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SIVA-the erotic ascetic

discuss the meaning of this paradox         

        India emerges as the land of greatest contrasts and extraordinary paradoxes.  Its support of seemingly contradicting, very often, views represents a mind-boggling but fascinating and unique, at the same time, phenomenon.  Siva, one of the major gods of the Indian pantheon, appears as merely a single dimension where one can experience the true expression of the Hindu “inconsistency”.  A devout ascetic, frequently presented with the begging bowl next to him, [1] he merrily entertains himself at the same time with a variety of the servant girls who await in anticipation their turn to please their god. [2]   In what manner does one approach this blatant paradox inherent in Siva’s nature?  Or is it really a paradox?

        The request to discuss Siva paradox departs from a biased and western civilization-oriented mindset.  When viewed from this perspective, Siva’s dual character appears as an obvious contradiction.  Western psychology would probably even term his condition as schizophrenic.  Surely, the European world has never experienced reality with its various extremes as the expression of one single force.  It never approached its own world as unity and a vibrant playfield of their God where good is no longer good and evil loses its evilness.  Thus, the western mind will obviously perceive anything that embraces harmoniously two contrasting extremes as illogical inconsistency, absurdity and paradox.  

        The question posed at the beginning of the essay: “discuss Siva paradox” imposes precisely this form of approach.  It presupposes the paradox exists.  This paper will argue that Siva’s seemingly contradictory nature does not represent a paradox.  In order to illustrate this, it will briefly guide the reader throughout various dimensions where Siva’s nature as an erotic ascetic becomes understandable.  It will explain Siva’s character as the all-pervasive power present in all life whose changing functions to procreate and meditate balance the world and maintain its continuity.  Furthermore, Siva’s desire will emerge as the divine seed-the first cause of the creation.  In addition, asceticism and eroticism will both be shown to carry a similar potential of the creative “heat”.  Siva’s desire is also needed to explore higher dimensions of his existence as well as to fortify himself spiritually.  Moreover, the same quality of joy attained by means of austerities and erotic ecstasy stimulates additionally the association of asceticism and eroticism.  Finally, Siva’s nature represents perhaps a typical Indian drive towards the fullness of all life’s extremes. 

        To soothe the western mind’s embarrassment to view Siva as full of absurd inconsistencies, it should be stated that his intriguing character caused much confusion to numerous ancient writers, to other gods, and even to Siva himself.  A Sanskrit poem reads,

               If he is naked what need then has he of the bow?

               …If smeared with ashes what needs he with a woman?

               Or if with her, then how can he hate Love? [3]

        In various myths, Siva very often makes promises to remain chaste only to later shamelessly break them. [4]   He persistently performs his ascetic activities for 12 years and then abandons them for the sake of other, more fleshly, pleasures. [5]   Siva often engages in fights and quarrels opposing other gods who suggest that they take his wife away from him since, as an ascetic, he should not need her. [6]   Obviously, gods do not seem to comprehend Siva’s nature either.  Siva himself appears occasionally frustrated with his own “permanently ithyphallic, yet perpetually chaste” [7] character,

               How can I lust to make love to Parvati when she has not

               performed a vow of tapas? [8]

          To assist the ancients, gods, and Siva himself with the understanding of the possibility of eroticism and asceticism existing together, it seems necessary to consider first Siva’s general nature.

        Siva, as a deity of disintegration as well as creation represents Life.  He stands for life in all its forms, functions and possible expressions.  He IS all these expressions; he IS at once the substance behind all universe’s manifestations as well as indwells in these manifestations himself. [9]   He binds all the activities, be it pains or pleasures, austerities or sexual acts, as the eternal interplay of his divine essence enjoying experience.  All things, despite physically perceived contradictions, constitute but one reality of Siva who creates and embraces them all.  “For in the world of Siva there is no opposite, for there is nothing but the One, Siva.” [10]   He is both beyond existence and beyond death; he is the All. [11]   He holds a countless number of titles, names and functions. [12]   He appears as an ascetic, lord of destruction and reproduction, a sage, a sensual playmate, lord of demons, sleep, [13] and even of thieves. [14]   However, all these parts remain essentially one in the same way as past, present and past belong to infinity.  “Time is three fold,…, but eternity is one, similarly, the eternal aspects of Siva remain undifferentiated”, [15] states Gupta.  Moreover, linga, Siva’s most revered “sign”, [16] should not be worshipped, Saivaites instruct, unless one knows that Siva resides in all forms at once. [17]

        As the deity manifesting itself in life, he can be reached accessing life.  All life’s sensual experiences grant Siva’s worshippers an entry to his divine essence.  Siva realization may therefore occur in deep meditation as well as in the encounter with his vibrant energy through any of the 5 senses including an erotic act.  As Kashmir Saivaites express themselves,

               …may I perceive, entirely through the senses,

               the whole world in the form of Siva.

and

               …the path of the senses is threefold,

               marked by pleasures, pain, and delusion.

               For the devotee this is the path

               that leads to your attainment. [18]   

        As the “lord of the pest that killeth, of fruitful joys”, [19] Siva is by no means a paradox character.  He merely has the potential to be and truly is All.

        In addition to “simply” existing as All for the sake of All’s sheer being, Siva in his ascetic and erotic functions balances and restores harmony to the extremes-stricken world. [20]   Union of any polarities dispels the distinction, or the illusion of it.  Living out two seemingly contrasting paths, Siva opposes and controls the danger caused by the excessive amount of either. [21]   When he devotes himself entirely to the practice of tapas, too much heat generated this way throws out of balance the created order.  Without engaging in sexual and procreative activities with his wife Parvati, the whole world stops functioning, or, as O’Flaherty expressed, “the sole generative principle of the universe is incapacitated.” [22]   Too much of sex, on the other hand, weakens Siva’s power to oppose demons so he must withdraw to his ascetic dwellings. [23]   Playing his part as an erotic ascetic and embodying these two extremes to their full Siva holds them together in a cosmic suspension creating balance. [24]   A paradoxical, illogical character? Perhaps it appears now a bit less so.

        If the above-presented points do not seem, however, convincing enough, may it be known that the discussion of Siva’s logic and consistency as the erotic ascetic has only begun.  There is a multitude of other dimensions where the attempt to solve the confusion over his “paradox” can be made.

        As it is universally given, Siva stands for the power of disintegration, or tamas. [25]   This form of destruction, however, has nothing in common with the usual understanding of this process as annihilation.  Siva’s destruction serves as the prerequisite and the ultimate cause of the universe’s regeneration. [26]   Siva destroys, withdraws, as the ascetic, to the Unmanifest, and “rearranges the indestructible atoms” [27] creating erotically again.  In this sense, he is “the death of death” [28] and by bringing destruction he ultimately brings eternal life.

        Considered in this sense, it seems much easier to comprehend Siva’s nature as a lustful being that carries on giving birth to all life around him.  His eroticism functions here as the procreative power inherent in the entire creation. [29]   Siva’s erotic lure increases so as to stress that he cannot perform his creative activities all by himself.  As the neutral substratum underlying the whole universe divides itself into universal substance and primary energy, [30] so Siva needs Sakti to continue with his creative dance.  Neither Siva nor Sakti can create the world all by themselves. [31]   Siva linga needs and intensely desires Sakti yoni and it is here where Siva appears as the erotic god.

        Bringing the discussion into the field of desire, numerous philosophical schools of Indian thought reveal that it is the divine lust that represents the origin seed of the entire creation.  Siva’s asceticism might symbolize here the primordial realm of the Unmanifest Consciousness while his sexual drive reflects the state of the original act of creation.  In Indian cosmology, when the divine substance and primary energy merged, creation began. [32]   However, before it could occur desire had to arise first.  “Lust appeared first, wandering over all.  It appeared before and is the seed of thought.” [33] A Kashmir Saiva teacher instructs that at the beginning there was only Awareness, Pure Consciousness, the Absolute, God.  Then, “for reasons known only to Him, God decides to create a universe and become many.” [34]   In many schools, this first driving impulse is the Absolute’s desire for self-experience.  Lust, or kama, [35] in this context, constitutes the origin of manifestation and remains responsible for the entire range of the experienced reality.  As Danielou phrased it, “born of the first dualism,…, desire, the attraction of opposites, is the supernatural eros.” [36]

        Siva in his ascetic practices and extensive meditations stands for the primordial void or the universe’s original state.  His quiet and equanimous mind echoes the sound of that elemental “realm” before the creation vibrantly began to pour out it.  Paradoxically, or maybe not?, his sensual and joyful nature reflects, on the other hand, the vivid intensity of the original desire; desire that the Unmanifest needed for its own realization and for creation.  Both lust and void, expressed as Siva’s eroticism and asceticism respectively, depend on each other’s presence for their own continuation.

        Continuing along the lines of the creative potential, there emerges another dimension that might allow a further view and understanding of Siva’s seeming paradoxical nature.

        As clarified above, the lustful character of Siva may signify the creative power of the original desire.  Siva, as the creator, must experience sexual passion in order for him to maintain the creation process.  However, it seems, it is not only passion that carries the creative potential.  Austerities, or tapas, and chastity have a tremendous ability to generate heat and from this heat creation may also stir. [37]   In Indian mythology the creative methods frequently interplace.  On some occasions it is through the sexual encounter that the physical things come into existence.  At other times, it is through tapas. [38]    

         In the common understanding, ascetic practices do not involve any intense let alone creative activity.  From this perspective, to view Siva’s asceticism as the contrary function to his vibrant role as the erotic creator seems justified.  However, from the Indian outlook, both desire, kama and tapas generate the remarkable forms of the creative heat, neither mutually exclusive. [39]   Siva’s erotic dances as well as his practices involving abstinence as a great Maha Yogi [40] complement each other’s regenerative powers.  “Both are the forms of the creative fire, the one turned inward in trance, the other turned outward in ecstasy.” [41]   As the erotic ascetic, Siva simply utilizes the creative potential inherent in both.  When viewed from this point, the disturbing duality of Siva “paradox” diminishes.

        To add to the list of the potential ways of coming to terms with Siva’s erotic asceticism, tantric philosophy cannot be ignored.  From Tantra perspective, Siva needs his sexual passion in order to ultimately transcend it and, a great ascetic as he at the same time is, consequently transmute it into the higher knowledge.  According to some, to look to Tantra for answers regarding Siva’s erotic ambiguity does not represent an accurate and scholarly attitude.  Tantra’s development, as O’Flaherty claims, began at a much later time than Siva’s mythology as a paradoxical character. [42]   However, a brief illustration of tantric elements in Siva’s religion can still aid in the understanding of this five-headed god’s [43] intriguing nature

        According to Tantra, the presence of the sexual passion constitutes a desirable state.  A yogic must experience raga, [44] or enjoyment and sensual passion, so he can work with it and bring it up to his 5^th center. [45]   Without succumbing to the experience of pleasure Siva could not otherwise put into practice his hard-attained ascetic powers.  “Lust remains a threat only until it is answered”, [46] states O’Flaherty and Siva seems to agree.  He embraces his sexual drive knowing probably well that, if not denied, it can assist him with conquering his self as well as other celestial realms. [47]   As an erotic god, he oozes with sexual force, but as an ascetic he has the power to transmute its energy into the higher mental force. [48]   As Siva devotees sing,

               Accept false enjoyment and the other limitations

               that I offer unto you, O Lord.

               Having transformed them into immortal nectar,

               Enjoy them together with the devotees. [49]

        Siva gives in to his sexual instincts and conquers them with his ascetic training.  “The seed must be stirred sexually before it can be absorbed mentally” [50] and Siva becomes a master of both.  In iconography, he is often depicted riding a bull, a symbol of sexual impulse, which symbolizes his victory over its imprisoning influence. [51]   As Danielou reveals, “only those who have attained knowledge are the masters of their impulses, can ride their bull, and utilize for other ends the power of transmitting physical life.” [52]

        The control of the bodily seed during the sexual act, the ability gained during ascetic practices, further trains the mind to become indifferent toward desire. [53]   “Control of the seminal fluid is thought to entail control of all passions and the achievement of desirelessness.” [54]   Siva paradox as an erotic ascetic dissolves here quite rapidly when one understands that the practice of austerities and the mastery over desire remains impossible if one does not delve into the essence of the desire itself.  Desire represents the very essence that yoga consumes and it is here where Siva absorbs his power.  He needs his eroticism to gain a full detachment from its grasp and to become indifferent toward it, which he finally attains. [55]

        Siva paradox as an erotic ascetic weakens additionally when one understands that India in general very often views ascetics as especially erotic, perhaps because of their secret sexual powers. [56]   Frequently in myths ascetics use their potential attained by means of the austerities to further their erotic pursuits.  “By tapas one wins kama”, [57] says Siva and this seems to represent a recurring theme in lives of many ascetics.  A great number of them, having performed years of heavy asceticism until old age, become young and passionate lovers of their multiple wives.

               A sage performed great tapas lying in the water, and

               the gods feared his terrible powers.  Agni sent five

               apsarases to the sage, who was overcome by lust

               and made them his wives.  From then on, he lived

               happily with them, having obtained youth through his tapas. [58]    

        Siva himself, in various myths, plays a part of the ascetic who, at the same time, utilizes his power to gain sexual favours.  In the Pine Forest myth, he comes to the forest to beg for alms and ends up violating “a thousand sages’ wives.” [59]   This causes many to accuse his character of being the “false ascetic.” [60]   However, other elements of Siva’s mythology point to different conclusions.  Siva, as a great bhogin, [61] even when enjoying sensual pleasures remains detached from all the desire and free from the emotional engagement.  His physical involvement in sexual activities without experiencing lust makes him, O’Flaherty claims, a much greater yogi that he would otherwise be even if he remained in meditation forever. [62]   Siva himself uses the similar argument to retain his position as a great Maha Yogi while participating “shamelessly” in sensual pleasures. [63]   His eroticism becomes necessary in order to fortify his status as one with great yogic powers.

        One of the last ways to consider Siva paradox as an erotic ascetic is to look at both these activities as sources of transcendental wonder and joy.  Siva himself is often called a “Giver of Joy”. [64]   Joy represents the quality pursued by all at all times of their existence.  Be it in meditation, or in the midst of the sensual pleasures, what ones gains is the access to the dazzling dimension of the magical bliss.  As Danielou states, “enjoyment is the source and the end of all activities.  The urge for pleasure, which is the relative, manifest form of enjoyment, is the impeller of action.” [65]   Siva, as the yogi, reaches within to find the realm of the eternal joy.  In his erotic ecstasy he seeks the union that reflects wonder of original creation. [66]   The Scriptures reveal, “from joy springs all this creation, by joy it is sustained, towards joy it moves, and into joy it enters.” [67]   All the experience, if joyous, brings out the sense of divinity, of Siva himself.  His asceticism as well as eroticism seem propelled by the similar life force driving him closer to his eternal self.  Contradictory in their external appearance, both bring him nearer the divine bliss.

        Finally, it might perhaps be that Siva’s paradoxical nature “simply” reflects the Indian general attitude toward reality.  Ascetic and erotic activities very frequently occur simultaneously in India-the land of ice and fire where no middle path is ever trodden. [68]   The Indian mind does not seek the synthesis of the beliefs.  Hindu reality remains a pendulum world where the interaction of all life’s extremes permits the flow of the vital forces animating the universe.  Both sexual and ascetic impulses unite in Siva as well as in each individual, with all the instincts “allowed to develop the full expression of its power without impeding the expression of the contrasting impulse.” [69]   When judged in this manner, Siva paradox no longer appears as a disturbing conflict.

        Having considered a variety of dimensions that aimed to offer some understanding of Siva’s drastic contrasts as an erotic ascetic, one cannot help but admit that this alleged paradox loses its original fortitude.  From the western perspective any inconsistent qualities or characteristics in individuals reflect their unstable and dangerously divided personality.  However, from the viewpoint of Siva and the general Indian population, such is no longer the case.  Siva, as the embodiment of Life, unites in himself all that life’s expressions entail.  He goes on meditating but at the same time he does not avoid sexual temptations either.  Moreover, he needs to engage in two so as to maintain the created world in order and balance.  Through his sensual practices as well as austerities he regenerates the universe and keeps it in constant motion.  His erotic desire signifies here the original lust of the primeval Mind.  As a great Maha Yogi he remains, at the same time, an intense lover so he can exercise even more his ascetic powers.  Finally, in both eroticism as well as asceticism Siva discovers the realm of the eternal joy and the dimension of the divine Self.  The pursuit of Self becomes here for him the sole drive behind his erotic and ascetic experiences.  In Siva world there is no room for intellectual analysis of whether what he does or does not do represents a paradox or maybe not. No such a concept as paradox crosses his mind.  He does what he does since this is what the world is and because this is what the world needs.  No paradox anywhere exists.  No paradox ever has.  Not it ever will.      

Bibliography:

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