By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik – Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist
Shiva, the ascetic form of the Hindu divine, has a long history. The Vedic Rudra (1000 BC) is distinct from the later Puranic Shiva (500 AD), who lives atop Mount Kailasa with his wife and children.
The Vedic Rudra has a bow, not a trident. He shoots arrows at Prajapati Brahma. He destroys the yagna, when not invited. And he is given leftover offerings. But by the time of the Mahabharata, he is a powerful god invoked by Amba and Ashwatthama to help them destroy their enemies.
Ramayana tells for the first time the story of Shiva catching the Ganga river that descends from the sky on the locks of his hair. The Gudimallam linga shows a thick-haired man, probably an early form of Shiva, with a hunted wild goat in his hand. Clearly carved Shiva-linga started appearing around 2,200 years ago. The linga later was shown with one face, or four faces, as if the formless is taking form.
About 1,200 years ago, icons and aniconic forms of Shiva began to appear even in Vietnam and coastal Thailand and the island of Java, indicating the spread of a Pashupata cult. Kings invoked Shiva to become as powerful as him. Their capital was equated to the mountain abode of Shiva. The famous Chola temple of Brihadeshwara was built 1,000 years ago.
But the stories in the Purana show a different Shiva: less imperial and more a wise simpleton (Bhola). An asura saw that Shiva had the power to burn Kama, the god of desire and reduce him to ash. He wanted the same power. Shiva gave it to him. He used this power to burn all his enemies. He terrified everyone by threatening to touch them. He decided to touch Shiva and reduce him to ash.
Shiva ran from this crazy asura, not knowing what to do. Vishnu came to Shiva’s rescue and tricked the asura to touch his own head. Thus, the asura was reduced to a pile of ash. This is the story of Bhasma-asura, the ash-demon, who abuses Shiva’s generosity. In popular lore, Shiva is a god who is easy to please (Ashutosh) and such stories are used by the marketing departments of religions to popularise their faith.
Rival religions argued that Shiva is gullible (bhola), unaware of the ways of the world, and so attracts thieves and scoundrels who take advantage of him. That he treats gods and demons equally because he is equanimous and doesn’t differentiate between things, lacking a moral compass. Shiva can be compared to the naïve activist who believes in charity and dole, and refuses to see that while some people use the help to uplift themselves from poverty, others use it to wallow in laziness. To be clear, Shiva is not coming from ‘saving the world’ — he is simply generous with what he is too blissful to bother with, or care about, property.
There are stories of Ravana, the rakshasa-king, who takes advantage of Shiva’s gullibility and asks him for all the powers in the world. Ravana even asked for Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. Shiva gave it to him. So Ravana picked up the mountain and began carrying it southwards towards his island kingdom.
As the mountain moved, Shiva’s wife and children began to scream in terror and begged Shiva to save them. Shiva immediately pressed his toe against the slope of the mountain, trapping Ravana under the mountain’s weight. Ravana then begged Shiva to release him, which the compassionate god did instantly.
While the story ends with Ravana learning his lesson, the former part shows how greedy men constantly enjoying the company of the generous. The greedy see contentment as weakness to be taken advantage of to generate their own wealth. The person who is content is open to exploitation. We see the mess created by Shiva’s unthinking generosity. He is not thinking about the consequences of his action. He is just giving away what he is being asked for, because he holds on to nothing.
These stories are a reminder of the dangers of generosity and charity. The act may be noble, but can be abused by the cunning trickster. It matters who is receiving the charity. Contentment allows us to see other people’s insecurities and cravings, objectively, without the filter of our insecurities. The act of giving has consequences. Distribution of surplus wealth and power without discretion leads to anarchy and chaos. Who is responsible for that chaos?
Contentment does not mean the end of responsibility or accountability. Contentment does not mean indifference. It means having the space to look beyond our needs and wants at the ways of the world — the hunger of the asura, the insecurity of the deva.
While we may want to help them, they may receive help in whatever way they wish. Or maybe, Shiva sees far ahead than anyone else. He knows those who try to trick him will fail anyway. For Shiva, these demons, and gods, who take advantage of him, who mock him, are the gullible ones. They do not recognise that he is Time (Kala) who strikes Fear (Bhairava) in everyone’s heart. For eventually everything perishes— consumed by time.
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