To all outward appearance the Universe is a hemispherical thing bounded by the circular horizon and placed on something. And the Linga with circular basis represents the Universe. The psychological explanation of the symbol is that Linga is the cosmic soul having self-consciousness. The cosmic soul first vibrates in its being towards creation. The vibration is Nada, the first expression as Nama or name. From the Nada, proceeds the Bindu, dot or form. These two Nama and Rupa or Nada and Bindu are what is known as Pranava. The Bindu is the disc like base and Nada is the line supervening the base. The line stands on the Bindu like a cylinder with rounded top. This forms the Linga.
At the outset, I would like to make it clear that Linga, in Veerashaivism, is understood to mean the highest Godhead, the transcendent Truth, the final reality or the Parabrahman. The concept of Linga as adumbrated by the Veerashaiva saints or the Sharanas as they are called is highly metaphysical, really psychological and purely ethical. In Karnataka in the 12th century there was a galaxy of Veerashaiva saints of whom Basava was the leader and the guide, the exemplar and the mentor. Basava and his colleagues have sung many a song in the form of sayings or Vachanas, the collection of which is known as Vachan Shastra. This Vachana Shastra contains numerous sayings of Veerashaiva mystics, both male and female. The concept of Linga or God constitutes the dominant and recurrent note in the symphony of these sayings. The concept of Linga or God as gathered from the sayings of these saints may be stated as follows:
Linga or God is the union of Para-Shiva and Para-Shakti or Truth and Will. It is the mass of the ineffable Light, the mine of the inscrutable Bliss, the matrix of the innumerable worlds. It is the real entity and ever existing joy which is eternally perfect. It is the Chaitanya or awareness which fills completely all the categories, the boat to cross over the ocean of samsara and the lamp that emits light in the heart of the mystics. Speech cannot describe it, mind cannot grasp it, and intellect cannot conceive it. It stands higher by ten fingers above the head of the multitudes of shrutis, meaning that the Vedas are unable to describe it adequately. It pervades all the bodies of man - physical, astral and causal and can only be felt through intuitive knowledge. The whole universe is housed in it and it is the source and support of all terrestrial existence and the ground and goal of all evolution.
If such a sublime concept is predicated of Linga, why does the Veerashaiva wear a particular symbol upon his body? The idea of a particular symbol has originated in giving a concrete shape to the abstract idea. The shape itself is admirably conceived, for the particular symbol or Ishtalinga as it is called, has two aspects-the outer covering which is glazing and which is oval in shape represents the universe or macrocosm and the inner kernel represents microcosm or the pose of the body of the votary at the time of worship. By virtue of introspection upon Ishtalinga placed at the palm of his left hand, the sadhaka absorbs more of the divine energy. Man forms a part and parcel of the universe and an infinite energy pours itself into every name and form; the clod, the plant, the insect, the animal and the man are more or less efficient receptacles of this divine energy. The worship of Ishtalinga which represents the Infinite is designed to make man fit for the reception of that divine energy which pervades the whole universe. The sayings of the Sharanas, so far as the particular symbol or Ishtalinga is concerned, are more worthy, the sum and substance of which is as follows: "In the light of the lamp the defect of the lamp is seen; by looking at the mirror the defect in the eye is found; therefore one should realize himself through you, Oh Lord? To know oneself, Guru or the preceptor placed the symbol in the hand of the disciple at the time of Diksha or initiation; the Guru taught him to focus his mind on the symbol or Ishtalinga. What more is wanted? Camphor is placed in the fire and the fire is seen in the blaze. Is there any limit? The body united with Linga has no concern with the worldly entanglements. He is a Sharana who himself becomes the spotless Linga through the introspection upon Linga. The cow is milked properly when the calf is in front of it, but not when the calf is in its womb. Similarly to realize the reality existing in beings, an external symbol of that reality is essential... A kite floating in the sky must have a string. One can see by means of the eyes, but though the eyes are open one cannot see in the darkness. One therefore requires the help of a lamp; similarly the visible symbol serves the purpose of a lamp at darkness for realization."
The word Linga is derived from the root Gama, meaning to go deep, to penetrate in, to comprehend, as in the case of Adhigama; hence Linga means the object sought by a Mystic or Yogi, and that it is the Para-tattva, the highest Reality which is the object sought by the Yogi. Veerashaivasm lodges a strong protest against polytheism. It proclaims that there is only one God, the Supreme Being who is outside the range of birth, life and death. Since the Supreme Being is beyond the state where creation, subsistence and dissolution prevail, the incarnation of God as a human being is absent in the Sharana Sahitya, the literature of the Veerashaiva saints. But the Sharana visualizes three aspects of God -the individual, the immanent and the transcendent. In the initial stage the Sharana comprehends God, the creator, as distinct from all the created things. For he exclaims: "Though all spring from God, can they be God? A farmer sows seeds; can the crop be a farmer? The potter makes pots; can the pot be a pot maker?" In the next stage he visualizes God as the great inexplicable Light pervading everything like flavour of the fruit, like scent of the flower. Finally he realizes God as pure Existence, as the Transcendent Reality which is termed Bayalu, Nirbayalu, Shunya, Nishunya in Veerashaivism. Be it noted that Bayalu or Shunya means neither void nor space but it means pure Existence which is the negation of all dualities.
Science is busy finding out the laws and formulating them. Of course, science has discovered chemical valency, the laws of thermo-dynamics, the laws of falling bodies etc.... What then is the concept of law in science? Law means an observed uniformity in the behaviour of things. Strictly speaking a scientific law is a mere formula, a short hand expression of certain observed uniformities in the behaviour of natural objects. In morals and jurisprudence a law is a command, a rule or an injunction which some authority imposes upon intelligent beings and which they are supposed to obey. In science the word has no such meaning, for like science, a law is nothing but a shorthand statement of certain uniformities in the behaviour of things. Thus it is that science does not explain why things act as they do, but only how they act. When we study the behaviour of atoms in their combinations we find that they behave in some definite ways; we do not know why they behave so. The law of gravitation first formulated by Newton does not explain why bodies gravitate towards one another but only how they do so. The law expresses the manner of their movement, but it says nothing about the cause. According to the Relativity Theory, the behaviour of the bodies may be due not to any force acting between the bodies or upon the bodies, but to the nature of space. The mind of man is so constituted that he longs to know not merely how things act but why they do so; hence the need of supplementing science by philosophy. Philosophy makes a logical examination of the concept of law by tracing its origin from the general notion of order which bespeaks of the universe as a cosmos. Hence laws are not mere shorthand statement of uniformities in the behaviour of things but they are laws of nature transcending individual things. Laws then are the regulative forces and crowning them all is the Regulative idea which goes by the name of Dharma. Dharma is not mere law but it is the law with the capital letter L, which controls and guides the course of things and the march of events.
In a sense there is nothing but law in the universe. Every flower that blooms by the wayside springs up, grows, matures and fades according to certain laws. Every snowflake that hovers between the earth and the sky forms, falls and melts according to certain laws. Every act of our daily life is governed by the same impersonal law. That we live in a realm of law, that we are surrounded by laws which we cannot break is almost a truism. At the outset, we feel as if we were in the grip of some mighty power over which we have no control, and thereby a certain sense of helplessness is apt to overpower us. But quite contrary is the truth, for the mighty power when its workings are understood properly, will faithfully carry us whither we will. All forces in nature can be utilized in proportion as they are understood, for nature is conquered not by defiance but by obedience. That is to say, her forces are at our bidding as soon as we work with them not by ignorance but by knowledge. We can choose out of her boundless treasure the forces that serve our purpose in momentum, in direction and their very invariability becomes the guarantee of our success. On this invariability of law depends the security of scientific experiment and all power of planning the result and of predicting the future. In all the planes - physical, vital, mental, moral and spiritual - increasing knowledge means increasing power, not blind and defiant power but power subordinated to knowledge.
That we live in the realm of law and surrounded by law is true; but what is law? Law is a process not a power; it is a method of operation not an operator. A natural law without God behind it is no more than a glove without a hand in it. God is not an operator or law maker in the human sense; for he is the ground and goal of all laws. The laws of nature are therefore the ways through which God works. They have no efficiency except as channels of His Will. If all nature is law and all law is God's Will, then can we not say that the whole of the universe is the expression of God's Will? Certainly the activity of the universe in the part as in the whole expresses the Will of God. God is therefore the infinite life which pervades the whole universe and there is nothing that is outside of Him. In Him, we live and have our being. We have received and are continually receiving our life from Him. We are not the mere passive receivers but the active partakers of the life of God.
The fundamental principles of each enlightened religion are simple, clear and intelligible. These principles are - that there is God who is the source and support of all things; that in man dwells a diving spark which man, by way of his conduct and life, can either increase or decrease; that to increase this divine spark man must conquer his passions and sublimate his ego; and that the practical means to attain this result is to be good and to do good. The law of human life is that the only way to improve it, whether for the individual or for the group, is by means of inward spiritual growth towards perfection. All attempts of man to better his life by external action, by institutional methods or by violence are bound to fail and prove abortive. The soul of a man is the lamp of God that emits light. Man is weak and miserable so long as the light of God does not burn in his soul. But when that light burns brightly and it burns only in souls enlightened by faith in the Supreme Being, man becomes illumined so as to become a fit and proper instrument for the divine strength to manifest. For then what acts in him is no longer his strength but it is the strength of God. This is indeed the glorious vision offered to man by religion. In the words of Whitehead, "The immediate reaction of human nature to the religious vision is worship. Religion has emerged into human experience mixed with the crudest fancies of barbaric imagination. Gradually, slowly, steadily the vision recurs in history under nobler form and with clear expression. It is the one element in human experience which persistently shows an upward trend. It fades and then recurs. But when it renews its force, it recurs with an added richness and purity of content. The fact of the religious vision and its history of persistent expansion is our one ground for optimism. Apart from it, human life is a flash of occasional enjoyments lighting up a mass of pain and misery, a bagatelle of transient experience. The vision claims nothing but worship and worship is a surrender to the claim for assimilation urged with the motive force of mutual love. The vision never overrules. It is always there and it has the power of love presenting the one purpose whose fulfillment is eternal harmony."
In Veershaivism the Supreme Being is some times addressed as Sthala, not in the ordinary sense nor even in the scientific sense but in the purely metaphysical sense. Be it noted that Sthala includes Kala in itself. In the ordinary parlance Sthala means space, and it is in the limited space that the expansion of matter takes place. Science speaks of perceptual space, conceptual space and mathematical space. Mathematical space is a construction like the points, lines and surfaces, but the concept of mathematical spaces reaches its culmination in the Relativity Theory. According to the Relativity Theory, the physical reality is neither mere space nor mere time; it is a space-time continuum with four dimensions, three of space and one of time. The world in which we live is a four dimensional space-time continuum, firstly proposed by Minkoski, finally elaborated by Einstein. The four dimensions are .. right and left, up and down, far and near, before and after. But the four dimensional manifold world is not a homogeneous affair but it leads to the inequalities or singularities, and such singularities are what we call matter. Matter is therefore a kind of space-time continuum and where these kinks occur space is distorted. On this theory the gravitational field is due not to any mysterious force but to the curved character of space in such a field which determines the path of the particle.
In 'Modern Science and Modern Thought', Laing observes this: "What Time and Space really are we do not know. When once we scale the mighty realms of metaphysics, we are like Milton's fallen angels lost". What is time? Is it the day and night of twenty four hours, with other computations, months, years etc.? If we go to the North Pole, there the day is reckoned by six months and night by the same period, there being six months of continuous light and as many months of continuous darkness. But were a person arresting the law of gravitation able to rise in the air like a bird and station himself at a point where nothing intervened between him and the sun, then he would be basking ever in sunshine. There the computation of time according to light and darkness would not prevail. How then is it to be computed? Not by light and darkness but by succession of event, say some. Hence time is but succession according to Herbert Spencer. Then a further question crops up? Does time vanish into nothing, where there is no succession of events as in the great Deluge? To this Herbert Spencer is silent. But Bergson gives a metaphysical concept of time as pure duration. Without the idea of space, we should be unable to represent the succession of state of things. When we think of these successive states, we imagine them as spread in a continuous line, precisely as we imagine real things to be at any moment all spread out in space. But this is not true duration. Duration is a time flow that is not measured by some standard in relation to which it may be slower or faster; it is a flowing that never ceases, never repeats itself, an always present.
Time in its metaphysical aspect resolves itself into pure duration which is termed Shakti in Veerashaivism. Space in its metaphysical aspect resolves itself into pure Existence which goes by the name of Sthala or Shiva. Space in the abstract is the Absolute itself; it is in the Absolute space that there arises the concrete space called the worlds in which the limitation is brought about. In other words, it is Shakti that causes disturbance in the modes of matter to manifest the universe which is no other than Shiva's aspect. It is significant to note that the integral association of Shiva-Shakti is maintained in Veerashaivism and this integrality is styled Shakti-Vishist-Adwaita. Alexander holds that space-time is the fundamental reality of the world, the matrix from which grow or emerge all possible qualities. Alexander's philosophy is open to objection because he views the space-time not from above but from below, not from the metaphysical stand point but from physical stand point. View the space-time from above, from the metaphysical point of view, they resolve themselves into pure existence and pure duration, not two but the twin which is the stuff, the matrix from which would emerge the whole course of evolution. Linga therefore represents the integral association of Shiva-Shakti, the union of Duration and Existence.
Religion is not merely a feeling of dependence upon power but also a value judgment. There are some who consider that a feeling of dependence is the essence of religion while others hold that the central element of religion is a value judgment; both are right because God is ultimate cause of all things and also the highest value or the Good. In all advanced religions we may discover these two elements though of course they take different forms. There is always a recognition of a Reality upon which man is dependent, and at the same time the acknowledgement that this same reality is the source of the Good, so that his salvation depends upon his achieving some satisfactory relation with it. Thus all religious experience involves the idea of a possible co-operation with the Divine Will; it is not only dependence upon God but seeking to do the Will of God. Thus in every civilized religion we find this twin relation of Grace and freedom. In Veerashaivism this twin relation is crystallized in the significant terms of Bhakti and Shakti - human force and Divine Grace. In the religious experience there is descent of Grace from above corresponding to which there is an ascent of force from below. This phenomenon of ascent and descent is seen even in the physical universe. In the universe itself two movements are to be distinguished. The first only unwinds a roll already prepared; in principle it might be accomplished almost instantaneously like releasing a spring. But the ascending movement which corresponds to an inner work of ripening endures essentially and imposes rhythm on the first which is inseparable from it. Thus it is that in the higher stages of man there is the release of the spring of faculties latent in him.
Shiva-yoga which has visualized this truth vividly and boldly has set forth the means of embodying it. The human body is a vast magazine of power and there are certain occult centers in it. Of these centers seven are important of which again three are very significant - the lower, the middle and the higher. The lower center is called Adhara, the middle Anahata and the higher Sahasrara. The higher center or Sahasrara is the seat of Grace, while the lower centre of Adhara is the seat of force; and the middle center or Anahata is the seat of Peace. If the aspirant with devotion to Linga or God steadily goes on making progress in his sadhana or psychological discipline, the force from below begins to ascend with a corresponding descent of Grace from above, till force and grace meet and mingle in the heart flowering into transcendent Peace-Mukti. Bhakti and Shakti get themselves transformed into Mukti. This is the Summum bonum of Shiva-yoga.
There is much misconception regarding Shivalinga, it is generally considered to be the phallus by most of the scholars of religion and religious philosophy. That there was phallic worship among primitive people has been well established. But the phallic worship of some primitive people has absolutely no connection with the worship of Shivalinga, and appears to be unwarranted when detached and impartial consideration is given to the form of Shivalinga. Linga-worship is prevalent not only in all the parts of India but it pervades many parts of Asia. It is not connected with low castes, with orgies, with obscene rites or with anything which can be called barbarous. It forms part of the aspirations of devout votaries and the worship offered to it is perfectly decorous. The finds of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa have revolutionized the idea of the movement of civilization. Once the idea was cherished that civilization moved from West to East with the migration of the Mediterranean race in that direction. Now it has been established that civilization moved from East to West with the intercourse of the people from both the sides. The worship of Shivalinga was the characteristic feature of the Dravidians. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans borrowed Linga worship from the ancient civilized Dravidians, but in their pitiable ignorance construed it as the phallic emblem.
The word Shishna devah occurs twice in the Rig-Veda. The word is interpreted as those whose god is phallus. Many scholars advance this interpretation to support the theory of phallic worship. But here too the evidence is overwhelmingly against this interpretation. The foremost evidence against this interpretation is that of Yask who says that Shishna-devah means Abrahmacharyah, that is, lascivious. Durgacharya and Sayanacharya follow the suit of Yaskacharya and interpret the word more or less in the same vein. Hence the word has come to denote the immortality of the Vedic times and illicit love intrigues.
Some scholars advance the view that Linga is a miniature Stupa adopted by the Shaivas in imitation of the Buddha stupa consisting of the relic of Buddha. From the discoveries made by the Indian Archaeological Department, it is clear that from 200 BC onwards the veneration of the Buddha and Jain stupas was very common and popular. On the slender evidence of this is suggested that the Shaivas, many of whom were converts from Buddhism and Jainism, might have imported it into Shaivism. The shape of the Linga also is advanced as a point in favour of this argument. But the finds of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa gave a line direct to this complacent idea by proving the existence of Linga as early as 3000 B.C. If this is so, we are to reject this interpretation as fanciful, for it evinces that the Linga-worship was in existence in the second century B.C. side by side with the veneration of the stupas. Some scholars would maintain that the worship of Shivalinga originated from yupastambha, the sacrificial post. In the Atharva Veda, there is a hymn in which a description is found of the beginning less and endless stambha and it is this stambha that gives place to Shivalinga and is raised to the highest Godhead. Hence it is called Sthanu, Achala and Avyaya - the static, the immutable and the indestructible.
The simple clear meaning of Linga is a sign, mark or symbol. In the Upanishads and in many other places, Linga is invariably used in the sense of a mark or a symbol.
Avyakteshu parah purusho vyapako Linga yeva cha Na
Cheshita naiva cha Lingam tasya
Mahadadyam Vishesantam Lingam
These three instances respectively from the Katha, the Shvetashvetara and the Maitri Upanishads are sufficient to prove that in philosophical literature Linga is used in the sense of a mark or symbol and no other sense. Many a time the word Yoni is found in the Upanishads, but it is taken to mean not as a female genital organ but merely as the source or prima causa of the Universe. If Linga represents a symbol, what is it symbolic of? Cosmologically it is symbolic of the Universe, psychologically it is symbolic of name and form, mystically it is symbolic of the Logos. Outwardly and in the initial stage, God is conceived to be the creator of the Universe. The Universe then is taken to be after the creator and the image of God is reflected in the spherical universe and is represented by it. To all outward appearance the Universe is a hemispherical thing bounded by the circular horizon and placed on something. And the Linga with circular basis represents the Universe. The psychological explanation of the symbol is that Linga is the cosmic soul having self-consciousness. The cosmic soul first vibrates in its being towards creation. The vibration is Nada, the first expression as Nama or name. From the Nada, proceeds the Bindu, dot or form. These two Nama and Rupa or Nada and Bindu are what is known as Pranava. The Bindu is the disc like base and Nada is the line supervening the base. The line stands on the Bindu like a cylinder with rounded top. This forms the Linga.
The word Shishna-devah, properly comprehended and analyzed, brings into bold relief the mystic meaning of Linga. The word has not been properly understood even by great commentators and scholars of repute, for the simple reason that they could not dive deep into the meaning and significance of the word. All have tried to explain it either in the context of rituals and rites or still more in the context of the hostilities bred by the Aryan and Dravidian races. Then what is the meaning and significance of the word Shishna-devah? In Sumerian language Shishna means seven and the Shishna-devah mean seven Gods. It is needless to say that the number seven carries great importance in mysticism. Occultism states that there are seven stages in cosmogony of the elements from Mahat or intelligence to Prithvi or earth. Of the seven elements which constitute the Universe, earth is the lowest and intelligence or Mahat is the highest. Each element has its own measure of vibration and the earth has the minimum rate of vibration while Mahat records the maximum rate. There is no such thing as absolute inertia in the Universe which is one vast change. It is the minimum rate of vibration with which the Universe starts. It might have been for anything we know, the maximum rate with which the previous universe ended.
Modern science is of the opinion that there are certain elements which are simple in their nature and combine in various ways to form the multifarious objects of the universe. Analyzing all things from the solid state to the liquid and then from the liquid to the gaseous, it was postulated sometime ago that there were many elements like oxygen, hydrogen etc., which were incapable of still further analysis. But these so called elements are now found to be but compounds. They are now subdivided into electrons or ions which again are found to be but in vertical motion in ether. The ancient seers, through their occult power, saw a vast atom called Mahat-the Great, as the seed of the Universe presided over by Purusha, the Cosmic Self. The one Mahat willed to become many. Both modern bacteriology and embryology furnish us with illustrations of the one Mahat becoming many egos or conscious units. One cholera bacterium put into water divides itself through the law of fission into two; each of these two becomes subdivided into two and so on into lakhs after lakhs in a few hours. Similarly, embryology tells us that when an embryo is merged into one through the union of the ovum and the sperm, there arise the two divisions of epiblast and hypoblast with mesoblast in the middle. The one epiblast cell which is positive in nature divides itself into two; these two becoming four and so on till they multiply themselves into many, with two as their common factor. Similarly the hypoblast cell which is passive in its nature goes on increasing in the same fashion. So also the one Mahat becomes many egos through the permutation and combination of the modes of matter. Since, there are seven states or modes of matter, the one spirit appears to be sevenfold according to the medium through which it functions. In other words, the solid, liquid, gaseous aerial, ethereal, egoistic and intellectual are the seven modes of matter through which the one spirit works. This is the meaning of the Shishnadevah, the seven Gods; strictly speaking it is the one Godhead with seven-fold consciousness. This is the mystic meaning attributed to Shivalinga which represents the highest Reality in Veerashaivism.
This article 'The Concept of Linga' is taken from H.H.Mahatapsvi Shri Kumarswamiji's book, 'Dimensions of Yoga'.
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