In this article, Sadhguru offers a layered perspective on Shiva, seamlessly bridging Yogic lore with modern science and his own observations. Shiva is regarded on one level as all-encompassing nothingness, akin to the vast cosmic void. On another level, Shiva is the Adiyogi, whose enigmatic presence is illustrated through innumerable stories in Yogic lore. Sadhguru’s experiences and insights regarding the mystical connections between Manasarovar, Kailash, and human origins further deepen the intrigue, marrying ancient symbolism with present-day happenings.
Question: Sadhguru, what is the true nature of Shiva according to Yogic sciences and in your own understanding?
Sadhguru: When we say “Shiva,” there are two aspects we are referring to simultaneously, jumping from one track to another. One is, when we say “Shiva,” we refer to “that which is not” or the vast emptiness of existence. Today, science is moving in that direction. They have not uttered the word “Shiva,” but they talk about dark space, dark energy, and dark matter. They say that this dark energy or dark matter can be the basis of the whole creation, and that it is the largest presence in existence or the cosmos right now.
Leave all these scientific views aside, from your own perception, if you look up in the night sky, whatever you consider as galaxies are just a small presence. The largest presence is the emptiness or darkness out there. This empty space, “that which is not,” is what we refer to as Shiva. It is in the lap of this nothingness that creation occurs. So we say the whole cosmos is in Shiva’s lap. This is one aspect of Shiva: that which is ultimate is Shiva. But in the same breath, we are also talking about Shiva as the Adiyogi, the first Yogi.
We do not make much distinction between the two because they are not very different. When we say he is the Adiyogi – a Yogi is one who has included everything as part of himself. Only eternal space can include everything as part of itself. Only that which is nothing can do this.
Without drawing much distinction, we are at one time talking about the Yogi – the person who walked this planet as Shiva – and the next moment about Shiva as the ultimate possibility. And modern physics agrees with this: time and space are relative. What is small, big, atomic, or cosmic is a question of human perception, not reality as such. So, the distinction between Shiva as an individual and Shiva as the ultimate possibility lies essentially in our perception, not in reality. This dialectical culture and this Yogic science speak of both aspects simultaneously.
If you look at the stories about Shiva’s life, he is not described as a good man. He had no concept of good and bad – he simply lived. Wherever he went, people initially resisted him. Everything that he received in the world was given to him grudgingly, never willingly. There are beautiful stories about how people abhorred him but had to ultimately accept him because of his eternal nature. Because he is so all-inclusive, they could not resist him eventually.
There are innumerable stories about Shiva, but not a single one about his childhood – because people saw him only as an adult. And there is not a word about his parentage. There is no parentage, there is no childhood, there is no old age, there is no grave – that is Shiva’s life.
The stories say that he was here, walked as a human being, and would be absent for long periods before returning. Wherever he went, he had a large group of friends around him – demons, goblins, and demented beings.
Shiva’s gang of friends did not look like human beings, made raucous noises, and did not behave like normal human society expected. But they were his friends, and they always traveled with him. They are known as ganas, and you can find images of these creatures in many temples.
Shiva and his friends were not human. He would be here for a while, then vanish and reappear again later. Somewhere in the making of human consciousness and maybe even in the way the human body is made, there seems to have been an external influence. This has become a reality within me since I have witnessed the constant transaction that is going on at Manasarovar.
There has been a lot of scientific research on the origins of the human race. Most theories suggest that modern humans evolved in Africa, but there have been important genetic discoveries of humans between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, which is exactly where Kailash and Manasarovar are located. The matter is still debatable, of course.
Anyway, energywise, there is a deep connection between Manasarovar and Kailash. One is a mountain of knowing and grace, while Manasarovar Lake is totally different, but there is a similarity in how one’s own energy system responds to both. The geographical proximity of the beings at Manasarovar and this mountain of knowledge is not accidental. Shiva may have been the first, but many other human beings too have deposited their knowledge at Kailash.
The beings we have witnessed at Manasarovar are unlike anything I have experienced before. My perception has always allowed me access to other dimensions and beings, but never in the number, volume, and uninhibited proximity that we have encountered here.
They know the nature of humanity and the way the human system functions. What a human being of a very elevated perception knows seems to be common knowledge for them. And one unique quality distinguishes them from most other beings.
A highly elevated human being has the ability to be individual and to merge at the same time. But with the beings at Manasarovar, I saw that it is common for them to exist in bunches, almost like one force. At the same time, they are also individual, which does not fit into our understanding of how life happens here.
Everything that we know about life on this planet does not go with this kind of existence and these kinds of life forms where there is a kind of merger and there is an individuality at the same time. Otherwise, consciousness is either individual or it is universal. But here, it is both: it is individual and at the same time merged into one bunch, a fact that does not fit into any kind of understanding within human perception.
The aspect of Shiva not having a human background is established in many different ways. There is a beautiful story. Shiva was to marry Parvati, the daughter of Himavat, the king of the Himalayas, and his wife Meena. Parvati fell in love with Shiva and wanted to marry him. On the day of the wedding, the guests came in their best attire, and Shiva arrived with his friends and retinue, seemingly inebriated, making weird noises.
Any outside observer might have seen them as demons, possessed, or drunk. Then there was Shiva, smeared in ash from head to toe, with matted hair, and walking with his eyeballs rolled up, looking crazy.
When Meena saw this man and his friends, she said, “What? I am supposed to hand over my delicate girl to this man?!” And she fainted. Then people went to Shiva and told him, “Her mother doesn’t want to give her girl to you and now has lost consciousness. It is all because of your form.” But Shiva did not want to present himself any other way. He said, “This is how I am.” But then Parvati came and pleaded, “My mother doesn’t know who you are. Looking at you, she is really worried.” Then Shiva relented and transformed himself into a Sundaramurti[1]. He became the most handsome man on the planet. He stood there resplendent and shining, and he told his entourage to be quiet.
Then Parvati’s mother regained consciousness, looked at this man, and said, “I only wish my daughter could marry someone like this.” As it turned out, he was the man. They made him sit down, and, as it is custom in Hindu marriages, Parvati’s kula[2] and gotra[3] was proudly announced. Then they asked about his lineage. Shiva sat silently. Sage Narada took out his stringed instrument and kept playing a single note. Himavat got angry, “What is this? What is the man’s lineage? How can I give my daughter in marriage without knowing his lineage? Who the hell is he?”
With this single note, Sage Narada indicated that Shiva’s lineage is the Ultimate Sound, because he is self-made. He has no father, no mother – so where is the question of a lineage?
There are many more stories about Shiva’s life which make it clear that he had no human heritage and lineage, suggesting that he came from elsewhere. Shiva created himself out of the cosmic vibrance.
[1] Sanskrit lit. “beautiful form”
[2] Clan/family group
[3] Lineage
