Shiva Blue
Shiva
As Lord Krishna is the center attraction in the spiritual realm, similarly in the material world Lord Krishna manifested his expansion in the form of Shiva to Lord over the decentralized world called the material world, where everyone misuses their freewill and make themselves the center. Lord Shiva is neither Jiva Tattva nor Visnu Tattva, Krishna has made Shiva as his own Tattva (Shiva-Tattva). Shiva is the husband of Durga and Lord of the material world but he has his own original position in the spiritual world serving as the gatekeeper of Vrindavan in the form known as Gopisvara Mahadev. One can see Lord Shiva as the protector of the Holy Dham who can allow us to enter there.
Lord Shiva is commonly known as the destroyer of the world. When there is an imbalance and disturbance in the universe and when the sustenance of life becomes impossible, Lord Shiva destroys the universe so that the creation of the next cycle can begin. One analogy is given that just as a goldsmith does not destroy the gold whenhe melts old unusable golden jewelry to create new ornaments, in the same way Lord Shiva annihilates the universe so that souls that were not liberated will have another chance to liberate themselves from the bondage of birth and death. In this way, Lord Shiva is known as the destroyer of the world.
Generally we see the form of Lord Shiva known as Tat Purusha. This form of Lord Shiva is his meditating form. He is sitting cross-legged in a yogic position and his eyes are half closed and in deep meditation. When He opens his eyes a new cycle of creation begins and when they are closed the universe is annihilated for creation of the next cycle. Moreover, his half opened eyes mean that creation is going through the cycle process.
Lord Shiva’s bodily luster is depicted as bluish or white in color. His neck is dark blue in color due to his drinking the poison during the churning of the milk ocean. He did this because he didn’t want to disturb his Istadev (Lord) so he is known as Nila-Kanta. Lord Shiva’s body is smeared with ashes. These ashes symbolize that there is nothing in this world for us to enjoy but that Krsna is the supreme enjoyer. Everything in this world will in the end turn into ashes so we should not think we are the enjoyers. It is explained that Lord Shiva has a third eye which rests between his eyebrows. This third eye is known as the eye of wisdom, knowledge, and power. When Lord Shiva opens his third eye he destroys illusion, false ego, anger, lust, and greed. His third eye also eminates blazing fire that burns everything. The tiger skin that Shiva wears is a symbol of his ability to control and change animal nature. His matted hair represents his magnificent powers and his spiritual life. In addition, the moon that ornaments his head signifies the waxing and waning process in comparison to the evolution of the time
cycle from the beginning to the end. Lord Shiva is shown with a snake around his neck and arms. These snakes stand for His yogic power and His control over desire and sensuality and the snake on his head represents his worshipable lord Sankarshan who is representative of Krishna. Furthermore, Lord Shiva wears a Rudraksha necklace which has 108 beads that symbolize the elements used in creating the world. Lastly, the Trisula or three- pronged trident carried by Lord Shiva represents the three modes of nature namely, tamas (ignorance), rajas (passion), and sattva (goodness). The trident is also a symbol of His desire to destroy ignorance and evil.
It appears that Lord Shiva gives benedictions to demonic persons who apparently fight in battle with Lord Krishna as his enemy, but in reality this is Lord Shiva’s blessings to those demons to receive the mercy of Lord Krishna. Yogisvar the master of all the yoga, krsna is known as yogesvaw or the object of all the yoga processes.
Shiva Blue
19 inches tall...