Shiva

After the Aryan settlement in India, the great Tantric yogi Mahápuruśa named Shiva was born into a Mongolo-Aryan family. He had a high nose and fair complexion.

He was called Guńátiita or Nirguńa [Transcendental or Non-Attributional] Puruśa because he had so many qualities and endowments beyond the comprehension of the people.

As the result of His Tantra sádhaná He attained extraordinary powers, which He employed for the good of humanity.

He systematized the science of Tantra. Thus, He was the guru or the father of Tantrics and yogis.

To this Self-realized Mahápuruśa there was no distinction of high and low.

• People of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, were dear to Him.
• Irrespective of class - Aryan, non-Aryan, Dravidian, Austric or Mongolian – all flocked to Him.

He showered His grace on them all equally.

The battles raged between:

• the handsome Aryan leaders or “gods”
• the non-Aryans “demons” and “monsters”

The non-Aryan “demons” and “monsters” became more and more powerful through the blessings of Shiva.

All the rákśasas and asuras were Shiva’s obedient devotees and followers.

• With Shiva’s help and blessings, they destroyed the might and power of the “gods”.

When the gods would seek the help of Brahmá and Viśńu, even those two would not dare to oppose Shiva. Rather, they would save the gods through a compromise with Him.

Shiva had such a forgiving nature, born out of His spirit of benevolence, that even the most wicked could easily draw on His kindness.

That is why to everybody He became “Áshutośa” (“Easy to Please”).

Due to Shiva’s pervasive influence over their society, the non-Aryans, that is, the Tantrics, used to worship Him as God. According to their respective intellectual strata, they regarded and accepted Him in His different bearings.

Just as the Aryans began to identify Shiva with their own gods and goddesses, the kaola mahátántrikas [great Tantrics in the tradition of kulakuńd́alinii yoga] began to regard their Shiva as identical with Nirguńa Brahma.

The cause behind this concept was the Shiva’s absolute detachment and self-forgetful bearing.

Shiva’s self-sacrificing nature earned Him the name “Bholánátha” [“one absolutely indifferent to his own status”] among the non-Aryans.

All were attracted to Shiva’s:

• supernatural power
• imposing personality
• limitless qualities
• calm, tranquil radiance.

Princess Gaorii was the daughter of the Aryan king Dakśa.

• She was enthralled by Shiva’s physical grace and virtues.
• And so she was attracted towards Him.

King Dakśa was not in favour of his daughter marrying a non-Aryan.

• But eventually he gave way before her adamant attitude.
• And so Shiva and Princess Gaorii were married.

But envy from Shiva’s formidable influence over the Aryan and non-Aryan societies had already made King Dakśa mad.

Thus one day he publicly insulted Shiva at a large sacrifice specially planned for the purpose.

Shiva’s devotees, unable to bear the insult, made a pandemonium of Dakśa’s ceremonial sacrifice.

It is written in the books of the Aryans that Shiva’s two servant-spirits, Nandii and Bhrngii, destroyed Dakśa’s yajiṋa.

Actually, Nandii and Bhrngii were two ardent non-Aryan Tantric devotees of Shiva.

Many Aryans supported the marriage of Gaorii and Shiva because they felt it would be more in their interest to establish kinship with Him than to remain hostile to Him due to his extraordinary influence.

Whatever the reason, after Dakśa’s yajiṋa, in Shiva’s presence, all the Aryan and non-Aryan clashes and disputes came to a permanent end.

• In other words, the Aryans accepted the predominance of Shiva.

The non-Aryans were very happy to have Gaorii in their midst.

• They now regarded Gaorii as their goddess.

The non-Aryans had a complexion of:

• yellow, or
• black
• brown

But Gaorii, being of purely Aryan origin, was white-complexioned.

This is why she was named “Gaorii” [which means “white-complexioned”].

After the marriage, Gaorii lived in the Himalaya Mountains, and was thus often called “Parvata Kanyá” [“Daughter of the Mountains”], or “Párvatii” in common language.

The non-Aryans used to do Tantra sádhaná according to their respective intellectual development.

They worshipped a pair of gods – Puruśa and Prakrti.

All of them regarded:

• their primary god as Shiva, or, in subsequent periods, some avatára [incarnation] of Shiva
• their primary goddess as Gaorii, or, later, some partial manifestation of Gaorii.

Phallus worship

Phallus worship was prevalent among the backward non-Aryans.

Due to the perpetual warfare between the various clans and tribes, each group felt a constant necessity to increase its numerical strength. And so they began to worship both the genital organs.

in later periods, under the influence of Tantra, it took on a more subtle spiritual form.

When, due to the influence of Shiva, everyone began to accept Shiva as their chief god, this liuṋga pújá [worship of genitals] became [the worship of] Shiva-liuṋga and Gaorii-piit́ha, or Gaorii-pat́t́a.

Subsequently, the Aryans also accepted phallus worship and gave it a philosophical interpretation: Liuṋgate gamyate yasmád talliuṋgam [“The entity from which all things originate [[and towards which all things are moving]] is called liuṋga”].

After Dakśa’s yajiṋa, Shiva’s influence over the Aryans increased more and more.

The Aryans began to feel that, being so indebted to Shiva, they could no longer afford to disregard Him.

Shiva had taught them:

• spiritual sádhaná
• ásanas and práńáyáma
• the secret of good health
• the science of medicine
• the developed art of dance and music.

For His:

• excellence in dancing, both the Aryans and non-Aryans used to call Him “Nat́arája”.
• proficiency in vocal music, “Nádatanu”.

No one has counted the number of medicines He invented for every kind of disease.

He was the first preceptor of the áyurvedácáryas [teachers of áyurveda, the science of medicine to increase longevity].

The asuras were cured of many serious diseases due to His grace.

Both the Aryans and the non-Aryans thought that since Shiva knew so many remedies, He was perhaps immortal, and so they named Him “Mrtyuiṋjaya” [“Conqueror of Death”].

When, even today, people come across some incurable disease, they say, “Even Shiva has no cure for this disease.”

Tigers and Lions

The tiger is one of the oldest animals of India.

In the distant past, these tigers came into India from the non-Aryan countries of China, Tibet, etc.

Lions came much later from the Aryan countries bordering on the northwest corner of India.

In the dhyána mantra of Shiva:

• he has been described as wearing a tiger skin

• the daughter of the Aryans, Gaorii, has been depicted as siḿha-váhinii [“riding on a lion”].

In all the Aryan books of knowledge the word Shiva was invariably used to describe Parama Puruśa.

The racially chauvinistic Aryans could not remain at peace after their acceptance of Shiva as God because they would think that the non-Aryans would use this to boast about their triumph over the Aryans.

So they tried to prove that Shiva was an Aryan.

The real non-Aryan Shiva used to live in cemeteries, cremation grounds, lonesome plains and on the different peaks of the Himalayas.

• That is why even today the non-Aryans point to the Himalayan peaks such as Kailash, Gaurishankar, Everest, etc. and say: “There live our Hara-Gaorii.”

But the Aryans turned Him into a full-fledged divinity of the scriptures.

• To prove that he was Aryan, they hung a sacred thread on his left shoulder.
• But the real non-Aryan Shiva had no such sacred thread.
• He wore a snake around his neck.

Strangely enough, the image of the Aryan god Brahmá shows no sign of any such sacred thread.

No one doubted that Brahmá was an Aryan by race. But in the case of Shiva, the only way to prove that he was an Aryan was to hang a sacred thread on his shoulder.

We can still observe today that Shiva is the god of all, regardless of caste or colour, high or low, learned or ignorant, Brahman or pariah.

No other deity in India enjoys such tremendous universal popularity. Even if one does not know a mantra, one can worship Shiva.

Young maidens model earth into images of Shiva and worship Him; the philosophical sádhakas of old used to attain samádhi in Shivatva [Cosmic Consciousness]; and the so-called low castes such as Doḿa and Cańd́ála become sannyásiis of Shiva. No other divinity would even touch the shadows of these so-called pariahs.

The present social system of India is fundamentally Tantric. It was developed by Shiva.

After accepting Shiva as God without any reservation, the Aryans appropriated everything good of the Dravidians and the other non-Aryans.

This did not diminish the Aryans’ prestige – rather it enhanced it.

After this appropriation, there was a propaganda attempt to prove that Tantra was originally propounded by the Aryans themselves.

The Aryans used to say:

Ágataḿshivavaktrebhyoh gataiṋca Girijáshrutao; Mataiṋca Vásudevasya tasmádágama ucyate.

“This Tantra, or Ágama Shástra, was actually composed by Vásudeva [Krśńa, who was considered Aryan], and Shiva only revealed it to Párvatii.”

Áre Bábá!(11) – if Vásudeva had at all been the propounder of this doctrine, why on earth would He have put it into the mouth of the non-Aryan Shiva instead of saying it Himself?

In the beginning the Aryans used to recognize the superiority of Tantra sádhaná but practise it in secret. But after acknowledging Shiva, they openly declared themselves to be Tantrics.

Not only in India, but in quite a large part of the world, in every sphere of life, the laws and injunctions of Shiva alone prevailed for a long time.

Even today the civilization of modern India is intrinsically Tantric. On the outside only is there a Vedic stamp.

If the Indian civilization was an enamelled ornament, then:

• its gold is Tantric
• the enamel is Vedic.

For both the wandering sannyásiis of the cemeteries and cremation grounds, and the householders, this Shiva alone is the ideal man, and Gaorii the ideal woman. Shiva is the universal father and Gaorii the universal mother.

Shiva’s household is the three worlds.

Hararme pitá Gaorii mátá svadesho bhuvanatrayam.

[Hara is my father, Gaorii is my mother, and the three worlds of earth, heaven and hell are my native land.]

When the Indians were about to forget the teachings of Shiva due to their fascination with the mundane objectivities of the world, there came another sublime entity Shrii Krśńa who, like Shiva, reminded them of those teachings.

Who was greater: Krśńa or Shiva?

This does not arise because all knowers of Brahma are one: all are Brahma.

• Shrii Krśńa was the supreme teacher and ideal politician of the world, what to speak of India alone.
• Shiva was the guru, the father, of the human society of the world – a completely different kind of role.

Shiva is the universal father. Just as Cándá Mámá [The Uncle in the Moon] is the uncle of all, Shiva is the father of all.

All three worlds are Shiva’s family. His reputation is not confined to any particular country.

Yet if anyone is to be singled out as the father of Indian civilization, or of Indian society, or of the so-called Indian nation – then I can say emphatically that Shiva alone is eligible to be the father, not only of the Indian nation, but of the universal human nation.

Ancient Shiva alone can qualify as the father of this more-than-five-thousand-year-old so-called Indian race.

May 1959, RU, Muzaffarpur

Footnotes

(1) Author’s note: It is wrong to write “Káshmiira”, for the word káshmiira means “pertaining to Kashmiira”, or “saffron”. The Aryans saw saffron for the first time in Kashmiira.

(2) Author’s note: In these books the non-Aryans were sometimes called rákśasas [demons], sometimes pishácas [ghouls], and sometimes asuras [monsters].

(3) Editors’ note: Mitákśará entails the heirs’ equal rights of inheritance, not subject to the father’s discretion. Dáyabhága entails the heirs’ right of inheritance subject to the father’s discretion (the father enjoys the right to disinherit any of the heirs).

(4) Editors’ note: A mixture of the Vedic Sanskrit and the Bengalis’ original laokik, or dialectal, Sanskrit (the “bird language”).

(5) Editors’ note: One of three styles of pronunciation of Sanskrit – saḿvrta, vivrtta and tiryak.

(6) Author’s note: The people of eastern India make common use of the Tantric mystic syllable phat́. For example, Se phat́ kare bale phelle… “He said all of a sudden…”; or Lokt́ár baŕa phat́phat́áni, “That person is very verbose.”

(7) Editors’ note: “Old Shiva”.

(8) Editors’ note: The va sound was later changed to ba under the influence of Muslim pronunciation, so the letter was changed as well. In modern Bengali there is no difference in pronunciation between ba and va, but the difference in spelling persists.

(9) Editors’ note: A “twilight language” of dual meanings.

(10) Editors’ note: There was a Vedic Sarasvatii in existence before the Buddhist Prajiṋá Páramitá, but the swan-mounted Sarasvatii modelled after Prajiṋá Páramitá is not the same goddess.