Shiva or Vishnu: Who’s Supreme? Swapnil Bhattacharya Blog & KR IRS 1. Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu can’t actually be regarded as different entities. Let us look at a shloka.
स्कन्दोपनिषत् SKANDOPANISHAD जीवः शिवः शिवो जीवः स जीवः केवलः शिवः । तुषेण बद्धो व्रीहिः स्यात्तुषाभावेन तण्डुलः ॥ ६॥ एवं बद्धस्तथा जीवः कर्मनाशे सदाशिवः । पाशबद्धस्तथा जीवः पाशमुक्तः सदाशिवः ॥ ७॥ शिवाय विष्णुरूपाय शिवरूपाय विष्णवे । शिवस्य हृदयं विष्णुः विष्णोश्च हृदयं शिवः ॥ ८॥ यथा शिवमयो विष्णुरेवं विष्णुमयः शिवः । यथान्तरं न पश्यामि तथा मे स्वस्तिरायुषि ॥ ९॥ यथान्तरं न भेदाः स्युः शिवकेशवयोस्तथा । देहो देवालयः प्रोक्तः स जीवः केवलः शिवः ॥ १०॥ The living entity is Shiva, Shiva is the living entity, and that living entity is only Shiva. Oats bound by tuṣa are called rice in the absence of tuṣa 6॥ Thus bound, the living entity is always Lord Śiva when his actions are destroyed. Similarly, the living entity is bound by the ropes and is freed from the ropes 7॥ O Lord Śiva, you are the form of Lord Viṣṇu. Lord Śiva is the heart of Lord Viṣṇu, and Lord Śiva is the heart of Lord Viṣṇu. 8 ॥ Just as Lord Viṣṇu is composed of Lord Śiva, so Lord Śiva is composed of Lord Viṣṇu. I can’t see any difference in my life, so I’ll be happy in my life. 9. 9॥ Just as there are no differences between Lord Śiva and Lord Keśava, The body is said to be the temple, and the living entity is the only Lord Shiva. 10. 10॥ 2. Let’s look at the story of Hari-Hara Swarupam. In Padma Purana there is narration on the same. Once upon a time, while playing pastimes, due to some reason, Lord Vishnu curses Goddess Lakshmi to take horse form. Lord Vishnu further adds that the goddess will get her Lakshmi form once she manages to get a child from Lord Vishnu. Goddess Lakshmi reaches the land of Kurukshetra in the form of a horse. Furthermore, she started to meditate and worship Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva wondered and asked her the reason for worshipping him instead of Lord Vishnu. The goddess replied that the easiest way to get blessings of Lord Vishnu is to worship Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu always meditates upon Lord Shiva and Lord Shiva always meditates upon Lord Vishnu. She realised that both of them are actually the same supreme soul in two different forms. Thus, she worshiped Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was pleased and blessed her. On his blessings, Lord Vishnu finally takes the form of a horse, comes to the land of Kurukshetra and meets Devi Lakshmi. Both of them together had a son, who was later known as Harihara. The famous Kartavirya Arjuna belonged to his clan. Hari-Hara Swarupam From this story, it is clear that both Shiva and Vishnu are actually the manifestation of the same Supreme Lord. 3. In all his forms, Lord Vishnu worshipped Lord Shiva, be it Shri Rama, Shri Krishna or Shri Parasuraman. When Shiva was worshipped by Rama, he was called Rameswaram. When he was worshipped by Krishna (Gopal), he was called Gopeshwara. But, one more fact is that Shri Hanuman, Shri Rama Bhakta (The great devotee of Shri Ram), was actually an incarnation of Lord Shiva. In Bhagwata Purana, Shri Vishnu tells his beloved wife Shri Lakshmi that half of the space in Vishnu’s heart is actually occupied by Lord Shiva while the other half was occupied by all other beings, including Goddess Lakshmi Herself. Lord Shiva always meditated upon Shri Rama (Lord Vishnu) whereas, Lord Vishnu himself meditated upon Lord Shiva. 4. In Shri Bhagwat Gita, in the 21st Shloka (Verse) of Chapter 10, Shri Krishna says: आदित्यानामहं विष्णुर्ज्योतिषां रविरंशुमान् | मरीचिर्मरुतामस्मि नक्षत्राणामहं शशी || 21|| ādityānām ahaṁ viṣhṇur jyotiṣhāṁ ravir anśhumān marīchir marutām asmi nakṣhatrāṇām ahaṁ śhaśhī Translation: Amongst the twelve sons of Aditi, I am Vishnu; amongst luminous objects I am the sun. Know me to be Marichi amongst the Maruts, and the moon amongst the stars in the night sky. In Shri Bhagwat Gita, in the 23rd Shloka of Chapter 10, Shri Krishna says: रुद्राणां शङ्करश्चास्मि वित्तेशो यक्षरक्षसाम् | वसूनां पावकश्चास्मि मेरु: शिखरिणामहम् || 23|| rudrāṇāḿ śańkaraś cāsmi vitteśo yakṣa-rakṣasām vasūnāḿ pāvakaś cāsmi meruḥ śikhariṇām aham Translation: Of all the Rudras I am Lord Shiva, of the Yakshas and Rakshasas I am the Lord of wealth (Kubera), of the Vasus I am fire (Agni), and of mountains I am Meru. Explanation: If Shri Krishna is himself Vishnu and Shiva then it’s absolutely clear from the above verses that Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are not different at all. 5. The last and foremost conclusion is that neither Lord Vishnu, nor Lord Shiva is complete without their Shaktis or consorts. Hence, complete masculinity doesn’t exist. The formless (*nirguṇa*) mode is the mode of non-duality where the objective of the petitioner is to negate his individual ego. or, in other words, dissolve his individuated wave-consciousness in the ocean of consciousness. At this level, the practitioner negates all the names and forms. Whatever is name is not a name but consciousness. Whatever is a form is not a form, but consciousness. This negation of name and form enables the practitioner to dissolve the whole universe in the symbol *Om*. KR IRS 11222 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZoosZRNLxWGZRujJfGa8Ss51Ct0KbU9vM0O_ebVqg8ygNg%40mail.gmail.com.
