Shiva Quotes
More Shiva Quotes
The Mahapuranas contain 400,000 slokas . They are four times the size of Mahabharata . In these, six are Satvic or Vaishnava Puranas and glorify Lord Vishnu, six are Rajasic or Brahma Puranas and glorify Lord Brahma, and six are Tamasic or Shiva Puranas and glorify Lord Shiva.
— Shantha N. Nair, in "Echoes of Ancient Indian Wisdom: The Universal Hindu Vision and Its Edifice (1 January 2008)", p.266
The revolt was the sepoy; the revolution would have been the people; the revolt was revenge; the revolution would have been the Idea; the revolt was the cruel Vishnu; the revolution would have been the mild Shiva.
francisco luís gomes— Os Brâmanes, p. 147
I am Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds.
tucker max— The Absinthe Donuts Story.
Bhubaneswar before becoming the capital of Orissa in 1948 had been a temple town. As a temple town it prospered and thrived, becoming an important Hindu cultural and religious center...it is generally believed that the town probably developed around the Lingaraj temple, erected to commemorate Lord Shiva. Thus the name Bhubaneshwar – the Lord of the Three Worlds: Tribhuvaneshvara.
— Ravi Kalia, in Bhubaneswar: From a Temple Town to a Capital City (2004), p.xi
The temple town of Bhubaneshwar is predominantly saiva , and the Oriya Hindus who live here belong, for the most part, to families of hereditary servants (sevaka) of Lingaraja, the form in which Shiva is worshiped here.
— Seymour, quoted in Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess (14 June 2001), p.37
Ahoms, a tribe from Burma , who controlled the region from thirteenth to eighteenth centuries, who absorbed Hindu culture, were the original builders of Guwahati’ most famous site, a shrine to the goddess Sati, also known as Kali , consort of Shiva .
— Anthony Levi, Trudy Ring, in Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda, "International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania", p.308
Because the goddess has come to the great mountain Nilakuta to have sexual enjoyment with me [Shiva], she is called Kamakhya, who resides there in secret. Because she gives love , is a loving woman, is the embodiment of love, is the beloved, she restores the limbs of Kama , she is called Kamakhya. Now hear of the great glory of Kamakhya, who, as primordial nature, sets the entire world in motion.
— Kalika Purana (KP 62.1-3) quoted by Hugh B. Urban, in "Matrix of Power: Tantra, Kinship, and Sacrifice in the Worship of Mother Goddess Kamakhya, South Asia: South Asia Journal of Asian Studies, n.s., Vol. XXXI, no.3, December 2008"
The introduction of the Shiva as the central deity to the form, a god who incinerates impurity introduced to Bharata Natyam, a modality quite outside that of devadasi dance, a dance preoccupied with cataloguing the infinite shadings of feeling in love.
— In "Diasporas and Interculturalism in Asian Performing Arts: Translating Traditions" p.97
Generally Shiva is associated with Tandava dance...found in the Natyashastra of sage Bharata.
— In "Devad?s?: Dancing Damsel" p.45 (Tandava)
One should not be amazed ... that this Ganges is really Power , for is she not the Supreme Shakti of the Eternal Shiva, taken in the form of water? This Ganges, filled with the sweet wine of compassion , was sent out for the salvation of the world by Shiva, the Lord of the Lords. Good people should not think this Triple-Pathed River to be like the thousand other earthly rivers, filled with water.
— Ganga Mahatmay, Kashi Khanda, p.48 (Aghor Medicine: Pollution, Death, and Healing in Northern India (3 February 2008)])
Eck describes the creative power of the Ganga as “liquid Shakti ”, evidenced by the fertility of fields along her banks and her position as a second consort and active principle of Shiva .
— In P.48 (Aghor Medicine: Pollution, Death, and Healing in Northern India (3 February 2008)])
...Purusha was personified as Brahma , Vishnu and Shiva while Prakriti was personified as Saraswati , Lakshmi and Shakti .
— In p.39 (Myth = Mithya (2008))
The Puranas are post- Vedic texts which typically contain a complete narrative of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology and geography. There are 18 canonical Puranas, divided into three categories, each named after a deity: Brahma , Vishnu and Shiva . There are also many other works termed Purana, known as 'Upapuranas.
— Sacred Texts, in Hinduism
The Shiva Puranas are Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Kurma Purana, Markandeya Purana, Skanda Purana, and Varaha Purana.
— Shantha N. Nair, in "Echoes of Ancient Indian Wisdom: The Universal Hindu Vision and Its Edifice (1 January 2008)", p.266
If the Purana written by Vyasa were still existing, then it would be honoured as a “Sruti”. In the absence of this Purana and the one written by Lomaharshana, the eighteen Puranas that still exist cannot all be given the same place of honour; among them, the Vishnu and the Bhagwata Purana composed by accomplished yogis are definitely more precious and we must recognise that the Markandeya Purana written by a sage devoted to spiritual pursuits is more profound in Knowledge than either the Shiva or the Agni Purana.
— Sri Aurobindo, in "Sri Aurobindo Writings in Bengali Translated into English".
Vamana Purana is that in which the four faced Brahma taught the three objects of existence , as subservient to the account of the greatness of Trivikrama, which treats also of the Shiva Kalpa , and which consists of ten thousand stanzas. It contains an account of the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu ; but it is related by Pulastya to Narada , and extends to but about seven thousand stanzas. Its contents can scarcely establish its claim to the character of a Purana.
— H.H.Wilson, in "Oriental Translation Fund, Volume 52 (Google eBook), Volume 52 (1840)}, P. xivii
Most of the puranas are highly sectarian as is the Shiva Purana, which is one of the longer and larger puranas. It gives an exhaustive account Shiva’s mythic deeds – many of which have become the common mythic currency for many traditional Hindus – as well as instructions for how, where, and when Shiva is to be worshipped.
— James G. Lochtefeld, in "Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z (2002)", p.637
The first and ultimate principle of the Universe is a feminine power, Shakti, whose personified form is Beauty and whose essential nature is consciousness and bliss . It exists eternally associated with the male principle, Shiva , who plays a secondary role. The “Srichakra” is the diagrammatic representation of their union.
— N Balasubramanyam interpreting Adi Shankara’s Soundarya Lahari, in Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: sasay to zorgot (1992), p.3877
Hindus offer devotion and offering to them Gods - Vishnu and Shiva at shrines in their homes and temples .
— Gurinder Singh Mann, in "Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs in America : A Short History", p.50
She, the Ganga, is my supreme image, having the form of water, the very essence of Shiva ’s soul , She is nature (Prakriti) supreme and the basis of countless universe . For the protection of the world , I playfully uphold the Ganga. Who is mother of the world, the supreme Brahman ’s embodiment .
— Skandapurana, in p.148 (Dev?: Goddesses of India)
O Agastya , one should not be amazed at the notion that the Ganga is really Shakti , for is she not the supreme energy of the eternal Shiva, which has taken the form of water?
— Ganga Mahatmaya, in p.148 (Dev?: Goddesses of India)
According to some accounts, the Ganga split into seven streams as she emerged from the hair of Shiva , three flowing to the east, three to the west, and the Bhagirathi to the south. This tradition recalls the seven rivers of the Vedic hymns and reminds us that the Ganga in essence waters the whole earth . Indeed, when Bhagiratha brought the Ganga to earth, her waters not only restored the ashes of the dead but also replenished the ocean , which had been swallowed by the sage Agastya .
— Mahabharata, in p.145
Om, Praise be to the auspicious Ganga, gift of Shiva, O Praise! Praise be to her who is Vishnu embodied, the very image of Brahma, O praise! Praise to her who is the form of Rudra, Shankara, the embodiment of all gods, the embodiment of healing, O praise!
John Hawley— Devi: Goddesses of India, Ganga Mahatmaya (1996, p.148)
