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65. Who was Śiva 18 Mar 18b.pdf (1.24 MB)

Who was Śiva

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journal contribution
posted on 2018-03-19, 09:26 authored by TENSING CARLOS RODRIGUESTENSING CARLOS RODRIGUES

Of even greater importance for us, searching the identity of Śiva, is the description that the epics give of the kirāta attending Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rājasūya sacrifice : ‘wearing skins’ (carmvāsasaḥ), ‘they lived on the fruits and tubers’ (phalamūlāśanā) (Mahābhārata, II, 48, 8), ‘wearing thick topknots’ (Rāmāyaṇa, Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa, XI, 30).

Two of these immediately relate to Śiva; he is usually portrayed clad in an animal skin, usually of tiger; and most of the pictures of Śiva show him with a topknot. Unlike other gods, Śiva is usually offered bel/bilva leaves as neivedyam. All these attributes and more show a strong affinity between Śiva and the kirāta; he shares with them their martial qualities and love for music and dance, as well as their simple nature and volatile temper. He indeed appears to be a god of the kirāta in their own image and likeness. Like Pūṣan, the god of the Vedic tribes, sharing entirely in their pastoralist attributes. As Srinivasan points out, the ‘paśupati’ on the Harappan seal no. 420 is surrounded by wild animals, not domestic animals. [Srinivasan, 1984 : Unhinging Śiva From The Indus Civilisation, The Journal Of Royal Asiatic Society Of Great Britain And Ireland, No. 1, 78] Valdiya calls Śiva the ‘spiritual supremo’ of the kirāta – a hero, a leader, a king, a god ? [Valdiya, 2012 :Geography, Peoples and Geodynamics of India in Purāṇas and Epics, 125]

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