Authors: Namita Gokhale
ISBN-13: 9780143067610, ISBN-10: 0143067613
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Date Published: June 2010
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Shiva: Destroyer and Protector, Supreme Ascetic and Lord of the Universe. He is Ardhanarishwara, half-man and half-woman; he is Neelakantha, who drank poison to save the three worlds-and yet, when crazed with grief at the death of Sati, set about destroying them. Shiva holds within him the answers to some of the greatest dilemmas that have perplexed mankind. Who is Shiva? Namita Gokhale examines this question and many others that lie within the myriad of stories about Shiva. Even as she unravels his complexities, she finds a philosophy and worldview that is terrifying and yet life affirming-an outlook that is to many the essence of Indian thought.
Introduction | 1 | |
The Manifestations of Shiva | 13 | |
Shiva as Mahakala | 21 | |
Tandava, the Great Dance of Shiva | 27 | |
Shiva-Shakti: The Reconciliation of Male-Female Polarities | 31 | |
The Divine Family of Shiva | 43 | |
Swallowing the World Poison | 53 | |
Popular Legends and Scriptural Tales | 59 | |
The Erotic and Ascetic Aspect of Shiva | 67 | |
Shiva in the Daruvana | 77 | |
The Worship of Shiva | 87 | |
The Twelve Jyotirlingas | 97 | |
Schools of Shiva Consciousness | 109 | |
Satyam Shivam Sundaram | 117 | |
Songs of Shiva | 125 | |
Bibliography | 129 |