Who Is Lord Shiva? — Mahadev, the Auspicious One

Shiva in Hindu tradition

Shiva (Sanskrit: "the Auspicious One") is worshipped across Hinduism in countless forms. In the Trimurti conception he is the dissolver-transformer alongside Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver — but in Shaiva tradition, Shiva is the Supreme Being: creator, preserver and dissolver in one. He is the patron of yogis and ascetics, the lord of dance, the husband of Parvati, and the father of Ganesha and Kartikeya.

The great names of Shiva

• Mahadev — the Great God, the name devotees call across the mountains: "Har Har Mahadev!"
• Shankara — the giver of auspiciousness and peace.
• Bholenath — the innocent, easily-pleased lord who answers sincere devotion without calculation.
• Rudra — the ancient Vedic storm-god form, fierce and healing at once.
• Neelkanth — the blue-throated one, who held the poison halahala in his throat to save the worlds during the churning of the ocean.
• Mahakal — the lord of time, beyond death.
• Nataraja — the king of dance, whose tandava sets the rhythm of creation and dissolution.
• Pashupati — the lord of all living beings.

The symbols of Shiva

Every element of Shiva’s iconography teaches: the third eye of wisdom that burns away illusion; the crescent moon marking time’s cycles; the Ganga descending through his locks, taming the river’s fall to earth; the trishul (trident) of the three gunas; the damru drum whose sound is creation’s first vibration; the serpent of kundalini energy; Nandi the bull of dharma; and the rudraksha beads sacred to his worship.

Shiva and Kedarnath

Of all Shiva’s Himalayan seats, Kedarnath holds a special place: a Jyotirlinga where the lord of the mountains is worshipped in the very heart of his mountains. To understand Kedarnath is to understand why devotees call Shiva ashutosh — quickly pleased — and why millions undertake a difficult journey for a moment of his darshan.