosvämé replied, “I have
no possessions. You can see that I have
nothing but a loincloth.” Then he
thought, “Oh, Çiva cannot tell a lie.
He is my bosom friend.” Thinking of
Lord Siva and contemplating further, he
remembered a touchstone he had
once disgarded and then forgotten. Now
he told the brähmaëa, “Go to the
Yamunä and remove some of the sand, and
there you will find a touchstone. It
is somewhere in the sand, though I
don’t remember where.”
The brähmaëa found the jewel,
touched it to iron, and the iron turned
into gold. He was very, very happy that
Lord Çiva had told him to come to
Våndävana, and thought with gratitude,
“My prayer has been answered by
him.” On the way home, however, his
greed for money increased and he began
thinking, “Why did Sanätana Gosvämé
keep the touchstone in the sand? It
had no use there. He must have still
more valuable jewels.”
He thus returned, and Sanätana Gosvämé
asked him, “Why have you come
back?” He replied, “I’ve come because I
know that you have more valuable
jewels than this.” Sanätana Gosvämé
then said, “Go and throw the touchstone
in the Yamunä. The brähmaëa did
so with all his power, and then Sanätana
Gosvämé told him, “Come here. Come
here.” He gave him the mantra, “Hare
Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare,
Hare Räma Hare Räma Räma Räma
Hare Hare” and said, “I do not have
worldly jewels, but I have transcendental
jewels. The jewel of Lord Kåñëa and Çré
Rädhä will come to you in a very short
time. So remain here. Your daughter’s
marriage will take place automatically.
Stay here and chant Hare Kåñëa.” That brähmaëa
followed his instruction and
Gopéçvara
Mahädeva in Våndävana, U.P., India
became a very elevated saint.
12 ÇIVA-TATTVA THE POST AND THE PERSON
13
Sré Närada desired to proclaim the
glories of Lord Çiva. As previously
described, he praised Çiva as the
greatest devotee of Lord Kåñëa and most
dear to Him, and Lord Çiva became upset
by hearing those praises. Çiva
then related a number of incidents
which, according to him, were evidence
that he was not dear to Kåñëa at all.
Now Lord Çiva compares himself to Çré
Prahläda Mahäräja,4 the famed
devotee of Lord Nåsiàhadeva described
in Çrémad-Bhägavatam. He told
Närada, “Çré Prahläda Mahäräja is
superior to me, and it is he who is the
dear devotee of the Lord.” Even though
Lord Çiva is superior to Prahläda
Mahäräja, he told Närada that Prahläda
Mahäräja is superior. Why? He
said this to encourage people to follow
Prahläda Mahäräja’s ideal character
and teachings.
However, Prahläda Mahäräja cannot enter
Çré Kåñëa’s transcendental
abode, Våndävana, whereas Lord Çiva
resides there eternally as Gopéçvara.
Çiva serves Çré Kåñëa personally in
numerous ways. He and his wife
Pärvaté-devé meditate on añöa-käléya-lélä,
Lord Çré Kåñëa’s confidential
4 In the hermitage of Çré Närada Muni,
Prahläda Mahäräja heard the message
of Çrémad-Bhägavatam while
within the womb of his mother. From his birth,
Prahläda was fixed in transcendental
realization of the all-pervading presence of
the Supreme Lord, and he preached love
of God to his schoolmates at the tender
age of five. Despite efforts by his
atheistic father to change his nature – efforts
that culminated in repeated attempts to
kill him by means of administering poison,
putting him in boiling oil, tossing him
from the top of a cliff and so on – Prahläda
continued to experience great joy by
remembering Lord Viñëu and chanting his
holy names. Prahläda was protected by
the Supreme Lord in every situation.
Finally, Lord Viñëu appeared in the
form of a half-man, half-lion and killed his
demonic father. When offered a
benediction by the Lord, Prahläda simply asked
for the liberation of his father, as
well as that of all conditioned souls. He is honored
in this world by all pure devotees.
14 ÇIVA-TATTVA THE POST AND THE PERSON
15
The Duty of Destruction
What is the function of Lord Çiva’s
post, and why is it superior to that
of Lord Brahmä? One reason is that
Brahmä cannot execute pralaya, the
complete destruction of the universe –
a very dangerous thing, whereas Çiva
can do so.
Çiva’s function as destroyer is similar
to that of a farmer who plants and
cultivates a large area of wheat. The
farmer carefully waters and nourishes
the crop, guarding it from animals, and
after five or six months the wheat
matures and ripens. Then, either by
hand or a machine, the farmer harvests
the plants and carefully removes the
grains from their shafts. The rest of the
plant-matter becomes refuse, and
subject to rotting and attracting disease,
vermin, and snakes. Therefore, the
farmer sets fire to it and burns it.
Just as the farmer extracts the grains
from the plants, Lord Çiva extracts
the eternal spirit souls from their
material bodies and from the world. At the
time of annihilation he creates an
inferno, setting the entire universe on fire,
but the spirit souls are not destroyed.
There are two kinds of universal
devastations: one at the end of Lord
Brahmä’s day and one at the end of his
life. At the end of his day (4,320,000,000
solar years) he rests in a mystic sleep
within the body of Garbhodakaçäyé
Viñëu, and all the conditioned living
entities enter as well.7
While the entire universe is submerged
in water, the living entities rest in
their subtle bodies within the
transcendental body of Garbhodakaçäyé Viñëu.
They await the start of the next day of
Brahmä, the next material creation or
manifestation. Some of them become
liberated, and others do not.
5 “Çréla Madhväcärya is the original äcärya
for those who belong to the Madhva-
Gauòéya-sampradäya.”(SB 6.1.40 purport)
“This Madhva-Gauòéya-sampradäya is also
known as the Brahmä-sampradäya because
the disciplic succession originally began
from Brahmä. Brahmä instructed the sage
Närada, Närada instructed Vyäsadeva, and
Vyäsadeva instructed Madhva Muni, or
Madhväcärya.” (Kåñëa Introduction).
6 “The Vedas say, ‘Svadharma-niñöhaù
çata janmabhiù pumän viriïcatäm eti - One who
strictly follows the principles of varëäçrama-dharma
for at least one hundred births will
be rewarded with the post of Lord
Brahmä.’ ” (Çrémad-Bhägavatam 5.20.33 purport)
Varëäçrama-dharma – the institutions dividing society
into four divisions of
soical life and four occupational
divisions of castes.
eight-fold daily pastimes. These secret
pastimes are very confidential, yet
both Çiva and Pärvaté are able to
meditate upon them. Çiva is hundreds of
thousands of times superior to and more
worshipable than Çré Prahläda
Mahäräja, and yet the artful Çiva
declared Prahläda Mahäräja to be superior.
Why did he do so? In one sense Prahläda
Mahäräja is superior, and in
another sense he is not.
We can reconcile this by considering
the two perspectives from which
to understand the identity of Lord
Çiva: We can see Çiva from the point
of view of his post, and also from the
point of view of his personality. As
a personality, separate from his post,
he appears as an associate of the
Supreme Lord, such as Gopéçvara,
Hanumän and Bhéma. As Gopéçvara
he resides eternally in Våndävana. As
Hanumän he always associates with
and serves Lord Räma. As Bhéma he
always serves Lord Kåñëa. And, when
Hanumän and Bhéma combine together in
this present age of Kali-yuga,
they become Madhväcärya, our
Sampradäya-guru.5
From the point of view of Lord Çiva’s
function as the god of annihilation,
and also that of Brahmä as the
secondary creator of the universe, Çiva and
Brahmä are actually posts. Lord Brahmä
and Lord Çiva are not ordinary human
beings, but their posts are like that
of the president or prime minister of a nation,
wherein the man representing the post
has to perform a certain defined job.
Both as the post and the person, Çiva
is superior to Brahmä. Lord Çiva is
an expansion of Lord Viñëu, but
sometimes a jéva (living entity) may become
Çiva’s expansion known as Rudra. If a
man purely performs the duties of
varëäçrama for one hundred births, he may become
Brahmä.6 In other words,
he may attain the position or post of
Brahmä. In turn, when a person in the
post of Brahmä carries out his function
expertly for one hundred births, he
becomes qualified to perform the
function of Çiva in his manifestation as
Rudra. Çiva’s post is therefore
superior to that of Brahmä, and this is also
evidence that Çiva is more powerful
than Brahmä.
7 “At the beginning of Brahmä’s day,
all living entities become manifest from the
unmanifest state, and thereafter, when
the night falls, they are merged into the
unmanifest again. Again and again, when
Brahmä’s day arrives, all living entities
come into being, and with the arrival
of Brahmä’s night they are helplessly
annihilated.” (Bhagavad-gétä 8.18-19)
“At the end of the day, under the
insignificant portion of the mode of darkness,
the powerful manifestation of the
universe merges in the darkness of night. By the
influence of eternal time, the
innumerable living entities remain merged in that
dissolution, and everything is silent.”
(Çrémad-Bhägavatam 3.11.28)
“The dissolution of the three worlds is
effected by the incarnation of darkness,
Rudra, represented by the fire of
eternal time which blazes over the three worlds.
These three worlds are known as Bhüù,
Bhuvaù and Svaù (Pätäla, Martya and
Svarga). The innumerable living
entities merge into that dissolution, which appears
to be the dropping of the curtain of
the scene of the Supreme Lord’s energy, and so
everything
becomes silent.” (Çrémad-Bhägavatam 3.11.28 purport) cont...
16 ÇIVA-TATTVA THE POST AND THE PERSON
17
this third eye that he generates fire
and employs it at the time of the universal
destruction.
Seen from this perspective – the
destroyer – Lord Çiva cannot serve
Çré Kåñëa directly, because he is engaged
at his post. Those souls who are
liberated after hundreds of thousands
of lifetimes of devotional practice,
having renounced all responsibilities
and concerns of the world – including
occupations like that of Brahmä and
Çiva – and who constantly hear about,
glorify, and remember Lord Kåñëa, take
birth in this world as pure devotees
like Prahläda Mahäräja. This was told
by Lord Çiva to Çré Närada.
Prahläda Mahäräja has nothing to do
with this world; nothing to create
or demolish. He rejected all such affairs
as insignificant. Although he had
inherited a large kingdom, it was
controlled and governed by his ministers.
His senses were totally absorbed in the
transcendental loving service to the
Supreme Lord. He was always engaged in
hearing the name and glories of the
Lord, singing and speaking about his
glories, remembering and meditating
on him, offering prayers, carrying out
the his orders and fully surrendering
to him.
Devotees in Prahläda’s category have no
need to approach Lord Kåñëa’s
manifestations like Lord Nåsiàhadeva
and Lord Räma, for the Lord personally
comes to them in these forms. Lord Çiva
told Çré Närada that because he is
always engaged in the post of
controlling the universe, he can neither see nor
offer services to the Lord daily, as
Prahläda Mahäräja sees Lord Vämanadeva
or Lord Nåsiàhadeva. Vämanadeva and
Nåsiàhadeva are both manifestations
of the same Lord, who regularly gives
Prahläda his divine association and the
opportunity to serve and offer
obeisance at his lotus feet.
Although both Brahmä and Çiva are
actually superior in bhakti (devotion)
to Prahläda Mahäräja, their posts
involve contact with the three guëas, or
modes of material nature, namely
goodness, passion and ignorance. The role
of Lord Brahmä is creation and
procreation in raja-guëa, the mode of passion.
Lord Çiva’s role of demolition and
dissolution is in tama-guëa, the mode of
ignorance. It is for this reason that
they are called guëa-ävatäras, incarnations
of the material qualities.
Prahläda Mahäräja is nirguëa,
transcendental to the three modes of
nature. He has nothing to do with
activities in material goodness, passion,
and ignorance, by which this world is
shackled. Lord Çiva is also beyond the
three modes of nature, but he adopts
the mode of ignorance (tama-guëa) to
efficiently perform his function.
8 “There are two types of dissolution
of the manifested cosmos. At the end of every
4,320,000,000 solar years, when Brahmä,
the lord of one particular universe, goes
to sleep, there is one annihilation.
And at the end of Lord Brahmä’s life, which
takes place at the end of Brahmä’s one
hundred years of age, in our calculation at
the end of 8,640,000,000 x 30 x 12 x
100 solar years, there is complete annihilation
of the entire universe, and in both the
periods both the material energy called the
mahat-tattva and the marginal energy called jéva-tattva
merge in the person of the
Supreme Lord.” (Çrémad-Bhägavatam 1.10.21
purport)
9 “Käraëodakaçäyé Viñëu is the first
incarnation of the Supreme Lord, and he
is the master of eternal time, space,
cause and effects, mind, the elements, the
material ego, the modes of nature, the
senses, the universal form of the Lord,
Garbhodakaçäyé Viñëu, and the sum total
of all living beings, both moving and
nonmoving.” (Çrémad-Bhägavatam 2.6.42)
When Lord Brahmä completes the one
hundred celestial years of his life,
Lord Çiva again performs this duty of
destruction. At that time all the spirit
souls enter into the body of
Käraëodakaçäyé Viñëu or Mahä-Viñëu. At the end
of each day of Lord Brahmä, all souls
enter Garbhodakaçäyé Viñëu, and at the
end of Brahmä’s life, even the millions
of manifestations of Garbhodakaçäyé
Viñëu enter Käraëodakaçäyé Viñëu8 along
with the spirit souls. At the time
of creation, Käraëodakaçäyé Viñëu
generates innumerable manifestations of
Garbhodakaçäyé Viñëu, and at the time
of complete annihilation, they enter
back into his body.9
Lord Çiva is not a living entity, but
he is also not in the category of Lord
Viñëu. He is much more powerful than
any living entity, even up to Lord
Brahmä. However, he is not equal to
Lord Viñëu. Because he is almost as good
as the Supreme Personalty of Godhead,
he can see the three phases of time:
past, present and future. One of his
eyes is like the sun and another is like
the moon. He also has a third eye,
located between his eyebrows. It is from
7 cont. “It is said that the blazing
fire from the mouth of Saìkarñaëa rages for one
hundred years of the demigods, or
36,000 human years. Then for another 36,000
years there are torrents of rain, accompanied
by violent winds and waves, and the
seas and oceans overflow. People forget
all these devastations of the worlds and
think themselves happy in the material
progress of civilization. This is called mäyä,
or ‘that which is not.’” (Çrémad-Bhägavatam
3.11.31 purport)
“Thereafter, at the end of the
millennium, the Lord Himself, in the form
of Rudra, the destroyer, will
annihilate the complete creation as the wind
displaces the clouds. This creation is
very appropriately compared to clouds.”
(Çrémad-Bhägavatam
2.10.43)
18 ÇIVA-TATTVA THE POST AND THE PERSON
19
Regarding the analogy of the shops in a
market, that expert tells you,
“This shop is good, that shop is
better, and this one is the best. Similarly, in his
Çré Båhad-bhägavatämåta, Çréla Sanätana Gosvämé establishes
the gradations of
excellence of various devotees and
their devotion, in order to help his readers
determine their spiritual path.
The history of Närada Muni’s coming to
the abode of Lord Çiva and
glorifying him was first narrated in
this Çré Båhad-bhägavatämåta. Like Çréla
Sanätana Gosvämé, Närada is also that
expert described above. He desired to
establish pure bhakti in the
world, and therefore he played the role of searching
for the greatest devotee and recipient
of Lord Kåñëa’s mercy. His search had
taken him first to the ‘shop’ of a brähmaëa
in Prayäga, and after that to South
India, to the shop of a king. Then he
traveled to heaven, where he entered the
shop of King Indra, and Indra sent him
to the shop of Lord Brahmä. Brahmä
sent him to Lord Çiva, and Lord Çiva is
now sending him to Prahläda Mahäräja.
Gradually, Çré Närada will bring us to
the greatest recipients of Lord Kåñëa’s
mercy, the gopés. In the form of
Gopéçvara, Lord Çiva is the beloved servant
and associate of those gopés.
The Personal Associate
Regarding Lord Çiva’s glorification of
Prahläda Mahäräja, now consider
Lord Çiva’s identity as a
transcendental personality – separate from his post.
Sometimes senior Vaiñëavas express
sincere recognition of the novice,
inspiring him or her on the path of
devotion. The Vaiñëava may say, “Oh, you
work so hard and earn money, and with
that money you support and nourish
me. I have no means at all. I do
nothing but visit for a short while, eating and
sleeping at your expense. I would not be
able to speak the glories of Lord
Kåñëa at this festival if you had not
arranged for the management of all the
activities here, so you are superior to
me.”
Out of sincere humility, gratitude and
affection, liberated souls speak in
this endearing manner, and at the same
time they are fixed in the realization
that they are always being personally
maintained by the Supreme Lord. The
senior Vaiñëava has the disciple’s
personal benefit in mind.
However, Lord Çiva was not speaking for
Prahläda Mahäräja’s benefit,
but to acquaint aspiring devotees with
the stages of devotion. His desire was to
facilitate the service of Çré Närada
Muni and Çréla Sanätana Gosvämé10, whose
mission was to establish in the world
the sequence of the grades of devotion
and ultimately establish the glories of
the gopés. Try to understand all these
truths, and seek to gradually become
firmly situated in bhakti.
Imagine that you are in a market in
which there are thousands of varieties
of shops. In some of those shops there
are products made of iron, in some
shops there are products made of gold,
in some there are jewels, and in others
cintämaëi (wish-fulfilling stones). An expert is
guiding you through all the
shops, pointing out different products
and revealing which are superior.
If there are a thousand pounds of iron
and only one ounce of gold, the
gold has more value. On the other hand,
many pounds of gold will not amount
to the value of one Kaustubha-maëi or a
similarly precious stone. Millions of
such precious jewels cannot compare with
a tiny quantity of cintämaëi, and
even millions of cintämaëi stones
cannot compare with one holy name of Lord
Kåñëa.
Now suppose someone is chanting the
name of Lord Kåñëa alone, and
another is absorbed in the name of
Rädhä-Ramaëa. The name Rädhä-Ramaëa,
meaning Çré Kåñëa, the enjoyer of
pastimes with Çrématé Rädhäräëé, has more
transcendental taste (rasa) than
the name Kåñëa alone. The person absorbed
in that holy name will therefore
experience a greater spiritual pleasure.
10 Please see
the Preface for more details.
20 ÇIVA-TATTVA LORD ÇIVA’S HIGHEST
BENEDICTION
here are three considerations (vicäras)
from which to understand
the relationship between Lord Kåñëa and
Lord Çiva. One is called
tattva-gata-vicära – the consideration of their
relationship by established
philosophical truth. Another is called
aiçvarya-gata-vicära – the consideration
of their relationship in the Supreme
Lord’s pastimes of majesty, and the
third is naravat-gata-vicära –
the consideration of their relationship in the
Supreme Lord’s sweet, human-like
pastimes.
According to philosophical truth (tattva),
Çré Kåñëa’s plenary portion
is Sadäçiva, and Sadäçiva’s partial
manifestation is Lord Çiva. From the
perspective of Lord Kåñëa’s pastimes in
opulence and majesty (aiçvarya),
Lord Kåñëa is Çiva’s worshipful Deity,
who is always loved, honored and
respected by him. However, in naravat-gata-vicära,
Kåñëa plays another
role – that of an ordinary human being.
He performs pastimes as a very
young, small child who cannot do
anything independently. His mother,
Çrématé Yaçodä-devé, feeds Him and
tends to all His needs. During these
human-like pastimes, Lord Çiva might
come and give Him benedictions.
In the scriptures called the Puräëas it
is stated that when Kåñëa resided in
Dvärakä, He worshiped Çiva to beget a
child from the womb of His wife
Jämbavaté. Although Çiva is worshiped
by Kåñëa in those pastimes, he never
thinks himself superior. He is always
conscious that Kåñëa is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and that he is
Kåñëa’s eternal servant.
It is essential to have a clear
understanding of these truths. One who
knows these three perspectives or
considerations can understand the
relationship between Lord Çiva and his
Lord.
Established Truth
According to the principle of
philosophical truth, Lord Çiva is a partial
manifestation of Çré Kåñëa’s plenary
expansion, Sadäçiva. When Kåñëa
desires to
create, He expands Himself as Mahä-Saìkarñaëa, and possessing
22 ÇIVA-TATTVA THREE CONSIDERATIONS 23
this creative desire, Saìkarñaëa
expands as Mahä-Viñëu (Käraëodakaçäyé
Viñëu). Mahä-Viñëu then desires to
create, and His desire takes the form
of a light that emanates from between
his eyebrows. The semblance or dim
twilight reflection of that light is
called Çambhu-liìga (Çiva). Many people
worship Lord Çiva in the form of
Çambhu-liìga. The light itself is eternal and
is not Çambhu-liìga; Çambhu-liìga is
its semblance or shadow.
There is another semblance called Yoni,
and this is the shadow of
Ramä-devé. Ramä-devé is the spiritual
potency of Mahä-Viñëu, and in
Vaikuëöha she is Lord Näräyaëa’s
beloved consort Lakñmé-devé. This is
her original transcendental form, and
her shadow is the limited conceiving
potency – Yoni.
Mahä-Viñëu has two types of potency
with which he creates the
material worlds. One type of potency is
called nimitta – the instrumental
cause of creation, and the other is
called upädäna – the ingredient cause.
Instrumental and ingredient causes can
be explained in this way: Suppose I
say, “I killed a snake with a stick.”
The person who desired and performed
the activity is the instrumental cause
(nimitta), and the stick is the ingredient
cause (upädäna). In another
example, a potter makes a pot. The desire or
will of the potter to make the pot is
the instrumental cause. The sum total
of all the instruments used to create
it, like the wheel, clay, mud and water,
is the ingredient cause.
Mahä-Viñëu’s eternal instrumental
potency takes its reflected form as
Yoni, the limited shadow potency, and
the ingredient cause assumes the
reflection-form of Çambhu-liìga.
Creation then takes place by the union
of Çambhu-liìga and his female consort
Yoni. Çambhu is called the liìga
of the Supreme Lord, which means that
he is the manifest symbol of the
Lord’s male generative capacity, and he
appears for the purpose of preparing
the cosmic manifestation. That potency
which gives birth to the material
creation is the energy called Mäyä, and
her intrinsic form is Yoni.
Actually, the original instrumental and
ingredient cause is not Yoni and
Çambhu; it is Mahä-Viñëu. Material
nature, as Yoni, desires to create by dint
of the käma-béja (desire seed)
impregnated in her, and she is therefore the
secondary instrumental cause. The
desire-seed gave her the urge to create,
and because she then wanted to create,
she is called the instrumental cause.
Çambhu supplies the materials of
creation, and he is therefore called the
ingredient cause. Çambhu, the dim
reflection of the Supreme Lord’s own
divine desire-filled glance,
consummates his union with Yoni. However, he
can do nothing independent of the
energy of Mahä-Viñëu.
Mahä-Viñëu is the Supreme Personified
Will, and it is he who brings
about the union of the two – Yoni and
Çambhu. He is the divine dominating
person, the plenary portion of Lord
Kåñëa and the creator of the mundane
world. In order for creation to take
place, there must be the desire of the
Supreme Doer. He must be present. The
instrumental cause and ingredient
cause must be mixed with the desire or
glance of Mahä-Viñëu.
The initial form of the creation is mahat-tattva,
the sum-total
twenty-four elements.11 This mahat-tattva
is the reflection of the käma-béja,
the original desire-seed in Goloka
Våndävana. The seed of amorous creative
desire in Goloka is the embodiment of
pure cognition. It is a prototype of
the sex desire in this mundane world,
though it is located far from it. The
seed of the mundane sex desire is thus
the perverted reflection of the seed of
the original creative desire in Goloka
Våndävana.
Service in Pastimes of Majesty
The historical narrations that follow
are examples of aiçvarya-gatavicära,
Lord Çiva’s relationship with Kåñëa
from the perspective of Kåñëa’s
majesty. Revealed in Çrémad-Bhägavatam,
these transcendental histories
demonstrate Lord Çiva’s dependence on
Him. They also further reveal that
when Çiva gives benedictions to Kåñëa’s
enemies, he does so to assist in the
Supreme Lord’s pastimes, which are
performed for the benefit of all beings.
Çiva’s Dependence
Çrémad-Bhägavatam tells of a demon named Våkäsura who,
desiring to
enjoy Lord Çiva’s wife, Pärvaté,
performed severe austerities to ‘please’ Lord
Çiva. When Lord Çiva appeared before
him to grant him a benediction, Våkäsura
expressed his desire that as soon as he
would touch the head of anyone, that
person’s head would immediately split
open and he would die.
Lord Çiva granted this benediction, and
Våkäsura immediately rushed
forward to use it against Lord Çiva.
Çiva asked, “What are you doing?” He
replied, “Now I am applying my
benediction.” He did not say, “I want
Pärvaté.” He simply looked at Pärvaté
and then ran towards Lord Çiva.
Fearful, Çiva ran away, and Våkäsura
immediately chased after him. Lord Çiva
was attired in a deerskin, which fell
11 Mahat-tattva: the twenty-four elements are the five
gross elements, the three
subtle elements,
ten senses, five sense objects and the total material cause.
24 ÇIVA-TATTVA THREE CONSIDERATIONS 25
off, and then his òamaru drum
also fell. He kept running, however, and he
remembered his Lord. Who was the Lord
he remembered? It was Çré Kåñëa.
This is aiçvarya-gata-vicära.
Lord Çiva fled from the land to the sky
and from the sky to other
planets, until he reached the limits of
the universe, but Våkäsura continued
to chase him. The predominating deities
of higher planets, such as Brahmä,
Indra and Candra, were not able to save
him from the impending danger,
and finally he approached Kåñëa’s
incarnation, Lord Viñëu in Çvetadvépa.
In order to protect his devotee, Lord
Viñëu appeared as a perfect
brahmacäré, and the effulgence emanating from his
body was attractive to
both Çiva and the demon. After stopping
Våkäsura by offering obeisances to
him, and winning his confidence by
speaking sweet and reassuring words,
Lord Viñëu asked, “Why are you running
after Çiva?”
Våkäsura replied, “He has given me the
benediction that when I put my hand
on someone’s head it will split open.
Now I will use the benediction on him.”
Lord Viñëu in the dress of a brahmacäré
said, “You are very foolish. You
believe the benediction of this man who
smokes gaïjä, takes all types of
intoxication and lives in crematoriums?
Do you believe that he is authorized
and powerful enough to give
benedictions? His benediction will prove futile.
He is just fooling you. You are running
after him, but in the end you will
find that his benediction is
ineffective. Try it on yourself; put your hand on
your head. You will see that nothing
happens.”
Våkäsura agreed, “Yes, I will try.”
In this way, by Lord Viñëu’s sweet
words and by the expansion of his
illusory energy, the demon became
bewildered. He forgot the power of Lord
Çiva and his benediction. He therefore
put his hand on his own head, it
immediately split open, and he died.
This pastime gives evidence that Lord
Çiva is not independent; his
worshipable Deity is Kåñëa.12
Çiva’s Benefactor
All the pastimes performed by Çiva are
meant to teach everyone about
Çré Kåñëa’s supremacy, and to inspire
everyone to serve Him and take shelter
of Him. The following history is
another example of this.
The demigods once fought with the
demons and defeated them. The
demons then took shelter of their
leader, Maya Dänava, who then prepared
three mystic airplane-like residences
for them. The demons thus began to
vanquish all the planetary systems.
Thereafter, when the demons began to
destroy the higher planetary
systems, the rulers of those planets
went to Lord Çiva, surrendered unto him
and said, “Dear Lord, we demigods are
about to be vanquished. We are your
followers. Kindly save us.”
Lord Çiva reassured them and said, “Do
not be afraid.” He fixed his
arrows to his bow and released them
toward the three residences occupied by
the demons, and all the demons were
killed. The great mystic Maya Dänava
then dropped the bodies of the demons
into a nectarean well he had created,
making the demons return to life and
become practically invincible.
Çiva became very worried. Seeing this,
Lord Kåñëa in His form as Lord
Viñëu considered how to help him
destroy the demons. Lord Viñëu became
a cow and Lord Brahmä became a calf,
and they entered the residences and
drank all the nectar in the well. Then,
by His personal potency of religion,
knowledge, renunciation, opulence,
austerity, education and so on, Kåñëa
equipped Lord Çiva with everything he
needed for the battle. He manifested
a chariot, a charioteer, a flag,
horses, elephants, a bow, a shield and arrows,
and Lord Çiva sat down on the chariot
to fight. He destroyed the three
residences of the demons, the
inhabitants of the higher planets glorified and
worshipped him, and he became known as
Tripuräri, the annihilator of the
three dwellings of the demons.
So don’t fear. Kåñëa will save you if
you offer yourself to Him. He
Himself has promised this in Bhagavad-gétä.
If you hand over your complete
responsibility in life to Him – not
only your bodily maintenance, but your
intelligence, your senses and
everything else you possess – He will take full
care and responsibility for you. Don’t
fear. No suffering or sorrow of any
kind will be able to touch you.
Moreover, you will be able to enter the realm
of bhakti and be happy forever.
Çiva’s Worshipable Deity
Further evidence of Lord Çiva’s
relationship with Kåñëa in the Supreme
Lord’s pastimes of majesty is found in
the history of Aniruddha. Aniruddha
is the grandson of Lord Kåñëa, and he
wanted to marry the daughter of
Bäëäsura, a demonic person who was a
staunch devotee of Lord Çiva. By the
blessings of Lord Çiva, Bäëäsura had
one thousand arms, and he served Lord
Çiva with all of them. He assisted
Çiva’s famous dancing by rhythmically
12 “Thus by the grace of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead Näräyaëa, who is
transcendental to all material
qualities, Lord Çiva was saved from being killed
by a demon. Anyone who hears this
history with faith and devotion is certainly
liberated from material entanglement as
well as from the clutches of his enemies.”
(Kåñëa,
Chapter 88)
26 ÇIVA-TATTVA THREE CONSIDERATIONS 27
beating drums with his one thousand
hands, and he thus received the
benediction of protection from his
enemies.
Kåñëa was informed by Çré Närada that
Bäëäsura and his army had
fought with and arrested Aniruddha for
intimately meeting with Bäëäsura’s
daughter, Üñä. Therefore, in order to
save Aniruddha, He called upon
His own army, the Yadu dynasty, and
advanced on Bäëäsura’s city. When
Bäëäsura saw Lord Kåñëa’s army, he
immediately ordered his men to fight.
Lord Çiva arrived there at that time,
but instead of praying to his Lord,
he apparently took the side of his own
devotee, Bäëäsura. He personally
began fighting with Kåñëa as Bäëäsura’s
commander-in-chief. He shot many
weapons at Kåñëa, including his
Päçupata-astra and his ultimate weapon,
the Çiva-jvara, but all of them failed.
During the battle, Bäëäsura showered
his weapons upon Çré Kåñëa with
his one thousand arms. Kåñëa then cut
off his arms with His Sudarçana
cakra, leaving him with only four. Finally Lord Çiva, realizing
that he was
helpless to save his devotee,
surrendered to Lord Kåñëa and offered his
heartfelt prayers.13
After hearing Çiva’s prayers, Lord
Kåñëa told him that because Bäëäsura
was the son of Bali Mahäräja and the
great-grandson of Prahläda Mahäräja,
and because he was favored by Lord Çiva
himself, He would not only spare
Bäëäsura’s life, but would give him
immortality.
Çiva Takes Shelter
According to Çrémad-Bhägavatam and
Skanda Puräëa, when Kåñëa
resided in Dvärakä, He often assumed
His form as four-handed Väsudeva.
In fact, He was famous there as such.
At that time there was a king
named Pauëòraka, who had attached two
artificial arms on his body and
declared, “Kåñëa is not the four-handed
Väsudeva. I am that Väsudeva.”
He sent a messenger to Çré Kåñëa with
the declaration, “Stop claiming to be
four-handed Väsudeva. I am He.” After
Lord Kåñëa and His royal family
laughed for a considerable time, the
Lord sent a reply to the challenge and
prepared to fight.
13 “Çukadeva Gosvämé assured King
Parékñit that the narration of the fight between
Lord Çiva and Lord Kåñëa is not at all
inauspicious, like ordinary fights. On the
contrary, if one remembers in the
morning the narration of this fight between
Lord Kåñëa and Lord Çiva, and takes
pleasure in the victory of Lord Kåñëa, he
will never experience defeat anywhere
in his struggle of life.” (Kåñëa, Chapter 63)
The King of Käçé was a staunch devotee
of Lord Çiva, and he took the
side of Pauëòraka Väsudeva. He had
previously received a benediction from
Lord Çiva to be able to defeat Kåñëa in
combat, but in this battle he was
not only defeated, but killed. With the
assistance of His Sudarçana cakra
Çré Kåñëa killed Pauëòraka, and by His
arrows He killed the king of Käçé.
Having cut off the head of the king, He
then arranged to throw it into the
city of Käçé.
The King had a son named Sudakñiëa, who
was determined to avenge
the death of his father. Sudakñiëa thus
worshiped the lord of Käçé, Viçvanätha
– Lord Çiva – who then instructed him
to perform a special ritualistic
ceremony that calls forth a fire demon
for the purpose of killing one’s
enemy. Lord Çiva also sanctioned his
ghostly companions to accompany the
fire demon, and Dvärakä then fell under
attack.
Kåñëa called for his Sudarçana cakra,
which froze the demon and forced
him to return to Käçé and destroy his
creators. Moreover, following behind
the demon, the Sudarçana cakra burned
the entire city to ashes.
At that time even Lord Çiva himself had
to run from the city. Where his
deerskin fell, he did not know. He also
left his trident and everything else,
including his wife, and quickly fled.
He arrived at a place in Navadvépa14 called
Harihara-kñetra, and there he took
shelter of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu.15
14 Lord Nityänanda said, “To the west
of the Alakananda
River see Käçé, where
the followers of Çiva and his consort
endeavor for liberation. This Navadvépa Käçé,
however, is superior to the other Käçé.
Here, Çiva is always dancing and chanting
the name of Gauranga [Caitanya
Mahäprabhu], begging his followers to accept
devotion to Mahäprabhu. The renunciates
who live for a thousand years in Käçé
may attain liberation through the
cultivation of knowledge leading to impersonal
liberation, but here the devotees kick
away that liberation as they dance and chant
the name of Gauräìga. While leaving the
body here, living entities are delivered
by Lord Çiva, who chants the name of
Gauräìga in their ears. This abode is thus
called Mahä-Väräëasé, for here there is
no fear of death.” (Çré Navadvépa-Mähätmya
by Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura)
15 The identy of Çré Caitanya
Mahäprabhu is given as follows: “According to the
Vedic literature, the foremost
occupational duty for humanity in this Age of Kali
is näma-saìkértana, or congregational
chanting of the holy name of the Lord.
The incarnation for this age especially
preaches this process, but only Kåñëa
Himself can explain the confidential
loving service performed in the four
principal varieties of loving affairs
between the Supreme Lord and His devotees.
Lord Kåñëa therefore personally
appeared, with His plenary portions, as Lord
Caitanya.” (Çré
Caitanya-caritämåta, Ädi-lélä, Chapter 3 Summary)
28 ÇIVA-TATTVA THREE CONSIDERATIONS 29
From Navadvépa he went to Ekämra-känana
(now Bhuvaneçvara) near Puré,
in Orissa, where he took shelter of Çré
Kåñëa in His form as Lord Jagannätha.
This pastime is aiçvarya-gata-vicära,
and it also reveals that the worshipable
Deity of Lord Çiva is Çré Caitanya
Mahäprabhu, or Çré Kåñëa.
Service in Human-like Pastimes
Lord Rämacandra’s worship of Lord Çiva
is an example of naravatagata-
vicära – a sweet, human-like pastime. As
stated earlier, Räma played
the role of an ordinary human being who
had to perform the difficult task
of crossing the ocean to reach Laìkä,
and he worshiped Lord Çiva for the
power to do this.
Lord Räma established a liìga of
Rämeçvara Mahädeva and began
worshiping him, thinking, “By Lord
Çiva’s mercy I can cross the sea.”
Actually he was powerful enough to
personally jump across the ocean in a
second, but he was playing a role to
inspire ordinary people. The common
people present considered that
Rämeçvara Mahädeva was in fact the lord
of Räma, and that was why his name was
Rämeçvara. The demigods then
appeared and declared, “Rämeçvara Mahädeva
and Räma are both the same.
There is no difference between them.
Both are éçvara; both are God, the
Supreme Lord. Ordinary people think
only that Rämeçvara is the lord of
Räma, but they are not intelligent. It
is not like that.” At that moment Lord
Çiva manifested from the liìga and
said, “No. Try to understand this truth.
Rämeçvara means ‘He whose Lord is
Räma.’ Räma is my Lord!”
The pastimes of Lord Räma are found in Rämäyaëa,
Çrémad-Bhägavatam,
the Puräëas and Räma-carita-mänasa,
and they take place in a previous Age,
called Tretä-yuga. The demonic king
Rävaëa had kidnapped Lord Räma’s
wife, Sétä-devé, and taken her to
Laìkä. Before Räma knew where Sétä had
been taken, he was weeping profusely,
and Lakñmaëa was trying to console
him. The more Lakñmaëa tried to pacify
him, however, the more bitterly he
wept. In this state of mind, he was
beseeching the trees and creatures of the
forest, and even the Godävaré River.
He appealed to the trees of Panjätavi
forest, “O Panjätavi, have you seen
Sétä? Where has she gone? O deer, have
you seen Sétä? O Godävaré, have you
seen my dear Sétä? Why has she left
me?” Lord Räma became maddened from
inconsolable grief.
At this time Lord Çiva and his wife
Saté came to Daëòakäraëya
Forest,
where Lord Räma had been living with
Sétä and His brother Lakñmaëa for
fourteen years, following the order of
His father, King Daçaratha. Çiva was
thus present to witness Lord Räma’s
divine pastimes, and seeing them, he
was moved; his heart melted. He offered
full obeisances, with all the limbs of
his body touching the ground, and
glorified Räma: “Oh! These pastimes are
so beautiful and marvelous that they
will melt the heart of anyone who sees
them.” He then circumambulated the
outer precincts of that area, weeping
due to the transcendental emotions of
grief in separation exhibited in his
Lord’s pastimes.
Offering his final respects, Çiva was
ready to return to Kailäsa, when
Saté asked him, “My dear husband, to
whom are you offering obeisances?”
Lord Çiva replied, “Çré Räma is my
worshipful Deity. I worship him always.”
Saté said, “I see that Räma is like an
ordinary man weeping for his wife. Even
I know where Sétä is, but he does not
know? Why is he grieving? He appears
to be a weak person. Is he not strong
enough to bring Sétä back? He must be
an ordinary man, not God. Why are you
honoring him so?”
“You are ignorant,” Lord Çiva told his
doubting wife. “You do not
understand that Räma is the Supreme
Personality of Godhead.” He told her
that if she did not believe him she
could conduct a test of some sort, to
determine Çré Räma’s position.
Lord Çiva rested under a banyan tree a
little distance away, and Saté,
by her inherent mystic power, changed
to a form like Sétä’s. She went to the
area where Çré Räma was piteously
searching for Sétä. She thought that if
she would appear before Räma as Sétä,
he would come and embrace her in
joyous relief, believing that he had
found His wife. However, although she
appeared before him again and again, He
ignored her each time. He simply
looked away. Finally he said to her,
“Mother, why are you roaming alone
here in the forest? Where is your
husband, Çiva?”
Saté became astonished and fearful, and
wondered how Räma knew
who she really was. She knelt in
reverence, and at that time she no longer
saw the trees, plants, and wildlife of
the forest as before. She saw Sétä-Räma
everywhere and in everything. Wherever
she looked in the forest – here,
there and everywhere – she saw only
Sétä-Räma, Sétä-Räma, Sétä-Räma.
In this manner, Çré Räma showed Saté
that he and Sétä are eternally
inseparable, that he was performing
this dramatic pastime to captivate the
minds of human beings by its
remembrance, and that he is, in fact, the
Personality of Godhead. She reflected,
“My husband is never ignorant. He
was right and I was wrong.” Rising to
her feet, she saw that Räma was still
there alone in the forest with
Lakñmaëa, weeping, “Oh Sétä, where are you,
where are you?”
Then, reassuming her own form, she
returned to the spot where Çiva
was waiting under the banyan tree. He
asked her, “Did you test him to see
who he is?”
30 ÇIVA-TATTVA THREE CONSIDERATIONS 31
Saté lied, “Most respected husband, I
believed you; so there was no
need to test him.”
Lord Çiva saw in a trance what had
actually happened and silently
vowed, “Saté has taken the form of
Sétä, my mother; therefore she is no
longer my wife. She is now my mother,
and from now on I will treat her as
such.”
When he made this vow, the demigods at
once showered flowers from
heaven, and they praised him, “You have
made a remarkable vow.”
Saté asked, “What vow did you make?”
Çiva remained silent.
The bona fide disciple always has faith
in his self-realized guru. Lord
Çiva was the Guru of Saté, but she had
not believed him when he told her
that Räma is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. If a disciple does not obey
his gurudeva, his bhakti and
spiritual life will diminish. If a disciple lies to his
gurudeva, he again goes to hell.
When Lord Çiva and Saté-devé returned
to their cottage in Kailäsa, Çiva
placed her seat facing him. In Vedic
culture a wife sits on the left side of
her husband and a mother, respected as guru,
sits in front of her son, facing
him.
A disciple does not offer obeisance to
his gurudeva from his guru’s right
or left side, but always in front of
him. A true disciple does not remain silent,
but respectfully asks relevant
questions of his guru and serves him. He does
not ask questions in a challenging
mood, but rather to learn. It is stated in
Bhagavad-gétä (4.34):
tad viddhi praëipätena
paripraçnena sevayä
upadekñyanti te jïänaà
jïäninas tattva-darçinaù
Just try to learn the truth by
approaching a spiritual master.
Inquire from him submissively and
render service unto him. The selfrealized
souls can impart knowledge unto you
because they have seen
the truth.
Lord Çiva entered a trance for
thousands of years, and Saté felt severe
separation from him. She thought, “Çiva
has left me. He is treating me like
his mother because I took the form of
Sétä. As long as I am in this body he
will not accept me as his wife, so I
will have to give up this body.”
After some time, Saté’s father Dakña,
the son of Lord Brahmä and great
progenitor of the universe, began a
sacrifice. Although every sacrifice is
intended to please the Supreme Lord
Viñëu, all the demigods, especially
Lord Brahmä, Lord Çiva and the other
principal demigods, are invited and
take part. However, Lord Çiva was not
invited to Dakña’s sacrifice.
The chaste Saté heard the heavenly
denizens, who were flying in the
sky, speaking about the great sacrifice
being performed by her father. She
saw that the wives of the heavenly
denizens, dressed in fine clothing, were
coming from all directions and were
going to the sacrifice. She approached
her husband and said, “My dear Lord,
your father-in-law is now performing
a great sacrifice. All the demigods who
were invited by him are going. If you
desire, we may also go.”
Lord Çiva warned her not to go, due to
her father’s enmity and envy
towards him – an enmity that had begun
long before, in a former Age. Lord
Çiva now remembered his father-in-law’s
harsh words spoken at that time.
Çiva had come to Dakña’s council, where
Dakña was being honored by many
leaders of the universe. Dakña’s
daughter was married to Lord Çiva, so he
considered Çiva to be like his son. He
offered obeisances to Brahmä because
Brahmä was his father, but he did not
show any respect to Çiva. Lord Brahmä
welcomed Dakña, but Çiva was absorbed
in meditation and chanting the
mahä-mantra: “Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa Kåñëa Kåñëa
Hare Hare, Hare Räma
Hare Räma Räma Räma Hare Hare.”
Insulted by Çiva’s apparent neglect and
considering himself Çiva’s
superior, Dakña publically criticized
him. Many incidents took place as
a result of that, and Çiva returned to
Kailäsa. Previous to this, Dakña had
often criticized Çiva, being disturbed
that his daughter had married such an
‘inferior person’, but after this
incident he considered Çiva his enemy. Lord
Çiva, on the other hand, had never felt
enmity towards Dakña.
Now Lord Çiva told Saté, “A woman can
go without an invitation to see
her guru or her father and
mother, but if her father thinks that her husband
is his enemy, then she should not go to
see him. You know that your father
thinks I am his enemy, although I have
never considered him as such.”
Despite her husband’s words, Saté was determined
to go. She went,
but upon her arrival she observed Dakña
dishonoring him. She angrily
condemned her father and glorified Lord
Çiva in front of all present. Then,
while meditating on Lord Çiva’s holy
lotus feet, she gave up her body in a
mystic fire that manifested from her
heart.
By quitting her body, Saté was able to
disconnect herself from her
offensive father and transfer herself
to another body in order to associate
with Lord Çiva without that
contamination. However, her main motive was
to become free from the result of her
own offenses, and again be accepted
as Lord Çiva’s
beloved wife. In her next life she took birth as Pärvaté, the
32 ÇIVA-TATTVA THREE CONSIDERATIONS 33
daughter of the Himälayas. In that
birth she performed austerities for many
years and achieved her desired goal.
Here we see that Çiva’s worshipable
Deity is Räma, and because Saté
took the form of Sétä-devé, he left
her. He is a chaste Vaiñëava, always
serving Lord Kåñëa and Lord Räma.
Saté-devé is also a pure devotee. She is
the Supreme Lord’s divine energy, but
she was playing a role in order to give
lessons to ordinary persons.
Both Çiva and Saté served in Lord
Räma’s human-like pastimes. Rävaëa
had not actually taken the real Sétä.
He was not able to touch her. He could
only take a mäyä-sétä. The real
Sétä, the transcendental potency of Räma,
was taken away and protected by the
lord of fire, Agnideva. Räma’s crying
and asking each and every plant, tree,
mountain and river, “Where is my
Sétä?” was an exhibition of his human-like
pastimes.
The great saint Tulsédäsa has written
in his Räma-carita-mänasa that
we should accept Çré Çiva-Pärvaté as
our Guru, and they will give us love for
the lotus feet of Räma. Those who
worship Çiva as an independent lord are
like Våkäsura. They want to have sense
gratification with Kåñëa’s potency.
Instead of becoming Våkäsura, we should
become devotees, and consider
Çiva-Pärvaté as our Guru in the matter
of devotion to the Supreme Lord.
Consider further the identity of Lord
Çiva’s worshipable Deity. Çiva’s
mantra is Räma, and he always chants the holy
name of Räma. To whom does
this refer? Although this also refers
to Çré Sétä-Räma, the name he actually
chants is that of Müla-Saìkarñaëa,
Balaräma, the first expansion of Lord
Kåñëa. Çré Rämacandra is also an
expansion of the original Räma – Balaräma
– but the factual worshipable Deity of
Lord Çiva is Balaräma.
Ultimately, in the Hare Kåñëa mahä-mantra,
Räma does not refer to
Daçaratha’s son Räma, nor to Paraçuräma
or Balaräma. Lord Rämacandra,
Lord Paraçuräma and Lord Balaräma are
all manifestations of Çré Rädhäramaëa.
Hare Kåñëa Hare Kåñëa
Kåñëa Kåñëa Hare Hare,
Hare Räma Hare Räma
Räma Räma Hare Hare
The meaning of Räma here is
Rädhä-ramaëa, Çré Kåñëa who engages
in ramaëa with Rädhä. Ramaëa means
playing or enjoying. Kåñëa enjoys
playful pastimes with Rädhäräëé, and He
is therefore called Ramaëa or
Räma.
No Lust in Lord Çiva
The following history is another
example of naravata-gata-vicära,
or madhurya-gata-vicära. There
is also some tattva-gata-vicära here,
and altogether it is a nectar cup-full
of madhurya (sweetness) and tattva
(philosophical truth) – tasting very
good.
Lord Çiva is immensely powerful and he
has no lust. He may even
be naked, and his wife Pärvaté may also
be sitting naked on his lap, but
they have no lusty desires. If an
ordinary girl and boy stay close together,
especially without clothes, lust will
enter their hearts. However, this falldown
does not take place in the hearts of
Lord Çiva and Pärvaté-devé under any
circumstance.
In this regard, a transcendental
pastime is described in the Sixth Canto
of Çrémad-Bhägavatam. Lord Çiva
was once giving a lecture in an assembly of
great saintly persons, Pärvaté was
sitting on his lap, and both of them were
completely naked. At that time the
exalted devotee King Citraketu came and
said in a friendly way, “Just see the
position in which you are giving your
lecture.” Pärvaté thought that he was
criticizing Lord Çiva. Disturbed by the
thought that anyone would think Lord
Çiva has lusty desires in his heart,
she cursed him.
King Citraketu was on friendly terms
with Lord Çiva, and because
Citraketu’s Guru is also
Müla-Saìkarñaëa, he and Çiva were god-brothers.
He never meant to say that lust was in
Çiva’s heart. He was simply saying that
this was not the standard way to
deliver a lecture.
Lord Çiva chastized Pärvaté and said,
“Why did you curse him? He
is an exalted devotee. Look at his
advancement in bhakti. Although he is
quite competent to revoke your curse
and curse you in retaliation, he has
readily accepted your curse. This is
his greatness – this is the behavior of a
Vaiñëava.”
Lust cannot remain near Lord Çiva.
Neither Lord Sadäçiva nor his
partial manifestation of Çiva who stays
with Pärvaté have lust in their hearts.
When Kämadeva, Cupid, once came to
disturb Lord Çiva’s meditation, Çiva
simply opened his third eye and burned
him to ashes.
How could it happen then, that Lord
Çiva was attracted to the beautiful
form of Mohiné-mürti? Mohiné is an
incarnation of Lord Kåñëa Himself, and
He can do anything. It was Lord Kåñëa
who personally created the attraction
within Lord Çiva’s heart, and He who
showed him this form of Mohiné.
In the course of serving Kåñëa’s
pastimes, His internal bewildering energy,
yogamäyä, is so strong that it can do anything.
34
ÇIVA-TATTVA THREE CONSIDERATIONS 35
In October of 2001, Çréla Näräyaëa
Mahäräja took a party of six hundred
pilgrims, including over two hundred
Westerners, to the sacred and beautiful town
of Jagannätha Puré on the east coast of
Orissa. One of the many holy sites visited
by the pilgrims was the temple of Lord Çiva in his form as Lokanätha
Mahädeva.
Arriving at the site, the pilgrims
passed through a large gate that lead to a
courtyard. On the right of the
courtyard there was a beautiful pond and on the left
there were some shops selling sweets
and other items for worship.
As is the case with many Indian
temples, the management of the temple of
Lokanätha Mahädeva did not allow
Westerners to enter. Therefore, Çréla Näräyaëa
Mahäräja and the Indian devotees went
into the temple while the Western devotees
waited patiently in the courtyard.
After a few minutes, Çréla Näräyaëa Mahäräja
came out of the temple alone and sat
down on a slab platform in front of one of the
little shops. He was immediately
surrounded by the Western devotees, eager to hear
him speak, and the following is a
transcription of his talk:
Lord Çiva is a most exalted devotee of
the Supreme Lord Kåñëa.
He always faithfully serves Lord Kåñëa
and all His incarnations such as
Lord Räma, Lord Nåsiàha, Lord Kalki,
and Lord Varäha.
In this world, Lord Çiva has five
different kinds of manifestations:
earth, water, fire, air and ether – of
which our body, the Earth and the
universe are made. He is also qualified
to personally appear from forms
composed of these five elements, in
order to serve his Master.
You have no ability to see anything
other than these five elements.
Now you cannot see the soul, which is
your self. If you develop bhakti,
pure loving devotion to Çré Kåñëa, then
you will see Him; and by His
light you will see your own soul.
We went inside the temple but we simply
saw a room full of water,
so there was no need of going inside.
You are fortunate to be out here
at this big pond called Gauré-kuëòa,
which is a symbol of Lord Çiva.
You can touch this pond, perform äcamana,
and you can offer your
obeisances here. In Bengal
and other places there are also ambu-liìgas
(liìgas made of water), and Çiva
is worshipped in that form.
Indian devotees are fortunate to see
the deity and offer arati
(worship), whereas the Western devotees are not given
permission
to enter the temple. Because of this,
the Western devotees have an
opportunity to come to Lokanätha
Mahädeva in a mood of great
humility –
thinking themselves to be very low and fallen. In fact, if they
36 ÇIVA-TATTVA GATEKEEPER TO THE ABODE
OF LOVE 37
come with this mood, they are even more
fortunate than those devotees
who went inside. If you are out here
crying to Lokanätha – Gopéçvara
Mahädeva – praying, “Please be merciful
to me,” he will come to you first,
and he will sprinkle his mercy upon
you. Lord Çiva is a manifestation of
Lord Kåñëa, and as such, he is always
hungry for love and affection. If
you are crying and thinking, “We are
very unfortunate,” Lord Kåñëa will
personally come to you. He is very
merciful, so do not worry that you
cannot go inside. You are most lucky.
Wherever Kåñëa resides, Sadäçiva Viñëu
is always present. In
Mathurä and all other places where
there is a temple
of Kåñëa or any
Viñëu Deity, Sadäçiva as Lokanätha or
Gopéçvara Mahädeva will be there
– to serve the Supreme Lord’s abode.
Çiva serves Kåñëa everywhere; he
is always in Kailäsa, always in Käçé,
and always in Bhubaneçvara. It
seems from worldly, external vision
that he sometimes leaves one place
and goes to another, but this is not
the real truth.
In his pastimes he shifted from Kailäsa
to Käçé. While in Käçé
he assisted the atheist King Käçiräja
and the king’s friend Pauëòraka
Väsudeva, who artificially became
four-armed and challenged Lord
Kåñëa. In the battle that ensued, Lord
Kåñëa severed the heads of both
Pauëòraka Väsudeva and the king of
Käçé, who had considered himself
one of Lord Çiva’s best servants. The
king’s master, however, could not
save him when Lord Kåñëa’s Sudarçana cakra
burnt down Käçé.
Seeing his city in flames, Lord Çiva
fled. After some time he
arrived in Ekämra-känana in
Bhubaneçvara and took shelter of Lord
Jagannätha. Lord Jagannätha told him,
“Never fear. Because you have
come under my shelter, I will give you
the post of Lokanätha, “the
protector of my abode.” If anyone comes
to this holy place and takes
my transcendental association without
taking yours, his coming here
will not be complete. He must come to
your place after visiting me,
and then his mission here will be accomplished
and he will become
happy.”
Lord Çiva is extremely kind by nature,
and he is the abode of
love. In this regard, Çréla Viçvanätha
Cakravarté Öhäkura has written
(Saìkalpa-kalpadruma 103):
våndävanävani-pate! jaya soma
soma-maule
sanaka-sanandana-sanätana-näradeòya
gopéçvara! vraja-viläsi-yugäìghri-padme
prema prayaccha nirupädhi namo namas te
O gatekeeper of Våndävana! O Soma, all
glories to you! O you
whose forehead is decorated with the
moon, and who is worshipable
by the sages headed by Sanaka, Sanandana,
Sanätana and Närada!
O Gopéçvara! Desiring that you bestow
upon me prema, divine
love for the lotus feet of Çré
Rädhä-Mädhava, who perform joyous
pastimes in Vraja-dhäma, I offer
obeisances unto you time and
again.
We pray, “O Lord Çiva, even great
personalities like Çré Närada Muni
and the four Kumäras worship you. You
can give love and affection like
that of the gopés. In your
purest form of Gopéçvara Mahädeva, you are
very powerful. You are hari-hara-eka-ätmä,
which means that Kåñëa has
become your ätmä and you have
become His ätmä.”
Here, ätmä means dearmost or
very beloved, so Lord Kåñëa and Lord
Çiva are one at heart. Lord Çiva serves
the Supreme Lord as Hanuman,
as Bhéma, as Madhväcärya, as Advaita
Äcärya at the time of Çré Caitanya
Mahäprabhu, and in so many other forms.
We have come here to beg for the mercy
of Lokanätha, but personally
I don’t see Lokanätha here. I see
Gopéçvara Mahädeva, of whom Lokanätha
is an expansion.
Please repeat after me: [Çréla
Näräyaëa Mahäräja uttered each
half line of the above-mentioned
Sanskrit prayer alone, and the assembled
pilgrims responded in unison. Then he
shared with them its deep and intimate
purport:]
We pray, “O Gopéçvara Mahädeva, we have
come to you. Here your
name is changed. You have manifested as
Lokanätha, but we don’t know
you as Lokanätha. We only know you as
Gopéçvara Mahädeva. You cannot
cheat us by hiding from us. You can
cheat demons like Rävaëa, Kaàsa,
Jaräsandha and others, but you can
never cheat us. This is because we
have taken shelter of Yogamäyä
Paurëamäsé. If you cheat us, we will have
to complain to Paurëamäsé, and she will
‘punish’ you. Do you remember
when all the gopés slapped your
cheeks so much that your cheeks became
swollen? Kindly remember this.” [See
page 8, footnote 3]
Pleased by the love expressed in this
prayer, Lord Çiva will appear in
his form of Gopéçvara Mahädeva. He will
be very helpful, and happy to
give mercy.
38 ÇIVA-TATTVA GATEKEEPER TO THE ABODE
OF LOVE 39
Lokanätha Mahädeva ké jaya!
Çré Çré Gopéçvara Mahädeva ké jaya!
Kämeçvara Mahädeva ké jaya!
Nandéçvara Mahädeva ké jaya!
Cakaleçvara Mahädeva ké jaya!
Pärvaté-pati ké jaya!
Çré Çré Çaìkara ké jaya!
Hara Hara Hara Hara Mahädeva ké
jaya!
I have shared something special with
you. As you are sitting outside
and feeling separation from Lord Çiva,
he will surely sprinkle his mercy
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of Swami jis great Devotees , Philosophic
Scholars, Purebhakti dot com for
the collection)
