Shiva Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Development === A few texts such as ''[[Atharvashiras Upanishad]]'' mention [[Rudra]], and assert all gods are Rudra, everyone and everything is Rudra, and Rudra is the principle found in all things, their highest goal, the innermost essence of all reality that is visible or invisible.{{Sfn|Deussen|1997|p=769}} The ''[[Kaivalya Upanishad]]'' similarly, states [[Paul Deussen]] – a German Indologist and professor of philosophy, describes the self-realized man as who "feels himself only as the one divine essence that lives in all", who feels identity of his and everyone's consciousness with Shiva (highest Atman), who has found this highest Atman within, in the depths of his heart.{{sfnm|Deussen|1997|1pp=792–793|Radhakrishnan|1953|2p=929}} Rudra's evolution from a minor Vedic deity to a supreme being is first evidenced in the ''[[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]]'' (400–200 BCE), according to Gavin Flood, presenting the earliest seeds of theistic devotion to Rudra-Shiva.{{sfn|Flood|2003|pp=204–205}} Here Rudra-Shiva is identified as the creator of the cosmos and [[Saṃsāra|liberator of Selfs]] from the birth-rebirth cycle. The Svetasvatara Upanishad set the tone for early Shaivite thought, especially in chapter 3 verse 2 where Shiva is equated with Brahman: "Rudra is truly one; for the knowers of Brahman do not admit the existence of a second".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.esamskriti.com/e/Spirituality/Upanishads-Commentary/Svetasvatara-Upanishad-~-Chap-3-The-Highest-Reality-1.aspx | title=Svetasvatara Upanishad - Chap 3 the Highest Reality | access-date=2 September 2022 | archive-date=1 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001023958/https://www.esamskriti.com/e/Spirituality/Upanishads-Commentary/Svetasvatara-Upanishad-~-Chap-3-The-Highest-Reality-1.aspx | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/edit-page/speaking-tree-the-trika-tradition-of-kashmir-shaivism/articleshow/4822600.cms | title=Speaking Tree: The Trika Tradition of Kashmir Shaivism | website=[[The Times of India]] | date=27 July 2009 | access-date=2 September 2022 | archive-date=2 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902090554/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/edit-page/speaking-tree-the-trika-tradition-of-kashmir-shaivism/articleshow/4822600.cms | url-status=live }}</ref> The period of 200 BC to 100 AD also marks the beginning of the Shaiva tradition focused on the worship of Shiva as evidenced in other literature of this period.{{sfn|Flood|2003|pp=204–205}} Other scholars such as Robert Hume and Doris Srinivasan state that the ''Shvetashvatara Upanishad'' presents pluralism, [[pantheism]], or [[henotheism]], rather than being a text just on Shiva theism.{{sfnm|Hume|1921|1pp=399, 403|Hiriyanna|2000|2pp=32–36|3a1=Kunst|3y=1968|Srinivasan|1997|4loc=pp. 96–97 and Chapter 9}} {{Quote box |quote ='''Self-realization and Shaiva Upanishads''' <poem> He who sees himself in all beings, And all beings in him, attains the highest [[Brahman]], not by any other means. </poem> |source = —''[[Kaivalya Upanishad]] 10'' {{Sfn|Deussen|1997|pp=792–793}}{{Sfn|Sastri|1898|pp=80–82}} |width = 28% | bgcolor=#FFE0BB |align = right }} Shaiva devotees and ascetics are mentioned in [[Patanjali]]'s ''[[Mahābhāṣya]]'' (2nd-century BCE) and in the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Flood|2003|p=205}} For date of Mahabhasya see: {{harvnb|Scharf|1996|loc=page 1 with footnote}}.</ref> The earliest iconic artworks of Shiva may be from Gandhara and northwest parts of ancient India. There is some uncertainty as the artwork that has survived is damaged and they show some overlap with meditative Buddha-related artwork, but the presence of Shiva's trident and phallic symbolism{{refn|group=note|name="ilph_rep_l"}} in this art suggests it was likely Shiva.{{sfn|Blurton|1993|pp=84, 103}} [[Numismatics]] research suggests that numerous coins of the ancient [[Kushan Empire]] (30–375 CE) that have survived, were images of a god who is probably Shiva.{{sfn|Blurton|1993|p=84}} The Shiva in Kushan coins is referred to as Oesho of unclear etymology and origins, but the simultaneous presence of Indra and Shiva in the Kushan era artwork suggest that they were revered deities by the start of the Kushan Empire.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pratapaditya Pal|title=Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.–A.D. 700|url=https://archive.org/details/indiansculpturec00losa |url-access=registration|year=1986|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520-059917|pages=[https://archive.org/details/indiansculpturec00losa/page/75 75]–80}}</ref>{{sfn|Sivaramamurti|2004|pp=41, 59}} The [[Shaiva Upanishads]] are a group of 14 minor Upanishads of Hinduism variously dated from the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE through the 17th century.{{Sfn|Deussen| 1997|p=556, 769 footnote 1}} These extol Shiva as the metaphysical unchanging reality [[Brahman]] and the [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (Self),{{Sfn|Deussen|1997|p=769}} and include sections about rites and symbolisms related to Shiva.{{Sfn|Klostermaier|1984|pp=134, 371}} The [[Puranas#Classification|Shaiva Puranas]], particularly the [[Shiva Purana]] and the [[Linga Purana]], present the various aspects of Shiva, mythologies, cosmology and pilgrimage (''[[Tirtha (Hinduism)|Tirtha]]'') associated with him.{{sfnm|Flood|2003|1pp=205–206|Rocher|1986|2pp=187–188, 222–228}} The Shiva-related [[Tantra]] literature, composed between the 8th and 11th centuries, are regarded in devotional dualistic Shaivism as [[Sruti]]. Dualistic [[Āgama (Hinduism)#Philosophy|Shaiva Agamas]] which consider Self within each living being and Shiva as two separate realities (dualism, ''dvaita''), are the foundational texts for [[Shaiva Siddhanta]].{{sfn|Flood|2003|pp=208–212}} Other Shaiva Agamas teach that these are one reality (monism, ''advaita''), and that Shiva is the Self, the perfection and truth within each living being.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharma|1990|pp=9–14}}; {{harvnb|Davis|1992|loc=p. 167 note 21}}, ''Quote (page 13):'' "Some agamas argue a monist metaphysics, while others are decidedly dualist. Some claim ritual is the most efficacious means of religious attainment, while others assert that knowledge is more important".</ref> In Shiva related sub-traditions, there are ten dualistic Agama texts, eighteen qualified monism-cum-dualism Agama texts and sixty-four monism Agama texts.<ref>Mark Dyczkowski (1989), The Canon of the Śaivāgama, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120805958}}, pl. 43–44</ref><ref>JS Vasugupta (2012), Śiva Sūtras, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120804074}}, pp. 252, 259</ref>{{Sfn|Flood|1996|pp=162–169}} Shiva-related literature developed extensively across India in the 1st millennium CE and through the 13th century, particularly in Kashmir and Tamil Shaiva traditions.{{Sfn|Flood|1996|pp=162–169}} Shaivism gained immense popularity in [[Tamilakam]] as early as the 7th century CE, with poets such as [[Appar]] and [[Sambandar]] composing rich poetry that is replete with present features associated with the deity, such as his [[tandava]] dance, the mulavam (dumru), the aspect of holding fire, and restraining the proud flow of the Ganga upon his braid.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Somasundaram |first1=Ottilingam |last2=Murthy |first2=Tejus |date=2017 |title=Siva - The Mad Lord: A Puranic perspective |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=119–122 |doi=10.4103/0019-5545.204441 |issn=0019-5545 |pmc=5418997 |pmid=28529371 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The monist Shiva literature posit absolute oneness, that is Shiva is within every man and woman, Shiva is within every living being, Shiva is present everywhere in the world including all non-living being, and there is no spiritual difference between life, matter, man and Shiva.{{sfn|Tagare|2002|pp=16–19}} The various dualistic and monist Shiva-related ideas were welcomed in medieval southeast Asia, inspiring numerous Shiva-related temples, artwork and texts in Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, with syncretic integration of local pre-existing theologies.{{sfnm|Flood|2003|1pp=208–212|Gonda|1975|2pp=3–20, 35–36, 49–51|Thakur|1986|3pp=83–94}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page