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! === Avatars === [[Puranas|Puranic scriptures]] contain occasional references to "ansh" – literally 'portion, or avatars of Shiva', but the idea of Shiva avatars is not universally accepted in [[Shaivism]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Parrinder| first= Edward Geoffrey |title=Avatar and incarnation |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=1982 |page= 88 |isbn=0195203615 }}</ref> The Linga Purana mentions twenty-eight forms of Shiva which are sometimes seen as avatars,<ref>{{cite book| last=Winternitz| first=Moriz| author2=V. Srinivasa Sarma| title=A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass| year=1981| pages=543–544| isbn=978-8120802643| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA543| access-date=8 June 2020| archive-date=19 October 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019091516/https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA543#v=onepage&q&f=false| url-status=live}}</ref> however such mention is unusual and the avatars of Shiva is relatively rare in Shaivism compared to the well emphasized concept of Vishnu avatars in [[Vaishnavism]].<ref>James Lochtefeld (2002), "Shiva" in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing, {{ISBN|0823922871}}, p. 635</ref>{{sfn|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=474}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Parrinder| first= Edward Geoffrey |title=Avatar and incarnation |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=1982 |pages= 87–88 |isbn=0195203615 }}</ref> Some Vaishnava literature reverentially link Shiva to characters in its Puranas. For example, in the ''[[Hanuman Chalisa]]'', [[Hanuman]] is identified as the eleventh avatar of Shiva.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lutgendorf|first=Philip|title=Hanuman's tale: the messages of a divine monkey|publisher=Oxford University Press US|year=2007|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVFC2Nx-LP8C&q=avatara+Hanuman&pg=PT333|isbn=978-0195309218|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331131656/https://books.google.com/books?id=fVFC2Nx-LP8C&q=avatara+Hanuman&pg=PT333#v=snippet&q=avatara%20Hanuman&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Catherine Ludvík|title=Hanumān in the Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki and the Rāmacaritamānasa of Tulasī Dāsa|pages=10–11|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCXQN0qoAe0C&q=Hanuman+Rudra&pg=PA10|isbn=978-8120811225|year=1994|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331131657/https://books.google.com/books?id=KCXQN0qoAe0C&q=Hanuman+Rudra&pg=PA10#v=snippet&q=Hanuman%20Rudra&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Sri Ramakrishna Math (1985) "Hanuman Chalisa" p. 5</ref> The ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' and the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'' claim sage [[Durvasa]] to be a portion of Shiva.<ref name="Footnote 1 HH Wilson">{{cite web | url= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp044.htm#fn_229 | title= Footnote 70:1 to Horace Hayman Wilson's English translation of The Vishnu Purana: Book I – Chapter IX | access-date= 17 July 2012 | archive-date= 9 September 2006 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060909124522/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp044.htm#fn_229 | url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="Footnote 2 HH Wilson">{{cite web | url= http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp045.htm#fn_243 | title= Footnote 83:4 to Horace Hayman Wilson's English translation of The Vishnu Purana: Book I – Chapter X | access-date= 17 July 2012 | archive-date= 5 August 2012 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120805200504/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp045.htm#fn_243 | url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="Bhagavata Purana 4.1">{{cite web | url= http://vedabase.net/sb/4/1/en1 | title= Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 1 – English translation by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada | url-status=dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120829232539/http://vedabase.net/sb/4/1/en1 | archive-date= 29 August 2012}}</ref> Some medieval era writers have called the [[Advaita Vedanta]] philosopher [[Adi Shankara]] an incarnation of Shiva.<ref>{{cite book|translator-first=Sengaku |translator-last=Mayeda |title=A Thousand Teachings: The Upadesasahasri of Sankara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8fkLggRFFBwC |year=1979 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0791409435 |page=4}}</ref> 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! 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