Who is Shiva?
The word Shiva (शिव) actually means “That which is not Shava (शव)”.
Shava literally means a corpse and can be interpreted as that which once was alive and is presently not alive.
Therefore “That which is not Shava (शव)” needs to be interpreted as “That which is alive”. The concept of “Being Alive” or a “Living Being” in itself is an extremely complex topic which deserves a detailed article dedicated to exploring the meaning of Life. But for now, let us only focus on understanding what Vedic Scholars meant by Shiva.
The origin of the word Shiva is undoubtedly a mystery but we can interpret its etymological origin in Sanskrit as follows:
शि(Shi) + व (Va) – the root word Shi means Peace or Calm or Auspiciousness or also Great Fortune in Sanskrit. The root word Va has multiple meanings in Sanskrit including reverence, dwelling, auspiciousness, or, as, like, strong, powerful.
Hence Shiva can be interpreted as “The Most Powerful One”, “The most peaceful One”, “The most Auspicious One” or as “The One who brings the Greatest Fortune”.
Though these meanings of Shiva are more literary meanings, as a devotee or as a curious mind it is very important for you to understand the true scientific & spiritual meaning of SHIVA.
The Vedas do not mention Shiva directly but refer to Rudra (a form of Shiva).
The Shiva Purana attributed to being compiled by the revered Maharishi Veda Vyasa along with other Puranas refers to Shiva & his story as understood by ancient sages of Indian subcontinent. The Shiva Purana contains 12 different books called Samhitas which collectively contain more than 100,000 verses or shlokas.
The first book or Samhita of the Shiva Purana is Vidyeshvara Samhita. In the third chapter of this Samhita, Lord Brahma the Creator himself very poetically defines the essence of Shiva as follows:
यतो वाचो निवर्तंते अप्राप्य मनसा सह ॥ 10cd
यस्मात्सर्वमिदं ब्रह्मविष्णुरुद्रेंद्रपूर्वकम् ॥ 11ab
सहभूतेंद्रियैः सर्वैः प्रथमं संप्रसूयते ॥ 11cd
एष देवो महादेवः सर्वज्ञो जगदीश्वरः ॥ 12ab
अयं तु परया भक्त्या दृश्यते ना ऽन्यथा क्वचित् ॥ 12cd
रुद्रो हरिर्हरश्चैव तथान्ये च सुरेश्वराः ॥ 13ab
भक्त्या परमया तस्य नित्यं दर्शनकांक्षिणः ॥ 13cd
बहुनात्र किमुक्तेन शिवे भक्त्या विमुच्यते ॥ 14ab
प्रसादाद्देवताभक्तिः प्रसादो भक्तिसंभवः ॥ 14cd
यथेहांकुरतो बीजं बीजतो वा यथांकुरः ॥ 14॥ 14ef
Simple Translation: “Everything in this Universe including Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Protector, Rudra the Destroyer and Indra the Ruler, along with all the elements & dimensions of the universe have originated from Shiva, the Mahadeva (God of Gods or Greatest of Gods). And Devotion/ Bhakti alone is the path to understand Who Shiva actually is and by his Grace (Grace of Shiva) alone one can attain Moksha.”
Lord Brahma then reveals in the subsequent shlokas or verses the following:
तस्मादीशप्रसादार्थं यूयं गत्वा भुवं द्विजाः ॥ 15ab
दीर्घसत्रं समाकृध्वं यूयं वर्षसहस्रकम् ॥ 15cd
अमुष्यैवाध्वरेशस्य शिवस्यैव प्रसादतः ॥ 16ab
वेदोक्तविद्यासारं तु ज्ञायते साध्यसाधनं ॥ 16cd
Simple Translation: “And everything taught in Vedas in its primal essence is to learn about Shiva and grace of Shiva alone will help anyone understand the true nature of this Universe”.
In simple terms, it is essential to realize that The Vedas & numerous other literary works in Ancient India were actually created, composed and later written to understand the essence of Shiva and thus learn the workings of this Universe.
Who is Shiva as per Sadhguru:
Though Sadhguru does his best to explain his perspective, his definition of Shiva falls short on multiple levels. And we sincerely hope that Sadhguru will one day come across this article and realize the true meaning of Shiva as described below.
Then, Who is Shiva - as per Vedic & Modern Science:
Unlike any other concept or word in our present-day society, the word Shiva has 1) Mythological meaning, history and significance, 2) Cultural & Historical meaning, history and significance, 3) Scientific meaning, history and significance and 4) Spiritual meaning, history and significance.
The Sanskrit word for the Universe is “Vishva” विश्व which originated from Vi (वि) + Shiva (शिव).
Vi (वि) means Motion. Shiva (शिव) means “Everything that is alive”. So, the simplest lexical definition of the Universe or Vishva in Sanskrit is “Shiva in Motion”.
But Modern Science illuminates us with the scientific facts that the Universe is made up of Energy & Matter and has numerous dimensions such as Space & Time. Classical theories of Physics (including Einstein’s General Relativity) propose the most accepted 4 Dimensions of Universe which include 3 Dimensions of Space (height, width and length) along with the 4th dimension of Time.
But if we think deeply and carefully, Time itself has 3 different dimensions – Past, Present and the Future.
Space and time are interconnected in a way that they can't exist without each other. Imagine time as a clock and space as a map. If you had a clock but no place to go, the clock wouldn’t matter. And if you had a map but no time to move around, the map wouldn’t help either. This connection between space and time is called the Spacetime Continuum. It means everything that happens in the universe is a mix of where it happens (space) and when it happens (time).
Though the Universe is well described by 4D spacetime, there are several reasons why modern physicists consider theories in other dimensions. For example, in bosonic string theory, spacetime is 26-dimensional, while in superstring theory it is 10-dimensional, and in M-theory it is 11-dimensional.
So, to quickly summarize:
- The Universe/ Vishva is made up of Energy, Matter, Space & Time.
- Energy & Matter/ Mass are a duality.
- Space & Time are a duality.
- Duality here refers to the underlying principle that one cannot exist without another.
The Modern Physics treats the phenomenon of Gravity as a consequence of the geometry of Space & Time in the Universe. And now, latest theories in Physics propose Gauge/Gravity duality, also called AdS/CFT, is a cool idea that connects two different types of theories. One theory is about gravity in a curved space, while the other is about particles in a space with fewer dimensions. This concept helps explain the idea that all the information in the universe could be stored on its outer edge, like a hologram. It's the best example we have of the "holographic principle," showing how everything we know could be encoded at the boundary of the universe.
But in fact, the simplistic duality of Gravity occurs with Velocity. No object in this universe is stationary. And the greater the gravitational force of an object, it is forced to rotate and revolve with a greater velocity.
Unlike modern researchers, physicists and scientists – ancient scholars in ancient Indian subcontinent didn’t have modern-day tools (computers or telescopes or labs etc,) and primarily relied upon observing stars, making manual calculations and interpreting data with their minds.
Hence the Trinity was born.
If you want to learn more about the Trinity, please read this article: Who are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva? Or this article: Who are Saraswati, Lakshmi and Shakti/ Parvati?
The Energy-Matter Duality is considered a cornerstone in Modern Physics owing to the contributions of Albert Einstein & his famous Theory of Relativity immortalized by his famous Equation E=Mc2.
The Energy-Matter Duality we now know was described as the duality of Shakti-Shiva in ancient India almost 50000 years ago.
Forms of energy include the kinetic energy of a moving object, the potential energy stored by an object (for instance due to its position in a field), the elastic energy stored in a solid object, chemical energy associated with chemical reactions, the radiant energy carried by electromagnetic radiation, the internal energy contained within a thermodynamic system, and rest energy associated with an object's rest mass.
Additionally, dark energy is a proposed form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. Its primary effect is to drive the accelerating expansion of the universe. Assuming that the lambda-CDM model of cosmology is correct, dark energy dominates the universe, contributing 68% of the total energy in the present-day observable universe while dark matter and ordinary (baryonic) matter contribute 26% and 5%, respectively, and other components such as neutrinos and photons are nearly negligible.
In Sanskrit, Shakti (शक्ति) means Energy.
Not just any Energy but the sum total of all the Energy in the entire Universe which encompasses Trillions (1 Trillion = 1 Lakh Crores) of Galaxies and Undecillions (1 Undecillion = 1 Trillion trillion trillions) of stars.
Modern Science & Astrophysics of 21st Century states that the Total Matter in the Universe is made of 1) Baryonic Matter, 2) Dark Matter, 3) Plasma and 4) Neutrino Matter.
So, Who is Shiva actually:
Therefore, we can deduct that Shiva means Matter. Not just any Matter but the sum total of all the Matter including Visible Matter, Dark Matter, Plasma & Neutrino Matter of the entire Universe which is currently estimated to be more than 100 billion light years wide.
Hence the Vedic definition of the Universe is defined as Vishva (विश्व) meaning Matter in Motion i.e.., Shiva in Motion.
It is important to note two things here:
- In Sanskrit, Universe is also called Brahmand (ब्रह्मांड) which literally means “The Egg of Brahma”. Brahmand (ब्रह्मांड) refers to our visible universe whereas the actual universe is much larger than the visible universe our modern scientists know of. This is the reason the concept of Multi-verse is more popular today more than ever. To further simply, Anantha Koti (अनन्त कोटि) Brahmand (ब्रह्मांड) make the Vishva (विश्व)/ Total Universe.
Vishva (विश्व)/ Total Universe/ Multi-Verse = Anantha Koti (अनन्त कोटि = Infinite Crores) of Brahmand (ब्रह्मांड = Visible Universes)
- For the Total Universe to exist i.e.., for Shiva (Matter) to be in Motion – the process of Motion is managed or defined by Energy (शक्ति), Space, Time, Gravity and Velocity.
Who is Shiva and Why it Matters:
So next time if some one asks you Who is Shiva? - Please do not say that he's a Man or He's Adi Yogi or that He lives in Kailasha/ Himalayan Mountains. Instead tell them that everything in this Universe or Vishva is actually made of Shiva.
It is important to realize the true nature of Shiva if you want to pursue the path of Spirituality or find true happiness in your life.
Who is Shiva - The meaning of “Om Namah Shivaya”
So, the next time you chant “Om Namah Shivaya - ॐ नमः शिवाय” do not forget that you are actually praying to the Total Universe. “Om Namah Shivaya - ॐ नमः शिवाय” means “I bow down to Shiva, the ruler of Vishva, the Supreme of this Total Universe”.
If you are a Shiva follower or devotee like us, we hope you will also like our Limited Edition Shiva T-shirts inspired by the divinity of Maha Shiva, our beloved Mahadev.
- Shiva T-Shirt - The Nataraja Tee
- Shiva T-Shirt - Glory of Mahadev
- Shiva T-Shirt - Shiva's Cosmic Dance
- Shiva T-Shirt - Blessings of Bholenath