"The Lingam (also, Linga, Ling, Shiva linga, Shiv ling, Sanskrit लिङ्गं liṅgaṃ, meaning "mark" or "sign") is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples.[1] The Lingam has also been considered a symbol of male creative energy or of the phallus.[2][3] The lingam is often represented with the Yoni, a symbol of the goddess or of Shakti, female creative energy.[2] The union of lingam and yoni represents the "indivisible two-in-oneness of male and female, the passive space and active time from which all life originates".[4] A complementary theory suggests that the Lingam represents the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva."
I was stunned when I read these lines in Wikipedia. And I must say I almost believed it. I mean how could anybody say anything about it without any good reason. This was not it, in another post on Wikipedia I found that the base of Shiv-ling represents "vergina" of Gauri. I was like utterly confused for few days. I mean, it was completely opposite what we have always belived. Lord Shiva and Mother Gauri have always been considered as the zenith of unconditional love and sacrifice. Their Ardh-narishwar figure have always represented what male and female are to each other. And now I was seeing them as sex symbol. And that was not it, on same Wikipedia I found another post telling a story about how lord Shiva was wondering nude among humans. And then I said its now enough its too unbelievable, so I started digging. And now I am writing this blog so that every one can see the complete picture and we could do something about it. --------------
1008 Lingas carved on a rock surface at the shore of the river Tungabhadra, Hampi, India. (These lingas dont even have a base, to be associated with yoni)
First and foremost, translation of "Linga" as penis which is Wrong , completely absurd.
The Linga in Sanskrit has different meanings - shapeless, without organs, long drum like, etc. Which explains the agjectives like "NIRAKAR" given to Lord Shiva. And thus a Shiv-linga is in non human shape.
penis is called linga by some people due to its shape...the actual world for penis is "Shishna" in sanskrit. In hindi also linga means sex not sexual organ.
Shiva Linga here means, Shiva without form... it is like when we die our soul is called "Linga Sharira"
Shiva being worshiped as Linga means the Consciousness in its primodal form.
Thus Shivalinga is the state of god, just before the manifestation of Universe, a little before bag bang.
Shiva is worshipped as Linga...because that is the highest of all manifested gods, formless, attribute less.... simple Consciousness and Energy (shiva and shakti).
Now you must be wondering from where this thing about Shiva-Linga representing Lord Shiva's penis and all came from. It turned out that this rummer came into being around the time when Europeans came to India. The Christian missionaries of that time under the command to their church were bent upon converting all the people to Christianity at any cost. Here in India they hit a rough patch because they were not ready to leave their religion at any cost. So, they thought of a trick. They started these rumors about Shiva linga, so that people would begin to hate Hinduism and come to Christan. And they were actually successful in their attempt to an even greater level then then expected. Right now almost all of the world thinks that Shiva Linga represents a phallus. Even some Hindus do. Origin of Shiv Linga
Now you must be wondering, where did the Shiva ling came into being then. The answer lies in the Shiv Maha Puran. It goes as follows:
God Shiva appears as in an infinite Linga fire-pillar, as Vishnu tries to find the bottom of the Linga while Bramha tries to find its top. Lord Shiva tells them that its his true form. He have no beginning and no end. He was never born nor could he die. Thus infinite pillar conveys the infinite nature of Shiva. And thus Shiva is represented in form of Linga.
As we can't build an infinite pillar, thus its represented by a small part of it. ------------------------------- Also you must read the following article which tells about Shiva Linga, as seen through eyes of the world. You would be shocked to know what majority of western scholars thinks about India and its mythology.
Shaiva siddhanta (taken from wikipedia on Shiva-Linga)
A 10th century four-headed stone Lingam from Nepal
According to Saiva Siddhanta, which was for many centuries the dominant school of Shaiva theology and liturgy across the Indian subcontinent (and beyond it in Cambodia), the linga is the ideal substrate in which the worshipper should install and worship the five-faced and ten-armed Sadasiva, the form of Shiva who is the focal divinity of that school of Shaivism.[11]
[edit] Sculpture
The oldest example of a lingam which is still used for worship is in Gudimallam. According to Klaus Klostermaier, it is clearly a phallic object, and dates to the 2nd century BC.[12] A figure of Shiva is carved into the front of the lingam.[13]
1008 Lingas carved on a rock surface at the shore of the river Tungabhadra, Hampi, India
------------------ Now this is ridiculous. Do you think a phallus is so short? or, is this what a phallus looks like? if you do I suppose you have not seen one. Its seems to like the writer is trying to convince people that its a phallus, anyways he could. Only some one as dumb enough would believe. Modern period (taken from wikipedia on Shiva-Linga)
British missionary William Ward criticized the worship of the lingam (along with virtually all other Indian religious rituals) in his influential 1815 book A View of the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoos, calling it "the last state of degradation to which human nature can be driven", and stating that its symbolism was "too gross, even when refined as much as possible, to meet the public eye." According to Brian Pennington, Ward's book "became a centerpiece in the British construction of Hinduism and in the political and economic domination of the subcontinent."[14] In 1825, however, Horace Hayman Wilson's work on the lingayat sect of South India attempted to refute popular British notions that the lingam graphically represented a human organ and that it aroused erotic emotions in its devotees.[14]
Monier Williams wrote in Brahmanism and Hinduism that the symbol of linga, is "never in the mind of a Saiva (or Shiva-worshipper) connected with indecent ideas, nor with sexual love."[15] According to Jeaneane Fowler, the linga is "a phallic symbol which represents the potent energy which is manifest in the cosmos."[1] Some scholars, such as David James Smith, believe that throughout its history the lingam has represented the phallus; others, such as N. Ramachandra Bhatt, believe the phallic interpretation to be a later addition.[16] M. K. V. Narayan distinguishes the Siva-linga from anthropomorphic representations of Siva, and notes its absence from Vedic literature, and its interpretation as a phallus in Tantric sources.[17]
Ramakrishna practiced Jivanta-linga-puja, or "worship of the living lingam".[18][19] At the Paris Congress of the History of Religions in 1900, Ramakrishna's follower Swami Vivekananda argued that the Shiva-Linga had its origin in the idea of the Yupa-Stambha or Skambha—the sacrificial post, idealized in Vedic ritual as the symbol of the Eternal Brahman.[5][6][20] This was in response to a paper read by Gustav Oppert, a German Orientalist, who traced the origin of the Shalagrama-Shila and the Shiva-Linga to phallicism.[21] According to Vivekananda, the explanation of the Shalagrama-Shila as a phallic emblem was an imaginary invention. Vivekananda argued that the explanation of the Shiva-Linga as a phallic emblem was brought forward by the most thoughtless, and was forthcoming in India in her most degraded times, those of the downfall of Buddhism.[6]
According to Swami Sivananda, the view that the Shiva Lingam represents the phallus is a mistake;[22] The same sentiments have also been expressed by H. H. Wilson in 1840.[23] The novelist Christopher Isherwood also addresses the interpretation of the linga as a sex symbol.[24] The Britannica encyclopedia entry on lingam also notes that the lingam is not considered to be a phallic symbol;[25]
Wendy Doniger, an American scholar of the history of religions, states:
For Hindus, the phallus in the background, the archetype (if I may use the word in its Eliadean, indeed Bastianian, and non-Jungian sense) of which their own penises are manifestations, is the phallus (called the lingam) of the god Siva, who inherits much of the mythology of Indra (O'Flaherty, 1973). The lingam appeared, separate from the body of Siva, on several occasions... On each of these occasions, Sivas wrath was appeased when gods and humans promised to worship his lingam forever after, which, in India they still do. Hindus, for instance, will argue that the lingam has nothing whatsoever to do with the male sexual organ, an assertion blatantly contradicted by the material.[3]
However, Professor Doniger clarified her viewpoints in a later book, The Hindus: An Alternative History, by noting that some texts treat the linga as an aniconic pillar of light or an as an abstract symbol of God with no sexual reference and comments on the varying interpretations of the linga from phallic to abstract.
According to Hélène Brunner,[26] the lines traced on the front side of the linga, which are prescribed in medieval manuals about temple foundation and are a feature even of modern sculptures, appear to be intended to suggest a stylised glans, and some features of the installation process seem intended to echo sexual congress. Scholars like S.N.Balagangadhara have disputed the sexual meaning of lingam. ------------------------------- 
For Mr William Ward. This is the Shiva Ling regarded as of the highest importance in the world. Does it anyways looks like a Phallus or have any part which you can regard as Virgina. It s funny because the part these scholars consider as representation of female reproductory part is actually a design to collect the Charnamrit or Panchamrit and nothing more. And most of the time its not there.
As we say, "Neem Haqueeem Khatra-e-Jaan". These scholars with a limited knowledge on Indian culture and their knowledge equal to zero in Hindu mythology, they are trying their best to dub Shiva-linga, the symbol of shapelessness as a sexual symbol a phallus and we are doing nothing. Unfortunately few who know about this are supporting them. The basis of the grand assumption of these people is just rumor spread in 17th century.
In non of the books which tells about this religion there is any comparison between a phallus and a shivling. But still these people are trying to justify their assumption.
I am not trying to start a hate community. We are all humans, we all do make mistakes. They also did. What we need to do is excuse them and spread the true knowledge about this religion. And thats what is the prime teaching of Hinduism is. Excuse even your enemies give them another chance and spread true light of knowledge, love and happiness in the world
|
|
