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Shiva Ardhanarishvara
by Gregorian Bivolaru
The wise man Brinji was one of the fervent worshippers of Shiva. But he used to worship only Shiva, deliberately neglecting to worship Shakti. Through his spiritual practice, Brinji was focused exclusively on transcending the existential aspects and this is why he believed it was correct to worship only Shiva, in his mind separating Shiva from His manifesting feminine energy, Shakti. In reality, Shiva was not separated from Her and he is never separated from Her. Once upon a time, the Gods and the wise men went and stayed around Shiva and his lover Parvati, in order to remain there, full of veneration and adoration.
They resided in the mountain Kailasa. But the fanatic worshiper of Shiva, called Brinji, insisted, saying that if they truly worship only Shiva, they have to stay only around Shiva. Excluding completely Shakti, the feminine energy, from his prayers towards Shiva, Brinji renounced, without knowing, his supporting vital feminine energy, which in reality came from Shakti and which always supported him in his worshipping action. In order to offer him a spiritual lesson, meant to pull him out of the state of limitation and stupidity in which he was, Parvati made the fanatic worshipper Brinji to come and stay in a physical bodily state in which he was just flesh and bones. His entire feminine energy, Shakti, which he constantly rejected with crazily fervour, left his body completely and because of this, the wise Brinji soon became very weak, lacking all trace of energy.
In this way, he became unable to make even the smallest movements. But he stubbornly continued to pray only to Shiva. Full of endless compassion, Shiva offered to his fanatical worshipper a stick, to support him. Taking it full of veneration, Brinji became so attached to his stick that it soon became like a third leg for him. Having this new support from Shiva, Brinji continued to worship only Shiva, still not understanding the meaning of this spiritual lesson he was given. In order to help him understand the inseparability between Shakti and Shiva, Shiva’s lover asked her divine master Shiva to take a certain form for his worshipper in which she was one with Shiva and which to express in a very obvious way the inseparability between Shiva and Shakti. In this situation Shiva took the aspect of Ardhanarishvara.
Published by Natha.net
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