Ardhanarisvara: Androgynous Siva. Chennai Museum

painting from Exoticindia.com HE16.jpg

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna page 240

884. No one can say what Sachchidananda is like. That is why He first

took the form of Ardhanarisvara (half man and half woman). Do you

know why He did so? It is to show that both Prakriti and Purusha are

Himself. At a step still lower, Sachchidananda became several Purushas

and Prakritis.

This form representing the male and female halves transcends the distinction between and

limitation of male and female and takes the transcendent Lord to a level above and beyond the

gender which is Brahman, realization of which means liberation. This is a fusion of Siva and

Sakti (Bindu and Nada). Sakti part is golden, while Siva part is snow-white. Androgynous Siva

wears gender-specific apposite earrings, Nakhra Kundala on the right ear and Patra Kundala on

the left ear. According to Saiva saint poets, he is Ammai-Appar, Mother and Father.

Androgyny: The west says that Brahma converted himself into two persons: the first male,

Manu Svayambhuva and the first female, Satarupa. It regards the Biblical Adam as androgynous

and one of his ribs gave rise to Eve. Page 48-49 Harper's Dictionary of Hinduism. Now you

know why Adam is getting ribbed for his role in the creation of Eve.

April 3, 2008:

In Science Channel, there was a presentation of Chimera (XX plus XY) in the same newborn

baby. This is a truly androgynous baby or Hermaphrodite. The TV special reports: Babies are

being born split (not literally) right down the middle, half black and half white, a testicle on one

side and a vagina on the other. Explore the extraordinary medical phenomenon that causes two

different babies to fuse together in the womb. The explanation is as follows. Originally two

sperms fertilized two eggs of the mother all at the same time, the father's X bearing sperm

fertilizes the X-bearing egg and the father's Y-bearing sperm fertilizes the X-bearing egg. Now

we have two separate fertilized eggs (XX and XY), (not) destined to become a girl and a boy.

Nature decides otherwise; the two embryos come together and became one embryo (A Chimera)

resulting in a baby who has the testis on one side and ovary on the other side and an ambiguous

genitalia. The same baby has on the abdomen a line in the midline the left side is lighter and the

right side darker giving us the clue that this baby is two babies in one.

Sakti is also known as Girija. "A" is Siva; "Ham" is Sakti and in combination, it is AHAM,

"I." Siva part is male form (Pum rupa), Sakti is Sivon Mukhi (turning towards Siva). The

relationship between the two is called Mithah Samavaya, mutual agreement or obligation, by

which Sakti (Nada) turns and looks up to Siva (Bindu) for beginning creation. There is another

interpretation: Siva aspect is mere Consciousness, Jyoti, in whose proximity, she (Sakti and

Nada), desirous of change, becomes heavy (ghanibhuya) and assumes the form of Bindu. She, in

the Bindu form, divides to become Bindu on the right side and Visarga on the left side: the male

and the female aspects. Visarga = creation. Ham is Bindu and Sah is Visarga; Hamsa is the

Mantra; its original form before inversion is So-Ham. Sa-ham = "She I am." Go to >> Mantra -

Om Namasivaya>> for more details. Hamsa (personified or deified) is the union of Purusa and

prakrti, Consciousness and matter, Siva and Sakti. We are back to Siva-Sakti in Hamsa, who as a

Devata resides in Sahasrara Chakra and receives stuti (praise) from Saivas, Saktas, and

Vaishnavas, who (the last one) call it Parama Purusa, while the Hari-Haras (worshippers of

united Vishnu and Siva) call it Hari-Hara.

Nada is substrate and Bindu is substance. Nada is gold and Bindu is gold jewelry. Nada and

Bindu are One. Remember, Siva is static; Sakti is dynamic and creative. Siva is Being (Sat) and

Sakti is Becoming. Siva and Sakti exist in Ninmala Turiya state (Stainless Purity). Sakti has no

feet, but moves faster than air; she has no ears, but hears; she has no eyes, but sees; she has no

tongue, but tastes-- Mahakali stotra. Kali, the sakti of Siva is both gentle and ferocious, Siva and

Sakti

Nada and Bindu (Sakti and Siva), female and male principles, are present in every created being

in this universe. What is dominant in a human (being) determines the geno- and phenotypical sex

of the individual. Before the fetus differentiates into male and female, it has all the necessary

primitive organs and devices to go either way or other ways. When Bindu is dominant (XY

genotype), the fetus becomes male under the raging fervor of Bindu which attenuates the female

structures (Mullerian duct system). When Nada is dominant (XX genotype) the male structures

(Wolffian Duct System) attenuate and a female fetus emerges. Each person still has the residual

principle of the opposite sex in him or her. When both principles are present, the product is

androgynous.

Siva aspect is said to possess down-turned digit of the moon dripping nectar. Siva and Sakti are

the cotyledons of a pea in a sheath (pea with a skin), the sheath being Maya, removal of which

shows the unitary existence of a pea as two cotyledons; in like manner when Maya is removed,

unmanifest Siva and Sakti transform from latency to Siva and Sakti. (In another instance, Siva

and Sakti were compared to the two halves of the grain of gram covered by sheath.)

Siva and Sakti are compared to gold and gold ornaments; they are same; Sakti has a multitude of

manifestations, while Siva is hypostasis. Siva is the foundation (Consciousness) in a canvas;

Sakti is the images on the canvas.

When it comes to worship of Ardhanarisvara, some worship the Siva aspect and some worship

the Sakti aspect. Siva is Saktiman (Holder of Power), though he is inert. Siva is Sava (dead body)

without Sakti. All that power in creation, maintenance, and dissolution rests with Sakti (Nada),

though the Great Mother does not exist without Siva or Saktiman. All that infused sakti that

exists in man is manifest in prakrti, manas and jivatma (matter, mind, and life), a limitation of

SatChitAnada or Being, Consciousness and Bliss. The full expression of SatChitAnanda comes

to jiva when it transcends the name and form, mind and matter. Siva is Stasis and Sakti is

Dynamism. Where there is stasis, movement tips the scale, where there is dynamism, stasis is

rest. He is whole (Purna) and She is not whole (Apurna); He is Nishkala and Sakti is Sakala; He

is One; She is many; He is Infinite and She renders the Infinite into finite; He is formless and

She renders the Formless into myriad forms; He is the Supreme Power; He is SatChitAnanda;

She is SatChitAnadayamayi; She transforms, mutates, veils and reveals it. This transformation is

evident when Siva Sakti originating from Parasamvit undergoes a vertical step-down

transformation from Siva Tattva to Sakti Tattva to Sadasiva Tattva to Isvara Tattva to Suddha

Vidya Tattva, each one retaining its status and potency, but the latter compared to the former is

of lesser Consciousness. In this step-down process, the Siva Consciousness undergoes

transformation and dilution (less pure).

When Kundalini Sakti rises from Muladhara plane to Sahasrara plane, all tattvas and devatas

dissolve in her: this is involution; Ardhanarisvara residing in Visuddha Chakra dissolves in

Kundalini Devi, who unites with Paramasiva after passing through the Knot of Rudra at Ajna

Chakra.

When Siva is worshipped in the form Ardhanariswara (half male, half female) with four arms

giving boons, the devotee experiences all the joys of Sivaloka and receives the power of Animaa

(ability to assume a minute form), the appropriate knowledge lasting as long as the moon and

stars, and liberation. (Linga Purana 76.34-37.)

Sarada says that there are seven saktis: Paramesvara as Satchidananda, Siva, Sakti, KArana

Bindu, KArya Bindu, KArya NAda, and Bija. Another source in relation to Kundalini Yoga says

that there are corresponding seven Saktis: Unmani, Samani, Anji, Mahanada, Nada,

Ardhachandra, and Bindu. A combination of all these Saktis with Om gives a list of 12 Saktis:

UnmanA, SamanA, VyApika, Anjani, Mahanada, Nada, Nirodhini, Ardhachandra, Bindu, Ma-

KAra, U-KAra, A-KAra. Kundalini Power for more details.

See File Tattvas-36 for details on Tattvas. TATTVAS-36

Transformation of Supreme Consciousness: Dumb-down of Super Consciousness of Siva to

mere human consciousness

0: Parasamvit = High Voltage Pure Consciousness. Aham and Idam are unitary ( "I" and "This")

1. Siva Tattva = SatChitAnanda Aham. It is the Chit (Consciousness) aspect of SatChitAnanda;

Consciousness is inward-looking - the Status of "I" (Subject). It is said that Aham ("I") stood for

the love of Self for the Self. Idam (This) is the potential Parasakti. Aham is the inert or static

aspect of Consciousness, meaning it forms the substratum or the support (hypostasis) of the

manifest universe. It is like the riverbed in a river, the canvas in a painting, the skeleton in a

body. They are not visible but without them (support) the entities do not exist. His Will is His

brush, His body is the canvas, and the world is the picture painted on his body. Here

Consciousness is the Subject and the object(s) is lurking -- manifestation is in potential state and

the kinetic state of Siva is under check. Panchadasi defines Idam as follows: All that are

perceived by the sensory organs, motor organs, the mind, Buddhi, and scriptures come under

IDAM (Panchadasi 2.18)

2. Sakti Tattva: Sakti or Energy produces a strain or stress (deformation) on the Universal

Consciousness of Siva Tattva. The Consciousness loses its unitary existence; it becomes bifid:

aham and Idam, I and this, subject and object, positive and negative, anabolism and catabolism.

This kinesis is like that of an athlete bursting into a catapultic sprint, and a painter pouring forth

his energy (heart, mind, and soul) on the canvas with nimble deft paint strokes. That is Sakti

Tattva, energy called Ananada of SatChitAnanda. It is no more unitary existence of Supreme

Oneness; with the emergence of Sakti, it has become a world of two, Aham and Idam. Siva's

Ananda (Bliss) welled up from the three corners of his heart, Iccha, Jnana and Kriya and rose to

his face to witness his own splendor called Sakti. Siva's Iccha, Jnana and Kriya (Will,

Knowledge, and Action) know no limitation: Supreme Will and Confidence, Supreme

Knowledge, and Supreme Execution in a logical sequential fashion. This logical element is one

of the mainstays of Saiva Siddhanta showing the cascading descent of Siva Tattva to Sakti Tattva

to Sadasiva Tattva, to Isvara Tattva and to Suddha Vidya Tattva.

Tirumular says that Jnana rose from Siva and Iccha and Kriya rose from Sakti.

0-1-2: Parasamvit, Siva Tattva, and Sakti Tattva are non-dual states

3. Sadasiva Tattva = Grace, "This" (Idam) Consciousness is outward-looking.

4. Isvara or IsaTattva = Mahesvara, concealment. "I" (Aham) is inward looking.

5. Suddha Vidya Tattvam = Aham and Idam = "I and This" of equal emphasis. Creation,

Preservation and dissolution. Suddha Vidya = Pure Knowledge.

Man is Siva and Sakti in human form, a degenerate (more politely -- very dilute) version of

SatChitAnanda; Ananda is yet to be acquired. More correctly, Human consciousness is a

contracted form (Sam-Koca) of Siva's Consciousness. It has possibilities with the potential for

expansion, though it is at the bottom of Infinite Consciousness or Pure Consciousness. As you

noticed, even gods (in Suddha Tattvas) have a contracted version of Siva's Consciousness. The

contraction in us is due to Sakti imposing the limitation in the way of mind and matter and

veiling. Yoga and worship help raise it to its perfect expression, which soars above the

limitations of mind, matter and earthly life and becomes SatChitAnanda (Being, Consciousness,

Bliss).

Sakti's essential nature is portrayed in the following actions: It is because of their Saktis --

Brahmani, Vaisnavi and Rudrani--, Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra create, maintain and dissolve this

universe. Siva is the seed and She is the Womb. He is Light and She is Fire.

In Tantra literature, there are five Sivas: Sadasiva, Isa, Rudra, Vishnu, and Brahma; all of them

are described as "Five Great corpses" because they are all inert without Sakti. It is like the king

without kingdom; it is like Oracle of Omaha without his billions. Siva is Sava (corpse, Sava

Rupa); hence, Sakti Devi is portrayed as standing on Sava-Siva. The Five Great Corpses

(pancha-maha-preta) become inanimate objects upon which Devi sits, reclines, presides, and

merges as Consciousness. Siva is the couch; Sadasiva is the mattress; Isa is the pillow; Isa,

Rudra, Hari (Vishnu), and Brahma are the four legs of the couch. Tripurasundari reclines or sits

majestically on the couch. (See the painting from ExoticIndia.com) Sundari is united with Higher

Siva, Paramasiva in Pranava, AUM. The Nada (Chandrabindu/ Nadabindu) over the Omkara is

the couch, on which Paramasiva in his Bindu form is reclining. Chandrabindu is Nada and

Bindu, Sakti and Siva in one unit. The erotic and sometimes morbid symbolism is illustrative of

Sakti's power.

The crescent moon with the dot is Chandrabindu

(Nadabindu) or the couch of Tripurasundari in union

with Paramasiva. The icon presents five components:

A, U, M, Nada (the Crescent), and Bindu (the dot).

Just imagine the crescent moon being the couch! Nada

is Sound, Bindu is the derivative of Nada and the

source of the universe. Nada is called Visvamata or

Mother of the Universe; Bindu is Duhkha Hara or

Pain Killer or remover of pain. This idea from

antiquity (actually a revealed knowledge) makes one

consider that the Big Bang came from Nada-Bindu, a

dot.

As you may notice, the Pure Consciousness in its step-down process becomes the Spirit in the

first five Spiritual Tattvas (1-5), then becomes knowledge in the seven knowledge Tattvas (6-

12), and matter in the 24 Anma Tattvas ((13-36). Tattva #12 is the human soul, which has limited

knowledge and wears and sports the Anma Tattvas for its everyday life on this earth. Go to

Tattvas-36 for the list. This descent is called evolution and the retrograde ascent by the Yogi is

called involution or absorption of all Tattvas by Kundalini Devi while the Yogi ascends from

Muladhara Chakra to Sahasrara Chakra and goes from matter, to knowledge to Higher

Consciousness.

Mayai is one of Siva's energies that veils spiritual truths from souls. The soul has an inherent

impurity, Anava, which has to be shed before Grace is conferred on an aspirant. Anava is ego, I-

ness and Mine-ness; there is only one EGO in this Universe and that is Siva. There cannot be two

egos clashing with each other. It is like saying that there can be only one president in the nation

and not two presidents. As long as the soul has this Anava-ego, spiritual truths will not be

revealed. Shedding it is the step towards gaining spiritual knowledge and Grace. Breaking the

coconut in a temple is symbolic of breaking your ego in front of God. Ramakrishna

Paramahamsa says in Sayings of Ramakrishna, sayings 99-100, page 45, egotism is like a cloud

that keeps God hidden from our sight. As long as ego veils the heart God cannot shine upon it.

Rama is like God, Sita is Maya behind him, Lakshmana is Jiva behind Sita; in that predicament

how could Lakshmana see Rama? Lakshmana moved to the side to look at Rama.

Para Brahman is without attributes; Brahman with Mayai is Isvara (manifest Brahman or Siva);

Brahman with avidya (ignorance) is the individual soul (Jiva). Definition of Brahman is more

complex than what is apparent. To be Brahman is not to have any attributes (Nishkala). Where

do these Maya and Ignorance come from? Are they grafted on Brahman? What is their origin or

source? For Brahman to have Maya and ignorance negates or degrades his status. There are

several explanations. It is said that Maya is the body of Brahman and Avidya is the body of Jiva.

Tat Tvam Asi = That thou art. Tat is Isvara or Brahman with Maya as his body or Upadhi

(limitation or adjunct); Tvam is Jiva ( individual soul) with Avidya (ignorance) as its body. Jiva

becomes Brahman when Maya is eliminated from Brahman and Avidya (Ignorance) from Jiva;

Maya and Avidya are actually Avastu (not a substance, non-existent). Brahman is

Consciousness (Cit) in his unmanifest form; in his manifest form he sports his Maya aspect;

Avidya makes him Sakala (many forms and names in this universe). Maya, as inscrutable sakti,

is said to be pure Sattva (goodness), and Avidya contributes the sheaths (Kosas). Sankara says

that all this is Brahman, the hypostasis; and the rest is Maya (illusion). What we perceive with

our senses is Maya and appearance; it is a state of mind. There is truth in that, according to

Sankara followers. Without mind there is no world. Sankara establishes the unity of Isvara and

Jiva by eliminating Maya from the former and Avidya from the latter. But a Sakta (believer in

Sakti) is an inclusive person and does not eliminate anything; all is Brahman, Atma is Siva,

Atma's body and mind are Siva Sakti. Siva as Parabraman is Siva Sakti (Cit Sakti) without

action; Siva as Isvara is Siva Sakti exercising Maya Sakti which is movement and change. Sakta

talks about Paravastu (Supreme substance) and says that their is no sakti without Siva and no

Siva without Sakti. Siva, the Mayin, is not affected by Maya. It is like the heat in the sun; heat

never bothers the sun. To a Sakta, Cit and Maya Saktis are Siva Consciousness, variable in their

scope. Sankara's Isvara is shrouded in unconscious Maya , while Sakta's Isvara is all Himself

projecting Sakti. Sankara's Brahman is the common denominator when you subtract Maya from

Isvara and Avidya from Jiva. There are many views on this subject. Brahman is Vivarta cause

(abiding, moving) and Maya is the Saha Kari, cooperative cause. (Vivartavāda is assertion of the

Vedanta doctrine which maintains the development of the Universe from Brahma(n) as the sole

real entity, the phenomenal world being held to be a mere illusion or maya.) Maya originates

from Brahman and that being so, Maya Sakti cannot be unreal. Brahman is Vivarta cause;

Brahman is the hypostasis of illusion through Maya; Maya is Parinama (transformational) cause.

This Maya is like the Laser Show. There is another twist. Brahman, Maya, and Avidya form a

braid which creates the world and beings. Ramanujacharya does not believe Brahman as the

repository of Maya and Avidya. Ramanuja puts the following question: How could it possible

that Avidya (Ignorant) Brahman produces a Maya (unreal) world? To Ramanuja, Brahman is the

Soul; the universe and beings are his body. Krishna in Bhagavad-Gita makes everything simple

and straightforward. 10.36: I am the fraud of the gambler; of the splendid, I am the splendor; I

am victory; I am the resolve (of the resolute); I am the absolute virtue of the virtuous. This says

everything; He is the essence in the good, the bad, the ugly and the indifferent. He is knowledge,

He is ignorance, He is illusion, He is the world, He is the Universe, He is the Cosmos, He is

Time, He is Beyond Time, He is Beyond the beyond.

7.8: I am the taste in the water, O Son of Kunti I am the light in the moon

and the sun, the prānava (AUM) in the Vedas, sound in the ether and the

virility (manhood) in men. Bhagavadgita

7.9: I am the pure fragrance of the earth; I am the brightness in the fire; I

am the life in all the living entities; I am the tapa (austerity) in ascetics.

7.10: O son of Partha, know me to be the eternal (Sanātanam) seed of all

living beings; I am the intelligence of the intelligent; I am the brilliance of

the brilliant.

7.11: I am strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire. I am carnal

desire in all within the principles of dharma (duty, virtue and

righteousness), O Arjuna.

9.16: I am the ritual; I am the sacrifice; I am the oblation; I am the

medicinal herb; I am the mantra; I am certainly the melted butter; I am the

fire; and I am the offering.

9.17: I am the father of this world, the mother, the supporter, and the

grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, and the purifier. I am Omkara

(the syllable AUM or OM), Rg, Sama, and Yajur Veda.

9.18: I am the goal, the sustainer, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the

refuge, the selfless friend, the creation, the dissolution, the resting place,

the repository, and the imperishable seed.

9.19: I give heat; I withhold and send forth rain. I am immortality and

certainly death. I am Sat (Being) and Asat (non-being), O Arjuna.

10.20: I am the Atma O Gudakesa (Arjuna) seated in the hearts of all living

beings. I am the beginning, also the middle, and certainly the end of all

beings.

10.21: Of the Adityas, I am Vishnu. Of the lights, I am the radiant sun. Of

the Maruts, I am the Marici. Of the stars, I am the moon.

10.22: Of the Vedas, I am the Samaveda. Of all the gods, I am the

Vasavah. Of all the Indriyas (senses), I am the mind. I am consciousness in

living beings. Vasava is Indira.

10.23: Of the (eleven) Rudras, I am Sankara (Lord Siva). (I am) Vitteso

(Kubera) of the yaksas and Raksasas. Of the (eight) Vasus, I am Fire. I am

Meru of all mountaintops or peaks.

More on Maya as the origin of the Tattvas.

Brahman Mayai is the material cause of the universe and therefore is substratum of matter. In its

primal state, it is subtle, impalpable, imperceptible, indestructible, formless (arupa), eternal and

all-pervasive. It is like Ether, the stem substance. Whether Ether and Mayai are the same or not, I

am not sure, but an intriguing thought. In its manifest form, Mayai is of prodigious fecundity and

has names and forms-- the universe around us. Matter comes and goes, transforms and mutates;

but Mayai remains the same.

Siva and Sakti are one; Sakti is the dynamic force that moves animate and inanimate objects. It is

the movement in cosmos and movement in the atom; it is movement in the animated ones, the

living souls.

Thirgnanasambandar (TS) was a great Tamil poet-saint (643C.E. to 659A.D). When he was three

years of age, his father left him on the steps of the temple tank for a dip in the water. The child

panicked and cried when he saw his father dip into the water and not come up. Soon Siva and

Parvati appeared to him and Siva asked Parvati to give him the expressed milk from her breast

for the crying child in a golden cup. The child stopped crying upon imbibing the milk; when the

father came up to him and upon seeing a milk mustache on the child, he asked the child to show

the person who gave the milk. He even wielded a stick in a threatening manner; in answer to his

father's question he broke out in poem and recited a song at the tender age of three saying that

the Milkman was wearing a rolled palmyra leaf ear ornament, was riding a bull, was wearing

ashes on his body and a young moon on his locks, stole his heart... This song was interpreted in

many ways. The milk that he imbibed was fortified with Sivagnanam or Siva's wisdom or gnosis.

To the author (me), it appears that gnanam is cognate with gnosis. The ear ornament that the

child saw was usually worn by Uma indicating that the child saw vision of Ardhanarisvara and

the left ear of Uma. Ardhanarisvara is the Mother-Father figure --Ammai-Appan. TS was

regarded as the son of Siva.

You may wonder how a three year old can compose poetry. Here is an example of what I

watched on TV.

TODAYShow.com contributor

updated 11:31 a.m. ET, Mon., March. 10, 2008

Elizabeth Barrett is to all appearances your standard 17-month-old girl, complete with

wisps of gossamer hair so blond it’s almost white and the unsteady gait that is the definition of a

toddler. As her parents and two other adults talk earnestly around her, she paws through a couple

of large-format children’s books on a table, blissfully unaware of the conversation around her.

Then TODAY’s Ann Curry holds up a sheet of paper with the word “HAPPY” printed in big,

block letters and asks Elizabeth to read it. She read it and identified many other words.