The first secret: Death
Let us start with an age-old problem. The problem of ageing. And the question of immortality, which has been piqued people forever.
What is immortality? Destroying death is immortality. What causes death? Kala. Kala means time. Since time eventually destroys everything, Kala also means death. Tri-Kala means the three types of time: past, present & future. (Note the similarity between the Samskritam Tri & the English three). Shiva is known as the one beyond the Tri-Kala.
The other word for death is Yama. Yama also means Control & it is the first limb (anga) of Patanjali's Ashta-anga Yoga (the 8 limbed Yoga & the 4th philosophy of Hinduism), which prescribes control of the senses to prepare ourselves for meditation and discovering the truth for ourselves.
In the Puranic story of Markandeya, Shiva destroys Yama and blesses Markandeya that he won't age & won't die. Shiva is one who destroys death & can bless with immortality.
In the Vigrahas (statues) of Shiva kicking Yama while protecting Markandeya, Shiva is shown as kicking Yama with his left leg. Why the left? Why not the right? Shiva's left part of the body is the feminine Shakthi, the divine mother. Yama is also after all the divine child like all of us. And Yama was also simply only doing his duty. While kicking him to protect Markandeya, it is the mother's leg that kicks, and the mother being naturally more compassionate, will ensure that the foot stops Yama but doesn't hurt him. This is why the sculptors chose the left leg to represent this story.
But how can one truly destroy death? In Kundalini Yoga, the Kundalini or the inner energy (Shakthi) resides at the base of our spine. You can awaken it through yogic practices and move it up your spine, eventually getting to the top of your skull, which represents your soul or Shiva (Sahasraara Chakra). This will reveal the secret of death and of being permanently freed of a physical body and the need to return to a physical body. This is called Mukti or Moksha (liberation).
Interestingly, the Kundalini Shakthi comprises of three parts. Ida (the left energy), Pingala (the right energy) and Sushumna (the subtle central energy). This represents Shiva's Tri-shula (Trident). The term Ida is also reused in South Indian languages to mean left: Idathu-Tamil, Edama-Telugu, Eda-Kannada, itatte-Malayalam. (Other derived languages use a word derived from the Samskritam word for left-Vama).
Shiva is also Tri-Nethra (three eyed). (Note how we've already found 3 symbols of Shiva representing the number 3. Does't the topic of three secrets of Shiva make sense?) The 3rd inner eye on our forehead represents the Ajna Chakra of knowledge (symbolized by Muruga or Karthikeya, called Jnana-Panditha). Meditation practitioners who have meditated deeply for decades and people with near death experiences talk about seeing a comforting light in the forehead that they get close to. Penetrating this light is supposed to reveal the secret of death.
The second secret: Birth
What causes death? Birth. Without Birth, there is no death. So, to truly conquer death, you must conquer birth as well. What causes birth? Kama (desire) causes birth. The original meaning of Kama is only desire, not sexual desire. Now, the cause of birth is two-fold. It is sexual desire in the physical plane that causes birth. But for a soul to enter a body, it also needs an unfulfilled desire in the physical plane. It can be as simple as a desire to eat one more Masala Dosa. That will cause another birth.
In the Puranic story of Kama Dahana (burning of desire), Shiva burns Kama (desire) with the fire from his third eye (knowledge) when Kama disturbs his Dhyana (meditation).
Shiva is the one who destroys both birth & death, leading to liberation. He symbolizes the final goal of self-realization.
The third secret: who are we?
In the majestic statue of Natarajan, the cosmic dance form of Shiva, Shiva is dancing the dance of creation & destruction under an arch of fire, that originates & ends in chaos (symbolized by two Makaras). There is a small demon being stamped on by Shiva. Who is this demon? This demon's name is Apa-smara. What is Apasmara? Smara means to remember. Apasmara means an erroneous and discordant form of rememberance. There is an additional physical meaning to Apasmara. It is the Samskritam term for epilepsy. When epilepsy hits, the person forgets who he is and the bodily nervous system goes crazy.
Why is Shiva stamping on Apasmara? Vedanta teaches us that our true nature is the soul (Jivaatman). The soul is nature of true bliss itself. The coverings over this soul (Pancha Karma Indriyas-5 organs of action, Pancha Jnana Indriyas-5 sense organ receptors, Manas-mind, Buddhi-intellect, Prakriti Svabhavams-inherent material natures) have caused us to forget who we truly are. We are all in a state of Apasmara, until we realize who we truly are. Our ultimate true nature is a state of complete unending happiness (Param-Ananda).
Let us all meditate, discover the secrets of birth & death, and find out who we are which will reveal the true nature of ourselves & discover the secret of Shiva.
Sources:
Upanyasam from Sri Muralidhara Swamigal
https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/the-nataraja-and-epilepsy-an-interpretation-of-the-cosmic-dancer
http://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2018/jul/11/the-universal-in-indian-culture-1841608.html
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