Mira-masi proclaims that she is devoted to Lord Shiva, and that He has chosen Uma for his own. We will take a brief look at Shiva, one of the most well-known and worshipped gods of the Hindu pantheon, in order to shed more light on Mira-masi and, perhaps, Uma.
Shiva, or Siva, was originally known as Rudra, a minor deity. Over time, though, he took on qualities of an earlier fertility god. With Vishnu and Brahma, he forms the main trinity in Hinduism. This trinity, or the Trimurti, contains the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction—traditionally, Brahma is seen as the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. In his role as destroyer of the universe, Shiva then re-creates it. This type of change can be beneficial and constructive.
Harvard’s Pluralism Project explains other aspects of Shiva: “As a Divine dancer, Nataraja, the energy and balance of his dance are a perfect emblem of Shiva’s relentless activity, pouring forth and withdrawing the universe. ‘He’ is also imaged as both male and female, sometimes in an anthropomorphic image: the right half of the body male and the left half female.” Shiva’s consort is Devi, often in her form of Parvati, and their relationship brings balance. It is upheld as the ideal marriage.
Shiva is usually depicted with a third eye, indicating wisdom and acting as the source of his energy; a cobra necklace, showing his power over dangerous creatures and symbolizing change through the snake's shedding of its skin; the vibhuti, three horizontal lines on the forehead made of ash, showing his power and wealth; and the trident, referring to the three-pronged functions of the Trimurti. Shiva’s cult is Shaivism, or Saivism. The adherents agree on pati (God), pasu (individual soul), and pasa (bonds that anchor the soul to earthly existence). They want to break that bondage and achieve shivata, the nature of Shiva. This can be achieved through yoga, renunciation, and pilgrimage.
A scholar for CUNY explains, “Shiva embodies the apparently contradictory aspects of a god of ascetics and a god of the phallus. He is the deity of renouncers, particularly of the many Shaiva sects that imitate him: Kapalikas, who carry skulls to reenact the myth in which Shiva beheaded his father, the incestuous Brahma, and was condemned to carry the skull until he found release in Benares; Pashupatas, worshipers of Shiva Pashupati, ‘Lord of Beasts’; and Aghoris, ‘to whom nothing is horrible,’ yogis who eat ordure or flesh in order to demonstrate their complete indifference to pleasure or pain. Shiva is also the deity whose phallus (linga) is the central shrine of all Shaiva temples and the personal shrine of all Shaiva householders; his priapism is said to have resulted in his castration and the subsequent worship of his severed member. In addition, Shiva is said to have appeared on/ earth in various human, animal, and vegetable forms, establishing his many local shrines.”
