Ardhanaarishwar Shiva

Ardhnarishwar Shiva

Neelpravalruchiram Vilastrinetram pasharunotpalkapalkashulhastam |
Ardhambikeshmanisham pravibhaktbhusham balendubadhmukutam prannmami roopam |

The right side of Bhagwan Ardhnarishwar Shiva’s body is of blue complexion and the left side is red like coral. His face is adorned with three eyes. He carries a pasha and a red lotus in his left hand. He has two tridents and a skull in his right hand. The left part of his body has the form of Bhagwati Parvati and the right side has that of Bhagwan Shankar. Different parts of his body are adorned with different ornaments. I offer my obeisance to Bhagwan Ardhnarishwar who sports a crescent moon on the forehead and has a crown on the head.

In the beginning, when Brahma created the world and it could not multiply, Brahma was greatly disappointed. Then there was a voice from the sky that said, ”Now create a world that can multiply by the union of both the sexes”. Brahma decided to act accordingly but he felt helpless because till then Bhagwan Maheshwara had not created the female species. Therefore, despite his decision to do so, Brahma could not create that kind of world. Brahma then realized it could not be possible to do so without the grace of Bhagwan Shiva and the best way to attain his grace is to do tapasya. So he started tapasya to please Bhagwan Shiva. He lovingly concentrated his attention on Shiva, the Parmeshwar Shankar and performed a rigorous tapa.

With his austere tapa Brahma succeeded in pleasing Shiva who appeared before him in the manifestation of Ardhnarishwar by entering into the Kamda image of Satchidananda. When Brahma saw that the God of gods, Bhagwan Shiv had appeared before him along with his supreme Shakti Shiva, he prostrated before him and offered his obeisance. Vishwakarma Maheshwar was mightily pleased at this and said in a deep voice, ”O son, I know your motive fully well. I am greatly pleased by the rigorous tapa that you have performed for the multiplication of the subjects. I shall definitely grant you your desired boon”. Then Shiv, who is sweet and noble by nature, separated the goddess Shiva from his body. At this, Brahma paid his obeisance to that supreme Shakti and offered prayer to her.

Brahma said, ”O Shive! In the beginning, it was your husband Shambhu, the God of gods, who created me and gave me a command to create the world. Then, Shive! I spiritually created gods and other subjects. But despite repeated acts of creation it has not been possible to increase their numbers. Therefore, now I want them to multiply through the sexual union of male and female counterparts. But as yet the female species has not come into existence. It is beyond my power to create the female species.. You are the original source of all creation. Therefore, I pray to you to give me the power to create the female species. In this lies the welfare of the world. O Goddess! You are generous in granting boons so I offer my repeated obeisance to you and implore you to take birth as the daughter of my son Daksha for the welfare and multiplication of the entire universe”. More.... text in the book

The right side of Bhagwan Ardhnarishwar Shiva’s body is of blue complexion and the left side is red like coral. His face is adorned with three eyes. He carries a pasha and a red lotus in his left hand. He has two tridents and a skull in his right hand. The left part of his body has the form of Bhagwati Parvati and the right side has that of Bhagwan Shankar. Different parts of his body are adorned with different ornaments. I offer my obeisance to Bhagwan Ardhnarishwar who sports a crescent moon on the forehead and has a crown on the head.

In the beginning, when Brahma created the world and it could not multiply, Brahma was greatly disappointed. Then there was a voice from the sky that said, ”Now create a world that can multiply by the union of both the sexes”. Brahma decided to act accordingly but he felt helpless because till then Bhagwan Maheshwara had not created the female species. Therefore, despite his decision to do so, Brahma could not create that kind of world. Brahma then realized it could not be possible to do so without the grace of Bhagwan Shiva and the best way to attain his grace is to do tapasya. So he started tapasya to please Bhagwan Shiva. He lovingly concentrated his attention on Shiva, the Parmeshwar Shankar and performed a rigorous tapa.

With his austere tapa Brahma succeeded in pleasing Shiva who appeared before him in the manifestation of Ardhnarishwar by entering into the Kamda image of Satchidananda. When Brahma saw that the God of gods, Bhagwan Shiv had appeared before him along with his supreme Shakti Shiva, he prostrated before him and offered his obeisance. Vishwakarma Maheshwar was mightily pleased at this and said in a deep voice, ”O son, I know your motive fully well. I am greatly pleased by the rigorous tapa that you have performed for the multiplication of the subjects. I shall definitely grant you your desired boon”. Then Shiv, who is sweet and noble by nature, separated the goddess Shiva from his body. At this, Brahma paid his obeisance to that supreme Shakti and offered prayer to her.

Brahma said, ”O Shive! In the beginning, it was your husband Shambhu, the God of gods, who created me and gave me a command to create the world. Then, Shive! I spiritually created gods and other subjects. But despite repeated acts of creation it has not been possible to increase their numbers. Therefore, now I want them to multiply through the sexual union of male and female counterparts. But as yet the female species has not come into existence. It is beyond my power to create the female species.. You are the original source of all creation. Therefore, I pray to you to give me the power to create the female species. In this lies the welfare of the world. O Goddess! You are generous in granting boons so I offer my repeated obeisance to you and implore you to take birth as the daughter of my son Daksha for the welfare and multiplication of the entire universe”. More.... text in the book