In the
Scriptures, Lord Shiva is represented in a variety of forms, in a pacific mood
with Parvati and son Skanda, as the cosmic dancer Nataraja, as an ascetic, as a
mendicant, as a yogin, and as the androgynous union of Shiva and Parvati in one
body, half-male and half-female Ardhanarishvara.
Ardhanarishvara form represents the biological unity of the
outward duality, which the human mind has perceived in all things and in the
entire creative process. The Vedas have perceived this biological unity in
pairs- Agni and Soma, Stri and Purusha, Kumara and Kumari, Pita and Mata, Linga
and Yoni, Mahagna and Mahagni, Prana and Aprana, Nara and Nari, Heaven and
Earth etc.
The Rigvedic perception of 'Prana' and 'Bhuta'- the life and
the matter, which the Rigveda calls Hiranyagarbha, is, more explicit and better
defined. In the Hiranyagarbha analogy, 'hiranya' or gold is the 'Prana', the
life and 'garbha' the 'Bhuta', the matter.
The Rigveda observes that the cosmos or existence was one
single egg but split into two- the 'Prana' and 'Bhuta'. The Rigveda does not
elaborate the point any farther but its symbolism moves into two apparent
directions. Egg contains both, the life and the matter. When it splits, both
fall apart. Besides the lifeless matter, the Egg also yields the matter with
life. The Rigveda calls them as 'aprana' and 'saprana'. The matter with life
has life but is just the single Egg, the inherent aspect of the female, as by
itself it is unable to farther the creative process and it is thus only the
inactive 'Bhuta'. It is only after the male energy fertilizes it that it
becomes the Golden Egg- the life-bearing one, the Hiranyagarbha of the Rigveda.
And, now the Hiranyagarbha- the 'Bhuta' combined with 'Prana', the matter
energized by spirit, takes to its own form and defines creation.
The Ardhanarishvara form is, thus, the Golden Egg- the visual
perception of the Rigvedic analogy of the Hiranyagarbha that Purusha and
Prakriti are inseparable.
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